Uniaxial stress dependence of the dielectric properties of barium titanate single crystals

BaTiO₃ single crystals were grown by the melt-grown method. The effect of uniaxial pressure (0–1700 bar) on the dielectric properties of these crystals has been systematically studied. The external stress showed obvious effects on these properties. An increase in the difference between the Curie T_c and Curie–Weiss T₀ temperatures induced by the applied pressure is observed. This could be ascribed to the inducing of non-ferroelectric cubic islands in the tetragonal phase by the applied compressive stress. On the other hand, the pressure behavior of thermal hysteresis and the ??/?T vs. T plot strongly suggests that the phase transition changes to second-order type with increasing pressure. The Curie–Weiss constant obtained from a modified Curie–Weiss law strongly decreases with increasing pressure, suggesting that the mechanism of phase transition is going to order–disorder type. An increase in the difference between the Curie T_c and Burn's T_B temperatures with increasing pressure is observed. This could be ascribed to the narrowing of the temperature range on which the Curie–Weiss law is valid. In general, the obtained results are in good agreement with hydrostatic pressure data. Some kind of relaxation near T_c, which is strongly coupled with strain caused by applied compressive stress, is postulated.     

Study on the Molecular Mobility in the Polyamide/SrFeO Composites by In Situ Infrared Spectroscopy

Polyamide 6(PA6) and its composite with strontium ferrite (SrFeO) magnetic powders at different concentration levels (33%, 80%) are in situ investigated by temperature-dependent Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). It is found that the intensity changes of the “free” (nonhydrogen bonded) N?H stretching vibration as a function of temperature can be used to determine the glass transition (T _g) and melting temperature (T _m); whereas the hydrogen-bonded N?H stretching vibration is only sensitive to T _m. Our results reveal that high SrFeO contents increase the T _g and T _m of PA6. These observations suggest that the molecular chains of PA6 are confined with increasing content of SrFeO.     

Approximant crystals of icosahedral Mg–(Ga,Al)–Zn alloys

The zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) low-field magnetic moment m of a dense frozen ferrofluid containing Fe₅₅Co₄₅ particles of size 4.6nm in hexane exhibits irreversibility at temperatures T?T _b≈ 30?K. FC in μ ₀ H ≤ 1?T gives rise to shifted minor hysteresis loops below T _b. At T _c≈ 10?K, sharp peaks of m ^ZFC and of the ac susceptibility χ ′, a kink of the thermoremanent magnetic moment m ^TRM, a sizeable reduction of the coercive field H _c, and the appearance of a spontaneous moment m ^SFM indicate a phase transition with near mean-field critical behaviour of both m ^SFM and χ ′ . These features are explained within a core-shell model of nanoparticles, whose strongly disordered shells gradually become blocked below T _b, while their soft ferromagnetic cores couple dipolarly and become superferromagnetic (SFM) below T _c.     

Microstructural evolution of pure copper during friction-stir welding

The microstructural evolution of pure copper during friction-stir welding was found to be principally influenced by welding temperature. At temperatures below ~0.5 T_m (where T_m is melting point), the microstructure was shown to be essentially determined by continuous recrystallization, leading to significant grain refinement and related material strengthening in the stir zone. In contrast, grain structure development at temperatures above ~0.5 T_m was dominated by discontinuous recrystallization producing a relatively coarse grain structure in the stir zone and giving rise to material softening.     

Properties of (Bi1/9Na2/3)(Mn1/3Nb2/3)O3 analysed within dielectric permittivity,conductivity, electric modulus and derivative techniques approach

