Electronic properties of nonhomovalent alloys: A study of the b.c.c. Li−Mg solid solution

Summary The influence of the alloying on the electronic properties of the b.c.c. Li−Mg solid solution has been investigated within the KKR-CPA framework. Such an influence has been studied by computing the band structure, Fermi surface, soft X-ray spectra, residual resistivity and Auger spectra for chosen values of the composition. The theoretical results we obtained are in fair agreement with the surface existing experimental data and support the view that also in ?simple metals? alloys care has to be taken in studying such systems in terms of low-order perturbation approaches.

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Riassunto Sono state studiate varie proprietà elettroniche delle leghe di Li−Mg nell’intervallo di concentrazione in cui questi sistemi cristallizzano nel reticolo b.c.c. In particolare sono state calcolate la struttura a bande, le superfici di Fermi, la resistività residua, gli spettri X ed Auger e si sono confrontati i risultati con i dati sperimentali esistenti. Il buon accordo fra risultati teorici e dati sperimentali indica che, anche per leghe di metalli semplici, gli approcci perturbativi a basso ordine possono essere insufficienti a descrivere il comportamento di tali sistemi.

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Резюме В рамках KKR-CPA исследуется влияние процесса сплавления на электронные свойства объемноцетририованного кубического твердого раствора Li−Mg. Проводятся вычисления зонной структуры, поверхности Ферми, спектров мягкого рентгеновского излучения, остаточного сопротивления и Ож-ye-спектров для выбранных величин состава. Полученные теоретические величины хорошо согласуются с существуюими экспериментальными данными.

     

Sufficiency and fuzziness in random experiments

In previous papers, the consequences of the “presence of fuzziness” in the experimental information on which statistical inferences are based were discussed. Thus, the intuitive assertion «fuzziness entails a loss of information» was formalized, by comparing the information in the “exact case” with that in the “fuzzy case”. This comparison was carried out through different criteria to compare experiments (in particular, that based on the “pattern” one, Blackwell's sufficiency criterion). Our purpose now is slightly different, in the sense that we try to compare two “fuzzy cases”. More precisely, the question we are interested in is the following: how will different “degrees of fuzziness” in the experimental information affect the sufficiency? In this paper, a study of this question is carried out by constructing an alternative criterion (equivalent to sufficiency under comparability conditions), but whose interpretation is more intuitive in the fuzzy case. The study is first developed for Bernoulli experiments, and the coherence with the axiomatic requirements for measures of fuzziness is also analyzed in such a situation. Then it is generalized to other random experiments and a simple example is examined.     

On the strategic origin of Brownian motion in finance

This paper is concerned with the strategic use of a private information on the stock market. A repeated auction model is used to analyze the evolution of the price system on a market with asymmetric information.  The model turns out to be a zero-sum repeated game with one-sided information, as introduced by Aumann and Maschler.  The stochastic evolution of the price system can be explicitly computed in the n times repeated case. As n grows to ∞, this process tends to a continuous time martingale related to a Brownian Motion.  This paper provides in this way an endogenous justification for the appearance of Brownian Motion in Finance theory. Received: February 2002     

Structural properties of thermal evaporated SnTe thin films

Summary The morphological structure of SnTe very thin films is here studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, by transmission electron spectroscopy and by X-ray diffraction. The analisys of experimental data evidences the superficial confinement of Sn, with different oxidation states, and the Te excess in the inner layers. The energy shift of the valence band peaks is attributed to modifications induced by the nonstoichiometry of the compound. Preliminary Hall and resistivity measurements seem to confirm the structural obtained results.     

