Structural nature of chemically inequivalent borons in the nonlinear optical material β-BaB2O4 studied using 11B MAS NMR and 11B single-crystal NMR

Detailed information about the structural nature of three-coordinate borons in ${\beta}-BaB_2O_4$ is obtained through $^{11}B$ MAS NMR and $^{11}B$ single-crystal NMR. The three-coordinate $BO_3$ of the two borons B(1) and B(2) in ${\beta}-BaB_2O_4$ were distinguished. The spin-lattice relaxation time in the laboratory frame $T_1$ for B(1) and B(2) slowly decreases with increasing temperature, whereas the spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame $T_{1{\rho}}$ for B(1) and B(2), which differs from $T_1$, is nearly constant. The B(1) and B(2) of the two types were distinguished by $^{11}B$ MAS NMR and $^{11}B$ single-crystal NMR.