Dynamics of Si-H vibrations in an amorphous environment

We present results of the first vibrational photon-echo, transient-grating, and temperature dependent transient-bleaching experiments on a-Si:H. Using these techniques, and the infrared light of a free electron laser, the vibrational population decay and phase relaxation of the Si-H stretching mode were investigated. Careful analysis of the data indicates that the vibrational energy relaxes directly into Si-H bending modes and Si phonons, with a distribution of rates determined by the amorphous host. Conversely, the pure dephasing appears to be single exponential, and can be modeled by dephasing via two-phonon interactions.     

High-pressure,high-temperature single-crystal study of Bi-IV

Bi-IV is the stable high-pressure, high-temperature phase of bismuth at ～4 GPa and ～500 K. It was first identified in 1958, but its structure has remained uncertain. An X-ray powder-diffraction study of Bi-IV reported the structure as monoclinic, but a subsequent reinterpretation of the same data concluded that the structure was C-centred orthorhombic (oC16), with the same atomic arrangement as in Cs-V and Si-VI. To resolve the uncertainty over the structure of Bi-IV, we investigated this phase at 3.2 GPa and 465 K by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction. All of the observed reflections could be indexed on the orthorhombic oC16 structure proposed by Degtyareva, with a=11.191(5) Å, b=6.622(1) Å and c=6.608(1) Å. The spacegroup was confirmed as Cmce. Refinement of the data resulted in an excellent fit (R=2.8% ), and gave atomic coordinates very similar to those of the oC16 structures in Cs-V and Si-VI.     

Lattice dynamics of incommensurate composite Rb-IV and a realization of the monatomic linear chain model

Longitudinal-acoustic (LA) phonons have been studied by inelastic x-ray scattering in the high-pressure incommensurate host-guest system Rb-IV in the pressure range of 16.3 to 18.4 GPa. Two LA-like phonon branches are observed along the direction of the incommensurate wave vector, which are attributed to separate lattice vibrations in the host and guest subsystems. The derived sound velocities for the host and the guest, v(h) and v(g), respectively, are similar in magnitude [v(h)=v(g)=3840(100) m/s at 18 GPa], but our results indicate rather different pressure dependences of dv(h)/dP=140(60) m/s GPa(-1) and dv(g)/dP=280(80) m/s GPa(-1). The observations for the one-dimensional Rb guest chains are reproduced quantitatively on the basis of the monatomic linear chain model and the measured compressibility of the chains.     

X-ray diffraction study of liquid Cs up to 9.8 GPa

We describe an x-ray diffraction study of liquid Cs at high pressure and temperature conducted in order to characterize the structural changes associated with the complex melting curve and phase transitions observed in the solid phases. At 3.9 GPa we observe a discontinuity in the density of the liquid accompanied by a decrease in the coordination number from about 12 to 8, which marks a change to a nonsimple liquid. The specific volume of liquid Cs, combined with structural analysis of the diffraction data, strongly suggest the existence of dsp(3) electronic hybridization above 3.9 GPa, similar to that reported on compression in the crystalline phase.