High-Pressure/High-Temperature NFS Study of Magnetism in LuFe 2 and ScFe 2

Using the new technique of nuclear forward scattering (NFS) of synchrotron radiation, we studied the magnetic hyperfine fields B hf and ordering temperatures T M of the Laves phases LuFe 2 (cubic C15) and ScFe 2 (hexagonal C14) at pressures up to 90 GPa and temperatures up to 700 K. For LuFe 2 we find for T M first an increase from 562 K at 0 GPa to 603 K at 10 GPa and then a decrease to 295 K around 75 GPa. The hyperfine fields B hf show at 295 K a continuous decrease with pressure, indicating a reduction of the Fe band moment. A similar behaviour of both T M and B hf was observed in ScFe 2.     

High pressure studies on layered semiconductor germanium sulphide single crystals grown using different techniques

Abstract

Single crystals of GeS have been grown by DVT and CVT techniques. The grown crystals have been characterised by XRD. The band gaps E_g have been determined from the optical absorption studies. The results of simultaneous thermoelectric power and resistivity measurements up to 8 GPa on single crystals of GeS grown using different techniques are reported here. The measurements show a decrease in a.c. resistivity with increase in frequency up to 66.6 kHz. This behavior can be attributed to the presence of defects and impurity atoms in the semiconductor, which can contribute to conduction by the hopping process.     

Disorder in ICE VI at 1 GPa: A neutron diffraction study on in situ grown single crystals

Abstract

Crystallographic structure determinations of H₂O and D₂O ice VI single crystals were performed between 207 K and ambient temperautre at pressures of 0.9 GPa. A neutron pressure cell of the Marburg-type was used. Single crystals were grown in situ under optical control in the pressure cell. Details of the cell construction, especially the design of the sapphire anvils and zero-scattering gaskets, are described.     

Effect of pressure on electrical properties of SnS x Se1−x single crystals

The single crystals of tin monosulphoselenides in the form of a series SnS _x Se_1?x (where x?=?0, 0.25, 0.50,0.75 and 1) have been grown using the direct vapor transport technique (DVT). The analysis of the X-ray diffraction patterns reveals that all crystals belong to the orthorhombic crystal structure. Hall effect measurements were carried out on grown crystals at room temperature. The optical absorption measurements at room temperature have been carried out for all crystals. The values of the band gap were determined at atmospheric pressure and also calculated at high-pressure. Simultaneous thermoelectric power (TEP) and a.c. resistance measurements up to 8?GPa were carried out. The results of the effect of high-pressure on the electrical resistance of the grown crystals are reported in this paper.     

Pressure dependence electrical resistivity in DVT grown molybdenum dichalcogenides

Abstract

Single crystals of MoS _x Se_2?x (x=0, 1, 2) have been grown by direct vapour transport method. Pressure-dependent d.c. electrical resistivity measurements have been carried out on the grown crystals to check the possibility of phase transition up to 8 GPa. However, no such transition is observed in the present case but a decrease in resistivity is found with increase in pressure. The observed results have been analysed and discussed on the basis of band structure.     

High pressure studies on single crystals of zirconium sulphoselenides

Abstract

Electrical resistance measurements have been performed on ZrS₂, ZrSe₂, and ZrSSe single crystals grown by Iodine vapour transport technique in the pressure range 10 kilobar to 80 kilobar (1 GPa-8GPa). It is observed that all these crystals show a decrease in resistance with increase in pressure. The results have been discussed on the basis of energy band.     

