Statistical parameters-based image enhancement techniques in pure and nanodispersed 6O.O8 liquid crystalline compounds

Synthesis, characterization and phase-transition studies in pure and 20?µl citrate-capped Au nanodispersed liquid crystalline (LC) N-(p-n-hexyloxybenzylidene)-p-n-octyloxy aniline, 6O.O8, compounds are carried out using a polarizing microscope attached with hot stage and camera. The polarizing microscopy technique is used to measure the phase-transition temperatures. Differential scanning calorimetry is used to determine the transition temperatures and enthalpy values. By the dispersion of citrate-capped Au nanoparticles into the LC compounds, the nematic transition temperature is decreased. Furthermore, statistical parameters-based image enhancement algorithm is proposed to identify the crystalline phases in the pure and nano-doped LC compound. Empirical result analysis clearly reveals the robustness of this method over existing image enhancement methods.     

Structural phase transitions during high-energy ball milling of BaTiO3

Microstructural characterization of ball milled perovskite BaTiO₃ powders has been done by the modeling of X-ray diffraction profiles. The study reveals that on size reduction, BaTiO₃ powders undergo a continuous, displacive, and diffusionless dynamic phase transitions involving tetragonal (T), monoclinic (M), and orthorhombic (O) symmetry via the second-order type [T?→?(T?+?M)?→?(M?+?O)?→?O] when stimulated by a high-power pulse of pressure in a planetary mill. The order parameter, a phenomenological quantity to describe the general behavior of a system going through phase transitions has been estimated using spontaneous strain calculated from lattice parameters or physical distortions derived from atomic coordinates or both. At room temperature, BaTiO₃ nanoparticle achieved an orthorhombic phase when a critical size (<15?nm) has been reached at later stage of milling (≥70?h). Raman's study reveals similar structural phase transitions sequence on size reduction and TEM study reveals the corresponding particle diameter.     

Raman scattering studies on nanocrystalline BaTiO3 Part II—consolidated polycrystalline ceramics

BaTiO₃ dense ceramics with different grain sizes from 5.6 µm down to 35 nm were thoroughly studied by Raman spectroscopy. The temperature characteristics of optical phonons were compared with those obtained for powders. The micrograined ceramic revealed the well‐known spectrum profiles and transitions, typical for bulk BaTiO₃. On the other hand, the Raman spectra obtained for a nanograined ceramic with an average grain size of 35 nm revealed a tetragonally distorted pure BaTiO₃ phase showing a diffused phase transition behaviour with respect to temperature. Abnormality of phonon damping characteristics for the nanograined ceramic was demonstrated through comparison with powders with various crystallite sizes and the micrograined ceramic. The Curie temperature of the nanograined ceramic was estimated to be 105 °C from the temperature characteristic of a sharp peak at 307 cm⁻¹, which is one of the most specific tetragonal features for bulk BaTiO₃. In the present study, local stabilization of the tetragonal phase in ultra‐fine grains was experimentally demonstrated from comparison between the Raman spectroscopic results for powders and ceramics prepared through microemulsion‐mediated synthesis. Rather long phonon mean free paths can exist even in such ultra‐fine grains, but the phonon characteristics originating from various grains are diffused mainly because of the effect of internal stress. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies on structural and dielectric properties of Na1/2Dy1/2TiO3 ceramic

The polycrystalline sample of Na_1/2Dy_1/2TiO₃ ceramic was prepared by a standard high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. X-ray structural analysis confirmed the formation of single-phase (with minor secondary phase) compound in the orthorhombic (distorted tetragonal) crystal system at room temperature. Study of surface morphology by scanning electron microscope exhibits uniform distribution of rectangular/cubical grains with less voids. The elemental composition of the prepared compound was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy microanalysis. Detailed studies of dielectric properties exhibit a dielectric anomaly at 94 °C suggesting a possible ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition in the compound. The activation energy (E_a), calculated from the temperature dependence of ac conductivity plot, was found to be small (∼0.1 eV) in low temperature and large (∼0.5 eV) in high temperature region.     

Influence on the phase transitions of barium titanate of the manganese valency,introduced as a substituant in the titanium site

A small amount of manganese introduced in BaTiO₃ modifies strongly the vibrational and electronic properties of the pure compound. Dielectric response and EPR measurements are reported in order to study the influence of the manganese valency on the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition.     

