Magnetic and magneto-transport properties of double perovskite Ba2−xSrxFeMoO6 system

The structural magnetic and magneto-transport properties of double perovskite system Ba_2−xSr_xFeMoO₆ (0?x?1.0) prepared in bulk polycrystalline form are reported in this paper. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that samples are single phase and the lattice constants decreases with increase in the Sr content. The degree of Fe-Mo ordering has been found decreasing in the series with an increase in the Sr content. Parent compound Ba₂FeMoO₆ exhibits saturation magnetic moment value of 3.54 μ_B/f.u. at 85 K in a magnetic field of 6000 Oe. Temperature dependence of resistivity shows metallic behavior for all the samples. The magneto-resistance (MR) of the compound with x=0.4 is higher than that of the other samples. At room temperature this system shows a saturation magnetization value of 1.73 μ_B/f.u. and MR value of 7.08% (1 T). The observed variations in the structural and magnetic properties are attributed to the change of chemical pressure due to the substitution of Sr in place of Ba. The effect of antisite disorder (ASD) defects on magneto-transport properties is studied in more detail.     

Seedlayer interface enhanced magnetic anisotropy in CoPt (0 0 0 2)-textured films

The effects of interface roughness of Ta seedlayer on the structural and magnetic properties of Co₇₂Pt₂₈(20 nm)/Ru(30 nm)/Pt(2 nm)/Ta(5 nm)/glass were investigated. Uniaxial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (8.6×10⁶ ergs/cc), coercivity (5.5 kOe) and nucleation field (−2.8 kOe) in the Co₇₂Pt₂₈ thin film sputter-deposited on relatively smooth surface of Ta seedlayer were achieved. The results showed that relatively smoother interface roughness of Ta seedlayer improved the CoPt/Ru (0 0 0 2) texture and magnetic properties.     

Temperature dependent ultrasonic properties of aluminium nitride

Hexagonal wurtzite structured aluminium nitride has been characterized by the theoretical calculation of ultrasonic attenuation, ultrasonic velocity, higher order elastic constants, thermal relaxation time, acoustic coupling constants and other related parameters in temperature range 200-800 K for wave propagation along the unique axis of the crystal. Higher order elastic constants of AlN at different temperatures are calculated using Lennard-Jones potential for the determination of ultrasonic attenuation. A decrease in ultrasonic velocity with temperature has been predicted, which is caused by reduction in higher order elastic constants with temperature. The temperature dependent ultrasonic properties have been discussed in correlation with higher order elastic constants, thermal relaxation time, thermal conductivity, acoustic coupling constants and thermal energy density. Anomalous behaviour of the attenuation is found at 400 K. On the basis of attenuation, the ductility and performance of AlN have been studied.     

Impulse coupling in laser-driven microtargets

We have studied about the thrust imparted to targets of different materials by pulsed TEA CO₂ laser and chopped CW CO₂ laser in air and its dependence on different parameters such as laser intensity and pulse duration. We estimated the impulse-coupling coefficient and compared it with the published results. The mechanism of generation of thrust by laser incident on targets in air is, in effect, combination of those involved in laser ablation in vacuum and laser-induced air detonation.     

Computer simulation of a cellular automata model for the immune response in a retrovirus system

Immune response in a retrovirus system is modeled by a network of three binary cell elements to take into account some of the main functional features of T4 cells, T8 cells, and viruses. Two different intercell interactions are introduced, one of which leads to three fixed points while the other yields bistable fixed points oscillating between a healthy state and a sick state in a mean field treatment. Evolution of these cells is studied for quenched and annealed random interactions on a simple cubic lattice with a nearest neighbor interaction using inhomogenous cellular automata. Populations of T4 cells and viral cells oscillate together with damping (with constant amplitude) for annealed (quenched) interaction on increasing the value of mixing probabilityB from zero to a characteristic valueB _ca (B _cq). For higherB, the average number of T4 cells increases while that of the viral infected cells decreases monotonically on increasingB, suggesting a phase transition atB _ca (B _cq).     

