Brillouin scattering in KH3 (SeO3)2 above the transition temperature

The Brillouin scattering measurement in KH₃(SeO₃)₂ above the transition temperature shows a large anomaly in hypersonic velocity of the transverse wave with the wave vector q = [010] and the polarization ξ = [001], which indicates acoustic phonon softening.     

Neutron diffraction study of magnetic ordering in PrCu2Si2, PrCu2Ge2, PrFe2Ge2 and NdFe2Ge2

A neutron diffraction study of polycrystalline PrCu₂Si₂ [1], PrCu₂Ge₂ [2], PrFe₂Ge₂ [3] and NdFe₂Ge₂ [4] intermetallics carried out at liquid helium temperature shows the presence of a collinear antiferromagnetic order below T_N = 19 ± 1 K [1], T_N = 16 ± 1 K [2], T_N = 9 ± 1 K [3] and 13 ± 1 K [4]. Magnetic moment, parallel to the c-axis is localized on RE ions only. The magnetic structure of these compounds consists of ferromagnetic layers perpendicular to the c-axis coupled antiferromagnetically with sequence +-+- for PrCu₂Si₂ and PrCu₂Ge₂ and +--+ for PrFe₂Ge₂ and NdFe₂Ge₂. The RE moments amount close to the free ion values for Fe containing compounds but are smaller in those containing Cu suggesting a fairly strong influence of crystal field.     

Elastic constants of Cr3Si

Elastic constants of Cr₃Si have been measured on single crystals oriented along [110] and [100] as a function of temperature between 4.2 and 300 K. Their magnitudes at 4.2 K are in unit of 10¹¹ Nm^-2C₄₄ = 1.32C' = (C₁₁?C₁₂)/2 = 1.58B = 1.99 There is no peculiar behaviour as a function of temperature.     

The electrooptic effect in NH4IO3

The static electrooptic coefficients of NH₄IO₃ at room temperature are r₄₃ = 4.9, r₆₁ = 1.0, r₁₂n²₁ ? r₃₂n³₃ = 59.6, r₂₂n³₂ ? r₃₂n³₃ = 116.8 [ X 10^-12m/V]. The electrooptic effect depends on temperature and shows two ph ase transitions at 82.5°C and near 120°C.     

Crossing characteristics of lamb wave modes in [001]c and [011]c polarized Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 crystal plates

Multiple crossings of Lamb modes found in [001]_c and [011]_c polarized (1−x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbTiO₃ (PMN-xPT, x=0.33 and 0.29, respectively) plates have been studied by comparing their slowness patterns with their dispersion patterns. Multiple bandgaps and crossings of Lamb wave dispersion curves are directly related to the multivalued curves in region II, and a pair of complex conjugate b² values in region I of their slowness curves. An expression composed of elastic and piezoelectric constants has been derived to judge whether S₀ and A₀ modes cross with each other. This expression can be greatly simplified for non-piezoelectric materials, and there are no crossings of Lamb modes for isotropic materials.     

Dielectric dispersion in the incommensurate phases of [N(CH3)4]2CoCl4 and [N(CH3)4]2ZnCl4

The complex dielectric permittivity ?(ω) of [N(CH₃)₄]₂CoCl₄ and [N(CH₃)₄]₂ZnCl₄ along the a-axis was measured between 0.35 MHz and 100 MHz. It has been found that for both substances the relaxation frequencies are about 5 MHz at T_c. The dielectric relaxation of both substances could be described by a polydispersive process β = 0.74 in the vicinity of T_c. However, for the temperature region of (T?T_c) > 0.6 for [N(CH₃)₄]₂CoCl₄ the dielectric absorption seems to be rather monodispersive.     

Phase diagram of the relaxor (1−x)Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-xPbTiO3 investigated by dielectric and Raman spectroscopies

Lead zinc niobate-lead titanate[(1−x)Pb(Zn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-xPbTiO₃] (PZN-PT) crystals with x=4.5% and x=12% have been investigated using dielectric and Raman measurements over a range of temperatures. Above room temperature, dielectric measurements show that both compositions exhibit structural phase transitions according to the phase diagram proposed by Kuwata et al. [Ferroelectrics 387 (1981) 579]. Below room temperature, an anomaly at around 180 K for the x=12% sample is observed, suggesting another phase transition. Raman measurements are used to study all phase transitions.     

