Studies of local structure of Cm[sup 3+] in borosilicate glass using laser and x-ray spectroscopic methods and computational modeling.

The local environment of Cm[sup 3+] in a borosilicate glass has been probed by a combination of laser spectroscopy, structural modeling, and extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. The Stark splitting for the Cm f-f state transitions is significantly larger than the inhomogeneous line broadening that results from the disordered environment. As a result, the Cm optical spectrum can be fit using an effective operator Hamiltonian to obtain a set of crystal-field parameters. The fitting procedure, which requires the use of a descent-in-symmetry approach, provides a set of parameters for a best fit within tetragonal symmetry. These parameters are then linked to the local environment of Cm through exchange-charge modeling (ECM) of crystal field interactions. Cm in our borosilicate glass is best modeled with six oxygen ions with approximately tetragonal symmetry, and at an average distance of 2.31 (3) Å. The results of crystal-field modeling are supported by EXAFS results. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]