Electrical transport and magnetic ordering in R 2Ti3Ge4 (R=Dy, Ho and Er) compounds

New R ₂Ti₃Ge₄ (R=Dy, Ho and Er) intermetallic compounds have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction and low temperature ac magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power measurements were carried out. The compounds crystallize in the parent, Sm₅Ge₄-type orthorhombic structure (space group Pnma) and lanthanide contraction is observed as one moves along the rare-earth series. The changeover from paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase happens at low temperatures and the ordering temperature scales with the de Gennes factor. The electrical resistivity is metallic with a negative curvature above 100 K. Thermopower displays a weak maximum at temperatures less than 50 K signifying the possible phonon and magnon drag effects.     

Frequency- and time-resolved coherence transfer spectroscopy

Frequency-domain two-color triply vibrational enhanced four-wave mixing using a new phase-matching geometry discriminates against coherent multidimensional spectral features created solely by radiative transitions, spectrally resolves pathways with different numbers of coherence transfer steps, and temporally resolves modulations created by interference between coherence transfer pathways. Coherence transfer is a nonradiative transition where a superposition of quantum states evolves to a different superposition. The asymmetric and symmetric C[triple bond]O stretching modes of rhodium(I) dicarbonyl acetylacetonate are used as a model system for coherence transfer. A simplified theoretical model based on Redfield theory is used to describe the experimental results.     

Spectral quantum beating in mixed frequency/time-domain coherent multidimensional spectroscopy

Coherent multidimensional spectroscopy performed in the mixed frequency/time domain exhibits both temporal and spectral quantum beating when two quantum states are simultaneously excited. The excitation of both quantum states can occur because either the spectral width of the states or the excitation pulse exceeds the frequency separation of the quantum states. The quantum beating appears as a line that broadens and splits into two peaks and then recombines as the time delay between excitation pulses increases. The splitting depends on the spectral width of the excitation pulses. We observe the spectral quantum beating between the two nearly degenerate asymmetric carbonyl stretch modes in a nickel tricarbonyl chelate using the nonrephasing, ground state bleaching coherence pathway in triply vibrationally enhanced four-wave mixing as the time delay between the first two excitation pulses changes.     

Multiresonant coherent multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy of aromatic systems: pyridine, a model system

Multiresonant four wave mixing has been used to measure the coherent multidimensional spectroscopy (CMDS) of representative aromatic ring modes using pyridine as a model system. This work identifies the cross-peaks that appear between several modes and measures their coherent and incoherent dynamics. The work also explores the consequences of using multiresonant CMDS for molecules with transition moments that are typical of most vibrational modes. Typically, CMDS experiments rely on using transitions with exceptionally large transition moments. To observe cross-peaks, the pyridine concentration was raised until absorption effects became very important. These effects interfere with the parametric CMDS coherence pathways, but they do not make important contributions to the nonparametric pathways.     

Frequency-domain time-resolved four wave mixing spectroscopy of vibrational coherence transfer with single-color excitation

Triply vibrationally enhanced four-wave mixing spectroscopy is employed to observe vibrational coherence transfer between the asymmetric and symmetric CO-stretching modes of rhodium(I) dicarbonyl acetylacetonate (RDC). Coherence transfer is a nonradiative transition of a coherent superposition of quantum states to a different coherent superposition due to coupling of the vibrational modes through the bath. All three excitation pulses in the experiment are resonant with a single quantum coherence, but coherence transfer results in new coherences with different frequencies. The new output frequency is observed with a monochromator that resolves it from the stronger peak at the original excitation frequency. This technique spectrally resolves pathways that include coherence transfer, discriminates against spectral features created solely by radiative transitions, and temporally resolves modulations created by interference between different coherence transfer pathways. Redfield theory simulates the temporal modulations in the impulsive limit, but it is also clear that coherence transfer violates the secular approximation invoked in most Redfield theories. Instead, it requires non-Markovian and bath memory effects. RDC may provide a simple model for the development of theories that incorporate these effects.     

