Light scattering by a “soft” layered sphere: Analysis by the method of spectral expansion in Kotel’nikov-Shannon choice functions

Light scattering by a two-layer “soft” sphere is studied. The analysis is made by the method of expansion in the spatial spectrum in Kotel’nikov-Shannon choice functions. In the case where changes of relative refractive indices of the first (Δn ₁ and the second ((Δn ₂) layers have the same sign, the scattering indicatrices are found to be close to the indicatrices for a homogeneous sphere with averaged effective parameters, and the integrated cross sections should be close as well. However, in the case where Δn ₁ and Δn ₂ have opposite signs, changes in the indicatrix are stronger. The major lobe becomes weaker and, in certain cases, even vanishes, whereas the side lobes and backward scattering increase in intensity. The physical interpretation of the results that can be used for the analysis of experimental data is given.     

Multilayer x-ray mirrors based on W/B 4 C with ultrashort (d = 0.7–1.5 nm) periods

A method using resonance diffuse x-ray scattering has been developed to investigate the properties of multilayer structures composed of ultrathin films. Multilayer structures W/B ₄ C with ultra-short periods (d=0.7–1.5 nm) have been studied using specular and diffuse x-ray scattering. The contributions of the interface roughness and the mixing of the layer materials to the total width of the transition region between the layers have been separated for these structures. Quasi-Bragg peaks in the diffuse scattering spectra have been observed experimentally, and their analysis has shown that the interface roughnesses in multilayer W/B ₄ C structures are correlated well.     

Berechnung des oberflächensenkrechten kritischen Magnetfeldes für supraleitende Filme

On the basis of the BCS theory a simplified system of equations for the calculation of the perpendicular critical magnetic field,H _c⊥, for superconducting films is derived with the help of “the method of the correlation function”, developed by Lüders. In the vicinity ofT=T _c for all film thicknesses and mean free paths the problem becomes mathematically equivalent to the calculation of the residual resistance of the film. The results are in good agreement with the experiments of Harper and Tinkham and of others. Further limiting cases are investigated: on the one hand specular reflection and weakly diffuse surface scattering, on the other hand diffuse reflection and very thin films.     

Magnetic Field Instability Driven by Anomalous Magnetic Moments of Massive Fermions and the Electroweak Interaction with Background Matter

A reversible thermotropic phase transition in an adsorption melissic acid film at the interface between n-hexane and an aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide (pH ≈ 10) is investigated by X-ray reflectometry and diffuse scattering using synchrotron radiation. The experimental data indicate that the interface “freezing” transition is accompanied not only by the crystallization of the Gibbs monolayer but also by the formation of a planar smectic structure in the ~300-Å-thick adsorption film; this structure is formed by ~50-Å-thick layers.     

Features of electrical conductivity in an incommensurate phase of graphite intercalation compound C10HNO3

Electrical conductivity and conduction-electron spin resonance (CESR) have been studied in stage-2 acceptor α-graphite-nitric acid intercalation compound C₁₀HNO₃. It is found that the electrical conductivity σ_c along the c axis in the structurally incommensurate phase of this compound is temperature independent, whereas the electrical conductivity σ_a along carbon layers exhibits “metallic” temperature behavior. Analysis of the temperature dependences of σ_c, σ_a, and the CESR linewidth demonstrates that, in the incommensurate phase of the graphite intercalation compound, the electrical conductivity along the c axis is realized through a nonband mechanism—the transfer of free charge carriers along thin high-conductivity channels shunting the carbon layers adjacent to the intercalate.     

Transport properties of conduction electrons in n-type inversion layers in (100) surfaces of silicon

The conductivities of n-type inversion layers in (100) surfaces of p-type silicon were measured extensively as functions of electron density in the inversion layer, the ambient temperature and the applied magnetic field. Measurements were made on the carefully fabricated four “classes” of MOS field-effect transistors whose maximum mobilities at 4·2K were 14,000, 8000, 6800 and 1500 cm²/V·sec, respectively. From the temperature dependence of the mobility, dominant momentum scattering was reasonably ascribed to surfon at 100 ～ 300 K. and degenerate or non-degenerate coulomb scattering at lower temperatures as treated by Stern and Howard. From the curves of conductivity vs temperature at low temperatures and low electron concentration for specimens with high mobilities, an activation energy of 1·2 meV, relating to the shallow bound states associated with the lowest electrin sub-band, was observed. The conductivity σ_xx of the inversion layer in a strong transverse magnetic field showed behaviors like those of completely free electrons without effects belonging to its material in its oscillation pattern. That is, the peak value of σ_xx as a function of the gate voltage V_R dependend only on the Landau index. The σ_xx as a function of the magnetic field H at a constant V_R showed a similar Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) type oscillation to that of three dimensional one. The SdH oscillation gave an “apparent” g-value g* which ranges from 2 to 5 depending on the surface carrier density n_s, due to the change in the ratios of the widths of the Landau levels to the level separation. The “reasonable” g-value of the conduction electrons in the inversion layer has been determined using a modified tilted magnetic field method. The g-value at the fixed magnetic field was independent of surface carrier density n_s and tended to 2 in the extreme strong magnetic field.Discussion is made of the g-value relating to the Landau level width and the energy gaps in the density of states under strong magnetic field.     

