Adhesion hysteresis in dynamic atomic force microscopy

The effects of adhesion hysteresis in the dynamic‐dissipation curves measured in amplitude‐modulation atomic force microscopy are discussed. Hysteresis in the interaction forces is shown to modify the dynamics of the cantilever leading to different power dissipation curves in the repulsive and attractive regimes. Experimental results together with numerical simulations show that power dissipation, as measured in force microscopy, is not always proportional to the energy dissipated in the tip–sample interaction process. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

(19)F-(19)F and (19)F-(1)H spin-spin coupling constants in cyclic FH polymers (FH)(n), n=2-6

Spin-spin coupling constants (2h)J(F-F), (1)J(F-H), and (1h)J(H-F) have been obtained for cyclic complexes (FH)(n), with n=2-6, from ab initio equation-of-motion coupled cluster singles and doubles (EOM-CCSD) calculations. Although both the Fermi-contact (FC) term and (2h)J(F-F) increase and become positive as the cluster size increases, the FC term is not a good quantitative approximation to (2h)J(F-F). The paramagnetic spin-orbit (PSO) and spin-dipole (SD) terms which contribute to (2h)J(F-F) appear to be sensitive to the orientation of the hydrogen-bonded pair. However, the large increase in the FC term and (2h)J(F-F) as the size of the cluster increases is due primarily to the reorganization of sigma electron densities in both ground and excited states, and is another manifestation of cooperativity effects in hydrogen-bonded cyclic polymers. The FC term and (1)J(F-H) always increase upon complex formation, but (1)J(F-H) increases only slightly as the size of the cluster increases due to a concurrent decrease in the PSO term. The changes in (1)J(F-H) as a function of polymer size reflect the polarization of electron density away from H and toward F in the ground state, and the electron reorganization which occurs in the excited states which couple to the ground states through the FC and PSO operators. The FC term is a good approximation to (1h)J(H-F), and is always negative, indicating that the hydrogen bonds in the FH clusters are traditional hydrogen bonds.     

Experimental and theoretical studies of instabilities of metal nanoparticles: a new kind of quasimelting

In this work we report experimental and theoretical studies of structural instabilities of gold nanoparticles supported on a carbon substrate using high-resolution transmission microscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that particles undergo structural fluctuations in which a particle exhibits a change in orientation whilst maintaining the overall structure. These fluctuations are of a different kind than the ones reported in previous work, in which transitions between different structures or the appearance, movement or vanishing of twin boundaries are observed. Computer calculations were performed using a model that included both the particle and the substrate. It is found that during the fluctuations there is a collective displacement of the atoms at the interface between the gold and the carbon substrate that results in a larger contact area. Calculations of particle stability that include the interaction with the carbon substrate show that different orientations of the particle have similar energies. As a result, during the fluctuations the particle becomes trapped between different orientations of the same structure. This kind of phenomenon can be considered as a new kind of quasimelting. Received: 26 September 2000 / Accepted: 27 January 2001 / Published online: 23 May 2001     

Ferroelectric switching behavior of pulsed laser deposited Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 thin films

The effect of pulse amplitude on the ferroelectric and switching properties of pulsed laser deposited Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃ thin films has been studied. The structural and morphological analysis revealed that the films had a well crystallized perovskite phase and grain size of about 30–40 nm. A well saturated P–E hysteresis loop was observed with a remnant polarization (P_r) ≈ 4.8 μC/cm² and a coercive field ≈ 100 kV/cm at a frequency of 1 kHz. The P_r has been found to be decreased only 4.3% after passing 8.0 × 10⁸ cycles. The analysis of switching response with nucleation limited switching model reveals that characteristic switching time (t₀) variance is due to the random distribution of the local electric fields. The peak value of polarization current and t₀ exhibits exponential dependence on reciprocal of pulse amplitude.     

