boldmath Characterization of the BaBiO3-doped BaTiO3 positive temperature coefficient of a resistivity ceramic using impedance spectroscopy with Tc=155℃

BaBiO₃-doped BaTiO₃ (BB-BT) ceramic, as a candidate for lead-free positive temperature coefficient of resistivity (PTCR) materials with a higher Curie temperature, has been synthesized in air by a conventional sintering technique. The temperature dependence of resistivity shows that the phase transition of the PTC thermistor ceramic occurs at the Curie temperature, T_c=155 ℃, which is higher than that of BaTiO₃ ( ≤ 130 ℃). Analysis of ac impedance data using complex impedance spectroscopy gives the alternate current (AC) resistance of the PTCR ceramic. By additional use of the complex electric modulus formalism to analyse the same data, the inhomogeneous nature of the ceramic may be unveiled. The impedance spectra reveal that the grain resistance of the BB-BT sample is slightly influenced by the increase of temperature, indicating that the increase in overall resistivity is entirely due to a grain-boundary effect. Based on the dependence of the extent to which the peaks of the imaginary part of electric modulus and impedance are matched on frequency, the conduction mechanism is also discussed for a BB-BT ceramic system.     

Dielectric Properties of Fine-Grained BaTiO3 Ceramics under High Pressure

We investigate the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant of BaTiO3 ceramic with coarse to nanograin size under different hydrostatic high pressures up to 5000 bar in the range between room temperature and 200℃. The ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transition temperatures Tc are determined from the peak of dielectric constant versus temperature. The values of average grain-size are estimated from the SEM images. It is found that the magnitude of dTc/dp varies considerably from sample to sample depending on grain size. The Curie point Tc of the sample with small grain size decreases more sharply than that of samples with larger one.     

Dimension effects on the dielectric properties of fine BaTiO3 ceramics

It is found that the core-shell structured grains are easy to produce for fine grain doped BaTiO3 ceramics in the sintering process. We study the influence of the core-shell structure on the Curie–Weiss temperature and dielectric properties of BaTiO3 ceramics by using effective medium approximation(EMA). Considering the second approximation, the dielectric properties of fine grain doped BaTiO3 ceramics are consistent with experimental data.     

Crystal structure and magnetic properties of Nd（Mn1-xFex）2Si2 compounds

X-ray powder diffraction,resistivity and magnetization studies have been performed on polycrystalline Nd(FexMn1-x)2Si2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) compounds which crystallize in a ThCr2Si2-type structure with the space group I4/mmm.The field-cooled temperature dependence of the magnetization curves shows that,at low temperatures,NdFe2Si2 is antiferromagnetic,while the other compounds show ferromagnetic behaviour.The substitution of Fe for Mn leads to a decrease in lattice parameters a,c and unit-cell volume V .The Curie temperature of the compounds first increases,reaches a maximum around x = 0.7,then decreases with Fe content.However,the saturation magnetization decreases monotonically with increasing Fe content.This Fe concentration dependent magnetization of Nd(FexMn1-x)2Si2 compounds can be well explained by taking into account the complex effect on magnetic properties due to the substitution of Mn by Fe.The temperature’s square dependence on electrical resistivity indicates that the curve of Nd(Fe0.6Mn0.4)2Si2 has a quasi-linear character above its Curie temperature,which is typical of simple metals.     

Temperature- and Frequency-Dependent Dielectric Properties of La1.5Sr0.5NiO4-δ

We report the temperature-dependent resistivity and dielectric function （1 kHz- 3 MHz） of a charge ordering system La1.5Sr0.5NiO4-δ. The primary data of ac impedance was measured by a four-terminal pair arrangement. Above 180K, the resistivity is independent of frequency. At lower temperatures, the dielectric function couM not be fitted by a Debye model with a single relaxation time, it should have a distribution. At T = 130 K, there is a sudden increase in the p - T relation, meanwhile an anomaly dielectric response occurs on the temperature dependant dielectric spectrum in the whole measured frequency range, in which the dielectric constant has a high value even at high frequency region. Our analysis suggests that the current system would be more consistent with the Zener polaron model.     

