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The magnetic moments of $^{17}\mathrm{N}$ and $^{17}\mathrm{B}$ were measured by using spin-polarized radioactive nuclear beams which were obtained from the projectile fragmentation reaction. The observed magnetic moment of $^{17}\mathrm{N}$, \ensuremath{\Vert}\ensuremath{\mu}${(}^{17}$N)\ensuremath{\Vert}=(0.352\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.002)${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{N}}$, where ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{N}}$ is the nuclear magneton, falls outside the Schmidt lines. By virtue of a simplifying feature of nuclear structure inherent in a ${\mathit{p}}_{1/2}$ valence nucleus, the deviation from the Schmidt value is attributed on firm ground to admixing of the configurations in which two neutrons in the sd shell are coupled to ${\mathit{J}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\pi}}}$=${2}^{+}$. This interpretation is confirmed in standard shell-model calculations. The calculations reproduce fairly well the experimentally inferred amount of ${2}^{+}$ admixture, as well as the experimental magnetic moment itself. The magnetic moment for $^{17}\mathrm{B}$ was determined as \ensuremath{\Vert}\ensuremath{\mu}${(}^{17}$B)\ensuremath{\Vert}=(2.545\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.020)${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\mu}}}_{\mathit{N}}$. The result is substantially smaller than the \ensuremath{\pi}${\mathit{p}}_{1/2}$ single-particle value, and the shell-model calculations indicate that the quenching of \ensuremath{\mu} largely stems from ${\mathit{J}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\pi}}}$=${2}^{+}$ configurations of the sd neutrons. The observed amount of quenching, however, is larger than the shell-model predictions, suggesting an enhanced contribution of the ${2}^{+}$ neutron configurations. This result is explained if the pairing energy for neutrons in the sd shell of a neutron-rich nucleus is assumed to diminish by about 30%. We also find that the use of the reduced pairing energy improves agreements in the magnetic moment and low-lying energy levels of $^{17}\mathrm{N}$ as well. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

Phenomenon of ejectile spin polarization in the projectile fragmentation reaction was exploited as a tool to produce polarized radioactive nuclei. The polarized unstable nuclei were subjected to the β-detected NMR meaurements, and the magnetic moments and electric quadrupole moments were determined for several neutron-rich light nuclei. The comparison of the experimental results with theoretical predictions shows that the nuclear moments provide useful test of models for nuclear structure and interaction in the region of light-mass unstable nuclei.