The (Bi_1/9Na_2/3)(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ ceramics with perovskite structure were sintered. The XRD test proved that the samples are cubic (a?=?3.920?±?0.001?Å). Microstructure and atomic composition were determined with a SEM (JSM-5410) equipped with energy dispersion X-ray analyser (ISIS-300). The fluctuation in the chemical composition was found indicating on local disorder. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy in the range 10^?1–3?·?10⁷?Hz was applied within the range of 100–650?K. The real, ?′(f,?T), and imaginary, ?″(f,?T), parts of complex dielectric permitivity characteristics, both in the temperature and frequency domain, show relaxation processes partially covered by electric conductivity. At high temperatures the electric conductivity exhibits a thermally activated behaviour σ(f,?T)?∝?exp(?E _a/kT) but the variable range hopping (VRH) dependence σ?∝?exp[?(T ₀/T)^1/4] is manifested at low temperatures. The derivatives technique in the frequency (??log??/??log?ω) and temperature (??log??/?T) domain enabled various relaxation processes to be distinguished. The data converted to electric modulus representation, M*(f,?T)?=?1/?*, exhibited clearly resolved relaxation peaks. The relaxation times obtained from the peaks position show a slightly non-Arrhenius temperature behaviour with the activation energy varying in 0.4–0.6?eV range and characteristic time of the electric conductivity relaxation of the order of 10^?12?s. The relaxation times can be fitted at better accuracy with the VRH dependence where T ₀ are of the order of 10⁸?K. It is shown that the low frequency ac-conductivity converges to dc-conductivity and the relation σ(0)?～?ω_m?～?τ_m ^?1 typical for the disordered solids applies. The conduction current relaxation relationship behaves in accord with the VRH system: σ_dc?∝?(T/T ₀)^q (e ²/kT) ω_c, where ω_c?=?ν_ph exp[?(T ₀/T)^1/4] is valid for the locally disordered (Bi_1/9Na_2/3)(Mn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ compound.     

Phase transition in a vortice lattice in a Bi2212:Pb single crystal

The magnetooptical method was used to investigate the penetration of a magnetic flux into a single crystal of a high-temperature superconductor (Bi_0.84Pb_0.16)_2.2Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ in crossed magnetic fields. It is shown that at low temperatures the penetration of the magnetic flux is anisotropic: the flux moves preferentially along the magnetic field applied in the plane of the sample, and the anisotropy grows as the temperature increases. At a temperature T_m = 54±2 K, there occurs a sharp change in the character of penetration of the magnetic field into the superconductor; the direction of the flux ceases be dependent on the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field applied in the plane of the sample. In this case, the transition temperature T_m is independent of the applied magnetic field. The effect is interpreted in terms of the concepts of a phase transition in the system of vortices, which is related to a sharp decrease in the correlations in the position of vortices in various CuO planes, i.e., with the transition from three-dimensional to two-dimensional behavior of the vortex structure.     

EFFICIENCY OF β-NUCLEATING AGENTS IN PROPYLENE/α-OLEFIN COPOLYMERS

Crystallization and melting behavior of β-nucleated propylene/1-pentene random copolymers were studied. Samples with different comonomer content were nucleated with the calcium salt of suberic acid. The WAXS, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarized light microscopy (PLM) measurements showed that morphological behavior of the β-nucleated copolymers is similar to that of the homopolymer, but the rate of crystallization and the characteristic temperatures decrease with increasing pentene content. Crystallization at low temperatures and lower chain regularity lead to the formation of imperfect crystal structures with high instability, which enables the study of structural perfection processes like ββ′- or βα-recrystallization during partial melting. The PLM studies proved that the critical crossover temperature T(βα) decreases with increasing pentene content. The effect of comonomer content on the critical recooling temperature ( T _R ^* ), as well as on the equilibrium melting point of the β-form ( T _m ⁰) was also investigated. However, in our case, the linear Hoffman–Weeks method proved to be unsuitable for the accurate determination of T _m ⁰.     

