Investigation of the thermopower of thulium monoselenide under a pressure to 24 GPa

The experimental data have been obtained on the influence of high pressure on the thermopower of single-crystal thulium selenide at room temperature. At pressures of 2.5–3.0 GPa, the pressure dependences of the thermopower exhibit peculiarities indicating a transformation of the electronic spectrum of TmSe, which causes a transition from one antiferromagnetic state (AF1) to another antiferromagnetic state (AF2) at low temperatures. It has been shown that the coincidence of the thermopowers of TmSe and TmS under pressure cannot be a criterion of the transition of Tm ions to the trivalent state, because thulium sulfide is a concentrated Kondo system and its thermopower itself changes significantly uniform compression. It has been assumed that Tm ions are trivalent at pressures higher than 19 GPa, i.e., this pressure is a boundary for the mixed-valence state.     

HgTe/CdHgTe double quantum well with a spectrum of bilayer graphene and peculiarities of its magnetotransport

Free expansion of Bose–Einstein condensates of rubidium atoms at finite temperatures has been analyzed experimentally and theoretically. It has been shown that the interaction between condensed and noncondensed atoms is manifested most clearly by a decrease in the density of atoms in the center of the expanding cloud as compared to the theoretical prediction for a pure condensate.     

Energy filtration of charge carriers in a nanostructured material based on bismuth telluride

The dependences of the electrical conductivity and thermopower on the size of grains in a nanocrystalline material based on Bi₂Te₃-Sb₂Te₃ solid solutions of the p type have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. The relaxation time in the case of hole scattering by nanograin boundaries in an isotropic polycrystal has been calculated taking into account the energy dependence of the probability of tunneling of charge carriers and the dependence of the scattering intensity on the nanograin size L _n . A decrease in the probability of boundary scattering with an increase in the energy of charge carriers leads to an increase in the thermopower. The dependences of the thermopower and electrical conductivity on the nanograin size, which have been obtained taking into account the boundary scattering and scattering by acoustic phonons, are in good agreement with experimental data. For the material under consideration, the thermopower coefficient increases by 10–20% compared to the initial solid solution at L _n = 20–30 nm. This can lead to an increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit by 20–40%, provided that the decrease in the electrical conductivity and the decrease in the lattice thermal conductivity compensate each other. Despite the absence of a complete compensation, it has been possible to increase the thermoelectric figure of merit for the samples under investigation to ZT = 1.10–1.12.     

Anomalous increase in the thermopower in a graphene monolayer formed on a tunable graphene bilayer

The conductivity and thermopower of a graphene monolayer formed on a tunable graphene bilayer have been studied within a simple model. It has been shown that kinks of the conductivity and peaks of the thermopower of the graphene monolayer appear near the edges of the band gap of the tunable graphene bilayer.     

新型超导体MgB_2的热电势和电阻率研究

测量了MgB-2的热电势和电阻率与温度的依赖关系.在100K—300K区间,热电势呈近似线性温度依赖关系,其斜率为正,表明载流子为空穴型且与能带贡献的图像相一致.与此对应,在此温区电阻率呈T2依赖关系.在100K以下,热电势和电阻率各自转变了其高温区的温度依赖关系.热电势在超导转变温度Te(零电阻36.6K)到100K间有一宽峰,具有声子曳引峰的特征,表明电子-声子相互作用很强.估算了一些重要的参数,如带米能EF、能带宽度等.     

Generation of surface waves by a drag current generated by a focused femtosecond pulse

A new nonlinear optical phenomenon—generation of surface waves by a drag current appearing at an inclined incidence of a focused femtosecond laser pulse—has been theoretically described. The generated waves have terahertz frequencies and their total energy increases with an increase in the effective frequency of electron–electron collisions and with a decrease in their density.     

Large-Scale Transport of Charged Macroparticles Induced by Dust–Acoustic Solitons

We have studied experimentally the oscillatory process in the dusty plasma in the glow discharge stratum. It is shown that the oscillations are induced by the dust–acoustic instability, as a result of which dust–acoustic solitons are excited. The motion of dust particles in the electric field of solitons has been analyzed. It has been established that a soliton leads to a large-scale unidirectional transport of charged particles in the direction of its motion. The experimental results have been interpreted theoretically using the MHD model of the plasma.     

