252 research outputs found
Classical magnetotransport of inhomogeneous conductors
We present a model of magnetotransport of inhomogeneous conductors based on
an array of coupled four-terminal elements. We show that this model generically
yields non-saturating magnetoresistance at large fields. We also discuss how
this approach simplifies finite-element analysis of bulk inhomogeneous
semiconductors in complex geometries. We argue that this is an explanation of
the observed non-saturating magnetoresistance in silver chalcogenides and
potentially in other disordered conductors. Our method may be used to design
the magnetoresistive response of a microfabricated array.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures. Minor typos correcte
Anomalous temperature behavior of resistivity in lightly doped manganites around a metal-insulator phase transition
An unusual temperature and concentration behavior of resistivity in
has been observed at slight doping
(). Namely, introduction of copper results in a splitting of
the resistivity maximum around a metal-insulator transition temperature
into two differently evolving peaks. Unlike the original -free
maximum which steadily increases with doping, the second (satellite) peak
remains virtually unchanged for , increases for and finally
disappears at with . The observed phenomenon
is thought to arise from competition between substitution induced strengthening
of potential barriers (which hamper the charge hopping between neighboring
sites) and weakening of carrier's kinetic energy. The data are well fitted
assuming a nonthermal tunneling conductivity theory with randomly distributed
hopping sites.Comment: 10 REVTEX pages, 2 PostScript figures (epsf.sty); to be published in
JETP Letter
Non-saturating magnetoresistance of inhomogeneous conductors: comparison of experiment and simulation
The silver chalcogenides provide a striking example of the benefits of
imperfection. Nanothreads of excess silver cause distortions in the current
flow that yield a linear and non-saturating transverse magnetoresistance (MR).
Associated with the large and positive MR is a negative longitudinal MR. The
longitudinal MR only occurs in the three-dimensional limit and thereby permits
the determination of a characteristic length scale set by the spatial
inhomogeneity. We find that this fundamental inhomogeneity length can be as
large as ten microns. Systematic measurements of the diagonal and off-diagonal
components of the resistivity tensor in various sample geometries show clear
evidence of the distorted current paths posited in theoretical simulations. We
use a random resistor network model to fit the linear MR, and expand it from
two to three dimensions to depict current distortions in the third (thickness)
dimension. When compared directly to experiments on AgSe and
AgTe, in magnetic fields up to 55 T, the model identifies
conductivity fluctuations due to macroscopic inhomogeneities as the underlying
physical mechanism. It also accounts reasonably quantitatively for the various
components of the resistivity tensor observed in the experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Kinetics of diffusion-limited catalytically-activated reactions: An extension of the Wilemski-Fixman approach
We study kinetics of diffusion-limited catalytically-activated
reactions taking place in three dimensional systems, in which an annihilation
of diffusive particles by diffusive traps may happen only if the
encounter of an with any of the s happens within a special catalytic
subvolumen, these subvolumens being immobile and uniformly distributed within
the reaction bath. Suitably extending the classical approach of Wilemski and
Fixman (G. Wilemski and M. Fixman, J. Chem. Phys. \textbf{58}:4009, 1973) to
such three-molecular diffusion-limited reactions, we calculate analytically an
effective reaction constant and show that it comprises several terms associated
with the residence and joint residence times of Brownian paths in finite
domains. The effective reaction constant exhibits a non-trivial dependence on
the reaction radii, the mean density of catalytic subvolumens and particles'
diffusion coefficients. Finally, we discuss the fluctuation-induced kinetic
behavior in such systems.Comment: To appear in J. Chem. Phy
Low-temperature specific heat of real crystals: Possibility of leading contribution of optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations
We point out that the repeatedly reported glass-like properties of
crystalline materials are not necessarily associated with localized (or
quasilocalized) excitations. In real crystals, optical and short-wavelength
acoustical vibrations remain damped due to defects down to zero temperature. If
such a damping is frequency-independent, e.g. due to planar defects or charged
defects, these optical and short-wavelength acoustical vibrations yield a
linear-in- contribution to the low-temperature specific heat of the crystal
lattices. At low enough temperatures such a contribution will prevail over that
of the long-wavelength acoustical vibrations (Debye contribution). The
crossover between the linear and the Debye regime takes place at , where is the concentration of the defects responsible for the
damping. Estimates show that this crossover could be observable.Comment: 5 pages. v4: Error in Appendix corrected, which does not change the
main results of the pape
Survival probability of a particle in a sea of mobile traps: A tale of tails
We study the long-time tails of the survival probability of an
particle diffusing in -dimensional media in the presence of a concentration
of traps that move sub-diffusively, such that the mean square
displacement of each trap grows as with .