Rotation of ferromagnetic clusters induced magnetoresistance in the junction composed of La0.9Ca0.1MnO3 +δ and 1 wt.% Nb-doped SrTiO3

A junction composed of ultrathin La0.9Ca0.1MnO3＋δ （LCMO） film and 1 wt.% Nb-doped SrTiO3 was fabricated and its magnetoresistance （MR） was studied and compared with LCMO film. It was found that the resistance of the junction has a similar dependence on magnetic field as that of the LCMO film： the curvature of R-H curves is upward above Curie temperature （Tc） and downward below TC. These behaviours strongly suggest that the rotation of ferromagnetic clusters in manganite also causes MR in the corresponding junction. This MR can be qualitatively understood by the change of the width of the barrier induced by the rotation of ferromagnetic clusters. These results suggest a possibility to obtain junctions with large low-field MR.     

Growth and transport features of electron-doped superconductor Pr1-xLaCexCuO4-δ thin films

<正>T’-phase electron-doped superconductor Pr_1-xLaCe_xCuO_4-δ（PLCCO） thin films are successfully prepared on SrTiO₃（100） substrates by using the dc magnetron sputtering method.It is found that the films each have a highly oriented structure along the c-axis.For optimally doped films with x≈0.10,the superconducting transition temperature T_c is 23.5 K,which is similar to that of a single crystal.The quadratic temperature dependence of the resistivity is observed when T > T_c,which can be attributed to the two-dimensional Fermi liquid behaviour.Besides,the optimal conditions for preparing the T’-phase PLCCO thin films are also discussed in detail.     

Effect of Annealing on Structural and Magnetic Properties of a Thick （Ga,Mn）As Layer

We investigate effects of annealing on magnetic properties of a thick (Ga,Mn)As layer, and find a dramatic increase of the Curie temperature from 65 to 115K by postgrowth annealing for a 500-nm (Ga,Mn)As layer.Auger electron spectroscopy measurements suggest that the increase of the Curie temperature is mainly due to diffusion of Mn interstitial to the free surface. The double-crystal x-ray diffraction patterns show that the lattice constant of (Ga,Mn)As decreases with increasing annealing temperature. As a result, the annealing induced reduction of the lattice constant is mainly attributed to removal of Mn interstitial.     

Anomalous magnetic properties of an iron film system deposited on fracture surfaces of α-Al2O3 ceramics

An iron film percolation system is fabricated by vapour-phase deposition on fracture surfaces of α-Al2O3 ceramics. The zero-field-cooled （ZFC） and field-cooled （FC） magnetization measurement reveals that the magnetic phase of the film samples evolve from a high-temperature ferromagnetic state to a low-temperature spin-glass-like state, which is also demonstrated by the temperature-dependent ac susceptibility of the iron films. The temperature dependence of the exchange bias field He of the iron film exhibits a minimum peak around the temperature T=5 K, which is independent of the magnitude of the cooling field Hcf. However, for T 〉 10K, （1） He is always negative when Hcf=2kOe and （2） for Hcf= 20 kOe （1Oe≈80 A/m）, He changes from negative to positive values as T increases. Our experimental results show that the anomalous hysteresis properties mainly result from the oxide surfaces of the films with spin-glass-like phase.     

In situ electrical resistance and activation energy of solid C6o under high pressure

The in situ electrical resistance and transport activation energies of solid C60 fullerene have been measured under high pressure up to 25 GPa in the temperature range of 300-423 K by using a designed diamond anvil cell. In the experiment, four parts of boron-doped diamond films fabricated on one anvil were used as electrical measurement probes and a W-Ta thin film thermocouple which was integrated on the other diamond anvil was used to measure the temperature. The current results indicate that the measured high-pressure resistances are bigger than those reported before at the same pressure and there is no pressure-independent resistance increase before 8 GPa. From the temperature dependence of the resistivity, the C60 behaviors as a semiconductor and the activation energies of the cubic C60 fullerene are 0,49, 0.43, and 0.36 eV at 13, 15, and 19 GPa, respectively.     

Relationship of Polaron Exchange with Ferromagnetic and Insulator--Metal Transitions in Doped Manganites

We report the experiment results and data analyses based on a polaron exchange model for La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 and Pr0.7（Sr1-xCax）0.3MnO3 epitaxial thin films. In the polaron exchange model with an energy balance condition, critical temperature of Tc for stable ferromagnetic （FM） ordering should depend on △E as kBTc = E0 exp（-△E/kBTc）, where A E denotes the potential barrier for the exchange polarons to overcome. Using the small polaron hopping model, the resistivity peak temperature Tp is a function of the hopping energy Ehop. The dependence of Tp on Ehop is similar to the dependence of Tc on AE, which reveals that the polaron exchange relates to FM and insulator-metal transitions. The result indicates that the polaron exchange model is a simple way for describing the FM ordering, and is very helpful for understanding of complex doped manganites.     