69,71Ga NMR studies of a superconducting Ga 84 cluster compound

We present ^69,71Ga-NMR experiments on microcrystalline samples of the recently discovered supramolecular compound Ga ₈₄ [ N ( SiMe ₃ ) ₂ ] ₂₀ Li ₆ Br ₂ ( thf ) ₂₀ ^. 2 toluene, which is composed of ligand-coordinated Ga₈₄ metal clusters, packed together in a fully ordered crystalline matrix. The compound is highly conducting and even shows superconductivity below T _c ~ 7.2 K. Our preliminary results between 10-300 K show a metallic-like behavior: the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate T ₁ ^-1 follows the Korringa law ⁶⁹ ( T ₁ T ) ^-1 = 0.36 s ^-1 K ^-1 , but with a relaxation rate approximately three times smaller than in bulk -Ga metal. No quantum-size effects are observed, the Korringa law being followed down to 10 K, whereas the quantum-gaps for individual clusters should amount to ~ 10 ³ K. These results therefore suggest a transport process based on intermolecular charge transfer, similar as in alkali-doped fullerenes and silicon-clathrates.     

The spherical-model limit in a random field

The spherical-model limitn of then-vector model in a random field, with either a statistically independent distribution or with long-range correlated random fields, is studied to demonstrate the correctness of the replica method in which then and replica limits limits are interchanged, provided the replica and thermodynamic limits are taken in the right order, in the case of long-range correlated random fields. A scaling form for the two-point correlation function relevant to the first-order phase transition below the lower critical dimensionality of the random system is also obtained.     

Kinematical and gravitational analysis of the rocket-borne clock experiment by Vessot and Levine using the revised Robertson's test theory of special relativity

The kinematic aspects of the rocket-borne clock experiment by Vessot and Levine are analyzed with the revised Robertson's test theory of special relativity (Found. Phys. 14, 625 (1984)). Besides the expected time-dilation, it is found that the intermediate steps of this experiment yield in principle Michelson-Morley type information (a relation between longitudinal and transverse length contractions) in the third order of the velocities involved, but no relativity-of-simultaneity related effects.The flat space-time test theory induces a family of spherically symmetric line elements that become the Schwarzschild line element in the relativistic case and also in theabinito rest frame of the theory. These line elements represent the same space-time manifold, but pertain in a one-to-one correspondence to the different flat space-time coordinate transformations of the test theory. The conserved energy is related to the family of local energies in the tangent plane. No deviations from the orthodoxy appear at the pertinent levels of approximation. Hence the unexplained residuals of the Vessot-Levine experiment are not due in obvious ways to kinematic and gravitational frequency shifts caused by deviations of the real coordinate transformations from the Lorentz transformations.This work was started while the author was at Departamento de Fisica, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela. It was completed at the Department of Physics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 83422.     

Revised Robertson's test theory of special relativity: Space-time structure and dynamics

The experimental testing of the Lorentz transformations is based on a family of sets of coordinate transformations that do not comply in general with the principle of equivalence of the inertial frames. The Lorentz and Galilean sets of transformations are the only member sets of the family that satisfy this principle. In the neighborhood of regular points of space-time, all members in the family are assumed to comply with local homogeneity of space-time and isotropy of space in at least one free-falling elevator, to be denoted as Robertson'sab initio rest frame [H. P. Robertson,Rev. Mod. Phys. 21, 378 (1949)].Without any further assumptions, it is shown that Robertson's rest frame becomes a preferred frame for all member sets of the Robertson family except for, again, Galilean and Einstein's relativities. If one now assumes the validity of Maxwell-Lorentz electrodynamics in the preferred frame, a different electrodynamics spontaneously emerges for each set of transformations. The flat space-time of relativity retains its relevance, which permits an obvious generalization, in a Robertson context, of Dirac's theory of the electron and Einstein's gravitation. The family of theories thus obtained constitutes a covering theory of relativistic physics.A technique is developed to move back and forth between Einstein's relativity and the different members of the family of theories. It permits great simplifications in the analysis of relativistic experiments with relevant Robertson's subfamilies. It is shown how to adapt the Clifford algebra version of standard physics for use with the covering theory and, in particular, with the covering Dirac theory.Part of this work was done at the Department of Physics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322.