Effect of pressure on the electrical resistivity and magnetism in updsn

The electrical resistivity of a UPdSn single crystal exerted to various hydrostatic pressures was measured as a function of temperature and magnetic field. Clear anomalies in the temperature dependence of resistivity along the c-axis mark the magnetic phase transitions between paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic (AF) state at T _N and the AF1?AF2 transition at T ₁. Large negative magnetoresistance effects have been observed not only in the AF state as a result of the metamagnetic transition to canted structure at B _c , but also at temperatures far above T _N . The latter result is attributed to the existence of AF correlations or short range AF orderings in the paramagnetic range. The value of T _N increases with increasing applied pressure, whereas T ₁ simultaneously decreases. It is also found that B _c decreases with increasing pressure. As a consequence, the stability range of the AF-1 phase expands with applied pressure partially on account of the ground-state AF-2 phase.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the quantum critical behavior of Ce-lattice compounds

A systematic analysis of low-temperature magnetic phase diagrams of Ce compounds is performed in order to recognize the thermodynamic conditions to be fulfilled by those systems to reach a quantum critical regime or, alternatively, to identify other kinds of low-temperature behavior. Based on specific heat (C _m ) and entropy results, three different types of phase diagrams are recognized: (i) with the entropy involved in the ordered phase (S _MO) decreasing proportionally to the ordering temperature (T _MO); (ii) those showing a transference of degrees of freedom from the ordered phase to a non-magnetic component, with their C _m (T _MO) jumps (ΔC _m ) vanishing at finite temperature; and (iii) those ending at a critical point at finite temperature because their ΔC _m do not decrease sufficiently with T _MO, producing an entropy accumulation at low temperature.

Only those systems belonging to the first case, i.e. with S _MO?→?0 as T _MO?→?0, can be regarded as candidates for quantum critical behavior. Their magnetic phase boundaries deviate from the classical negative curvature below T?≈?2.5?K, denouncing monotonic misleading extrapolations down to T?=?0. Different characteristic concentrations are recognized and analyzed for Ce-ligand alloyed systems. In particular, a pre-critical region is identified where the nature of the magnetic transition undergoes significant modifications, with its ?C _m /?T discontinuity strongly affected by the magnetic field and showing an increasing remnant entropy at T?→?0. Physical constraints arising from the third law at T?→?0 are discussed and recognized from experimental results.     

Void formation in Nickel during high temperature proton irradiation

Pure Ni foils, doped with He from 0 to 28 appm, were irradiated with protons at temperatures in the range 0.3–0.6 T_m (T_m = melting point in °K) and void formation was studied. The influence of He doping, irradiation temperature and alloying were investigated. For constant He content and proton fluence, void number density and swelling are maximum at about 400°C, while the void size increases with temperature. Most voids are octahedral in shape with no sign of truncation. Helium is required to nucleate voids, and lowering the stacking fault energy by alloying suppresses void formation completely. Present results suggest that void nucleation is inhomogeneous. Some implications of these findings are discussed.     

多晶薄膜表面粗化与生长方式转变

采用原子力显微镜研究了磁控溅射多晶薄膜表面粗化行为对归一化沉积温度T_s/T_m(T_s是沉积温度，T_m是材料熔点)的依赖性与薄膜生长方式转变行为.随着T_s/T_m增加，薄膜表面粗糙度增加，而表征粗糙度随时间演化特征的生长指数β历经了先减小再增加的过程.β对T_s/T_m的依赖关系反映了薄膜生长方式的转变行为，即薄膜生长依次由随机生长方式向表面扩散驱动生长方式与异常标度行为生长方式转变.在低于体扩散控制薄膜生长的温度时，晶界扩散机理导致多晶薄膜的表面粗化的异常标度行为. 关键词： 多晶薄膜 表面粗化 温度 生长     

Surface morphology of metal films deposited on mica at various temperatures observed by atomic force microscopy