Ab initio Calculations of Phonon Dispersion in CdGa2S4

Physics of the Solid State - Abstract—The phonon spectrum of CdGa2S4 has been experimentally investigated by Raman spectroscopy and theoretically analyzed using the density functional theory...     

Self-Diffraction of Bessel Light Beams in a Nonlinear Medium

The phenomenon of self-diffraction of Bessel light beams (BLB) in a nonlinear liquid medium has been studied experimentally and theoretically for the first time. Diffraction maxima which do not correspond to integer orders for an induced periodic structure have been registered. It has been shown that the appearance of these maxima is due to the initial BLB modulation, which can be caused by the departure of the axicon refracting surface from the ideal conical surface, as well as by the imperfection of the form of the Gaussian beam incident on the axicon.     

Two methods for detecting nonclassical correlations in parametric scattering of light

Two methods for studying nonclassical correlations at the output of a two-mode parametric amplifier—first, the measurement of normalized Glauber correlation functions and, second, the measurement of the variance of the photon-number difference in conjugate modes—are compared. It is shown theoretically and experimentally that the corresponding quantities, the normalized correlation function, and the noise reduction factor have significantly different dependences on the main system parameters such as the parametric gain, optical losses, photo-detector quantum efficiency, and the detected angular and frequency bands.     

新型超导体MgB2的热电势和电阻率研究

测量了MgB₂的热电势和电阻率与温度的依赖关系.在100K—300K区间,热电势呈近似线性温度依赖关系,其斜率为正,表明载流子为空穴型且与能带贡献的图像相一致.与此对应,在此温区电阻率呈T²依赖关系.在100K以下,热电势和电阻率各自转变了其高温区的温度依赖关系.热电势在超导转变温度T_c(零电阻366K)到100K间有一宽峰,具有声子曳引峰的特征,表明电子-声子相互作用很强.估算了一些重要的参数,如带米能E_F、能带宽度 关键词： 新型超导体 热电势 电阻率     

Possible application of a volume avalanche discharge initiated by an electron beam for designing a krypton dimer laser

The emissive and amplifying properties of volume nanosecond discharge plasma formed at high pressures in krypton have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. It is theoretically shown that lasing can be obtained in this type of discharge at krypton pressures exceeding 6–7 atm. In the discharge gap with a cathode of small curvature radius, volume discharge without preliminary ionization is obtained at a high pressure and intense krypton dimer emission that peaks at a wavelength of 146 nm is detected. It is shown that, upon excitation by a volume avalanche discharge initiated by an electron beam, no less than 90% of the energy in the range 120–540 nm is emitted by krypton dimers. At a krypton pressure of 1.5 atm, an energy of ～30 mJ of spontaneous emission into the total solid angle and a radiation pulse width at half maximum of ～240 ns are obtained.     

Thermoelectric properties of La<Subscript>0.75</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.25</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> manganite at ultrahigh pressures up to 20 GPa

Pressure dependences of the thermopower and electrical resistivity of the La_0.75Ca_0.25MnO₃ manganite are measured in the pressure range 0–20 GPa at room temperature. The absolute value of the thermopower increases in the pressure range 0–3 GPa and decreases at higher pressures. At the same time, the electrical resistivity decreases over the entire pressure range. It is found that the competing effect of the closing of the bandgap, which is determined by the activation energy for the thermopower, and the pressure broadening of the d bands is the cause of the observed behavior of the thermoelectric properties of La_0.75Ca_0.25MnO₃, which is untypical for the majority of dielectrics and semiconductors with single-band unipolar conductivity in the absence of phase transitions and is accompanied by a change in the sign of the pressure coefficient of the thermopower. The interrelation between the magnetic and thermoelectric properties of manganites under pressure is analyzed in the framework of the double exchange model. The causes of the considerable decrease in the pressure coefficients of the insulator-metal transition and Curie temperatures under pressure experimentally observed in manganites are discussed.     

Beam-spreading and topological charge of vortex beams propagating in a turbulent atmosphere

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the beam-spreading of a vortex beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere. It is found that the vortex beam is less affected by turbulence than a non-vortex one. The topological charge of the vortex beam on propagation has also been investigated experimentally. It is shown that the topological charge of vortex beam will exhibit fluctuating behavior as the beam propagates through a turbulent atmosphere.     

