Muon Spin Dynamics and Sites in GdNi5

In GdNi₅, the muon localizes at the 3f interstitial site and below 80K a second muon site becomes populated, the so-called 6_ring site. This ring site is metastable and the muon hops to the 3f site. We determine the mean time of stay of the muon in the ring site and show that it is governed by a multi-phonon quantum diffusion process. The coincidence energy is measured to be E _a =272(10)K and the tunneling matrix element J=0.11(2)meV.     

Charge Carrier Dynamics in Zn-Doped Cuprates

We have measured the static magnetic susceptibility, the resistivity and muon spin relaxation (⁺SR) spectra of Zn and Sr doped La₂CuO₂. Our data show that non-magnetic Zn impurities lead to an increase of the Néel temperature T _N in weakly hole doped compounds. This increase of T _N correlates with an increase of the resistivity. The analysis of our data strongly suggests that the hole mobility is the most important source for the strong suppression of long range antiferromagnetic order in La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄.     

Spin dynamics in magnetic materials investigated by muon spin relaxation

We present a quantitative analysis of the temperature dependence of the muon spin relaxation rate measured in simple magnets. We consider the low temperature, critical and high temperature regimes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MuSR技术在凝聚态物理中的应用

缪子自旋弛豫/旋转(MuSR)实验技术利用缪子的自旋,在原子尺度上研究样品内部磁场的静态分布和动态涨落。文章介绍MuSR实验技术在凝聚态物理中的应用,阐述了MuSR在磁性、超导材料中发现的独特信息,包括磁有序、内部磁场分布、具有特定频率范围的自旋涨落,以及在半导体材料中获得杂质的电子状态和位置。这些应用表明 MuSR 对于理解关联电子材料复杂的物理现象及其物理机制具有重要意义。     

Hemoglobin magnetism in aqueous solution probed by muon spin relaxation and future applications to brain research

A marked difference in spin relaxation behavior due to hemoglobin magnetism was found for positive muons (μ⁺) in deoxyhemoglobin in comparison with that observed in oxyhemoglobin in aqueous solution at room temperature under zero and external longitudinal magnetic fields upto 0.4 Tesla. At the same time, small but significant unique relaxation pattern was observed in nonmagnetic oxyhemoglobin. Combined with our previous measurements on hemoglobin in human blood, application of this type of measurement to the studies of the level of oxygenation in various regions of the human brain is suggested.     

μ+SR Study of Ordering Phenomena in the Heavy-Fermion State of Ce3Pd20Ge6

Magnetic and quadrupolar ordering phenomena in a Ce₃Pd₂₀Ge₆ single crystal have been investigated by muon spin rotation/relaxation (μ⁺SR) spectroscopy. We have observed spontaneous precession of muons in zero-field below T _N =0.7 K in the antiferromagnetic state. The precession frequency follows the power law: ν(T)=ν(0)(1−T/T _N ) ⁿ . The exponent n=0.43(2) is close to the mean-field value of 0.5. The muon longitudinal spin relaxation rate 1/T ₁ is found to be nearly independent of temperature in the range of 0.3 to 2 K, i.e., across either T _N or T _Q =1.2 K, the quadrupolar ordering temperature. Two likely mechanisms for the temperature independent behavior of 1/T ₁ are suggested. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

High pressure μSR studies: rare earths and related materials

After a short introduction to μSR with respect to the study of magnetic properties, followed by a brief outline of the principle of the high pressure-low temperature μSR spectrometer installed at the Paul Scherrer Institute, we discuss some measurements on rare earth materials employing this instrument. They are concerned with: (1) The pressure dependence of the spin turning process in ferromagnetic Gd. (2) The volume dependence of the internal magnetic field in the heavy rare earth metals Gd, Dy, and Ho in their ordered magnetic states. (3) The response of the (first order) magnetic transition in the frustrated antiferromagnets of type RMn₂ (R = Y,Gd) to pressure. (4) The variation of magnetic parameters with pressure in La₂CuO₄ (powder sample), the antiferromagnetic parent compound of the high T_C superconductors of type La_2−x(Sr, Ba)_xCuO₄. In conclusion a short outlook on further developments is given. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于NMR自旋弛豫技术的蛋白质动力学研究

蛋白质的三维结构在很多情况下不能很好地解释其在生理过程中的作用机制. 动力学研究能够获悉蛋白质在不同时间尺度下的内运动信息,建立起动态结构和生物功能的联系. 该文综述了通过NMR自旋弛豫技术研究蛋白质动力学的原理和方法：ps~ns的快运动分析主要采用约化谱密度函数映射和Modelfree方法;μs~ms的慢运动涉及化学/构象交换过程,常借助CPMG和R_1ρ弛豫色散手段. 基于NMR的蛋白质动力学研究,将蛋白质科学从三维空间结构推进到四维时空结构的新层面.     

