Muon spin relaxation in mixed perovskite (LaAlO _3 ) _x (SrAl _0.5 Ta _0.5 O _3 ) _1-x with x≃ 0.3

We report on muon spin relaxation ( μ ^+ SR) measurements in a mixed perovskite compound, (LaAlO _3 ) _x (SrAl _0.5 Ta _0.5 O _3 ) _1-x with x≃ 0.3 (LSAT), which is widely used as a single-crystalline substrate for thin film deposition. In zero applied field (ZF), muon depolarization due to the distribution of nuclear dipole fields was observed in the temperature range from 4 K to 270 K. Interestingly, μ ^+ SR time spectra in ZF maintained a Gaussian-like feature over the entire range, while the depolarization rate exhibited a monotonic decrease with increasing temperature. This behavior may be attributed to the thermally activated diffusion of muons between a few adjacent sites within a confined space of the angstrom scale, where the motionally averaged local field that each muon experiences can remain non-zero and result in maintaining the Gaussian-like line shape. The spatial distribution of electrostatic potential at lattice interstices evaluated via density functional theory calculations suggests that such a restriction of muon diffusion paths can be caused by the random distribution of cations with different nominal valences in the mixed perovskite lattice.