Pressure-induced crossover between diffusive and displacive mechanisms of phase transitions in single-crystalline alpha-GeO2

We present the first example of the phase transition occurring via the different kinetic mechanisms, displacive or diffusive, competing with each other in quartz-like alpha-GeO2 single crystals. Upon room-pressure heating, alpha-GeO2 transforms to the rutile-type phase (the alpha-->r transition) via the diffusive mechanism. With increase of the treatment pressure the diffusive mode of the temperature-induced alpha-->r transition is substituted at approximately 4 GPa by a displacive-like mode, and then at approximately 6 GPa the transition type changes from the alpha-->r sequence to a displacive martensitic-like transition to a distorted rutile-like phase (alpha-->r'. A crossover between diffusive and displacive transition modes suggests a new way to control the meso- and nanometer-scale morphology of high-pressure phases.     

Structure, electrical and magnetic properties, and the origin of the room temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-implanted Si

The structure and the electrical and magnetic properties of Mn-implanted Si, which exhibits ferromagnetic ordering at room temperature, are studied. Single-crystal n- and p-type Si wafers with high and low electrical resistivities are implanted by manganese ions to a dose of 5 × 10¹⁶ cm^?2. After implantation and subsequent vacuum annealing at 850°C, the implanted samples are examined by various methods. The Mn impurity that exhibits an electric activity and is incorporated into the Si lattice in interstitial sites is found to account for only a few percent of the total Mn content. The main part of Mn is fixed in Mn₁₅Si₂₆ nanoprecipitates in the Si matrix. The magnetization of implanted Si is found to be independent of the electrical resistivity and the conductivity type of silicon and the type of implanted impurity. The magnetization of implanted Si increases slightly upon short-term postimplantation annealing and disappears completely upon vacuum annealing at 1000°C for 5 h. The Mn impurity in Si is shown to have no significant magnetic moment at room temperature. These results indicate that the room temperature ferromagnetism in Mn-implanted Si is likely to be caused by implantation-induced defects in the silicon lattice rather than by a Mn impurity.     

Elastic properties of the Ta–V system: bcc Ta0.33V0.67 and C15 TaV2

Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy was used to measure the elastic constants of bcc Ta_0.33V_0.67 over the temperature range 3.5–300?K; the results were compared to earlier measurements on C15 TaV₂. The temperature dependence of the polycrystalline shear modulus is completely different in the two phases; that of the bcc phase decreases with temperature whereas that of the C15 phases increases in an anomalous fashion. This difference is consistent with a model involving doubly-degenerate levels at the X point of the Brillouin zone in the C15 phase with the Fermi level lying near the doubly degenerate level. This model accounted for the unusual behaviour of the C15 phase. Debye temperatures were determined from the ultrasonic measurements: 295?K for the C15 phase and 315?K for the bcc phase.