Study of the transport mechanism in molecular self-assembling devices

This paper focuses on the intrinsic charge transport in self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and on the nature of transport in organic systems, in which surface and bulk properties are undistinguishable due to scale of consistent materials. Developed SAM-OFETs and photovoltaic (SAM-PVC) devices are characterized independently to study a role of charge delocalization both in electrical and optical manifold. The dynamics of charge transport are determined and used to clarify a transport mechanism. Taken together, these SAM devices provide a unique tool to study the fundamentals of polaronic transport on organic surfaces and to discuss the SAM-OFET and SAM PVC performance. Vapor phase molecular self-assembly of 1, 4, 5, 8-naphthalene-tetracarboxylic diphenylimide (NTCDI) having a rich π-stacking charge delivery system is used to enhance the performance of SAM-OFET and SAM PVC devices. Charge mobility in SAM-OFET could achieve values of more than 30 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹. The dynamics of charge transport in NTCDI-derived SAM-OFETs were probed using time-resolved measurements in an NTCDI-derived photovoltaic cell device. Time-resolved photovoltaic studies allow us to separate the charge annihilation kinetics in the conductive NTCDI channel from the overall charge kinetic in a SAM-OFET device. It has been demonstrated that tuning of the type of conductivity in NTCDI SAM-OFET devices is possible by changing Si substrate doping. In addition, the possibility of measuring transport in highly ordered SAM structures shines light on the polaron charge transfer in organic materials. Our study proposes that a cation-radical exchange (redox) mechanism is the major transport mechanism in SAM nanodevices. The role and contribution of the transport through delocalized states of redox active surface molecular aggregates of NTCDI are exposed and investigated in this report.     

Interferometric coherence transfer modulations in triply vibrationally enhanced four-wave mixing

Triply vibrationally enhanced (TRIVE) four-wave mixing (FWM) spectroscopy in a mixed frequency/time domain experiment contains new output coherences that isolate nonlinear pathways that involve coherence transfer. Coherence transfer occurs when a thermal bath induces coupling between two states so a quantum mechanical entanglement of a pair of quantum states evolves to entangle a new pair of quantum states. The FWM includes several equivalent coherence pathways that interfere and create a temporal modulation of the output coherence that is a signature of coherence transfer. The transfer shifts the output coherence frequency and isolates coherence transfer pathways from the stronger FWM processes that form the basis of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy. The use of coherence transfer offers the opportunity for another form of coherent multidimensional spectroscopy where cross-peaks appear because of the coherence transfer between quantum states. Since this approach is based on frequency domain methods, it requires only short-term phase coherence during the excitation process so the method is not constrained to accessing the quantum states lying within the excitation pulse bandwidth.     

Mixed frequency/time domain optical analogues of heteronuclear multidimensional NMR

Ultrafast spectroscopy is dominated by time domain methods such as pump-probe and, more recently, 2D-IR spectroscopies. In this paper, we demonstrate that a mixed frequency/time domain ultrafast four wave mixing (FWM) approach not only provides similar capabilities, but it also provides optical analogues of multiple- and zero-quantum heteronuclear nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The method requires phase coherence between the excitation pulses only over the dephasing time of the coherences. It uses twelve coherence pathways that include four with populations, four with zero-quantum coherences, and four with double-quantum coherences. Each pathway provides different capabilities. The population pathways correspond to those of two-dimensional (2D) time domain spectroscopies, while the double- and zero-quantum coherence pathways access the coherent dynamics of coupled quantum states. The three spectral and two temporal dimensions enable the isolation and characterization of the spectral correlations between different vibrational and/or electronic states, coherence and population relaxation rates, and coupling strengths. Quantum-level interference between the direct and free-induction decay components gives a spectral resolution that exceeds that of the excitation pulses. Appropriate parameter choices allow isolation of individual coherence pathways. The mixed frequency/time domain approach allows one to access any set of quantum states with coherent multidimensional spectroscopy.     

Elastic properties of the Ta–V system: bcc Ta0.33V0.67 and C15 TaV2

Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy was used to measure the elastic constants of bcc Ta_0.33V_0.67 over the temperature range 3.5–300?K; the results were compared to earlier measurements on C15 TaV₂. The temperature dependence of the polycrystalline shear modulus is completely different in the two phases; that of the bcc phase decreases with temperature whereas that of the C15 phases increases in an anomalous fashion. This difference is consistent with a model involving doubly-degenerate levels at the X point of the Brillouin zone in the C15 phase with the Fermi level lying near the doubly degenerate level. This model accounted for the unusual behaviour of the C15 phase. Debye temperatures were determined from the ultrasonic measurements: 295?K for the C15 phase and 315?K for the bcc phase.