Hyperfine interactions and electronic structures of BaFe 2 As 2 : a first-principles LDA+U study

The hyperfine parameters of hyperfine fields, electric field gradients and isomer shifts at the Fe site are investigated based on the first-principles calculations of the electronic structures using LDA (GGA)+U method in the low-temperature orthorhombic antiferromagnetic phase of undoped BaFe₂As₂. It is fond that the electric field gradient of Fe nucleus is highly related with the electronic structures close to the Fermi level. Though the addition of negative on-site Coulomb interaction to Fe-3d states improves the calculated magnetic moment of Fe atom and the hyperfine parameters of Fe nucleus when U = ?0.1 Ry (?0.08 Ry) for GGA+U (LDA+U) method, a negative U correction does not capture the right physics of this system. The calculations prove the strong coupling between the magnetic, structural and electronic properties in antiferromagnetic BaFe₂As₂ parent.     

Response times for a storage electrooptic effect in liquid crystals

By the optical storage effect in large pitch cholesterics, a relation of the type t_W (U_W-U_th)^-2 is established between the writing time t_W and the writing voltage U_W, revealing the existence of a threshold voltage U_th. Interpretations are given for the different erasure times observed at two selected scattering angles.     

Transient times and multiplex behavior of nematic liquid crystals in the electric field

The change of the optical axis in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) is connected with a macroscopic material flow (backflow), therefore two basic equations (force balance and torque balance equation) have to be discussed to get the transient behavior of the NLC in an electric field. For a homogeneous and a homeotropically aligned NLC the transient times are inversely proportional to the square of the sample thickness and inversely proportional to the normalized voltage (U/U ₀)²?1.U ₀ is the threshold voltage. The agreement between the experimental and the theoretical results is quite good. From the calculated formula the possible duty-cycle for multiplexing a NLC can be estimated.     

Deformation of nematic layers in crossed electric and magnetic fields

A parallel nematic layer will show a Fréedericksz-transition in an electric field when the voltage exceeds a threshold value U_c. If a magnetic field is applied parallel to the layer but perpendicular to the molecular orientation the threshold voltage U_c increases with increasing magnetic field field H above a threshold field H_c2. From a plot of U_c vs H all three elastic constants can be obtained. Theoretical results are compared with data of HBAB.     

Deposition of NiFe(200) and NiFe(111) textured films onto Si/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> substrates by DC magnetron sputtering

The effect of substrate temperature T_sub and bias voltage U_bias on the texture of NiFe films with thickness d ～ 30–340 nm deposited by DC magnetron sputtering onto Si(111)/SiO₂ substrates under working gas pressure ～ 0.2 Pa has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that films grown at room substrate temperature have the (111) texture that is refined under a negative bias voltage. The deposition of films onto a grounded (U_bias ～ 0) substrate heated to T_sub ～ 440–640 K results in the formation of textured NiFe(200) films.     

Decrease in the static electric gas breakdown voltage in the presence of free electrons in a discharge gap

The dependence of the gas breakdown voltage U _B on the anode-cathode spacing d, pressure p, and other gas characteristics in the presence of a steady external ionizer in the discharge gap was determined within the avalanche discharge theory. The case was considered where the spatial charge created by the external ionizer did not distort the electric field in the discharge gap. In the absence of external ionizer the obtained dependence comes down to the well-known expression for the gas breakdown voltage (the Paschen law).     

Scaling law for a low-pressure gas breakdown in a homogeneous DC electric field

Gas breakdown in nitrogen, air, and oxygen in a dc electric field at various interelectrode distances L is studied experimentally. A scaling law for a low-pressure gas breakdown U _dc =f(pL, L/R) is deduced. According to this scaling law, the breakdown voltage U _dc is a function not only of the product of the gas pressure p and the gap length L, but also of the ratio of the gap length L to the chamber radius R. It is shown that, for any dimensions of the cylindrical discharge chamber (in the range of L/R under investigation), the ratio of the breakdown electric field to the gas pressure p at the minimum of the ignition curve remains constant: (E _dc /p)_min≈const. A method for calculating the ignition curve in a cylindrical discharge chamber with arbitrary values of L and R is proposed.     

