Possible beat effect of specific heat due to impurities in semi-metal in external magnetic field

The simple model of a single-band semi-metal or degenerate semiconductor with impurities in an external quantizing magnetic field is discussed. The susceptibility and specific heat are studied in their dependence on the field-induced quasi-local levels, due to the impurities. These levels are shown to cause additional oscillations in the thermodynamical quantities as functions of the magnetic field. Their contribution to the susceptibility and specific heat is comparable to the values for the undoped system if the impurity concentration c_i fulfils the condition $\text{c}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= (c}{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{/4√π)(}\text{h}\text{?}\text{ω/ε}{}_{\mathrm{F}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, with c_e the electron concentration.     

On some recent results concerning the superconducting transition temperature

The Eliashberg gap equations relate the transition temperature T_c of an isotropic superconductor to its electron-phonon spectral function α²F(ω) and Coulomb pseudopotential parameter $\text{μ}{}^1$. Recently the Eliashberg theory has been used to derive some supposedly rigorous results bearing on the problem of attaining higher superconducting transition temperatures: Bergmann and Rainer derived an expression for the functional derivative $\text{δT}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{δα}{}^2\text{F(ω)}$; Allen and Dynes showed that in the asymptotic limit of very large $\text{λ(λ?10)k}{}_{\mathrm{B}}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{=f(μ}{}^1\text{)(λ〈ω}{}^2\text{〉)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and Leavens proved that for any isotropic superconductor k_BT_c ?0.2309A, where A is the area under its electron-phonon spectral function. In this letter we show that the result of Allen and Dynes is not compatible with the other results and is, in fact, incorrect.     

Quantum theory of longitudinal dielectric response properties of a two-dimensional plasma in a magnetic field

An analysis of dynamic and nonlocal longitudinal dielectric response properties of a two-dimensional Landau-quantized plasma is carried out, using a thermodynamic Green's function formulation of the RPA with a two-dimensional thermal Green's function for electron propagation in a magnetic field developed in closed form. The longitudinal-electrostatic plasmon dispersion relation is discussed in the low wavenumber regime with nonlocal corrections, and Bernstein mode structure is studied for arbitrary wavenumber. All regimes of magnetic field strength and statistics are investigated. The class of integrals treated here should have broad applicability in other two-dimensional and finite slab plasma studies.The two-dimensional static shielding law in a magnetic field is analyzed for low wavenumber, and for large distances we find $\text{V(}\text{r}\text{) ～}\text{Q}\text{k}{}_0{}^2\text{r}{}^3$. The inverse screening length $\text{k}{}_0\text{=}\text{2πe}{}^2\text{??}\text{?ξ}$ (? = density, ξ = chemical potential) is evaluated in all regimes of magnetic field strength and all statistical regimes. k₀ exhibits violent DHVA oscillatory behavior in the degenerate zero-temperature case at higher field strengths, and the shielding is complete when $\text{ξ = r′}\text{l}\text{z.shtsls;}\text{ω}$, but there is no shielding when $\text{ξ ≠ r′}\text{l}\text{z.shtsls;}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$. A careful analysis confirms that there is no shielding at large distances in the degenerate quantum strong field limit $\text{l}\text{z.shtsls;}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{> ξ}$. Since shielding does persist in the nondegenerate quantum strong field limit $\text{l}\text{z.shtsls;}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{> KT}$, there should be a pronounced change in physical properties that depend on shielding if the system is driven through a high field statistical transition. (It should be noted that the static shielding law of semiclassical and classical models has no dependence on magnetic field in two dimensions, as in three dimensions.) Finally, we find that the zero field two-dimensional Freidel-Kohn “wiggle” static shielding phenomenon is destroyed by the dispersal of the zero field continuum of electron states into the discrete set of Landau-quantized orbitals due to the imposition of the magnetic field.     

Theory of negative magnetoresistance in three-dimensional systems

Theory of negative magnetoresistance in two-dimensional systems due to delocalization of electrons by magnetic field by Hikami, Larkin, and Nagoaka is extended to the case of three-dimension. The increase in conductivity by magnetic field is independent of the direction of the current relative to that of the magnetic field, and is proportional to $\text{H}{}^2\text{τ}{}_{\mathrm{?}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, τ_? being energy relaxation time of electrons, when the magnetic field H is small. If τ_? is large enough at low temperature and H is not too small, it is independent of the parameter characterizing the system, and is of the form $\text{0.918?H mho cm}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ (H in kOe).     

