Anomalous thermal expansion of osmium dioxide

The precision lattice parameters of osmium dioxide have been determined at different temperatures, in the temperature range 30–444 °C, using a Unicam high temperature powder camera 19 cm in diameter and CuKα radiation. The data have been used to evaluate the coefficients of thermal expansion at various temperatures by a graphical method. The ‘a’ parameter increases non-linearly with increasing temperature while the ‘c’ parameter remains constant throughout the range of temperature studied indicating a zero coefficient of expansion along the c-direction. The abnormal thermal behaviour of this compound is explained in terms of the electronic configuration of the d-shell of the cation.     

Peculiarities of X-ray diffraction in quartz monocrystals

The scattering of X-rays in quartz monocrystals has been investigated. It has been shown, that, even in thick quartz monocrystals, kinematic scattering takes place and pendular bands appear. It has been demonstrated experimentally that only a diffraction pattern of clearance is obtained in bicrystal quartz interferometers, whereas in tricrystal interferometers moiré patterns are not produced. The beam reflected from one part of the crystal is no longer reflected from the other parts of the same crystal.     

Surface profile measurement of low-frequency vibrating objects using temporal analysis of fringe pattern

A simple and accurate algorithm (phase scanning method) is proposed for 3D surface contouring and dynamic response determination of a vibrating object. A sinusoidal fringe pattern is projected onto a low-frequency vibrating object by a programmable liquid crystal display projector. The fringe patterns are captured by a high-speed CCD camera with a telecentric gauging lens. Phase values are evaluated point by point using phase scanning method. From the phase values of each point on the object, the contour of the specimen at different instants of vibration can be retrieved. In this paper, a small vibrating coin is used to demonstrate the validity of the method and the experimental results are compared with test results on a stationary coin using four-step phase shifting and fast Fourier transform methods. The technique is especially useful in applications where the vibrating object has a complicated shape.     

Quantitative visualization of micro-tube flow using micro-PIV

This paper describes PIV measurements ofthe flow field in a micro round tube with an internal diameter of 100 μm in order to examine micro-scale effects. Since the refractive index of the micro tube almost corresponds to that of water, the inner flow in the tube can be observed clearly. The micro PIV system has been developed using a microscope, a high sensitive CCD camera, a double pulsed Nd:YAG laser and optics. Applying the micro PIV technique to the flow, the velocity distributions with spatial resolution of 1.8 × 1.8 μm were measured even near the wall in the center plane of the round tube. It was found that the velocities near the tube wall were smaller than the theoretical values calculated by using Poiseuille’s law. It is believed that this disparity is due to micro-scale effects such as interference between particles and the wall, friction at the wall, surface tension and so on.     

Radiative carrier recombination dependent on temperature and well width of InGaN/GaN single quantum well

Photoluminescence (PL) spectra and time-resolved PL are measured from around 10 to 300 K for the InGaN/GaN single quantum wells (SQWs) with well widths of 1.5, 2.5, 4 and 5 nm. For the SQWs with the well widths of 1.5 and 2.5 nm, the peak position of PL exhibits an S-shaped shift with increasing temperature. The radiative recombination time τ_RAD begins to increase at the temperature for the position to change from the red-shift to the blue-shift. The steep increase of τ_RAD is observed beyond the temperature from the blue-shift to the red-shift. For the SQWs with the well widths of 4 and 5 nm, the peak position of PL exhibits a monotonic red-shift. τ_RAD decreases at first and then increases with temperature. It is about 100-times longer in the low temperature region and about 10-times longer at room temperature as compared with those of the SQWs with narrower widths.     

Photoemission study of the modification of the electronic structure of transition-metal overlayers on TiO2 surfaces II. Cr on TiO2(0 0 1)

The electronic states of the Cr overlayers on TiO₂(0 0 1) surfaces have been investigated using angle-resolved and resonant photoemission spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation. At lower coverages, Cr deposition on TiO₂(0 0 1) creates two well separated in-gap emissions due to the formation of surface Ti³⁺ (3d¹) ions and Cr³⁺ (3d³) ions. At higher coverages, the in-gap emission is developed into the 2-peak-structure emission of Cr 3d character. The corresponding state is considered to be of metallic nature from the viewpoint of the high ability of oxygen adsorption, but has no Fermi edge, indicating a possibility of forming small Cr clusters on TiO₂(0 0 1) at this stage.     

Noncollinear magnetic order in quasicrystals

Based on Monte Carlo simulations, the stable magnetization configurations of an antiferromagnet on a quasiperiodic tiling are derived theoretically. The exchange coupling is assumed to decrease exponentially with the distance between magnetic moments. It is demonstrated that the superposition of geometric frustration with the quasiperiodic ordering leads to a three-dimensional noncollinear antiferromagnetic spin structure. The structure can be divided into several ordered interpenetrating magnetic supertilings of different energy and characteristic wave vector. The number and the symmetry of subtilings depend on the quasiperiodic ordering of atoms.     

The Odd Eight-Vertex Model

We consider a vertex model on the simple-quartic lattice defined by line graphs on the lattice for which there is always an odd number of lines incident at a vertex. This is the odd 8-vertex model which has eight possible vertex configurations. We establish that the odd 8-vertex model is equivalent to a staggered8-vertex model. Using this equivalence we deduce the solution of the odd8-vertex model when the weights satisfy a free-fermion condition. It is found that the free-fermion model exhibits no phase transitions in the regime of positive vertex weights. We also establish the complete equivalence of the free-fermion odd 8-vertex model with the free-fermion 8-vertex model solved by Fan and Wu. Our analysis leads to several Ising model representations of thefree-fermion model with pure 2-spin interactions.     

Colossal magnetoresistance without phase separation: disorder-induced spin glass state and nanometer scale orbital-charge correlation in half doped manganites

The magnetic and electrical properties of high-quality single crystals of A-site disordered (solid solution) Ln0.5Ba0.5MnO3 are investigated near the phase boundary between the spin-glass insulator and colossal-magnetoresistive ferromagnetic metal, locating near Ln=Sm. The temperature dependence of the ac susceptibility and the x-ray diffuse scattering of Eu0.5Ba0.5MnO3 are analyzed in detail. The uniformity of the random potential perturbation in Ln0.5Ba0.5MnO3 crystals with a small bandwidth yields, rather than the phase separation, an homogeneous short ranged charge or orbital order which gives rise to a nearly atomic spin-glass state. Remarkably, this microscopically disordered "charge-exchange-glass" state alone is able to bring forth the colossal magnetoresistance.