Electronic structure of shallow donor state associated with muonium in rutile TiO$_2$

Abstract

The hyperfine structure of the interstitial muonium (Mu) center in rutile (TiO$_2$, weakly $n$-type) has been identified by means of muon spin rotation technique. The angle-resolved hyperfine parameter has a tetragonal anisotropy within the $ab$ plane and axial anisotropy along the $c$ axis, strongly suggesting that Mu simulates the known local structure of interstitial hydrogen (H) located at an off-center position within a channel along $c$ axis, and the electron wave function bound to Mu is highly delocalized (~1.5 nm along $c$ axis, ~0.8 nm for $a$ axis). The ionization energy of Mu ($\rightarrow μ^+ + e^-$) due to thermal activation is deduced to be 1.2(4) meV, as is directly inferred from the disappearance of Mu signal above ~8 K. These observations suggest that electronic level associated with Mu (as well as H) is situated near the bottom of the conduction band, serving as a shallow donor state in rutile.

This paper has been withdrawn by the author due to inappropriate analysis of data regarding the angular dependence of the muonium hyperfine parameters, although the main conclusion of the paper remains mostly intact