Negative muon precession in nuclei with spin

Polarized negative muons were stopped in various materials containing nuclei with nonzero spin. The TF-SR precession signal of theF ⁺ hyperfine state (frequencyv ₊ > 0) was pronounced for ^–Li and ^–Be, faint for ^–Cl (in NiCl₂), and undetectable for ^–F (in CaF₂ or NiF₂) and ^–P. TheF ^– signal (frequencyv _– < 0) was observed clearly for ^–Be, ^–Al and ^–Na, marginally for ^–K, ^–V and ^–Nb, and not at all for ^–Ga (at 4 kOe) or ^–Co (ferrromagnetic, zero field). In the heavier elements theF ^– signal is fed by transitions from theF ⁺ to theF ^– state at a rateR, as long asR(v ₊ –v _–). [See separate paper on ^–Al in these Proceedings, p. 879.]I am grateful to Alex Schenck and Bruce Patterson for the loan of equipment and samples, to Fred Gygax for helping set up the apparatus, to Jun Imazato for help with the experiment, and to Toshi Yamazaki and Tak Suzuki for valuable comments. I am also indebted to SIN for several weeks of free ^– beam time and to SIN, BOOM, and the University of Tokyo for free time on their VAX computers, which were kept busy for several months in the analysis.     

Feasibility of an experiment to determine the branching ratio for the emission of a heavy neutrino after muon capture in3He

The triton energy of the muon capture reaction ³He t+v, where ³ He is the ground state of muonic³He, has been measured in order to investigate a possible heavy v admixture into the flavour with high sensitivity. ³ He has been formed via the pd fusion reaction by stopping ^– in an ionization chamber (IC) filled with an H/D gas mixture of 3% D concentration at a pressure of 161 bar. In a first short experiment 650 triton events were observed yielding an upper limit for the -heavy v mixing strength of 2.3×10^–3 atE _0v=60 MeV.     

Observation ofμ − spin precession in ferromagnetic Ni and giant hyperfine anomaly

A ^–SR signal in nickel was found representing the first observation of ^–SR in ferromagnetic materials, and the hyperfine anomaly was determined to be –2.82±0.08% in comparison with the hyperfine field at dilute Co in Ni known from NMR.     

Positron mobility in polyethylene in the 60–400 K temperature range

We have determined the positron mobility (₊) in polyethylene samples (67.2% crystalline, glass transition temperatureT _g=151 K) in the 64–400 K temperature range by Doppler shift measurements. A method based on the simulataneous observation of two lines from¹³³Ba and¹³⁷Cs radioactive sources together with the positron annihilation line, was employed to measure the Doppler shift of the 511 keV line as a function of the electric field applied to the samples. With this method we were able to measure at the same time the drift velocity of positrons and theS parameter. This parameter is very important in the interpretation of the mobility trend in samples where the positron states change with temperature. The positron mobility was corrected for positronium formation. ₊ at 64 K is 31.7±0.8 cm² V^–1 s^–1 then decreases up to 123 K, increases at 148 K and decreases again up to 170 K (₊=26.9±0.8 cm² V^–s^–). This sharp change in mobility is centred around the glass transition temperature of our samples. Then the mobility remains almost constant up to 230 K. From 250 K to 377 K, ₊ increases and reaches the value of 38.4±1.0 cm² V^–1s^–1. The corrected experimental data were well fitted by a simple model taking into account scattering and a thermally activated process (hopping mechanism).     

Theory of hyperfine anomalies in muonic atoms

Negative muon spin precession experiments by Yamazaki et al. have found giant hyperfine anomalies in muonic atoms ranging from a few percent up to 36%. In order to understand their results, we present Breit interaction calculations based on atomic self-consistent unrestricted Dirac-Fock solutions which explicitly include all electrons and the negative muon. The Breit interaction results (including the relativistic correction for the bound muong-factor), vary from near zero for ^–O/N to –5% for ^–Pd/Rh; this latter is much larger than the calculated muonic or nuclear Bohr-Weisskopf anomalies and much smaller than the 36% measured value. For ^}Ni/Co we find a calculated range of results (depending on assumed electronic configurations) of –2.3 to –2.7% in excellent agreement with recent measurements of the Yamazaki group. This excellent agreement in ^}Ni/Co provides strong support for the earlier suggestions that the discrepancy in the case of ^–Pd/Rh is due to experimental factors.This work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (DMR Grant No. 82-16543) and the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Depolarization ofμ + muons in GaAs single crystals

ASR study has been carried out on high resistivity single crystal gallium arsenide (GaAs). Three characteristic states involving the ⁺ muon (Mu^*, Mu, ⁺ were shown to exist in a binary semiconductor, similar to the case of elemental semiconductors.     

Electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power of amorphous niobium-nickel alloys synthetized by vapour quenching

Thin film samples (10–20 thick) of niobium-nickel alloys in the composition range Nb-5 to 95 at % Ni were vapour quenched by R. F. sputtering onto fused quartz substrates held at a temperature of 450 K. It was found that fully glassy alloys were synthetized in the composition range Nb-30 to 85 at % Ni, 2·5 times larger than reported for splat-quenched alloys. Crystallization temperatures exhibited maxima near the eutectic composition and are comparable to those of splat-quenched materials. At room temperature, the electrical resistivity of these alloys lies between 176–210 cm, and the absolute thermoelectric power S between 2·20–2·52 V/K. On increasing the temperature from 4·2 to 775 K, up to which the amorphous alloys are stable, the resistivity of the alloy with=0·50 decreases by about 1·5%; the value of d/dT progressively increases with increasing Ni content, becoming positive at 0·50dS/dT of all alloys lies between 6–8·5×10^–3V deg^–2. The electrical behaviour of these alloys may be treated in terms of electron scattering in disordered structures assuming the nearly free-electron model, in a manner analogous to Ziman's theory of electronic transport in liquid metals.     

Muon site determination in orthoferrites

SR measurements in various orthoferrites are described. By comparing the measured internal fields with calculated dipolar fields the muon position was found to be in thez=1/4 mirror plane, 1 å from the nearest oxygen ion, implying the formation of an O ^– ion.     

The lanthanideβ″ aluminas

The entire sodium ion content of sodium alumina (Na_1.67Mg_0.67Al_10.33O₁₇) can be replaced with a variety of lanthanide ions by simple diffusion reactions at moderate temperatures (500–700°C). Lanthanide alumina crystals are hard, clear, chemically stable, and have well-defined crystal structures. The fluorescence spectrum of Nd³⁺ in alumina is similar to that in YAG. The lifetime of the⁴ F _3/2 state of Nd³⁺ in completely-exchanged alumina (350s at 10²¹ Nd³⁺ cm^–3) is about 45% longer than in YAG (240s at 10²⁰Nd³⁺ cm^–3). The lanthanide aluminas may be of considerable interest as new phosphor and laser host materials.     

Interaction of paramagnetic electron with highT c supercurrent in LaSrCuO studied by (μ−O) probe

The paramagnetic state of the muonic atom formed by the negative muon ( ^–) bound to the oxygen in highT _c LaSrCuO which was found in our recent ^– spin rotation experiments was applied to probe an interaction between the paramagnetic electron and the highT _c supercurrent. The observed enhanced spin relaxation rates of the ( ^–O) system in the superconducting state revealed the presence of such an interaction.     

Location and associated hyperfine properties of μ+ in La2CuO4

The location of the positive muon used as a probe in highT _c systems is investigated using the unrestricted Hartree-Fock cluster procedure. Our calculations indicate that ⁺ is located in thea–c plane at a distance of 1.08 Å from the apical oxygen at a ⁺-O(a)-Cu angle of 25°. The hyperfine field at this site is also calculated. Our results show the importance of including the local contact and dipolar contributions to the hyperfine field which arise from the unpaired electron spin distribution in the vicinity of the muon.     

Towards slow μ− production via muon catalyzed fusion

Slow ^– production via dd-CF using a two-layer arrangement is investigated. To determine its feasibility, experimental measurements are now in progress using the muonic X-ray detection method. The following experimental steps are being considered: (1) measurement of the number of ^– stopped inside a solid H₂/D₂ layer by detecting p K X-rays, (2) hot d emission detection by placing a secondary target at a distance of 10–30 mm from the layer and by detecting specific delayed X-rays, (3) measurement of the disappearance of d emission as the added D₂ layer is increased, (4) dd-CF measurement by detecting fusion protons, and (5) slow ^– emission detection. Results of the initial test experiment are presented.     

