Magnetostriction of the spin-Peierls cuprate CuGeO3

The isothermal, longitudinal magnetostriction of the spin-Peierls cuprate CuGeO₃ has been measured along the three orthorhombic directions up to 14 Tesla by means of a high resolution capacitance dilatometer. For all three axes we observe anomalies at both the dimerized/incommensurate (D/I) and the dimerized/uniform (D/U) transition whose sizes and signs differ. A precise H-T phase diagram is determined from the field and temperature dependence of the lattice constants, which roughly agrees with theoretical predictions. At the D/I transition the magnetostriction shows a jumplike behavior and a hysteresis indicating a first order transition. From the jumps of the magnetostriction at the D/I transition we estimate considerable, uniaxial stress dependences of the critical magnetic field H _c, which correlate with those of the spin-Peierls transition temperature. A finite magnetostriction is also resolved within the high temperature uniform phase of CuGeO₃ for all three lattice directions. These data show a pronounced, strongly anisotropic spin-lattice coupling in CuGeO₃ and allow to derive the uniaxial pressure dependences of the magnetic susceptibility. Based on our findings the relevance of different structural parameters for the magnetic exchange interaction is discussed.     

Microwave conductivity of K-TCNQ

Measurements of microwave conductivity of K-TCNQ in the temperature range 300–450 K are reported. K-TCNQ behaves as an extrinsic semiconductor with an activation energy of 0.26 eV below the spin-Peierls transition temperature of 396 K and 0.13 eV above the transition. A hystersis of about 1.5 K was observed. Carrier mobility appears to be reduced by a factor of 30 in the high temperature phase. A second type of crystal has been identified with room temperature conductivity two orders of magnitude higher than previously reported.     

Local spin resonance and spin-peierls-like phase transition in a geometrically frustrated antiferromagnet

Inelastic magnetic neutron scattering reveals a localized spin resonance at 4.5 meV in the ordered phase of the geometrically frustrated cubic antiferromagnet ZnCr2O4. The resonance develops abruptly from quantum critical fluctuations upon cooling through a first order transition to a co-planar antiferromagnet at T(c) = 12. 5(5) K. We argue that this transition is a three dimensional analog of the spin-Peierls transition.     

Size effects upon phase transitions in vanadium oxide nanocomposites

A phenomenological model has been proposed for the formation of the major thermal hysteresis loop of optical parameters upon the semiconductor-metal phase transition in vanadium oxide nanocomposites. It has been demonstrated that the effects associated with the influence of nanocrystallite sizes on the phase transition temperature in an individual nanocrystallite, which is determined by the width of the elementary hysteresis loop and the position of the phase equilibrium temperature on the temperature scale, manifest themselves in the form of pronounced features in the loop shape. In particular, the size effects for VO₂ polycrystalline films are observed in the formation of a trapezoidal shape of the optical thermal hysteresis loop with a wide lower base, whereas these effects for nanocomposites based on porous glasses with VO₂ nanocrystals are revealed in the form of the optical hysteresis loop with a narrow lower base (wide upper base). The proposed model also explains the symmetric shape of the major hysteresis loop for vanadium oxide nanocomposites based on opals. The size effects in opal nanocomposites with strictly fixed sizes of pores and, therefore, nanocrystallite sizes manifest themselves in the form of well-defined steps in the heating and cooling branches of the major hysteresis loop.     

Interplay of first-order kinetic and thermodynamic phase transitions in heterogeneous catalytic reactions

Using the rate constants obtained on the basis of independent transient measurements and density functional theory calculations, we perform Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the bistable kinetics of the N2O-CO reaction on Pd(110) at 450 K. In the absence of lateral interactions, the MC technique predicts a wide hysteresis loop in perfect agreement with the mean-field analysis. With attractive substrate-mediated lateral interactions resulting in the formation of (1 x 2) O islands and reducing the reaction rate inside islands, the hysteresis is found to be dramatically (about 5 times) narrower. This finding explains why the first-order kinetic phase transition experimentally observed in this reaction is not accompanied by hysteresis.     

Magnetic and martensitic transitions in Ni-Fe-Ga alloy

The ferromagnetic shape memory alloy with nominal composition Ni₅₄Fe₁₉Ga₂₇ is investigated by Ac susceptibility and resistivity measurements. The alloy shows long-range ferromagnetic order below 290 K. The anomaly due to the martensitic transition is observed in the susceptibility and resistivity data in the temperature range around 220 K, which is associated with clear thermal hysteresis. Minor hysteresis loop technique was used to investigate the phase coexistence across the martensitic transition, and our analysis indicate that both martensite and austenite phases mutually coexist in the region of hysteresis.     

