$$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ nuclear magnetic resonance in the candidate topological insulator $$\mathrm{PuB_4}$$
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden (Germany)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Max Planck Inst. for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden (Germany)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Naka (Japan)
- Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
In this article, we present a detailed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ in bulk and powdered single-crystal plutonium tetraboride ($$\mathrm{PuB_4}$$), which has recently been investigated as a potential correlated topological insulator. This study constitutes the second-ever observation of the $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ NMR signal, and provides unique on-site sensitivity to the rich $$f$$-electron physics and insight into the bulk gaplike behavior in $$\mathrm{PuB_4}$$. The $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ NMR spectra are consistent with axial symmetry of the shift tensor showing for the first time that $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ NMR can be observed in an anisotropic environment and up to room temperature. The temperature dependence of the $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ shift, combined with a relatively long spin-lattice relaxation time ($$T_1$$), indicate that $$\mathrm{PuB_4}$$ adopts a nonmagnetic state with gaplike behavior consistent with our density functional theory calculations. The temperature dependencies of the NMR Knight shift and $$T_1^{1}$$ –microscopic quantities sensitive only to bulk states–imply bulk gaplike behavior confirming that $$\mathrm{PuB_4}$$ is a good candidate topological insulator. The large contrast between the $$\mathrm{^{239}Pu}$$ orbital shifts in the ionic insulator $$\mathrm{PuO_2} (\sim {+24.7 }\%)$$ and $$\mathrm{PuB_4} (\sim-0.5\%)$$ provides a new tool to investigate the nature of chemical bonding in plutonium materials.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Actinide Science & Technology (CAST); Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, FL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0016568
- OSTI ID:
- 1566685
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1489316
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review B, Vol. 99, Issue 3; ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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