Type II Si clathrate is a Si-based, crystalline alternative to diamond silicon with interesting optoelectronic properties. Here, a pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance study of the spin dynamics of sodium-doped, type II NaxSi136 silicon clathrate films is reported. Focusing on the hyperfine lines of isolated Na atoms, the temperature dependence of the electron spin dynamics is examined from 6 to 25 K. The measurements exhibit multi-exponential decay, indicating multiple spin relaxation rates in the system. As expected, spin relaxation time (T1) increases rapidly with decreasing temperature, reaching ∼300 μs at 6.4 K. The phase memory (TM) shows less temperature dependence with a value of ∼3 μs at the same temperature. The temperature dependence of T1 exhibits Arrhenius behavior in the measurement range consistent with an Orbach pathway. There are strong similarities to the spin behavior of other defect donors in diamond silicon. The results provide insights into the potential of Si clathrates for spin-based applications.

中文翻译：

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低钠 II 型硅笼状物薄膜自旋动力学的表征


II 型 Si 包合物是一种硅基、金刚石硅的晶体替代品，具有有趣的光电特性。本文报道了钠掺杂 II 型 NaxSi136 硅包合物薄膜自旋动力学的脉冲电子顺磁共振研究。专注于孤立 Na 原子的超细线，研究了 6 到 25 K 的电子自旋动力学的温度依赖性。测量值显示多指数衰减，表明系统中有多个自旋弛豫率。正如预期的那样，自旋弛豫时间 （T1） 随着温度的降低而迅速增加，在 6.4 K 时达到 ∼300 μs。相位存储器 （TM） 表现出较小的温度依赖性，在相同温度下的值为 ∼3 μs。T1 的温度依赖性在与 Orbach 通路一致的测量范围内表现出 Arrhenius 行为。与金刚石硅中其他缺陷供体的自旋行为非常相似。结果为了解 Si 包合物在基于自旋的应用方面的潜力提供了见解。