Free and localized excitons in the luminescence spectrum of C60 crystals at high pressure

The luminescence spectra of C₆₀ single crystals are studied at T≅10 K and pressure up to 4.0 GPa. It is observed that as the pressure increases, one fine-structure band in the spectrum intensifies sharply and dominates at pressures P≥1.7 GPa. The pressure shift of this band is much larger than the shift of other bands in the spectrum, and its magnitude correlates with the pressure dependence of the band gap. It is shown that this band could be due to radiative recombination of free Frenkel excitons. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 3, 234–238 (10 August 1998)     

Energy spectrum and phase transitions in C70 fullerite crystals at high pressure

Measurements have been made of the Raman, optical absorption, and luminescence spectra of single crystals and pellets of the fullerite C₇₀ at T=300 K and at pressures up to 12 GPa. The baric shift dω/dP and the Grüneisen parameters of the Raman-active intramolecular phonon modes have been determined. It has been established that the d ω/dP value for certain phonon modes abruptly changes at pressures of P ₁≈2 GPa and P ₂≈5.5 GPa, as do the half-widths of the Raman lines. These features in the Raman spectrum are associated with phase transitions at high pressure. The baric shifts of the absorption and luminescence edges of C₇₀ crystals have been determined and are −0.12 eV/GPa and −0.11 eV/GPa, respectively, for absorption and luminescence. The baric shift of the absorption edge decreases significantly with increasing pressure and is −0.03 eV/GPa at 10 GPa. These data have been used to determine the deformation potential of the fullerite C₇₀, which is about 2.1±0.1 eV. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 262–273 (January 1997)     

High pressure neutron diffraction using the paris-edinburgh cell: Experimental possibilities and future prospects

Abstract

High pressure neutron diffraction using the Paris-Edinburgh cell has attracted considerable interest ever since it has been shown that full structural data can be obtained at pressures up to 10 GPa. In this paper we will focus on the current state of this technique. Specifically, we report on new experimental possibilities concerning: i) access to “ultrahigh” pressures beyond 20 GPa, ii) experiments at variable temperatures down to 100 K, and iii) experiments on single crystals in inelastic neutron scattering. Current attempts to increase the pressure and temperature range are discussed.     

Electronic transition and the metallization effect in the BiFeO<Subscript>3</Subscript> crystal at high pressures

The optical absorption spectra from bismuth ferrite (BiFeO₃) have been studied at high pressures up to 60 GPa in diamond anvil cells. An electronic transition at which the energy of the optical absorption edge decreases sharply from ～1.5 eV to zero has been observed at room temperature in a pressure range of 45–55 GPa. This indirectly indicates a insulator-metal transition. The observed electronic transition correlates with the recently revealed structural and magnetic transitions induced by high pressures in this crystal. The behavior of the optical absorption edge with decreasing the pressure is completely reversible in correlation with the reversibility of the magnetic transition. The “smearing” of the structural transition in pressure is caused by thermal fluctuations between the high-spin state and low-spin state of the Fe³⁺ ions near the transition.     

Structural and magnetic properties of CeZnAl_3 single crystals

We have synthesized single crystals of CeZnAl_3,which is a new member of family of Ce-based intermetallics CeTX_3(T=transition metal, X=Si, Ge, Al), crystallizing in the non-centrosymmetric tetragonal BaNiSn_3-type structure. Magnetization,specific heat and resistivity measurements all show that CeZnAl_3 orders magnetically below around 4.4 K. Furthermore,magnetization measurements exhibit a hysteresis loop at low temperatures and fields, indicating the presence of a ferromagnetic component in the magnetic state. This points to a different nature of the magnetism in CeZnAl_3 compared to the other isostructural CeTAl_3 compounds. Resistivity measurements under pressures up to 1.8 GPa show a moderate suppression of the ordering temperature with pressure, suggesting that measurements to higher pressures are required to look for quantum critical behavior.     

Pressure dependence of zone-boundary phonons in AlSb

Abstract

We have investigated the effect of hydrostatic pressure on zone-boundary and other critical-point phonon frequencies of AlSb by second-order Raman scattering. A softening of the TA(X), TA(L) and (L/T)A([Sgrave]) modes has been observed for pressures up to the first phase transition at 7.7 GPa. The LA(L) as well as the optical TO at X-, L-, and LO at [Sgrave]-, X-points harden with increasing pressure. Mode Griineisen parameters of all the resolved modes were calculated. Reflectivity measurements indicate that the high pressure phase above 7.7 GPa is metallic.     

