Low-frequency polarization relaxation in PMN + 2% Li2O ferroelectric ceramics in the region of diffuse phase transition

Studies of dielectric nonlinearity in lead magnoniobate ceramics doped with lithium show that at a certain value of external field amplitude E, two peaks appear on the temperature dependences of effective dielectric permittivity ?_eff′(T). They are caused by the dynamics of the polar regions in the vicinity of diffuse phase transition and by variation in their volume under the action of field E.     

A comparative study of the effective dielectric constant of a medium containing randomly distributed dielectric spheres embedded in a homogeneous background medium

Abstract

The effective dielectric constant ∈_eff of a medium containing randomly distributed dielectric particles has been analysed by conventional methods: Foldy's approximation, the quasi-crystalline approximation (QCA) and the QCA with coherent potential. These conventional methods, however, have been indicated to become invalid for particles with a high dielectric constant; we have thus presented a new method that is valid for them. This paper compares ∈_eff of our method with those of the conventional methods by changing the volume fraction and the dielectric constant of spheres. As a result, our method is shown to be more powerful for the analysis of ∈_eff than the conventional methods.     

Features of infralow-frequency polarization relaxation processes in LiNbO3 single crystals

The dielectric response of lithium niobate single crystal in ac fields with amplitudes E of 3.74 to 13.1 kV cm^?1 is investigated at frequencies of 1 and 10 Hz in the temperature range of 70 to 200°C. The increase in effective dielectric permittivity ?_eff′ and the effective dielectric losses ?_eff″ is found to be associated with the formation of short-radius Nb _Li ⁴⁺ polarons at temperatures T > 130°C and their contribution to polarization relaxation in a LiNbO₃ crystal.     

On the study of fluid structure of tetrahydrofuran-n-butyric acid mixture by dielectric studies

The Kirkwood correlation factors g^eff and g_f, excess permittivity ε^E and excess free energy F^E of mixing for the binary mixture of n-butyric acid with tetrahydrofuran (THF) were calculated from the experimental dielectric data obtained at temperatures 303, 308, 313 and 318 K over the entire composition range. The value of g^eff decreases with increase in acid concentration and g_f is found to be greater than unity. At higher temperature, two maxima and two minima have been obtained for ε^E and F^E, respectively. These parameters are analyzed to obtain information about the complex formation through H-bond and dipolar orientation.     

Stability of a bubble in a dielectric liquid in an external electrostatic field

Critical instability conditions are found for a gas bubble in a liquid dielectric in a uniform external electrostatic field E ₀. It is shown that they depend both on the magnitude of E ₀ and on the properties of the liquid, as well as on the gas pressure in the bubble. In a linear approximation with respect to the square of the eccentricity of an equilibrium spheroidal form, the equilibrium eccentricity of the bubble exceeds the equilibrium eccentricity of a drop in the field E ₀. The gas pressure in the bubble lowers the critical electric field E ₀ for development of an instability in the bubble. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 43–48 (August 1999)     

Averaged local field intensities in composite films

The photophysical properties of molecules adsorbed in composite films (e.g. surface island films) depend on the local electromagnetic field within the film. The ratio between the average field intensity 〈|E|²〉 in the film and the intensity |E_I|² associated with the incident field is a measure of the electromagnetic contribution to the surface influence on molecular photophysical phenomena. This ratio depends on the film composition and morphology, on the dielectric properties of the pure components making the film and on the frequency, direction and polarization of the incident radiation. Calculations of this ratio as a function of these parameters for several models of composite films are presented. Image interactions and retardation effects as well as radiative damping and finite size contributions to the dielectric response of the films are taken into account. In addition, an estimate of the field inhomogeneity within the film is obtained by calculating also the ratio 〈|E|²〉_shell/|E_I|² associated with the field in thin shells surrounding the dielectric particles which constitute the film.     

The structure of an induced electrorheological solid

We have extended a method devised by Rayleigh and calculate the effective dielectric constants (ϵ_eff) of face-centred-cubic (fcc), body-centred tetragonal (bct) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structures of spheres of a dielectric material (ϵ_p) in a dielectric matrix (ϵ_f) specially. The comparison of the (ϵ_eff − ϵ_f)/f_c of these three types of lattice shows that the body-centred tetragonal structure is favoured in energy, where f_c is the volume fraction of particles that are touching for a given lattice.     

Calculation of transverse and longitudinal space charge effects within the framework of the fully six-dimensional formalism

In the following report we describe a method for calculating the envelope of a particle bunch in linear coupled storage rings and transport systems in the presence of transverse and longitudinal space charge forces using the (canonical) variablesx, p _x ,z, p _z , σ=s?v ₀·t,p _σ=ΔE/E ₀ of the fully six-dimensional formalism. This work is an extension of earlier calculations on transverse space charge forces [1] to include the synchrotron oscillations. The extension is achieved by defining a 6-dimensional ellipsoid in thex?p _x ?z?p _z ?σ?p _σ space. The motion of this ellipsoid under the influence of the external fields and the instantaneous space charge forces can be described by six generating orbit vectors which can be combined into a 6-dimensional matrixB(s). This “bunch-shape matrix”,B(s), contains complete information about the configuration of the bunch. The solution of the equations of motion is carried through in the thin lens approximation. The formalism can also encompass acceleration by cavity fields.     

