Working group report: Collider Physics

This is summary of the activities of the working group on collider physics in the IXth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-9) held at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India in January 2006. Some of the work subsequently done on these problems by the subgroups formed during the workshop is included in this report.     

The systems Zr(Nb,Ti)(R)O2−δ, R=Yb, Ca—optimization of mixed conductivity and comparison with results of other systems (R=Y and Gd)

In this work we address the optimization of mixed conductivity in fluorite compounds based on zirconia. Phase relations of the new systems YbO_1.5-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂, and CaO-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂ are presented. The limit of the cubic defect fluorite phase in YbO_1.5-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂ closely resembles that of the system YO_1.5-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂, whilst in CaO-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂ is narrow extending to include composition Ca_0.255Nb_0.15Zr_0.595O_1.82 at 1500°C. The influence of dopant ion size, charge and composition on ionic conduction is assessed and parallels are drawn with the systems YO_1.5-NbO_2.5-ZrO₂ and YO_1.5-TiO₂-ZrO₂. Comparison of these results with published data on the Ti containing systems CaO-TiO₂-ZrO₂, GdO_1.5-TiO₂-ZrO₂ shows that the highest mixed conducting compositions can only be offered in the system YO_1.5-TiO₂-ZrO₂ out of all the systems here studied.     

On the singularity of Green's tensor for a perfectly conducting semi-infinite cone

This paper is intended to clarify a misunderstanding concerningthe source singularity of the electric Green's tensor for aperfectly conducting semi-infinite cone of circular cross-section.Tai's series expansion of the Green's tensor is known to lacka singular term at the source region. Jones has reconstructedthe solution to this problem and has pointed out the differencebetween his result and that of Tai. The aim of our paper isto demonstrate that, although Jones's closed-form solution iscorrect, there is a mistake in his comparison with Tai's seriessolution. We conclude that one of the two additional singularterms that Jones claims as missing from Tai's formula must beomitted. Besides, we compare Jones's closed-form solution withSmyshlyaev's solution to the very same problem. We concludethat the magnetic field expressions given by Jones and Smyshlyaevcoincide, but a singular term is missing from Smyshlyaev's expressionfor the electric field.     

B-site substitutions in LaNb1−xMxO4−δ materials in the search for potential proton conductors (M=Ga, Ge, Si, B, Ti, Zr, P, Al)

The solid solubilities of potential B-site dopants in LaNb_1-xM_xO_4−δ, materials, M=Ga, Ge, Si, Al, B, P, Zr or Ti, have been investigated in the search for possible novel proton conductors. In general, the solubility levels of these cations were found to be very low (x≤0.03). At the maximum value x=0.03, only compositions containing Ti, Ge, Ga and Si appeared pure at the limit of resolution of XRD. The literature phase diagram, La₂O₃-Nb₂O₅-ZrO₂, has been re-analysed for compositions of low Zr-content around the composition LaNbO₄. The electrical properties of phase pure Ti-doped compositions have been studied. Higher bulk and total conductivities were observed in wet than dry conditions, suggesting a significant protonic contribution to total conductivity. In wet conditions, the activation energy for bulk conductivity of LaNb_0.98Ti_0.02O_4-δ was found to be much higher than that of an A-site, Sr-doped material, Sr_0.02La_0.98NbO_4-δ, of similar acceptor dopant concentration. The Sr-doped composition offered higher conductivities than the Ti-doped composition up to approximately 900°C.     

