Muon Spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract Muons, radioactive particles produced in accelerators, have emerged as an important tool to study problems in condensed matter physics and chemistry. Beams of muons with all their spins polarized can be prepared and implanted in various types of sample. The subsequent precession and relaxation of the spins of these particles can used to investigate a variety of static and dynamic effects in a sample and hence to deduce properties concerning magnetism, superconductivity, molecular or chemical dynamics, and many other properties. The technique was originally the preserve of a few specialists located in particle physics laboratories. Today it is used by scientists from a very wide range of science backgrounds and interests. This book describes the principles behind this technique, discusses various practical aspects necessary for performing experiments, and outlines the different areas of science to which muon spectroscopy can be usefully applied.