Dielectric properties of a triglycine sulfate crystal grown with a transition through the Curie point

The dielectric properties of the triglycine sulfate (TGS) crystal grown by lowering the temperature with a transition through Curie point T_C during its growth are studied. The greatest values of low-frequency dielectric permittivity ε_max(T = T_C) and effective dielectric permittivity ε_eff(E₀) correspond to the layer of crystal formed at the temperature of the phase transition.     

The electric “Meissner effect” in spin superconductor

Spin superconductivity results from the condensation of spin-triplet but charge neutralparticles (e.g., triplet excitons). We present a Laplace-type equation describingelectrostatic properties of spin superconductors. With the phenomenological equationsobtained, we show that there exists an electric “Meissner effect” against the spatialvariation of the electric field along the magnetic moment direction, in particular,(?·?)(?·E). Severaldistinctive characteristics of this electric “Meissner effect” emerge in spinsuperconductors. Firstly, the variation of the electric field(?·?)(?·E) has an abruptdecrease at the boundary, which is analogous to the screen effect for electric fieldE in a uniform dielectric material. Secondly, thesuper-spin current distributes inside or near the boundaries of a spin superconductor,which depends on the magnitude of gradient for the external driven electric field.     

Practical method for experimental effective atomic number in the coherent to Compton scattering ratio

A practical method of calculating Z_eff was developed for the coherent to Compton scattering ratio and the method is applicable for any material with known weight percentages of different elements in the compound. The coherent to Compton scattering ratio depends only on the mixture under study and provides a measurement of certain complicated functions of the atomic number Z and Z_eff. In order to measure the effective atomic number of Sb₂O₃, BaO, La₂O₃, CeO₂ and Nd₂O₃, the linear differential scattering coefficients of 59.5 keV γ-rays have been studied using a high-resolution Si(Li) semi-conductor detector. The coherent to Compton scattering ratio R is taken from the linear differential scattering coefficients μ(E, q). The results obtained have been compared with relativistic (RT) and non-relativistic (NRT) theoretical values.     

Magnetovolume effect in transition metal-metalloid amorphous alloys

The thermal expansion, spontaneous volume magnetostriction ω_s, forced volume magnetostriction $\text{(}\text{?ω}\text{?H}\text{)}$ and Young's modulus of amorphous Fe-B, Fe-P, Co-B and (Fe-M)₇₇Si₁₀B₁₃ (M = Cr, Mn, Co, Ni) alloys have been measured to make clear the magnetovolume effect in transition metal-metalloid amorphous alloys. The thermal expansion coefficient α, ω_s and $\text{(}\text{?ω}\text{?H}\text{)}$ are dependent on the number of d-electrons per transition metal atom n_eff calculated based on the charge transfer model. The n_eff vs. α, ω_s and $\text{(}\text{?ω}\text{?H}\text{)}$ curves are quite similar to the corresponding curves in fcc alloys. The maxima in those curves are, however, found at n_eff ≈ 8.2 for the amorphous alloys in contrast with n_eff ≈ 8.7 for the fcc Fe-Ni alloys. On the other hand, Young's modulus measured under the saturation of magnetization is governed by the molar volume, irrespective of n_eff. The magnetovolume effect in transition metal-metalloid amorphous alloys is discussed in connection with the instability of ferromagnetism of amorphous Fe.     

Analysis of the electrostatic force on a dielectric particle with partial charge distribution

This paper presents the analysis of the electrostatic force acting on a charged dielectric particle on a grounded plane. The force has been determined by a numerical field calculation method to make clear the effect of particle dielectric constant and charge distribution on the particle surface. The charge is treated to be distributed in three ways: (a) uniformly over entire surface, (b) partially on the upper, or (c) on the lower part of a particle. The calculation results show that, if a particle with dielectric constant ?_p = 3 is partially charged on the lower part by a zenith angle π/2, π/4 and π/8, the force shall be higher by 0.7, 4.3 and 20 times, respectively, than that for a uniform charging with the same charge amount. On the other hand, the force becomes weaker when charge is on the upper part. The effect of the particle dielectric constant is found to be dependent on the charge distribution. With charge uniform on the entire surface or on the upper part, the force always increases with the dielectric constant. However, when surface charge is restricted to a small area at the lower part of the particle (θ_q < π/4), the force may decrease with increasing the dielectric constant.     

