Overcoming the probing-depth dilemma in spectroscopic analyses of batteries with muon-induced X-ray emission (MIXE).

Battery research often encounters the challenge of determining chemical information, such as composition and elemental oxidation states, of a layer buried within a cell stack in a non-destructive manner. Spectroscopic techniques based on X-ray emission or absorption are well-suited and commonly employed to reveal this information. However, the attenuation of X-rays as they travel through matter creates a challenge when trying to analyze layers buried at depths exceeding hundred micrometers from the sample's surface.

Water Encapsulated [(FeSe)Se] Clusters in [Na(HO)][FeSe].

[Na(HO)][FeSe] was synthesized using hydrothermal methods and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetization, and muon spin resonance (μSR) measurements. The cubic crystal structure (space group 23, = 11.785 Å, = 2) contains heterocubane-type clusters with symmetry.

Unveiling nodeless unconventional superconductivity proximate to honeycomb-vacancy ordering in the Ir-Sb binary system.

Vacancies in solid-state physics are underexplored in materials with strong electron-electron correlations. Recent research on the Ir-Sb binary system revealed an extended buckled-honeycomb vacancy (BHV) order. Superconductivity arises by suppressing BHV ordering through high-pressure growth with excess Ir atoms or Rh substitution, yet the superconducting pairing nature remains unknown.

Depth-dependent study of time-reversal symmetry-breaking in the kagome superconductor AVSb.

The breaking of time-reversal symmetry (TRS) in the normal state of kagome superconductors AVSb stands out as a significant feature, but its tunability is unexplored. Using low-energy muon spin rotation and local field numerical analysis, we study TRS breaking as a function of depth in single crystals of RbVSb (with charge order) and Cs(VTa)Sb (without charge order). In the bulk of RbVSb (>33 nm from the surface), we observed an increase in the internal magnetic field width in the charge-ordered state.

Microscopic probing of the superconducting and normal state properties of TaVSi by muon spin rotation.

The two-dimensional kagome lattice is an experimental playground for novel physical phenomena, from frustrated magnetism and topological matter to chiral charge order and unconventional superconductivity. A newly identified kagome superconductor, TaVSi has recently gained attention for possessing a record high critical temperature,  = 7.5 K for kagome metals at ambient pressure.