Thin films of eight metals with a thickness of 150 nm were deposited on mica substrates by thermal evaporation at various temperatures in a high vacuum. The surface morphology of the metal films was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the images were characterized quantitatively by a roughness analysis and a bearing analysis (surface height analysis). The films of Au, Ag, Cu, and Al with the high melting points were prepared at homologous temperatures T/T_m = 0.22-0.32, 0.40, and 0.56. The films of In, Sn, Bi, and Pb with the low melting points were prepared at T/T_m = 0.55-0.70, where T and T_m are the absolute temperatures of the mica substrate and the melting point of the metal, respectively. The surface morphology of these metal films was studied based on a structure zone model. The film surfaces of Au, Ag, and Cu prepared at the low temperatures (T/T_m = 0.22-0.24) consist of small round grains with diameters of 30-60 nm and heights of 2-7 nm. The surface heights of these metal films distribute randomly around the surface height at 0 nm and the morphology is caused by self-shadowing during the deposition. The grain size becomes large due to surface diffusion of adatoms and the film surfaces have individual characteristic morphology and roughnesses as T increases. The surface of the Al film becomes very smooth as T increases and the atomically smooth surface is obtained at T/T_m = 0.56-0.67 (250-350 °C). On the other hand, the atomically smooth surface of the Au film is obtained at T/T_m = 0.56 (473 ± 3 °C). The films of In, Sn, Bi, and Pb prepared at T/T_m = 0.55-0.70 also show the individual characteristic surface morphology.     

Optical and dielectric studies of phase transitions in single crystals of NaNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Gd<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>NbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> solid solutions

The temperature dependences of the permittivity ? and the false-color image patterns obtained by the rotating polarizer method for single crystals of (1 ? x)NaNbO_3?x Gd_1/3NbO₃ (x = 0.003, 0.090) solid solutions with different degrees of diffuseness of the phase transition are investigated. A multifractal analysis of the false-color images has revealed anomalies in the temperature dependences of the parameter ?_∞ of the multifractal spectrum. For a sample with a sharp phase transition (x ≈ 0.003), the temperature of this anomaly is in good agreement with the temperature of the jumps in the permittivity ?(T) and birefringence. For an NNG crystal with x ≈ 0.09, which exhibits a diffuse maximum of ?(T), the temperatures of the anomalies of ?_∞(T) differ in the central and peripheral regions, which correlates with the distribution of Gd over the crystal.     

Role of inter-site exchange and hybrid interactions in itinerant ferromagnetism

In this work, we study the magnetic properties of itinerant electron systems using the Hubbard-like tight binding Hamiltonian along with inter-site exchange and hybrid interactions. We have used the mean-field approximation to deal with the exchange and hybrid interactions. It is found that hybrid interaction is more effective than exchange interaction for the on-set of ferromagnetic state. We have studied the effect of hybrid interaction on various physical quantities at different temperatures. The effective mass (m*/m) of up spin electrons increases slowly as the temperature decreases but below the critical temperature (T_c), it decreases rapidly. For down spin electrons effective mass increases slowly as the temperature decreases and below T_c, it increases more rapidly. Spectral weight (n/m*) for up spin electrons decreases slowly upto T_c and below T_c, it increases rapidly. For down spin electrons spectral weight decreases slowly upto T_c and below T_c, it decreases rapidly. Our results for both the effective mass and spectral weight are in good agreement with recently observed experimental behaviour in itinerant ferromagnet Ga_1−xMn_xAs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 (2002) 097203]. We have also studied variation of the spectral weight and optical absorption with temperature in presence of magnetic field. We found that these two quantities for up spin electrons increase as applied magnetic field increases at all temperatures (∼4T_c). For down spin electrons these two quantities decrease as applied magnetic field increases.     

The effect of Bi content on the thermal stability and crystallization of Se–Te chalcogenide glass

Glass formation and devitrification of intermediate alloys in the Se–Te–Bi system were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. A comparison of various simple quantitative methods to assess the level of stability of the glassy materials in the above-mentioned system is presented. All of these methods are based on characteristic temperatures, such as the glass transition temperature, T _g, the onset temperature of crystallization, T _in, the temperature corresponding to the maximum crystallization rate, T _p, or the melting temperature, T _m. In this work, a kinetic parameter, K _r(T), is added to the stability criteria. The thermal stability of several compositions of Se–Te–Bi was evaluated experimentally and correlated with the activation energies of crystallization by this kinetic criterion and compared with those evaluated by other criteria. All the results confirm that the thermal stability decreases with increasing Bi content in this glassy system. The crystallization results are analysed and the activation energy and mechanism of crystallization characterized.     