Comparative Theoretical Study of Hyperfine Interactions of Muonium in A- and B-Form DNA

Muon Spin Relaxation (μSR) experiments in A- and B-form DNA have shown evidence for an enhanced electron mobility in the more closely-packed A-form. Besides dynamic effects (electronic diffusion) that could cause the observed difference in muon spin relaxation, one should also carefully examine the difference in the strengths of the hyperfine interactions of the muon (μ ⁺) with the moving electron in the two forms of DNA, since this could contribute to the observed difference in the muon spin relaxation rates as well. We have therefore investigated the (static) trapping properties of muon and muonium (μ ⁺ e ⁻) in A-form and B-form DNA from first-principles with the aim to understand how the different structural geometries of A- and B-form DNA can influence the hyperfine interaction of trapped muonium.     

Spin plasmonics in magnetism

We discuss a new class of phenomena that we call ＂spin plasmonics＂. It is motivated by three different recent trends of physics research： （i） spintronics, （ii） plasmonics, and （iii） topological properties as is exemplified by the quantized Hall effect. This involves the physics of the ＂magnetic surface plasmon＂ （MSP） which provides for an analog of the edge states discussed in the quantized Hall effect. Their properties can be easily tuned by an external magnetic field. They are coupled to the electromagnetic field and can be injected into metallic structures and induce spin and charge currents and hold the promise of miniturization of nonreciprocal devices.     

A μSR Study of Er Spin Dynamics in (Y1−x Er x )Ni2B2C Superconductors

Zero field μSR has been used to probe rare earth spin dynamics in the magnetic superconductors, Y_1−x Er _x Ni₂B₂C. The muon spin relaxation function is stretched exponential, exp (−(λt)^β), in form, as usually found for spin glass systems above the glass temperature. However, the Y_1−x Er _x Ni₂B₂C compounds show no evidence of coexisting superconducting and static spin glass ground states even at concentrations below the critical value (x=0.6) for long range antiferromagnetic order. The temperature dependence of both the muon spin relaxation rate λ and the exponent β suggests that Er spin dynamics change significantly at the superconducting transition temperature. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Muon Spin Rotation and Relaxation Experiments on Thin Films

The recent development at the Paul Scherrer Institute of a beam of low energy muons allows depth dependent muon spin rotation and relaxation investigations in thin samples, multilayers and near surface regions (low energy SR, LE-SR). After a brief overview of the LE-SR method, some representative experiments performed with this technique will be presented. The first direct determination of the field profile just below the surface of a high-temperature superconductor in the Meissner phase illustrates the power and sensitivity of low energy muons as near-surface probe and is an example of general application to depth profiling of magnetic fields. The evolution of the flux line lattice distribution across the surface of a YBa₂Cu₃O₇ film in the vortex phase has been investigated by implanting muons on both sides of a normal-superconducting boundary. A determination of the relaxation time and energy barrier to thermal activation in iron nanoclusters, embedded in a silver thin film matrix (500nm), demonstrates the use of slow muons to measure the properties of samples that cannot be made thick enough for the use of conventional SR. Other experiments investigated the magnetic properties of thin Cr(001) layers at thicknesses above and below the collapse of the spin density wave.     

InAs单层和亚单层结构中的自旋动力学研究

利用偏振时间分辨光谱和时间分辨Kerr旋转谱，研究了GaAs中的InAs单层和亚单层的电子自旋动力学.实验发现，在非共振激发条件下，厚度为1/3单层的InAs亚单层中电子自旋弛豫寿命长达3.4ns，而1个单层厚的InAs层的电子自旋寿命只有0.48ns；而在共振激发条件下，亚单层结构中的电子自旋寿命大大减少，只有70ps，单层InAs中电子自旋寿命没有显著变化.分析表明，低温下InAs单层和亚单层结构中，Bir-Aronov-Pikus(BAP)自旋弛豫机理占主导地位.通过改变材料结构特性和激发条件来改变电子空穴的空间相关性，从而达到控制自旋弛豫的目的. 关键词： InAs亚单层 自旋弛豫 BAP机理     

微米气室铯原子自旋噪声谱

利用自旋噪声谱技术研究了无缓冲气体133Cs原子气室的自旋动力学和展宽机制.在宏观原子气室中,自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的线型为高斯分布;在空间局域较强的微米气室中,自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的线型为洛伦兹分布.实验测量得到的自旋弛豫速率失谐频率谱的展宽约4 GHz,明显大于宏观原子气室中约度强烈依赖于激光相对于原子共振跃迁的频率失谐;在微米气室中,由于较强的均匀展宽,总噪声的失谐频率谱中心处出现明显的凹陷.通过建立简化的物理模型来计算微米气室的展宽机制,在实验与理论中解释了原子的均匀展宽特性.     

