Discontinuous unbinding of lipid multibilayers

We have observed a discontinuous unbinding transition of lipid bilayer stacks composed of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol using x-ray diffraction. The unbinding is reversible and coincides with the main (L(beta)-->L(alpha)) transition of the lipid mixture. Interbilayer interaction potentials deduced from the diffraction data reveal that the bilayers in the L(beta) phase are only weakly bound. The unbinding transition appears to be driven by an abrupt increase in steric repulsion resulting from increased thermal undulations of the bilayers upon entering the fluid L(alpha) phase.     

Orbital ordering and magnetic field effect in MnV2O4

We studied the structural properties of an orbital-spin-coupled spinel oxide, MnV2O4, mainly by single-crystal x-ray diffraction measurement. It was found that a structural phase transition from cubic to tetragonal and ferrimagnetic ordering occur at the same temperature (Ts,TN=57 K). The structural phase transition was induced also by magnetic field above Ts. In addition, magnetic-field-induced alignment of tetragonal domains results in large magnetostriction below Ts. We also found that the structural phase transition is caused by the antiferro-type ordering of the V t2g orbitals.     

A dynamical test of phase transition order: New things in old places or old wine in new bottles

We first discuss nonlinear aspects of phase transition theory applied to a particular liquid crystal phase transition. A simple derivation is given to show how two coupled Goldstone modes (one appearing as gauge fluctuations of the ordered phase) can force a phase transition, against all expectations, to take place discontinuously (theory of Halperin, Lubensky, and Ma)-but the discontinuity may be immeasurably small. Then, we describe a new dynamical test of phase transition order, developed by Cladiset al., that turns out to be more sensitive than x-ray diffraction and adiabatic calorimetry. Quantitative data found by this new method are in excellent agreement with the measurements of adiabatic calorimetry and x-ray diffraction as well as expectations implicit in the predictions of HLM.This is the text of an after-banquet talk given at the CNLS Workshop on the Dynamics of Concentrated Systems.     

Annealing of the delta form of syndiotactic polystyrene

The effects of thermal treatments on the phase organization in some polymorphic forms of syndiotactic polystyrene have been investigated. In particular the thermal stability of the delta form was studied using x-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy as analytical techniques. The obtained results show that this form, characterized by chains in helix conformation, is affected by non-equilibrium phenomena. Moreover, the transition from the delta to the gamma form occurs through an intermediate form which maintains the helix chain conformation but partially loses the crystalline order.     

Nature of the high-pressure transition in Fe2O3 hematite

We present a new method to separate the crystallographic and electronic phase transitions in hematite using x-ray emission spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. Our observations, based on the behavior of a metastable high-pressure phase in the stability domain of the low-pressure phase, show that the electronic transition is preempted by the crystallographic transition. The former occurs only afterwards in the high-pressure phase, possibly as a result of a Mott transition. The idea that the electronic transition drives the transition in hematite is therefore invalidated. Such methods should help elucidate the mechanics and the driving forces behind a number of first-order high-pressure phase transitions.     

Structural phase transition of vanadium at 69 GPa

A phase transition was observed at 63-69 GPa and room temperature in vanadium with synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The transition is characterized as a rhombohedral lattice distortion of the body-centered-cubic vanadium without a discontinuity in the pressure-volume data, thus representing a novel type of transition that has never been observed in elements. Instead of driven by the conventional s-d electronic transition mechanism, the phase transition could be associated with the softening of C44 trigonal elasticity tensor that originates from the combination of Fermi surface nesting, band Jahn-Teller distortion, and electronic topological transition.     

Smectic-A*-smectic-C* transition in a ferroelectric liquid crystal without smectic layer shrinkage

The smectic layer spacing of a nonfluorinated ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) compound with almost no shrinkage and only minor tendency to form zigzag defects was characterized by small angle x-ray diffraction. The material lacks a nematic phase. The smectic-A*-smectic-C* phase transition was studied by measuring the thermal and electric field response of the optical tilt and the electric polarization. These properties are described very well by a Landau expansion even without introduction of a higher-order Theta(6) term. This result suggests a pure second-order phase transition far from tricriticality and differs considerably from the typical behavior of the A*-C* transition in most FLC materials.     

