Nuclear spin relaxation of 8Li adsorbed on surfaces.

Nuclear spin relaxation experiments with ⁸Li adsorbed on various surfaces provide new information in surface science which is not obtainable othervise. Both dipolar (Korringa) and quadrupolar relaxation due to diffusion are observed. However, in addition, a fast and presently not understood spin relaxation mechanism is present while dosing during the first 0.5 s the surface with polarized ⁸Li. Most strange in this respect is the fact that those ⁸Li atoms which survive depolarization through this mechanism depolarize afterwards with modest spin lattice relaxation rates. The origin of the fast spin lattice relaxation mechanism is presently unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]