Combining muon spin relaxation and DFT simulations of hydrogen trapping in Al6Mn

Abstract

Hydrogen at the mass ppm level causes hydrogen embrittlement in metallic materials, but experimentally elucidating the hydrogen trapping sites is extremely difficult. We exploit the fact that positive muons can act as light isotopes of hydrogen to study the trapping state of hydrogen in matter. Zero-field muon spin relaxation experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the hydrogen trapping energy are carried out for Al6Mn. The DFT calculations reveal four possible trapping sites for hydrogen in Al6Mn, at which the hydrogen trapping energies are 0.168 (site 1), 0.312 (site 2), 0.364 (site 3), and 0.495 (site 4) in units of eV/atom. The variations in the deduced dipole field width (Δ) with temperature indicate noticeable changes at 94, 193, and 236 K. Considering the site densities, the observed Δ change temperatures are interpreted as muon trapping at sites 1, 3, and 4.