Stimulated-echo NMR spectroscopy of 9Be and 7Li in solids: method and application to ion conductors

The generation of pure quadrupolar stimulated-echo spectra is successfully demonstrated for the spin-3/2 probe 9Be in a single crystal of triglycine fluoberyllate. This solid exhibits a paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition. From experiments carried out for various mixing times no indications for a slow soft mode could be detected in this crystal. Then ion conducting lithium metal phosphates were studied using 7Li, another spin-3/2 probe which allows for a non-selective excitation of the entire NMR spectrum. In the indium and the scandium phosphates ultra-slow Li hopping processes could be detected directly via the stimulated-echo technique in a time range of up to four orders of magnitude. Due to the relatively large gyromagnetic ratio and thus strong dipolar interactions of 7Li no pure quadrupolar echoes could be generated. However, from a variation of the evolution times the quadrupolar effects could be separated from the dipolar ones. Finally, the differences in the ion hopping times of lithium indium phosphate and of lithium scandium phosphate are briefly discussed.