Experimental Observation of Phase Transition in Sb203 under High Pressure

The in situ high-pressure behavior of the semiconductor antimony trioxide(Sb_2O_s) is investigated by the Raman spectroscopy techniques and angle-dispersive synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction in a diamond anvil cell up to31.5 and 30.7 GPa,respectively.New peaks observed in the external lattice mode range in the Raman spectra at 13.5 GPa suggest that the structural phase transition occurs.The group mode(140 cm~(-1)) in Sb_2O_3 exhibits anomalous pressure dependence;that is,the frequency decreases gradually with the increasing pressure.High pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements at room temperature reveal that the transition from the orthorhombic structure to high-pressure new phase occurs at about 14.2 GPa,corresponding to the softening of the group optic mode(140 cm~(-1)).     

First-order isostructural Mott transition in highly compressed MnO

We present evidence for an isostructural, first-order Mott transition in MnO at 105+/-5 GPa, based on high-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy and angle-resolved x-ray diffraction data. The pressure-induced structural and spectral changes provide a coherent picture of MnO phase transitions from paramagnetic B1 to antiferromagnetic distorted B1 at 30 GPa, to paramagnetic B8 at 90 GPa, and to diamagnetic B8 at 105+/-5 GPa. The last is the Mott transition, accompanied by a significant loss of magnetic moment, an approximately 6.6% volume collapse and the insulator-metal transition as demonstrated by recent resistance measurements.     

Raman spectroscopy of CaSnO3 at high temperature: a highly quasi-harmonic perovskite

Calcium stannate perovskite (CaSnO(3)) has been studied by Raman spectroscopy at two excitation wavelengths (514.5 and 632.8 nm). No phase transition was observed. Rather, the thermal evolution of the Raman lines showed a high degree of harmonicity with small Grüneisen parameters and thermal line broadening following Γ=Acothθ/T, where the quantum temperature θ is determined by the phonon branch without further coupling with other degrees of freedom. The geometrical nature of phonon lines has been identified. High-temperature powder x-ray diffraction measurements provide thermal expansion coefficients of α(x)=13.9 × 10(-6) K(-1), α(y)=2.7 × 10(-6) K(-1), α(z)=14.3 × 10(-6) K(-1). The strongly quasi-harmonic behaviour observed and the lack of any indication of instability with respect to the post-perovskite structure points to the strongly first-order character of the reported perovskite to post-perovskite phase transition in this material, which appears to behave as a very good analogue to MgSiO(3) in the Earth's interior.     

Dynamic fluctuations and static speckle in critical X-ray scattering from SrTiO3

We report a study of critical x-ray scattering from SrTiO3 near the antiferrodistortive structural phase transition at T(C) approximately 105 K. A line shape analysis of the thermal diffuse scattering results in the most precise experimental determination to date of the critical exponent gamma. The microscopic mechanism behind the anomalous "central peak" critical scattering component is clarified here by the first-ever observation of a static coherent diffraction pattern (speckle pattern) within the anomalous critical scattering of SrTiO3. This observation allows us to directly attribute the origins of the central peak to Bragg diffraction from remnant static disorder above T(C).     

Diamond-graphite phase transition in ultradisperse-diamond clusters

A systematic study of the diamond-graphite structural phase transition in ultradisperse-diamond clusters obtained by the detonation technique is reported. Samples of two types, differing in the kinetics of detonation-product cooling, were investigated. The phase transition was achieved under heating in an inert atmosphere in the temperature range 720–1400 K. The transition was identified by Raman scattering and x-ray diffraction data. Raman and x-ray characterization showed the ultradisperse diamond, irrespective of the cooling rate used, to be cluster material possessing diamond structure with a characteristic nanocrystal size of 43 Å. The diamond-graphite phase transition in ultradisperse diamond is shown to start from the cluster surface inwards at T _pt≈1200 K, i.e. at substantially lower temperatures than is the case with bulk diamond single crystals.     

Near-zero thermal expansion in β-CuZnV2O7 in a large temperature range

We report a new type of near-zero thermal expansion material β-CuZnV₂O₇ in a large temperature range from 173 K to 673 K. It belongs to a monoclinic structure (C2/c space group) in the whole temperature range. No structural phase transition is observed at atmospheric pressure based on the x-ray diffraction and Raman experiment. The high-pressure Raman experiment demonstrates that two structural phase transitions exist at 0.94 GPa and 6.53 GPa, respectively. The mechanism of negative thermal expansion in β-CuZnV₂O₇ is interpreted by the variations of the angles between atoms intuitively and the phonon anharmonicity intrinsically resorting to the negative Grüneisen parameter.     

