Some Applications of Spin Precession Methods to Problems in Materials Science

ABSTRACTNuclear and electron resonance and the Mössbauer effect are techniques which observe the interaction of moments with fields directly in the energy domain. An energy splitting, however, also implies the precession of the moment in the field. When a means exists to determine the orientation of the moment then the precession can be observed in the time domain. The direction of radiation emitted in a nuclear, muonic or atomic decay is correlated to the direction of corresponding moments (spins) and can thus act as a detector of spin precession. In the language of nuclear, muonic and atomic physics, these methods are called perturbed angular correlations (PAC), muonic spin rotation, and quantum beats, respectively. Below, these methods will be illustrated by displaying some examples of the application of perturbed angular correlations to a variety of materials systems.