Forthcoming events 2001

Abstract

The magneto-optical spectra of the R₁ and R₂ lines of Cr³⁺ ions in alexandrite have been measured under hydrostatic pressures and magnetic fields up to 6 GPa and 15 T, respectively. The spins of the excited states, ²E, have the Heisenberg-type characters at atmospheric pressure, though the g-values are anisotropic with the values between 1.3 and 2.0. The g-values for the direction parallel to the α-axis remain unchanged with increasing pressure, while for the directions normal to the α-axis they are reduced appreciably. The fine structure parameters of spins in the ground state, ⁴A₂, exhibit quite a similar behavior. The R₁-R₂ splitting is reduced also by pressure. These properties are the evidences that the spins of the ²E states become of the king-type under pressures above about 15 GPa. The mechanism of such the change of spin character is discussed quantitatively on the basis of a crystal field model.     

The under-pressure behaviour of mechanical,electronic and optical properties of calcium titanate and its ground state thermoelectric response

Abstract

In this study, the elastic, electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of CaTiO₃ perovskite oxide have been investigated using first-principles calculations. The generalised gradient approximation (GGA) has been employed for evaluating structural and elastic properties, while the modified Becke Johnson functional is used for studying the optical response of this compound. In addition to ground state physical properties, we also investigate the effects of pressure (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 GPa) on the electronic structure of CaTiO₃. The application of pressure from 0 to 90 GPa shows that the indirect band gap (Γ-M) of CaTiO₃ increases with increasing pressure and at 120 GPa it spontaneously decreases transforming cubic CaTiO₃ to a direct (Γ-Γ) band gap material. The complex dielectric function and some optical parameters are also investigated under the application of pressures. All the calculated optical properties have been found to exhibit a shift to the higher energies with the increase of applied pressure suggesting potential optoelectronic device applications of CaTiO₃. The thermoelectric properties of CaTiO₃ have been computed at 0 GPa in terms of electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and Seebeck coefficient.     

Pressure Dependence of Acoustic Modes in AgGaSe 2

The pressure dependence of the transverse acoustic TA[0 0 1] and TA[1 0 0] phonons and the low-frequency optical v 3 phonons of AgGaSe 2 has been measured at pressures up to 4.3 GPa by inelastic neutron scattering. The strong frequency decreases in the whole Brillouin zone of the TA modes show generally a weak nonlinearity. Depending on the wavevector, the softening prior to the phase transition at 2.6 GPa also affects the optical mode to a less extent.     

Effect of pressure and anionic substitution on the electrical properties of HgTeS crystals

The resistivity ρ and the Hall constant R for the HgTe_1?x S_x (0.04≤x≤0.6) crystals have been investigated in the temperature range 4.2–350 K in the magnetic fields B up to 14 T. The pressure dependences of the resistivity ρ have been measured at the pressures P as high as 1 GPa at temperature T=77–300 K and magnetic field B=0–2 T. It is found that the samples with x≤0.20 exhibit a decreasing dependence ρ(T) typical of zero-gap semiconductors, whereas the samples with x≥0.27 show the dependence ρ(T) characteristic of semimetals. For the semiconducting crystals with x≈0.20 and x≈0.14, the temperature coefficient of ρ(T) changes sign at T=265 and T>300 K, respectively. Under a pressure of ≈1 GPa, the temperature of the sign inversion decreases by ≈30 K. An increase in the magnetic field B and a rise in the temperature T lead to a change in the sign of the Hall constant R for the semiconducting samples, but do not affect the electronic sign of R for the semimetallic samples. The behavior of R and ρ correlates with the thermoemf data obtained at the quasi-hydro-static pressure P up to 3 GPa. It is demonstrated that the substitution of sulfur atoms for tellurium atoms brings about an increase in the concentration of electrons and a decrease in their mobility. The transition to the wide-gap semiconductor phase is observed at P>1–1.5 GPa. The conclusion is drawn that the semimetallic crystals HgTe_1?x S_x with x≥0.27 and HgSe are similar in properties.     

