Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

Shaping Solid-State Supramolecular Cavities: Chemically Induced Accordionlike Movement of gamma-Zirconium Phosphate Containing Polyethylenoxide Pillars

The hydrophilic oxygen atoms of polyethylenoxide chains inserted as pillars in gamma-zirconium phosphate form hydrogen bonds with the acid groups of the host. As a result the pillars are almost perpendicular to the gamma layers. Upon changing the pH level of the supernatant solution the hydrogen bonds are broken and the pillars become almost perpendicular to the layers (shown schematically). Thus there is a reversible enlargement-shortening of the interlayer space.     

An FT-IR study of adsorption of sulfur dioxide on alpha- and gamma-alumina

In the Claus process hydrogen sulfide reacts to elemental sulfur. Because the Claus reaction is thermodynamically limited, sulfur compounds are still present in Claus tailgas. To avoid air pollution, the tailgas has to be treated.Alfa- and gamma-alumina are being used either as a catalyst or as a support for an active component in the Claus process and some tailgas treatment processes. In order to elucidate the mechanism of the Claus reaction, the adsorption of sulfur dioxide on both of the above aluminas was investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.Different adsorbed species displaying a different heat of adsorption were detected. A broad band near 3500 cm^–1 is associated with the basic hydroxyl groups. This band is assigned to a hydrogen bond between the surface of alumina and a bisulfite species. As bisulfite species are reactive towards hydrogen sulfide, we assume that bisulfite species are active intermediates on alumina in the Claus reaction.     

ESR identification of a new N2− defect in X-ray irradiated NaN3

A relatively weak ESR spectrum is observed in single crystals of NaN₃ after X-ray irradiation at 77 K. This spectrum, which has an anisotropic g value and exhibits a resolved 5-line hyperfine structure with components in the ratio 1:2:3:2:1, corresponds to a single unpaired electron interacting symmetrically with two spin-one nuclei, in three inequivalent sites. The spin-Hamiltonian parameters are: g_x = 2.0054 ± 0.0005, g_y = 2.0045 ± 0.0005, g_z = 1.9688 ± 0.0005, |A_x| = 4.0 ± 0.2 G, |A_y| = 20.0 ± 0.2 G, and |A_z| = 4.9 ± 0.2 G, c-axis, and y is perpendicular to the c-axis. This spectrum, which is clearly different from that of substitutional N₂^?reported by Gelerinter and Silsbee, is attributed to interstitial N₂^?.     

Post-deposition atomic terraces growth of ZnO thin films deposited on epi-GaN templates

We demonstrate how growth processes affect on ZnO film properties, which are to be essential guides to prevent defect formation in order to synthesize reproducible high quality ZnO films. First, we reveal that deposition at a low temperature is indispensable to transfer underlying GaN atomic terraces to ZnO surface. As the film thickness is increased, however, the terraces disappear to develop island morphology. It is found that the thick film surface is smoothed to the extent that atomic terraces can be seen after an appropriate thermal treatment. Adverse effects associated with high annealing temperatures are then demonstrated as evidenced by cracks formation, increased yellow cathode-luminescence and intermixing at the interface.     

Control of the oscillator strength of the exciton in a single InGaN-GaN quantum dot

We report direct evidence for the control of the oscillator strength of the exciton state in a single quantum dot by the application of a vertical electric field. This is achieved through the study of the radiative lifetime of a single InGaN-GaN quantum dot in a p-i-n diode structure. Our results are in good quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions from an atomistic tight-binding model. Furthermore, the increase of the overlap between the electron and hole wave functions due to the applied field is shown experimentally to increase the attractive Coulomb interaction leading to a change in the sign of the biexcitonic binding energy.     

The effects of varying metal precursor fluxes on the growth of InAlN by metal organic vapour phase epitaxy

InAlN is a relatively new addition to the palette of nitride semiconductor alloys, with potential applications in distributed Bragg reflectors and high electron mobility transistors. However relatively little is known about the effects of different growth conditions on InAlN’s structure and properties and more importantly what these effects can tell us about the surface processes of growth. Here we have investigated the effects of varying various metal fluxes. First, we varied the total fluxes of all the precursors while maintaining their ratios. This led to an increase in growth rate, of itself very desirable, but at the considerable cost of significantly roughened surfaces. Analysis of these surfaces using power spectral density functions suggests that they were all produced by a combination of stochastic roughening and smoothing by surface diffusion, suggesting that at a given temperature increasing the growth rate will always lead to roughening. In addition, we examined the effect of varying just the trimethylindium flux (and therefore varying the indium to gallium ratio). As this flux was increased the indium incorporation initially increased but then levelled off, and for further increases the amount of indium on the surface as droplets increases significantly, suggesting that there is a limit to the indium incorporation that than be achieved at a given temperature and pressure. This suggests that there are practical limits to simultaneously achieving high growth rates, high indium contents and low surface roughnesses.