Phase transitions in AgTaO3 single crystals

AgTaO₃ single crystals have been obtained by the molten salt method; two different solvents, AgCl and V₂O₅, were used. X-ray investigations have been carried out in the temperature region from 300 K to 800 K. At room temperature AgTaO₃ possesses a pseudocubic perovskite-type unit cell with rhombohedral distortion. Two structural phase transitions, to tetragonal at 650 K and to cubic symmetry at 770 K, have been observed. In the tetragonal phase a jump of the lattice constants has been observed at approximately 680 K. DTA and domain structure investigations confirm the presence of these phase transitions.     

Phase transitions in ferroelectric liquid crystals

Molecular chirality plays an important role in the science of liquid crystals, leading to cholesteric liquid crystal, blue phases, ferroelectric and antiferroelectric smectic phases and twist grain boundary phases. In all of these mesogens, chirality is an intrinsic property built into the chemical structure of mesogenic molecules. The study of ferroelectric liquid crystals has seen substantial experimental strides. In theoretical aspects, there has been relatively little basic work on this fascinating class of material. This review will try to present a comprehensive overview of the current status of the phase transitions in ferroelectric smectic liquid crystals. The article begins with a brief introduction about the symmetry and structure of ferroelectric mesophases. An attempt is made to identify a range of problems and related questions associated with the study of phase transitions. In the remaining parts of the article the important experimental and theoretical developments are summarized. Finally, some of the future directions have been identified.     

Phase transitions in melt-grown PbI2 crystals

Employing the method of zone- refining single crystals of PbI₂ of different purities were grown. Using X-ray diffraction technique their structure was found to be of the type 12R and in some cases 12R+4H. The crystals were re-examined after prolonged storage of several months at room temperature. Neither the crystals of very high purity nor of relatively less purity transformed. But thecrystals having intermediate purities did transform from 12R to 2H. This observation establishes a clear link between impurities and phase transitions. The results have been explained on the basis of nucleation and growth mechanism of stacking faults. Also it has been concluded that the presence of impurities is a must for the formation of polytypes.     

Acceleration of atoms in crystals under plastic deformation

It is shown that a double-well potential can appear under mechanical loads for atoms in rows parallel to the axis of a screw dislocation and located near the nucleus of a dislocation and under dislocation slip conditions atoms can be accelerated up to energies much higher than the binding energy of atoms in a crystal. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 499–504 (March 1997)     

Phase transitions in PbZr0.72Sn0.28O3 single crystals studied by Raman spectroscopy

ABSTRACT

Raman light scattering measurements in the temperature range from 80 to 830 K were performed on a PbZr_0.72Sn_0.28O₃ single crystal. The frequencies of the Raman lines were analyzed and discussed in terms of the sequence of structural phase transitions. It was found that Raman spectrum displays important changes near 440, 480 and 493 K. The incorporation of more than 25 mol% of Sn⁴⁺ ions into the structure of PbZrO₃ enhances polar fluctuations above T_C as compared to the less Sn-doped crystals. These fluctuations lead to appearance of a ferroelastic intermediate phase below T_C. It is demonstrated that the structural phase transformation in PbZr_0.72Sn_0.28O₃ can be considered as the result of softening of a number of modes.     

Phase transitions in liquid crystals under negative pressures

We report the first measurements of orientational order parameters and phase transition temperatures in nematic and smectic A liquid crystals under negative pressures generated by an isochoric cooling of small droplets embedded in a glass former. Comparison of isobaric and isochoric measurements allows us to estimate the coefficients coupling the order parameter and density of an extended Landau--de Gennes model of the nematic phase.     

Phase transitions in crystals with competitive Jahn-Teller subsystems

A statistical thermodynamic model of phase transformations caused by the cooperative Jahn-Teller effect in spinels containing two types of Jahn-Teller cations has been proposed. It has been shown that the specific features of the phase diagrams of compounds similar to Cu_{1 ? x} Ni _x Cr₂O₄, such as the presence of one orthorhombic and two anti-isostructural tetragonal phases, are associated with the competition between orderings of the subsystems of tetrahedra distorted due to the Jahn-Teller effect. The degree and character of the ordering of each subsystem of the solid solution have been determined. The main factors responsible for the thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams, in particular, the conditions for splitting of an isolated critical point into two triple points, have been investigated.     

Phase transitions in CuBiP2Se6 crystals

Investigation results of dielectric (20?Hz–1?MHz) properties of layered CuBiP₂Se₆ crystals are presented. The temperature dependence of the static dielectric permittivity reveals the first-order “displacive” antiferroelectric phase transition at T _c?=?136?K. In the paraelectric phase, at low frequencies, dielectric spectra are highly influenced by the high ionic conductivity with the activation energy of 2473?K (0.21?eV). In the antiferroelectric phase the electrical conductivity and its activation energy (531.1?K (0.045?eV)) are considerably smaller. At low temperatures, the temperature behaviour of the distribution of relaxation times reveals complex freezing phenomena. A part of long relaxation time distribution is strongly affected by external direct current (DC) electric field and it is obviously caused by antiferroelectric domain dynamics.     

