Induced smectic C* phases

Induced ferroelectric S*_C phases are formed by non-chiral S_C host phases doped with chiral dipolar guest molecules. In those mixtures the spontaneous polarization P_s and the tilt angle Θ has been investigated as a function of the mole fraction x_G of the chiral dopant. In most cases the reduced polarization P₀ = P_S/ sin Θ has been found to depend linearly on x_G. The polarization power which is defined by δ_P=(∂P₀/∂x_G)ΔT is discussed in terms of the molecular structure of the chiral dopants. There are systems in which P₀(x_G) deviates positively from linearity. This behaviour can be understood by considering a local field correction to P₀. By assuming a local field of Lorentz type a theoretical relation for P₀(x_G) has been derived which explains the experimental results. The effect of a local field is considerable if the transverse dipole moment and the polarizability of the chiral dopant are large.     

Application of a digital signal processor to Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy

Summary The application of a digital signal processor (DSP) to Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy is described, which allows for near real-time display of the transformed interferograms as spectra.     

On self-repellent one dimensional random walks

Summary We consider an ordinary one dimensional recurrent random walk on. A self-repellent random walk is defined by changing the ordinary law of the random walk in the following way: A path gets a new relative weight by multiplying the old one with a factor 1– for every self intersection of the path. 0<<1 is a parameter.It is shown that if the jump distribution of the random walk has an exponential moment and if is small enough then the displacement of the endpoint is asymptotically of the order of the length of the path.Partially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin     

Decomposition of EuPdIn and EuPtIn at high temperature and high pressure—formation of the hexagonal Laves phases EuPd0.72In1.28 and EuPt0.56In1.44

EuPd_0.72In_1.28 and EuPt_0.56In_1.44 were prepared under multianvil high-pressure (10.5 GPa) high-temperature (1500 and 1400 K) conditions from the precursor compounds EuPdIn and EuPtIn. They were investigated by X-ray diffraction on both powders and single crystals: MgZn₂-type, space group P6₃/mmc, a=578.7(1) pm, c=944.9(3) pm, wR2=0.0734, 263 F² values for EuPd_0.72In_1.28 and a=591.1(2) pm, c=933.8(2) pm, wR2=0.0853, 151 F² values for EuPt_0.56In_1.44 with 13 variable parameters per refinement. Both structures are built up from face- and corner-sharing tetrahedra of palladium (platinum) and indium atoms. The europium cations are located in cavities within the three-dimensional [Pd_0.72In_1.28] and [Pt_0.56In_1.44] networks. The 2a and 6 h positions of the tetrahedral networks show mixed Pd/In and Pt/In occupancy in EuPd_0.72In_1.28 and EuPt_0.56In_1.44, respectively. The crystal chemistry of these indides is briefly discussed.