Synthesis,characterization and phase transition studies in 4-hexyloxy benzylidene 4’-alkoxyanilines

Synthesis and the characterization through polarizing optical microscope (POM) textures in number of 4-hexyloxy benzylidene 4’-alkoxyanilines, 6O.Om with m = 4, 6 to 10 liquid crystalline materials are carried out. Furthermore, the density and thermal expansion coefficient results reveal that the phase transitions present, viz., isotropic–nematic, nematic–SmC and SmC–SmI show first-order nature as expected. The transition temperatures obtained thorough the differential scanning calorimetry is found to be in agreement with the literature data. The first two compounds exhibit only the nematic phase while the next four compounds show enantiotropic SmC phase as per the literature data. The compound with m = 10 exhibits monotropic SmI phase. However, we, the authors, are able to observe this phase in addition to SmC and nematic through POM only as per the literature. The parameters calculated across the phase transitions and in the phases are in agreement with the body of the data available.     

Study of superstructure II in multiferroic BiMnO3

The crystal structure of the minor phase, named superstructure II, existing in multiferroic compound BiMnO3 has been studied by electron diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Domains of major and minor phases coexisting in BiMnO3 were observed in high-resolution electron microscope images. The unit cell of minor phase was determined to be triclinic with the size 4×4×4 times as large as the distorted perovskite subcell. The [111] and [101] projected structure maps of the minor phase have been derived from the corresponding images by means of the image processing. A possible rough three-dimensional （3D） structure model was proposed based on the 3D structural information extracted from the two projected structure maps. Since there is no inversion centre in the proposed model, the minor phase may contribute to the ferroelectric property of BiMnO3.     

Specific Features of the Structure and the Dielectric Properties of Sodium–Bismuth Titanate-Based Ceramics

The phase formation, specific features, and the dielectric properties of the ceramics of compositions from the region of morphotropic interface in the (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃–BaTiO₃ system modified by Bi(Mg_0.5Ti_0.5)O₃ and also low-melting additions KCl, NaCl–LiF, CuO, and MnO₂ that favor the control of the stoichiometry and the properties of the ceramics have been studied. The ceramics are characterized by ferroelectric phase transitions that are observed as jumps at temperatures near 400 K and maxima at T_m ~ 600 K in the temperature dependences of the dielectric permittivity. The phase transitions at ~400 K demonstrate the relaxor behavior indicating the existence of polar domains in the nonpolar matrix. An increase in the content of Bi(Mg_0.5Ti_0.5)O₃ favor a decrease in the electrical conductivity and dielectric losses of the samples, and the relative dielectric permittivity at room temperature ε_rt is retained quite high, achieving the highest values ε_rt = 1080–1350 in the ceramics modified with KCl.     

The phase transitions and ferroelectric behavior of dense nanocrystalline BaTiO3 ceramics fabricated by pressure assisted sintering

Dense nanocrystalline BaTiO₃ ceramics with uniform grain sizes of 30 nm was obtained by pressure assisted sintering. The phase transitions were investigated by Raman scattering at temperatures ranging from −190 to 200 °C. With increasing temperature, similar to 3 μm BaTiO₃ normal ceramics, the successive phase transitions from rhombohedral to orthorhombic, orthorhombic to tetragonal, tetragonal to cubic were also observed in 30 nm BaTiO₃ ceramics. Especially, the coexistence of ferroelectric tetragonal and orthorhombic phases was found at room temperature. The ferroelectric behavior was further characterized by P-E hysteresis loop. The experimental results indicate that the critical grain size of the disappearance of ferroelectricity in nanocrystalline BaTiO₃ ceramics fabricated by pressure assisted sintering is below 30 nm.     

