Cross relaxation studied by β NMR

The dipole-dipole interaction between polarized β active probes implanted into a metal and the surrounding host nuclei may lead to a transfer of polarization from the probe to the host. As energy must be conserved in this cross-relaxation (CR) process, resonance-like dips show up at certainB values, if the polarization of the probes is measured as a function of magnetic inductionB. The probe isotope¹²B has been studied in several metallic stoppers. For¹²B in the fec crystals Al, Cu the three possible cubic implantation sites could easily be discriminated by means of the CR technique. The temperature dependence of the dips yielded information on the diffusion of the probes. In the case of¹²B, in Cu above 400 K a further CR structure was found due to trapping of the probe at another site. In the bcc metal VCR spectra belonging to two different¹²B trapping sites could be separately registered using a special radiofrequency technique. Both, static and dynamical properties of the CR could be quantitatively explained by theory.