Ultrasonic study of solid-phase amorphization and polyamorphism in an H2O-D2O (1: 1) solid solution

The elastic moduli and volume of H₂O-D₂O (1: 1) isotopically mixed ice (solid solution) have been studied at the solid-phase amorphization of normal 1h ice under compression at a temperature of 77 K and at the transition from high-density amorphous ice to low-density amorphous ice with subsequent successive crystallization to cubic (1c) and hexagonal (1h) ice at isobaric (0.05 GPa) heating. Comparison of the results with the respective data for H₂O and D₂O ices indicates that the observed concentration (in the isotopic composition) dependences of the elastic moduli and their derivatives for different phases of ice at isotopic hydrogen substitution in the H₂O, H₂O-D₂O (1: 1), and D₂O chain can be both monotonic and significantly nonmonotonic.     

Observation of rotational resonances of ortho and para spin isomers of the H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O molecule in hexagonal ice using four-photon laser spectroscopy

Rotational resonances of ortho and para spin isomers of the H₂O molecule are observed in hexagonal ice using four-photon spectroscopy of coherent light scattering. It is experimentally shown that the resonant contribution to the four-photon scattering signal from para H₂O spin isomers in ice is about half as large as that in the liquid phase.     

Coincidence of rotational energy of H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O ortho-para molecules and translation energy near specific temperatures in water and ice

A hypothesis of the quantum nature of the specific temperatures T _s of water and ice, whose values is not random, was formulated. It was found that the quantum energy hΩ _mn of closely located rotational transitions in the ortho and para spin isomers of H₂O molecules coincides with the translation energy kT near the well-known specific temperatures T _s in ice and water. On the basis of this fact it was suggested that ortho-para conversion occurs at temperatures close to T _s upon inelastic collisions and resonance energy exchange kT _s ↔ hΩ _mn in the rotation-translation-rotation (RTR) processes. Such conversion can induce rearrangement of the H-bond set structure and repacking of H₂O molecules. The coincidence kT _s ≈ hΩ _mn was checked for ice and water at 12 known T _s, as well as for heavy water D₂O near T _s = 11.2°C (maximum density) and −140°C (glassy transition). The previously observe strong deformation of the OH Raman band near T _s = 4, 19, 36, and 76°C (maximum density, maximum surface tension, minimum heat capacity, and maximum speed of sound, respectively) was interpreted as a manifestation of the water structure rearrangement induced by H₂O ortho-para conversion.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance of oriented54Mn nuclei in antiferromagnetic MnCl2 · 4H2O

Nuclear magnetic resonance of oriented⁵⁴Mn nuclei in antiferromagnetic MnCl₂ · 4H₂O has been observed. The first two lines of the sextuplet split by quadrupole interaction are at frequencies 500.4 and 514.7 MHz, implying a hyperfine field of 643(5) kG. The stronger line at 500.4 MHz has a half-width at half maximum of 60 kHz and is shifted downward and split in frequency on application of a magnetic field. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time is dependent both on the applied field and the size and/or quality of the crystal.     

TDPAC characterization of Ni2HfF8·12H2O and its decomposition products

The hyperfine interaction in Ni₂HfF₈·12H₂O has been determined between 77 K and 1100 K by means of the time-differential perturbed angular correlation technique. From 200 K on, the one-site phase existing at lower temperatures undergoes a gradual phase transition until, at room temperature, the populations of both phases attain a 2:1 ratio. While the quadrupole frequencies characterizing them exhibit aT ^3/2 thermal dependence, their population ratio seems to obey a Boltzmann distribution. At 350 K, when the η-value of the high temperature phase electric field gradient approaches its maximum value, the starting compound decomposes to NiHfF₆·6H₂O. A kinetics study of the Ni₂HfF₈·12H₂O recovery at room temperature seems to indicate that a tri-dimensional diffusion mechanism is responsible for the corresponding reaction process. The first decomposition product of NiHfF₆·6H₂O left to atmospheric pressure is found to be NiHfF₆·4H₂O at 368 K and, between 414 K and 590 K, the high temperature cubic phase of NiHfF₆ and Hf₂OF₆ can be simultaneously observed. Finally, monoclinic HfO₂ appears from 1020 K on, having been preceded by an interaction which can be though of as depicting a preliminary stage in hafnia formation.     

