Third order elastic constants of V3Si and V3Ge

General expressions have been derived for the second order elastic constants and third order elastic constants of the A-15 structure compounds with the nearest neighbour central interaction. The second order elastic constants, the third order elastic constants and the pressure derivatives of the second order elastic constants of V₃Si and V₃Ge are reported and compared with the available experimental measurements.     

Interlattice displacements and elastic constants of the A-15 compounds V3Si,V3Ge and Nb3Sn

General expressions for the interlattice displacements of the A-15 structure compounds are obtained in terms of the strain components making use of the deformation theory. The nature of the interlattice displacements of all the 8 atoms in the unit cell is discussed. It is found that the interlattice displacements occur in such a way that the pair of atoms along any linear chain move in opposite directions with equal magnitudes. Expression for the strain energy of these compounds is developed using deformation theory and this is compared with the strain energy expression from continuum theory to obtain the elastic constants. The theoretical values of the elastic constants fairly agree with the experimental values for V₃ Si, V₃Ge and Nb₃ Sn.     

EPR of the ferroelectric phase transition in Li2Ge7O15:Cr3+ crystals

A Cr³⁺ EPR study of lithium heptagermanate crystals, Li₂Ge₇O₁₅ (LHG), close to the phase transition is reported. Orientation dependences of the spectra in the paraelectric phase of LHG have been measured. An anomalous broadening of the resonant lines accompanied by a crossover in their shape was found in the vicinity of the transition point. Doublet splitting of the EPR lines was observed to occur below T _C as a result of emergence of two structurally nonequivalent positions for Cr³⁺ ions. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1102–1105 (June 1998)     

Compton scattering and charge transfer in Er substituted DyAl2

A unique applicability of Compton spectroscopy in probing the electronic states of rare earth aluminides using high energy (662 keV) γ-rays is reported. We have measured first-ever Compton profiles of Dy_1-xEr_xAl₂ (x=0, 0.2) using 20Ci ¹³⁷Cs Compton spectrometer. The charge reorganization in Dy_1−xEr_xAl₂ (x=0, 0.2), on the formation of compound, has been discussed using the valence band Compton profile data. The experimental Compton profile data unambiguously establish charge transfer from Al to Dy (Dy and Er) on formation of x=0.0 (0.2) compound, which is in tune with spin polarized relativistic Korringa–Kohn–Rostoker (SPR-KKR) calculations. A reasonable agreement between SPR-KKR based Compton profiles and the experimental data show applicability of the Green function method in predicting the electronic properties of rare earth compounds.     

Junctionless nanowire transistor fabricated with high mobility Ge channel

The junctionless nanowire metal–oxide–semiconductor field‐effect transistor (JNT) has recently been proposed as an alternative device for sub‐20‐nm nodes. The JNT architecture eliminates the need for forming PN junctions, resulting in simple processing and competitive electrical characteristics. In order to further boost the drive current, alternative channel materials such as III–V and Ge, have been proposed. In this Letter, JNTs with Ge channels have been fabricated by a CMOS‐compatible top–down process. The transistors exhibit the lowest subthreshold slope to date for JNT with Ge channels. The devices with a gate length of 3 μm exhibit a subthreshold slope (SS) of 216 mV/dec with an I_ON/I_OFF current ratio of 1.2 × 10³ at V_D = –1 V and drain‐induced‐barrier lowering (DIBL) of 87 mV. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Exploring effective interactions through transition charge density study of70,72,74,76Ge nuclei

Transition charge densities (TCD) for 0⁺ → 2 ₁ ⁺ excitation have been calculated for^70,72,74,76Ge nuclei within microscopic variational framework employing 2p _3/2, 1f _5/2, 2p _1/2 and 1g _9/2 valence space. The calculated TCDs for different monopole variants of Kuo interaction are compared with available experimental results. Other systematics like reduced transition probabilitiesB(E2) and static quadrupole momentsQ(2) are also presented. It is observed that the transition density study acts as a sensitive probe for discriminating the response of different parts of effective interactions.     

Epitaxial growth of Nb3Ge on Nb3Ir and Nb3Rh

This is a report on a cooperative research carried out in Stanford University to investigate the possibility of using epitaxy to prepare the high T_c superconductor Nb₃Ge in an A15 crystalline structure at the 3:1 stoichiometry.Nb₃Ir polycrystalline films with the A15 structure deposited on sapphire were used as substrates for the epitaxial growth of Nb₃Ge because of the favorable lattice parameter match. The experimental results clearly show that epitaxial growth indeed occurs and helps to extend the range of homogeneity of the A15 phase up to 26.3 at.% Ge as compared with the thermodynamic equilibrium boundary at 19 at.% Ge. We also used Nb₃Rh films as substrates and found them inferior to Nb₃Ir because of the multiphase nature of the films.In addition to extending the A15 phase boundary epitaxy results in a considerable rise in the superconducting transition temperature for Ge-rich samples together with a reduction in the transition width. The work suggests that polycrystalline epitaxy can be an important tool in the synthesis of thin-film intermetallic compounds.     

