Effect of TiO2 addition on the crystallization of quenched glasses in the SiO2–Al2O3–ZrO2 system

The glass formation in the SiO₂-rich region of the ternary oxide system Al₂O₃–ZrO₂–SiO₂ with MgO, CaO, and TiO₂ as melting aids was analyzed. The crystallization of glasses with different content of TiO₂ and phase evolution with the temperature was studied by X-ray diffraction, infrared, laser Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The use of TiO₂ favored formation and crystallization of the glasses due to the decrease of the viscosity of melts and acting as a nucleating agent. The crystalline phase of t-ZrO₂ was developed at temperatures as low as 880°C whereas in as prepared specimens without TiO₂ its presence was not detected. For the specimens with TiO₂, t-ZrO₂ and mullite were the principal phases at 1000°C. TiO₂ addition did not change the crystallization sequence but decreased the formation temperature of the crystalline phases. Most of Ti⁴⁺ ions entered into t-ZrO₂ and only a small portion in mullite, but the surplus was detected in ZrTiO₄.     

Chemical synthesis and magnetic properties of HCP and FCC nickel nanoparticles

In this study, we successfully synthesized single-phase hexagonal closed packed (HCP) and face-centered cubic (FCC) nickel nanoparticles via reduction of nickel nitrate hexahydrate and nickel acetate tetrahydrate, respectively, in polyethylene glycol-200. Structural information of the as-synthesized nickel nanoparticles are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) as a function of the molar concentration of the nickel precursor. XRD results reveal that low concentrations of nickel precursor (0.005?M and below) favor the HCP, while high concentrations favor the mixture of HCP and FCC crystal structures. Particle size of HCP structure is found in the range of ～15?nm via transmission electron microscope analysis. Vibratory sample magnetometer is employed to study its magnetic behavior and the results reveal that FCC crystalline phase shows ferromagnetic nature with high saturation magnetization (M _s?～?39.6?emu?gm^?1) as compared to metastable HCP crystalline structure (M _s?～?2?emu?gm^?1). The surfactants bonding on the surface of nickel nanoparticles are studied.     

Melting of the nanocrystalline vortex matter in highly anisotropic high-temperature superconductors

Multilevel Monte Carlo simulations of the vortex matter in the highly anisotropic high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 were performed. We introduced low concentration of columnar defects satisfying Bphi < or = B. Both the electromagnetic and Josephson interactions among pancake vortices were included. The nanocrystalline, nanoliquid, and homogeneous liquid phases were identified in agreement with experiments. We observed the two-step melting process and also noted an enhancement of the structure factor just prior to the melting transition. A proposed theoretical model is in agreement with our findings.     

Mott transition from a spin liquid to a Fermi liquid in the spin-frustrated organic conductor kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3

The pressure-temperature phase diagram of the organic Mott insulator kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3, a model system of the spin liquid on triangular lattice, has been investigated by 1H NMR and resistivity measurements. The spin-liquid phase is persistent before the Mott transition to the metal or superconducting phase under pressure. At the Mott transition, the spin fluctuations are rapidly suppressed and the Fermi-liquid features are observed in the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate and resistivity. The characteristic curvature of the Mott boundary in the phase diagram highlights a crucial effect of the spin frustration on the Mott transition.     

Resolving the discrepancy of 135 MeV pd elastic scattering cross sections and relativistic effects

Three precise measurements for elastic pd scattering at 135 MeV/A have been performed with the three different experimental setups. The cross sections are described well by the theoretical predictions based on modern nucleon-nucleon forces combined with three-nucleon forces. Relativistic Faddeev calculations show that relativistic effects are restricted to backward angles. This result supports the two measurements recently reported by RIKEN and contradicts the KVI data.     

Optical spin hall effect

A remarkable analogy is established between the well-known spin Hall effect and the polarization dependence of Rayleigh scattering of light in microcavities. This dependence results from the strong spin effect in elastic scattering of exciton polaritons: if the initial polariton state has a zero spin and is characterized by some linear polarization, the scattered polaritons become strongly spin polarized. The polarization in the scattered state can be positive or negative dependent on the orientation of the linear polarization of the initial state and on the direction of scattering. Very surprisingly, spin polarizations of the polaritons scattered clockwise and anticlockwise have different signs. The optical spin Hall effect is possible due to strong longitudinal-transverse splitting and finite lifetime of exciton polaritons in microcavities.     

Measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0 decay

We present a measurement of CP-violation parameters in the B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0 decay based on a sample of 275 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB energy-asymmetric e+e- collider. One neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in the decay B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0, and the flavor of the accompanying B meson is identified from its decay products. CP-violation parameters are obtained from the asymmetry in the distributions of the proper-time interval between the two B decays: S = +1.26 +/- 0.68(stat) +/- 0.20(syst) and [symbol: see text] = +0.54 +/- 0.34(stat) +/- 0.09(syst).     

Spintronics of a nanoelectromechanical shuttle

We consider effects of the spin degree of freedom on the nanomechanics of a single-electron transistor (SET) containing a nanometer-sized metallic cluster suspended between two magnetic leads. It is shown that in such a nanoelectromechanical SET (NEM-SET) the onset of an electromechanical instability leading to cluster vibrations and shuttle transport of electrons between the leads can be controlled by an external magnetic field. Different stable regimes of this spintronic NEM-SET operation are analyzed. Two different scenarios for the onset of shuttle vibrations are found.     

Study of Zgamma events and limits on anomalous ZZgamma and Zgammagamma couplings in pp collisions at square root s = 1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the Zgamma production cross section and limits on anomalous ZZgamma and Zgammagamma couplings for form-factor scales of lambda = 750 and 1000 GeV. The measurement is based on 138 (152) candidates in the eegamma (mumugamma) final state using 320(290) pb(-1) of pp(-1) collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV. The 95% C.L. limits on real and imaginary parts of individual anomalous couplings are /h(10,30)Z/ < 0.23, /h(20,40)Z/ < 0.020, /h(10,30)gamma/ < 0.23, and /h(20,40)gamma/ < 0.019 for lambda = 1000 GeV.     

Measurement of the branching fraction of Gamma(4S) --> B0B0

We report the first measurement of the branching fraction f(00) for Gamma(4S) --> B(0)B(0). The data sample consists of 81.7 fb(-1) collected at the Gamma(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) storage ring. Using partial reconstruction of the decay B(0) --> D(*+) l(-)nu(l) in which only the charged lepton and the soft pion from the decay D(*+) --> D(0)pi(+) are reconstructed, we obtain f(00) = 0.487 +/- 0.010(stat) +/- 0.008(syst). Our result does not depend on the branching fractions of B(0) --> D(*+)l(-)nu(l) and D(*+) --> D(0)pi(+) decays, on the ratio of the charged and neutral B meson lifetimes, nor on the assumption of isospin symmetry.