Growth of gem-grade nitrogen-doped diamond crystals heavily doped with the addition of Ba（N3）2

Additive Ba(N 3) 2 as a source of nitrogen is heavily doped into the graphite-Fe-based alloy system to grow nitrogendoped diamond crystals under a relatively high pressure (about 6.0 GPa) by employing the temperature gradient method.Gem-grade diamond crystal with a size of around 5 mm and a nitrogen concentration of about 1173 ppm is successfully synthesised for the first time under high pressure and high temperature in a China-type cubic anvil highpressure apparatus.The growth habit of diamond crystal under the environment with high degree of nitrogen doping is investigated.It is found that the morphologies of heavily nitrogen-doped diamond crystals are all of octahedral shape dominated by {111} facets.The effects of temperature and duration on nitrogen concentration and form are explored by infrared absorption spectra.The results indicate that nitrogen impurity is present in diamond predominantly in the dispersed form accompanied by aggregated form,and the aggregated nitrogen concentration in diamond increases with temperature and duration.In addition,it is indicated that nitrogen donors are more easily incorporated into growing crystals at higher temperature.Strains in nitrogen-doped diamond crystal are characterized by micro-Raman spectroscopy.Measurement results demonstrate that the undoped diamond crystals exhibit the compressive stress,whereas diamond crystals heavily doped with the addition of Ba(N 3) 2 display the tensile stress.     

A New Dopant of NaN3 for High-Concentration-Nitrogen Diamond Synthesized by HPHT

Nitrogen is successfully doped in diamond by adding sodium azide （NaN3 ） as the source of nitrogen to the graphite and iron powders. The diamond crystals with high nitrogen concentration, 1000-2200ppm, which contain the same concentrations of nitrogen with natural diamond, have been synthesized by using the system of iron-carbon- additive NAN3. The nitrogen concentrations in diamond increase with the increasing content of NAN3. When the content of NaN3 is increased to 0.7-1.3 wt. %, the nitrogen concentration in the diamond almost remains in a nitrogen concentration range from 1250ppm to 2200ppm, which is the highest value and several times higher than that in the diamond synthesized by a conventional method without additive NaN3 under high pressure and high temperature （HPHT） conditions.     

Investigation of current transport parameters of Ti/4H-SiC MPS diode with inhomogeneous barrier

The current transport parameters of 4H-SiC merged PiN Schottky(MPS) diode are investigated in a temperature range of 300-520 K.Evaluation of the experimental current-voltage(I-V) data reveals the decrease in Schottky barrier height Φ b but an increase in ideality factor n,with temperature decreasing,which suggests the presence of an inhomogeneous Schottky barrier.The current transport behaviours are analysed in detail using the Tung’s model and the effective area of the low barrier patches is extracted.It is found that small low barrier patches,making only 4.3% of the total contact,may significantly influence the device electrical characteristics due to the fact that a barrier height of 0.968 eV is much lower than the average barrier height 1.39 eV.This shows that ion implantation in the Schottky contact region of MPS structure may result in a poor Ti/4H-SiC interface quality.In addition,the temperature dependence of the specific on-resistance(R on sp),T 2.14,is determined between 300 K and 520 K,which is similar to that predicted by a reduction in electron mobility.     

Densification and lithium ion conductivity of garnet-type Li7-xLa3Zr2-xTaxO12 （x=0.25） solid electrolytes

The garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 ceramic is a promising solid electrolyte for all-solid-state secondary lithium batteries. However, it faces the problem of lithium volatilization during sintering, which may cause low density and deterioration of ionic conductivity. In this work, the effects of sintering temperature and addition on the density as well as the lithium ion conductivity of Li7-xLa3Zr2-xTaxO12 (LLZTO, x=0.25) ceramics prepared by solid state reaction have been studied. It is found that optimization of the sintering temperature leads to a minor increase in the ceramic density, yielding an optimum ionic conductivity of 2.9×10-4 S·cm-1 at 25℃. Introduction of Li 3 PO 4 addition in an appropriate concentration can obviously increase the density, leading to an optimum ionic conductivity of 7.2×10-4 S·cm-1 at 25℃. This value is superior to the conductivity data in most recent reports on the LLZTO ceramics.     

