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The ground state of alkali metals when the particle size decreases from bulk to nanometric atomic clusters is inevitably accompanied by quantum effects that can suppress their pristine metallic state. We demonstrate that the metallic nature of rubidium clusters confined and arrayed in the framework of insulating low-silica X zeolite is preserved. The $^{87}$Rb NMR spin-lattice relaxation assigned to rubidium clusters in supercages shows a Korringa behavior from 190~K down to 10~K, which is compatible with a macroscopic observation of low electrical resistivity. The density of states at the Fermi level is found to be enhanced compared to the analogous sodium case, consistent with a Holstein-Hubbard model of alkali-loaded zeolites., Comment: Extended version showing new data, 4+epsilon pages, 4 figures

We report a $^{23}$Na spin-lattice relaxation rate, $T_1^{-1}$, in low-silica X zeolite. $T_1^{-1}$ follows multiple BPP-type behavior as a result of thermal motion of sodium cations in insulating material. The estimated lowest activation energy of 15~meV is much lower than 100~meV observed previously for sodium motion in heavily Na-loaded samples and is most likely attributed to short-distance jumps of sodium cations between sites within the same supercage., Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, published in JPSJ

We report a systematic nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of the $^{23}$Na spin-lattice relaxation rate, $1/T_1$, in sodium loaded low-silica X (LSX) zeolite, Na$_n$/Na$_{12}$-LSX, for various loading levels of sodium atoms $n$ across the metal-to-insulator crossover. For high loading levels of $n \geq 14.2$, $1/T_1T$ shows nearly temperature-independent behavior between 10 K and 25 K consistent with the Korringa relaxation mechanism and metallic ground state. As the loading levels decrease below $n \leq 11.6$, the extracted density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level sharply decreases, although a residual DOS at Fermi level is still observed even in samples that lack the metallic Drude-peak in the optical reflectance. The observed crossover is a result of a complex loading-level dependence of electric potential felt by the electrons confined to zeolite cages, where the electronic correlations and disorder both play an important role., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We report a \^{23}Na and \^{27}Al nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) investigation of low-silica X (LSX) zeolite with chemical formula Na_{12}Al_{12}Si_{12}O_{48} (Na_{12}-LSX) loaded with n additional guest sodium atoms. Na_{n}/Na_{12}-LSX exhibits an insulator-to-metal transition around n=11.6, which is accompanied by a significant enhancement of bulk magnetic susceptibility. Paramagnetic moments are thermally activated in the metallic Na_{12}/Na_{12}-LSX with an activation energy of around 0.1 eV. At the same time, a new shifted component (SC) appears in the \^{23}Na NMR, whose large and positive NMR shift scales with bulk magnetic susceptibility. Its spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_{1} is governed by the fluctuations determined by the same activation energy as obtained from the bulk magnetic susceptibility data. The timescale of these fluctuations is typical for atomic motions, which suggest strong electron-phonon coupling, a hallmark of polaron states. The insulator-to-metal transition in Na_{n}/Na_{12}-LSX is thus discussed within a polaron model., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures