Combined X-ray diffraction and solid-state ¹⁹F magic angle spinning NMR analysis of lattice defects in nanocrystalline CaF₂

Ball milling of a coarse powder and co-precipitation of CaCl₂ and NH₄F were employed to produce two nanostructured fluorites with comparable domain size but drastically different defect concentration. The combined use of X-ray diffraction line profile analysis and solid-state NMR shows the effects of inhomogeneity in the milling process and clearly points out the different effect of lattice defects on the NMR spin-lattice relaxation.