Possible Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov superconducting state in CeCoIn5

We report specific heat measurements of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 in the vicinity of the superconducting critical field H(c2), with magnetic fields in the [110], [100], and [001] directions, and at temperatures down to 50 mK. The superconducting phase transition changes from second to first order for fields above 10 T for H parallel [110] and H parallel [100]. In the same range of magnetic fields, we observe a second specific heat anomaly within the superconducting state. We interpret this anomaly as a signature of a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) inhomogeneous superconducting state. We obtain similar results for H parallel [001], with the FFLO state occupying a smaller part of the phase diagram.     

Anomalous temperature dependence of the magnetic field induced antiferromagnetic moment in the antiferroquadrupolar ordered state of CeB6

The magnetic field induced antiferromagnetic moment M(AF) at low magnetic fields in the antiferroquadrupolar (AFQ) ordered phase of CeB6 was investigated by elastic neutron diffraction experiments for H parallel [110]. The peak intensity at the AF magnetic reciprocal point (1 / 2,1 / 2,1 / 2) corresponding to M(2)(AF) increases with decreasing temperature below the AFQ ordering temperature T(Q), and exhibits a broad maximum at T approximately 3 K and decreases with a further decrease of temperature. This unusual behavior of M(AF) at low fields is explained as a result of the competition between the AF-octupolar and AF-exchange interactions in the O(xy) type AFQ ordered state.     

Strain-induced changes to the electronic structure of germanium

Density functional theory calculations (DFT) are used to investigate the strain-induced changes to the electronic structure of biaxially strained (parallel to the (001), (110) and (111) planes) and uniaxially strained (along the [001], [110] and [111] directions) germanium (Ge). It is calculated that a moderate uniaxial strain parallel to the [111] direction can efficiently transform Ge to a direct bandgap material with a bandgap energy useful for technological applications.     

Mechanical behavior of silicon carbide nanoparticles under uniaxial compression

The mechanical behavior of SiC nanoparticles under uniaxial compression was investigated using an atomic-level compression simulation technique. The results revealed that the mechanical deformation of SiC nanocrystals is highly dependent on compression orientation, particle size, and temperature. A structural transformation from the original zinc-blende to a rock-salt phase is identified for SiC nanoparticles compressed along the [001] direction at low temperature. However, the rock-salt phase is not observed for SiC nanoparticles compressed along the [110] and [111] directions irrespective of size and temperature. The high-pressure-generated rock-salt phase strongly affects the mechanical behavior of the nanoparticles, including their hardness and deformation process. The hardness of [001]-compressed nanoparticles decreases monotonically as their size increases, different from that of [110] and [111]-compressed nanoparticles, which reaches a maximal value at a critical size and then decreases. Additionally, a temperature-dependent mechanical response was observed for all simulated SiC nanoparticles regardless of compression orientation and size. Interestingly, the hardness of SiC nanocrystals with a diameter of 8 nm compressed in [001]-orientation undergoes a steep decrease at 0.1–200 K and then a gradual decline from 250 to 1500 K. This trend can be attributed to different deformation mechanisms related to phase transformation and dislocations. Our results will be useful for practical applications of SiC nanoparticles under high pressure.     

Temperature dependence of the magnetoresistance of single crystal aluminium

The magnetoresistance of single crystal aluminium was measured with the magnetic field in the three main crystallographic directions [100], [110] and [111], in the temperature range 4.2–20 K and in magnetic fields up to 7 T. The exponent of a Tⁿ-law is shown to be decreasing with increasing fields.     

In-plane anisotropy in two-dimensional electron gas at LaAlO_3/SrTiO_3(110) interface

A systematic study of the two-dimensional electron gas at La AlO_3/SrTiO_3(110) interface reveals an anisotropy along two specific directions, [001] and 1ī0. The anisotropy becomes distinct for the interface prepared under high oxygen pressure with low carrier density. Angular dependence of magnetoresistance shows that the electron confinement is stronger along the 1ī0 direction. Gate-tunable magnetoresistance reveals a clear in-plane anisotropy of the spin–orbit coupling,and the spin relaxation mechanism along both directions belongs to D'yakonov–Perel'(DP) scenario. Moreover, in-plane anisotropic superconductivity is observed for the sample with high carrier density, the superconducting transition temperature is lower but the upper critical field is higher along the 1ī0 direction. This in-plane anisotropy could be ascribed to the anisotropic band structure along the two crystallographic directions.     