Local structure distortion and spin Hamiltonian parameters for Cr3＋-Vzn tetragonal defect centre in Cr3＋ doped KZnF3 crystal

The quantitative relationship between the spin Hamiltonian parameters (D, g_‖, Δg) and the crystal structure parameters for the Cr³⁺—V_Zn tetragonal defect centre in a Cr³⁺:KZnF₃ crystal is established by using the superposition model. On the above basis, the local structure distortion and the spin Hamiltonian parameter for the Cr³⁺—V_Zn tetragonal defect centre in the KZnF_3 crystal are systematically investigated using the complete diagonalization method. It is found that the V_Zn vacancy and the differences in mass, radius and charge between the Cr³⁺ and the Zn²⁺ ions induce the local lattice distortion of the Cr³⁺ centre ions in the KZnF₃ crystal. The local lattice distortion is shown to give rise to the tetragonal crystal field, which in turn results in the tetragonal zero-field splitting parameter D and the anisotropic g factor Δg. We find that the ligand F^- ion along [001] and the other five F^- ions move towards the central Cr³⁺ by distances of Δ₁ = 0.0121 nm and Δ₂ = 0.0026 nm, respectively. Our approach takes into account the spin—orbit interaction as well as the spin—spin, spin—other-orbit, and orbit—orbit interactions omitted in the previous studies. It is found that for the Cr³⁺ ions in the Cr³⁺:KZnF₃ crystal, although the spin—orbit mechanism is the most important one, the contribution to the spin Hamiltonian parameters from the other three mechanisms, including spin—spin, spin—other-orbit, and orbit—orbit magnetic interactions, is appreciable and should not be omitted, especially for the zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameter D.     

Electronic properties and Compton profiles of molybdenum dichalcogenides

We present the first ever experimental Compton profiles of molybdenum dichalcogenides (MoX₂; X=S and Te) using 20 Ci ¹³⁷Cs Compton spectrometer. To interpret our experimental data, we have computed the theoretical profiles, energy bands and density of states using linear combination of atomic orbitals method in the framework of density functional theory and its hybridisation with Hartree Fock. The energy bands and density of states using full potential linearised augmented plane wave method have also been computed. Both theories show the existence of the indirect band gap. In addition, the relative nature of bonding is explained in terms of equal-valence-electron-density profiles and valence band charge densities.     

Electronic and optical properties of ceramic Sc2O3 and Y2O3: Compton spectroscopy and first principles calculations

We present the first-ever experimental Compton profiles (CPs) of Sc₂O₃ and Y₂O₃ using 740 GBq ¹³⁷Cs Compton spectrometer. The experimental momentum densities have been compared with the theoretical CPs computed using linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) within density functional theory (DFT). Further, the energy bands, density of states (DOS) and Mulliken's population (MP) data have been calculated using LCAO method with different exchange and correlation approximations. In addition, the energy bands, DOS, valence charge density (VCD), dielectric function, absorption coefficient and refractive index have also been computed using full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method with revised functional of Perdew–Becke–Ernzerhof for solids (PBEsol) and modified Becke Johnson (mBJ) approximations. Both the ab-initio calculations predict wide band gaps in Sc₂O₃ and Y₂O₃. The band gaps deduced from FP-LAPW (with mBJ) are found to be close to available experimental data. The VCD and MP data show more ionic character of Sc₂O₃ than Y₂O₃. The ceramic properties of both the sesquioxides are explained in terms of their electronic and optical properties.     

Structure of 74Ge from the 72Ge(t,p) reaction

The reaction ⁷²Ge(t, p)⁷⁴Ge has been investigated with a 15 MeV triton beam. Fifty energy levels of ⁷⁴Ge were identified up to about 4.9 MeV excitation, eighteen of which were previously unreported. Angular distributions were measured and compared with DWBA calculations. Two low-lying states at 1.913 and 2.164 MeV have been assigned as J^π = 0⁺, corresponding to the 0₃⁺ and 0₄⁺ states in ⁷⁴Ge. The 4₂⁺ state has been located at 2.674 MeV, and the 2₄⁺ at 2.836 MeV. Many additional spin and parity assignments have been made. The ⁷⁴Ge nucleus shows a considerably different structure of 0⁺ states compared with the neighboring ⁷⁶Ge and ⁷⁸Ge nuclei, perhaps further evidence for the shape transition suggested recently for the Ge isotopes.     

