Crystal-field levels of terbium in pyrochlore compounds R2Ti2O7

Temperature-dependent infrared spectroscopic study of Tb3+ f-f transitions has been performed for pyrochlore compounds Tb2Ti2O7, (Y0.99Tb0.01)2Ti2O7, and (Gd0.9Tb0.1)2Ti2O7. The peculiarities of terbium absorption were explained taking into account the presence of inversion symmetry at the rare-earth site. The energies of crystal-field levels for the ground Tb3+ multiplet were obtained. Spectral anomaly in Tb2Ti2O7 observed in the temperature range T<20 K was assigned to a strong ion-ion interaction between rare-earth ions, which leads to collective CF excitations in the terbium subsystem.