Magnetic and structural studies of Cr2O5 and Cr3O8

The infrared spectra, indexed X-ray powder diffraction patterns, magnetic susceptibilities between 80 and 300 K, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra at 80 and 300 K are reported for Cr₂O₅ and Cr₃O₈. The results indicate that both oxides are Cr³⁺/Cr⁶⁺ mixed-valence compounds which contain CrO₆ octahedra and CrO₄ tetrahedra in different ratios. The valence formula for Cr₂O₅ is Cr³⁺₂Cr⁶⁺₄O₁₅ and that of Cr₃O₈ is Cr³⁺₂Cr⁶⁺₇O₂₄. The X-ray powder data for Cr₂O₅ and Cr₃O₈ could be indexed on the basis of a monoclinic unit cell $\text{(a = 12.01(2), b = 8.52(1), c = 9.39(1)}\text{A}\text{?}\text{β = 92.0(1)°)}$ and an orthorhombic unit cell $\text{(a = 12.01(7), b = 36.60(7) and c = 3.82(1)}\text{A}\text{?}\text{)}$, respectively.     

Electrical conduction in Fe2O3 and Cr2O3

The influence of some impurities on the conduction properties of Cr₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃ are examined and contrasted. A mechanism is proposed to account for the effect of Ti in Cr₂O₃.     

Y2O3·Cr2O3复合氧化物热力学性质的研究

在1182—1386K温度范围内,用固体电解质氧浓差电池:Mo|Cr,Y₂O₃,Y₂O₃·Cr₂O₃|ZrO₂(+MgO)|Cr,Cr₂O₃|Mo测定了复合氧化物Y₂O₃·Cr₂O₃的热力学性质。对于反应Y_{2关键词：}     

EPR of Cr2O3 in the phase transition region

The temperature dependence of the Cr₂O₃ EPR spectra is obtained. The linewidth of the EPR is defined by the phonon's modulation of the exchange interactions at T >T_N + 4–5 K though at T_N < T < T_N + 4 K the critical broadening of the EPR in Cr₂O₃ is determined by fluctuation effects.     

Electrical conductivity and defect structure of Mg-doped Cr2O3

The electrical conductivity of Cr₂O₃ nominally doped with 2 mol% MgO has been studied by the four point a.c. technique as a function of the oxygen activity (O₂ + Ar, CO + CO₂ and H₂ + H₂O) in the temperature range 400–1200 °C. It is concluded that Cr₂O₃ doped with MgO is an extrinsic conductor and that the dissolved Mg-dopant is compensated by the formation of electron holes at near atmospheric oxygen pressures and by oxygen vacancies (or possibly interstitial chromium ions) at highly reduced oxygen activities (in CO + CO₂ and H₂ + H₂O gas mixtures). In H₂ + H₂O mixtures Mg-doped chromia also dissolves hydrogen as protons and significantly affects the defect structure and electrical conductivity. The defect structure of the oxide under various conditions is discussed.     

Optical absorption spectrum of Cu2O-CaO-P2O5 glasses

Homogeneous CaO-P₂O₅ and Cu₂O-CaO-P₂O₅ glasses were prepared using a melt-quenched method under controlled conditions. The binary glasses were found to be colourless and transparent while the ternary glasses changed from light green to dark green as the Cu₂O content increased. From the absorption edge studies, the values of the optical band gap, E_opt and Urbach energy, ΔE were evaluated. The position of the absorption edge and hence the optical band gap were found to depend on the glass composition. Analysis of the optical band gap shows that for the binary glasses, the value increases as the content of CaO decreases, while for the ternary glasses, the value of the optical band gap increases as the content of the Cu₂O decreases. The density of the glasses was also measured and was found to increase with the increase in CaO and Cu₂O contents.     

Raman microprobe spectroscopy measurements of residual stress distribution along blisters in Cr2O3 thin films

Raman spectroscopy has been used to characterise the buckling phenomenon of Cr₂O₃ films obtained by oxidation in air at 900 °C of Ni33 at%Cr. The observed circular blisters are described by measuring the radius from the optical top view, the profile via an autofocus device and the residual stress in each point of the chromia film: far away from the centre of the blister, in the vicinity and across the blister. The subsequent spalls are related to the morphology of the blisters and to the stress.     

Ultraviolet reflectivity spectra of CuInSe2, CuInTe2 and CuGaTe2

Reflectivity spectra of CuInSe₂, CuInTe₂ and CuGaTe₂ are measured in the photon energy range from 2 to 9 eV. All compounds exhibit nearly the same reflectivity structures, and a comparison with measurements on the other Cu-III-VI₂ semiconductors shows that the band structures of all Cu-III-VI₂ compounds should be very similar except the energy range near the fundamental edge.     

