Observation of a Charge-Neutral Muon-Polaron Complex in Antiferromagnetic Cr_{2}O_{3}

Observation of a Charge-Neutral Muon-Polaron Complex in Antiferromagnetic Cr_{2}O_{3}

We report a comprehensive muon spin rotation (μSR) study of the prototypical magnetoelectric antiferromagnet Cr_{2}O_{3}. We find the positively charged muon (μ^{+}) occupies several distinct interstitial sites and displays a rich dynamic behavior involving local hopping, thermally activated site tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: M. H. Dehn, J. K. Shenton, S. Holenstein, Q. N. Meier, D. J. Arseneau, D. L. Cortie, B. Hitti, A. C. Y. Fang, W. A. MacFarlane, R. M. L. McFadden, G. D. Morris, Z. Salman, H. Luetkens, N. A. Spaldin, M. Fechner, R. F. Kiefl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2020-02-01
Series:Physical Review X
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.10.011036
Description
Summary:We report a comprehensive muon spin rotation (μSR) study of the prototypical magnetoelectric antiferromagnet Cr_{2}O_{3}. We find the positively charged muon (μ^{+}) occupies several distinct interstitial sites and displays a rich dynamic behavior involving local hopping, thermally activated site transitions, and the formation of a charge-neutral complex composed of a muon and an electron polaron. The discovery of such a complex has implications for the interpretation of μSR spectra in a wide range of magnetic oxides and opens a route to study the dopant characteristics of interstitial hydrogen impurities in such materials. We address implications arising from implanting a μ^{+} into a linear magnetoelectric and discuss the challenges of observing a local magnetoelectric effect generated by the charge of the muon.
ISSN:2160-3308

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