Study of temperature variations of NMR spectra in monohydrates FeSO4. 1 H2O and MgSO4. 1 H2O

The paper deals with a study of the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of crystallization water in isomorphous monohydrates MgSO₄. 1 H₂O and FeSO₄. 1 H₂O in the temperature range 123–313 K. The NMR second moment for diamagnetic MgSO₄. 1 H₂O shows only a weak dependence on temperature but the one for paramagnetic FeSO₄. 1 H₂O is rather strong. Results obtained for FeSO₄. 1 H₂O are in a good agreement with the Kroon's theory of NMR in paramagnetics. The Curie-Weiss constant and the effective magnetic moment of Fe²⁺ ions in FeSO₄. 1 H₂O are derived from the temperature dependence of NMR second moment. The motion of molecules of crystallization water in these hydrates is discussed on the basis of temperature dependences of the width and second moment of NMR spectra.     

Calorimetric study of a phase transition in D2O ice Ih doped with KOD: Ice XI

D₂O ice Ih doped with KOD was found by calorimetry to undergo a phase transition at 76 K. The enthalpy and entropy of the phase transition depended in their magnitude on the annealing of the sample. The largest values obtained were ΔH = 155 J mol⁻¹ and δS = 2.06 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹. The phase transition removed 64% of the residual entropy. Mechanisms of the isotope effect were discussed to explain the difference in the transition temperatures of the D₂O and H₂O ices and compared with the experiment. The pressure coefficient of the transition temperature was calculated by the use of the Clapeyron-Clausius equation and recent data on the molar volume of the new phase. The name ice XI is proposed to designate the ordered phase of ice Ih.     

Measurement of diffusion coefficients of thallium ion in H2O and D2O systems at different concentrations

Sliding cell method, developed in our laboratory, has been used to measure the inter diffusion coefficient of thallium ion in thallous sulphate solution over a wide concentration range using both water and heavy water as solvent at 35°C. The results have been analysed from the point of view of both ion-ion and ion-solvent interactions. The comparison of the diffusivities of the same ion in D₂O and H₂O electrolyte solutions at the same temperature indicate that the addition of salt affects the two solvents differently.     

Measurement of17O quadrupole interactions and identification of the diamagnetic fraction in ice by muon level crossing resonance

By means of Level Crossing Resonance in a sample of ice which is enriched in H₂ ¹⁷O, the final diamagnetic state of implanted positive muons is determined to be the muonium-substituted molecule HMuO, accommodated in the regular and fully relaxed Ih structure. The¹⁷O quadrupole coupling constant is measured to be 6.1 MHz at 200 K assuming an asymmetry parameter close to unity, a decrease of about 5% relative to that in normal ice Ih at 77 K. The isotope effect is attributed to a greater polarization in the vicinity of a muonium (as opposed to a normal hydrogen) bond. At 50 K, an additional resonance is observed which could correspond to a precursor state, so far not definitely identified. One possibility is a muon trapped at a Bjerrum L-defect, giving a {H₂O−Mu−OH₂}⁺ species with an,¹⁷O quadrupole coupling constant of 8.2 MHz and asymmetry parameter of 0.55. Above this temperature, the fall in the (Gaussian) line-width parameter is attributed to the increasing rate of proton or muon migration, the correlation time dropping from 4 μs at 80 K to 1 μs near the melting-point. The increase in the diamagnetic fraction with rise in temperature is attributed to the increasing proportion of trapping sites available for muon capture.     

2D NMR studies of structural phase transitions in ABF6.6D2O systems

²D NMR studies in single crystals of CoSiF₆.6D₂O, CoTiF₆.6D₂O and ZnTiF₆.6D₂O reveal that all of them transform from rhombohedral to monoclinic symmetry through an intermediate phase as the temperature is lowered from 300 to 100K. The results throw light on the hydrogen bond network in different phases.     

Raman light scattering,infrared absorption and DSC studies of the phase transition and vibrational and reorientational dynamics of H2O ligands and ClO4– anions in [Ba(H2O)3](ClO4)2

