The hyperfine structure of the interstitial muonium (Mu) center in rutile (TiO$_2$, weakly $n$-type) has been identified by means of muon spin rotation technique. The angle-resolved hyperfine parameter has a tetragonal anisotropy within the $ab$ plan
e and axial anisotropy along the $c$ axis, strongly suggesting that Mu simulates the known local structure of interstitial hydrogen (H) located at an off-center position within a channel along $c$ axis, and the electron wave function bound to Mu is highly delocalized (~1.5 nm along $c$ axis, ~0.8 nm for $a$ axis). The ionization energy of Mu ($rightarrow mu^+ + e^-$) due to thermal activation is deduced to be 1.2(4) meV, as is directly inferred from the disappearance of Mu signal above ~8 K. These observations suggest that electronic level associated with Mu (as well as H) is situated near the bottom of the conduction band, serving as a shallow donor state in rutile.
We demonstrate via a muon spin rotation experiment that the electronic ground state of the iridium spinel compound, CuIr$_2$S$_4$, is not the presumed spin-singlet state but a novel paramagnetic state, showing a quasistatic spin glass-like magnetism
below ~100 K. Considering the earlier indication that IrS$_6$ octahedra exhibit dimerization associated with the metal-to-insulator transition below 230 K, the present result suggests that a strong spin-orbit interaction may be playing an important role in determining the ground state that accompanies magnetic frustration.
Magnetism of ruthernium pyrochlore oxides A2Ru2O7 (A = Hg, Cd, Ca), whose electronic properties within a localized ion picture are characterized by non-degenerate t2g orbitals (Ru5+, 4d3) and thereby subject to geometrical frustration, has been inves
tigated by muon spin rotation/relaxation (muSR) technique. The A cation (mostly divalent) was varied to examine the effect of covalency (Hg > Cd > Ca) on their electronic property. In a sample with A = Hg that exhibits a clear metal-insulator (MI) transition below >> 100 K (which is associated with a weak structural transition), a nearly commensurate magnetic order is observed to develop in accordance with the MI transition. Meanwhile, in the case of A = Cd where the MI transition is suppressed to the level of small anomaly in the resistivity, the local field distribution probed by muon indicates emergence of a certain magnetic inhomogeneity below {guillemotright} 30 K. Moreover, in Ca2Ru2O7 that remains metallic, we find a highly inhomogeneous local magnetism below >>25 K that comes from randomly oriented Ru moments and thus described as a frozen spin liquid state. The systematic trend of increasing randomness and itinerant character with decreasing covalency suggests close relationship between these two characters. As a reference for the effect of orbital degeneracy and associated Jahn-Teller instability, we examine a tetravalent ruthernium pyrochlore, Tl2Ru2O7 (Ru4+, 4d4), where the result of muSR indicates a non-magnetic ground state that is consistent with the formation of the Haldane chains suggested by neutron diffraction experiment.
The presence of macroscopic phase separation between the superconducting and magnetic phases in cfcaf is demonstrated by muon spin rotation (muSR) measurements conducted across their phase boundaries (x=0.05-0.15). The magnetic phase tends to retain
the high transition temperature (T_m > T_c), while Co-doping induces strong randomness. The volumetric fraction of superconducting phase is nearly proportional to the Co content $x$ with constant superfluid density. These observations suggest the formation of superconducting islands (or domains) associated with Co ions in the Fe$_2$As$_2$ layers, indicating a very short coherence length.
Superfluid density ($n_s$) in the mixed state of an iron pnictide superconductor Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ is determined by muon spin rotation for a sample with optimal doping ($x=0.4$). The temperature dependence of $n_s$ is perfectly reproduc
ed by the conventional BCS model for s-wave paring, where the order parameter can be either a single-gap with $Delta=8.35(6)$ meV [$2Delta/k_BT_c=5.09(4)$], or double-gap structure with $Delta_1=12$ meV (fixed) [$2Delta_1/k_BT_c=7.3$] and $Delta_2=6.8(3)$ meV [$2Delta_2/k_BT_c=4.1(2)$]. The latter is consistent with the recent result of angle-resolved photo-emssion spectroscopy. The large gap parameters ($2Delta/k_BT_c$) indicate extremely strong coupling of carriers to bosons that mediate the Cooper pairing.
The presence of spin-orbit (SO) interaction in a noncentrosymmetric superconductor, La2C3 (T_c~11 K) is demonstrated by muon spin rotation (muSR) in its normal state, where muSR spectra exhibit field-induced weak depolarization due to van Vleck-like
local susceptibility. In the mixed state, muon spin relaxation due to inhomogeneity of internal field (sigma_v) exhibits a field dependence that is characterized by a kink, where sigma_v (and hence the superfluid density) is more strongly reduced at lower fields. This is perfectly in line with the presence of a secondary energy gap previously inferred from the temperature dependence of sigma_v, and also consistent with the possible influence of asymmetric deformation of the Fermi surface due to the SO interaction.
Recent discovery of oxypnictide superconductor LaFeAs(O,F) (LFAO-F) with the critical temperature (Tc) of 26 K and succeeding revelation of much increased Tc upon substitution of La for other rare earth elements (such as Sm, leading to ~43 K) and app
lication of pressure for LFAO-F (~ 43 K) has triggered broad interest in the mechanism yielding relatively high Tc in this new class of compounds. While they share a feature with high-Tc cuprates that superconductivity occurs upon carrier doping to pristine compound which exhibits magnetism, they also resemble the heavy-fermion compounds in the sense that superconductivity appears in the vicinity of magnetic phase. Investigation of electronic states near the boundary between these two phases might provide some useful information on the mechanism of superconductivity, as it has been proved to be the case in many exotic superconductors. Here we show by muon experiment in the LFAO-F compound that a macroscopic phase separation into superconducting and spin glass-like magnetic phases occurs at x=0.06 that is near the phase boundary, where both the magnetism and superconductivity develop simultaneously below a common Tc ~ 18 K. This accordance strongly suggests intimate relationship between magnetism and superconductivity typically found in heavy-fermion systems near the quantum critical point.
Local magnetic field distribution B(r) in the mixed state of a boride superconductor, YB6, is studied by muon spin rotation (muSR). A comparative analysis using the modified London model and Ginzburg-Landau (GL) model indicates that the GL model exhi
bits better agreement with muSR data at higher fields, thereby demonstrating the importance of reproducing the field profile near the vortex cores when the intervortex distance becomes closer to the GL coherence length. The temperature and field dependence of magnetic penetration depth ($lambda$) does not show any hint of nonlocal effect nor of low-lying quasiparticle excitation. This suggests that the strong coupling of electrons to the rattling motion of Y ions in the boron cage suggested by bulk measurements gives rise to a conventional superconductivity with isotropic s-wave pairing. Taking account of the present result, a review is provided for probing the anisotropy of superconducting order parameters by the slope of $lambda$ against field.
