Influence of Fe/B ratio on thermodynamic properties of amorphous Fe-Mo-Cu-B

Amorphous Fe-Mo-Cu-B ribbons with varying Fe/B ratio were prepared by planar flow casting. Characteristic transformation temperatures as well as the transformation kinetics were determined by DTA and DSC analyses. The presence of magnetic phases was identified by VSM-magnetometry; the information about their local ordering was obtained using Mössbauer spectrometry. Structure analysis was performed by X-ray diffraction analysis and by transmission electron microscopy. In all cases, higher bcc-Fe crystallization temperatures and lower magnetization of crystalline samples are observed with increasing content of boron.     

In situ optical monitoring of metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy growth of C-doped GaAs

20 cm^-3 and above) induce oscillations in the reflected intensity. The evolution of the layers morphology is shown to depend on two effects: (i)the locally high surface concentration of carbon which blocks locally the growth and hence induces holes at the surface, (ii)the occurrence of dislocations at thicknesses larger than the critical thickness which are revealed chlorides produced by the decomposition of CCl₄ (the carbon precursor) and form deep etch pits. Received: 13 February 1998 / Accepted: 26 October 1998     

Magnetic properties of the mixed spinel Mg1+xMnxFe2-2xO4

The structural and magnetic properties of the mixed spinel Mg_1+xMn_xFe_2-2xO₄ system for 0.1<= x <= 0.9 have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, magnetization, a.c. susceptibility and Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements. X-ray intensity calculations indicate that Mn⁴⁺ ions occupy only octahedral (B) sites replacing Fe³⁺ ions and the added Mg²⁺ ions substitute for A-site Fe³⁺ ions. All samples are magnetic at 12 K displaying Mössbauer spectra that have magnetic sextets coexisting with a central doublet that increases in population with increasing Mn concentration, indicating the presence of short range ordering (clustering). The Mössbauer intensity data show that Mn possesses a preference for the B-site of the spinel over the whole range of concentration. As expected, the hyperfine field and Curie temperature determined from a.c.susceptibility data decrease with increasing Mn content. Magnetization results indicate that on increasing dilution x, the collinear ferrimagnetic phase breaks down at x = 0.3 before reaching the ferrimagnetic percolation limit (x=0.6), as a result of the presence of competing exchange interactions, which is well supported by Mössbauer results. From all the above results, it is proposed that with increasing Mn content from x=0.6 to 0.9, the frustration and disorder increase in the system suppressing the ferrimagnetic ordering, and the system approaches to a cluster spin glass type of ordering at x=0.8 as reflected in the a.c.susceptibility and Mössbauer spectrum.     

A Mass‐Spectrometry‐Based Approach to Distinguish Annular and Specific Lipid Binding to Membrane Proteins

Membrane proteins engage in a variety of contacts with their surrounding lipids, but distinguishing between specifically bound lipids, and non‐specific, annular interactions is a challenging problem. Applying native mass spectrometry to three membrane protein complexes with different lipid‐binding properties, we explore the ability of detergents to compete with lipids bound in different environments. We show that lipids in annular positions on the presenilin homologue protease are subject to constant exchange with detergent. By contrast, detergent‐resistant lipids bound at the dimer interface in the leucine transporter show decreased k_off rates in molecular dynamics simulations. Turning to the lipid flippase MurJ, we find that addition of the natural substrate lipid‐II results in the formation of a 1:1 protein–lipid complex, where the lipid cannot be displaced by detergent from the highly protected active site. In summary, we distinguish annular from non‐annular lipids based on their exchange rates in solution.     

Superconducting state parameters of indium-based binary alloys

Our well-recognized pseudopotential is used to investigate the superconducting state parameters viz: electron-phonon coupling strength λ. Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, transition temperature T _c, isotope effective exponent α and interaction strength N ₀ V for the In_1−x Zn _x and In_1−x Sn _x binary alloys. We have incorporated six different types of local field correction functions, proposed by Hartree, Taylor, Vashistha-Singwi, Ichimaru-Utsumi, Farid et al and Sarkar et al to show the effect of exchange and correlation on the aforesaid properties. Very strong influence of the various exchange and correlation functions is concluded from the present study. The comparison with other such theoretical values is encouraging, which confirms the applicability of our model potential in explaining the superconducting state parameters of binary mixture.     

Correlation between morphological, electrical and optical properties of GaN at all stages of MOVPE Si/N treatment growth

GaN has been grown using Si/N treatment growth by MOVPE on sapphire (0001) in a home-made vertical reactor. The growth was monitored by in situ laser reflectometry. The morphological, electrical and optical properties of GaN are investigated at all the growth stages. To this aim, the growth was interrupted at different stages. The obtained samples are ex situ characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), room temperature Van der Pauw–Hall electrical transport and low temperature (13 K) photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The SEM images show clearly the coalescence process. A smooth surface is obtained for a fully coalesced layer. During the coalescence process, the electron concentration (n) and mobility (μ) vary from 2×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ to 2×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and 12 cm²/V s–440 cm²/V s, respectively. The PL maxima shift to higher energy and the FWHM decreases to about 4 meV. A correlation between PL spectra and Hall effect measurements is made. We show that the FWHM follows a n^2/3 power law for n above 10¹⁸ cm⁻³.     

Effect of pressure on electrical resistance of WSe<Subscript>2</Subscript> single crystal

The results of electrical resistance measurements under pressure on single crystals of WSe₂ are reported. Measurements up to 8.5 GPa are carried out using Bridgman anvil set up and beyond it using diamond anvil cell (DAC) up to a pressure of 27 GPa. There is no clear indication of any phase transition till the highest pressure is reached in these measurements.