Spin relaxation in nanowires by hyperfine coupling

Hyperfine interactions establish limits on spin dynamics and relaxation rates in ensembles of semiconductor quantum dots. It is the confinement of electrons which determines nonzero hyperfine coupling and leads to the spin relaxation. As a result, in nanowires one would expect the vanishing of this effect due to extended electron states. However, even for relatively clean wires, disorder plays a crucial role and makes electron localization sufficient to cause spin relaxation on the time scale of the order of 10 ns. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Spin Dynamics and Dirac Nodes in a Kagome Lattice

Herein, the spin dynamics for various magnetic configurations arranged on a Kagome lattice is investigated. Using a Holstein–Primakoff expansion of the isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian with multiple exchange parameters, the development and evolution of magnetic Dirac nodes with both anisotropy and magnetic field are examined. From the classical energies, the phase diagrams for the ferromagnetic (FM), antiferrimagnetic (AfM), and the 120°  phases are shown as functions of J₁, J₂, J₃, and anisotropy. Furthermore, the production of bosonic Dirac and Weyl nodes in the spin-wave spectra is shown. Through frustration of the magnetic geometry, a connection to the asymmetric properties of the Kagome lattice and the various antiferromagnetic configurations is discerned. Most interesting is the 120°  phase, which does not have Dirac nodes when considering only J₁ due to the formation of an analogous antiferromagnetic honeycomb lattice, but gains Dirac symmetry with next-nearest neighbor interactions. Additionally, the presence of flat modes that are characteristic of cluster excitations is shown. Further study of external frustrations from a magnetic field and anisotropy reveals a tunability of the exchange interactions and nodal points.     

Spin, charge, and orbital orderings in iron-based superconductors

In this article, we briefly review spin, charge, and orbital orderings in iron-based superconductors, as well as the multi-orbital models. The interplay of spin, charge, and orbital orderings is a key to understand the high temperature superconductivity. As an illustration, we use the two-orbital model to show the spin and charge orderings in iron-based superconductors based on the mean-field approximation in real space. The typical spin and charge orderings are shown by choosing appropriate parameters, which are in good agreement with experiments. We also show the effect of Fe vacancies, which can introduce the nematic phase and interesting magnetic ground states. The orbital ordering is also discussed in iron-based superconductors. It is found that disorder may play a role to produce the superconductivity.     

On the Ground State of Spin Systems with Orbital Degeneracy

In order to understand the properties of the spin system with orbital degeneracy,we first study the ground state of the SU(4) spin-orbital model on a square lattice.The mean-field results suggest that for a small Hund‘s interaction,the flavor liquid state is stable against the solid state,but with sufficient deviation from the SU(4) limit the long-range order may be attained in 2D system.Furthermore,we employ a variational approach to calculate the phase diagram of the ground state and the temperature-dependent susceptibility by taking into account the Hund‘s interaction and the anisotropy in orbital wavefunctions.Finally,the implications for the experimental observations on the material,LiNiO2,are discussed.     

Nd1.67Sr0.33NiO4中的热导反常

报道了两个典型掺杂的镍氧化物Nd＿2-xSr＿xNiO＿4(x =0.33,1.35)的低温热导率、电阻率和低场交流磁化率，测试温区为77—300K. 在Nd＿2-xSr＿xNiO＿4 (x=0.33)样品的热导率-温度曲线上在电荷有序转 变温度（T＿CO）和自旋有序转变温度（T＿SO）附近分别观测到反常， 电荷有序使热导率在T＿CO以下有所增加，反铁磁自旋有序使热导率在T＿SO附近被压制. 在低场交流磁化率-温度曲线上也分别观测到对电荷有序和自旋有 序的响应，而在其电阻率-温度曲线上仅观测到电荷有序. 作为比较，Nd＿1.67Sr0.33NiO＿4样品中没有观测到输运性质和磁性质上的反常. 两个样品中声子热导占 主导地位. Nd＿1.67Sr0.33NiO＿4样品中电荷有序和自旋有序导致的热导 率的反常表明样品中存在强的电荷-声子和自旋-声子相互作用. 关键词： 热导率 电荷有序 自旋有序     

Nd_(1.67)Sr_(0.33)NiO_4中的热导反常

报道了两个典型掺杂的镍氧化物Nd2 -xSrxNiO4 (x=0 33,1 35 )的低温热导率、电阻率和低场交流磁化率 ,测试温区为 77— 30 0K .在Nd2 -xSrxNiO4 (x=0 33)样品的热导率_温度曲线上在电荷有序转变温度 (TCO)和自旋有序转变温度 (TSO)附近分别观测到反常 ,电荷有序使热导率在TCO 以下有所增加 ,反铁磁自旋有序使热导率在TSO 附近被压制 .在低场交流磁化率_温度曲线上也分别观测到对电荷有序和自旋有序的响应 ,而在其电阻率_温度曲线上仅观测到电荷有序 .作为比较 ,Nd0 6 5Sr1 35NiO4 样品中没有观测到输运性质和磁性质上的反常 .两个样品中声子热导占主导地位 .Nd1 6 7Sr0 33NiO4 样品中电荷有序和自旋有序导致的热导率的反常表明样品中存在强的电荷_声子和自旋_声子相互作用