Cu-Ce0.8Gd0.2O2−δ materials as SOFC electrolyte and anode

Co-sintering of Cu-CGO cermet anodes on CGO (Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_2−δ) electrolyte was conducted at low temperature (1000 °C) by introducing small amounts (2 mol.%) of CuO sintering aid to the electrolytic CGO. The Cu-CGO anodes with Cu contents from 20–50 vol.% were prepared by combustion synthesis followed by sintering and reduction. Symmetrical anode/electrolyte/anode assemblies of Cu-GCO/CGO/Cu-CGO were fabricated by manually depositing the anode combustion powder on a green substrate of the 2 mol% CuO-containing CGO, followed by co-pressing and co-sintering of the assembly at 1000 °C. The low-temperature sintered CGO is submicron with 95–99% relative density. CuO addition has no significant effect on either the total or ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, but p-type conduction in the temperature range, 900–1200 °C, is 25 times higher than that of undoped CGO. Oxygen-ion transference numbers of the Cu-containing CGO lie in the range 0.89–0.99, as determined by the modified e.m.f. technique under an oxygen/air potential gradient. The activation energy for ionic conduction, 83 kJmol⁻¹, is significantly lower than that for p-type electronic transport, 140 kJmol⁻¹. Paper presented at the 9th EuroConference on Ionics, Ixia, Rhodes, Greece, Sept. 15 – 21, 2002.     

Oxide ion transport in highly defective cubic stabilized zirconias

Ac impedance spectroscopy and neutron powder diffraction have been used to study the high temperature behaviour of defective fluorite solid electrolytes. In yttria-stabilised zirconia with an yttrium content of 15 mol% YO_1.5 there is a marked change in conductivity behaviour at around 650 °C, with a decrease in activation energy of 0.15 eV. Structural studies confirm that this is due to a change in the bulk of the sample with the disappearance of diffuse scattering peaks and marked changes in the behaviour of the isotropic temperature factors at the same temperature. These results indicate that the change in activation energy of yttria-stabilised zirconia at 650 °C is due to an order-disorder transition involving local defect clusters. In studies of zirconia co-doped with yttrium and niobium, activation energy for conduction is found to rapidly increase with the concentration of the trivalent yttrium Saturation doping is reached at about 20–30 % of yttrium and activation energy only increases slightly with doping. Introduction of pentavalent niobium at this level of doping serves to decrease activation energy, although it also decreases conductivity slightly. The low and high temperature activation energies converge as the saturation regime is approached. These observations seem to suggest that ordering of defect clusters into microdomains increases activation energy for ionic motion. At low defect concentrations and high temperatures, this local ordering breaks down and the activation energy for conduction decreases. Paper presented at the 2nd Euroconference on Solid State Ionics, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, Sept. 10–16, 1995     

Thermodynamic restrictions on mechanosynthesis of strontium titanate

Chemical potential phase stability diagrams were calculated from relevant thermodynamic properties and used to predict the thermodynamic driving force under prospective conditions of room temperature mechanosynthesis. One analysed the dependence of chemical potential diagrams on temperature and partial pressure of evolving gases such as oxygen or carbon dioxide, as expected on using strontium peroxide or strontium carbonate as precursor reactants for the alkali earth component. Thermodynamic calculations were also obtained for changes in titania precursor reactants, including thermodynamic predictions for reactivity of strontium carbonate with amorphous titania. Experimental evidence showed that strontium titanate can be obtained by mechanosynthesis of strontium carbonate+anatase mixtures, due to previous amorphization under high energy milling. Ability to perform mechanosynthesis with less energetic milling depends on the suitable choice of alternative precursor reactants, which meet the thermodynamic requirements without previous amorphization; this was demonstrated by mechanosynthesis from anatase+strontium peroxide mixtures.     

Scattering by small defects in the neighbourhood of a fluid-solid interface

The scattering of incident plane elastic waves by a varietyof different defects that lie upon a fluid-solid interface isconsidered here using matched asymptotic expansions. The expansionscheme is developed in terms of a parameter , the ratio of typicaldefect length scale to a typical wavelength of the incidentfield, taken to be small. Three different canonical situations occur and these are illustratedvia three specific examples treated here: a rigid strut, anedge crack, and a rigid strip. In each case the leading-ordermatching is performed to identify the leading-order contributionof the defect to the acoustic field in the far field. In particular,each defect is identified with a source of dipole response ininterfacial stress of displacement. It is shown in the limit as s<<s1 that in the inner problemsthe fluid and solid pieces uncouple in a particularly convenientmanner allowing analytical solutions to be deduced. These arethen matched with appropriate outer solutions.