Physical Review Letters - Up to vol 101, no 7

NMR Evidence for the Persistence of a Spin Superlattice Beyond the 1/8 Magnetization Plateau in SrCu2(BO3)2
M. Takigawa, S. Matsubara, M. Horvatić, C. Berthier, H. Kageyama, and Y. Ueda
We present 11B NMR studies of the 2D frustrated dimer spin system SrCu2(BO3)2 in the field range 27–31 T covering the upper phase boundary of the 1/8 magnetization plateau, identified at 28.4 T. Our data provide a clear evidence that above 28.4 T the spin superlattice of the 1/8 plateau is modified but does not melt even though the magnetization increases. Although this is precisely what is expected for a supersolid phase, the microscopic nature of this new phase is much more complex. We discuss the field-temperature phase diagram on the basis of our NMR data.

75As NMR Studies of Superconducting LaFeAsO0.9F0.1
H.-J. Grafe, D. Paar, G. Lang, N. J. Curro, G. Behr, J. Werner, J. Hamann-Borrero, C. Hess, N. Leps, R. Klingeler, and B. Büchner
We have performed 75As nuclear magnetic resonance measurements on aligned powders of the new LaFeAsO0.9F0.1 superconductor. In the normal state, we find a strong temperature dependence of the spin shift and Korringa behavior of the spin lattice relaxation rate. In the superconducting state, we find evidence for line nodes in the superconducting gap and spin-singlet pairing. Our measurements reveal a strong anisotropy of the spin lattice relaxation rate, which suggests that superconducting vortices contribute to the relaxation rate when the field is parallel to the c axis but not for the perpendicular direction.

Coherent Precession of Magnetization in the Superfluid 3He A-Phase
T. Sato, T. Kunimatsu, K. Izumina, A. Matsubara, M. Kubota, T. Mizusaki, and Yu. M. Bunkov
We report the first observation of coherent precession of magnetization in superfluid 3He A-like phase (CP-A) in aerogel. The coherent precession in bulk 3He A-phase is unstable due to the positive feedback of spin supercurrent to the gradient of phase of precession. It was predicted that the homogeneous precession will be stable if the orbital momentum of the 3He A-phase can be oriented along the magnetic field. We have succeeded to prepare this configuration by emerging 3He in uniaxially deformed anisotropic aerogel. The dissipation rate of coherent precession states in aerogel is much larger than that in bulk 3He B-phase. We propose a mechanism of this dissipation.

Universal Long-Time Behavior of Nuclear Spin Decays in a Solid
S. W. Morgan, B. V. Fine, and B. Saam
Magnetic resonance studies of nuclear spins in solids are exceptionally well suited to probe the limits of statistical physics. We report experimental results indicating that isolated macroscopic systems of interacting nuclear spins possess the following fundamental property: spin decays that start from different initial configurations quickly evolve towards the same long-time behavior. This long-time behavior is characterized by the shortest ballistic microscopic time scale of the system and therefore falls outside of the validity range for conventional approximations of statistical physics. We find that the nuclear free-induction decay and different solid echoes in hyperpolarized solid xenon all exhibit sinusoidally modulated exponential long-time behavior characterized by identical time constants. This universality was previously predicted on the basis of analogy with resonances in classical chaotic systems.

Spin Dynamics in Iron-Based Layered Superconductor (La0.87Ca0.13)FePO Revealed by 31P and 139La NMR Studies
Yusuke Nakai, Kenji Ishida, Yoichi Kamihara, Masahiro Hirano, and Hideo Hosono
We report 31P and 139La NMR studies of (La0.87Ca0.13)FePO, which is a family member of the recently discovered superconductor LaFeAs(O1-xFx). In the normal state, Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate divided by T (1/T1T) show that a Fermi-liquid state with moderate ferromagnetic fluctuations emerges below 30 K. From 1/T1T of 31P and 139La, a quasi-two- dimensional electronic structure is suggested, in which the FeP layer is more conductive than the LaO layer. In the superconducting (SC) state, although a clear Meissner signal was observed, 1/T1T increases below Tc, in contrast to a decrease of 1/T1T due to the opening of a SC gap, suggesting that novel low-energy spin dynamics develop in the SC state.