Dynamical splayed ferromagnetic ground state in the quantum spin ice Yb(2)Sn(2)O(7).

From magnetic, specific heat, (170)Yb Mössbauer effect, neutron diffraction, and muon spin relaxation measurements on polycrystalline Yb(2)Sn(2)O(7), we show that below the first order transition at 0.15 K all of the Yb(3+) ions are long-range magnetically ordered and each has a moment of 1.1 µ(B) which lies at ≃ 10° to a common fourfold cubic axis. The four sublattice moments have four different directions away from this axis and are therefore noncoplanar. We term this arrangement splayed ferromagnetism. This ground state has a dynamical component with a fluctuation rate in the megahertz range. The net ferromagnetic exchange interaction has an anisotropy that favors the local threefold axis. We discuss our results in terms of the phase diagram proposed by Savary and Balents [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 037202 (2012)] for a pyrochlore lattice of Kramers 1/2 effective spins.

Design and commissioning of a high magnetic field muon spin relaxation spectrometer at the ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source.

The high magnetic field (HiFi) muon instrument at the ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source is a state-of-the-art spectrometer designed to provide applied magnetic fields up to 5 T for muon studies of condensed matter and molecular systems. The spectrometer is optimised for time-differential muon spin relaxation studies at a pulsed muon source. We describe the challenges involved in its design and construction, detailing, in particular, the magnet and detector performance. Commissioning experiments have been conducted and the results are presented to demonstrate the scientific capabilities of the new instrument.

Magnetic frustration in the disordered pyrochlore Yb(2)GaSbO(7).

In the pyrochlore Yb(2)GaSbO(7), the Yb(3+) sublattice forms a network of corner sharing tetrahedra and the second sublattice is made up of disordered, non-magnetic Ga(3+) and Sb(5+) ions. We have examined this compound using magnetic susceptibility, (170)Yb Mössbauer spectroscopy (down to 0.03 K) and muon spin relaxation (µSR) (down to 0.02 K) measurements. We establish the size of the Yb(3+) magnetic moments and that of the Yb(3+)-Yb(3+) coupling. At low temperatures, the correlated moments fluctuate between directions that are well tilted relative to the local [111] axis. The lattice disorder does not quench the frustration induced low temperature spin fluctuations but it does remove the first order dynamic transition that is present in the crystallographically ordered counterpart Yb(2)Ti(2)O(7). Below 1.0 K, the fluctuation rate of the correlated moments decreases progressively as the temperature is reduced and the moments remain dynamic down to 0.02 K where the rate is 7 × 10(7) s(-1). Magnetic frustration is operative in Yb(2)GaSbO(7) where the Yb(3+)-Yb(3+) interaction is antiferromagnetic as it is in Yb(2)Ti(2)O(7) where the interaction is ferromagnetic.

The donor nature of muonium in undoped, heavily n-type and p-type InAs.

The charge state of muonium has been investigated in p-type doped, nominally undoped (low n-type) and heavily n-type doped InAs. The donor Mu(+) state is shown to be the dominant defect in all cases. Consequently, muonium does not simply counteract the prevailing conductivity in this material. This is consistent with the charge neutrality level lying above the conduction band minimum in InAs.

Dynamics and reactivity of positively charged muonium in heavily doped Si:B and comparisons with hydrogen.

The detailed dynamics of the positively charged muonium (Mu+) in heavily doped p-type Si:B is reported. Below 200 K, Mu+ is static and isolated, and is located in a stretched Si-Si bond. Above approximately 200 K, Mu+ diffuses incoherently. At temperatures higher than 300 K, the Mu+-B- complex is formed while above 520 K, it starts to dissociate. There is significant enhancement of the diffusion of Mu+ in Si compared to H+ and D+-this is attributed to its smaller mass.

Spin dynamics and magnetic order in magnetically frustrated Tb2Sn2O7.

We report a study of the geometrically frustrated magnetic material Tb2Sn2O7 by the positive muon-spin relaxation technique. No signature of a static magnetically ordered state is detected while neutron magnetic reflections are observed in agreement with a published report. This is explained by the dynamical nature of the ground state of Tb2Sn2O7: the Tb3+ magnetic moment characteristic fluctuation time is approximately 10(-10) s. The strong effect of the magnetic field on the muon-spin-lattice relaxation rate at low fields indicates a large field-induced increase of the magnetic density of states of the collective excitations at low energy.

Observation of many coherent oscillations for MeV protons transmitted through stacking faults.

High spatial resolution, high-contrast transmission channeling images of stacking faults in silicon have been produced using a beam of 2 MeV protons focused to a spot size of 60 nm. Over a narrow range of beam tilts to the (011) planes, up to ten periodic intensity oscillations are observed, providing evidence of a long-range coherency of the planar channeled trajectories. This behavior is characterized using Monte Carlo computer simulations, and a phase-space model of planar channeled ion interactions with stacking faults is developed which incorporates all observed channeling and blocking phenomena.

Absence of magnetic order in Yb3Ga5O12: relation between phase transition and entropy in geometrically frustrated materials.

From muon spin relaxation spectroscopy experiments, we show that the sharp peak (lambda-type anomaly) detected by specific heat measurements at 54 mK for the ytterbium gallium garnet compound, Yb3Ga5O12, does not correspond to the onset of a magnetic phase transition, but to a pronounced building up of dynamical magnetic pair correlations. Beside the lambda anomaly, a broad hump is observed at higher temperature in the specific heat of this garnet and other geometrically frustrated compounds. Comparing with other frustrated magnetic systems we infer that a ground state with long-range order is reached only when at least 1/4-1/3 of the magnetic entropy is released at the lambda transition.

Magnetic correlations and the anisotropic Kondo effect in Ce1-xLaxAl3.

By combining the results of muon spin relaxation and inelastic neutron scattering in the heavy fermion compounds Ce1-xLaxAl3 (0.0

First-order transition in the spin dynamics of geometrically frustrated Yb2Ti2O7.

Using neutron diffraction, 170Yb Mössbauer and muon spin relaxation spectroscopies, we have examined the pyrochlore Yb2Ti2O7, where the Yb3+S' = 1/2 ground state has planar anisotropy. Below approximately 0.24 K, the temperature of the known specific-heat lambda transition, there is no long range magnetic order. We show that the transition corresponds to a first-order change in the fluctuation rate of the Yb3+ spins. Above the transition temperature, the rate, in the GHz range, follows a thermal excitation law, whereas below, the rate, in the MHz range, is temperature independent, indicative of a quantum fluctuation regime.