SμS: Swiss Muon Source
µSR - Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation or Resonance: A research tool using muons as sensitive local magnetic probes in matter.
Research at the LMU focuses mainly on magnetic properties of materials and on positive muons or muonium (bound state of a positive muon and an electron) as light protons or hydrogen substitutes in matter.
Worldwide unique: The Low-Energy Muon Beam and µSR Spectrometer for the study of thin films, layers and surfaces, the possibility to perform high-field µSR with a field up to 9.5 Tesla, and the Extraction of Muons On Request for high frequency resolution and slow relaxation measurements.
06 July 2020
Information for SµS users
Due to the Corona crisis and technical problems the restart of operation of the PSI high intensity proton accelerator (HIPA) has been delayed and is expected earliest for the 27th of July. The pandemic team of PSI approved in-house research at the SµS from this date on. According to today's situation, external/foreign users at the SµS will be allowed as of September 1st.
We have prepared a new experimental schedule that you can find here.
We have shifted the approved experiments of foreign users to a date as late as possible in the year and we assume that you will be able to conduct your experiments at PSI. However, for all experiments foreign travel restrictions and entry requirements into Switzerland and PSI need to be carefully considered. Up to date information about travel restrictions for Switzerland can be found here.
Some experiments (especially for Dolly) had to be scheduled before September 1st. For these experiments and for those experiments where travel restrictions do not allow traveling to PSI, the PSI team offers to conduct the experiments for the users. In such a case, the samples will have to be sent to the instrument scientist in time and an experimental plan can be submitted once per day. Please note that only one sample change per day will be possible in this operation mode. Please get in contact with the instrument scientists for the planning of your experiment and to inform us about the shipment of your samples. For experiments that can not be conducted in this way, it might be possible to shift the beamtime to the next year.
Latest scientific SμS highlights:
Using Uniaxial Stress to Probe the Relationship between Competing Superconducting States in a Cuprate with Spin-stripe Order
We report muon spin rotation and magnetic susceptibility experiments on in-plane stress effects on the static spin-stripe order and superconductivity in the cuprate system La2−xBaxCuO4 with x = 0.115. An extremely low uniaxial stress of ∼0.1 GPa induces a substantial decrease in the magnetic volume fraction and a dramatic rise in the onset of 3D superconductivity, from ∼10 to 32 K.
Proximity-Induced Odd-Frequency Superconductivity in a Topological Insulator
At an interface between a topological insulator (TI) and a conventional superconductor (SC), superconductivity has been predicted to change dramatically and exhibit novel correlations. In particular, the induced superconductivity by an s-wave SC in a TI can develop an order parameter with a p-wave component. Here we present experimental evidence for an unexpected proximity-induced novel super- conducting state in a thin layer of the prototypical TI, Bi2Se3 proximity coupled to Nb.
Simultaneous Nodal Superconductivity and Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor CaPtAs
By employing a series of experimental techniques, we provide clear evidence that CaPtAs represents a rare example of a noncentrosymmetric superconductor which simultaneously exhibits nodes in the superconducting gap and broken time-reversal symmetry (TRS) in its superconducting state (belowTc ≈ 1.5 K). Unlike in fully gapped superconductors, the magnetic penetration depth λ(T) does not saturate at low temperatures, but instead it shows a T2 dependence, characteristic of gap nodes.