Dielectric susceptibility and correlation length of one-dimensional CDW with impurties. II. weak disorder

Dependence of static dielectric susceptibility and correlation length of charge density waves (CDW) with weak defects on parameter of incommensurability with lattice is investigated. In almost commensurate phase (h?h_ch_c), $\text{χ ～ (h?h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{In}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>-4</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{/h?h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$ and R_c ～ (h ? h_c)^{$\text{2}\text{3}$}. In${}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{/h ? h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$. Far from commensurability $\text{(h?h}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{) χ～ (a+h}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{/h}{}^2\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>-2</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}$, $\text{R}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{～ (a + h}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{/h}{}^2\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>-2</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}$, where a is the dimensionless ratio of random potential intensities, corresponding to backward and forward scattering impurities.     

Derivation of the dielectric loss formula (a theory of dielectric relaxation in glassy systems)

The derivation is given of the empirical formula tan $\text{σ = A(ω)[}\text{1}\text{B}\text{(T?T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)]}{}^2\text{sech}{}^2\text{[}\text{1}\text{B}\text{(T?T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)]}$, where A (ω), B and T_c are constants of the dipolar material at constant applied frequency ω, which has been shown to be in excellent agreement with experimental dielectric loss data on polymers and other amorphous glasses. The derivation is based on the dynamics of a two-level model. The energy splitting, Δ, of the system is derived and determined experimentally for polymers.     

Functional derivative δTc/δα2 (Ω)F(Ω) for weak coupling superconductors

We present approximate analytic calculation of the functional derivative $\text{δT}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{δα}{}^2\text{(Ω)F(Ω)}$, where T_c is the superconducting critical temperature and $\text{α}{}^2\text{(Ω)F(Ω)}$ is the electron-phonon spectral function, within the “square-well model” for the phonon mediated electron-electron interaction and weak coupling limit $\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{D}}\text{(2πT}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)? 1 (ω}{}_{\mathrm{D}}$ is the Debye energy). It is found that $\text{δT}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{δα}{}^2\text{(Ω)F(Ω) = (1 + λ)}{}^{-1}\text{G(Ω)}$ where λ is the familiar electron-phonon coupling parameter and $\text{G(Ω)}$ is a universal function of the reduced frequency $\text{Ω}\text{=}\text{Ω}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$. We compare this formula with accurate numerical results for several weak coupling superconductors. The overall agreement is good     

Pressure spectroscopy of impurity states in GaSb(Se)

Galvanomagnetic effects and Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are studied in monocrystalline GaSb(Se) samples ($\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>se</mtext>}}\text{= 10}{}^{17}\text{?10}{}^{18}\text{cm}{}^{\mathrm{?3}}$) in magnetic fields up to 50 kOe at temperatures 0,07 K ?T?300 K under pressures p?12 kbar. Pressure spectroscopy has been used to determine the density of states in impurity bands and to investigate the anomalies of the transport properties of Γ-electrons near mobility edge ε_c on both metal and insulator sides.     

Metal-nonmetal transition in solid argon-lanthanum mixtures

A continuous metal-nonmetal transition is observed in solid ArLa mixtures. The d.c. conductivity σ starts at a La atomic fraction c_La ? 0.15 with $\text{σ = 2 × 10}{}^{-2}\text{[Ω-cm]}{}^{-1}$ and increases exponentially with c_La until σ reaches the minimum metallic conductivity $\text{σ}{}_{\min }\text{= 300 ± 100[Ω-cm]}{}^{-1}$ at c_La ? 0.4. The temperature dependence of σ shows variable range hopping between localized states for c>_La ? 0.4 and metallic behaviour for $\text{c}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>La</mtext>}}\text{? 0.4.}$     

