Indentation studies on alkaline earth fluoride crystals at elevated temperatures

Indentations have been made on the (111) planes of CaF₂, SrF₂ and BaF₂ at various temperatures up to 700°C. By etching the crystals, the indentation dislocation rosettes (IDRs) have been recorded and the relative hardness is estimated from the dimensions of the IDRs. The hardness of all these crystals falls with temperature according to the equationH=A exp(−BT). Dramatic changes are observed in the shape of the IDR at elevated temperatures indicating activation of new slip systems.     

Localization of plastic deformation in calcium fluoride crystals at elevated temperatures

The strain distribution was experimentally studied in CaF₂ crystals subjected to compression tests along [110] and [112] at a constant strain rate at temperatures T = 373–1253 K. At T > 845 K, the plastic deformation in deformed samples is found to be strongly localized in narrow bands, where the shear strain reaches several hundred percent. The physical deformation conditions are determined under which the plastic flow loses its stability and, as a result, the deformation is localized. The temperature dependence of the critical stress of the transition to a localized flow is found. A scenario is proposed for the nucleation and development of large localized shears during high-temperature deformation of single crystals.     

Thermal expansion of cadmium fluoride crystals at high temperatures

The thermal expansion coefficient of cadmium fluoride crystals has been measured over the temperature range of 300 to 1070 K. The data fit well to measurements done by other authors in the range 80–300 K. At temperatures above 1070 K the thermal expansion coefficient shows an anomalous behaviour which has been attributed to the formation of cadmium oxide on the surface of the sample.     

Inclusions in large diamond single crystals at different temperatures of synthesis

The inclusions in large diamond single crystals have effects on its ultimate performance, which restricts its industrial applications to a great extent. Therefore, it is necessary to study the inclusions systematically. In this paper, large diamond single crystals with different content values of inclusions are synthesized along the(100) surface by the temperature gradient method(TGM) under 5.6 GPa at different temperatures. With the synthetic temperature changing from 1200?C to 1270?C,the shapes of diamonds change from plate to low tower, to high tower, even to steeple. From the microscopic photographs of the diamond samples, it can be observed that with the shapes of the samples changing at different temperatures, the content values of inclusions in diamonds become zero, a little, much and most, correspondingly. Consequently, with the temperature growing from low to high, the content values of inclusions in crystals increase. The origin of inclusions is explained by the difference in growth rate between diamond crystal and its surface. The content values of inclusions in diamond samples are quantitatively calculated by testing the densities of diamond samples. And the composition and inclusion content are analyzed by energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS) and x-ray diffraction(XRD). From contrasting scanning electron microscopy(SEM) photographs, it can be found that the more the inclusions in diamond, the more imperfect the diamond surface is.     

New scintillators based on barium fluoride crystals and ceramics

Experimental studies on the optical properties of new crystals and ceramics based on CeF₃- and CdF₂-doped barium fluoride were aimed at producing scintillators with a higher light yield level (particularly in the ultra-short wavelength range with a luminescence time of 0.6–0.8 ns) that could be used in the development of fast and low-cost optical sensors for positron emission tomography (PET). Ceramics manufactured on the basis of BaF₂ single crystals with various concentrations of Ce and Cd are transparent in the 300–600 nm wavelength range; this is comparable to BaF₂ single crystals.     

Deformation of Cd-based alloys single crystals at very low temperatures

The temperature dependence of the critical resolved shear stress — CRSS on Cd-Ag andCd-Zn single crystals was studied at very low temperatures 1·5–80 K. The deformation experi-ments were made by a creep technique. The CRSS for Cd-Ag alloys was determined from re-constructed shear stress — shear strain curves, while the method of one sample was applied tothe determination of ₀-T dependence for Cd-Zn alloys. The difference in the temperaturedependences of ₀ for both Cd-based alloys can be caused by different methods for determiningthe CRSS.     

Resistance of zinc crystals to shock deformation and fracture at elevated temperatures

Velocity profiles of the free surface of shock-loaded zinc crystals are measured in two different orientations. The test temperature is varied from room temperature to 410 °C. The results of the measurements show that the high-velocity deformation and fracture are athermal processes and that the fracture stresses are influenced by the preceding plastic deformation. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1849–1854 (October 1998)     

Spontaneous excitation of discrete breathers in crystals with the NaCl structure at elevated temperatures

The density of phonon states at various temperatures has been calculated for crystals with the NaCl structure with equal and strongly differing weights of anions and cations. It has been shown that, in the crystal with a considerable difference in the weights of components, a wide band gap exists in the spectrum of phonon states, which leads to spontaneous excitation of nonlinear localized vibrational modes??gap discrete breathers having frequencies inside the band gap, if the temperature is sufficiently high. It has been found that the peak of the density of phonon states lying above the spectrum of linear vibrations appears at elevated temperatures, which can indicate the existence of discrete breathers with corresponding frequencies. It has been noted that, previously, the existence of gap discrete breathers in the NaI crystal at 555 K was shown experimentally. The presented results bring up the question of the theoretical justification and experimental observation of the breathers with frequencies above the phonon spectrum.     

The growth of single crystals of barium titanate from melts with barium chloride

On the basis of experiments carried out on the growing of barium titanate, single crystals (BaTiO₃) it is shown that the data given by B. T. Matthias [1] are incomplete and insufficient thus leading in certain cases to negative results. This paper gives the conditions for growing crystals which are suitable for fundamental physical research.     

Anomalies in the magnetic properties of copper impurity clusters in barium fluoride crystals

Copper impurity trimers with antiferromagnetic coupling between Cu²⁺ ions are synthesized in BaF₂ crystals. In some of the BaF₂: Cu crystals thus prepared, the concentration of copper stable trimers turns out to be higher than that of copper dimers and copper single centers. The BaF₂: Cu crystals are studied using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at frequencies of 9.3, 23.0, and 37.0 GHz in the temperature range 4.2–77 K. It is found that the components of the effective tensor g for copper trimers depend strongly on the external magnetic field and temperature. A static model of the molecular structure of the copper trimer is proposed on the basis of the experimental data obtained.     

Microwave studies of Bi(2212) HTSC single crystals at nitrogen temperatures

Absorption of microwave power by single-phase Bi(2212) crystals with a broad (15 K) phase transition has been studied. A temperature-localized drop of microwave power absorption at the beginning of the superconducting transition at 80 K has been established. A possible mechanism of this absorption feature based on the concept of synchronization of Josephson junctions near T _c is discussed.     

Excitations in Metmyoglobin crystals at low temperatures

Specific heat and dielectric constant of Metmyoglobin crystals at low temperatures are measured and found to be similar to those of amorphous dielectrics. This provides evidence for the existence of two level systems in the protein. Possibility of many conformational substates and the frozen in disorder in the protein is proposed as the origin of these excitations.     

Pyroelectric and dielectric properties of calcium barium niobate single crystals

The effect of the calcium concentration on the pyroelectric and dielectric properties of Ca _x Ba_{1 ? x} Nb₂O₆ (CBN) crystals has been studied over a wide temperature range. It has been shown that the calcium concentration only influences the Curie point of crystals of this class. It insignificantly changes the absolute values of the permittivity, the coercive field, and the remanent polarization and does not influence their temperature dependences and the shape of the dielectric hysteresis loop. The possibility of the existence of relaxor properties in CBN crystals has been discussed.