Registration of accelerated multiply charged ions from the cathode jet of a vacuum discharge

The parameters of Cuⁿ⁺ and Taⁿ⁺ ions from the plasma of a vacuum spark with a voltage up to 2.5 kV and a current rise rate up to 2 × 10¹⁰ A/s are studied using the time-of-flight method. At the initial stage of the discharge, bursts of beams of accelerated multiply charged ions from the cathode flame have been detected. It is established that the charge state distribution and energy of a beam are controlled by the initial voltage U ₀ of the capacitor. Upon an increase in this voltage, the average charge of copper ions attains the value +9, and the average charge of tantalum ions can be as high as +20, while the energy attains values of 150 and 350 keV, respectively. It is found that the average energy of ions with charge Z increases in proportion to the charge and is close to the energy eZU ₀ which would have been acquired by ions accelerated in the electric field of the discharge gap.     

Activation of fullerene coatings on field emitters by potassium atom and ion fluxes

The activation of tip field emitters with a fullerene coating by the atomic and ionic fluxes of potassium is studied. The deposition of atomic potassium decreases characteristic voltage U ₁ generating fixed fieldemission current I by a factor of 3.5–4.0. However, field emitters activated by potassium atoms are rapidly deactivated and the resulting decrease in U ₁ after storage in a vacuum does not exceed 25–30%. A stable approximately twofold decrease in the characteristic voltage can be reached if the fullerene coating is exposed to a potassium ion flux. The enhanced efficiency of emitter activation by a potassium ion flux is explained by the formation of KC ₆₀ endohedral and/or C₆₀ K exohedral molecules in the fullerene coating.     

Effect of bias voltage polarity of a substrate on the texture,microstructure, and magnetic properties of Ni films prepared by magnetron sputtering

The influence of the bias voltage polarity U_s on microstructure, crystallographic texture and magnetic properties has been investigated for Ni films with a thickness of ≈15–420 nm, which are obtained via magnetron sputtering at a working gas pressure P corresponding to the collision-deficient flight mode of atoms of the sputtered target between the target and the substrate. The Ni(111)-textured films have been shown to form at U_s ≈–100 V, whose microstructure and magnetic parameters are almost unchanged with a thickness. In contrast, the Ni(200) films are formed at U_s ≈ +100 V, whose magnetic properties and micro-structure depend significantly on the thickness d that manifests in a critical thickness d* ≈ 150 nm, when the structure of the film becomes inhomogeneous in the thickness, the remagnetization loops are changed from rectangular to supercritical with the formation of the band domain structure.     

Potassium-induced activation of field emitters with fullerene coating

The influence of potassium deposition on the emission characteristics of field tip emitters with fullerene coatings is studied. It is shown that a three-to fourfold reduction of the typical voltage U ₁ required for the given emission current can be attained by rapid deposition of potassium layer with a thickness exceeding a monolayer. The deactivation of emitters at room temperature in the absence of electric field is observed and studied. Presumably, the deactivation is caused by potassium redistribution within the coating and/or the formation of bonds between potassium atoms and fullerene molecules. Deactivation of this type actually comes to an end in one or two days. The deposition of potassium on fullerene coating results in an appreciable (up to 50%) decrease in U ₁ of the field emitters even after their long-term (about five days) deactivation.     

Electrical instability of LiCu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystals

The temperature behavior of I-U curves and the field and temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity and dielectric permittivity of crystals of the LiCu₂O₂ phase have been studied. It was established that the crystals belong to p-type semiconductors and that their static resistivity in the range 80–260 K follows the Mott law ρ=Aexp(T₀/T)^1/4 describing variable-range hopping over localized states. At comparatively low electric fields, the crystals exhibit threshold switching and characteristic S-shaped I-U curves containing a region of negative differential resistivity. In the critical voltage region, jumps in the conductivity and dielectric permittivity are observed. Possible mechanisms of the disorder and electrical instability in these crystals are discussed.     

