Spin resonance spectroscopy of grown-in defects in Ga(In)NP alloys

We employ the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique to study and identify important grown-in defects in Ga(In)NP grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). Several types of defects were revealed from ODMR studies. The dominant defects were found to be related to Ga interstitials, evident form their characteristic hyperfine interaction arising from the spin interaction between the electron and the Ga nucleus. Some other as yet unidentified intrinsic defects were also found to be commonly present in the alloys. The effects of growth conditions (ion bombardment, N₂ gas flow, etc.) and post-growth rapid thermal annealing on the formation of these defects were studied in detail, shedding light on the formation mechanism of defects.     

Diffuse x-ray scattering near Bragg peaks from point defects in a general lattice

Using the continuum theory of linear elasticity, diffuse x-ray scattering has been calculated in the immediate neighbourhood of Bragg peaks from point defects in a lattice containing more than one atom in the unit cell. General expressions are obtained for the Debye-Waller factor, Huang diffuse scattering and the asymmetric scattering due to the defect. For lattices with one atom per unit cell, these expressions reduce to the well-known formulae of diffuse scattering.     

Thermally stimulated currents as a measure of degradation of zinc oxide varistors

ZnO varistor degradation phenomena was studied using thermally stimulated current (TSC) method. It is believed that asymmetrical degradation of V-I characteristics caused by DC biasing is due to charge accumulation on the reverse biased side of ZnO grain barrier. The TSCs' measuring system and cryostat apparatus used in experiment were described. The thermally stimulated currents observed in this study for varistor samples doped with different amounts of Co, due to their recovery from asymmetrical electric stress, could not be controlled by movement of Zn interstitials with activation energy 0.55 v eV, as it is widely believed, for the TSC activation energy determined in this experiment was 0.39 v eV.     

Role of point defects on conductivity, magnetism and optical properties in In2O3

In order to assess the effects of point defects including transition metal doping on its electronic structure, the self-consistent band structure of the transparent oxide In₂O₃ (in the Ia₃ structure) has been calculated with oxygen vacancies, oxygen and indium interstitial atoms and several transition metal dopants using density functional theory based first principles calculations. An oxygen vacancy alone does not act as a strong native donor but when combined with interstitial indium and (substitutional) transition metal doping, shallow donor levels close to the conduction band are formed. Spin polarized calculations show measurable magnetism in some of the transition metal doped systems while the dielectric functions indicate whether such systems remain transparent among other things.     

Huang diffuse scattering from interstitials in an hcp lattice

Using the continuum theory of linear elasticity, the Huang diffuse scattering from interstitials in an hcp lattice has been calculated to distinguish between the possible interstitial configurations. The symmetry of the lattice permits four such configurations. In each case, the Huang diffuse scattering is averaged over all possible equivalent orientations (assumed to be equally populated) of the defect configuration. The limitations of Huang diffuse scattering in discriminating between defect configurations having the same long-range symmetry are discussed, considering the specia I cases of Mg and Zn.     

Acrolein coupling on reduced TiO2(1 1 0): The effect of surface oxidation and the role of subsurface defects

Reactions of acrolein, water, and oxygen with the vacuum-reduced surface of TiO₂(1 1 0) are reported in a temperature programmed reaction study of the interaction of an aldehydic pollutant with a reducible metal oxide. A total of 25% of the acrolein that binds to the surface is converted to products. Notably, carbon-carbon coupling occurs with 86% selectivity for formation of C₆ products: C₆H₈, identified as 1,3-cyclohexadiene, in a peak at 500 K and benzene immediately thereafter at 530 K. Acrolein is evolved from the surface in three peaks: a peak independent of coverage at 495 K, attributed to decomposition of an intermediate that is partly converted to C₆H₈; a coverage-dependent peak that shifts from 370 K (low coverage) to 260 K (high coverage), which is attributed to adsorption at 5-fold coordinated Ti sites; and a multilayer state at 160 K. Water and acrolein compete for 5-fold coordinated titanium sites when dosed sequentially. The addition of water also opens a new reaction pathway, leading to the hydrogenation of acrolein to form propanal. Water has no effect on the yield of 1,3-cyclohexadiene. Exposure of the surface to oxygen prior to acrolein dosing quenches the evolution of acrolein at 495 K and concurrently eliminates the coupling. From these results, we propose that reduced subsurface defects such as titanium ion interstitials play a role in the reactions observed here. The notion that subsurface defects may contribute to the reactivity of organic molecules over reducible oxide substrates may prove to be general.     

Über die Kristallstruktur der Phase La5B2C6

On the Crystal Structure of the Phase La₅B₂C₆ A homogeneous sample of La₅B₂C₆ annealed at 1000 °C was investigated by X‐ray powder and single‐crystal as well as electron diffraction. The crystal structure was refined in space group P4/ncc (a = 8.590(1) Å, b = 12.398(1) Å, Z = 4, ρ_calc = 5.723 g/cm, ρ_exp = 5.70 g/cm) allowing for anharmonic displacement parameters for the metal atoms. The structure contains twofold disordered CBCC units in bicapped tetragonal antiprismatic coordination in contrast to C₂ and CBC units in earlier investigations.     

A derivation of the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann relation for supercooled liquids

The non-Arrhenius Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman relation for the viscosity, η, known for about 8 decades, describes simply one of the most characteristic features of supercooled liquids. It may be written η=η₀exp[U/k(T−T₀)]. Using the Dyre et al. result demonstrating that U is proportional to the shear modulus, G, and the Interstitialcy Theory of Condensed Matter (ITCM) we derive this relation and obtain T₀/Tg=γ/(γ+1) and U=U₀/(1+γ), where U₀ is the interstitialcy diffusion energy at the glass temperature. Here, γ is a fragility softening parameter given by γ = βT_g(dc /dT)|_Tg. β is the shear susceptibility − d ln G /dc, and c is the interstitialcy concentration. γ is also a fragility parameter ranging from 0 for strong materials to 3 or above for fragile ones.