Interfacial electronic structure and magnetoelectric effect in M/BaTiO3 (M=Ni,Fe) superlattices

Using first-principles density functional theory, we investigate the interfacial electronic structure and magnetoelectric effect in M/BaTiO₃ (M=Ni, Fe) superlattices, and find a novel type of interfacial magnetoelectric coupling mechanism in the Ni/BaTiO₃ interface. This magnetoelectric effect is determined by the change of magnetic moments on Ni atoms near the interface, instead of the induced moments on interfacial Ti atoms in Fe/BaTiO₃ system, which is also distinguished from the spin-polarized carriers screening mechanism. The underlying physics is the strong interface bonding and the pdσ-type magnetic interactions between Ni 3d and O 2p spins. Furthermore, there exists an extraordinary intralayer oscillation of magnetic moments within the Ni layers, which may be observed in experiments.     

Measurement of lattice damage caused by ion-implantation doping of semiconductors†

Two new techniques have been used to measure the lattice damage produced in gallium arsenide by the implantation of 60 keV cadmium ions. In one of these methods, optical reflection spectra of the ion-implanted samples were measured in the wavelength range from 2000 to 4600Å. The decrease in reflectivity resulting from ion- implantation was used to determine the relative amount of lattice damage as a function of ion dose. The second technique employed the scanning electron microscope. Patterns very similar in appearance to Kikuchi electron diffraction patterns are obtained when the secondary and/or backscattered electron intensity is displayed in the scanning electron microscope as a function of the angle of incidence of the electron beam on a single crystal surface. The degradation of these ‘Coates-Kikuchi’ patterns resulting from ion implantation was used to obtain a quantitative measure of the lattice damage caused by the implantation process. The results of measurements made by both of the methods described have been compared with each other, and with data obtained by the more established method of measuring lattice damage by Rutherford scattering of 1 MeV helium ions.     

Angular auto-correlation functions in molecular crystals and liquids: application to incoherent neutron scattering law

The effect of the local hindered molecular motion in the incoherent neutron scattering spectra in crystals and liquids is studied theoretically on the basis of the angular auto-correlation functions symmetrized on the dynamical point groups. The extended angular jump model simulates the motion. The microscopic properties of the matter, the time scale and the point symmetry of the molecule motion as well as the site symmetry of the molecule, are taken into account with the help of the dynamical variables of the model. The incoherent neutron scattering function is anisotropic in a monocrystalline sample. The scattering function consists of elastic plus quasi-elastic components. The shape of the quasi-elastic scattering spectrum is expressed by the sum of the weighted Lorentzian curves symmetrized with respect to the non-identical irreducible representations of the molecule motion point symmetry group. The elastic part of the intensity is increased by the contribution arising from the molecule motion of the identity representation symmetry. The scattering expression related to the molecule motion symmetry of a perfect cubic group is similar to the well-known expression derived for the scattering from the spherical top molecules exhibiting rotation diffusion.     

First-principles study of the (0 0 1) surface of cubic SrZrO3

Density functional calculations have been used to investigate the (0 0 1) surface of cubic SrZrO₃ with both SrO and ZrO₂ termination. Surface structure and electronic structure have been obtained. The SrO surface is found to be similar to its counterpart in SrTiO₃, while there are marked differences between the ZrO₂ and TiO₂ terminations in SrZrO₃ and SrTiO₃, respectively, concerning surface relaxation and rumpling. For the ZrO₂-terminated surface of SrZrO₃, the covalency of the interaction between the outmost Zr and the O beneath is enhanced as a result of their bond contraction. The band gap reduction and the presence of the surface states are also discussed in relation with the behavior of the electrostatic potential.     

Feedback control of quantum system

Feedback is a significant strategy for the control of quantum system. Information acquisition is the greatest difficulty in quantum feedback applications. After discussing several basic methods for information acquisition, we review three kinds of quantum feedback control strategies: quantum feedback control with measurement, coherent quantum feedback, and quantum feedback control based on cloning and recognition. The first feedback strategy can effectively acquire information, but it destroys the coherence in feedback loop. On the contrary, coherent quantum feedback does not destroy the coherence, but the capability of information acquisition is limited. However, the third feedback scheme gives a compromise between information acquisition and measurement disturbance.