[Ba(H₂O)₃](ClO₄)₂ between 90 and 300 K possesses two solid phases. One phase transition of the first‐order type at: = 211.3 K (on heating) and = 204.6 K (on cooling) was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The entropy change value (ΔS ≈ 15 Jmol^–1 K^–1), associated with the observed phase transition, indicates a moderate degree of molecular dynamical disorder. Both, vibrational and reorientational motions of H₂O ligands and ClO₄^– anions, in the high‐temperature and low‐temperature phases, were investigated by Fourier transform far‐infrared and middle‐infrared and Raman light scattering spectroscopies. The temperature dependences of the full‐width at half‐maximum values of the bands associated with ρ_w(H₂O) mode, in both infrared (~570 cm^–1) and Raman light scattering (~535 cm^–1) spectra, suggest that the observed phase transition is not associated with a sudden change of a speed of the H₂O reorientational motions. Ligands reorient fast, with correlation time of the order of several picoseconds, with a mean activation energy value E_a = 5.1 kJ mol^–1 in both high and low temperature phases. On the other hand, measurements of temperature dependences of full‐width at half‐maximum values of the infrared band at ~460 cm^–1, associated with δ_d(OClO)E mode, and Raman band at ~1105 cm^–1, associated with ν_as(ClO)F₂ mode, revealed the existence of a fast ClO₄^– reorientation in phase I and in phase II, with the E_a(I) and E_a(II) values equal to 8.0 and 6.5 kJ mol^–1, respectively. These reorientational motions of ClO₄^– are slightly distorted at the T_C. Fourier transform far‐infrared and middle‐infrared spectra with decreasing of temperature indicated characteristic changes at the vicinity of PT at T_C, which suggested lowering of the crystal structure symmetry. All these experimental facts suggest that the discovered phase transition is associated with small change of H₂O ligands and somewhat major change of ClO₄^– anions reorientational dynamics, and with insignificant change of the crystal structure, too. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chemisorption of O2 and N2O on Cu/Ru(001)

The interaction of O₂ and N₂O are compared on the basal plane of Ru as a function of the coverage of copper. Dissociative N₂O uptake (N₂O(g) → O(a) + N₂(g)) on clean Ru was measured using AES and transient partial pressures. The initial dissociative reaction probability is a steadily declining function of temperature while the saturation uptake of oxygen remains constant from 300–900 K. The saturation oxygen AES signal for N₂O chemisorption was one half that observed for O₂ chemisorption. The presence of 0.02 monolayers of Cu retards the initial dissociative adsorption of N₂O by 40% but has little effect on the total uptake of oxygen. The initial dissociative sticking coefficient for O₂ is not retarded significantly by small amounts of copper. Deposition of larger amounts of Cu leads to the completion of a 2D overlayer before growth in 3D begins. Surfaces covered with less than 3 monolayers of Cu exhibit larger O₂ sticking coefficients and greater oxygen stability than pure Cu.     

Lineshape studies of the 1s yellow exciton in Cu2O by resonance Raman scattering

The enhancement of the cross section for Raman scattering has been measured near resonance with the 1S yellow exciton in Cu₂O $\text{(}\text{v}{}_{\mathrm{1SY}}\text{? 16,399 cm}{}^{-1}\text{)}$. The shape of the enhancement is shown to be Lorentzian to beyond 10 halfwidths from the peak. From the temperature dependence of the width of the enhancement profile, we extract separately the rates for exciton- acoustic phonon scattering, γ_sc(T), and for non-radiative decay, γ_nr, of this exciton state. We find γ_nr = 2.4 × 10¹⁰sec^-1 and γ_sc(T=5.4K) = 0.85 × 10¹⁰sec^-1.     

Measurements of the HCN ν3 band broadened by N2

N₂-broadened halfwidths have been measured for 51 absorption lines belonging to the ν₃ fundamental band of hydrogen cyanide (¹H¹²C¹⁴N) near 3311 cm^?1. The data were recorded at room temperature using a Fourier transform spectrometer with a nominal resolution of 0.06 cm^?1. A nonlinear least-squares spectral-fitting procedure was used to obtain both line intensities and collision-broadened halfwidths from scans recorded at several different pressures. The N₂-broadened halfwidths, determined for all lines with J ≤ 25 in both the P and R branches of the band, show the expected distribution with J for broadening by a nonpolar gas. The halfwidth values range from approximately 0.17 cm^?1 atm^?1 near the band center to 0.11 cm^?1 atm^?1 for high-J lines. The band intensity for the ν₃ fundamental derived from these measurements is 236.2 ± 9.5 cm^?2 atm^?1 at 296 K, and empirical coefficients for the vibration-rotation interaction F-factor were also determined.     

