Electron irradiation-enhanced core/shell organization of Al(Cr,Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids in Al–Mg–Si alloys

The age hardening 6061-T6 aluminium alloy has been chosen as structural material for the core vessel of the material testing Jules Horowitz nuclear reactor. The alloy contains incoherent Al(Cr, Fe, Mn)Si dispersoids whose characterization by energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) analysis shows a core/shell organization tendency where the core is (Mn, Fe) rich, and the shell is Cr rich. The present work studies the stability of this organization under irradiation. TEM characterization on the same particles, before and after 1 MeV electron irradiation, reveals that the core/shell organization is enhanced after irradiation. It is proposed that the high level of point defects, created by irradiation, ensures a radiation-enhanced diffusion process favourable to the unmixing forces between (Fe, Mn) and Cr. Shell formation may result in the low-energy interface segregation of Cr atoms within the (Fe, Mn) system combined with the unmixing of Cr, Fe and Mn components.     

Low-field magnetoresistance of Ag-substituted perovskite-type manganites

A series of bulk polycrystalline Nd_1−xAg_xMnO₃ samples were prepared by conventional solid-state reaction processing, for x between 0.1 and 0.5. The structure, magnetism, and magnetoresistance (MR) of the samples are investigated. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that the x=0.1 sample is a single perovskite structure, while x0.167, samples consist of a ferromagnetic perovskite phase and two nonmagnetic phases, Ag and Mn₃O₄. The MR of Nd_1−xAg_xMnO₃ is enhanced by increasing the composition of Ag. Compared with the sample of x=0.1, the x=0.5 sample has a significantly larger value of low-field MR. The enhanced low-field MR is related to the spin-dependent scattering of spin-polarized electrons at the interfaces between the perovskite grains and silver granules.     

烧结温度、La掺杂对Bi_(1-x)La_xMnO_3结构及磁性能的影响

用溶胶-凝胶(so-lgel)法制备了多铁Bi1-xLaxMnO3(BLMO,0.1≤x≤0.4)系列样品.样品的结构表征(X-射线衍射,扫描电子显微镜)及差热-热重(TG-DTA)分析测量显示,形成稳定的BLMO钙钛矿相的烧结温度位于900~950℃.La掺杂对BLMO样品(950℃烧结)的结构和磁性能的影响也被仔细研究.结果显示,随着La掺杂减少,样品中BLMO钙钛矿相减弱,铁磁转变温度(TC)由53K降至41K,而饱和磁化强度经历了先降低再升高的变化.这可归因于La含量较少的样品中Bi空位浓度的增加诱导了Mn-O-Mn键角的减小和局域Mn4+离子的增多,使得Mn3+和Mn4+离子的铁磁超交换增强和Mn3+离子的dz2轨道有序受到局域破坏.     

The effect of oxygen vacancy on the oxide ion mobility in LaAlO3-based oxides

The electrical property of (La_1−xSr_x)_1−z(Al_1−yMg_y)O_3−δ (LSAM; x≤0.3, y≤0.15 and z≤0.1) was measured using the DC four-probe method as a function of temperature (500–1000°C) and oxygen partial pressure (1–10⁻²² atm). Among LSAMs, (La_0.9Sr_0.1)AlO_3−δ showed the highest ionic conductivity, σ_i=1.3×10⁻² S cm⁻¹ at 900°C. A simultaneous substitution at A and B sites or A site deficiency is expected to create larger oxygen vacancy and higher ionic conductivity. However, it showed a negative effect. The effect of the vacancy increase did not effect monotonously the ionic conductivity. It was found that the concentration of oxygen vacancy, [V_O], influences not only the oxide ion conductivity, σ_i, but also the mobility, μ_v, of [V_O]. These properties exhibit a maximum at around [V_O]=0.05. With the increase in [V_O], the activation energy, E_a, of the ionic conduction dropped from 1.8 to ca. 1.0 eV at [V_O]=0.05 and became almost constant at [V_O]>0.05. The dependency of the pre-exponential term, μ⁰_v, and E_a on [V_O] was analyzed and their effect on μ_v and σ_i was discussed with respect to crystal structure and defect association. It was estimated that the crystal structure mainly governs these properties. The effect of defect association could not be ignored but is considered to be a complicated correlation.     

Identifying a perovskite phase in rare-earth nickelates using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

We demonstrate a practical way to identify the presence of a perovskite phase in rare-earth nickelates (RNiO₃) using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). By varying the calcination temperature, we prepared RNiO₃ powders with different degrees of chemical reaction. We found that perovskite RNiO₃ becomes predominant after high-temperature calcination (≥1,000 °C) in X-ray diffraction and XPS (at Ni 3p and O 1s edges) measurements. While the observed spectra at the Ni 3p edge are similar for all powders, a sizable difference was observed in the O 1s-edge spectra depending on the calcination temperature. With the formation of a perovskite phase with a trivalent Ni³⁺ state, an XPS peak corresponding to oxygen ions in the perovskite lattice distinctly emerges. Our work shows that the Ni³⁺ state cannot be determined by analyzing the Ni 3p edge solely and rather, the O 1s edge should be simultaneously monitored for explicit identification.     

