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arXiv · 0911.1693

What relaxes muon spins in molecular nanomagnets?

T. Lancaster·S. J. Blundell·F. L. Pratt·I. Franke·A. J. Steele·P. J. Baker·Z. Salman·C. Baines·I. Watanabe·S. Carretta·G. A. Timco·R. E. P. Winpenny
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Abstract

We address the cause of the unusual muon spin relaxation (muSR) results on molecular nanomagnets (MNMs). Through measurements on protonated and deuterated samples of the MNMs Cr7Mn (S=1) and Cr8 (S=0), we show that the muon spin for $S \neq 0$ 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.

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T. Lancaster, S. J. Blundell, F. L. Pratt, I. Franke, A. J. Steele, P. J. Baker, Z. Salman, C. Baines, I. Watanabe, S. Carretta, G. A. Timco, R. E. P. Winpenny. 2009-11-09. What relaxes muon spins in molecular nanomagnets?. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.81.140409

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