Thermopower of doped semiconducting hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

The thermopower S(T) and electrical conductivity have been measured from 25 to 250C for semiconducting a-C:H films doped with boron or phosphorus. S has the expected sign (positive for B-doping and negative for P-doping), is low for all films (10–50 μ V/K), and increases nearly linearly with T. This behavior, along with that observed for the electrical conductivity, is consistent with conduction via hopping at or near the Fermi level which has been shifted via doping from near mid-gap into broad bands of tail states at the appropriate band edges.     

Thermopower of amorphous metals from 4.2 to 300 K

Thermopowers of Metglas 2204, 2605, 2605A, 2826 2826A and 2826MB have been measured. Generally the results do not follow the linear temperature dependence found in 2204 by Nagel. The absence of structure in the thermopower is explained using the Nordheim-Görter relation.     

Polyamorphic transition in amorphous fullerites

Samples of amorphous fullerites have been prepared by mechanoactivation (grinding in a ball mill), and their structure has been studied using neutron diffraction. It has been found that the amorphous fullerites subjected to high-temperature (600–1700°C) annealing undergo a polyamorphic transition from the molecular glass to the atomic glass, which is accompanied by the disappearance of fullerene halos at small scattering angles.     

Explosive transition in amorphous microwire

An amorphous microwire in a glass shell offers a quick thermal response and can be rapidly heated to the crystallization point. When heated by a current pulse with a small amplitude and duration, the wire passes from the amorphous to microcrystalline state. The crystallization of the amorphous state may represent a slow or explosive process depending on the parameters of the pulse. In the latter case, the emission of electromagnetic waves (flash of light) and a sharp rise in the resistance are observed. The rate of propagation of the crystallization front in our experiments has been found to be about 1 m/s.     

Structural transition in compressed amorphous sulfur

Properties of amorphous sulfur (a-S) were investigated by synchrotron x-ray diffraction up to 100 GPa between 40 and 175 K. Measurements of the structure factor yielded the radial distribution function and the densities of two amorphous forms. a-S undergoes a structural transition above 65 GPa, accompanied by density discontinuity of 7%. These results indicate the amorphous-amorphous transition, from a low-density to a high-density form, and open up the possibility for the direct measurements of density of liquid-amorphous materials at extreme conditions.     

Magnetic phases of amorphous transition metal-metalloid alloys

Hysteresis loop and ac susceptibility measurements were performed on three series of amorphous alloys: (A_wB_1-w)₇₅P₁₆B₆Al₃, where (A, B) are (Fe, Ni), (Co, Ni) and (Fe, Mn). Upon cooling, low w alloys undergo paramagne t to spin glass transitions. Alloys with higher w first experience a Curie transition to a ferromagnetic state, and then a spin freezing transition to a spin glass state. the T dependence of the width of the ac hysteresis loop is used to determine the spin freezing transition temperature. A magnetic phase diagram is presented for each alloy series and the value of w required for ferromagnetism, w_C, is determined. When measured in the presence of small constant fields, the ac susceptibility of alloys with w just above w_C has maxima near both transition temperatures. The field and temperature dependences of the peaks are explained by scaling arguments, used to determine the critical exponent δ for the Curie transition, and suggest that a similar scaling law holds for the ferromagnet to spin glass transition.     

Superconducting properties of amorphous transition metal alloys

We have co-sputtered amorphous films of several Mo and W-based superconducting alloys. Measurements of T_c, ($\text{d}\text{H}{}_{\mathrm{c2}}\text{d}\text{T}$)_Tc and the normal state resistivity near T_c were made on a number of these alloys. Our results and other data from the literature are studied to examine the correlation between T_c and the dressed density of states at the Fermi level.     

Electronic structure of amorphous transition metal alloys

The electrical resistivity, the Hall coefficient and the magnetic susceptibility of amorphous alloys (Metglass 2826A, Allied Chemical) have been measured above room temperature. The experimental data show strong similarities with liquid alloys.     

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.     

Theory for superconductivity in amorphous transition metals

A theory is presented for superconductivity in amorphous transition metals. It is shown that in contrast to simple metals for transition metals the changes in the phonon spectrum, in the electronic density of states and in the electronic matrix elements which result from strong lattice disorder can enhance as well as decreaseT _c. The numerical results for the superconducting transition temperatureT _c of amorphous 4d-and 5d-transition metals agree well with the experimental results.     