Magnetic field dependence of 11B NMR in CeB6

The ¹¹B nuclear magnetic resonance in a dense Kondo system CeB₆ has been observed by the spin echo technique below 4.2 K at fixed frequencies of 2.5, 6.5, 13.33 and 18.00 MHz, which correspond to magnetic fields of 1.83, 4.76, 9.76 and 13.18 KOe for the free ¹¹B nucleus, respectively. The spectra in the phase II appeared to have two peaks in the magnetic field applied in the [111] direction, the spacing of which was found to be very small in zero external field and increased monotonically (up to 0.11 kOe at 2.6 K) with increasing field. On the other hand, the spectra in the phase III were complex. Especially, the spectra observed for [111] at 6.5 MHz were found to spread over 1.9 KOe and to have several peaks. From comparison between the experiments and the dipolar field calculation based on the recent neutron diffraction measurements, possible magnetic structures were examined for the phases II and III.     

A neutron study of phonon dispersion relations in HgTe

Dispersion relations for acoustic phonons in mercury telluride in three high symmetry directions [111], [110] and [001] are presented. The eleven-parameter rigid-ion model is fitted to the experimental data.     

Complex Studies of the Kinetics of Induced Phase Transition in [001], [011], and [111]-Oriented Single Crystal Relaxor Solid Solutions

The kinetics of an induced phase transition in single-crystal relaxor solid solutions 33PbIn_1/2Nb_1/2O₃–35PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃–32PbTiO₃ and PbMg_1/3Nb_2/3O₃–29PbTiO₃ under application of an electric field along three directions [001], [011], and [111] at room temperature is studied. Joint measurements of optical transmission at different wavelengths, dielectric properties, and attenuation of sound are carried out. It was found that, even in small fields (E ~ 2 kV/cm) applied in the [011] and [111] directions, the maximum changes in all three characteristics as well as the coincidence of the time dependences of the optical transmission at different wavelengths of light occur in the same time interval. It is established that, in the same interval of fields along the [001] direction, the anomalies of the optical properties do not coincide in time with the anomalies of the acoustic and dielectric properties. The results obtained are explained by the induction of single-domain and multidomain phases.     

Ab initio investigation of the mechanical properties of copper

Employing the ab initio total energy method based on the density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation, we have systematically investigated the theoretical mechanical properties of copper (Cu). The theoretical tensile strengths are calculated to be 25.3 GPa, 5.9 GPa, and 37.6 GPa for the fcc Cu single crystal in the [001], [110], and [111] directions, respectively. Among the three directions, the [110] direction is the weakest one due to the occurrence of structure transition at the lower strain and the weakest interaction of atoms between the (110) planes, while the [111] direction is the strongest direction because of the strongest interaction of atoms between the (111) planes. In terms of the elastic constants of Cu single crystal, we also estimate some mechanical quantities of polycrystalline Cu, including bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young’s modulus E p , and Poisson’s ratio ν.     

Theory of surface atom mean square displacements in chromium

The temperature dependence of the mean square displacements for atoms on the (100) and (110) surfaces of chromium has been studied theoretically using the harmonic approximation. Calculations were carried out for crystals with periodic boundary conditions in two directions and free boundary conditions in the third direction using a Born-van Karman model with central interactions up to third nearest neighbors and non-central angular stiffness interaction between nearest and next nearest neighbors. The values of the force constants were chosen to give good fits to the elastic constants and to the bulk phonon dispersion curves in the three major directions [100], [110] and [111]. The ratio of the mean-square displacements at a surface to that in the bulk was calculated as a function of temperature for both the (100) and (110) surfaces. The theoretical, results are compared with the available experimental data from low-energy electron diffraction.     

Lattice stability and the effect of Co and Re on the ideal strength of Ni:First-principles study of uniaxial tensile deformation

Using first-principles density functional calculations, lattice stability of γ-Ni under [001], [110], and [111] uniaxial tensions and the effect of alloying elements Co and Re on the uniaxial tensile behavior of γ-Ni were studied in this paper.With elastic constants and phonon spectra calculations, we examined the mechanical stability and phonon stability of Ni during the uniaxial tensions along the three characteristic directions. The results show that the mechanical stability and phonon stability of a lattice occurs before the maximum stress–strain point under the [001] and [111] tension, respectively.The effects of Co and Re on the ideal tensile strength of γ-Ni show a significant directivity: Co and Re have little effect on the stresses in [001] and [111] directions, but increases the ideal strength of the system in the weakest uniaxial tensile direction. Moreover, the strengthening effect of Re is significantly better than that of Co. By further analyzing electronic structure, it is found that the effect of alloying elements on the uniaxial tensile behavior of γ-Ni comes from their interactions with host atoms.     

