Nonlinear optical effects in Hg1−xCdxTe1

The alloy semiconductor Hg_1−xCd_xTe has widespread use in modern infrared detection equipment. By adjusting the ratio of Hg to Cd, the energy gap can be tailored to any desired value between 0 eV (x = 0.17) to 1.4 eV (x = 1.0). For values of x near 0.2 the electron effective mass is small, giving rise to a large spin-level splitting factor, or ɡ-value. We have examined two nonlinear optical effects which depend upon the high ɡ-value found in small gap Hg_1−xCd_xTe. These are the spin-flip Raman laser and 4-photon mixing. In each case we employ CO₂ lasers as the input source. In order to achieve resonant enhancement, we adjust the energy gap so that the absorption edge at the temperature of operation, 4 K, is near 10 μm; the required composition is Hg_0.77Cd_0.23Te.During operation as a spin-flip Raman laser, we observe 1st Stokes, 2nd Stokes and anti-Stokes signals, with a basic tunability of 3.8 cm⁻¹/kG for the 1st Stokes radiation. In the 4-photon mixing mode, we see resonant production of an output signal at frequency ω₄ = 2ω₂ − ω₁, where ω₂ and ω₁ are the frequencies of the two CO₂ pump lasers. We also observe under some conditions 6 photon mixing, i.e. ω₆ = 3ω₂ − 2ω₁.     

Low temperature electrical transport in La1−xNdxNiO3−δ

We have investigated low temperature electrical transport in La_1−xNd_xNiO_3−δ perovskite oxide samples. Samples were prepared by a sol–gel method and were characterized by X-ray diffraction and chemical methods. High precision electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance (MR) and electron tunneling conductance measurements were performed. Crystal structure investigations showed a phase transition from rhombohedral to orthorhombic phase at x=0.4. In the orthorhombic phase Ni–O–Ni bond angle was found to depend very sensitively on the value of x; as the value of x increases Ni–O–Ni bond angle decreases resulting in the tilting of NiO₆ octahedra. A Correlation between the Ni–O–Ni bond angle and electrical transport has been observed. The analysis of the electrical resistivity data showed the presence of disorder driven quantum correction effects, namely e–e interactions and weak localization, in the system. A dip in the tunneling density of states and negative MR also suggest the presence of e–e interaction and weak localization effects in the system.     

Antiferromagnetic ordering in the double perovskites La2−xSrxCoRuO6

The electric transport and magnetic susceptibility of double perovskites La_2?xSr_xCoRuO₆ have been studied over a temperature range up to 800–1000 K. The crystal and magnetic structure has been determined by neutron diffraction on two samples of the series, x=0.6 and 1.4, which represent the electron- and hole-doped systems with respect to “ideal” single-valent insulator x=1. The study shows that spins in both the Co and Ru f. c. c. like sublattices exhibit a long-range ordering of the antiferromagnetic type II (T_N=60 K for x=0.6 and T_N=60–80 K for x=1.4).     

Martensitic transformation in La1−x Yb x Ag1−y In y

The structural phase transformation of La_1–x Yb _x Ag_1–y In _y has been studied on single crystals by low temperature Laue-technique. The martensitic transformation in this pseudobinary intermetallic alloy has to be characterized as a weak orthorhtombic distortion of a single I centered unit cell (c/a1.04;a/b1.006) and a collective slipping or twinning of these cells that gives a fixed orientation between the remaining cubic room temperature structure and the martensitic phase. Above room temperature exists an order-disorder transformation from the CsCl-B2 structure to an at room temperature metastable W-A2 structure. There is no dramatic change in the physical properties of this alloy by substituting La by Yb, so we may approximate our results to LaAg_1–y In _y .This paper is dedicated to Prof. Dr. S. Methfessel on the occasion of his 60^th birthday     

Calcium doping effects in57Fe : La2−x Ca x CuO4−y oxides

La_2–x Ca _x Cu_0.99Fe_0.01O_4–y samples with 0.00 x 0.30 were studied by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy after heat treatment under different atmospheres (air, oxygen and helium). The variation of the relative population and the hyperfine interactions of the sites as well as the change in the lattice parameters were obtained.On leave from National Center for Scientific Research, PO Box 6990, Havana, Cuba.     

