197 research outputs found
Thickness dependence of the stability of the charge-ordered state in PrCaMnO thin films
Thin films of the charge-ordered (CO) compound PrCaMnO
have been deposited onto (100)-oriented SrTiO substrates using the Pulsed
Laser Deposition technique. Magnetization and transport properties are measured
when the thickness of the film is varied. While the thinner films do not
exhibit any temperature induced insulator-metal transition under an applied
magnetic field up to 9T, for thickness larger than 1100\UNICODE{0xc5} a 5T
magnetic field is sufficient to melt the CO state. For this latest film, we
have measured the temperature-field phase diagram. Compared to the bulk
material, it indicates that the robustness of the CO state in thin films is
strongly depending on the strains and the thickness. We proposed an explanation
based on the distortion of the cell of the film.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Effect of Strain Relaxation on Magnetotransport properties of epitaxial La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO_3 films
In this paper, we have studied the effect of strain relaxation on
magneto-transport properties of La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO_3 epitaxial films (200 nm
thick), which were deposited by pulsed laser deposition technique under
identical conditions. All the films are epitaxial and have cubic unit cell. The
amount of strain relaxation has been varied by taking three different single
crystal substrates of SrTiO_3, LaAlO_3 and MgO. It has been found that for
thicker films the strain gets relaxed and produces variable amount of disorder
depending on the strength of strain relaxation. The magnitude of lattice
relaxation has been found to be 0.384, 3.057 and 6.411 percent for film
deposited on SrTiO_3, LaAlO_3 and MgO respectively. The films on LaAlO_3 and
SrTiO_3 show higher T_{IM} of 243 K and 217 K respectively as compared to
T_{IM} of 191 K for the film on MgO. Similarly T_C of the films on SrTiO_3 and
LaAlO_3 is sharper and has value of 245 K and 220 K respectively whereas the TC
of the film on MgO is 175 K. Higher degree of relaxation creates more defects
and hence TIM (T_C) of the film on MgO is significantly lower than of SrTiO_3
and LaAlO_3. We have adopted a different approach to correlate the effect of
strain relaxation on magneto-transport properties of LCMO films by evaluating
the resistivity variation through Mott's VRH model. The variable presence of
disorder in these thick films due to lattice relaxation which have been
analyzed through Mott's VRH model provides a strong additional evidence that
the strength of lattice relaxation produces disorder dominantly by increase in
density of defects such as stacking faults, dislocations, etc. which affect the
magneto-transport properties of thick epitaxial La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO_3 films
Enhanced Room Temperature Coefficient of Resistance and Magneto-resistance of Ag-added La0.7Ca0.3-xBaxMnO3 Composites
In this paper we report an enhanced temperature coefficient of resistance
(TCR) close to room temperature in La0.7Ca0.3-xBaxMnO3 + Agy (x = 0.10, 0.15
and y = 0.0 to 0.40) (LCBMO+Ag) composite manganites. The observed enhancement
of TCR is attributed to the grain growth and opening of new conducting channels
in the composites. Ag addition has also been found to enhance intra-granular
magneto-resistance. Inter-granular MR, however, is seen to decrease with Ag
addition. The enhanced TCR and MR at / near room temperature open up the
possibility of the use of such materials as infrared bolometric and magnetic
field sensors respectively.Comment: 22 pages of Text +
Figs:comments/suggestions([email protected]
High magnetic field transport measurement of charge-ordered PrCaMnO strained thin films
We have investigated the magnetic-field-induced phase transition of
charge-ordered (CO) PrCaMnO thin films, deposited onto
(100)-oriented LaAlO and (100)-oriented SrTiO substrates using the
pulsed laser deposition technique, by measuring the transport properties with
magnetic fields up to 22T. The transition to a metallic state is observed on
both substrates by application of a critical magnetic field ( at 60K).
