On the origin of irreproducible behaviour of Na1−xLixNbO3 solid solutions

The irreproducibility of electrical properties of Na_0.88Li_0.12NbO₃ solid solution on thermal cycling reported by M.A.L. Nobre and S. Lanfredi is explained by gradual decomposition of the supersaturated solid solution below ca. 800 °C.     

Analysis of Suzuki, Shanker, and Kumar formulations under strong compressions

A critical analysis of the Suzuki, Shanker, and Kumar formulations is presented by studying different classes of materials under high pressure. A similar trend for all the materials studied in the present work, demonstrates that Suzuki formulation is not capable to yield compression behaviour of solids. The Shanker formulation improves the results obtained by the Suzuki formulation in small compression range (0.9<V/V₀<1). For further compressions Shanker formulation also fails. On the other hand, the Kumar formulation is found to work well for the entire range of pressure. The reasons for the failure of Suzuki and Shanker formulations are discussed.     

Optical and electric properties of Nb-doped anatase TiO2 single crystal

Nb-doped anatase TiO₂ single crystal has been grown by chemical vapour transport method. Raman spectra shows that the obtained crystal with Nb of 0.08 wt% has typical anatase structure. An absorption band was observed at around 2.2 eV, which seems to be due to the d-d transition in the conduction band. The electron paramagnetic resonance and electric resistivity measurements show that the doped niobium makes quite shallow donor level whose orbital is d_xy-like centered at the titanium position of anatase.     

Photoluminescence characteristics of ZnTiO3: Bi nanocrystals

The photoluminescence properties of the Bi³⁺ in sol-gel derived ZnTiO₃ nanocrystals have been investigated. An ultra-violet emission at 360 nm and a visible emission band at 506 nm have been observed, originating from two kinds of emission centers. The former is ascribed to the ³P₁-¹S₀ transition of Bi³⁺ and the latter to the recombination of the electrons with the photo-generated holes trapped in the zinc vacancies. In all cases the latter contribution is predominant.     

Defect clusters in titanium-substituted spinel-related lithium ferrite

The cation distribution in spinel-related titanium-substituted lithium ferrite, Li_0.5+0.5xFe_2.5−1.5xTi_xO₄ has been explored using interatomic potential and ab initio calculations. The results suggest that the cation distribution with Ti⁴⁺ substituting for Fe³⁺ on octahedral B sites and excess Li⁺ substituting for Fe³⁺ on tetrahedral A sites is stabilised by the formation of clusters of two octahedrally coordinated Ti⁴⁺ ions and one tetrahedrally coordinated Li⁺ ion linked through a common oxygen.     

EPR investigations of oxidation effects in (V1−xMox)2−δO3

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigations has been carried out on the new family of molybdenum doped vanadium sesquioxides (V_1−xMo_x)_2−δO₃. The oxidation effects were monitored from the rate of paramagnetic V⁴⁺ created when the sample is exposed to the air. The effects of the oxidation time, sample temperature, and annealing at 1000 °C under a diluted hydrogen atmosphere on the EPR signal features are analyzed. The V⁴⁺ concentration in the oxidized samples is determined and the relaxation effects driven by the conduction electrons are pointed out from the thermal behaviour of the EPR line features. EPR spectra of all the oxidized samples also reveal a small ferromagnetic contribution strongly correlated with the V⁴⁺ content.     

Thermal conductivity of silver doped lanthanum manganites between 10 and 300 K

Thermal conductivity (λ) of nanocrystalline La_1−xAg_xMnO₃ (x=0.05, 0.15, 0.25, 0.3) pellets prepared by pyrophoric method is reported between 10 and 300 K. Magnitude of thermal conductivity has been found to be strongly influenced by monovalent (Ag) substitution at the La site. Silver doping in LaMnO₃ enhances T_C of the system to ∼299 K. Qualitative nature of the temperature variation of thermal conductivity of the silver substituted lanthanum manganites remains closely similar to that for divalent doped systems. Our analysis demonstrates that in La_1−xAg_xMnO₃ also, the mechanism of heat conduction is predominantly by phonons. The contribution of the electronic part is only ∼1% of the total λ. The spin wave contribution is also estimated close to T_C, which for all the samples lies within ∼2%. At temperatures below ∼100 K, the measured data have been analyzed using phonon relaxation time method and the strengths of the various phonon scattering processes have been estimated. Our analysis further suggests strong influence of phonon scattering by 2D like defects in the thermal conductivity of monovalent doped lanthanum manganites at low temperatures (<70 K) in the ferromagnetic region.     

Charge density study under high pressure

The experimental and analytical method of the high-pressure powder experiment at BL10XU, SPring-8, is described. There is no doubt that BL10XU must be one of the most appropriate beam lines for high pressure X-ray diffraction experiment taking advantage of third generation synchrotron source. As an example of the advanced charge density study under high pressure, the structural change of Cs₂Au₂Br₆ by applying pressure is studied by Rietveld/MEM analysis. It reveals that the structural change of Cs₂Au₂Br₆ by applying pressure occurs basically at electron level, such as valence state change and chemical bonding, which may be called the electronic phase transition.     

Phase transition in iodine: a chemical picture

The phase transition under pressure in iodine is analyzed using the electron localization function (ELF), explaining that the increase of the c/a ratio under compression is due to the presence of the lone pairs.A probabilistic interpretation is given for ELF.     

Dirac Fields in 3D de Sitter Spacetime

We show that the Dirac equation is separable in the circularly symmetric metric in three dimensions and when the background spacetime is de Sitter we find exact solutions to the radial equations. Using these results we show that the de Sitter horizon has a cross section equal to zero for the massless Dirac field, as in the case of the scalar field. Also, using the improved brick wall model we calculate the fermionic entropy associated with the de Sitter horizon and we compare it with some results previously published.