Observation of dia- and paramagnetic domains in beryllium and white tin bymuon spin rotation spectroscopy

Dia- and paramagnetic (Condon) domains in simple metals, produced at low te mperatures and in high magnetic fields via the cooperative effect of electr ons in Landau orbitals, are observable by the muon spin rotation (mu SR) te chnique. For beryllium, domains were seen for T < 3.5 K in fields 1 < H < 3 T through a well resolved splitting of the muon precession frequency, the split lines reappearing in each de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) period as the app lied field H varies. The beat in the dHvA oscillations allowed varying of t he amplitude chi(0) of the differential susceptibility, the key parameter d etermining domain properties. The data points in the (B,T) plane show that the standard formula for chi(0)(B,T) fails to describe the phase diagram, a consequence of the nearly cylindrical Fermi surface of Be. For white tin, preliminary data indicate the presence of domains by the oscillatory behavi or of the mu SR linewidth at T=0.1 K in fields of H approximate to 1 T, ari sing from electrons in the pocket of the Fermi surface in the sixth zone. ( C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)67708-3].