Working group report: Flavor physics and model building

This is the report of flavor physics and model building working group at WHEPP-9. While activites in flavor physics have been mainly focused on B-physics, those in model building have been primarily devoted to neutrino physics. We present summary of working group discussions carried out during the workshop in the above fields, and also briefly review the progress made in some projects subsequently.     

Influence of Cd and Cr substitutions on the magnetization and permeability of magnesium ferrites

Magnetization and permeability of polycrystalline ferrites with general formula Cd_xMg_1−xFe_2−yCr_yO₄ (x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0; y=0, 0.05 and 0.10) were studied. Study of saturation magnetization reveals that the Neel's two-sublattice model exists upto x=0.4, for y=0, 0.05 and 0.1 and a three-sublattice model (YK-model) is predominant for x>0.4 and y=0, 0.05 and 0.10. The saturation magnetization and magnetic moment were found to decrease with the increase in Cr³⁺ contents, which is attributed to the dilution of B–B site interaction. Variation of initial permeability with temperature revealed the long-range ferromagnetic ordering in the compounds with x=0.4. The sample with x?0.4 and y=0, 0.05 and 0.10 showed peaking behavior near Curie temperature, which is attributed to the decrease of anisotropy constant K₁ to zero. Low-frequency dispersion of initial permeability suggests domain wall displacement. Addition of Cd²⁺ resulted in a sharp decrease in Curie temperature. With the addition of Cr³⁺, initial permeability was found to decrease.     

Efficient and high-power intracavity frequency doubled diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG/KTP continuous wave (CW) green laser

Highly efficient continuous wave (CW) green beam generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode side-pumped Nd:YAG laser using a single pump head based on a copper-coated flow tube in a V-shaped cavity geometry has been demonstrated. A maximum 30.5 W of CW green power was obtained at a total diode pumping power of 260 W corresponding to 11.7% conversion efficiency of diode pump power to CW green power and 4.7% conversion efficiency of electrical power to CW green power. The performance of the laser by considering the pump power induced thermal lensing effect and the M²-parameter at the fundamental wavelength has been analyzed.     

Thermally and optically induced effects on sub-band gap absorption in nanocrystalline CdSe (nc-CdSe) thin films

Nanocrystalline cadmium selenide (nc-CdSe) thin films have been prepared by thermal evaporation using the inert gas condensation (IGC) technique. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies show that the CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) are spherical in shape. Constant photocurrent method (CPM) is used to determine the value of absorption coefficient in low absorption region of as-deposited, annealed and light soaked nc-CdSe thin films. Values of optical band gap (E_g) have been determined by using Tauc's relation for as-deposited, annealed and light soaked nc-CdSe thin films from the α values evaluated from reflection and transmission measurements. We have used a derivative procedure to sub-gap absorption spectra in order to get information on the energetic distribution of the occupied density of states below Fermi level. Constants such as optical gap E_g, Urbach edge E_u have been obtained from CPM spectra in as-deposited, annealed and light soaked nc-CdSe thin films. Concentration of defect states has also been calculated in as-deposited, annealed and light soaked nc-CdSe thin films.     

Phase diagrams and dielectric studies of binary mixtures exhibiting intermediate nematic and induced smectic phases

Investigations on the phase diagrams of two bi-component mixtures of liquid crystals are presented. Whereas in one of the bi-component systems, smectic A (SmA) phase is seen to be induced, in the other case the so-called nematic “island” has been observed. The dielectric properties of magnetically oriented sample forming nematic phase and induced smectic phase in one of the mixtures, and a nematic “island” and SmA phase in the other mixture, were measured in the frequency range from 1?Hz to 10?MHz at different temperatures. The transition temperatures obtained from the polarizing microscope and differential scanning calorimeter measurements agree well with the dielectric relaxation data.     