Magnetic-field induced spin-Peierls instability in strongly frustrated quantum spin lattices

For a class of frustrated antiferromagnetic spin lattices (in particular, the square-kagomé and kagomé lattices) we discuss the impact of recently discovered exact eigenstates on the stability of the lattice against distortions. These eigenstates consist of independent localized magnons embedded in a ferromagnetic environment and become ground states in high magnetic fields. For appropriate lattice distortions fitting to the structure of the localized magnons the lowering of magnetic energy can be calculated exactly and is proportional to the displacement of atoms leading to a spin-Peierls lattice instability. Since these localized states are present only for high magnetic fields, this instability might be driven by magnetic-field. The hysteresis of the spin-Peierls transition is also discussed.     

Peierls and spin-Peierls phase transitions in structurally unstable quasi-one-dimensional solids

The Peierls and spin-Peierls phase transitions are studied in solids in which a structural instability is already present. It is found that the presence of this intrinsic mode can increase considerably the critical temperature. For small values of the critical temperature, the transition is of the BCS-type, like the Peierls (or spin-Peierls) phase transition, but with an effective electron (or spin)-phonon coupling constant renormalized by the anharmonicity and by the instability of the phonon. Numerical results are also presented for larger critical temperatures. Then the BCS behaviour is no longer observed.     

Photoinduced spin-Peierls phase transition

An equation is obtained for the order parameter ξ of the spin-Peierls phase transition in a light field. This equation is used to derive the expressions for the frequency ν of the photogenerated longitudinal optical phonon mode and the time τ of the photoinduced phase transition. Numerical values of the quantities ν and τ calculated in terms of the proposed model agree well with the experimental data for the quasi-one-dimensional compound potassium tetracyanoquinodimethane (K TCNQ) irradiated by a laser pulse. Original Russian Text ? A.L. Semenov, 2009, published in Fizika Tverdogo Tela, 2009, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 164–167.     

Analytical solution of 1D Ising-like systems modified by weak long range interaction

It is well-known that 1D systems with only nearest neighbour interaction exhibit no phase transition. It is shown that the presence of a small long range interaction treated by the mean field approximation in addition to strong nearest neighbour interaction gives rise to hysteresis curves of large width. This situation is believed to exist in spin crossover systems where by the deformation of the spin changing molecules, an elastic coupling leads to a long range interaction, and strong bonding between the molecules in a chain compound leads to large values for nearest neighbour interaction constants. For this interaction scheme an analytical solution has been derived and the interplay between these two types of interaction is discussed on the basis of experimental data of the chain compound which exhibits a very large hysteresis of 50 K above RT at 370 K. The width and shape of the hysteresis loop depend on the balance between long and short range interaction. For short range interaction energies much larger than the transition temperature the hysteresis width is determined by the long range interaction alone. Received 26 November 1998     

Magnetic properties of (BEDT-TTF)(ClMeTCNQ) studied by ESR under pressure: a neutral-ionic crossover and thermoinduced mesophase

The neutral-ionic (NI) phase transition in (BEDT-TTF)(ClMeTCNQ) is studied with ESR under pressure to tune the transition temperature. Broad peak structures observed in the spin susceptibility around T(NI) are analyzed with the assumption of a spin-Peierls gap of 1100 K, which demonstrates the continuous evolution of ionic domain fraction through T(NI) over the extent T(W) proportional, variantT(NI). An unexpected feature is the presence of sizable ionic droplets even at T>T(NI), which is ascribed to the tiny energy difference between the two phases.     

Hysteresis loop construction for the metal-semiconductor phase transition in vanadium dioxide films

Thermal hysteresis of the reflectivity of vanadium dioxide films observed upon the metal-semiconductor phase transition is studied. The major hysteresis loop is assumed to form when the phase equilibrium temperature in film grains and the grain size vary and correlate with each other. Within the suggested concept of hysteresis loop formation, it is demonstrated that the major loop may be asymmetric, i.e., broadened (shifted) toward lower temperatures. Unlike hysteresis branches for VO₂ bulk single crystal, those for VO₂ films are extended along the temperature axis and may exhibit a step if the grain size distribution has several maxima. The validity of the concept is verified experimentally. It is also shown that atomic force microscopy (AFM) data for the grain size distribution can serve to determine the distribution parameters from the phase equilibrium temperatures without constructing a complete set of minor hysteresis loops, as was required before.     

Influence of neutron and heavy-ion irradiation on EPR spectra of CuGeO3

The influence of neutron and heavy-ion irradiation on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the spin-Peierls compound CuGeO₃ has been investigated in the wide temperature range of 2–300 K. It is found that the neutron irradiation leads to a decrease of the spin-Peierls transition temperature and induces appreciable changes in the EPR signal intensity, resonance line width andg-factor of this material. These changes may be associated with a partial suppression of both the energy gap and dimerization within the Cu chains due to the irradiation-induced changes in the topological and chemical short-range order. In contrast to this, the heavy-ion irradiation induces only an increase in the intensity of the EPR signal and does not produce appreciable changes in the resonance line width,g-factor and spin-Peierls transition temperature. The experimental results show a large increase in the Curie-Weiss component and complete suppression of the spin-Peierls transition for higher irradiation doses.     