Neutron diffraction study of the layered compounds MnPSe3 and FePSe3

In the insulating compounds MnPSe₃ (1) and FePSe₃ (2) the divalent transition metal ions form planar honeycomb lattices. A neutron diffraction study revealed a collinear antiferromagnetic order below T_N = 74 ± 2 K (1) and T_N = 119 ± 1 K (2) with the corresponding wavevectors k = [000] (1) and $\text{k = [}\text{1}\text{2}\text{0}\text{1}\text{2}\text{]}$ (2). In MnPSe₃ the magnetic moments (m₀ = 4.74 μ_B) lie within the basal plane and in FePSe₃ (m₀ = 4.9 μ_B) they are pointing along the c-axis. The collinear structures are determined by the dominating intralayer interactions between first (J₁), second (J₂) and third neighbours (J₃) which in MnPSe₃ are all antiferromagnetic whereas in FePSe₃J₁ is ferromagnetic and J₂ and J₃ are antiferromagnetic.     

Birefringence,X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements on the structural phase transitions of (CH3NH3)2 MnCl4 and (CH3NH3)2FeCl4

We used optical birefringence, X-ray and neutron diffraction methods with single crystals to study the structural phase transitions of the perowskite-type layer structures of (CH₃NH₃)₂MeCl₄ with Me=Mn, Fe. The Mn-compound shows the following structural transitions at 394 K — a continuous order-disorder phase transition from tetragonal symmetry $\text{I4}\text{mmm}$ to orthorhombic space group Abma (Cmca in reference 10); at 257 K — a discontinuous transition to a second tetragonal modification; at 95 K — a discontinuous transition to a monoclinic phase. For the Fe-compound the corresponding transition temperatures are 328 K and 231 K, respectively. A low temperature monoclinic phase could not be observed. The lattice parameters of the different modifications were determined as a function of temperature. The temperature dependent course of the order parameter has been investigated for the order—disorder transition. For both compounds, all the methods used gave the same value for the critical exponent of β = 0.315.     

Chloride perovskite layer compounds of [NH3-(CH2)n-NH3]MnCl4 formula

[NH₃-(CH₂)_n-NH₃]MnCl₄ compounds with n = 2, …, 5 are chloride perovskite layer structures. The room temperature phase of members with odd numbers of carbon atoms is orthorhombic, whereas even numbers lead to monoclinic structures. Structural phase transitions were found in all compounds with n > 2. The magnetic behaviour is similar to the (C_nH_2n+1NH₃)₂MnCl₄-family.     

Two-dimensional critical behaviour in antiferrodistortive Al ur6(CIO4)3 and Ga ur6(ClO4)3

Critical behaviour with dimensionality d = 2 has been observed for the 300 K antiferrodistortive phase transition in Al ur₆(ClO₄)₃ and Ga ur₆(ClO₄)₃ by means of the temperature dependence of the ESR parameter D. The systems exhibited d = 2 behaviour in the static critical behaviour for T<T_c?40 K for T>T_c + 40 K. From the ESR data including line width measurements the local order parameter relaxation rate ω₁ has been obtained for various temperatures above T_c, with a lowest value of ω₁ = 150 MHz at T_c + 15 K     

The magnetic structures of HoTiO3 and ErTiO3

The magnetic structures of rare-earth titanium perovskites, ErTiO₃ and HoTiO₃, have been determined at 4.2 K by neutron diffraction. The Er³⁺ moment of (8.5 ± 0.5) μ_B lies along [001] and is colinear with the titanium moment of (-0.7 ± 0.3) μ_B. The Ho³⁺ moment of (8.1 ± 0.5) μ_B is inclined at an angle of 24° to the bc plane and 32° to the ab pla so as to produce an antiferromagnetic ordering of the x component and a ferromagnetic ordering of the y and the z components. The titanium moment of (-0.55 ± 0.3) μ_B lies in the bc plane but its precise direction has not been determined.     

