Correlation of acoustic and thermal anomalies in ferroelectric crystals

The Pippard-Janovec relations are derived for correlating the anomalous elastic coefficient and the anomalous specific heat near the phase transitions of ferroelectric crystals. These relations are verified in the case of ferroelectric triglycine selenate crystal.

Physico-chemical properties of pure and x-ray irradiated single crystals of KAP

Single crystals of potassium hydrogen phthalate (KAP) have been grown by slow evaporation method from aqueous solutions. Thermal analyses indicate that KAP crystals decompose into phthalic anhydride and KOH around 520 K. Electrical properties of single crystals of KAP have been studied along with the effect of X-ray irradiation of the crystals. The electrical transport appears to be associated with tunneling of protons. The irradiated crystal exhibits lower dielectric constant and higher ac conductivity.

Spectral assignments based on the 13C NMR spectra of mixed liquid crystals of opposite diamagnetic anisotropies

The proton-decoupled 13C NMR spectra of mixtures of liquid crystals with opposite diamagnetic anisotropies have been studied in the natural abundance of 13C. A new method to assign the spectral lines to specific carbons in the liquid crystalline phase has been developed. For this purpose, the assignments of lines in the isotropic media are required, and they were obtained from two-dimensional hetero-COSY experiments. From the spectra in the �critical� mixtures where both the orientations of the liquid crystal directors, with the alignments along and perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field, �coexist,� the 13C chemical-shift anisotropies have been determined, assuming uniaxial symmetry.

Static and dynamic properties of incommensurate smectic-AIC liquid crystals

We study the elasticity, topological defects, and hydrodynamics of the recently discovered incommensurate smectic (AIC) phase, characterized by two collinear mass density waves of incommensurate spatial frequency. The low-energy long-wavelength excitations of the system can be described by a displacement field u(x) and a ��phason�� field w(x) associated, respectively, with collective and relative motion of the two constituent density waves. We formulate the elastic free energy in terms of these two variables and find that when w=0, its functional dependence on u is identical to that of a conventional smectic liquid crystal, while when u=0, its functional dependence on w is the same as that for the angle variable in a slightly anisotropic XY model. An arbitrariness in the definition of u and w allows a choice that eliminates all relevant couplings between them in the long-wavelength elastic energy. The topological defects of the system are dislocations with nonzero u and w components. We introduce a two-dimensional Burgers lattice for these dislocations, and compute the interaction between them. This has two parts: one arising from the u field that is short ranged and identical to the interaction between dislocations in an ordinary smectic liquid crystal, and one arising from the w field that is long ranged and identical to the logarithmic interaction between vortices in an XY model. The hydrodynamic modes of the AIC include first- and second-sound modes whose direction-dependent velocities are identical to those in ordinary smectics. The sound attenuations have a different direction dependence, however. The breakdown of hydrodynamics found in conventional smectic liquid crystals, with three of the five viscosities diverging as 1/? at small frequencies ?, occurs in these systems as well and is identical in all its details. In addition, there is a diffusive phason mode, not found in ordinary smectic liquid crystals, that leads to anomalously slow mechanical response analogous to that predicted in quasicrystals, but on a far more experimentally accessible time scale.

Topological defects in crystals: A density-wave theory

A new approach for describing dislocations and other topological defects in crystals, based on the density wave theory of Ramakrishnan and Yussouff is presented. Quantitative calculations are discussed in brief for the order parameter profiles, the atomic configuration and the free energy of a screw dislocation with Burgers vector b = (a/2, a/2,a/2 ) in a bcc solid. Our results for the free energy of the dislocation in a crystal of sizeR, when expressed as (λb 2/4π) ln (αR/|b|) whereλ is the shear elastic constant, yield, for example, the valueα ⋍ 1·85 for sodium at its freezing temperature (371°K). The density distribution in the presence of the dislocation shows that the dislocation core has a columnar character. To our knowledge, this study represents the first calculation of dislocation structure, including the core, within the framework of an order parameter theory incorporating thermal effects.