Phase transitions in La1−x CaxMnO3−x/2 manganites

The crystal structure parameters and magnetic and electrical properties of La_1?x Ca_xMnO_3?x/2 reduced manganites with 0≤x≤0.5 are established. These investigations contribute to the understanding of magnetic interactions in manganites without Mn⁴⁺ ions. It is found that these manganites show a long-range antiferromagnetic order up to x=0.09 and transform into spin glasses at 0.09<x≤0.35. The compositions in the range 0.35<x≤0.5 show a strong increase in the spontaneous magnetization and critical point associated with the appearance of spontaneous magnetization and can therefore be viewed as inhomogenious ferromagnets. The magnetic and crystal structure peculiarities of La_0.5Ca_0.5MnO_2.75 are established by the neutron diffraction method. The strongly reduced samples show a large magnetoresistance below the point where the spontaneous magnetization develops. The magnetic phase diagram of La_1?x Ca_xMnO_3?x/2 is established by magnetization measurements. The magnetic behavior is interpreted assuming that the Mn³⁺-O-Mn³⁺ magnetic interaction is anisotropic (positive-negative) in the orbitally ordered phase and isotropic (positive) in the orbitally disordered phase. Introduction of the oxygen vacancies changes the magnetic interaction sign from positive to negative, thereby leading to a spin glass state in strongly reduced compounds. The results obtained reveal unusual features of strongly reduced manganites such as a large ferromagnetic component, a high magnetic ordering temperature, and a large magnetoresistance despite the absence of Mn³⁺-Mn⁴⁺ pairs. In order to explain these results, the oxygen vacancies are supposed to be ordered.     

Magnetotransport effects in paramagnetic Gd x Mn1 − x S

The electrical resistance of Gd _x Mn_{1 ? x} S solid solutions with x = 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2 has been measured at magnetic field H = 0.8 T and at zero magnetic field within the 100 K < T < 550 K temperature range. The magnetoresistance peak is observed above room temperature. On heating, the composition with x = 0.2 exhibits the change of magnetoresistance sign from positive to negative and the magnetoresistance peak near the transition to the magnetically ordered state. The experimental data are interpreted in the framework of the model involving the orbital ordering of electrons and the arising electrical polarization leading to the changes in the spectral density of states for electrons in the vicinity of the chemical potential in the applied magnetic field.     

Negatron effects in CdSe1 − x Te x and ZnS1−x Se x films

Various negatron effects in films of alloys of II–VI compounds deposited from solutions as a function of the deposition mode and heat treatment are studied. It is found that the negative photocapacitance effect, which was first discovered in ZnS_1?x Se _x films, and the slowly relaxing negative photoelectric effects, which are caused by the transition of electrons located in a nanoscale surface layer from the shallow energy levels of trapping centers to deeper levels with a lower polarizability and by the presence of nanoscale clusters in these materials, which play the role of a “reservoir” for minority charge carriers, occur according to a single mechanism. A model to explain the basic laws of negative photoconductivity in CdSe_{1 ? x} Te _x films deposited from a solution is proposed. Negative residual conductivity is explained in terms of double-barrier relief model, while negative differential photoconductivity is attributed to the presence of nanoscale electric domains.     

Spin polarons at high temperatures in nonstoichiometric La1 − x Mn1 − y O3 manganites

The magnetic properties of the La_{1 ? x} Mn_{1 ? y} O₃ family of nonstoichiometric lanthanum manganites are studied in the 80 K < T < 640 K temperature range. The Curie temperature varies nonmonotonically with the growth in the density of Mn⁴⁺ ions. In the existence range for the paramagnetic phase, magnetic polarons appear in both the orthorhombic and rhombohedral phases. In the range of paramagnetism, the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility is nonlinear and can be fitted by the Curie law with the temperature-dependent Curie constant.     

Thermal-expansion and magnetostriction anomalies in phase transitions in La1−x SrxMnO3

A study is reported on phase transitions in the La_1?x Sr_xMnO₃ system, both spontaneous and induced by a pulsed magnetic field of up to 250 kOe, accompanied by anomalies in magnetoelastic properties. The temperatures of the polaron (charge) and magnetic ordering, as well as those of structural transitions, are observed to be in good agreement with the results obtained by other methods. Jumps in the field dependence of longitudinal and transverse magnetostriction associated with field-induced orbital ordering have been found. A strong temperature dependence of the corresponding threshold fields is observed.     