Peierls transition in the quantum spin-Peierls model

We use the density matrix renormalization group method to investigate the role of longitudinal quantized phonons on the Peierls transition in the spin-Peierls model. For both the XY and Heisenberg spin-Peierls model we show that the staggered phonon order parameter scales as sqrt[lambda] (and the dimerized bond order scales as lambda) as lambda-->0 (where lambda is the electron-phonon interaction). This result is true for both linear and cyclic chains. Thus, we conclude that the Peierls transition occurs at lambda=0 in these models. Moreover, for the XY spin-Peierls model we show that the quantum predictions for the bond order follow the classical prediction as a function of inverse chain size for small lambda. We therefore conclude that the zero lambda phase transition is of the mean-field type.     

Dynamic orientational phase transition in a two-layer magnetically coupled structure

The magnetization dynamics was studied for a system of two magnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic spacer providing their antiferromagnetic coupling. A new effect of orientational phase transition occurring upon a change in the amplitude (frequency) of a microwave field was observed near the edge of the orientational hysteresis loop.     

Two dimensional ordering and fluctuations in alpha(')-NaV2O5

X-ray diffraction measurements of Bragg and diffuse scattering associated with charge ordering in the inorganic compound alpha(')- NaV2O5 show a continuous phase transition at a temperature of about 33.1 K. Many of this material's properties suggest a spin-Peierls transition, as established in CuGeO3 and MEM(TCNQ)(2). We compare the order parameter as well as fluctuations in the order parameter in these materials, and conclude that alpha(')- NaV2O5 is dissimilar, and that the transition is two dimensional in nature, due to charge ordering associated with the fractional average valence at the vanadium site within the orthorhombic a- b plane.     

Coupling of the lattice and superlattice deformations and hysteresis in thermal expansion for the quasi-one-dimensional conductor TaS3

An original interferometer-based setup for measurements of length of needlelike samples is developed, and thermal expansion of o-TaS(3) crystals is studied. Below the Peierls transition the temperature hysteresis of length L is observed, the width of the hysteresis loop deltaL/L being up to 5 x 10(-5). The behavior of the loop is anomalous: the length changes so that it is in front of its equilibrium value. The hysteresis loop couples with that of conductivity. With lowering the temperature down to 100 K the charge-density waves' elastic modulus grows achieving a value comparable with the lattice Young modulus. Our results could be helpful in consideration of different systems with intrinsic superstructures.     

4-(cyanomethyl)anilinium perchlorate: a new displacive-type molecular ferroelectric

A new organic ferroelectric compound, 4-(cyanomethyl)anilinium perchlorate, proceeds a second-order phase transition from a paraelectric phase (P2(1)/m) to a ferroelectric phase (P2(1)) at 184 K. A perfect ferroelectric hysteresis loop was observed even at 10 KHz. It is the first example of a molecule-based organic ferroelectric whose polarization can be switched at such a high frequency. The temperature dependent second harmonic generation effect shows that the second-order nonlinear coefficient is nearly zero above T(c) and proportional to the spontaneous polarization below T(c), suggesting the occurrence of symmetry breaking, in good agreement with crystal structural determination. The origin of ferroelectricity was ascribed to the displacements of -NH(3)(+) cations and ClO(4)(-) anions from the symmetric positions including a small part of the order-disorder behaviors of the ClO(4)(-) anions.     

Effect of grain sizes on the metal-semiconductor phase transition in vanadium dioxide polycrystalline thin films

Experimental data on the effect of grain sizes on the shape and width of the hysteresis loop characterizing a metal-semiconductor phase transition in vanadium dioxide films are analyzed in terms of the classical theory of nucleation. It is shown that the factors responsible for the changes in the shape and width of the hysteresis loop with variations in the size of the grains making up a film are associated with the heterogeneous character of nucleation of a new phase, on the one hand, and with the elastic stresses arising in the phase transition, on the other.     

玻璃与液晶非线性光学界面反射特性的研究

本文系统地研究了由玻璃与液晶构成的非线性光学界面。用一台调Q的红宝石激光器研究了由玻璃与处于各向同性液相的液晶所构成的非线性界面。在不同入射角时非线性界面由内部全反射跃变到部分透射的阈值光强与Kaplen的平面波理论计算结果相一致。在T-T_c=2.5℃条件下测量了时间分辨的非线性界面的反射率。观察到了反射率的滞后迴线。非线性界面的这种反射率的滞后迴线可以归之于液晶分子退取向的弛豫过程。用Ar⁺激光器研究了玻璃与向列相液晶所构成的非线性光学界面,观察到了由相变而产 关键词：