Characterization of stoichiometric LiNbO3 grown from melts containing K2O

The growth of LiNbO₃ single crystals from a melt with the Li/Nb ratio of 0.946, to which 6 wt.% K₂O has been added, leads to stoichiometric specimens, essentially free of potassium, with (50±0.15) mol% Li₂O in the crystal. This is established by studying the composition dependence of the following properties: linewidths of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of Fe³⁺, energy of the fundamental absorption edge, Raman linewidths of phonon modes, and dispersion of the optical birefringence. Comparison of the results with relevant calibration scales leads to the above composition. In all cases the Li₂O content was found to be closer to 50% than that of a LiNbO₃ crystal vapor-phase equilibrated to 49.9mol% Li₂O. The photorefractive effect at light intensities I10⁷ W/m² is suppressed in this stoichiometric material. The features of the ternary system K₂O-Li₂O-Nb₂O₅, which are possibly responsible for the unexpected growth of stoichiometric LiNbO₃ from the indicated melts, are discussed.     

High P–T Brillouin scattering study of H2O melting to 26 GPa

The properties of solid and liquid phases of H₂O at high pressure and temperature remain an active area of research. In this study, Brillouin spectroscopy has been used to determine the temperature dependence of sound velocities in H₂O as a function of pressure up to 26 GPa through the phase field of ice VII and into the liquid to a maximum temperature of 1200 K. The Brillouin shift of the quasi-longitudinal acoustic mode moves to lower frequencies upon melting at each pressure. As a test of the method, measurements of the melting of Ar by Brillouin scattering at several pressures show a similar behavior for the acoustic mode, and measured melting points are consistent with previous results. The results of H₂O melting are consistent with previously reported melting curves below 20 GPa. The data at higher pressure indicate that ice melts at a higher temperature than a number of previous studies have indicated.     

Low- and infralow-frequency dielectric properties of the Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 + 2 wt % Li2O ceramics

A dielectric response of the Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ ferroelectric ceramics with impurity of 2 wt % Li has been studied. The phase transition has been found to exhibit a relaxor character, as is the case in PMN without Li. However, unlike pure PMN, the dielectric response dispersion in PMN + 2 wt % Li₂O has been described by the Cole-Cole equation at temperatures below the temperature of the low-frequency maximum of the permittivity. An analysis of the dispersion parameters in a wide temperature range has demonstrated that it can be due to the relaxation of domain walls in PMN + 2 wt % Li₂O that appear most likely because of the existence of anomalously coarse grains in PMN + 2 wt % Li₂O.     

High pressure X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopic studies of the phase change of D2O ice VII at approximately 11 GPa

High pressure experiments were performed on D₂O ice VII using a diamond anvil cell in a pressure range of 2.0–60 GPa at room temperature. In situ X-ray diffractometry revealed that the structure changed from cubic to a low symmetry phase at approximately 11 GPa, based on the observed splitting of the cubic structure's diffraction lines. Heating treatments were added for the samples to reduce the effect of non-hydrostatic stress. After heating, splitting diffraction lines became sharp and the splitting was clearly retained. Although symmetry and structure of the transformed phase have not been determined, change in volumes vs. pressure was calculated, assuming that the low-symmetry phase had a tetragonal structure. The bulk modulus calculated for the low-symmetry phase was slightly larger than that for the cubic structure. In Raman spectroscopy, the squared vibrational frequencies of ν₁ (A_1g), as a function of pressure, showed a clear change in the slope at 11–13 GPa. The full width at half maxima of the O-D modes decreased with increasing pressure, reaching a minimum at approximately 11 GPa, and increased again above 11 GPa. These results evidently support the existence of phase change at approximately 11 GPa for D₂O ice VII.     

Infrared-induced temperature distributions of solid D2 ices

A specific-wavelength infrared (IR) light (λ=3140 nm) was irradiated into a solid D₂ ice prepared in a cylinder target cell. The temperature in the solid D₂ ice oscillated periodically with a high amplitude when irradiated by the IR light. The temperature oscillation has been well explained based on the two-dimensional heat transfer theory plus the IR-irradiation effect. The transmission optical imaging reveals that such a temperature oscillation is favorable to recrystallize the solid D₂ ice from multicrystal to quasi single crystal. This suggests an efficient method to layer the solid hydrogen-isotope ice for the inertial-confinement-fusion (ICF) experiments.     

100 ps far-infrared laser pulses from optically pumped D2O

In this paper we report the generation of ultrashort far-infrared laser pulses with durations less than 100 ps, powers exceeding 200 kW and intensities of more than 1.5 MW/cm². Far-infrared radiation was produced via stimulated resonance Raman scattering using a high-pressure CO₂-laser as pump source and the heavy water isotopes D₂¹⁶O and D₂¹⁸O as far-infrared laser media. Pulses achieved from this laser system were detected by a novel type of detector, sensitive over a broad spectral range from the far-infrared to the visible, basing on quasiparticle heating in a strip-line structured YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ thin film.