Suppression of Jahn-Teller Distortion and Insulator-To-Metal Transition in LaMnO 3 at High Pressures

Structural, vibrational and electronic properties of LaMnO 3 under pressures up to 38 GPa have been studied by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, optical reflectivity, and transport measurements. The cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion of the MnO 6 octahedra of the perovskite-type structure is continuously suppressed with increasing pressure, a process which appears completed at ～20 GPa. The system remains insulating to 32 GPa, where an insulator-metal transition is observed. This transition is attributed to strengthened Mn--O--Mn interactions due to the increasing overlap of atomic orbitals.     

Pressure effect on magnetic phase transition and spin-glass-like behavior of GdCo_2B_2

We systematically investigate the effect of pressure on the magnetic properties of GdCo_2B_2 on the basis of alternating current(AC) susceptibility,AC heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements under pressures up to 2.2 GPa.A detailed magnetic phase diagram under pressure is determined.GdCo_2B_2 exhibits three anomalies that apparently reflect magnetic phase transitions,respectively,at temperatures T_C= 20.5 K,T_1= 18.0 K and T_N= 11.5 K under ambient pressure.Under pressures up to 2.2 GPa,these anomalies are observed to slightly increase at T_Cand T_1,and they coincide with each other above 1.6 GPa.Conversely,they decrease at T_N and disappear under pressures higher than 1.4 GPa.The results indicate that the low-temperature magnetic phases can be easily suppressed by pressure.Moreover,the spin-glass-like behavior of GdCo_2B_2 is examined in terms of magnetization,aging effect and frequency dependence of AC susceptibility.A separation between the zero-field-cooled(ZFC) and field-cooled(FC) magnetization curves becomes evident at a low magnetic field of 0.001 T.A long-time relaxation behavior is observed at 4 K.The freezing temperature Tfincreases with frequency increasing.     

Optical absorption of zinc selenide doped with cobalt (Zn1−xCoxSe) under hydrostatic pressure

Abstract

The optical absorption of the diluted magnetic semiconductor Zn_1?xCO_xSe (x = 0.02) has been measured at room temperature under hydrostatic pressure up to 14GPa in a membrane diamond-anvil cell. We found two absorption features: (i) an absorption structure in the energy range 1.6?1.8eV, with a negligible pressure shift (i.e., 0.45 ± 0.05 meV/GPa) which we have identified as the Co²⁺(3d⁷) internal transition ⁴A₂(F)→+⁴T₁(P) and (ii) an onset in the energy range 2?2.7eV which redshifts with pressure (?8.1±0.6meV/GPa). We have attributed such absorption edge to charge transfer between the ZnSe valence band and the Co²⁺(3d⁷) levels.     

Phase transition with suppression of magnetism in BiFeO<Subscript>3</Subscript> at high pressure

The magnetic behavior of a Bi⁵⁷FeO₃ powdered sample was studied at high pressures by the method of nuclear forward scattering (NFS) of synchrotron radiation. The NFS spectra from ⁵⁷Fe nuclei were recorded at room temperature under high pressures up to 61.4 GPa, which were created in a diamond anvil cell. In the pressure interval 0 < P < 47 GPa, the magnetic hyperfine field H^Fe at the ⁵⁷Fe nuclei increased reaching a value of ～52.5 T at 30 GPa, and then it slightly decreased to ～49.6 T at P = 47 GPa. As the pressure was increased further, the field H^Fe abruptly dropped to zero testifying a transition from the antiferromagnetic to a nonmagnetic state (magnetic collapse). In the pressure interval 47 < P < 61.4 GPa, the value of H^Fe remained zero. The field H^Fe recovered to the low-pressure values during decompression.