Production of pulsed ultraslow muons and first μSR experiments on thin metallic and magnetic films

Standard muon spin rotation (μSR) spectroscopy implants 4 MeV spin-polarized positive muons to investigate the bulk properties of matter. Success in producing epithermal muons opens interesting possibilities for studying ultrathin films, interfaces, and even surfaces. At the ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Chilton, UK), we have produced a pulsed ultraslow muon beam (E< 20 eV) and have performed the first μSR experiments. Due to the pulsed feature, the implantation time is automatically determined and, by adjusting the final muon energy between about 8 and 20 eV, depth slicing experiments are possible down to monolayers distances. We describe slicing experiments across a 20 nm copper film on quartz substrate with evidence for a 2 nm copper oxide surface layer. A preliminary experiment on a hexagonal cobalt film suggests the existence of muon precession in the local magnetic field. The results are discussed in relation to the morphological features of the film.     

Frictional cooling: Experimental results

The classical methods used in beam cooling are hard to be adapted for a beam of short-lived elementary particles. A novel method, the so-called frictional cooling – that is cooling a beam of low-energy charged particles by moderation in matter and acceleration in an electrostatic field – has been shown to be feasible. In our experiments performed in 1994/1995 a beam of short-lived particles was cooled for the first time ever. Utilizing frictional cooling on a beam of slow negative muons we observed increase in phase space density by about one order of magnitude. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Muong — 2 measurements and non-commutative geometry of quantum beams

We discuss a completely quantum mechanical treatment of the measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. A beam of muons move in a strong uniform magnetic field and a weak focusing electrostatic field. Errors in the classical beam analysis are exposed. In the Dirac quantum beam analysis, an important role is played by non-commutative muon beam coordinates leading to a discrepancy between the classical and quantum theories. We obtain a quantum limit to the accuracy achievable in BNL type experiments. Some implications of the quantum corrected data analysis for supersymmetry are briefly mentioned.     

大俘获立体角的内靶超导螺线管表面muon源的设计研究

高通量μ子源是国际上μ子科学研究的重要条件。在中国散裂中子源的高能质子应用区中,运用蒙特卡罗工具Geant4和G4beamline软件设计了使用内靶超导螺线管俘获高通量表面μ子的束线。与传统的分离靶和基于四极磁铁的收集系统相比,大孔径超导螺线管可以将收集效率提高两个量级。通过对不同靶材的粒子产率进行分析得出石墨是最佳靶材,然后比较俘获螺线管与束流的不同偏转角度下收集的表面μ的产率,提出了合理的较高产率的俘获和输运螺线管的设计方案,并与常规磁铁方案比较,最终在衰变螺线管端口的表面μ通量高达108/s。     

A positron injector for the LEPTA accumulator

An injector of monochromatic positrons for the low-energy positron accumulator (LEPTA) is being tested at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The source of positrons is the radioactive source ²²Na. At the output of the source, positrons are slowed down in a solid target. Frozen neon is used as a moderator. For this purpose, a system of cryocooling of the source and the neon supply line have been assembled. A method of detection of slow positrons has been developed and tuned. The first experiments with the frozen moderator have been performed. A continuous beam of slow positrons with an average energy of 1.2 eV and spectrum width of 1 eV has been obtained.     

DTμ Physics and Its Application

A high-intensity neutron source that is highly correlated spatially and with time and will be used for neutron scattering experiments can be obtained by dt m catalyzed fusion by enhancing the formation rate of dtμ molecules using a high-intensity pulsed laser to dtμ gas. This paper considers the use of dtμ fusion for fast ignition of inertial confinement fusion, and the possibility of ensuring energy balance in energy production. dt fusion can be quickly ignited by depositing dtμ fusion energy into a smaller space than is done in other methods, such as Z-pinch or heavy-ion fusion. Space propulsion can be obtained with a light fuel mass rather than by a fission repulsion system using the muons produced by annihilation of the anti-protons stored in liquid superfluid of condensed He. Using an extremely highly compressed target can create a source of high luminosity muons for muon–muon collider- and neutrino-oscillation experiments. This approach can eliminate the need for a super-conducting solenoidal for capturing the beam of pions and muons generated in a large target, and then these pions and muons can be manipulated by a laser beam instead of by employing RF manipulation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A New High-intensity, Low-momentum Muon Beam for the Generation of Low-energy Muons at PSI

At the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Villigen, Switzerland) a new high-intensity muon beam line with momentum p < 40 MeV/c is currently being commissioned. The beam line is especially designed to serve the needs of the low-energy, polarized positive muon source (LE-μ⁺) and LE-μ SR spectrometer at PSI. The beam line replaces the existing μ E4 muon decay channel. A large acceptance is accomplished by installing two solenoidal magnetic lenses close to the muon production target E that is hit by the 590-MeV PSI proton beam. The muons are then transported by standard large aperture quadrupoles and bending magnets to the experiment. Several slit systems and an electrostatic separator allow the control of beam shape, momentum spread, and to reduce the background due to beam positrons or electrons. Particle intensities of up to 3.5 × 10⁸ μ⁺/s and 10⁷ μ⁻/s are expected at 28 MeV/c beam momentum and 1.8 mA proton beam current. This will translate into a LE-μ⁺ rate of 7,000/s being available at the LE-μ SR spectrometer, thus achieving μ⁺ fluxes, that are comparable to standard μ SR facilities.     