The value of the field required to destroy the charge-ordered insulating state,
lower than the bulk compound, depends on both the substrate and the thickness
of the film. The difference of the critical magnetic field between the films
and the bulk material is explained by the difference of in-plane parameters at
low temperature (below the CO transition). Finally, these results confirm that
the robustness of the CO state, depends mainly on the stress induced by the
difference in the thermal dilatations between the film and the substrate.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Electronic phase transitions in PrCaMnO epitaxial thin films revealed by resonant soft x-ray scattering
We report the study of magnetic and orbital order in
PrCaMnO epitaxial thin films grown on
(LaAlO)-(SrAlTaO) (LSAT) (011). In
a new experimental approach, the polarization and energy dependence of resonant
soft x-ray scattering are used to reveal significant modifications of the
magnetic order in the film as compared to the bulk, namely (i) a different
magnetic ordering wave vector, (ii) a different magnetic easy axis and (iii) an
additional magnetic reordering transition at low temperatures. These
observations indicate a strong impact of the epitaxial strain on the spin
order, which is mediated by the orbital degrees of freedom and which provides a
promising route to tune the magnetic properties of manganite films. Our results
further demonstrate that resonant soft x-ray scattering is a very suitable
technique to study the magnetism in thin films, to which neutron scattering
cannot easily be applied due to the small sample volume.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Intricacies of Strain and Magnetic Field Induced Charge Order Melting in Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 Thin Films
Thin films of the half doped manganite Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 were grown on (100)
oriented MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. In order to study
the effect of strain on the magnetic field induced charge order melting, films
of different thicknesses were prepared and their properties were studied by
x-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity and magnetoresistance measurements. A
field induced charge order melting is observed for films with very small
thicknesses. The charge order transition temperature and the magnetic filed
induced charge order melting are observed to depend on the nature of strain
that is experienced by the film.Comment: 18 pages, (including 6 figures
Lattice dynamical study of optical modes in Tl2Mn2O7 and In2Mn2O7 pyrochlores
The Raman, IR and force field have been investigated for A2Mn2O7 (A= Tl, In)
by means of a short-range force constant model which includes four stretching
and four bending force constants. Unusual spectral and force field changes are
observed and analyzed. The stretching force constant Mn-O and A-O, are found to
be relatively higher than those of other pyrochlore oxides of the A2Mn2O7
family, while the remaining force constant values are significantly smaller,
especially for Tl2Mn2O7. This trend may be due to strong hybridization of the
Tl (6s) orbital with O (2p) and Mn (3d). The assignment of all the modes has
been proposed and potential energy distribution is also reported. The evaluated
frequencies are close to the available observed infrared and Raman frequencies,
giving further support to the present assignments.Comment: To be published in PRB, 17 page
Pesticides and health: A review of evidence on health effects, valuation of risks, and benefitâcost analysis
In this paper, we provide reviews of recent scientific findings on health effects and preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, and the role of benefitâcost analysis in policies related to pesticides. Our reviews reveal that whereas the focus of the health literature has been on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, e.g. farmers, the literature on preference elicitation has focused on those with indirect exposure, e.g. consumers. Our discussion of pesticides policies emphasizes the need to clarify the rationale for regulation and the role of risk perceptions in benefitâcost analysis, and stress the importance of interâdisciplinary research in this area
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Bioavailability in soils
The consumption of locally-produced vegetables by humans may be an important exposure pathway for soil contaminants in many urban settings and for agricultural land use. Hence, prediction of metal and metalloid uptake by vegetables from contaminated soils is an important part of the Human Health Risk Assessment procedure. The behaviour of metals (cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc) and metalloids (arsenic, boron and selenium) in contaminated soils depends to a large extent on the intrinsic charge, valence and speciation of the contaminant ion, and soil properties such as pH, redox status and contents of clay and/or organic matter. However, chemistry and behaviour of the contaminant in soil alone cannot predict soil-to-plant transfer. Root uptake, root selectivity, ion interactions, rhizosphere processes, leaf uptake from the atmosphere, and plant partitioning are important processes that ultimately govern the accumulation ofmetals and metalloids in edible vegetable tissues. Mechanistic models to accurately describe all these processes have not yet been developed, let alone validated under field conditions. Hence, to estimate risks by vegetable consumption, empirical models have been used to correlate concentrations of metals and metalloids in contaminated soils, soil physico-chemical characteristics, and concentrations of elements in vegetable tissues. These models should only be used within the bounds of their calibration, and often need to be re-calibrated or validated using local soil and environmental conditions on a regional or site-specific basis.Mike J. McLaughlin, Erik Smolders, Fien Degryse, and Rene Rietr
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