A least upper bound on the superconducting transition temperature

It is rigorously shown that the superconducting transition temperature of any material for which the Eliashberg theory is valid must satisfy k_BT_c ? 0.2309 A, where A is the area under its electron-phonon spectral function α²F(ω). This relation is a least upper bound, not just an upper bound, in the sense that there is an optimal situation in which the equality holds. This occurs when the Coulomb pseudopotential parameter $\text{μ}{}^1$ is zero and the spectral function is the Einstein spectrum Aδ(ω ? 1.750 A). These results are generalized in an approximate, but sufficiently accurate, way to the case $\text{μ}{}^1\text{≠ 0}$ to obtain the more useful least upper bound $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>B</mtext>}}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>c</mtext>}}\text{? c(μ}{}^1\text{) A}$ and the corresponding optimal spectrum $\text{Aδ[ω ? d(μ}{}^1\text{)A]}$. Numerical results for the functions $\text{c(μ}{}^1\text{)}$ and d(μ¹) are presented for $\text{0 ? μ}{}^1\text{? 0.20}$. It is shown that the T_c's of many materials (including Nb₃Sn), for which experimental values of A and $\text{μ}{}^1$ are available, do not lie very far below the upper bound.     

Polariton modes at the interface between two conducting or dielectric media

A review of polariton modes at interfaces composed of two semiinfinite, homogeneous, and isotropic media is given. Both media are characterized by frequency-dependent dielectric functions ?_i(ω), i = 1, 2, and may become “interface-wave-active” in different frequency regions. The conditions for the existance of propagation windows are analyzed and applied to two particular cases: an interface composed of (a) two dielectrics with dielectric functions $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= ?}{}_{\mathrm{?\infty i}}\text{(}\text{ω}{}^2\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>Li</mtext>}}{}^2\text{ω}{}^2\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>T</mtext><mtext>i</mtext>}}{}^2$, where ?_t8i are the dielectric constants for very large frequencies and ωTi and ωLi are the transverse and longitudinal phonon frequencies; (b) two conductors with dielectric functions $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{= ?}{}_{\mathrm{\infty i}}\text{(}\text{1 ?ω}{}_{\mathrm{i}}{}^2\text{ω}{}^2\text{)}$, where ω_iare the plasma frequencies. In the first case there exist two propagation windows in the infrared region, while in the second case there is one propagation window in the ultraviolet, visible, or infrared region. The dispersion relations of the modes and their decay distances into the two media are presented, and various damping effects are discussed. The review is concluded with theoretical results on the optical excitation and detection (ATR) of the interface modes.     

Critical spin relaxation in GdCl3

In the critical region of the insulating, uniaxial ferromagnet GdCl₃ the real part of the uniform susceptibility χ(q = 0, ω; T) has been measured by means of a frequency counting method in the ranges $\text{1.7 MHz ?}\text{ω}\text{2π}\text{? 720 MHz, 0.003 ? (}\text{T}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{? 1 ≡ ?) ? 0.5}$. Parallel to the easy direction at all temperatures, χ′(ω) has a lorentzian shape, its amplitude being equal to the static susceptibility, χ_T. The half-widths τ^?1 exhibit s critical slowing down: above ?_c = 0.03 they are proportional to χ^?1_T, while at ?_c a change-over to $\text{τ}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{∝ χ}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}{}_{\mathrm{T}}$ occurs, the origin of which is uncertain.     

Theory of second harmonic generation at a metal surface with surface plasmon excitation

Theory of second harmonic generation at a metal surface is developed, when surface plasmon-polaritons are resonantly excited by the incident electromagnetic field. For harmonic generation from small metallic spheres characterized by the dielectric function ?₁(ω) + i?₂(ω), the resonant enhancement of the second harmonic intensity is predicted to be of the order of ($\text{?}{}_1\text{?}{}_2\text{)}{}^4$. The resonant enhancement is much smaller for the case of a metallic grating.     

Surface cyclotron resonance in Si under uniaxial stress

The cyclotron resonance of inversion-layer electrons on (100)p-type Si is found to depend sensitively on an externally applied compressive stress. At low temperatures (T ? 10 K) we observe a considerable increase of the cyclotron mass m¹_c with stress S along the [001] direction. The effect is most strongly observed at low electron densities n_s. For $\text{S～1.5 × 10}{}^9\text{dyne}\text{cm}{}^2$ and n_s～2 × 10¹¹cm^-2 we obtain $\text{m}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{～0.4 m}{}_0$ instead of the expected 0.2m₀. Along with this change of $\text{m}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{c}}$ a strong narrowing of the resonance is noted. Raising the temperature gives an additional n_s- dependent increase of $\text{m}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{c}}$.     