Energetic and structural characterization of 2‐R‐3‐methylquinoxaline‐1,4‐dioxides (R = benzoyl or tert‐butoxycarbonyl): experimental and computational studies

The gaseous standard molar enthalpies of formation of two 2‐R‐3‐methylquinoxaline‐1,4‐dioxides (R = benzoyl or tert‐butoxycarbonyl), at T = 298.15 K, were derived using the values for the enthalpies of formation of the compounds in the condensed phase, measured by static bomb combustion calorimetry, and for the enthalpies of sublimation, measured by Knudsen effusion, using a quartz crystal oscillator. The three dimensional structure of 2‐tert‐butoxycarbonyl‐3‐methylquinoxaline‐1,4‐dioxide has been obtained by X‐ray crystallography showing that the two N? O bond lengths in this compound are identical. The experimentally determined geometry in the crystal is similar to that obtained in the gas‐phase after computations performed at the B3LYP/6‐311 + G(2d,2p) level of theory. The experimental and computational results reported allow to extend the discussion about the influence of the molecular structure on the dissociation enthalpy of the N? O bonds for quinoxaline 1,4‐dioxide derivatives. As found previously, similar N? O bond lengths in quinoxaline‐1,4‐dioxide compounds are not linked with N? O bonds having the same strength. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trap elimination and reduction of size dispersion due to aging in CdS<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Se<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> quantum dots

Quantum Dots of CdS _x Se_1−x embedded in borosilicate glass matrix have been grown using Double-Step annealing method. Optical characterization of the quantum dots has been done through the combinative analysis of optical absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy at room temperature. Decreasing trend of photoluminescence intensity with aging has been observed and is attributed to trap elimination. The changes in particle size, size distribution, number of quantum dots, volume fraction, trap related phenomenon and Gibbs free energy of quantum dots, has been explained on the basis of the diffusion-controlled growth process, which continues with passage of time. For a typical case, it was found that after 24 months of aging, the average radii increased from 3.05 to 3.12 nm with the increase in number of quantum dots by 190% and the size-dispersion decreased from 10.8% to 9.9%. For this sample, the initial size range of the quantum dots was 2.85 to 3.18 nm. After that no significant change was found in these parameters for the next 12 months. This shows that the system attains almost a stable nature after 24 months of aging. It was also observed that the size-dispersion in quantum dots reduces with the increase in annealing duration, but at the cost of quantum confinement effect. Therefore, a trade off optimization has to be done between the size-dispersion and the quantum confinement.     

Structural and electrical studies of Ba5RTi3V7O30 (R=Ho,Gd, La) compounds

The ferroelectric ceramics Ba₅RTi₃V₇O₃₀ (R=Ho, Gd, La) have been synthesized by solid-state reaction technique. Preliminary X-ray structural analysis confirmed a single-phase formation of the compound in orthorhombic structure. Surface morphology of the compounds was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Detailed studies of electrical properties (i.e., dielectric constant, loss tangent, ac conductivity) as a function of temperature (RT-773 K) and at four different frequencies (1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz and 1 MHz) show ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition of the compounds of diffuse-type. The activation energy has been evaluated from ac conductivity following Arrhenius equation. The conductivity pattern shows that it is strongly frequency dependent and obeys Jonscher's power relation.     

Growth mechanism and optical property of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized by sonochemical method

ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized by ultrasonic irradiation of an aqueous-alcoholic/aqueous-alcoholic-ethylenediamine (EDA) solutions of zinc nitrate and sodium hydroxide. ZnO nanoparticles possess hexagonal wurtzite structures and they exhibit special photoluminescence properties with a red-shift of 22 nm in UV emission band. It is found that the ultrasonic irradiation time and the solvents both influence the growth mechanism and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles. The possible growth mechanism of ZnO nanoparticles formation by sonochemical method has been tried to discuss.