Lead-free ferroelectric BaTiO3 doped-(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3 thin films processed by pulsed laser deposition technique

The difficulties in synthesizing phase pure BaTiO₃ doped-(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃ are known. In this work, we reporting the optimized pulsed laser deposition (PLD) conditions for obtaining pure phase 0.92(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)TiO₃-0.08BaTiO₃, (BNT-BT_0.08), thin films. Dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of BNT-BT_0.08, thin films deposited by PLD on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates are investigated in this paper. Perovskite structure of BNT-BT_0.08 thin films with random orientation of nanocrystallites has been obtained by deposition at 600 °C. The relative dielectric constant and loss tangent at 100 kHz, of BNT-BT_0.08 thin film with 530 nm thickness, were 820 and 0.13, respectively. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements indicated a remnant polarization value of 22 μC/cm² and a coercive field of 120 kV/cm. The piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) data showed that most of the grains seem to be constituted of single ferroelectric domain. The as-deposited BNT-BT_0.08 thin film is ferroelectric at the nanoscale level and piezoelectric.     

Infrared and Dielectric Studies of [(C2H5)4N]2SiF6

The infrared spectrum of [(C₂H₅)₄N]₂SiF₆ was recorded and discussed in relation to its crystal structure. This spectrum indicates that cations and anions are distorted and are not hydrogen bonded. Two structural phase transitions were observed in the tetraethylammonium compound [(C₂H₅)₄N]₂SiF₆ by means of dielectric measurements. High-frequency dielectric dispersion phenomena in this compound were also analysed. The evolution of the dielectric constant with the temperature indicates the presence of two phase transitions, at high temperatures, which are of order-disorder character.     

Structure and electrical properties of trilayered BaTiO3/(Na0.5Bi0.5)TiO3–BaTiO3/BaTiO3 thin films deposited on Si substrate

Highly (110)-oriented trilayered BaTiO₃ (25 nm) /(Na_0.5Bi_0.5)_0.94Ba_0.06TiO₃ (300 nm) / BaTiO₃ (25 nm) thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates via chemical solution deposition. It was found that the inserted bottom BaTiO₃ layer between Pt and (Na_0.5Bi_0.5)_0.94Ba_0.06TiO₃ is very effective for promoting the crystallinity and (110)-oriented growth of NBT-BT films. Meanwhile, the BaTiO₃ layers also provide better interfaces between the ferroelectric thin film and the electrodes in terms of reducing leakage current. The trilayered films showed enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric properties compared with the pure NBT-BT films. Well saturated hysteresis loops were obtained due to good electrical insulating properties in the high electric field region.     

Synthesis and dielectric properties of modified potassium sodium niobate solid solutions

In the present work processing microstructure and dielectric properties of lead free KNN based ceramics have been studied. Compositions with a stoichiometric formula (1 ? x)(K_0.5Na_0.5)Nb_{1 ? y} Sb _y O₃-xBaTiO₃ (x = 0.01, 0.02, 0.04; y = 0.04, 0.07) were produced by solid state sintering method. The addition of manganese oxide MnO₂ after synthesis promoted the sintering and densification of ceramic samples. The influence of BaTiO₃ on the microstructure, density and electrical properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that obtained samples had a pure perovskite structure with no traces of secondary phase. Phase transition peak at T _c is broad indicating the diffuse phase transition.     

Phase polymorphism and electro-optical properties of a ferroelectric liquid crystal containing the biphenyl system

ABSTRACT

In this article we present results concerning phase transitions and physical properties of the ferroelectric phase of the compound (S)-4-(1-methylheptyloxy)biphenyl–4'-(heptyloxy phenyl)-4-carboxylate (MHOBOPO7). The compound has the following phases: smectic ferroelectric C (SmC*), chiral nematic N*, and two defected phases, TGB_C and blue phase. The mesomorphic properties were investigated by means of three complementary methods: differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing light optical microscopy, and transmitted light intensity. The electro-optical measurements were carried out on an ordered sample in a middle electric field during very slow cooling from the nematic phase to the ferroelectric phase.     

FTIR investigations of phase transitions in an asymmetric azomethine liquid crystal

The liquid crystalline (LC) behavior of a literature-reported asymmetric azomethine compound (4-[4-(n-butyloxy)-benzylideneimino]-chlorobenzene, Cl.O4) was investigated by using optical polarized light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and medium-wide angle X-ray diffraction. FTIR in attenuated total internal reflection configuration was employed to study the microstructural changes occurring during phase transitions of the azomethine. Spectral modifications, associated with molecular conformation rearrangements, allowing the change of the molecular shape from a LC organization to another, have been found. The spectral analysis gave significant evidences for the different phase transitions, thus proving the efficiency of such method for investigating LC materials.     

