Trapping of positive muons by vacancies in non-stoichiometric compounds

A direct evidence for trapping of positive muons by vacancies was found by using the longitudinal field method., 65.5 at. %Cu-34.5 at. %Al, 51at. %Al-49at. %Ni and 52 at. %Al-48at. %Ni polycrystalline samples were studied. The forward/backward asymmetry was measured as a function of time at room temperature changing the magnetic field from 0 to 70 Oe. At H=0, a relaxation function of Kubo-Toyabe type was found. Analysing the data, it was found that positive muons are trapped by vacancies in these materials.