Field properties and vacuum electron acceleration in a laser beam of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian mode

The electric field intensity distribution and the phase velocity distribution of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian (LGρ?) mode laser beams are analyzed. Using three-dimensional test particle simulation, the numerical results of electrons accelerated by LG00, LG40 and LG41 mode laser beams are presented. Compared with the LG00 mode (the fundamental mode) laser beam, low-energy injection electrons can be more favorably accelerated in a high-order LG mode laser beam. Contrary to anticipation, a high-order LG mode laser beam with intense axial electric field distribution is inferior to the LG00 mode in capture acceleration for electrons with high injection energy.     

New g-2 experiment at J-PARC

A new measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment of the positive muon aμ is proposed with a novel technique utilizing an ultra-cold muon beam accelerated to 300 MeV/c and a 66 cm-diameter muon storage ring without focusing-electric field.This measurement will be complimentary to the previous measurement that achieved 0.54 ppm accuracy with the magic energy of 3.1 GeV in a 14 m diameter storage ring.The proposed experiment aims to achieve the sensitivity down to 0.1 ppm.     

Development of a beam of very slow polarized muons

During the last few decades, a variety of methods has been developed which makes use of polarized positive muons as a microscopic probe of the magnetic properties of condensed matter (muon spin rotation, relaxation, resonance,SR). Until now, available beams for SR studies have delivered 100% polarized muons with energies in the MeV range, resulting in a deep penetration of the muons into the sample material under investigation. This presently limits the applications of theSR technique to the study of the bulk characteristics of matter. To be able to control the implantation depth, a very low energy beam of polarized muons is being developed at the Paul Scherrer Institute. Very slow polarized muons (kinetic energy 10 eV, polarization 90%) are obtained from the moderation of a high energy muon beam in a thin film of an appropriate condensed gas. These muons can be used as a source for a beam of tunable energy between a few tens of eV and some tens of keV. Implantation depths in the range of few to a few hundreds of nanometers can thus be achieved by varying the energy.     

Dynamics of charge carriers at the place of the formation of a muonic atom in diamond and silicon

The space-time distribution of charge carriers at the place of the location of a muonic atom formed when a negative muon is captured by an atom of the lattice has been numerically simulated taking into account the self-consistent electric field. The results of ??SR experiments with negative muons in diamond crystals have been explained and reasons for the difference in the behavior of the spin polarization of the negative muon in boron-doped diamond and in silicon have been revealed. The condition of the validity of the analytical solution of this problem has been obtained. It has been shown that the muonic atom in diamond, in contrast to silicon, does not form a neutral acceptor center in the paramagnetic state during the muon experiment and remains in the diamagnetic state of a positive ion.     

Transverse field μ+SR study of V3Si

We have studied by transverse field positive muon spectroscopy μ+SR, the muon diffusion in V₃Si. We found that the muon is static and localized at tetrahedral interstitial sites below 200 K. Above 200 K the muons diffuse with an activiation energy 2550 (220) K. The nature of this diffusion process is discussed.     

Positive muon behavior in KCl with and without F centers

Positive muon behavior in KCl containing F centers has been studied. The muon spin depolarization rate showed a maximum near 120 K, which was not found in pure KCl. This is probably due to the fact that free positive muons are trapped by F centers in KCl. However, the binding energy between a positive muon and an F center is not large, so that muons detrap again above 150 K.     

Accelerator plans at TRIUMF

A recently completed Project Definition Study has proposed a network of accelerators to take the existing 500 MeV 150 μA proton beam at TRIUMF to 30 GeV. This facility would be capable of providing beams of kaons, antiprotons and other hadrons of intensities 100 times greater than those presently available. In addition, large numbers of low energy muons should be available and this facility is potentially the most powerful muon source planned for the future. The proposed facilities are described and the potential for future muon beams reported.     

