muSR study of the Cu-spin dynamics in the electron-doped high-Tc cuprate of Pr0.86LaCe0.14Cu1-y(Zn,Ni)yO4

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Effects of the Zn- and Ni-substitution on the Cu-spin dynamics in the electron-doped Pr0.86LaCe0.14Cu1-y(Zn,Ni)yO4+a-d with y = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 and different values of the reduced oxygen content d have been studied using zero-field muon-spin-relaxation (muSR) measurements at temperatures down to 2 K. For the as-grown sample (d = 0, y = 0) and the sample with a very small d value (d < 0.01, y = 0), a muon-spin precession due to long-range antiferromagnetic order has been observed. On the other hand, no precession has been observed for moderately oxygen-reduced samples (0.01 < d < 0.09). It has been found that for all the samples of 0.01 < d < 0.09 the asymmetry A(t) (muSR time spectrum) in the long-time region increases with decreasing temperature at low temperatures, suggesting possible slowing-down of the Cu-spin fluctuations. On the other hand, no significant difference between Zn- and Ni-substitution effects on the slowing down of the Cu-spin fluctuations has been observed.