Professor Stephen Blundell

Abstract:

Muon spin relaxation has been used to probe the highly anisotropic motion of polaronic charge carriers in the emeraldine base form of polyaniline. The measured diffusion rate along the polymer chain for negative polarons shows a metalliclike temperature dependence, which is saturated at low temperatures but becomes limited by phenylene ring librational scattering above 150 K. The interchain transport at room temperature is more than 4 orders of magnitude slower than the intrachain process and becomes further suppressed on cooling. © 1997 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

A numerical model is used to derive the quantum oscillations in the magnetisation and magnetoresistance of quasi-two-dimensional α-phase BEDT-TTF charge-transfer salts in high magnetic fields. Recent experimental results are simulated and the standard Lifshitz-Kosevich formalism is shown to be no longer appropriate.

Abstract:

Electrons in cyclotron orbits around closed pockets in the Fermi surfaces of organic metals possess an oscillating real-space velocity. Higher harmonics of this real-space velocity lead to predicted cyclotron resonances additional to those normally expected. We calculate these resonances semiclassically using the Boltzmann transport equation. These higher harmonics are expected to occur remarkably often, and we show that they are found even in a very simple tight-binding model. A similar effect occurs in quasi-one-dimensional Fermi surfaces which are highly corrugated and in this case the oscillating part of the real-space velocity as it traverses the Fermi surface can couple directly to the microwave frequency. © 1997 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Muon spin rotation (μSR) measurements have been performed on the organic superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(SCN)2in order to investigate its exotic vortex behavior. Previously unobserved features of the μSR line shapes have been measured at low fields and temperatures. In the mixed state the existence of a lattice composed of linear vortices is demonstrated at low fields. The breakup of this well-ordered lattice has furthermore been observed as a function of both field and temperature. © 1997 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Muon spin rotation (μSR) experiments can be especially helpful in the study of various organic molecular materials. The technique has been used to study the magnetization in nitronyl nitroxide organic ferromagnets, the spin-density-wave ground state in various charge transfer salts, the dynamics of carriers in organic conductors and the vortex structures in organic superconductors. I outline the motivation for studying these new materials and review and discuss the results of recent work.