The influence of the transmission function of the impedance head on the measurement of the complex elastic modulus of a viscoelastic beam by the driving point impedance method

The driving point impedance method, as described theoretically by Snowdon [1], for measuring the complex modulus of elasticity of a beam has been implemented experimentally, with use of a vibrational impedance head. The influence of the transmission function of the impedance head as well as of the mass impedance of the element connecting the beam and the head on the measured results for the complex moduli of elasticity of viscoelastic beams has been examined theoretically and experimentally. Values of the loss factor and Young's modulus have been determined at resonance and antiresonance modes of a Plexiglass beam over the frequency range 40–7000 Hz.     

Electron emission from charged surfaces of ferroelectrics-electrets: Part 2. Fundamentals underlying interpretation of spectra of anomalous electronic emission (AEE)

It has been demonstrated, both theoretically and experimentally, that specificities in the distribution of field and polarization over a sample's surface condition the form of electronic emission spectra obtained through irradiation of the negatively charged surface of poled ferroelectrics-electrets with the X-ray emission of the Al Kα_1,2—line of weak intensity. Techniques are proposed allowing one to derive from the form of spectra information about the potential relief on the surface of poled ferroelectrics. These techniques are explained by invoking concrete examples.     

Thermoelectric power of mixed electronic-ionic conductors II. Case of titanium dioxide

The purpose of the present work is the determination of the thermopower components corresponding to different charge carriers (electrons, electron holes and ions) for TiO₂ and the use of these data for evaluation of the effect of symmetry between these two properties. The procedure of the determination of these components was based on the following two approximations:

The first approximation is based on a symmetrical model assuming a consistency between thermopower and electrical conductivity within the n-p transition (minimum of electronic component of the electrical conductivity corresponds to zero value of the electronic component of thermopower).

The second approximation is based on the apparent asymmetry between thermopower and electrical conductivity within the n-p transition as determined from the first approximation.

The analysis, based on the data of the electronic components of thermopower and electrical conductivity for TiO₂ single crystal, results in the band gap (using the Jonker formalism). The determined band gap is equal to 2.77 eV and 2.57 eV at the first and the second approximations, respectively, while the band gap determined from the experimentally measured data is equal 3.35 eV. These values are consistent with the band gap determined from the data of electrical conductivity corresponding to the n-p transition point (E_g=3.16 eV) and for the data measured experimentally and those free of the ionic conductivity component (E_g=2.79 eV). The obtained results indicate that thermopower and electrical conductivity most likely exhibit the effect of symmetry.     

Effect of tunneling on the thermoelectric efficiency of bulk nanostructured materials

The possibility of increasing the thermoelectric figure of merit for bulk nanostructured materials has been investigated theoretically. The kinetic coefficients of the nanostructured material have been calculated and evaluated under the assumption that the dominant role in the transfer is played by the tunneling of electrons between nanoparticles. The limiting case of the absence of phonon thermal conductivity through barrier layers has been considered. It has been demonstrated using the estimates obtained for materials based on Bi₂Te₃ that the thermopower in the nanostructured material can be sufficiently high and that, despite the low electrical conductivity, the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit can be as large as 3–4 at room temperature.     

Thermopower of Bio-SiC and SiC/Si ecoceramics prepared from sapele tree wood

The thermopower coefficients of bio-SiC and SiC/Si ecoceramics prepared from sapele tree wood have been measured in the temperature interval 5–300 K. The measurements have been performed both along and perpendicular to empty (bio-SiC), as well as empty and partially silicon-filled (SiC/Si) channels in the samples. In bio-SiC, a contribution to thermopower associated with electron drag by phonons has been shown to exist within the temperature interval 5–200 (250) K. No such effect is realized in SiC/Si. This is assumed to derive from the presence in this material of heavily doped silicon embedded in SiC channels and the dominant part it plays in the behavior of the thermopower of this ceramics. The results obtained for the thermopower are compared with the available data for bio-SiC prepared from white eucalyptus tree wood and heavily doped bismuth.     

Young’s double-slit interference pattern from a twisted beam

A wide range of diffractive elements have been used to evaluate the topological charge of Laguerre–Gaussian beams. Here, we show theoretically and experimentally that this charge can be simply and readily measured from the interference pattern in Young’s double-slit experiment. It can be evaluated from the twisting order of the interference. The results are confronted with previously published studies. The potentialities of the method are then compared with existing techniques.