Optical absorption and photoluminescence studies on heavily doped (Ga,Mn)Sb crystals

Ga1-xMnxSb crystals are grown with different Mn doping concentrations by the horizontal Bridgman method (x = 0 - 0.04). Optical absorption and photoluminescence studies are carried out in the temperature range 3-300 K. Optical absorption studies reveal that the inter-valence band transition from the spin-orbit split-off band to the light/heavy hole bands is dominant over the fundamental valence band to conduction band absorption. In higher doped crystals, the fundamental absorption peak is merged with the inter-valence band transition and could not be resolved. Photoluminescence measurements in heavily doped crystals reveal the band gap narrowing and band filling effects due to the Fermi level shifting into the valence band.

Disorder-driven electronic localization and phase separation in superconducting Fe1+yTe0.5Se0.5 single crystals

We have investigated the influence of Fe excess on the electrical transport and magnetism of Fe1+yTe0.5Se0.5 (y=0.04 and 0.09) single crystals. Both compositions exhibit resistively determined superconducting transitions (T-c) with an onset temperature of about 15 K. From the width of the superconducting transition and the magnitude of the lower critical field H-c1, it is inferred that excess of Fe suppresses superconductivity. The linear and nonlinear responses of the ac susceptibility show that the superconducting state for these compositions is inhomogeneous. A possible origin of this phase separation is a magnetic coupling between Fe excess occupying interstitial sites in the chalcogen planes and those in the Fe-square lattice. The temperature derivative of the resistivity d(rho)/d(T) in the temperature range T-c < T < T-a with T-a being the temperature of a magnetic anomaly, changes from positive to negative with increasing Fe. A log 1/T divergence of the resistivity above T-c in the sample with higher amount of Fe suggests a disorder-driven electronic localization.

Silver nitrate-acetonitrile and iodine-benzene complexes as studied by NMR in thermotropic liquid crystals

Silver nitrate-acetonitrile and π iodine-benzene complexes in thermotropic liquid crystals have been studied by 1H, 2H, and 13C NMR spectroscopy and by optical microscopy. Evidence for at least two silver complexes in each liquid crystal is presented.

Coexistence of para and ferromagnetic phases of Fe3+ in undoped CdZnTe (Zn similar to 4%) crystals

The signatures of the coexistence of para and ferromagnetic phases for the Fe3+ charge state of iron have been identified in the low temperature electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra in undoped CdZnTe (Zn similar to 4%) crystals and independently verified by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) and AC susceptibility measurements. In the paramagnetic phase the inverse of AC susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law. In the ferromagnetic phase the thermal evolution of magnetization follows the well-known Bloch T-3/2 law. This is further supported by the appearance of hysteresis in the SQUID measurements at 2 K below T-c which is expected to lie in between 2 and 2.5 K. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defect related luminescence in Hg0.2Cd0.8Te nano- and micro-crystals grown by the solvothermal method

The photoluminescence (PL) properties of nano- and micro-crystalline Hg1-xCdxTe (x approximate to 0.8) grown by the solvothermal method have been studied over the temperature range 10-300 K. The emission spectra of the samples excited with 514.5 nm Ar+ laser consist of five prominent bands around 0.56, 0.60, 0.69, 0.78 and 0.92 eV. The entire PL band in this NIR region is attributed to the luminescence from defect centers. The features like temperature independent peak energy and quite sensitive PL intensity, which has a maximum around 50 K is illustrated by the configuration coordinate model. After 50 K, the luminescence shows a thermal quenching behavior that is usually exhibited by amorphous semiconductors, indicating that the defects are related to the compositional disorder. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impurity diffusion in bismuth single-crystals

Measurements of impurity diffusion of 86Rb, 90Sr, 133Ba, and 137Cs in single crystal Bi were carried out. Diffusion samples were prepared from single crystal Bi by ion implantation. About 1012-1013 ions were implanted, resulting in surface activities approx =104 cpm. After implantation, specimens were annealed for specified times at 220-265 deg C, and tracer penetration profiles were determined by an electrolytic method. A typical penetration profile for 137Cs in Bi showed a linear relationship for log C vs x in with Fick's law for volume diffusion. Laws of grain boundary diffusion were not obeyed and the order of magnitude of the penetration distances was much less than on a grain boundary mechanism. Results were interpreted in terms of a modified Fischer analysis using a kinetic trapping term. Effective half lengths for trapping at a twin boundary were determined for each impurity.