New parity-violating muonic forces and the proton charge radius

The recent discrepancy between proton charge radius measurements extracted from electron-proton versus muon-proton systems is suggestive of a new force that differentiates between lepton species. We identify a class of models with gauged right-handed muon number, which contains new vector and scalar force carriers at the ～100 MeV scale or lighter, that is consistent with observations. Such forces would lead to an enhancement by several orders-of-magnitude of the parity-violating asymmetries in the scattering of low-energy muons on nuclei. The relatively large size of such asymmetries, O(10(-4)), opens up the possibility for new tests of parity violation in neutral currents with existing low-energy muon beams.     

Dynamics of electric fields driving the laser acceleration of multi-MeV protons

The acceleration of multi-MeV protons from the rear surface of thin solid foils irradiated by an intense (approximately 10(18) W/cm2) and short (approximately 1.5 ps) laser pulse has been investigated using transverse proton probing. The structure of the electric field driving the expansion of the proton beam has been resolved with high spatial and temporal resolution. The main features of the experimental observations, namely, an initial intense sheath field and a late time field peaking at the beam front, are consistent with the results from particle-in-cell and fluid simulations of thin plasma expansion into a vacuum.     

First μ+SR studies on thin films with a new beam of low energy positive muons at energies below 20 keV

At the Paul Scherrer Institute slow positive muons (μ⁺) with nearly 100% polarization and an energy of about 10 eV are generated by moderation of an intense secondary beam of surface muons in an appropriate condensed gas layer. These epithermal muons are used as a source of a tertiary beam of tunable energy between 10 eV and 20 keV. The range of these muons in solids is up to 100 nm which allows the extension of the μ⁺SR techniques (muon spin rotation, relaxation, resonance) to the study of thin films. A basic requirement for the proper interpretation of μ⁺SR results on thin films and multi-layers is the knowledge of the depth distribution of muons in matter. To date, no data are available concerning this topic. Therefore, we investigated the penetration depth of μ⁺ with energies between 8 keV and 16 keV in Cu/SiO₂ samples. The experimental data are in agreement with simulated predictions. Additionally, we present two examples of first applications of low energy μ⁺ in μ⁺SR investigations. We measured the magnetic field distribution inside a 500-nm thin High-T_C superconductor (YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ), as well as the depth dependence of the field distribution near the surface. In another experiment a 500-nm thin sample of Fe-nanoclusters (diameter 2.4(4) nm), embedded in an Ag matrix with a volume concentration of 0.1%, was investigated with transverse field μ⁺SR. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Observation of “decoupled” diamagnetic muon states in Alkali halides by muon spin resonance

The states of positive muons in KCl, NaCl and KI were studied with the muon spin resonance method under a 3 kG decoupling longitudinal field, revealing a considerably larger fraction of diamagnetic muon state than observed by the conventional spin rotation method. The origin of this fraction, which increases with temperature, is attributed to a muonium to muon transition in solids.     

Some investigations of moderators for slow positron beams

Measurements were made on a low-energy positron beam apparatus in an attempt to increase the efficiency of the slow positron yield from radioisotopes. A study was made to sweep thermalized positrons to the surface of a silicon wafer with an applied electric field at 298 and 140 K. Temperature studies were also made on more conventional Pt and Pt+MgO powder moderators and the results are discussed. The role of the MgO powder has been clarified, though fundamental questions remain. The positron apparatus beam and relevant information regarding sources, temperature and magnetic fields are discussed in sufficient detail so that such a slow positron beam utilizing a “conventional” slow positron moderator could be easily duplicated for use in solid state studies.     

Proposal for muon and white neutron sources at CSNS

The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) is a large scientific facility with the main purpose of serving multidisciplinary research on material characterization using neutron scattering techniques. The accelerator system is to provide a proton beam of 120 kW with a repetition rate of 25 Hz initially (CSNSⅠ), progressively upgradeable to 240 kW (CSNS-Ⅱ) and 500 kW (CSNS-Ⅱ'). In addition to serving as a driving source for the spallation target, the proton beam can be exploited for serving additional functions both in fundamental and applied research. The expanded scientific application based on pulsed muons and fast neutrons is especially attractive in the overall consideration of CSNS upgrade options. A second target station that houses a muon-generating target and a fast-neutron-generating target in tandem, intercepting and removing a small part of the proton beam for the spallation target, is proposed. The muon and white neutron sources are operated principally in parasitic mode, leaving the main part of the beam directed to the spallation target. However, it is also possible to deliver the proton beam to the second target station in a dedicated mode for some special applications. Within the dual target configuration, the thin muon target placed upstream of the fast-neutron target will consume only about 5% of the beam traversed; the majority of the beam is used for fast-neutron production. A proton beam with a beam power of about 60 kW, an energy of 1.6 GeV and a repetition rate of 12.5 Hz will make the muon source and the white neutron source very attractive to multidisciplinary researchers.