Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals

Energetic positive muons stopping in insulators often form the hydrogen-like neutral atom muonium by capturing an electron from the stopping medium. In this thesis it is shown that some of this muonium is formed by free electrons, produced along the muon's radiolysis track, diffusing to the...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Morris, Gerald D.
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: 2009
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8614
id ndltd-UBC-oai-circle.library.ubc.ca-2429-8614
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-UBC-oai-circle.library.ubc.ca-2429-86142018-01-05T17:34:17Z Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals Morris, Gerald D. Energetic positive muons stopping in insulators often form the hydrogen-like neutral atom muonium by capturing an electron from the stopping medium. In this thesis it is shown that some of this muonium is formed by free electrons, produced along the muon's radiolysis track, diffusing to the muon, and subsequently forming muonium. Electron transport properties of the lattice play a role in delayed muonium formation in these solids. Application of an electric field along the initial muon momentum reveals a strong anisotropy of the spatial distribution of electrons in the vicinity of the muon, implying that the muon's direction of motion during thermalization is not completely lost by multiple scattering. Estimates of the initial electron-muon separation and muonium formation time are given. Diffusion of muonium in cryocrystals has been studied with both transverse and longitudinal field muon spin relaxation techniques. Experimental results are compared to the theory of quantum tunnelling diffusion. In solid nitrogen at temperatures much smaller than the Debye temperature of the lattice, the data and theory are in good agreement, with a temperature dependence approaching the T⁷ law predicted by the theory of twophonon quantum diffusion. At higher temperatures the agreement is qualitative only, but does show a key feature of two-phonon quantum tunnelling diffusion - a rapid increase in hop rate as temperature decreases due to the reduction of the phonon scattering rate. Muonium in solid Xe is an extreme case of a light interstitial atom in a heavy lattice. This system was chosen to provide an example of tunnelling diffusion at relatively high temperatures where lattice dynamics could be expected to play a role in determining the muonium hop rate. The hop rate of muonium atoms in solid Xe was measured over a Science, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Graduate 2009-06-02T19:40:56Z 2009-06-02T19:40:56Z 1997 1998-05 Text Thesis/Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8614 eng For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. 6575489 bytes application/pdf
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
description Energetic positive muons stopping in insulators often form the hydrogen-like neutral atom muonium by capturing an electron from the stopping medium. In this thesis it is shown that some of this muonium is formed by free electrons, produced along the muon's radiolysis track, diffusing to the muon, and subsequently forming muonium. Electron transport properties of the lattice play a role in delayed muonium formation in these solids. Application of an electric field along the initial muon momentum reveals a strong anisotropy of the spatial distribution of electrons in the vicinity of the muon, implying that the muon's direction of motion during thermalization is not completely lost by multiple scattering. Estimates of the initial electron-muon separation and muonium formation time are given. Diffusion of muonium in cryocrystals has been studied with both transverse and longitudinal field muon spin relaxation techniques. Experimental results are compared to the theory of quantum tunnelling diffusion. In solid nitrogen at temperatures much smaller than the Debye temperature of the lattice, the data and theory are in good agreement, with a temperature dependence approaching the T⁷ law predicted by the theory of twophonon quantum diffusion. At higher temperatures the agreement is qualitative only, but does show a key feature of two-phonon quantum tunnelling diffusion - a rapid increase in hop rate as temperature decreases due to the reduction of the phonon scattering rate. Muonium in solid Xe is an extreme case of a light interstitial atom in a heavy lattice. This system was chosen to provide an example of tunnelling diffusion at relatively high temperatures where lattice dynamics could be expected to play a role in determining the muonium hop rate. The hop rate of muonium atoms in solid Xe was measured over a === Science, Faculty of === Physics and Astronomy, Department of === Graduate
author Morris, Gerald D.
spellingShingle Morris, Gerald D.
Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
author_facet Morris, Gerald D.
author_sort Morris, Gerald D.
title Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
title_short Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
title_full Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
title_fullStr Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
title_full_unstemmed Muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
title_sort muonium formation and diffusion in cryocrystals
publishDate 2009
url http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8614
work_keys_str_mv AT morrisgeraldd muoniumformationanddiffusionincryocrystals
_version_ 1718588015890137088