1. Observation of a Charge-Neutral Muon-Polaron Complex in Antiferromagnetic Cr_{2}O_{3}
- Author
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M. H. Dehn, J. K. Shenton, S. Holenstein, Q. N. Meier, D. J. Arseneau, D. L. Cortie, B. Hitti, A. C. Y. Fang, W. A. MacFarlane, R. M. L. McFadden, G. D. Morris, Z. Salman, H. Luetkens, N. A. Spaldin, M. Fechner, and R. F. Kiefl
- Subjects
Physics ,QC1-999 - Abstract
We report a comprehensive muon spin rotation (μSR) study of the prototypical magnetoelectric antiferromagnet Cr_{2}O_{3}. We find the positively charged muon (μ^{+}) occupies several distinct interstitial sites and displays a rich dynamic behavior involving local hopping, thermally activated site transitions, and the formation of a charge-neutral complex composed of a muon and an electron polaron. The discovery of such a complex has implications for the interpretation of μSR spectra in a wide range of magnetic oxides and opens a route to study the dopant characteristics of interstitial hydrogen impurities in such materials. We address implications arising from implanting a μ^{+} into a linear magnetoelectric and discuss the challenges of observing a local magnetoelectric effect generated by the charge of the muon.
- Published
- 2020
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