蓝宝石光纤端面上ZnO薄膜的制备及其温变光学特性

介绍了利用电子束蒸发技术在蓝宝石光纤端面上生长具有良好表面形貌和晶体结构的ZnO薄膜方法.不同测试温度（室温至773 K）条件下的透射光谱显示,蒸镀在蓝宝石光纤端面上的ZnO薄膜,其光学吸收边随温度升高而发生红移现象,且禁带宽度和热力学温度之间满足E_g（T）=340-491×10^-4T的关系.这为今后进一步利用ZnO薄膜的禁带宽度检测相应的环境温度,研制以ZnO薄膜为敏感材料的新型宽量程光纤温度传感器打下了良好的基础. 关键词： ZnO薄膜 蓝宝石光纤 光学吸收边 光纤温度传感器     

Low temperature electrical conductivity and magnetoconductivity of Fe39Ni39Mo4Si6B12 and Co58Ni10Fe5Si11B16 metallic glass alloys

A detailed study on the weak localization phenomenon vis-a-vis electron-electron interaction effects in magnetic metallic glasses has been carried out. We measured the electrical conductivity and magnetoconductivity within the temperature range 1.8≤T≤300K. A maximum on the conductivity versus temperature curve exists atT=T _m. The conductivity was observed to follow aT ^1/2 law forT<T _m andT ² law forT>T _m. Magnetoconductivity data of these alloys indicate the prominence of electron-electron interaction at low temperatures. The authors have determined the inelastic scattering field and spin-orbit scattering field from the magnetoconductivity data. The inelastic scattering field obeys aT ^p law (p=2) at low temperatures.     

Rotational tunnelling: A computer simulation at finite temperatures

At low temperatures sharp tunnelling lines are observed from crystals containing XH₃ or XH₄ groups. These lines shift and broaden when fluctuations of the rotational potential become important with increasing temperature. We have modelled the shaking term by a classical oscillator which interacts with the tunnelling particle. The oscillator is irreversibly coupled to a bath at a temperatureT. An analysis of the correlation function relevant for neutron scattering leads to a Lorentzian line which shifts to lower frequencies and broadens with increasing amplitude of the thermal fluctuations.     

Mössbauer study of paramagnetic-like behavior below the Néel temperature in a random mixture Fe x Mn1−x TiO3 withx<0.3

As a part of studies of the microscopic behavior of spins in a mixed compound with competing exchange interactions Fe _x Mn_1–x TiO₃, the Mössbauer technique has been applied to the samples withx=0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 which establish the antiferromagnetic long-range order at the respectiveT _N's and do not show reentrant transitions at lower temperatures. We have found that in each of the three samples, the paramagnetic doublet superimposes on the magnetically split spectrum belowT _N. The peak intensity of the paramagnetic doublet decreases with decreasing temperature and the paramagnetic doublet becomes undetected as sharp peaks at a temperature aroundT _N/2. However, the spectra observed at temperatures lower thanT _N/2 suggest that the paramagnetic doublet still exists, though it is highly broadened. This is interpreted as that short-range clusters of spins fluctuating rather slowly with time coexist with the spins forming the antiferromagnetic long-range order. We consider that these short-range clusters are responsible for the existence of the paramagnetic component contributing to the magnetization versus temperature curve.     

Uniaxial pressure influence on dielectric properties of Pb(Zr0.99Ti0.01)O3 single crystals

The effect of uniaxial pressure (0–1000 bars) applied parallel to AC electric field on dielectric properties of Pb(Zr_0.99Ti_0.01)O₃ single crystals has been investigated. It was found that uniaxial pressure significantly influences these properties. With increasing pressure: (i) peak ?(T) decreases, becomes diffuse and shifts to higher temperature, (ii) the thermal hysteresis is reduced, (iii) the hump in ?(T) profile connected with antiferroelectric–intermediate phase transition vanishes, and (iv) the local anomaly in ?(T) profile connected with polar microregions existence above T_m is protruded and slightly shifts towards higher temperature. It was concluded, that applied uniaxial pressure or increasing Ti-ions content in lead zirconate titanate system induces similar effects. The results were discussed in terms of domain switching under pressure.