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We perform detailed muon spin rotation ($\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{SR}$) measurements in the classic antiferromagnet ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ and explain the spectra by considering dynamic population and dissociation of charge-neutral muon-polaron complexes. We show that charge-neutral muon states in ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, despite lacking the signatures typical of charge-neutral muonium centers in nonmagnetic materials, have a significant impact on the measured $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{SR}$ frequencies and relaxation rates. Our identification of such polaronic muon centers in ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ suggests that isolated hydrogen (H) impurities form analogous complexes, and that H interstitials may be a source of charge carrier density in ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$.

Precise measurements of the muonium (Mu) hyperfine interaction versus temperature are reported in a silica aerogel and mesoporous silica SBA-15 using a fast-timing spectrometer to detect the precession frequencies of Mu in a magnetic field of 1.14 T. The observed signals are a sensitive monitor of dynamics associated with the binding and unbinding of Mu from the silica surface. Above 100 K the Mu is effectively off the surface. Significant differences are observed in the way the lines show motional narrowing, and are attributed to differences in sample morphology. At room temperature the effective mean free path appears longer in SBA-15, suggesting it may offer advantages over aerogel as a source of Mu in vacuum.

Experiments reveal muon-polaron complexes in Cr${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. Similar entities may exist in many magnetic insulators and semiconductors, where they can be used as proxies to understand the impact of hydrogen impurities.

We report $\ensuremath{\beta}$-detected NMR of ion-implanted $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ in a single crystal and thin film of the strongly correlated metal ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_{3}$. Spin-lattice relaxation measurements reveal two distinct local environments, both metallic as evident from $T$-linear Korringa $1/{T}_{1}$ below $200\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ with slopes comparable to other metals. A small approximately temperature-independent Knight shift of $\ensuremath{\sim}74\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ppm}$ is observed, yielding a normalized Korringa product characteristic of substantial antiferromagnetic correlations. We find no evidence for a magnetic transition from 4 to $310\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$. The similarity of these features in the two very different samples indicates that they are intrinsic and unrelated to dilute oxygen vacancies. We attribute the two environments to two distinct but similar crystallographic $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ sites and not to any form of phase inhomogeneity, but this is inconsistent with the conventional rhombohedral structure of ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_{3}$, and also cannot be simply explained by the common alternative orthorhombic or monoclinic distortions.

We report measurements of the diffusion rate of isolated ion-implanted $^{8}{\mathrm{Li}}^{+}$ within $\ensuremath{\sim}120\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}$ of the surface of oriented single-crystal rutile ${\mathrm{TiO}}_{2}$ using a radiotracer technique. The $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles from the $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ decay provide a sensitive monitor of the distance from the surface and how the depth profile of $^{8}\mathrm{Li}$ evolves with time. The main findings are that the implanted ${\mathrm{Li}}^{+}$ diffuses and traps at the (001) surface. The $T$ dependence of the diffusivity is described by a bi-Arrhenius expression with activation energies of 0.3341(21) eV above 200 K, whereas at lower temperatures it has a much smaller barrier of 0.0313(15) eV. We consider possible origins for the surface trapping, as well the nature of the low-$T$ barrier.

We demonstrate the application of implanted-ion $\beta$-detected NMR as a probe of ionic liquid molecular dynamics through the measurement of $^8$Li spin-lattice relaxation (SLR) and resonance in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate. The motional narrowing of the resonance, and the local maxima in the SLR rate, $1/T_1$, imply a sensitivity to sub-nanosecond Li$^+$ solvation dynamics. From an analysis of $1/T_1$, we extract an activation energy ${E_A = 74.8 \pm 1.5}$ meV and Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann constant ${T_{\mathrm{VFT}} = 165.8 \pm 0.9}$ K, in agreement with the dynamic viscosity of the bulk solvent. Near the melting point, the lineshape is broad and intense, and the form of the relaxation is non-exponential, reflective of our sensitivity to heterogeneous dynamics near the glass transition. The depth resolution of this technique may later provide a unique means of studying nanoscale phenomena in ionic liquids.