Critical behaviour of SU(n) quantum chains and topological non-linear σ-models

The critical behaviour of SU(n) quantum “spin” chains, Wess-Zumino-Witten σ-models and grassmanian σ-models at topological angle θ = π (of possible relevance to the quantum Hall effect) is reexamined. It is argued that an additional Z_n symmetry is generally necessary to stabilize the massless phase. This symmetry is not present for the σ-models for n > 2 and is only present for certain representations of “spin” chains.     

Resonant electron tunneling in GaN/Ga1−x AlxN(0001) strained structures with spontaneous polarization and piezoeffect

Electron tunneling through the GaN/Ga_1?x Al_xN(0001) wurtzite strained structures is investigated by the pseudopotential and scattering matrix methods. It is shown that the results of multiband calculations at low aluminum concentrations (x<0.3) are adequately described within the single-valley model in the envelope wave function method accounting for the dependences of the effective mass on the energy and strain. Upon electron tunneling through two-barrier structures, sharp resonance peaks are observed at a barrier thickness of several monolayers and the characteristic collision time in the resonance region is equal to ～1 ps. The internal electric fields associated with spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations lead to a “red” or “blue” shift in the resonance energy according to the thickness and location of barriers with respect to the polar axis. In the (GaN)_n(Ga_1?x Al_xN)_m superlattices, the internal fields can form the Stark ladder of electronic states at a small number of ultrathin layers even in the absence of external fields.     

Enhancement of MR ratios using thin oxide layers in PtMn and α-Fe2O3-based spin valves

Spin valves having thin oxide layers in the pinned and/or free layers were prepared by sputtering. MR ratios of the spin valves were increased from 8.1 to 11.9% by inserting the oxide layer into the pinned layer in Ta/PtMn/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/Ta spin valves. MR ratio of 13.9% and considerably large sheet ΔR of 2.55 Ω were obtained in the PtMn-based spin valves having the oxide layer in the pinned and free layer. Larger MR ratio of 17.3% and the sheet ΔR of 1.3 Ω were obtained in the PtMn-based dual-type spin valves having the oxide layer in both pinned layers. α-Fe₂O₃ based spin valves having thin oxide layers were also prepared. MR ratios of the spin valves were increased from 11.9 to 14.3% by inserting the oxide layer into the free layer in α-Fe₂O₃/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/Ta spin valves. The enhancement of the MR ratios may be attributed to the specular scattering effect of the conduction electrons by the thin oxide layers.     

Disordered clean surfaces and adsorbates investigated with atom-surface scattering

In this paper two different physical situations are considered which can be treated with the same method: a fluid adsorbate (disordered in the x, y plane) and a clean surface with random steps (disordered in the z direction). The hard corrugated wall model is used in the eikonal approximation; the differences between the two cases arise only from the different statistical properties of the two physical situations. The differential scattering probability is evaluated. For the fluid adsorbate the latter splits into a coherent (purely specular) contribution and an incoherent one (which is, in fact, weakly inelastic and related to classical diffusion on the surface). For stepped “rough” surfaces only incoherent scattering is present and the differential scattering probability for hexagonal lattices is given.     

Universal behavior in the scattering of heavy, weakly interacting dark matter on nuclear targets

Particles that are heavy compared to the electroweak scale (M?mW), and that are charged under electroweak SU(2) gauge interactions display universal properties such as a characteristic fine structure in the mass spectrum induced by electroweak symmetry breaking, and an approximately universal cross section for scattering on nuclear targets. The heavy particle effective theory framework is developed to compute these properties. As illustration, the spin independent cross section for low-velocity scattering on a nucleon is evaluated in the limit M?mW, including complete leading-order matching onto quark and gluon operators, renormalization analysis, and systematic treatment of perturbative and hadronic-input uncertainties.     