强磁场下Er2Ga5O12的磁晶各向异性

用量子理论定量计算了Er3Ga5O12在强磁场作用下,温度为42K,外磁场沿着[001],[100],[110]和[111]四个方向的磁化强度.可以看出,磁化强度随着外磁场呈很强的各向异性,而在低温弱磁场下,磁化强度和外磁场呈线性关系 关键词： 磁晶各向异性 磁化强度     

Study of theoretical tensile strength of Fe by afirst-principles computational tensile test

This paper employs a first-principles total-energy method to investigate the theoretical tensile strengths of bcc and fcc Fe systemically. It indicates that the theoretical tensile strengths are shown to be 12.4, 32.7, 27.5~GPa for bcc Fe, and 48.1, 34.6, 51.2~GPa for fcc Fe in the [001], [110] and [111] directions, respectively. For bcc Fe, the [001] direction is shown to be the weakest direction due to the occurrence of a phase transition from ferromagnetic bcc Fe to high spin ferromagnetic fcc Fe. For fcc Fe, the [110] direction is the weakest direction due to the formation of an instable saddle-point `bct structure' in the tensile process. Furthermore, it demonstrates that a magnetic instability will occur under a tensile strain of 14%, characterized by the transition of ferromagnetic bcc Fe to paramagnetic fcc Fe. The results provide a good reference to understand the intrinsic mechanical properties of Fe as a potential structural material in the nuclear fusion Tokamak.     

Zeeman studies of the 0.839eV emission in SI GaAs:Cr

The multi-structured zero phonon transitions of the 0.839eV emission observed in SI GaAs:Cr have been investigated by Zeeman measurements. Magnetic splittings for the directions [111], [110] and [100] as well as angular dependence studies in the (110) plane show that the centre has a symmetry axis along [111] with a small orthorhombic distortion. The emissions cannot be due to the isolated [100] Jahn-Teller distorted Cr²⁺ ions observed in magnetic resonance but to [111] centres such as the (Cr²⁺-donor) pairs as suggested by White.     

Orientation dependence of structural transition in fcc Al driven under uniaxial compression by atomistic simulations

By molecular dynamics simulations employing an embedded atom method potential,we have investigated structural transformations in single crystal Al caused by uniaxial strain loading along the [001],[011] and [111] directions. We find that the structural transition is strongly dependent on the crystal orientations. The entire structure phase transition only occurs when loading along the [001] direction,and the increased amplitude of temperature for [001] loading is evidently lower than that for other orientations. The morphology evolutions of the structural transition for [011] and [111] loadings are analysed in detail. The results indicate that only 20% of atoms transit to the hcp phase for [011] and [111] loadings,and the appearance of the hcp phase is due to the partial dislocation moving forward on {111} fcc family. For [011] loading,the hcp phase grows to form laminar morphology in four planes,which belong to the {111} fcc family; while for [111] loading,the hcp phase grows into a laminar structure in three planes,which belong to the {111} fcc family except for the (111) plane. In addition,the phase transition is evaluated by using the radial distribution functions.     

Magnetic characteristics of PrCd single crystal

Magnetic measurements have been made along the [100], [110] and [111]-axes of PrCd single crystal in magnetic fields up to 70 kOe in the temperature range from 4.2 to 300 K. PrCd shows metamagnetism below T_t = 25 K in which two critical fields are observed in the magnetization processes along the [110] and [111]-axes and a critical field along the [100]-axis. The metamagnetic behaviour is interpreted by a noncollinear antiferromagnetic model with the Pr moments of ～ 2μ_B directed to the 〈111〉-axes.     

Normal modes of vibrations in CuBr

Phonon dispersion curves of CuBr have been measured at room temperature in the [001], [110] and [111] directions using inelastic neutron scattering. The results are interpreted in terms of a rigid ion model. Estimations are given for elastic constants.     

Ab initio investigation on mechanical properties of copper

Employing the ab initio total energy method based on the density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation, we have investigated the theoretical mechanical properties of copper (Cu) systematically. The theoretical tensile strengths are calculated to be 25.3 GPa, 5.9 GPa, and 37.6 GPa for the fcc Cu single crystal in the [001], [110], and [111] directions, respectively. Among the three directions, the [110] direction is the weakest one due to the occurrence of structure transition at the lower strain and the weakest interaction of atoms between the (110) planes, while the [111] direction is the strongest direction because of the strongest interaction of atoms between the (111) planes. In terms of the elastic constants of Cu single crystal, we also estimate some mechanical quantities of polycrystalline Cu, including bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young's modulus E_p, and Poisson's ratio ν.     

The lattice dynamics of SrCl2

Phonon dispersion curves of Sr Cl₂ have been measured at room temperature in the [001], [110] and [111] directions using inelastic neutron scattering. The results are interpreted by means of a polarizable ion model.