一种新的恶二唑衍生物在金刚石对顶砧中的电阻率随压力和温度的变化关系

利用金刚石对顶砧测量了恶二唑衍生物微晶, 1,4-bis[(4-methyloxyphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazolyl]- 2,5-bisheptyloxyphenylene (OXD-2), 电阻随压力和温度的变化关系，并利用有限元分析方法计算了样品的电阻率。实验中，测量压力和温度达到了16 GPa和150℃。样品的电阻率随着温度的升高而降低，说明样品表现出半导体传导特性。在90-100 ℃之间，样品的电阻率有一明显的下降，说明这时发生了温度诱导的相变。随着压力的增加，样品的电阻率在6GPa左右达到最大值，此后随着压力的增加而下降。结合原位x光数据，在6GPa左右的电阻突变应该是由于样品在压力的诱导下发生了无序化的相变。     

Observation of an intermediate phase near the α-β transition of quartz by heat capacity and neutron scattering measurements

Recent measurements of the heat capacity of quartz have shown an anomalous behaviour near the α-β transition of quartz. This result which is well correlated with a previous thermal expansion measurement shows the existence of an intermediate phase in a temperature range of 1.3°C above the temperature of the β-α transition upon cooling. Satellite peaks have been observed by neutron diffraction, showing that this phase is modulated.     

Temperature and pressure dependence of the crystal structure of InTe: A new high pressure phase of InTe

InTe has been investigated using high pressure x-ray diffraction technique to 340 kbar InTe undergoes a pressure induced phase transition from the tetragonal TISe-type (B37) to the NaCl-type (B1) phase We have discovered a further pressure induced phase transition from the NaCl-type to the CsCl type (B2) phase at about 150 kbar The crystal structure of the tetragonal TISe-type InTe has been reinvestigated with x-ray diffractometer data Temperature variation of the lattice constants of the tetragonal InTe has been obtained in the range 297 to 505 K.     

Study of the polymorphic hexagonal-face-centered-cubic transformation in Cu2S

The results of a dynamic high-temperature x-ray diffraction investigation into the special characteristics of the hexagonal-fcc polymorphic transformation in Cu₂S are presented. Close to the phase-transformation temperature, two groups of superstructural reflections appear on the x-ray diffraction patterns, some of these being indexed in the 12H hexagonal lattice (Ramsdel) and others in the 14H lattice. The mechanism of the hexagonal — fcc phase transition in Cu₂S is considered as passing through the intermediate 12H and 14H polytypic structures by way of the successive accumulation of periodically disposed stacking faults. The effect of thermal cycling within the phase-transformation temperature range on the course of the actual transformation is verified.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 100–103, May, 1976.     

Structural instability of PbSe/SnSe superlattices under pressure

Abstract

PbSe/SnSe superlattice, phase transition, high pressure, SR x-ray diffraction)

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction experiments have revealed successive phase transitions in epitaxially-grown PbSe/SnSe superlattices. The transition pressures from the low-pressre cubic B1- to the high-pressure orthorhombic B16-type structures are observed to vary systematically depending upon thickness of the PbSe layer. For example, a [PbSe(36A)/SnSe(12A)]₁₉, with the B1 structure in both layers stabilized in its asgrown state, undergoes the [B1/B1]-to-[B1/B16] and [B1/B16]-to-[B16/B16] structural transitions at 1.9 and 3.8GPa, respectively. This result is in contrast to their bulk data that the B1-to-B16 transition takes place at 5.3GPa in PbSe while the B16 phase is stable in SnSe at atmospheric pressure.     

Evidence of polymorphic transformations of Sn under high pressure

The high-pressure polymorphs and structural transformation of Sn were experimentally investigated using angledispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction up to 108.9 GPa. The results show that at least at 12.8 GPa β-Sn→bct structure transformation was completed and no two-phase coexistence was found. By using a long-wavelength x-ray, we resolved the diffraction peaks splitting and discovered the formation of a new distorted orthorhombic structure bco from the bct structure at 31.8 GPa. The variation of the lattice parameters and their ratios with pressure further validate the observation of the bco polymorph. The bcc structure appears at 40.9 GPa and coexists with the bco phase throughout a wide pressure range of40.9 GPa–73.1 GPa. Above 73.1 GPa, only the bcc polymorph is observed. The systematically experimental investigation confirms the phase transition sequence of Sn as β-Sn→bct→bco→ bco + bcc→bcc upon compression to 108.9 GPa at room temperature.