Towards the meV limit of the effective neutrino mass in neutrinoless double-beta decays

We emphasize that it is extremely important for future neutrinoless double-beta(0νββ)decay experiments to reach the sensitivity to the effective neutrino mass|mββ|≈1 meV.With such a sensitivity,it is highly possible to discover the signals of 0νββ decays.If no signal is observed at this sensitivity level,then either neutrinos are Dirac particles or stringent constraints can be placed on their Majorana masses.In this paper,assuming the sensitivity of|mββ|≈1 meV for future 0νββ decay experiments and the precisions on neutrion oscillation parameters after the JUNO experiment,we fully explore the constrained regions of the lightest neutrino mass m1 and two Majorana-type CP-violating phases{ρ,σ}.Several important conclusions in the case of normal neutrino mass ordering can be made.First,the lightest neutrino mass is severely constrained to a narrow range m1∈[0.7,8]meV,which together with the precision measurements of neutrino mass-squared differences from oscillation experiments completely determines the neutrino mass spectrum m2∈[8.6,11.7]meV ing phases is limited to ρ∈[130°,230°],which cannot be obtained from any other realistic experiments.Third,the sum of three neutrino masses is found to beΣ≡m1+m2+m3∈[59.2,72.6]meV,while the effective neutrino mass for beta decays turns out to be mβ≡(|Ue1|2m1^2+|Ue2|2m2^2+|Ue3|2m3^2)1/2∈[8.9,12.6]meV.These observations clearly set up the roadmap for future non-oscillation neutrino experiments aiming to solve the fundamental problems in neutrino physics.     

Coexistence of phases in Ising ferromagnets

We derive a new inequality for ferromagnetic Ising spin systems and then use it to obtain information about the number of phases which can coexist in such systems. We show in particular that for even interactions only two phases (up and down magnetization) can coexist below the critical temperature at zero magnetic field (h=0) whenever the energy is a continuous function of the temperature. We also prove that the derivatives with respect toh ath=0 of the odd correlation functions (triplet,...) diverge like the susceptibility in the vicinity of the critical temperature (at least for pair interactions). Our results also apply to higher order Ising spins (not just spin 1/2).Research supported in part by NSF Grant #MPS 75-20638 and USAFOR Grant #73-2430D.John Simon Guggenheim Fellow.     

Liquid chromatographic resolution of racemic rasagiline and its analogues on a chiral stationary phase based on (+)‐(18‐crown‐6)‐2,3,11,12‐tetracarboxylic acid

A liquid chromatographic chiral stationary phase based on (+)‐(18‐crown‐6)‐2,3,11,12‐tetracarboxylic acid was applied to the resolution of 15 analytes, including racemic rasagiline, a chiral drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and its analogues. The composition of mobile phase was optimized to be ethanol/acetonitrile/acetic acid/triethylamine (80:20:0.2:0.3, v/v/v/v) by evaluating the chromatographic results for the resolution of five selected analytes under various mobile phase conditions. Under the optimized mobile phase conditions, racemic rasagiline was resolved quite well with a separation factor of 1.48 and resolution of 2.71 and its 14 analogues were also resolved reasonably well with separation factors of 1.06–1.54 and resolutions of 0.54–2.11. Among 15 analytes, racemic rasagiline was resolved best except for just one analyte. The analyte structure–enantioselectivity relationship indicated that racemic rasagiline has the most appropriate structural characteristics for resolution on the chiral stationary phase.     

The liquid crystal properties of symmetric and non-symmetric dimers based on the azobenzene mesogenic group

A novel system of symmetric and non-symmetric dimers containing azobenzene groups has been synthesized and studied in an attempt to understand further the molecular origins of the intercalated smectic phases. For the non-symmetric dimers, the lack of symmetry was derived solely from the differences in length of the two terminal alkyl chains. Both the spacer and terminal chain lengths were varied. The spacer length was found to exert a profound influence on the clearing temperatures of these materials and a large odd-even effect was observed for the series. The smectic A phase stability was observed to increase with the terminal chain length, yet decrease with increasing spacer length. X-ray diffraction has revealed the structure of the smectic A phase of both the symmetric and non-symmetric azobenzene dimers to be of the monolayer type and not intercalated. The existence of the intercalated phase has previously been explained in terms of either a charge-transfer interaction, or by an electrostatic quadrupolar interaction. However, it has been thought that it may also be the result of an excluded volume or space filling constraint. For the non-symmetric liquid crystal dimers described here, a charge-transfer interaction should be minimal, as should the stabilization from the quadrupolar interaction between the two mesogens. However, it appears that some sort of specific interaction is required to stabilize the intercalated structure.