Calorimetric study of phase transitions in nanocomposites of quantum dots and a liquid crystal

The complex specific heat is measured over a wide temperature range for the liquid crystal (LC) 4-cyano-4-octylbiphenyl (8CB) and cadmium sulfate quantum dots (QDs) composites as a function of QD concentration. The thermal scans were performed under near-equilibrium conditions for all samples having QDs weight percent (φ_w) from 0 to 3wt% over a wide range of temperature well above and below the two transitions in pure 8CB. Isotropic (I) to nematic (N) and nematic to smectic-A (SmA) phase transitions evolve in character and their transition temperatures offset by (～2.3 to 2.6 K) lower for all composite samples as compared to that in pure 8CB. The enthalpy change associated with I–N phase transitions shows slightly different behavior on heating and cooling and it also shows crossover behavior at lower and higher QD content. The enthalpy change associated with N–SmA phase transitions is independent of QD loading and thermal treatment. Given the homogeneous and random distribution of QD in these nanocomposites, we interpret that these results as arising that the nematic phase imposes self-assembly on QDs to form one-dimensional arrays leading to QDs and induces net local disordering effect in LC media.     

BaTiO3和Ce:BaTiO3单晶的高温喇曼散射研究

从室温至180℃测量了BaTiO₃和Ce:BaTiO₃单晶的偏振喇曼谱,在X(ZZ)Y几何配置下发现了三条频率分别为986,1204和1480cm^-1的新谱线.根据喇曼散射截面的温度依赖关系,确认这些新谱线对应二阶喇曼散射,而A₁(TO)谱中位于275和514cm^-1处的非对称宽峰则属于一阶喇曼散射.在此基础上,对立方相BaTiO₃的喇曼谱和结构相变机制进行了讨论.通过比较B     

A first-principles study of phase transitions in ultrathin films of BaTiO3

We determine the effects of film thickness, epitaxial strain and the nature of electrodes on ferroelectric phase transitions in ultrathin films of BaTiO₃ using a first-principles effective Hamiltonian in classical molecular dynamics simulations. We present results for polarization and dielectric properties as a function of temperature and epitaxial strain, leading to size-dependent temperature-strain phase diagram for the films sandwiched between ‘perfect’ electrodes. In the presence of non-vanishing depolarization fields when non-ideal electrodes are used, we show that a stable stripe-domain phase is obtained at low temperatures. The electrostatic images in the presence of electrodes and their interaction with local dipoles in the film explain these observed phenomena.      

高功率光学元件畸变波前位相均方根梯度计算

 根据实际光学元件的畸变波前建立了畸变波前模型,分析了位相均方根梯度计算过程中,三种波前数据处理方式的各自特点及优劣,并得出最佳处理方式,即对波前边缘增添零采样点、加汉宁窗处理、傅里叶变换、低通滤波、傅里叶逆变换、乘上逆汉宁窗,最后截取原始长度的数据。讨论了畸变波前边缘增添零采样点的个数、波前口径、波前抽样间距与均方根误差之间的相互关系。计算证明,对于口径为300 mm×300 mm、抽样间隔为0.5 mm的随机波前,当取截止频率为33 mm^－1、初始波前两边分别添14个点即波前尺寸扩大7 mm长时,其均方根误差最小,此时该值为 0.008 λ,恢复的波前最理想,计算所得的位相均方根梯度也最合理。     

Piezoelectric/photoluminescence effects in rare-earth doped lead-free ceramics

In the present work, we report the environmentally-friendly multifunctional effects—piezoelectric/photoluminescence effects, which originated from the combination of the electromechanical properties and the photoluminescence effect through introducing the rare-earth elements (Pr and Eu) into the (Bi_0.5Na_0.5)TiO₃–BaTiO₃ ceramics with the composition around the morphotropic phase boundary. Compared to the pure piezoelectric ceramic, the proposed system simultaneously exhibited enhanced ferroelectric, piezoelectric, dielectric properties along with strong photoluminescence effects, which exhibited potential applications in sensor, and electro-mechano-optical integration. In addition, the present work also provides a promising path for us to fabricate multifunctional composites.