Muon-fluorine entangled states in molecular magnets

TL;DR

This paper shows how muon-spin relaxation experiments can be enhanced by localizing muons in molecular materials with fluorine, revealing entangled states and site-specific information.

Contribution

It introduces a method to identify muon stopping sites in fluorine-containing molecules using muon-spin precession data.

Findings

Identified three classes of muon stopping sites.

Demonstrated sensitivity of muon-spin precession to local environment.

Assessed the distortion of surroundings caused by the muon.

Abstract

The information accessible from a muon-spin relaxation experiment is often limited since we lack knowledge of the precise muon stopping site. We demonstrate here the possibility of localizing a spin polarized muon in a known stopping state in a molecular material containing fluorine. The muon-spin precession that results from the entangled nature of the muon-spin and surrounding nuclear spins is sensitive to the nature of the stopping site and we use this property to identify three classes of site. We are also able to describe the extent to which the muon distorts its surroundings.