Higher spin fields with mixed symmetry

Gauge invariant and gauge fixed BRS invariant actions are constructed in arbitrary dimensions for free massless integer spin fields carrying mixed representations of the Lorentz group described by Young tableaux (2, 1, 1, …, 1)_n. The complete ghost spectrum is deduced by demanding nilpotency of the BRS transformations and leads to a correct count of the on-shell degrees of freedom. Dimensional reduction is used to study the corresponding gauge invariant massive theory. On-shell consistency is then ensured by the fact that the masses arise via a “telescopic Higgs effect”.     

On the periodic orbits of a strongly chaotic system

A point particle sliding freely on a two-dimensional surface of constant negative curvature (Hadamard-Gutzwiller model) exemplifies the simplest chaotic Hamiltonian system. Exploiting the close connection between hyperbolic geometry and the group SU(1,1)/⦅±1⦆, we construct an algorithm (symboliv dynamics), which generates the periodic orbits of the system. For the simplest compact Riemann surface having as its fundamental group the “octagon group”, we present an enumeration of more than 206 million periodic orbits. For the length of the nth primitive periodic orbit we find a simple expression in terms of algebraic numbers of the form m + √2n (m, nϵN are governed by a particular Beatty sequence), which reveals a strange arithmetical structure of chaos. Knowledge of the length spectrum is crucial for quantization via the Selberg trace formula (periodic orbit theory), which in turn is expected to unravel the mystery of quantum chaos.     

Phonon-plasmon interaction in tunneling GaAs/AlAs superlattices

The phonon-plasmon interaction in tunneling GaAs _n /AlAs _m superlattices (m=5and 6≥n≥0.6 monolayers) was studied by Raman scattering spectroscopy. The interaction of optical phonons localized in GaAs and AlAs layers with quasi-three-dimensional plasmons strengthens as the thickness of GaAs quantum wells decreases and the electronic states in the superlattices become delocalized due to tunneling. It is assumed that the plasmons also interact with the TO-like phonon modes localized in quantum islands or in thin ruffled layers.     

On the lowering of the electronic energy in model insulators due to surface reconstruction

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, piezoresistance, Hall mobility, and transverse “Hall” field due to mobility anisotropy have been studied on n-channel (111) Si inversion layers. The valley degeneracy was found to be 2 between 1.7 and 300 K. Under uniaxial mechanical stress the initially isotropic conductivity became strongly anisotropic. All results can be described by the existence of domains in the inversion layer.     

The phase transition of two-dimensional squaric acid H2C4O4 studied by neutron scattering

At T_c = 370 K squaric acid undergoes a phase transition, which was studied in detail by neutron scattering. The transition is essentially two-dimensional with β = 0.137 ± 0.010. Diffuse scattering above T_e is found to be anisotropic. From “diffuse crystallography” it is concluded that proton disorder is not the dominant source of diffuse scattering. Individual molecules retain their low-temperature shape in the high-temperature phase.     

Thermal conductivity of polycrystalline CVD diamond: Experiment and theory

The temperature dependences of thermal conductivity κ of polycrystalline CVD diamond are measured in the temperature range from 5 to 410 K. The diamond sample is annealed at temperatures sequentially increasing from 1550 to 1690°C to modify the properties of the intercrystallite contacts in it. As a result of annealing, the thermal conductivity decreases strongly at temperatures below 45 K, and its temperature dependence changes from approximately quadratic to cubic. At T > 45 K, the thermal conductivity remains almost unchanged upon annealing at temperatures up to 1650°C and decreases substantially at higher annealing temperatures. The experimental data are analyzed in terms of the Callaway theory of thermal conductivity [9], which takes into account the specific role of normal phonon-phonon scattering processes. The thermal conductivity is calculated with allowance for three-phonon scattering processes, the diffuse scattering by sample boundaries, the scattering by point and extended defects, the specular scattering by crystallite boundaries, and the scattering by intercrystallite contacts. A model that reproduces the main specific features of the thermal conductivity of CVD diamond is proposed. The phonon scattering by intercrystallite contacts plays a key role in this model.     

Neutron diffuse scattering in Fe3O4 due to molecular polarons

The results of a precise re-examination of neutron diffuse scattering above the Verwey transition of Fe₃O₄ are reported. A model to describe the properties of valence fluctuations at the B-site Fe-ions are proposed, which assumes the existance of “molecular polarons”. The experimental results of anisotropic distribution of diffuse scattering seem to give an evidence for the feasibility of the proposed model.