Prediction of strong magnetic quantum oscillations of the nuclear spin relaxation in a quasi-two-dimensional metal

The nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate in a quasi-two-dimensional (2-D) metal under strong magnetic fields is studied in a special case where the electronic cyclotron mass is small compared with the free electron mass. In the pure limit (ω_cτ ? 1) and for sufficiently low temperatures ($\text{h}\text{?}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{> 2π}{}^2\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{B}}\text{T}$) we find remarkable quantum oscillations of the relaxation rate as a function of the magnetic field. The period of these oscillations is identical to that of the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations and their amplitude grows linearly with the magnetic field. The possibility of observing such oscillations experimentally in the quasi-2-D mercury chain compound Hg_3?δAsF₆ is discussed.