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects in Gd1−xHoxNiIn intermetallic compounds

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects (MCEs) of the intermetallic Gd_1?xHo_xNiIn (x=0?1) compounds have been evaluated by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. The Curie temperature T_C can be tuned from near 100 K to 20 K by substituting Ho for Gd atoms. In addition, all the compounds with Ho atoms undergo two successive magnetic transitions with the decrease of temperature: a paramagnetic (PM) to ferromagnetic (FM) transition around T_C and a spin-reorientation (SR) transition around 7?9 K. It is found that both transitions contribute to the magnetic entropy change (ΔS_M). For a field change of 5 T, the maximum values of ?ΔS_M for Gd_0.4Ho_0.6NiIn are 6 J/kg K at T_t=9 K and 10 J/kg K at T_C=52 K, respectively. These two ?ΔS_M peaks overlap partly and result in a wide working temperature range of MCE, and thus leading to the largest RC value of 443 J/kg in the Gd_1?xHo_xNiIn system.     

Valence fluctuations in La2−xSrxCuO4

Ab-initio electronic band structure calculations are presented for the perovskite La₂CuO₄ and for this material doped with Sr for a supercell of composition La₃SrCu₂O₈. This material is close to the high Tc superconductor La_2−xSr_xCuO₄ discovered recently. The Sr doping gives rise to strong valence fluctuations. We discuss the effect of the valence fluctuations on the stability of the lattice, indicating a small value of U and enhancing the electron-phonon coupling λ, mainly by a mechanism of incipient peroxide formation.     

Oxygen isotope effect in disordered underdoped and overdoped La2−xSrxCu1−yZnyO4 superconductors

The effect of oxygen isotopic substitution on the superconducting transition temperature has been studied for heavily underdoped and overdoped La_2?xSr_xCu_1?yZn_yO₄ compounds with different Zn contents in the CuO₂ plane. The effect of Zn on the isotope coefficient, α, was significantly more pronounced in the case of the underdoped (x = 0.09) compounds compared to the overdoped (x = 0.22) ones. The variation of α with disorder content can be described quite well within a model based solely on Cooper pair-breaking in the case of the underdoped compounds. This model fails to describe the behavior of α(y) for the overdoped samples, even though Zn still suppresses T_c very effectively at this hole (Sr) content, indicating that the Zn induced pair-breaking is still very much at play. We discuss the implications of these findings in details by considering the Zn induced magnetism, stripe correlations, and possible changes in the superconducting order parameter as hole content in the CuO₂ plane, p (≡x), is varied.     

Vibrational-electronic coupling in IrF6, OsCl6 2− and IrCl6 2−

The results obtained in a previous paper [1] for an unsymmetric regular model are applied to solid hydrogen at low temperatures when the lattice structure and the quadrupole-quadrupole interaction make the interaction energies non-isotropic. It is shown that, as for the lattice structures with isotropic interactions, no second-order transition is likely to occur through a cooperative rotational effect. The possible occurrence of spatial ordering on sub-lattices is discussed. It is found that such ordering is unlikely to occur at low temperatures on the face-centred cubic lattice, but that on the hexagonal close-packed lattice (which is the probable crystal structure) there is a second-order transition to an ordered state. Using a zeroth-order approximation the temperature at which this transition occurs in pure ortho-hydrogen is found to be 5·8°k.     

Far infrared studies of lattice and free carrier effects in CdxHg1−xSe

Far infrared reflection spectra of Cd_xHg_1−xSe are measured in the region 20 to 600 cm^-1 at temperature between 5 and 77 K. Reflection spectra are explained well by the dynamic dielectric function which is constructed as a sum of interband, intraband and phonon contributions. The plasma-LO phonon coupling and free carrier effects are discussed.     

Valence state of manganese ions in the La1−α BiLaβMnLa1−δ OLa3±γ ceramics

The valence state of the Mn ions in ceramic samples of the La_1?α BiLa_βMnLa_1?δ OLa_3±γ composition (LBMO) has been studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The presence of Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ ions in these compounds has been shown. The relative content Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ has been determined by means of fitting the experimental Mn 2p spectra by the superposition of theoretical spectra of Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ ions. The elemental composition of the samples has been determined by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis. It has been established that the relative content of Mn⁴⁺ ions correlates with parameter δ, which characterizes the deviation of the actual elemental composition of the La_1?α BiLa_βMnLa_1?δ OLa_3±γ ceramics from stoichiometry La_{1 ? x} Bi _x MnO₃.