THE ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF γ-RAYS FROM Mn54 ORIENTED IN ANTIFERROMAGNETIC CoCl2.6H2O
The angular distribution of γ-rays from Mn54 nuclei, included as an impurity in antiferromagnetic CoCl2.6H2O, was measured at temperatures between 0.03 °K and 0.18 °K. Three γ-ray counters were placed, one each along the crystallographic a, b, and c axes, and the angular distribution was analyzed into a series of spherical harmonics. The aspheric component of the γ-ray distribution was found to be proportional to [Formula: see text], where θ and [Formula: see text], are polar co-ordinates; the polar axis is the crystallographic b axis, and the origin of [Formula: see text] is 46° from the a axis in the obtuse angle between the a and c axes. This result is discussed in terms of present knowledge of the antiferromagnetic ground state configuration of CoCl.6H2O and of present ideas of the mechanism of nuclear alignment in antiferromagnetic materials, but no satisfactory explanation is found.