Microwave absorption spectra and the problem of the crystal field in tetragonal compounds HoBa2Cu3Ox (x = 6.0, 6.3)

The resonance microwave absorption at wavelengths 871, 406, 305, and 118 μm in tetragonal layered perovskites HoBa₂Cu₃O _x (x = 6.0, 6.3) in pulsed magnetic fields up to 40 T has been detected. This absorption is caused by the electronic transitions between low lying levels of the Ho³⁺ ion in the crystal field. The positions and intensities of the basic resonance absorption lines for the crystal with x = 6.0 in the magnetic field oriented along the tetragonal axes are adequately described in terms of the tetragonal crystal field with known interaction parameters. To explain the weaker absorption lines, it is necessary to take into account the effect of the inhomogeneous orthorhombic and monoclinic components of the crystal field, which are due to disorder in the oxygen subsystem. This effect is more pronounced in the absorption spectra of the crystal with x = 6.3 for which the oxygen disorder is more pronounced.