Study of photon-induced L3 vacancy alignment for elements La to U

Alignment of photon-induced L₃ vacancies is studied in rare earth and highZ elements at energies of experimental interest, near thresholds to 60 keV, under nonrelativistic dipole approximation. Numerical calculations of the matrix element are undertaken to produce theoretical data for comparison with the experimental findings. The A₂ values being s>0.1 at photoelectron energies <20 keV are certainly higher than 5–8% uncertainties quoted in experimental results. Present findings are from a very basic model, hydrogen-like and can further be treated as reference to observe the impact of screening, relativistic, multipole and retardation corrections to the model     

Ag implantation-induced modification of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy thin films

Nanocrystalline thin films of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy are deposited on an Si substrate by the DC-magnetron co-sputtering technique and 120?keV Ag ions are implanted at different fluences. The thickness and composition of the pristine films are determined by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). X-Ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and four-point probe resistivity methods have been used to study the structural, morphological and electrical transport properties. XRD analysis has revealed the existence of martensitic and austenite phases in the pristine film and also evidenced the structural changes in Ag-implanted Ni–Ti films at different fluences. AFM studies have revealed that surface roughness and grain size of Ni–Ti films have decreased with an increase in ion fluence. The modifications in the mechanical behaviour of implanted Ni–Ti films w.r.t pristine film is determined by using a Nano-indentation tester at room temperature. Higher hardness and the ratio of higher hardness (H) to elastic modulus (E_r) are observed for the film implanted at an optimized fluence of 9?×?10¹⁵ ions/cm². This improvement in mechanical behaviour could be understood in terms of grain refinement and dislocation induced by the Ag ion implantation in the Ni–Ti thin films.     

Temperature studies of Fe−Mn nodules

Sea nodules were extensively studied over a wide range of temperature ranging from 77K to 1175K using Mossbauer effect and ESR. The Mossbauer studies of the nodules at 77K and room temperature show a quadrupole doublet whereas at higher temperatures magnetic spectra were obtained starting at around 875K which ultimately gives a hyperfine field of around 390 KOe at 1175 K. The Mossbauer spectra recorded at 30K did not show any significant change in the room temperature spectra. The analysis of the spectra upto 775K showed two positions of Fe^R+, vie., octahedral and tetrahedral which were varified by ESR of the diluted samples.     

Rayleigh-taylor instability of viscoelastic fluids with suspended particles in porous medium in hydromagnetics

The instability of the plane interface between two viscoelastic (Oldroydian) superposed conducting fluids permeated with suspended particles in porous medium is studied when the whole system is immersed in a uniform magnetic field. The dispersion relation for the Oldroydian viscoelastic fluid is obtained which also yields dispersion relations for Maxwellian and Newtonian fluids in special cases, in the presence of suspended particles in porous medium in hydromagnelics. The system is found to be stable for potentially stable case. The presence of magnetic field stabilizes certain wave number band whereas the system was unstable for all wave numbers in the absence of magnetic field, for the potentially unstable configuration. The growth rates increase (for certain wave numbers) and decrease (for other wave numbers) with the increase in stress relaxation time, strain retardation time, suspended particles number density and medium permeability.     

Synthesis and characterization of K2NiF4-type phases Ln0.5Sr1.5Mn0.5Fe0.5O4 (Ln = La, Nd, Gd, and Dy)

A systematic investigation of layered perovskite oxides with general formula Ln_0.5Sr_1.5Mn_0.5Fe_0.5O₄ (Ln?=?La, Nd, Gd, and Dy) has been undertaken mainly to understand their structural, magnetic, as well as electrical behavior. The materials were prepared by the ceramic method. X-ray data have been analyzed by using program Checkcell and the variations of various parameters are explained. It has been concluded that not only A-site cation radius, <r _A>, but also the size variance factor (σ ²) influence electrical and magnetic properties. A systematic study of electrical resistivity of all the four materials was undertaken as a function of temperature to understand the conduction mechanism. On analyzing the electrical resistivity data, it has been concluded that variable range hopping model is found to fit well. The magnetic studies suggest that the phases are antiferromagnetic and this behavior could arise from Mn⁴⁺–O–Mn⁴⁺, and Fe³⁺–O–Fe³⁺ superexchange interaction.     

Quench dynamics of edge states in 2-D topological insulator ribbons

We study the dynamics of edge states of the two dimensional BHZ Hamiltonian in a ribbon geometry following a sudden quench to the quantum critical point separating the topological insulator phase from the trivial insulator phase. The effective edge state Hamiltonian is a collection of decoupled qubit-like two-level systems which get coupled to bulk states following the quench. We notice a pronounced collapse and revival of the Lochschmidt echo for low-energy edge states illustrating the oscillation of the state between the two edges. We also observe a similar collapse and revival in the spin Hall current carried by these edge states, leading to a persistence of its time-averaged value.     

Design and analysis of nano-deep corrugated waveguide grating-based dual-resonant filters in visible and infra-red regions

A theoretical analysis of nano-deep corrugated long-period waveguide gratings on a SU-8 polymer-based channel waveguide with NOA61 optical epoxy coated upper- and lower cladding is presented. The transmission spectra of the gratings show strong rejection bands both at visible (at wavelength region of 450?460 nm) and infra-red (at wavelength region of 1530?1540 nm) regions when a grating period of ?68 μm with optimized grating tooth height is considered. Phase-matching graphs are studied to find the relationship between resonance wavelength and grating period. These results show that the grating parameters significantly affect the characteristics of transmission spectra as well as the resonance wavelength of the grating. Long-period waveguide grating-based band pass filter made by use of same polymer materials are also designed and analyzed. These types of waveguide grating-based filters can widely be used for visible and infra-red wavelength sensing applications.