Effect of neutron irradiation on the EPR spectra of CuGeO3

The influence of neutron irradiation on the electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of the spin-Peierls compound CuGeO3 was investigated in the wide temperature range 2-300 K. It was found that the irradiation induced appreciable changes in the EPR signal intensity, resonance line width and g-factor of this material. It was also shown that the irradiation leads to a decrease in the spin-Peierls transition temperature. For higher irradiation doses, an antiferromagnetically ordered phase can be observed at lower temperatures. This phase coexists with the spin-Peierls phase. The observed decrease in the spin-Peierls transition temperature after irradiation may be associated with some changes in topological and chemical short-range order or with the transmutation of the fraction of Cu-63, the Cu-63(n,alpha)Co-60 reaction.