A Mössbauer study of amorphous Fe40Ni40B20

Amorphous Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ (VITROVAC 0040) alloy has been investigated using ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer Spectroscopy. The Curie temperature T_c is found to be well defined and is 695 ± 1 K. The quadrupole splitting just above T_c is 0.64 mm sec^?1. The crystallization temperature is 698 ± 2 K, close to but definitely above T_c. The average hyperfine field H_eff(T) of the glassy state shows a temperature dependence of $\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>eff</mtext>}}\text{(0)[1 ? B}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{(T/T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{? C}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{(T/T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{? …]}$ indicative of the existence of spin wave excitations. The values of $\text{B}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and $\text{C}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ are found to be 0.40 and 0.06, respectively, for T/T_c ? 0.72. At temperatures close to T_c, H_eff(T) varies as (1 ? T/T_c)^β where β is one of the critical exponents and its value is found to be 0.29 ± 0.02.     

On a least upper bound Tc of superconductors with paramagnetic impurities

We have obtained a least upper bound, $\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{B}}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{? c(μ}{}^1\text{, t)A}$, on the critical temperature T_c of an isotropic superconductor with paramagnetic impurities described by the scattering matrix t for fixed values of μ¹. We have also obtained the corresponding optimal spectrum $\text{α}{}^2\text{F(m) = Aδ[ω?d(μ}{}^1\text{, A]}$. The numerical results for the functions $\text{c(μ}{}^1\text{, t)}\text{and}\text{d(μ}{}^1\text{, t)}$ are presented for $\text{α}{}^1\text{= 0.1}$ and 0.16 in the form of universal curves representing $\text{c(μ}{}^1\text{, t)}\text{and}\text{d(μ}{}^1\text{, t)}$ as functions of the reduced impurity concentration $\text{t}\text{= t/A}$. We have also established an upper limit to the reduced critical concentration $\text{t}{}_{\mathrm{crit}}$ for an arbitrary shape of α²F(ω)1.     

Thickness dependence of the surface-polariton relaxation rates in a crystal slab

A few useful formulas are derived concerning the damping properties of long-wavelength surface polaritons (SP) in a crystal slab. For example, it is shown that the SP propagation length in a metal slab with thickness 2a satisfying $\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{a}\text{c}\text{< 1}$ (c is the velocity of light and ω_p the electronic plasma frequency) is increased by the factor $\text{3}\text{2}\text{(}\text{c}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{a}\text{)}{}^4$ in comparison with the corresponding value for SP in a semi-infinite metal.     

Gravitational collapse in quantum mechanics with relativistic kinetic energy

It is proved that the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian $\text{H = Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i=1}}{}^{\mathrm{N}}\text{(p}{}^2\text{+ m}{}^2\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{? κ Σ}{}_{\mathrm{i>j}}\text{|x}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{? x}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{|}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ for bosons (resp, fermions) is bounded from below if N ≤ c_bκ^?1 (resp. $\text{N ≤ c}{}_{\mathrm{f}}\text{κ}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$). H is unbounded from below if N ≥ c_b^lκ^?1 (resp. $\text{N ≥ c}{}_{\mathrm{f}}{}^{\mathrm{l}}\text{κ}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$). The constants c_b and c_b^l (resp. c_f and c_f^l) differ by about a factor 2 (resp. 4).     

Critical slowing down of fluctuations in squaric acid (H2C4O4) at the phase transition observed by 13C spin-lattice relaxation

Spin lattice relaxation T₁ of naturally abundant ¹³C nuclei in squaric acid was measured close to the antiferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition temperature T_c = 373 K. A rapid increase in $\text{1}\text{T}{}_1$ is observed close to T_c coming from above, which follows the power law $\text{1}\text{T}{}_1\text{～ ε}{}^{\mathrm{?1.4}}$ where $\text{ε =}\text{(T ? T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}$. This behaviour is explained on the basis of the two-dimensional character of the fluctuations.     

Quantum oscillations in screening in a two-dimensional electron gas

The static dielectric constant of a two-dimensional electron gas is studied as a function of the strength of a dc magnetic field applied normal to the plane of the electron gas. At high temperatures $\text{(kT ?}\text{h}\text{?}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{)}$ the static dielectric function is independent of magnetic field, and for long wavelengths is given by ? ? ?₀ + 2n_vme²/q, where ?₀ is the background dielectric constant and n_v is the valley degeneracy. At low-temperatures, quantum oscillations become important and dramatically modify the screening.