We report measurements on the high-temperature ionic and low-temperature electronic properties of the three-dimensional topological insulator ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Te}}_{2}\mathrm{Se}$ using ion-implanted $^{8}\mathrm{Li}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\beta}$-detected nuclear magnetic relaxation and resonance. With implantation energies in the range $5--28\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{keV}$, the probes penetrate beyond the expected range of the topological surface state, but are still within $250\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ of the surface. At temperatures above $\ensuremath{\sim}150\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, spin-lattice relaxation measurements reveal isolated $^{8}\mathrm{Li}^{+}$ diffusion with an activation energy ${E}_{A}=0.185(8)\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$ and attempt frequency ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{0}^{\ensuremath{-}1}=8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{11}{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ for atomic site-to-site hopping. At lower temperature, we find a linear Korringa-type relaxation mechanism with a field-dependent slope and intercept, which is accompanied by an anomalous field dependence to the resonance shift. We suggest that these may be related to a strong contribution from orbital currents or the magnetic freeze-out of charge carriers in this heavily compensated semiconductor, but that conventional theories are unable to account for the extent of the field dependence. Conventional NMR of the stable host nuclei may help elucidate their origin.

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been a subject of considerable interest in recent years due to both their magnetic and catalytic properties. This paper reports a two-fold study of the reactivity at...

NMR spectra of Mg2+ ions in ionic liquids were recorded using a highly sensitive variant of NMR spectroscopy known as β-NMR. The β-NMR spectra of MgCl2 in EMIM-Ac and EMIM-DCA compare favourably with conventional NMR, and exhibit linewidths of ∼3 ppm, allowing for discrimination of species with oxygen and nitrogen coordination.

The performance of superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities used for particle accelerators depends on two characteristic material parameters: field of first flux entry $H_{entry}$ and pinning strength. The former sets the limit for the maximum achievable accelerating gradient, while the latter determines how efficiently flux can be expelled related to the maximum achievable quality factor. In this paper, a method based on muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) is developed to probe these parameters on samples. It combines measurements from two different spectrometers, one being specifically built for these studies and samples of different geometries. It is found that annealing at 1400{\deg}C virtually eliminates all pinning. Such an annealed substrate is ideally suited to measure $H_{entry}$ of layered superconductors, which might enable accelerating gradients beyond bulk niobium technology., Comment: 14 pages, 21 figures

By measuring the prototypical antiferromagnet α-Fe_{2}O_{3}, we show that it is possible to determine the static spin orientation and dynamic spin correlations within nanometers from an antiferromagnetic surface using the nuclear spin polarization of implanted ^{8}Li^{+} ions detected with β-NMR. Remarkably, the first-order Morin spin reorientation in single crystal α-Fe_{2}O_{3} occurs at the same temperature at all depths between 1 and 100 nm from the (110) surface; however, the implanted nuclear spin experiences an increased 1/T_{1} relaxation rate at shallow depths revealing soft-surface magnons. The surface-localized dynamics decay towards the bulk with a characteristic length of ε=11±1 nm, closely matching the finite-size thresholds of hematite nanostructures.

A $\ensuremath{\beta}$-NMR study was performed on a ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{2}{\mathrm{RuO}}_{4}$ crystal in the metallic state using a beam of spin-polarized $^{8}\mathrm{Li}^{+}$ implanted at a mean depth of 90 nm. The $^{8}\mathrm{Li}^{+}$ spin-lattice relaxation rate is strongly influenced by the onset of incommensurate spin fluctuations. The nuclear relaxation rate can be explained using previously published bulk $^{17}\mathrm{O}$ NMR and inelastic neutron spectroscopy measurements of the dynamic magnetic susceptibility to model the hyperfine coupling. A well-resolved quadrupolar-split NMR for $^{8}\mathrm{Li}^{+}$ implies a static stopping position in an interstitial site. The $^{8}\mathrm{Li}^{+}$ Knight shift is highly sensitive to the anisotropic static susceptibility.