Enhancement of magnetic anisotropy in mechanically attrited Cr2O3 nanoparticles

Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles of sizes from 24 to 12 nm were synthesized by mechanical grinding. Magnetic hysteresis loops were observed in the temperature range 5-300 K. Zero-field magnetization measurements showed two peaks, at low temperature in the range 36-52 K and at high temperature in the range 255-290 K. They were found to shift to higher temperatures as the particle size was reduced. This was ascribed due to the enhancement of the effective anisotropy constant with a decrease in particle size. The exchange bias was found to increase as the particle size became smaller. This is believed to arise due to an increase in uncompensated spins as a result of large surface area created.     

Exchange bias in thin-film (Co/Pt)3/Cr2O3 multilayers

We have fabricated exchange-biased Co/Pt layers ((0.3 nm/1.5 nm)×3) on (0 0 1)-oriented Cr₂O₃ thin films. The multilayered films showed extremely smooth surfaces and interfaces with root mean square roughness of ≈0.3 nm for 10 μm×10 μm area. The Cr₂O₃ films display sufficient insulation with a relative low leakage current (1.17×10⁻² A/cm² at 380 MV/m) at room temperature which allowed us to apply electric field as high as 77 MV/m. We find that the sign of the exchange bias and the shape of the hysteresis loops of the out-of-plane magnetized Co/Pt layers can be delicately controlled by adjusting the magnetic field cooling process through the Néel temperature of Cr₂O₃. No clear evidence of the effect of electric field and the electric field cooling was detected on the exchange bias for fields as high as 77 MV/m. We place the upper bound of the shift in exchange bias field due to electric field cooling to be 5 Oe at 250 K.     

Synthesis and electronic behaviors of TiO2/carbon clusters/Cr2O3 composite materials

Nano-structured TiO₂/carbon clusters/Cr₂O₃ composite material has been successfully obtained by the microwave treatment of a TiO(acac)/Cr(acac)₃/epoxy resin complex. The compositions of the composite materials were determined using ICP, elemental analysis and surface characterization by SEM-EDX, TEM and XRD. ESR spectral examinations suggest the possibility of an electron transfer in the process of TiO₂ → carbon clusters → Cr₂O₃ with an oxidation site at TiO₂ particles and a reduction site at Cr₂O₃ particles. The preliminary experimental results show that the calcined materials could decompose methylene blue under visible-light irradiation.     

Farinfrared absorption in Al2O3 and MgO

Far-infrared absorption measurements performed in Al₂O₃ and MgO between 300 and 1 500 K with a Fourier scanning interferometer are reported. A temperature analysis of results based on a phonon self-energy model allows to assign the absorption in this region to 2- and 3-phonon difference processes. The contributions of these processes are separated and discussed. In Al₂O₃, the frequency dependence of the absorption is also analyzed. A good overall agreement between theory and experiment is evidenced.     

The high quality ZnO growth on c-Al2O3 substrate with Cr2O3 buffer layer using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

High quality epitaxial ZnO films were grown on c-Al₂O₃ substrates with Cr₂O₃ buffer layer by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (P-MBE). The hexagonal crystalline Cr₂O₃ layer was formed by oxidation of the Cr-metal layer deposited on the c-Al₂O₃ substrate using oxygen plasma. The epitaxial relationship was determined to be ZnO//Cr₂O₃//Cr//Al₂O₃ and ZnO//Cr₂O₃//[0 0 1]Cr//Al₂O_3. The Cr₂O₃ buffer layer was very effective in improving the surface morphology and crystal quality of the ZnO films. The photoluminescence spectrum showed the strong near band-edge emissions with the weak deep-level emission, which implies high optical quality of the ZnO films grown on the Cr₂O₃ buffer.     

Cr2O3催化合成气转化至甲醇的微观动力学研究

Cr₂O₃是双功能催化合成气转化的重要氧化物组分,其可将合成气转化为重要的中间物种甲醇. 结合密度泛函理论计算和微观动力学模拟,本文系统研究了干净Cr₂O₃(001)和(012)表面,以及氢覆盖或含有氧空位的还原(012)表面的结构及催化合成气转化至甲醇的活性. 本文探讨了合成气转化为甲醇的分步或协同反应路径,并确定CO或CHO氢化是决速步骤. 微观动力学分析表明,Cr₂O₃(001)表面难以催化合成气转化为甲醇,在673 K 时,两个还原性(012)表面的反应速率(25∽28 s^-1)比干净的(012)表面(4.3 s^-1)高出约五倍. 计算结果表明了Cr₂O₃表面还原性对催化活性的重要性,或许可以为双功能催化体系中氧化物组分的设计提供参考.     

