Oxygen deficiency in oxide films grown by PLD

The incorporation of oxygen atoms in oxide films grown by pulsed laser deposition depends upon the oxygen pressure and laser power density. By carefully controlling these two parameters it is possible to control the oxygen deficiency in the samples, and thus to change their physical properties from insulating and transparent to absorbing and conducting. By using X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and resistivity measurements, we show that depending upon the oxide materials oxygen deficiency in the films can induce either the growth of stable sub-oxide phases or the formation of nanocomposite films by phase separation. The first case corresponds to oxides with a mixed valency cation like Ti, which leads to the formation of stable, crystalline and highly conductive TiO_x sub-oxide phases. The second case is well described by the indium tin oxides (ITO) in which a large oxygen deficiency leads to metallic clusters embedded into a stoichiometric matrix, i.e. nanocomposite films. This phenomenon is due to the fact that sub-oxides of these compounds are not stable and thus the oxygen deficiency induced a phase separation.     

Electrical investigation of some fluorides of composition A2MII+MIII+F9 by impedance spectroscopy

The ac conductivity of three fluorides of A₂M^II+ M^{III +} F₉ type, Sr₂NiAlF₉, Sr₂ZnGaF₉ and Ba₂MnCrF₉, between 293 and 773K, has been analyzed within a combined complex impedance and modulus formalism. The antiferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition of Sr₂ZnGaF₉ has been characterized. A hopping mechanism for charge carriers is suggested for the three materials; their electrical performance are relatively weak. Sr₂NiAlF₉ and Sr₂ZnGaF₉ can be considered as ionic conductors of the F- ion. On the contrary, the conductivity in Ba₂MnCrF₉ is rather of an electronic nature.     

Effect of Temperature on Henry's Constant in Simple Mixtures

Abstract

The molecular theory of dense fluids is progressing rapidly and its extension to mixtures is well underway. The purpose of this note is to call attention to a possibly serious difficulty in comparing experimental Henry's constants with those calculated from theory. The difficulty arises because whereas theorists choose temperature and density as independent variables, experimental equilibrium measurements on mixtures are often made along the saturation line where (at fixed composition) temperature and density are not both independent variables. Unless Henry's constants are defined with care, the effect of temperature on Henry's constants calculated from molecular theory may be qualitatively different from that observed.     

Generic structure of externally driven tearing modes instabilities

A major limit to steady state and advanced high operation of tokamaks of reactor class is due to the onset of tearing modes that develop magnetic and may cause loss of energy confinement or a major disruption. Here the structure of a classical problem about the effects of external control helical fields is analysed and it is shown to offer a general paradigm of response of low order classical and neoclassical tearing modes to a wide class of external perturbations. New results of principle on the structural stability of the response model are obtained, leading to a clear interpretation of the role of “seed islands" in the onset of neo-classical tearing modes and the role of finite ion larmor radius corrections to Ohm's law. Received 12 November 2001 and Received in final form 4 January 2002     

Momentum transfer theory of ion transport under the influence of resonant charge transfer collisions: the case of argon and neon ions in parent gases

Transport properties of ion swarms in presence of Resonant Charge Transfer (RCT) collisions are studied using Momentum Transfer Theory (MTT). It was shown that, not surprisingly, RCT collisions may be represented as a special case of elastic scattering. Using the developed MTT we tested a previously available anisotropic set of cross-sections for Ar+Ar ⁺ collisions by making the comparisons with the available data for the transverse diffusion coefficient. We also developed an anisotropic set of Ne+Ne ⁺ integral cross-sections based on the available data for mobility, longitudinal and transverse diffusion. Anisotropic sets of cross-sections are needed for Monte Carlo simulations of ion transport and plasma models. Received 16 June 2002 / Received in final form 2nd August 2002 Published online 24 September 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: vrhovac@phy.bg.ac.yu RID="b" ID="b"e-mail: zoran@phy.bg.ac.yu     

Single-phase AC losses in prototype HTS conductors for superconducting power transmission lines

We report single-phase AC loss measurements on 8-, 4-, and 3-layer, multi-strand, HTS prototype conductors for power transmission lines. We use both calorimetric and electrical techniques. The agreement between the two techniques suggests that the interlayer current distribution in 1-m long conductors are representative of those in long conductors. The losses for the 8- and 4-layer conductors are in rough agreement, with the 8-layer losses being somewhat lower. The 3-layer conductor losses are substantially higher — probably due to unbalanced azimuthal currents for this configuration.     

Photon channelling in foams

Experiments by Gittings, Bandyopadhyay and Durian (Europhys. Lett. 65, 414 (2004)) demonstrate that light possesses a higher probability to propagate in the liquid phase of a foam due to total reflection. The authors term this observation photon channelling which we investigate in this article theoretically. We first derive a central relation in the work of Gitting et al. without any free parameters. It links the photon's path-length fraction f in the liquid phase to the liquid fraction ɛ. We then construct two-dimensional Voronoi foams, replace the cell edges by channels to represent the liquid films and simulate photon paths according to the laws of ray optics using transmission and reflection coefficients from Fresnel's formulas. In an exact honeycomb foam, the photons show superdiffusive behavior. It becomes diffusive as soon as disorder is introduced into the foams. The dependence of the diffusion constant on channel width and refractive index is explained by a one-dimensional random-walk model. It contains a photon channelling state that is crucial for the understanding of the numerical results. At the end, we shortly comment on the observation that photon channelling only occurs in a finite range of ɛ.     

Electrical characterization of strontium tartrate single crystals

The a.c. and d.c. conductivity of SrC₄H₄O₆·3H₂O are measured and are found to lie between usual conductivities of semiconductor and insulator. Temperature dependence of d.c. conductivity shows intrinsic conduction, which is confirmed by the slope of versus data. Due to application of thermal energy, noticeable conductivity peaks imply liberation of water molecules during dehydration and the formation of strontium oxalate. The conductivity plot has a nature similar to the intrinsic-to-extrinsic transition found in normal semiconductors. There occurs Efros hopping conduction in our samples.