Structural and electronic properties of U2Ti: A first principles study

Using the state of the art first principles calculation, we report the structural, electronic, and thermodynamic properties of U₂Ti, U, and Ti. All calculations have been performed using a plane wave (PW) based pseudopotential method under the framework of spin polarized density functional theory. The electron-ion interaction and the exchange correlation energy are described using the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method and the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) scheme, respectively. The effect of the relativistic spin-orbit interaction on these properties has been investigated. The results are analyzed to obtain the structural parameters, lattice constants, bulk moduli, electronic specific heat, and the compound formation energy. On the basis of energetics, the formation energy (Δ_fH at 0 K) of U₂Ti compound is estimated to be −30.84 kJ/mol. A satisfactory agreement between the present investigation and available experimental data demonstrates the applicability of PW based PAW approach for such systems. Further, the nature of chemical bonding between U and Ti atoms in the U₂Ti is illustrated by comparing their electronic density of state spectrum.     

Effect of external stresses on the optical absorption ofU 2-centers in alkali-halides

An electric dipole transition model is used to investigate the influence of applied external stresses on the optical absorptionband of U₂-centers in alkali-halides. An analysis of the effect can be made by the method of moments. The results are similar to what happens in the case of aF-center, except that the Γ₄-mode must also be taken into account.     

Spontaneous generation of the electrical voltage in charge-ordered manganite Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3

Spontaneous generation of the electrical voltage in a Pr_0.6Ca_0.4MnO₃ single crystal has been found. The charge and orbital ordering in the crystal takes place at T _CO = 240 K, while the antiferromagnetic ordering occurs at T _N = 174 K. As the temperature lowers, spontaneous voltage U increases initially slowly (in the temperature range from 300 K to T _CO) and then more rapidly (in the range T _CO-T _N ). Starting from T _N , the voltage U increases exponentially and, at 85 K, reaches 115 mV (in the ab plane) and 6.5 mV (along the c axis). The magnetic field differently affects the voltage U in different temperature ranges: it decreases the value of U in the temperature range of 85–130 K and increases in the range of 130–240 K. It is assumed that the spontaneous voltage is associated with the existence of ferromagnetic and charge orbital ordered clusters of different topologies in the crystal.     

Effect of external fields on the memory effect of the incommensurate phase in the ferroelectric-semiconductor TlGaSe<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The effect of external fields (dc electric field, light illumination) on the memory effect of the incommensurate phase in the ferroelectric-semiconductor TlGaSe₂ is studied using the measured dielectric constant. The results obtained are discussed. It is shown for the first time that the effect of external fields on the anomaly related to the memory effect in TlGaSe₂ can be reduced to the following universal empirical rule: when a sample is held for many hours at a constant temperature T ₀ in the temperature range of the incommensurate phase in a dc electric field, the deflection amplitude in the low-temperature part of the anomaly in the temperature dependence of the relative change in the dielectric constant Δ?/? increases (the deflection in the high-temperature part of the Δ?/? anomaly disappears) as compared to this segment in the dependence obtained during isothermal annealing of this sample at the same temperature without an electric field. The crystal remembers its thermal history at a temperature that is several kelvins higher than T ₀. Light illumination increases the deflection amplitude in the high-temperature part of the Δ?/?(T) anomaly and shifts the temperature at which the crystal remembers its thermal history toward lower temperatures with respect to T ₀.     

