Negative luminescence from mid-wave infrared HgCdTe diode arrays

A self-referencing, optical modulation technique was used to measure the negative luminescence efficiencies of an array of mid-wave infrared HgCdTe photodiodes with cutoff wavelength 4.6 μm as a function of sample temperature. The internal efficiency at a wavelength of 4 μm was 93% at 295 K, and nearly independent of temperature in the 240–300 K range. This corresponds to an apparent temperature reduction >50 K at room temperature and >30 K at 240 K. Moreover, the reverse-bias saturation current density was only 0.13 A/cm². The measured transmission and emission spectra were simulated using empirical HgCdTe absorption formulas from the literature.     

Particle correlations in e + e − → W + W − events

Preliminary results are reported on the two-particle correlation function R(Q) in hadronic Z decays, fully hadronic WW decays, and mixed hadronic-leptonic WW decays using data collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP at energies between 189 and 206 GeV. Evidence for Bose-Einstein correlations was observed in all three cases. The event mixing technique was used to determine correlations between particles arisingfrom different W bosons in fully hadronic WW decays. An excess of like-sign particle pairs with low four-momentum difference in fully hadronic WW events is observed, consistent with the effect expected from correlations between identical particles from different W bosons.     

Kinetic interpretation of the structural-time criterion for fracture

The incubation-period-based criterion for fracture is considered in terms of the Zhurkov kinetic model of fracture. Within the kinetic model, fracture is treated as a continuously developing process, which starts immediately after the application of a tensile load to a sample and consists in breaking of the interatomic bonds and gradual accumulation of broken bonds in the material in the course of a fracture test. For certain materials, the inclusion of the thermal-fluctuation mechanism for fracture in the incubation-period-based criterion significantly affects the position of the static branch of the time dependence of strength. Time dependences of strength are calculated for a number of materials. The experimental data are analyzed using the structural-time criterion for fracture, which allows one to obtain a unified time dependence of strength for quasi-static and high-rate short-term loadings. The temperature dependence of the incubation period (latent time) is calculated analytically, and a relation is found between the latent fracture time and the thermal vibration frequency of atoms.     

Giant piezoelectric and dielectric enhancement in disordered heterogeneous systems

Effective complex piezoelectric and dielectric constants of disordered heterogeneous systems, such as statistical mixtures consisting of spheroidal particles of the same orientation but with random distribution in space, are studied. It is found for the first time that, in such systems, there exists giant piezoelectric enhancement accompanied by giant relaxation of piezoelectric coefficients and permittivity. The piezoelectric and dielectric spectra differ considerably from the Debye spectra and have a Cole-Cole character. The dependence of the effects considered on the aspect ratios of the spheroids is investigated. The physical mechanisms responsible for the anomalous behavior of the piezoelectric coefficients and permittivity are considered.     

Stress relaxation and viscosity of a bulk Pd<Subscript>40</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>30</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>10</Subscript>P<Subscript>20</Subscript> metallic glass under isochronous heating conditions

Isochronous relaxation of tensile stresses is measured in a bulk Pd₄₀Cu₃₀Ni₁₀P₂₀ metallic glass in the initial state and after certain thermal treatments. The results of measurements are used to find the energy spectrum of irreversible structural relaxation, from which the temperature dependence of shear viscosity is then calculated. This dependence is also found independently from measurements of creep in the same glass. The calculated viscosity is shown to agree well with the experimental data.     

Use of ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond for selective deposition of boron-doped diamond films

A suspension of ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond was used for introducing (in particular, selectively) high-density centers of diamond nucleation on various substrates. High-quality doped diamond films to be used as electrochemistry electrodes were deposited from the gas phase in a microwave discharge on certain substrates treated using ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond. A uniform distribution of nucleation centers with concentrations greater than 10¹⁰ cm^-2 on silicon substrates was obtained. Electrochemical current-potential curves were measured for continuous films. Diamond meshes of different transparency were grown using selective nucleation. Successful production of high-quality doped diamond meshes gives grounds to consider them the most promising electrodes for use in electrochemistry.     

Nonequilibrium dynamics of quantum spin glass in an AC magnetic field

The ageing effect is studied analytically in a disordered quantum system interacting with its surroundings and subjected to an external ac magnetic field. Energy dissipation is due to the interaction of the system with a set of independent harmonic oscillators, imitating a quantum thermal bath. Dynamic equations for the autocorrelation function and linear-response function are derived using the method of closed-path integrals. The effect of an external field is studied on the correlation function and response in the spin-glass and paramagnetic phases. Both functions are found to depend on the spin interaction strength.     

Chain decay of low-angle tilt boundaries in nanocrystalline materials

In terms of two-dimensional dislocation-disclination dynamics, a theoretical model is developed to describe the decay of a low-angle tilt boundary in a deformed nanocrystalline material under the action of an externally applied elastic stress and of the elastic field of a neighboring decayed boundary. The critical external stresses are calculated at which the boundary decays and the dislocations making up this boundary either are trapped by the boundary that decayed earlier or break away from both boundaries. The decay of a low-angle tilt boundary is shown to result in a substantial decrease in the critical decay stresses for the neighboring boundaries, which can cause an avalanche-like chain decay of low-angle boundaries yielding high-density ensembles of mobile dislocations capable of carrying substantial plastic deformations and of forming shear bands in deformed nanocrystalline materials.