Muon spin resonance and repolarization in amorphous silicon monoxide (a-SiO)

Studies of the muonium fractions in the amorphous oxide a-SiO have been carried out by RF resonance at TRIUMF, Canada and LF repolarization techniques at RAL, U.K. The resonance measurements confirm the presence of the interstitial Mu centre in this intermediate oxide of silicon. Analysis of the data gathered at RAL, using a recently-developed fitting technique, reveals that the Mu^* state is present here as well, but with lower relative fractions than in a-Si. However, as in the latter material, but in contrast to c-Si, this bond-centre species appears to be stable up to room temperature.     

Longitudinal relaxation of muonium in Ge and GaAs

Longitudinal-field muon-spin depolarization rates in high-purityGe and semiinsulatingGaAs are reported and compared to similar data for intrinsicSi. Depolarization onset temperatures provide a comparison of charge carrier concentrations leading to rapid charge exchange and a shift in the onset, for n-typeGaAs verifies anelectron process. The temperature dependence of the low-field rate constants imply more complicated dynamics inGe than observed earlier inSi. Features near 750K inGaAsTe appear consistent with dissociation of aMu-Te pair.This work was supported by the US National Science Foundation (DMR-8917639 [TLE, BH]), the Science and Engineering Research Council of the UK (EAD, AS, SFJC), the Robert A. Welch Foundation (D-1053 [RLL], and C-1048 [TLE]), and a NATO Collaborative Research Grant (RLL, SFJC, RCD, CS). We wish to thank D.A. Vanderwater of Hewlett Packard for providing theGaAsTe sample.     

RF-μSR study of muonium charge states and dynamics in Si

The radio frequencySR technique developed at TRIUMF was used to measure the temperature dependence of the diamagnetic muon, Mu, and Mu^* amplitudes in silicon between 10 K and 500 K. Six samples doped with phosphorus (n-type) and boron (p-type) in the concentration range 10¹¹ to 10¹⁵ cm^–3 were studied. In pure Si a very good fit over the whole temperature range is obtained from a model that includes the ionization of Mu^* and Mu to a bond centered ⁺ followed at high temperature by charge exchange involving Mu.     

Novel behavior of bond-centered muonium in heavily doped n-type silicon: Curie-like spin susceptibility and charge screening

Bond-centered muonium ( Mu(0)(BC)) has been observed in very heavily doped n-type Si:P. It exhibits a Curie-like electronic spin susceptibility which leads to a giant negative shift in the muon spin precession frequency. At high dopant levels, the Mu(0)(BC) hyperfine parameters, deduced from a model involving spin exchange with free carriers, are significantly reduced from those in intrinsic Si. This indicates that the spin density distribution for Mu(0)(BC) in metallic Si:P is altered significantly by charge screening effects, likely a general phenomenon for deep impurities in materials with high carrier concentrations.     

The effects of large oscillating fields on spin precession in magnetic resonance

Magnetic resonance of a spin system which is acted upon by a large near-resonance oscillating magnetic field transverse to a static field has been studied experimentally and theoretically for many years. The technique of DEMUR (Double Electron Muon Resonance) has many advantages for such studies. This paper will describe the results of an experiment to study the precession of the muonium triplet near magnetic resonance using DEMUR.     

Distinctive field dependence of the longitudinal muon polarization for Mu* in polycrystalline silicon

A distinctive longitudinal magnetic field dependence of the muon polarization for anomalous muonium in polycrystalline semiconductor targets has been predicted. The polarization exhibits a cusp,i.e., a discontinuous jump in the slope from negative to positive. Measurements of the longitudinal polarization for polycrystalline silicon in fields up to 0.5 T, and temperatures 53 and 200 K have been made at LAMPF. A cusp in the field dependence indeed occurs at 0.345 T, in excellent agreement with the prediction. No cusp is observed at 200 K because Mu^* has been thermally ionized.