Muon spin rotation/relaxation measurements show clear evidence for magnetism in 2.2 nm gold nanoparticles capped with butanethiol. At low temperatures (1.8 K), there is significant spin relaxation which decreases as a function of both the applied longitudinal magnetic field and increasing temperature. The results indicate that there are spatially inhomogeneous electronic moments that fluctuate with a wide distribution of correlation times. Possible explanations are discussed.

Chemisorption of muonium onto the surface of gold nanoparticles has been observed. Muonium (μ+e−), a light hydrogen-like atom, reacts chemically with uncapped 7 nm gold nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous silica (SBA-15) with a strong temperature-dependent rate. The addition rate is fast enough to allow coherent spin transfer into a diamagnetic muon state on the nanoparticle surface. The muon is well established as a sensitive probe of static or slowly fluctuating magnetic fields in bulk matter. These results represent the first muon spin rotation signal on a nanoparticle surface or any metallic surface. Only weak magnetic effects are seen on the surface of these Au nanoparticles consistent with Pauli paramagnetism.

We report muon spin rotation/relaxation measurements of muonium in mesoporous silica (SBA-15) with a high specific surface area of 600 m2/g. Up to 70 percent of the incoming muons form muonium and escape efficiently into the open pores at all temperatures between 3 and 300K. We present evidence that the interaction with the silica surfaces involves both spin exchange and a transition to a diamagnetic state, possibly due to dangling bonds on the surface. At very low temperatures, below 20K, the interaction between muonium and the silica surfaces is suppressed due to a He film coating the surfaces. These results indicate that it should be possible to use muonium to probe the surfaces of uncapped nanoparticles supported in silica.

We report preliminary low-energy β-NMR measurements of 8Li+ implanted in single crystal rutile TiO2 at an applied field of 6.55 T and 300 K. We observe a broad 12 kHz wide quadrupole split resonance with unresolved features and a sharp component at the Larmor frequency. The line broadening may be caused by overlapping multi-quantum transitions or motion of 8Li+ on the scale of its lifetime (1.21 s). We also find spin-lattice relaxation that is relatively fast compared to other wide band gap insulators. The origin of this fast relaxation is also likely quadrupolar and may be due to anisotropic 8Li+ diffusion.

Low temperature growth methods were used to encapsulate a buried Mn δ-doping layer into a silicon host. A β-NMR investigation was performed of the magnetic properties in the temperature range 10 – 300 K using spin-polarized 8Li+. A depth-dependent broadening and shift of the NMR resonance was detected that is consistent with internal fields distributed at depths of 10 – 30 nm beneath the surface. At low temperatures, a negative relative shift occurred and the resonance was significantly broadened. At 300 K the line-shape could be described by a single Gaussian line, however, at 10 K the line is best approximated by a two component Lorentzian shape consisting of a broad and narrow component as anticipated for a diluted magnetic alloy. The overall magnitude of the resonance shift at both temperatures is small suggesting a weak interaction between the 8Li+ and the magnetic Mn environment.

μSR and ALCR techniques have been used to investigate the structure and dynamics of the Mu-cyclohexadienyl radical interacting with Au and Pt metal nanoparticles (MNPs) supported in mesoporous silica (SBA-15). Surprisingly, coherent precession signals are observed and the isotropic hyperfine coupling constants are almost the same in loaded and unloaded samples, implying that the electronic structure of MuC6H6 is only weakly perturbed by the presence of the MNPs. We propose the observed radicals are shielded from the metallic surfaces by a benzene coating on the MNPs. The Δ1 resonance is observable in MNP-loaded samples at higher temperatures than in the unloaded SBA-15. This is attributed to stronger binding of MuC6H6 to the benzene coated MNPs.