Influence of neutron and heavy-ion irradiation on EPR spectra of CuGeO3

The influence of neutron and heavy-ion irradiation on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the spin-Peierls compound CuGeO3 has been investigated in the wide temperature range of 2–300 K. It is found that the neutron irradiation leads to a decrease of the spin-Peierls transition temperature and induces appreciable changes in the EPR signal intensity, resonance line width andg-factor of this material. These changes may be associated with a partial suppression of both the energy gap and dimerization within the Cu chains due to the irradiation-induced changes in the topological and chemical short-range order. In contrast to this, the heavy-ion irradiation induces only an increase in the intensity of the EPR signal and does not produce appreciable changes in the resonance line width,g-factor and spin-Peierls transition temperature. The experimental results show a large increase in the Curie-Weiss component and complete suppression of the spin-Peierls transition for higher irradiation doses.