Phase transitions in crystals of protein amino acids

The temperature dependence of the piezoelectric response of many protein amino acids and their compounds exhibits a sharp increase in the piezoelectric response signals at a certain temperature. It has been shown using the example of the known ferroelectrics without a piezoelectric effect in the paraphase (triglycine sulfate, glycine phosphite, trisarcosine calcium chloride) that such an increase in the piezoelectric response is associated with the structural phase transition to the low-symmetry piezoelectric phase with a large number of piezoelectric coefficients. The specific features of the phase transitions with the symmetry change D ₂-C ₂ have been discussed.     

Phase transitions in molecular crystals of dicarboxylic acids

A comparative analysis of phase transitions in molecular crystals of saturated dicarboxylic acids with {COOH(CH₂) _n COOH} chains of different lengths has been performed by differential scanning calorimetry, which revealed a number of new effects related with specific features of the phase transitions. A quantitative analysis of temperature dependence of the heat capacity has been carried out in the context of the theory of smeared (Λ-shaped) first-order phase transitions.     

Magnetoplasticity and diffusion in silicon single crystals

The effect of static magnetic fields on the dynamics of surface dislocation segments, as well as the diffusion mobility of a dopant in silicon single crystals, has been analyzed. It has been experimentally found that the preliminary treatment of p-type silicon plates (the dopant is boron with a concentration of 10¹⁶ cm⁻³) in the static magnetic field (B = 1 T, a treatment time of 30 min) leads to an increase in the mobility of surface dislocation segments. The characteristic times of observed changes (about 80 h) and the threshold dopant concentration (10₁₅ cm⁻³) below which the magneto-optical effect in silicon is not fixed have been determined. It has been found that diffusion processes in dislocation-free silicon are magnetically sensitive: the phosphorus diffusion depth in p-type silicon that is preliminarily aged in the static magnetic field increases (by approximately 20%) compared to the reference samples.     

Magnetostructural phase transitions in manganese arsenide single crystals

The effect of an external magnetic field with a strength up to 140 kOe on the phase transitions in manganese arsenide single crystals has been investigated. The existence of unstable magnetic and crystal structures at temperatures above the Curie temperature T _C = 308 K has been established. The displacements of manganese and arsenic atoms during the magnetostructural phase transition and the shift in the temperature of the first-order magnetostructural phase transition in a magnetic field have been determined. It has been shown that the magnetocaloric effect in a magnetic field of 140 kOe near the Curie temperature T _C is equal to ??T ?? 13 K. A model of the superparamagnetic state in MnAs above the temperature T _C has been proposed using the data on the magnetic properties and structural transformation in the region of the first-order magnetostructural phase transition. It has been demonstrated that, at temperatures close to T _C, apart from the contribution to the change in the entropy from the change in the magnetization there is a significant contribution from the transformation of the crystal lattice due to the magnetostructural phase transition.     

Some features of the macrolocalization of the plastic deformation of copper single crystals in alternating torsion

Copper single crystals of various orientations have been plastically deformed in alternating torsion, and observations have been made of the appearance of fine slip traces in the initial stage of deformation, the longitudinal elongation, and the transformation of the circular cross section into oval-tetragonal, cruciform, triangular, elliptical, and other sections. Analysis of the slip traces has shown that, with a symmetrical arrangement of the octahedral slip planes with, respect to the axis of torsion, not all of the planes are active, but only a certain number sufficient to convert the elastic deformations into plastic slip. The axial elongation and the nature of the change in shape of the cross section depend on the number and orientation of the active slip planes.It has been found that, in addition to the accumulation of macroslips of opposite sign observed during the deformation of polycrystalline aggregates [1–3], there is in single crystals incomplete recovery of the displacements along the crystallographic slip planes. During deformation a single crystal breaks up into thin plates which are displaced by alternating rotation and translation with respect to one another. The failure of the plates to return completely to their original positions leads to an accumulation of slips of opposite sign between adjacent plates and to a corresponding change in the shape of the cross section. The elements of the ratchet mechanism [4,5] of accumulation of macroslips are regarded as a manifestation of the incomplete reversibility of dislocation movement.     

Laser grown single crystals of silicon

Single crystal rods of silicon have been grown by laser-induced chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) using visible light. We believe these to be the first reported single crystals of any material grown by LCVD.     

Magnetoresonant hardening of silicon single crystals

JETP Letters - A microwave magnetic field crossed with a static field was found to exert a resonance effect on the dislocation mobility in single crystals of p-type silicon. The frequency of...     

Plastic deformation of single nanometer-sized crystals

We report in situ electron microscopy observations of the plastic deformation of individual nanometer-sized Au, Pt, W, and Mo crystals. Specifically designed graphitic cages that contract under electron irradiation are used as nanoscopic deformation cells. The correlation with atomistic simulations shows that the observed slow plastic deformation is due to dislocation activity. Our results also provide evidence that the vacancy concentration in a nanoscale system can be smaller than in the bulk material, an effect which has not been studied experimentally before.     

Rotational instability of filamentary crystals undergoing plastic deformation

We investigated the kinetics of spontaneous torsion in filamentary crystals during plastic deformation by a tensile load. The nature of the observed effect is discussed.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 76–81, August, 1988.