Mobility of muons in Cu below 2 K

We have performed transverse fieldSR experiments on several different samples of copper in the temperature range below 2 K, including isotope separated Cu and impurity doped polycrystalline Cu.We do not observe any strong effect of the isotope composition of the sample. A⁶³Cu and a natural Cu sample of identical purity both yield 0.16s^–1 for the low-temperature plateau, while an increased linewidth in the⁶⁵Cu case may be related to the strong effects of Fe impurities.Careful transverse field measurements on large single crystals at 0.08 K reveal non-Gaussian lineshapes in accordance with the picture of diffusing muons at this temperature. This allows us to reject several of the existing models for muon behaviour in copper below 2 K.     

Construction of Riken-ral muon facility at ISIS and advanced μSR

By utilizing the intense pulsed proton beam available at the ISIS facility of RAL, the new muon facility project of an advanced superconducting muon channel funded by the RIKEN is now under construction. The new facility, by adopting the superconducting solenoid system, will produce the strongest backward decay pulsed ⁺ or ^–in the momentum range from 20 MeV/c to 120 MeV/c. Also, by adopting the pulsed magnetic kicker, each one of two muon pulses will be supplied to two extraction channels simultaneously. Various important muon science experiments including advanced pulsed ^–SR andmu ⁺SR experiments will be realized.     

μ −SR-Spectroscopy on light neutral muonic atoms

In the past few years ^–SR-spectroscopy has been successfully applied to the simple muonic atoms, namely muonic helium: He ^–e^–. Here the theoretical and experimental progress in understanding this atomic system consisting of a nucleus, a muon and an electron is reviewed. The various effects contributing to the ground state hyperfine structure are explained. The experiments are described and are compared with the theoretical calculations.     

A new measurement of muon capture in liquid deuterium

The lifetime technique has been used for the first time to measure the muon capture rate in ultra-pure liquid deuterium. The result: _c ^D=470±29 s^–1, is to be interpreted as the capture rate in thed Doublet spin state.Presented at the symposium Mesons and Light Nuclei, Bechyn, Czechoslovakia, May 27–June 1, 1985.     

Femtosecond-pulse laser ablation of human corneas

A femtosecond pulse laser in the visible spectral region shows promise as a potentially new powerful corneal sculpting tool. It combines the clinical and technical advantages of visible wavelengths with the high ablation quality observed with nanosecond-pulse excimer lasers at 193 nm. A femtosecond and a nanosecond dye laser with pulse durations of 300 fs and 7 ns, and centre wavelengths at 615 nm and 600 nm, respectively, both focused to an area of the order of 10^–5 cm², have been applied to human corneal ablation. Nanosecond laser pulses caused substantial tissue disruption within a 30–100 m range from the excision edge at all fluences above the ablation threshold of F _th60 J cm^–2 (I _th9 GW cm^–2). Completely different excisions are produced by the femtosecond-pulse laser: high quality ablations of the Bowman membrane and the stroma tissue characterised by damage zones of less than 0.5 m were observed at all fluences above ablation threshold of F _th1 J cm^–2 or I _th3 TW cm^–2 (3×10¹² W cm^–2). The transparent cornea material can be forced to absorb ultrashort pulses of extremely high intensity. The fs laser generates its own absorption by a multiphoton absorption process.     

Positive muon Knight shift in graphite and Grafoil

Positive muon Knight shifts and relaxation rates were measured at room temperature in a graphite crystal and in a stack of Grafoil sheets. The Knight shift was 500 ppm in the single crystal and reduced by 0.702 in Grafoil. Both have the same (large) fractional anisotropy relative to the axis or to the normal to the Grafoil sheets, respectively. The (isotropic) relaxation rates were 0.024(4)s^–1 in the crystal and 0.194(6) ^–1 in the Grafoil. Apparently the ⁺ in Grafoil sees highly aligned bulk crystalline graphite, and does not reach the surfaces of the sheets.We are grateful to Greg Dash, the owner of the graphite crystal, for lending it to Tony Arrott; and to Tony for lending it in turn to us.     

Indication for a delocalized precursor μ+ state in CeAl3

The low temperature ( 0.6 K) ZF-SR signal in the heavy electron compound CeAl₃ displays a three component structure with one component revealing the precession of ⁺ in a static internal field of 220 G. Surprisingly the phase of this signal is shifted by the order of 90° which indicates the presence of a precursor state. The precursor state manifests itself by a quickly decaying nonoscillating component. A simple two state model with zero average field in the precursor state and 220 G in the final state can describe the results except for the magnitude of the phase shift.