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Superconducting spintronics has emerged in the past decade as a promising new field that seeks to open a new dimension for nanoelectronics by utilizing the internal spin structure of the superconducting Cooper pair as a new degree of freedom. Its basic building blocks are spin-triplet Cooper pairs with equally aligned spins, which are promoted by proximity of a conventional superconductor to a ferromagnetic material with inhomogeneous macroscopic magnetization. Using low-energy muon spin-rotation experiments we find an unanticipated effect, in contradiction with the existing theoretical models of superconductivity and ferromagnetism: the appearance of a magnetization in a thin layer of a non-magnetic metal (gold), separated from a ferromagnetic double layer by a 50-nm-thick superconducting layer of Nb. The effect can be controlled either by temperature or by using a magnetic field to control the state of the remote ferromagnetic elements, and may act as a basic building block for a new generation of quantum interference devices based on the spin of a Cooper pair.

A new project was initiated at PSI to replace the existing μE4 decay channel with a new beam line delivering surface/cloud beams of highest luminosities. This goal will be accomplished by installing a solenoidal lens system at the main production target E and then transporting the muons with conventional beamline elements of very big apertures to a greatly enlarged experimental floor. Several slit systems and an electrostatic separator will be available to control the beam shape and reduce the electrons and other background. Particle fluxes up to 5 × 108μ+/s and 107μ−/s can be expected at 28 MeV/c beam momentum, using the 600 MeV primary proton beam of 1.7 mA. The operation of the channel will be limited to a maximum momentum of 40 MeV/c. The beam line has been specially designed to provide highest flux to the ultra-slow μ+beam (LEM).

Abstract: This paper describes a study of superparamagnetism in iron nanoclusters using low energy μSR, including for the first time zero field measurements, which yield an intrinsic nanocluster superparamagnetic relaxation rate of ν0=6715 MHz and an energy barrier of ΔE=374 K. TEM micrographs of the embedded clusters show there to be a range of shapes and also sizes, which is bourne out by SQUID magnetometry measurements.

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 μSR, LE-μSR). After a brief overview of the LE-μSR 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 YBa2Cu3O7film 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 μSR. Other experiments investigated the magnetic properties of thin Cr(001) layers at thicknesses above and below the collapse of the spin density wave.

Abstract: At the Paul Scherrer Institute slow positive muons (μ+) with nearly 100% polarization and an energy of about 10 eV are generated by moderation of an intense secondary beam of surface muons in an appropriate condensed gas layer. These epithermal muons are used as a source of a tertiary beam of tunable energy between 10 eV and 20 keV. The range of these muons in solids is up to 100 nm which allows the extension of the μ+SR techniques (muon spin rotation, relaxation, resonance) to the study of thin films. A basic requirement for the proper interpretation of μ+SR results on thin films and multi-layers is the knowledge of the depth distribution of muons in matter. To date, no data are available concerning this topic. Therefore, we investigated the penetration depth of μ+ with energies between 8 keV and 16 keV in Cu/SiO2 samples. The experimental data are in agreement with simulated predictions. Additionally, we present two examples of first applications of low energy μ+ in μ+SR investigations. We measured the magnetic field distribution inside a 500-nm thin High-TC superconductor (YBa2Cu3O7-δ), as well as the depth dependence of the field distribution near the surface. In another experiment a 500-nm thin sample of Fe-nanoclusters (diameter 2.4(4) nm), embedded in an Ag matrix with a volume concentration of 0.1%, was investigated with transverse field μ+SR.

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