Study of Al2O3/TiO2 reflectivity enhancing bi-layer films on bright aluminium substrates

Al₂O₃/TiO₂ bi-layer films on aluminium substrates have been obtained by combining anodising and TiO₂ sol-gel deposition. The reflectivity enhancing properties of these Al₂O₃/TiO₂ bi-layer films have been studied in relation to the refractive index and thickness of the Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ single-layers. It is shown that a significant improvement of reflectivity can be achieved by a proper optimisation of the bi-layer elaboration parameters.     

Crystal field analysis of energy level structure of the Cr2O3 antiferromagnet

A detailed analysis of the energy level structure of the six-fold coordinated Cr³⁺ ion in the chromium oxide Cr₂O₃ is performed using the exchange charge model of the crystal field theory. Parameters of the crystal field acting on the Cr³⁺ optical electrons are calculated from the crystal structure data for the [CrO₆]⁹⁻ impurity center. The energy levels obtained are compared with the experimental absorption spectra for the considered crystal; a good agreement with experimental data is demonstrated. One possible explanation for the ultraviolet p₁ absorption band is proposed based on the results of crystal field calculations.     

Features of the local structural disorder in Li2O-CaF2-P2O5 glass-ceramics with Cr2O3 as nucleating agent

Li₂O-CaF₂-P₂O₅ glasses mixed with different concentrations of Cr₂O₃ (ranging from 0 to 1.0 mol%) were crystallized. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), differential thermal analysis and conventional spectroscopic techniques. The X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopic studies reveal the presence of lithium phosphate, calcium phosphate and chromium phosphate (complexes of Cr³⁺, Cr⁵⁺ and Cr⁶⁺ ions) crystal phases. The study on DTA suggests that the crystallization is predominantly due to the surface crystallization when the concentration of nucleating agent Cr₂O₃ is around 0.8 mol%. The IR and Raman spectral studies of these samples indicate that the sample crystallized with 0.8 mol% Cr₂O₃ is more compact and possesses high rigidity due to the presence of chromium ions largely in tetrahedral positions.     

Effect of rare earth (Pr2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3 and Er2O3 ) on the acoustic properties of glass belonging to bismuth-borate system

Bismuth-borate glasses doped with some rare earth ions were studied with respect to the density, molar volume and the elastic moduli, Poisson’s ratio, Debye temperature, microhardness, softening temperature, acoustic impedance, diffusion constant and latent heat of melting. Ultrasonic velocities were measured by the pulse echo overlap technique at a frequency of 10 MHz and at room temperature. From these velocities and density values, various elastic moduli were calculated. The correlation of elastic stiffness, the cross link density, and the fractal bond connectivity of these glasses are discussed. The derived experimental values of shear modulus, bulk modulus, Young’s modulus, and Poisson’s ratio for our glasses are compared with the theoretically calculated values in terms of the bond compression model and Makishima-Mackenize theory.     

First principles analysis of the MgAl2O4:Ni absorption spectrum

Analysis of the energy-level scheme and absorption spectrum of the Ni²⁺ ion in MgAl₂O₄ was performed. The recently developed first-principles approach to the analysis of the absorption spectra of impurity ions in crystals based on the discrete variational multi-electron (DV-ME) method [K. Ogasawara, et al., Phys. Rev. B 64 (2001) 115413) was used in the calculations. The method is based on the numerical solution of the Dirac equation; no phenomenological parameters are used in the calculations. As a result, complete energy-level scheme of Ni²⁺ and its absorption spectra were calculated, assigned and compared with experimental data on the ground and excited state absorption spectra. Numerical contributions of all possible electron configurations into the calculated energy states were determined. By performing analysis of the molecular orbitals population, numerical contributions of the oxygen 2p- and 2s-orbitals into the 3d molecular orbitals were determined.     

The elastic constants and distance dependence of the magnetic interactions of Cr2O3

The six single crystal elastic stiffness constants of Cr₂O₃ have been determined at 20°C by a pulse-echo-overlap technique. The results are: c₁₁ = 3.74, c₁₂ = 1.48, c₁₃ = 1.75, c₃₃ = 3.62, c₄₄ = 1.59 and c₁₄ = 0.19 all in units of 10¹² dyne/cm². The magnetic anomalies in lattice parameters at 0 K were also determined. These results were used to approximately calculate the interatomic distance dependence of the magnetic interactions in Cr₂O₃.