Determination of the nanoscale dielectric properties in ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films

We report on nanoscale experiments with <100 nm lateral resolution being able to differentiate the effective dielectric polarisation P_z, deposited charge density σ, surface dielectric constant ε_surface, its voltage dependence ε_surface(U), as well as the built-in electric bias voltage U_int in ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films. This is possible by combining piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and pull-off force spectroscopy (PFS), both methods based on scanning force microscopy (SFM). The differentiation becomes possible since both P_z and σ contribute additively in PFS, while they are subtractive in PFM, hence allowing the two contributions to be separated. ε_surface can be quantified by means of the experimental PFS data and the calculated effective penetration depth of PFM developed in a finite element modelling. Finally, U_int and ε_surface(U) are derived by an absolute matching of the P_z values measured by PFM and PFS.Our nanoscale results obtained on PZT thin films reveal values for the above specified quantities that have the same order of magnitude as those obtained from macroscopic measurements reflecting the integral response using large electrode areas. However, we stress that the data reported here reveal physical properties deduced on the nanometer scale. Furthermore, they are recorded during one single experimental investigation, using one single set-up only.     

Study of diffusion of wave packets in a square lattice under external fields along the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation

The object of the present work is to analyze the effect of nonlinearity on wave packet propagation in a square lattice subject to a magnetic and an electric field in the Hall configuration, by using the Discrete Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation (DNLSE). In previous works we have shown that without the nonlinear term, the presence of the magnetic field induces the formation of vortices that remain stationary, while a wave packet is introduced in the system. As for the effect of an applied electric field, it was shown that the vortices propagate in a direction perpendicular to the electric field, similar behavior as presented in the classical treatment, we provide a quantum mechanics explanation for that. We have performed the calculations considering first the action of the magnetic field as well as the nonlinearity. The results indicate that for low values of the nonlinear parameter U the vortices remain stationary while preserving the form. For greater values of the parameter the picture gets distorted, the more so, the greater the nonlinearity. As for the inclusion of the electric field, we note that for small U, the wave packet propagates perpendicular to the applied field, until for greater values of U the wave gets partially localized in a definite region of the lattice. That is, for strong nonlinearity the wave packet gets partially trapped, while the tail of it can propagate through the lattice. Note that this tail propagation is responsible for the over-diffusion for long times of the wave packet under the action of an electric field. We have produced short films that show clearly the time evolution of the wave packet, which can add to the understanding of the dynamics.     

Electrical properties of ferroelectric-gate FETs with SrBi2Ta2O9 formed using MOCVD technique

Ferroelectric-gate?field-effect?transistors?(FeFETs) with a Pt/SrBi₂Ta₂O₉/Hf-Al-O/Si gate stack were fabricated using the metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique to prepare the SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ (SBT) ferroelectric layer. A?good threshold voltage (V _th) distribution was found for more than 90?n-channel FeFETs in one chip with a 170?nm SBT layer owing to the good film uniformity of the SBT layer deposited by MOCVD. The average memory window $(V_{\mathrm{w}}^{\mathrm{av}})$ and the standard deviations (σ _thl,σ _thr) of the left- and right-side branches of the drain-gate voltage curves of the FeFETs yielded a $V_{\mathrm{w}}^{\mathrm{av}}/(\sigma_{\mathrm{thl}} + \sigma_{\mathrm{thr}})$ value of 5.45, indicating that the FeFETs can be adapted for large-scale-integration. The electric field, the energy band profile in the gate stack, and the gate leakage current were also investigated at high gate voltages. We found that the effect of Fowler–Nordheim tunneling appeared under these conditions. Because of the tunneling injection and trapping of electrons into the gate insulators, the operation voltage ranges of the FeFETs were limited by this tunneling.     

Striking and Running Voltages in a Glow Discharge for Combinations Fe/Ne with and without Hg

An experimental investigation of striking U_s and running U_r voltages in a glow discharge for the combinations cathode material Fe—gas filling Ne with and without Hg has been carried out. It has been shown that Hg addings increase running voltage U_r in the whole pressure range p under investigation. At the same time striking voltage U_s is decreased in the whole investigated range of Paschen curve. The additional effects, which occur in the discharge with Hg addings, have been discussed. A qualitative explanation of the obtained results is adduced.