Effect of transition metal doping and carbon doping on thermoelectric properties of YB66 single crystals

We have been investigating the high-temperature thermoelectric properties of some novel rare earth borides with a structure containing B₁₂ icosahedra. Doping effects on the TE properties in such systems were investigated for the first time. A series of Nb-doped YB₆₆ and C-doped YB₆₆ single crystals were grown by the floating zone method. The Nb-doped compounds have approximate chemical formulas ranging from YNb_0.30B₆₆ to YNb_0.33B₆₆ while the C-doped compound has a formula of YB₆₆C_0.6. The effect of Nb-doping on the thermoelectric properties was not monotonic and appears to be complex. As a result of Nb-doping, the room temperature resistivity and the characteristic temperature T₀ were considerably reduced. At room temperature the power factor of the Nb-doped YB₆₆ sample with 89% site occupancy was three times greater than that of non-doped YB₆₆. However, in the important high-temperature region, the non-doped sample actually exhibited the highest power factor for . Furthermore, owing to a structural feature of YB₆₆, thermal conductivity actually increases with doping of transition metals. Taking into account all the thermoelectric properties, transition metal doping of YB₆₆ is therefore not suitable for our purposes. On the other hand, doping of carbon, which is assumed not to go into the same sites as the transition metals, yielded a lowering of the thermal conductivity. Furthermore, contrary to Nb-doping, carbon doping did not result in a reversal of the relative magnitude of resistivity at extremely high temperatures and therefore, an increase in the figure of merit of factor 2 was realized at 1000 K.     

c-director relaxation around a vortex of strength +1 in free-standing smectic-C films

The relaxation of director fields in freely suspended smectic films is studied experimentally by means of polarizing microscopy, and analyzed by solving the torque balance equation under appropriate initial and boundary conditions. We consider in particular the role of anchoring conditions of the c-director at particles and defects in the film. The structure of regular relaxation patterns allows to determine the elastic anisotropy of smectic materials. The splay elastic constant can exceed the bend constant by a factor of two and more. A remarkable consequence of this anisotropy is the stick-slip-like relaxation around a central defect of topological strength s = + 1.     

Splay-bend textures involving tetrahedratic order

We show that defect-free splay-bend textures are less energetic compared to uniform states in liquid-crystalline phases that possess both quadrupolar (nematic) and octupolar (tetrahedratic) order. This is because, in such systems, there is a symmetry-allowed linear gradient term in the energy. Another unusual feature of these splay-bend textures is the fact that they have a non-homogeneous, space-dependent free-energy density. These results may help clarify some mysterious features noted for the B7 liquid-crystal phase formed by achiral banana-shaped molecules.     

Field-induced phase transitions and reversible field-induced inversion of chirality in tilted smectic phases of bent-core mesogens

Three homologous achiral five-ring bent-core mesogens are presented where 4-chlororesorcinol is the central core and the aromatic rings are linked by ester groups. These compounds form smectic phases with a tilted arrangement of the molecules (tilt angle ≈ 45^°). On cooling the isotropic liquid this phase adopts a fan-like texture which shows for two homologues at relatively high electric fields ( 25-35V μm^-1) an antiferroelectric electro-optical response based on the collective rotation of the molecules around their long axes. At lower temperature the application of a sufficiently high electric field leads to a continuous transition into a non-birefringent texture which exhibits randomly distributed domains of opposite handedness. These domains can be reversibly switched into a state of opposite chirality by reversal of the field polarity. This switching is bistable and shows a current response typical for a ferroelectric ground state. The possible mechanism of the field-induced phase transition, of the ferroelectric switching and of the field-induced inversion of the chirality is discussed on the base of XRD, ¹³C- and ¹H-NMR investigations, dielectric and electro-optical measurements.     

Faceting and stability of smectic A droplets on a solid substrate

It is shown that a smectic A droplet deposited on a solid substrate treated for strong homeotropic anchoring is faceted at the top in spite of the fact that there are no steps at the free surface, but instead edge dislocations in the bulk. The radius of the facet and the full profile of the curved part of the droplet are determined as a function of the temperature in the vicinity of a nematic-smectic A phase transition. It is shown that the observed profiles do not correspond to the actual equilibrium shape, but to metastable configurations close to their point of marginal stability. In addition, we predict that the profiles must be different for a given temperature depending on whether the droplet has been heated or cooled down to reach this temperature. Finally, we discuss the problem of the formation of giant dislocations in big droplets (Grandjean terraces).     

Frustrated structure of an anticlinic-like smectic-C phase

We present a polarising optical microscopy study of the low-temperature anticlinic-like tilted mesophase of the liquid-crystal compound octylphenyl-2-chloro-4-(p-cyano-benzoyloxy) (DB₈Cl). This mesophase has been described as a bilayer smectic structure in which the molecules within each layer are organised in an anticlinic way. The optical textures observed in samples with planar orientation show a double stripe pattern, with the lines aligned parallel to the rubbing direction, characteristic of a double periodic modulation of the refractive index of the material. The long-period modulation is temperature dependent and disappears for thin sample cells (< 5μm). The short-period modulation is nearly independent of the thickness of the cells. The experimental results are analysed in terms of a model which considers that there is a special distribution of the principal optical axis which may be in or out of the polariser-analyser plane. The observed periodic variation of the principal optical axis could not be interpreted in terms of the original structure proposed for this phase. DB₈Cl presents a structure formed by dimers that can be viewed as flexible bent-core-like molecules, showing similarities with phases found in banana-like systems, but exhibiting a much more complex structure.     

氧化物晶体与薄膜最新研究进展

在工业发展的进程中,氧化物材料在电子学领域中应用最为广泛.到目前为止,即使是对于氧化物晶体材料,从纳米科技角度来说,研究的趋势是降低尺寸直到很小的尺度.近年来,氧化物的研究目标也发生了显著的变化.本文介绍了作者课题组的与氧化物晶体及薄膜有关的三个研究方向.     

利用水平沉积法制作PS微球二元胶体薄膜及其它复杂结构

本文采用水平沉积方法,制作出各种胶体晶体薄膜.以聚苯乙烯微球为构建单元,制作了多种二元胶体晶体和非单一平面的胶体晶体.为实现太赫兹光子晶体波导,还采用这一方法将线缺陷植入胶体晶体.结果显示通过该方法可以获得很好的有序结构,说明水平沉积方法可以广泛于各种胶体晶体制作.     

电场响应光子晶体

光子晶体是一种介电常数周期变化、具有光子带隙、对光路可控的新型功能材料。将对外界刺激敏感性材料引入光子晶体空隙就得到可响应光子晶体。电场响应光子晶体是由电活性材料与光子晶体结构相结合所得,可以应用于反射型彩色显示并表现出其他显示技术所没有的独特优点。本文重点介绍了电场响应光子晶体器件的结构和响应机理,并按照引入电活性材料的不同将电场响应光子晶体分为基于液晶、聚电解质水凝胶、金属有机聚合物凝胶、导电聚合物以及核壳式电场响应光子晶体,总结了近几年各类电场响应光子晶体的研究进展,提出了在反射型彩色显示器件方面的应用以及存在的问题和展望。