Thermopower of spin glasses

We calculate the thermopowerS _d(T) of spin glasses on the basis of thesd exchange model with additional interactions between the impurity spins by means of time dependent perturbation theory. Similarly to the Kondo effect, the observed giant thermopower can only be explained if one also takes into account the spin independent interactionV between the magnetic impurities and the conduction electrons. We obtain a Kondo termS _d ⁽¹⁾ (T) (which reduces for vanishing spin interactions to the thermopower of Kondo systems) and in addition a resonance termS _d ⁽²⁾ (T) of opposite sign which vanishes for vanishing interactions. The superposition of both terms leads to an additional extremum of the total thermopower and to a change of sign at a temperatureT ₀ which depends on the Kondo temperature and on the magnetic excitations of the spin glass and therewith on the freezing temperatureT _f. We obtain at low temperatures for oscillating and relaxing spin glass modesS _d ⁽¹⁾ T² andS _d ⁽²⁾ T. At high temperaturesS _d ⁽¹⁾ (T) decreases as |lnT|^–3 andS _d ⁽²⁾ asT ^–1. A close relationship between the temperature dependent resistivity in Born approximation andS _d ⁽¹⁾ (T) is pointed out.SFB 125 Aachen-Jülich-Köln     

Magnetostriction of transition metal substituted Co-based amorphous alloys

The effects of the substitutions of 3d-, 4d- and 5d-transition metals for silicon on magnetostriction of Co-based amorphous alloys have been investigated by measuring the tension dependence of anisotropy field in magnetic hysteresis loop. Fractional changes of the magnetostriction with transition metal solutes in Co-based amorphous alloys are qualitatively discussed in terms of the magnetic moment and coordination number, and classified into 3 types, i.e., positive, negative and complicated types, from a viewpoint of the contribution to magnetostriction.     

燃烧的热力波电池

麻省理工学院的一个美、韩科学家小组在2010年3月7日出版的Nature上发表题为< Chemically driven carbon-nanotube-guided thermopower waves >(用化学方法驱动碳纳米管传导热力波)的论文.该小组在论文中称发现了一种前所未见的现象,在化学反应中强大的能量波可以在微小的多层纳米碳管中暴走,并引发高能量密度的电效应.他们将这个现象冠名为热力波(Thermopower Wave).     

Thermopower of iron-boron metallic glasses

The thermopower of Fe-B metallic glasses has been measured from 300 K to 800 K. The thermopower is negative over the entire temperature range and the temperature dependence varies for various boron concentrations. The effects of crystallization processes and of possible spin dependent scattering process on the temperature dependence of the thermopower are discussed.The author expresses her thanks to P. Duhaj for the preparation of the samples and to P. Mrafko for the computer data processing.     

Thermopower of beech wood biocarbon

This paper reports on measurements of the thermopower S of high-porosity samples of beech wood biocarbon with micron-sized sap pores aligned with the tree growth direction. The measurements have been performed in the temperature range 5–300 K. The samples have been fabricated by pyrolysis of beech wood in an argon flow at different carbonization temperatures (T _carb). The thermopower S has been measured both along and across the sap pores, thus offering a possibility of assessing its anisotropy. The curves S(T _carb) have revealed a noticeable increase of S for T _carb < 1000°C for all the measurement temperatures. This finding fits to the published data obtained for other physical parameters, including the electrical conductivity of these biocarbons, which suggests that for T _carb ∼ 1000°C they undergo a phase transition of the insulator-(at T _carb < 1000°C)-metal-(at T _carb > 1000°C) type. The existence of this transition is attested also by the character of the temperature dependences S(T) of beech wood biocarbon samples prepared at T _carb above and below 1000°C.     

Thermopower of biomorphic silicon carbide

The thermopower coefficients of cubic bio-SiC, a high-porosity semiconductor with cellular pores prepared from the biocarbon template of white eucalyptus wood, and single-crystal β-SiC taken as a reference are measured in the temperature range 5–280 K. It is revealed that, in the low-temperature range, the samples are characterized by a thermopower contribution associated with the electron drag by phonons. The thermopower of the bio-SiC samples is measured both along and across the empty pore channels and is found to be anisotropic. Two models are proposed to account for the anisotropy of the thermopower in cubic bio-SiC.     

On the relaxation nature of the glass transition of amorphous polymers and low-molecular amorphous materials

Physics of the Solid State - The relative temperature range (δT g /T g ) characterizing the liquid-to-glass transition is a single-valued function of the fluctuation volume fraction f g frozen...     

Ferromagnetic-spin glass transition in amorphous and crystalline Fe-Cr

Through a direct comparison of experimental results in amorphous and crystalline forms of Fe-Cr alloys we examine the effect of topological and compositional disorder on magnetic properties. Both types of disorder result in a decrease in the Curie temperature, the magnetic moment at T = 0 and the exchange stiffness constant. These results are discussed in the framework of several models.     

Thermoelectric power of amorphous alloys near the metal-insulator transition

The thermoolectric powerS and the electrical conductivity σ of amorphous Au_xSb_100-x and Cu_xSb_100-x films have been measured in the temperature range between about 2 K and 350 K for concentrations close to the eetal-insulator transition. In both systems the transition occurs at a critical concentrationx _c≈8 at.% noble metal content. A characteristic feature of the transition is in both cases a strong increase of the low temperature slope of the thermopower, i.e.S/T| _t»0 , when approachingx _c from the metallic side. The results are compared with different theoretical predictions for the metal-insulator transition. Furthermore we report on the changes ofS and σ during annelaing. It will be shown that especiallyS(T) of the samples withx close tox _c depends strongly on the annealing state of the films.