Perturbed Angular Correlation Spectroscopy – A Tool for the Study of Defects and Diffusion at the Atomic Scale

Abstract

This paper provides an introduction to perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy in the context of its application in the study of point defects and diffusion. It emphasizes what we anticipate to be of interest to non-PAC specialists who are interested in understanding variations in how PAC results are presented by different research groups and in how physical quantities such as defect formation energies, association energies, and migration barriers can be extracted from analysis of PAC spectra. Numerous citations are included to emphasize the universality of the analysis methods across different classes of materials including metallic, ceramic, and semiconducting compounds.