Muon channeling in Ge: Evidence for pionium formation

In a recent experiment observing muon channeling from the decay of positive pions implanted in high-purity Ge single crystals, the pion decay site is found to be sensitive to the concentration of excess charge carriers produced by photon absorption. Distinctly different channeling profiles are observed in Ge at 100 K for illuminated samples (high carrier concentration) as compared to unilluminated samples (low carrier concentration). From these data we conclude that different electronic states of the pion in a semiconductor host lattice must account for the observed changes in the pion location. Furthermore we suggest that the pion exists in the solid both as the bare entity π+ and as pionium (π+e-), i.e., a hydrogen-like atom with a mesonic nucleus. (orig.)