The hydrogen bond under pressure

The hydrogen bonds are quite pervasive in several classes of materials. Its parameters are known to show systematic variations with hydrogen bond length, and pressure variable is thus a natural way for studying hydrogen bonded substances. In this article, we review the unifying features as obtained through several experimental and theoretical investigations. Amongst other things, it is examined whether the observed pressure-induced variations in parameters of hydrogen bonds are consistent with the co-relations known on different chemical substances at normal pressure. In particular, the controversies on variations of O–H and H- - -O pairs with pressure and symmetrization of hydrogen bond have been resolved. The effects of close packing promoted by pressure such as formation of muli-centered hydrogen bonds and steric repulsions and the way the hydrogen bonds counter these in different ways are also examined.     

Correlation of soft magnetic properties with free volume and medium range ordering in metallic glasses probed by fluctuation microscopy and positron annihilation technique

Amorphous ribbons of different thicknesses of Co_64.5Fe_3.5Si₁₆B₁₄Ni₂ alloy were synthesized using the melt spinning technique by varying wheel speed. The effect of cooling rate on the ribbon thickness and their soft magnetic properties have been studied. The amorphous structure has been characterized in terms of structural free volume and medium range order (MRO) by positron annihilation spectroscopy and fluctuation electron microscopy techniques. Positron lifetime spectra of amorphous samples showed two lifetime components. The first component was found to be correlated with MRO whereas, the second lifetime component was found to be associated with nanovoid type of defects, and the second component was strongly dependent on processing conditions. It could be established that the coercivity of the amorphous samples produced by the rapid solidification technique mainly depends on the defects formed during processing rather than change induced in MRO.     

Modelling of excited state absorption and upconversion in erbium germanosilicate continuous wave fibre lasers

The effects of upconversion and pump excited state absorption (ESA) on a three-manifold continuous wave (CW) laser are investigated by solving the laser and pump differential equations subject to two-point boundary conditions. This technique is applied to erbium germanosilicate fibre lasers in low-finesse cavities. First, the three-manifold laser problem in a low-finesse cavity is solved analytically, without ESA and upconversion. This shows that the finite value of the upper pump manifold decay rate causes the extracted power to saturate, and it also shows that pump threshold is strongly influenced by the cavity reflectivity. Next, upconversion and ESA are included. This leads to a study of the extracted power and pump threshold as functions of fibre length and outcoupling. This simulation is numerical and is successfully anchored to experiment.     

Magnetization reversal in a preferred oriented (111) L1(0) FePt grown on a soft magnetic metallic glass for tilted magnetic recording

L1(0) FePt is an important material for the fabrication of high density perpendicular recording media, but the ultrahigh coercivity of L1(0) FePt restricts its use. Tilting of the magnetic easy axis and the introduction of a soft magnetic underlayer can solve this problem. However, high temperature processing and the requirement of epitaxial growth conditions for obtaining an L1(0) FePt phase are the main hurdles to be overcome. Here, we introduce a bilayered magnetic structure ((111) L1(0) FePt/glassy Fe(71)Nb(4)Hf(3)Y(2)B(20)/SiO(2)/Si) in which the magnetic easy axis of L1(0) FePt is tilted by ~36° from the film plane and epitaxial growth conditions are not required. The soft magnetic underlayer not only promotes the growth of L1(0) FePt with the preferred orientation but also provides an easy cost-effective micro/nanopatterning of recording bits. A detailed magnetic characterization of the bilayered structure in which the thickness of (111) L1(0) FePt with the soft magnetic Fe(71)Nb(4)Hf(3)Y(2)B(20) glassy underlayer varied from 5 to 60 nm is carried out in an effort to understand the magnetization switching mechanism. The magnetization switching behavior is almost the same for bilayered structures in which FePt layer thickness is >10 nm (greater than the domain wall thickness of FePt). For FePt film ~10 nm thick, magnetization reversal takes place in a very narrow field range. Magnetization reversal first takes place in the soft magnetic underlayer. On further increase in the reverse magnetic field, the domain wall in the soft magnetic layer compresses at the interface of the hard and soft layers. Once the domain wall energy becomes sufficiently large to overcome the nucleation energy of the domain wall in L1(0) FePt, the magnetization of the whole bilayer is reversed. This process takes place quickly because the domain walls in the hard layer do not need to move, and the formation of a narrower domain wall may not be favorable energetically. Our results showed that the present bilayered structure is very promising for the fabrication of tilted bit-patterned magnetic recording media.