Structure of odd Ge isotopes with 40 < N < 50

We have interpreted recentlymeasured experimental data of ⁷⁷Ge, and also for ^73,75,79,81Ge isotopes in terms of state-of-the-art shell-model calculations. Excitation energies, B(2) values, quadrupole moments and magnetic moments are compared with experimental data when available. The calculations have been performed with the recently derived interactions, namely with JUN45 and jj44b for f _5/2pg9/2 space. We have also performed calculation for fpg _9/2 valence space using an fpg effective interaction with ⁴⁸Ca core and imposing a truncation to study the importance of the proton excitations across the Z = 28 shell in this region. The predicted results of jj44b interaction are in good agreement with experimental data.     

Heat capacity measurements on irradiated and non-irradiated Mo3Ge and Mo5Ge3

We have measured the heat capacity of irradiated and non-irradiated Mo₃Ge and Mo₅Ge₃ in the temperature range ≈ 1.6 to 10 K. An irradiation of 2.2 × 10¹⁹ neutrons cm^-2 results in an increase in the superconducting transition temperature T_c from < 1.6 K in the non-irradiated state to ～ 4 K after irradiation for Mo₃Ge and a corresponding change from < 1.6 K to ～ 3 K for Mo₅Ge₃. Our analysis shows that this change in T_c is not accompanied by a change in the electronic density of states (within experimental error) but rather a decrease in the Debye temperature from 392 to 322 K for Mo₃Ge and 377 to 320 K for Mo₅Ge₃.     

A GaAs MISFET with Ge3N4 gate dielectric

GaAs MIS field effect transistors with a Ge₃N₄ dielectric gate have been investigated. No hysteresis loop and drain current drift has been observed in theI _D -V _Dcharacteristics. However, performance of the devices have been found to be limited by the contact resistance. FromI _DS ^1/2 -V _G plot, the threshold voltage and effective channel mobility of the transistor have been obtained as -4.5V and 2800cm²v^–1s^–1, respectively. A maximum dc transconductance of 68 mS/mm of gate width has been achieved.     

Grüneisen parameter and thermal expansion of V3Si and V3Ge

The Grüneisen parameter and lattice thermal expansion of the A-15 compounds V₃Si and V₃Ge at room temperature are evaluated on the basis of the method due to Brugger and Fritz [1] from the third order elastic constants reported earlier [2]. The calculated values are compared with available experimental values and are found to fit satisfactorily.     

Investigation of the Compton profiles for C,Si, and Ge

The Compton profiles of C, Si, and Ge are calculated for free atoms, and also taking into account their valence states in crystals. In order to obtain the distribution functions of the electrons with respect to momentum, a study is made of generalized hydrogen-like analytic orbitals. It is shown that the excitation of the electrons into the valence state leads to decrease of the Compton profiles and to the best agreement with their measured values.     

The sputtering of high Tc A15 Nb3Si and V3Ge

We report some initial results on the preparation of A15 Nb₃Si and V₃Ge using a getter sputtering technique. Under sufficiently clean conditions we observe an increase in the superconducting transition temperature. DC onsets in excess of 14 and 11 K have been observed for Nb₃Si and V₃Ge respectively. In each case a positive identification of the A15 phase has been made.     

Ferromagnetic properties of cyclically deformed Fe3Ge and Ni3Ge

The magnetisation behaviour of cyclically deformed and non-deformed Fe₃Ge and Ni₃Ge is examined at sufficiently low temperatures below the Curie point. Despite these two intermetallics having the same L1₂ structure, they are found to show quite different behaviour in their ferromagnetic properties; the spontaneous magnetisation (M _S) remains unaffected in the former whereas it decreases notably in the latter after cyclic deformation. The origin of the difference is investigated and attributed to the difference in operative shear planes. These are mainly on {001} planes without the introduction of notable amounts of anti-phase boundary (APB) tubes in Fe₃Ge and mainly on {111} planes with the introduction of a high density of APB tubes composed of {111} APBs in Ni₃Ge. The effects of cyclic deformation on the high-field susceptibility?χ?and the coercive force (H _C) are also discussed by taking into account the dislocation distributions introduced by the {001} and {111} slips.     

Local structure of the trigonal defect center for Cr3+ ions in KMgF3 crystals

Abstract

The zero-field splitting D, the anisotropic g-factors g _∥, Δg(=g _∥ ? g _⊥) and the first excited state splitting Δ(² E) for the trigonal Cr³⁺–V_K center in KMgF₃: Cr³⁺ crystals have been studied from Macfarlane's high-order perturbation formulas. From the studies, the local structure of the trigonal center is obtained. The local lattice distortions (i.e., the displacement directions of the ions in the center) are consistent with the expectation based on the electrostatic interaction.