Author(s): Vilão, R. C. ; Vieira, R. B. L. ; Alberto, H. V. ; Gil, J. M. ; Weidinger, A. ; Lichti, R. L. ; Baker, B. B. ; Mengyan, P. W. ; Lord, J. S.
Date: 2015
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/10316/43144
Origin: Estudo Geral - Universidade de Coimbra
Project/scholarship: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876-PPCDTI/102722/PT ; info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/SFRH/SFRH/PT; info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/283883/EU;
Muonium, a positive muon and an electron, is often used as an experimentally accessible substitute for hydrogen in materials research. In semiconductors and insulators, a large amount of information on the hydrogen behavior is deduced from this analogy; however, it is seldom demonstrated that this procedure is justified. We show here, via a comparison of the hyperfine interactions, that in TiO2 muonium and hydrogen form the same configuration with the same basic electronic structure. A detailed description of the bonding characteristics of the muon to the Ti3+ polaron is presented. The special role of muon motion within the so-called oxygen channel in the rutile structure, which occurs at a lower temperature than for hydrogen, is emphasized.