Pre-stressing effect on DC breakdown in low-density polyethylene

Polyethylene is widely used in electrical wires and power cables. The pre-stressing effect, which restricts the applications of polyethylene, has not yet been investigated in depth. We studied the breakdown of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films pre-stressed by direct current (DC) electric field. The results showed some conformity, as reported in many other papers, that the DC breakdown strength E_B+ with the same polarity to that of the pre-stressing field was higher than the DC breakdown strength E_B of thin LDPE films without pre-stressing, while the DC breakdown strength E_B? with the opposite polarity was lower than E_B. Such phenomena could be explained by the hetero effects of accumulating space charges, which enhanced the electrical field when the polarity was reversed. However, as a further increase in pre-stressing electrical field, both E_B+ and E_B? were found higher than E_B. We investigated the space charge behavior in LDPE films and found that when applied with a higher electrical field, space charge packet initialized and traveled through the specimen. The results suggest that the space charge packet behavior may contribute to the pre-stressing effects on electrical breakdown in LDPE films.     

Microwave dielectric response of binary mixture of N,N-dimethylformamide with propylene glycol using TDR method

Dielectric relaxation study of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) has been carried out with propylene glycol (PLG) at different temperatures. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) in reflection mode has been used to measure the reflection coefficient in frequency range of 10 MHz to 20 GHz. The dielectric parameters static dielectric permittivity (? ₀) and relaxation time (τ) have been obtained by Fourier transform and least squares fit methods. The experimental results show nonlinear variation in dielectric permittivity and relaxation time with volume fraction of PLG confirm the structural formation due to the intermolecular interaction between N,N-dimethylformamide and PLG. The variation in excess permittivity (ε ^E), excess inverse relaxation times (1/τ)^E, Kirkwood correlation factors (g ^eff, g ^f), activation enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) are also calculated to study the binary mixture interaction.     

Structure evolution and stoichiometry control of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 thick films fabricated by electrospray assisted vapour deposition

Well-crystallized and stoichiometric Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃ (PZT) films, typically ∼5 μm thick, with pure perovskite-type rhombohedral structures have been successfully prepared via an electrospray assisted vapour deposition (ESAVD) method. Control of the deposition temperature within a narrow range of 300-400 °C resulted in films with the most desirable phases. PZT films with close stoichiometric match with the expected composition ratio and uniform element distribution were obtained by adding the appropriate levels of excess Pb in the precursor solutions. The annealed films were uniform, dense, compact and adherent to the substrates. The dielectric constant, ?_r, and loss tangent, tan δ, of the fabricated PZT films measured at 10 kHz were 442 and 0.09, respectively. The ESAVD deposited PZT films showed a remanent polarization, P_r, of 15.3 μC/cm² and coercive field, E_c, of 86.7 kV/cm. These results demonstrate the clear potential of the ESAVD method as a promising technique for the fabrication of thick PZT films.     

Optical orientation of nuclei in nitrogen alloys GaAsN at room temperature

The intensity and giant circular polarization of edge luminescence in a longitudinal magnetic field have been measured in nitrogen alloys GaAsN under circularly polarized pumping. It has been found that these dependences are shifted with respect to zero field by a value B _eff. The magnitude of the internal field B _eff increases with the pumping intensity and reaches saturation (≈250 G) at large excitation densities. The saturation of the B _eff field with growth of pumping indicates that this is a field of nuclei, polarized dynamically due to hyperfine interaction with optically oriented deep paramagnetic centers, rather than a field of exchange interaction created on the center by spin-polarized photo-excited conduction electrons. The short time of nuclear polarization by electrons (<15 μs), measured under modulation of circular polarization of the exciting light with high frequency, points to a small number of nuclei undergoing hyperfine interaction with an electron localized at a center.     

On condensation of the vortex solitons in a 2 + 1 dimensional abelian Higgs model

We study the roles of the vortex solitons in a 2 + 1 dimensional abelian Higgs model. From the effective lagrangian L_eff for the soliton field χ, it is found that the appearance of the solitons reduces the dielectric constant to a value smaller than one. If the Higgs field 〈H〉_vac does not vanish, the vacuum is in the Higgs phase and the solitons are not important. If it does vanish, the solitons become massless and L_eff has an infinite number of classically degenerate vacua. In the quantum theory of L_eff with large coupling constant e, no evidence of 〈χ〉_vac ≠ 0 has been discovered. For this conclusion to hold it is crucial that the free energy of scalar QED monotonically increases with e².     

Universal temperature corrections to the free energy for the gravitational field

The temperature correction to the free energy of the gravitational field is considered which does not depend on the Planck energy physics. The leading correction may be interpreted in terms of the temperature-dependent effective gravitational constant G_eff. The temperature correction to appears to be valid for all temperatures T?E_Planck. It is universal since it is determined only by the number of fermionic and bosonic fields with masses m?T, does not contain the Planck energy scale E_Planck which determines the gravitational constant at T=0, and does not depend on whether or not the gravitational field obeys the Einstein equations. That is why this universal modification of the free energy for gravitational field can be used to study thermodynamics of quantum systems in condensed matter (such as quantum liquids superfluid ³He and ⁴He), where the effective gravity emerging for fermionic and/or bosonic quasiparticles in the low-energy corner is quite different from the Einstein gravity.