Effect of sample temperature on laser-induced semiconductor plasma spectroscopy

We investigate the temperature dependence of the emission spectrum of a laser-induced semiconductor(Ge and Si) plasma. The change in spectral intensity with the sample temperature indicates the change of the laser ablation mass. The reflectivity of the target surface is reduced as the sample is heated, which leads to an increase in the laser energy coupled to the surface of the sample and eventually produces a higher spectral intensity.The spectral intensities are enhanced by a few times at high temperatures compared with the cases at low temperatures. The spectral intensity of Ge is enhanced by 1.5 times at 422.66 nm, and 3 times at589.33 nm when the sample temperature increases from 50°C to 300°C. We can obtain the same emission intensity by a more powerful laser or by less pulse energy with a higher sample temperature. Based on experimental observations we conclude that the preheated sample can improve the emission intensity of laser-induced semiconductor plasma spectroscopy.     

Thermal resistance matrix representation of thermal effects and thermal design in multi-finger power heterojunction bipolar transistors

The thermal resistance matrix including self-heating thermal resistance and thermal coupling resistance is presented to describe the thermal effects of multi-finger power heterojunction bipolar transistors. The dependence of thermal resistance matrix on finger spacing is also investigated. It is shown that both self-heating thermal resistance and thermal coupling resistance are lowered by increasing the finger spacing, in which the downward dissipated heat path is widened and the heat flow from adjacent fingers is effectively suppressed. The decrease of self-heating thermal resistance and thermal coupling resistance is helpful for improving the thermal stability of power devices. Furthermore, with the aid of the thermal resistance matrix, a 10-finger power heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with non-uniform finger spacing is designed for high thermal stability. The optimized structure can effectively lower the peak temperature while maintaining a uniformity of the temperature profile at various biases and thus the device effectively may operate at a higher power level.     

Nucleation Behaviour in the Initial Stage of Surfactant-Mediated Epitaxial Growth

The nucleation kinetics in the early stage of epitaxial growth mediated by a monolayer of surfactant is studied by using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Our simulation model includes three main kinetic parameters: a small barrier for adatom diffusion on the surfactant terrace, a higher barrier for the exchange of adatoms with their underneath surfactant atoms, and a highest barrier for the recovery exchange in which an exchanged adatom resurfaces to the top of the surfactant layer. The simulations reveal a distinct transition of nucleation behaviour as the different atomic processes are activated successively with increasing temperature. The total nucleus density as a function of temperature exhibits a complex N-shape with a minimum and a maximum, which define the transition temperatures. The characteristic behaviour of nucleation density is helpful to rationalize the experimental observations on the temperature dependence of growth mode in some surfactant-mediated epitaxial systems.     

Tunable strain effect on the charge/orbital ordering state in electron-doped La0.9Hf0.1MnO3 films

The impact of the lattice strain on the charge/orbital ordering state was studied by using a heterostructure composed with electron-doped La 0.9 Hf 0.1 MnO 3(LHMO) and ferro-and piezoelectric 0.67Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.33PbTiO3.The ferroelectric poling induces a significant reduction in the biaxial tensile strain in the LHMO film,leading to a decrease in the film resistance over the whole temperature range and an increase in the insulator to metal transition temperature T IM.The resistance of LHMO film exhibits different responses to the external electric fields and lattice deformation,which is attributed to the coactions of converse piezoelectric effect and ferroelectric polarity effect.The modification of charge/orbital ordering phase by the electric fields and ferroelectric polarization suggests that the unstable states in the manganites are sensitive to strain effects.     

IRREVERSIBILITY LINE AND THERMAL DEPINNING IN YBa2Cu3O7-δ

By measuring magnetic torque moment in a field-sweeping process, the temperature and field dependence of the critical current density j (with a criterion of electric field) and the normalized relaxation rate Q = d lnj/d ln E of a YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ thin film were obtained. With a minimum current density (j_min = 10A·cm^-2) the irreversibility lines at different sweeping rates were determined. It was found that these irreversibility lines cannot be fitted to either the melting line or the vortex-glass transition. All the data can be interpreted by the thermally-assisted-flux-flow model. Further investigation shows that, at irreversible tem-perature and field, U_c is much smaller than k_BT, which indicates that the thermal depinning is the real origin of the irreversibility line.