Influence of crystallite-boundary potential barriers on the thermopower and peltier effect in polycrystalline ferroelectric semiconductors

The influence of local charged states at crystallite boundaries on the thermoelectric effects in polycrystalline ferroelectrics is considered. It is shown that the differential thermopower and the Peltier coefficient depend on the height of the crystallite-boundary potential barriers. The possible manifestation of an anomalous behavior of the thermopower in the vicinity of the Curie ferroelectric point is demonstrated.     

Influence of Anisotropic Wind Waves on the Efficiency of Spatial Processing of Acoustic Signals in Shallow Water

The authors investigate the effect of anisotropy of the frequency-angular spectrum of wind waves on the efficiency of spatial processing signals received by a horizontal array in a shallow water waveguide with a rough surface. The array gain is analyzed for three array signal processors: conventional beamformer, optimal linear processor, and optimal quadratic processor. The numerical simulation results for the hydrological conditions typical of the Barents Sea in winter are presented. The main focus is on the dependence of the array gain on the distance to the source and wind direction with respect to the acoustic path. Simulation results for the anisotropic wind wave spectrum and a simplified model with an isotropic spectrum are also compared.

     

Local structure of disordered PbSc<Subscript>1/2</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>1/2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> in the region of the diffuse tetragonal phase-rhombohedral phase transition

The local structure of the ferroelectric-relaxor PbSc_1/2Nb_1/2O₃ in the temperature range from 550 to 220 K has been investigated using ⁴⁵Sc nuclear magnetic resonance. It has been found that, in the paraelectric phase at temperatures below 550 K, the crystal consists of regions of an ordered elpasolite structure and inclusions of the disordered tetragonal perovskite phase with displacements along directions of the [001] type. The relative weight of the tetragonal structure in the region of the paraelectric phase is approximately equal to 0.28. Below the temperature of the phase transition from the disordered modification to the polar phase, the relative weight of the tetragonal phase decreases with decreasing temperature. The tetragonal structure is replaced by the trigonal polar structure. In a wide temperature range (∼50 K), there exists a heterophase structure that is characteristic of relaxors. Note that the correlation length of displacements in the tetragonal phase should be very small to explain the absence of indications of the existence of this phase in the diffraction data.     

Radiation safety of luggage inspected for explosive materials by photonuclear detectors in airports

Doses of ionizing radiation generated by a luggage simulator are measured. The luggage simulator is irradiated under conditions that occur when luggage is inspected by photonuclear detectors for explosive materials. It is shown that the ionizing radiation caused by induced radiation is not dangerous either to passengers or to airport stuff.