Detection of Quadrupole Interactions by Muon Level Crossing Resonance

Abstract

AbstractThe positive muon proves to be a very versatile and sensitive magnetic resonance probe: implanted in virtually any material its polarisation may be monitored via the asymmetry in its radioactive decay, giving information on the sites occupied by the muon in lattices or molecules, and the local fields experienced at these sites. The scope of these experiments has been greatly extended by the development of a technique of cross relaxation or level crossing resonance which allows quadrupole splittings on nuclei adjacent to the muon to be measured. The principles of the technique and the conditions necessary for detection of the spectra are described, together with a number of applications. Of especial interest is the manner in which muons mimic the behaviour of protons in matter. In metal lattices, for instance, muons invariably adopt the same interstitial sites as do protons in the dilute hydride phases, so that they can be used to study problems of localisation and diffusion common to those of hydrogen in metals. Studies of the muon level crossing resonance in copper have given valuable information on the crystallographic site, electronic structure and low temperature mobility of the interstitial defect. In semiconductors, muons are expected to trap at other impurities - notably acceptors - in processes analogous to the passivation of dopants by hydrogen. Muon resonance offers the exciting prospect of spectroscopic study of these passivation complexes. In molecular materials, substitution of protons by muons can be thought of rather like deuteration. Muons implanted in ice produce a significant change in the quadrupole coupling constant of adjacent 17O nuclei which may be traced to the effects of the large muon zero point energy; the resonance spectrum also exhibits temperature dependent features which may be informative on the nature and lifetime of defects in the ice structure. Muon level crossing resonance has already been studied in an oxide superconductor and this relatively young field is now wide open for quadrupole interaction studies in other materials, using a variety of nuclei.