Relaxation of muon spins in molecular nanomagnets

We address the cause of the unusual muon spin-relaxation (μ+ SR) results on molecular nanomagnets (MNMs). Through measurements on protonated and deuterated samples of the MNMs Cr7 Mn (S=1) and Cr8 (S=0), we show that the muon spin for S≠0 MNMs is relaxed via dynamic fluctuations of the electronic sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lancaster, T, Blundell, S, Pratt, F, Franke, I, Steele, A, Baker, P, Salman, Z, Baines, C, Watanabe, I, Carretta, S, Timco, G, Winpenny, REP
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2010
Description
Summary:We address the cause of the unusual muon spin-relaxation (μ+ SR) results on molecular nanomagnets (MNMs). Through measurements on protonated and deuterated samples of the MNMs Cr7 Mn (S=1) and Cr8 (S=0), we show that the muon spin for S≠0 MNMs is relaxed via dynamic fluctuations of the electronic spins. A freezing out of dynamic processes occurs on cooling and at low temperatures the muon spins are relaxed by the electronic spins which themselves are dephased by incoherent nuclear-field fluctuations. We observe a transition to a state of static magnetic order of the MNM electronic spins in Cr7Mn below 2 K. © 2010 The American Physical Society.