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the ferroelectric phase transition in [NH2(CH3)2]3[Sb2Cl9]

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the ferroelectric phase transition temperature in [NH₂(CH₃)₂]₃[Sb₂Cl₉] (DMACA) has been studied by electric permittivity measurements at pressures up to 400 MPa. The pressure-temperature phase diagram is given. The phase transition temperature (T_c) increases with increasing pressure up to 150 MPa, passes through a maximum and then decreases with a further increase of pressure. The unexpected nonlinear decrease in T_c with pressure increasing above 150 MPa suggests that the mechanism of ferroelectric phase transition in DMACA is different from hitherto assumed.     

Brillouin scattering of N(CH3)4 ZnCl4

The elastic behaviour with temperature near the commensurate incommensurate phase transition of [N (CH₃)₄ Zn Cl₄] have been investigated by Brillouin scattering and compared to ultrasonic results. Elastic and attenuation anomalies observed at 8 MHz are not found at Brillouin frequency. Photoelastic coefficients have been measured.     

Magneto-optical measurement on the layer type magnet (CH2)2(ND3)2MnCl4

The linear birefringence (LB) of the antiferromagnet (CH₂)₂(ND₃)₂MnCl₄ has been measured as a function of temperature and in magnetic fields up to 100 kOe. The temperature dependence of the LB points to a pronounced two dimensional magnetic behaviour. No anomaly corresponding to the effect of three dimensional ordering could be detected at T_N. In theffield dependent measurements the spin flop at H_SF = 33.6 ± 1 kOe (T = 4K) could clearly be detected.     

Magnetostriction of antiferromagnetic FeGe2

The anisotropic magnetostriction of FeGe₂ is measured for magnetic field along the [1 0 0] and [1 1 0] axes at temperature 4.2 K and along [1 0 0] from 77 to 300 K. The behaviour is consistent with spin reorientation in the basal plane. The saturation magnetostriction and the characteristic field required to produce saturation decrease with increasing temperature and approach zero at the lower transition temperature, $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{K}}\text{? 265}$ K. This suggests that the spins flip from the basal plane into the direction of the tetragonal [0 0 1] axis at T_K.     

Neutron diffraction study of β-UD3 and β-UH3

The results of a neutron powder diffraction study on β-UD₃ and β-UH₃ are reported. Diffraction patterns have been obtained both above (220 K) and below (10 K) the Curie temperature, in order to refine the crystal structure on the basis of a large number of resolved Bragg peaks and to obtain the ordered magnetic moment. The two kinds of uranium atoms present in the structure appear to be magnetically equivalent. The observed magnetic moment for β-UD₃ at T = 10 K is μ_ord = (1.45 ? 0.11) μ_B/U_atom     

Anisotropy of Hc2 in single crystal Nb3Sn and V3Si at high magnetic fields: Limitations of linear chain model

The anisotropy of H_c2 for single crystal Nb₃Sn and V₃Si in the low temperature tetragonal phase was measured in high magnetic fields. At ～ 8K, δ = [H_c2[100]-H_c2[110])/H_c2] ≈0.05 for Nb₃Sn and δ ≈ 0.02 for V₃Si. The data do not show evidence of a highly anisotropic Fermi surface for Nb₃Sn or V₃Si.     

Crystal structure and structural transition caused by charge-transfer phase transition for iron mixed-valence complex (n-C3H7)4N[FeFe(dto)3] (dto=C2O2S2)

(n-C₃H₇)₄N[Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃] shows a new type of first order phase transition called charge-transfer phase transition around 120 K, where the charge transfer between Fe^II and Fe^III occurs reversibly. Recently, we have succeeded in obtaining single crystals of the title complex and determined the crystal structure at room temperature. Crystal data: space group P6₃, Z=2. Moreover, we have investigated the structural transition caused by the charge-transfer phase transition by means of powder X-ray diffraction measurement. When the temperature is decreased, the a-axis, which corresponds to the hexagonal ring size in two-dimensional honeycomb network structure of [Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃]_∞, contracts by 0.1 Å at the charge-transfer transition temperature (T_CT), while the c-axis, perpendicular to the honeycomb network layer, elongates by 0.1 Å at T_CT. Consequently, when the temperature is decreased, the unit cell volume decreases without noticeable anomaly around T_CT, which is responsible for the quite small vibrational contribution to the entropy change, compared with usual spin crossover transition. Thus, the charge-transfer phase transition around 120 K for (n-C₃H₇)₄N[Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃] is regarded as spin entropy driven phase transition.