111 research outputs found
Spatial confinement of muonium atoms
We report the achievement of spatial confinement of muonium atoms (the bound
state of a positive muon and an electron). Muonium emitted into vacuum from
mesoporous silica reflects between two SiO confining surfaces separated by
1 mm. From the data, one can extract that the reflection probability on the
confining surfaces kept at 100 K is about 90% and the reflection process is
well described by a cosine law. This technique enables new experiments with
this exotic atomic system and is a very important step towards a measurement of
the 1S-2S transition frequency using continuous wave laser spectroscopy.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
Measurement of the spatial extent of inverse proximity in a Py/Nb/Py superconducting trilayer using low-energy muon-spin rotation
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the EPSRC (Grant No. EP/J01060X).Muon-spin rotation has been used to observe directly the spatial variation of the magnetic flux density near the ferromagnetic-superconducting interface in a permalloy-niobium trilayer. Above the superconducting transition temperature Tc the profile of the induced magnetic flux density within the niobium layer has been determined. Below Tc there is a significant reduction of the induced flux density, predominantly near the ferromagnetic-superconducting interfaces. We are uniquely able to determine the magnitude and spatial variation of this reduction in induced magnetization due to the presence of the Cooper pairs, yielding the magnitude and length scale associated with this phenomenon. Both are inconsistent with a simple Meissner screening and indicate the existence of another mechanism, the influence of which is localized within the vicinity of the ferromagnetic interface.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Depth dependent spin dynamics of canonical spin glass films: A low-energy muon spin rotation study
We have performed depth dependent muon spin rotation/relaxation studies of
the dynamics of single layer films of {\it Au}Fe and {\it Cu}Mn spin glasses as
a function of thickness and of its behavior as a function of distance from the
vacuum interface (5-70 nm). A significant reduction in the muon spin relaxation
rate as a function of temperature with respect to the bulk material is observed
when the muons are stopped near (5-10 nm) the surface of the sample. A similar
reduction is observed for the whole sample if the thickness is reduced to e.g.
20 nm and less. This reflects an increased impurity spin dynamics (incomplete
freezing) close to the surface although the freezing temperature is only
modestly affected by the dimensional reduction
Do topology and ferromagnetism cooperate at the EuS/BiSe interface?
We probe the local magnetic properties of interfaces between the insulating
ferromagnet EuS and the topological insulator BiSe using low energy
muon spin rotation (LE-SR). We compare these to the interface between EuS
and the topologically trivial metal, titanium. Below the magnetic transition of
EuS, we detect strong local magnetic fields which extend several nm into the
adjacent layer and cause a complete depolarization of the muons. However, in
both BiSe and titanium we measure similar local magnetic fields,
implying that their origin is mostly independent of the topological properties
of the interface electronic states. In addition, we use resonant soft X-ray
angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SX-ARPES) to probe the electronic
band structure at the interface between EuS and BiSe. By tuning the
photon energy to the Eu anti-resonance at the Eu pre-edge we are able to
detect the BiSe conduction band, through a protective AlO
capping layer and the EuS layer. Moreover, we observe a signature of an
interface-induced modification of the buried BiSe wave functions and/or
the presence of interface states
The elevated Curie temperature and half-metallicity in the ferromagnetic semiconductor LaEuO
Here we study the effect of La doping in EuO thin films using SQUID
magnetometry, muon spin rotation (SR), polarized neutron reflectivity
(PNR), and density functional theory (DFT). The SR data shows that the
LaEuO is homogeneously magnetically ordered up to its
elevated . It is concluded that bound magnetic polaron behavior does
not explain the increase in and an RKKY-like interaction is
consistent with the SR data. The estimation of the magnetic moment by DFT
simulations concurs with the results obtained by PNR, showing a reduction of
the magnetic moment per LaEuO for increasing lanthanum doping.
This reduction of the magnetic moment is explained by the reduction of the
number of Eu-4 electrons present in all the magnetic interactions in EuO
films. Finally, we show that an upwards shift of the Fermi energy with La or Gd
doping gives rise to half-metallicity for doping levels as high as 3.2 %.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure
Spectroscopic perspective on the interplay between electronic and magnetic properties of magnetically doped topological insulators
We combine low energy muon spin rotation (LE-SR) and soft-X-ray
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SX-ARPES) to study the magnetic and
electronic properties of magnetically doped topological insulators,
(Bi,Sb)Te. We find that one achieves a full magnetic volume fraction in
samples of (V/Cr)(Bi,Sb)Te at doping levels x 0.16.
The observed magnetic transition is not sharp in temperature indicating a
gradual magnetic ordering. We find that the evolution of magnetic ordering is
consistent with formation of ferromagnetic islands which increase in number
and/or volume with decreasing temperature. Resonant ARPES at the V edge
reveals a nondispersing impurity band close to the Fermi level as well as V
weight integrated into the host band structure. Calculations within the
coherent potential approximation of the V contribution to the spectral function
confirm that this impurity band is caused by V in substitutional sites. The
implications of our results on the observation of the quantum anomalous Hall
effect at mK temperatures are discussed
Direct observation of the oxygen isotope effect on the in-plane magnetic field penetration depth in optimally doped YBaCuO
We report the first direct observation of the oxygen-isotope
(O/O) effect on the in-plane penetration depth in
a nearly optimally doped YBaCuO film using the novel
low-energy muon-spin rotation technique. Spin polarized low energy muons are
implanted in the film at a known depth beneath the surface and precess in
the local magnetic field . This feature allows us to measure directly the
profile of the magnetic field inside the superconducting film in the
Meissner state and to make a model independent determination of .
A substantial isotope shift % at 4 K is
observed, implying that the in-plane effective supercarrier mass
is oxygen-isotope dependent with .Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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