Polarized nuclei in normal and superconducting rhodium

We performed SQUID-NMR measurements on a rhodium single crystal at ultra-low nuclear-spin temperatures. With initial polarizations up to p=0.95, the antiferromagnetic tendency was clear, but surprisingly no indication of actual nuclear magnetic ordering was obtained. The lowest nuclear temperatures achieved were below 100 pK, whereas the lowest directly measured temperature was 280 pK.

Double-spin-flip and evidence for triple-spin-flip resonance lines were detected, yielding direct information of the interactions between the nuclear spins. The superconducting transition of rhodium was observed with the critical values, Tc=210 μK and Bc(0)=3.4 μT. For the first time, measurements with substantially correlated nuclei were performed in the superconducting state, where the effect of the coherent electron system on the spin-lattice relaxation rate was studied.

The spin-lattice relaxation time was longer in the superconducting state at all temperatures and displayed a strong dependence on nuclear susceptibility.