Study of Crystal-field Effects in Rare-earth (RE) - Transition-metal Intermetallic Compounds and in RE-based Laser Crystals

Rare-earth (RE) based compounds and alloys are of great interest both for their fundamental physical properties and for applications. In order to tailor the required compounds for a specific task, one must be able to predict the energy level structure and transition intensities for any magnetic ion in any crystalline environment. The crystal-field (CF) analysis is one of the most powerful theoretical methods to deal with the physics of magnetic ions. In the present work, this technique is used to analyze peculiar physical properties of some materials employed in the production of new-generation solid-state laser and high-performance permanent magnets.