Electrodynamic properties of nanoporous silicon in the range from terahertz to infrared frequencies

The dielectric response (conductivity and permittivity) spectra of a series of nanoporous silicon samples prepared by anodization of low-resistivity single-crystal silicon are measured, for the first time, using terahertz and IR spectroscopy in the frequency range 7–4000 cm^?1 at room temperature. The spectra obtained are analyzed in terms of the effective medium theory with a size-dependent dielectric response function of nanoinclusions and averaged dielectric characteristics of the surrounding medium. The geometric and dielectric characteristics of silicon nanoinclusions are determined. The dielectric properties of inclusions are found to be affected by nanosize effects, namely, carrier scattering at crystallite boundaries and a broadening of the band gap due to quantum confinement. The spectra of the samples prepared by adding iodine to the electrolyte exhibit a resonance at frequencies of 150–300 cm^?1. The nature of the resonance can be associated with the presence of chemisorbed iodine on the surface of porous silicon. Possible mechanisms responsible for the changes in broadband conductivity and permittivity spectra of single-crystal silicon upon transformation into a nanoporous structure are discussed.     

Tuning the morphology and magnetic properties of single-domain SrFe8Al4O19 particles prepared by a citrate auto-combustion method

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Thiolophosphohydrides: New Reagents in the Organo-Phosphorus Synthesis

Abstract

A simple and effective method has been developed for synthesizing a new type of organophosphorus compounds, thiolophosphohydrides, with the general formula R(R′S)PH based on the selective reduction of thioesters of P(III) acids by di- or trialkylstannanes. Stable S-alkylalkylthiophos-phonites and S-alkylalkyldithiophosphonites have been obtained for the first time by using the processes of oxidation and sulfurization. The functionally substituted phosphorus (111) thio derivatives have been obtained by the addition reactions of thiolophosphohydrides with compounds containing carbon-carbon and carbon-oxygen multiple bonds, with the cleavage of the P-H bonds and the preservation of P-S bonds. Factors affecting the rate of interaction, stability and the structure of additional products have been elucidated. Depending on the reaction conditions of thiolophosphohydrides with halogen containing electrophilic reagents and on the nature of the latter, the process can lead to the cleavage either of the P-H bond or the P-S bond. Thiolophosphohydrides as new reagents in organophosphorus synthesis open up new vistas for obtaining a variety of functionally substituted phosphor- and sulfur-containing compounds.     

Polar phonons and specific features of the ferroelectric states in cadmium titanate

Polarized spectra of reflectance R(ν) and transmittance Tr(ν) of single-crystal CdTiO₃ samples have been obtained in the frequency range 7 < ν < 1000 cm^?1 and for temperatures from 5 to 300 K using IR Fourier spectroscopy and submillimeter-range techniques. Dispersion analysis was carried out in terms of the additive-oscillator model, and dielectric responses ε(ν) and ε″(ν) were calculated. The polar modes were assigned to particular symmetry types, and their oscillator parameters (dielectric contributions, normal frequencies, damping constants) were determined. The numerical values of the components of the static permittivity tensor, ε₁₁ and ε₃₃, are shown to be almost fully determined by the total dielectric contributions due to the B_3u and B_1u phonons, respectively. In the low-frequency domain, lines showing anomalous behavior of the oscillator parameters, which is characteristic of soft ferroelectric modes, were observed. It is shown that, in CdTiO₃ at cryogenic temperatures, there exist several different polar states with switching in the direction of the spontaneous polarization vector.     

Transverse josephson plasma mode in T* cuprate superconductors

A transverse optical plasma mode is observed at far-infrared frequencies within the superconducting gap region by measuring the c-axis optical reflectivity for single crystals of T* cuprate superconductors SmLa0.85Sr0.15CuO4-delta and Nd1.4Sr0.4Ce0.2CuO4-delta. These T* cuprates have two different insulating layers sandwiching the superconducting CuO2 planes, leading to two longitudinal plasmons. Also, the transverse mode is directly observed due to the coupling of the infrared radiation with the current perpendicular to the superconducting layers which are regarded as an alternating array of two inequivalent Josephson junctions.     

Terahertz spectroscopy of quantum phase transitions and the temperature-frequency scaling

In the last few decades, significant progress has been achieved in the development of generators and detectors of terahertz radiation (at frequencies in the range from ≈300 GHz to ≈3 THz). Different terahertz spectroscopic techniques have been widely used now in investigating semiconductors, superconductors, molecular magnets, multiferroics, metamaterials, and other promising objects. It has been demonstrated that terahertz spectroscopy offers wide but not completely realized possibilities for studying quantum phase transitions in electron-correlated systems.     

Two-band BCS mechanism of superconductivity in a Ba(Fe0.9Co0.1)2As2 high-temperature superconductor

Terahertz and infrared spectra of the conductivity, σ(ν), and dielectric constant, ?(ν), of a Ba(Fe_0.9Co_0.1)₂As₂ film (T _c = 20 K) have been analyzed together with previous specific-heat and angular resolved photoelectron spectroscopy data. It has been shown that the spectra σ(ν) and ?(ν) of Ba(Fe_0.9Co_0.1)₂As₂ in the superconducting phase at T = 5 K, as well as the magnetic field penetration depth, can be described well using the standard Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) model with an additive contribution of electron and hole bands. It has been found that the measured temperature dependence of the magnetic field penetration depth in a wide temperature range 5 K < T < T _c can be described only with the introduction of interband pairing interaction. The coupling constant of electron and hole bands, λ_{1, 2} = 0.1, as well as the temperature dependences of superconducting gaps in the electron and hole subsystems, has been determined using the model of two-band superconductivity developed earlier for MgB₂.     

Terahertz spectroscopy of AuFe spin glasses

The electrodynamic response of spin glasses (in the form of thin AuFe films) in the terahertz frequency range has been studied using backward-wave oscillator (BWO) spectroscopy (10–40 cm^?1) and optical ellipsometry (5000–33000 cm^?1) techniques at temperatures from 5 to 295 K. The room-temperature dynamic conductivity spectra of AuFe films are typical of metals and can be described within the framework of the Drude theory of conduction by free charge carriers. Changes in the microscopic parameters of charge carriers in AuFe films with increasing iron content, which are related to additional scattering of carriers on the impurity magnetic moments, have been studied on the quantitative level, including the carrier relaxation frequency and characteristic time, plasma frequency, and conductivity. It is established that the spin-glass phase at a temperature of ～5 K exhibits dispersion of the conductivity in the frequency range 10–40 cm^?1, which can be related to the appearance of a mobility gap in the subsystem of free electrons involved in the RKKY interaction between magnetic centers (Fe atoms).