Starting from a continuous time random walk (CTRW) description of the motion of
the particle and of the traps, we derive lower and upper bounds for and
show that for these bounds coincide asymptotically, thus
determining asymptotically exact results. The asymptotic decay law in this
regime is exactly that obtained for immobile traps. This means that for
sufficiently subdiffusive traps, the moving particle sees the traps as
essentially immobile, and Lifshitz or trapping tails remain unchanged. For
and the upper and lower bounds again coincide,
leading to a decay law equal to that of a stationary particle. Thus, in this
regime the moving traps see the particle as essentially immobile. For ,
however, the upper and lower bounds in this regime no longer coincide
and the decay law for the survival probability of the particle remains
ambiguous
Effective conductivity of 2D isotropic two-phase systems in magnetic field
Using the linear fractional transformation, connecting effective
conductivities sigma_{e} of isotropic two-phase systems with and without
magnetic field, explicit approximate expressions for sigma_{e} in a magnetic
field are obtained. They allow to describe sigma_{e} of various inhomogeneous
media at arbitrary phase concentrations x and magnetic fields. the x-dependence
plots of sigma_e at some values of inhomogeneity and magnetic field are
constructed. Their behaviour is qualitatively compatible with the existing
experimental data. The obtained results are applicable for different two-phase
systems (regular and nonregular as well as random), satisfying the symmetry and
self-duality conditions, and admit a direct experimental checking.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, Latex2e, small corrections and new figure
A new structural relaxation pathway of low-density amorphous ice
Low-density amorphous ice (LDA) is involved in critical cosmological
processes and has gained prominence as one of the at least two distinct
amorphous forms of ice. Despite these accolades, we still have an incomplete
understanding of the structural diversity that is encompassed within the LDA
state and the dynamic processes that take place upon heating LDA. Heating the
high-pressure ice VIII phase at ambient pressure is a remarkable example of
temperature-induced amorphisation yielding LDA. We investigate this process in
detail using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, and show that the LDA
obtained from ice VIII is structurally different from the more 'traditional'
states of LDA which are approached upon thermal annealing. This new structural
relaxation pathway involves an increase of structural order on the intermediate
range length scale. In contrast with other LDA materials the local structure is
more ordered initially and becomes slightly more disordered upon annealing. We
also show that the cascade of phase transitions upon heating ice VIII at
ambient pressure includes the formation of ice IX which may be connected with
the structural peculiarities of LDA from ice VIII. Overall, this study shows
that LDA is a structurally more diverse material than previously appreciated.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Pascal Principle for Diffusion-Controlled Trapping Reactions
"All misfortune of man comes from the fact that he does not stay peacefully
in his room", has once asserted Blaise Pascal. In the present paper we evoke
this statement as the "Pascal principle" in regard to the problem of survival
of an "A" particle, which performs a lattice random walk in presence of a
concentration of randomly moving traps "B", and gets annihilated upon
encounters with any of them. We prove here that at sufficiently large times for
both perfect and imperfect trapping reactions, for arbitrary spatial dimension
"d" and for a rather general class of random walks, the "A" particle survival
probability is less than or equal to the survival probability of an immobile
target in the presence of randomly moving traps.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, appearing in PR
- …