3,928 research outputs found
Evidences of a consolute critical point in the Phase Separation regime of La(5/8-y)Pr(y)Ca(3/8)MnO(3) (y = 0.4) single crystals
We report on DC and pulsed electric field sensitivity of the resistance of
mixed valent Mn oxide based La(5/8-y)Pr(y)Ca(3/8)MnO(3) (y = 0.4) single
crystals as a function of temperature. The low temperature regime of the
resistivity is highly current and voltage dependent. An irreversible transition
from high (HR) to a low resistivity (LR) is obtained upon the increase of the
electric field up to a temperature dependent critical value (V_c). The
current-voltage characteristics in the LR regime as well as the lack of a
variation in the magnetization response when V_c is reached indicate the
formation of a non-single connected filamentary conducting path. The
temperature dependence of V_c indicates the existence of a consolute point
where the conducting and insulating phases produce a critical behavior as a
consequence of their separation.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, corresponding author: C. Acha ([email protected]
Melting of Quasi-Two-Dimensional Charge Stripes in La5/3Sr1/3NiO4
Commensurability effects for nickelates have been studied by the first
neutron experiments on La5/3Sr1/3NiO4. Upon cooling, this system undergoes
three successive phase transitions associated with quasi-two-dimensional (2D)
commensurate charge and spin stripe ordering in the NiO planes. The two
lower temperature phases (denoted as phase II and III) are stripe lattice
states with quasi-long-range in-plane charge correlation. When the lattice of
2D charge stripes melts, it goes through an intermediate glass state (phase I)
before becoming a disordered liquid state. This glass state shows short-range
charge order without spin order, and may be called a "stripe glass" which
resembles the hexatic/nematic state in 2D melting.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex, 4 figures available on request to
[email protected]
Calculation of reduced density matrices from correlation functions
It is shown that for solvable fermionic and bosonic lattice systems, the
reduced density matrices can be determined from the properties of the
correlation functions. This provides the simplest way to these quantities which
are used in the density-matrix renormalization group method.Comment: 4 page
Magnetically induced femtoscale strain modulations in HoMn2O5
International audienceX-ray scattering was used to investigate the magnetically induced ionic displacements in the low-temperature commensurate ferroelectric/antiferromagnetic phase of the multiferroic HoMn2O5. The structural modulation signal appearing at twice the magnetic wave vector km=(1/201/4) has been used, combined with symmetry analysis, to determine a model for the ionic displacements up to a precision of 10-3Ã…. The symmetry-breaking operations that are associated to the active irreducible representation have been experimentally determined from the analysis of the modulation modes. They reveal a lowering of symmetry to the polar point group m2m. Calculations based on the determined model show that the magnetic structure along the c direction is stabilized via nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor interactions through the rare-earth layer. We also show that by knowing both the magnetic and the magnetically induced strain waves patterns, it is possible to remove any phase ambiguity between the crystal and magnetic structures
Pressure induced enhancement of ferroelectricity in multiferroic MnO(=Tb,Dy, and Ho)
Measurements of ferroelectric polarization and dielectric constant were done
on MnO (=Tb, Dy, and Ho) with applied hydrostatic pressures of up
to 18 kbar. At ambient pressure, distinctive anomalies were observed in the
temperature profile of both physical properties at critical temperatures
marking the onset of long range AFM order (T), ferroelectricity
(T) as well as at temperatures when anomalous changes in the
polarization, dielectric constant and spin wave commensurability have been
previously reported. In particular, the step in the dielectric constant at low
temperatures (T), associated with both a drop in the ferroelectric
polarization and an incommensurate magnetic structure, was shown to be suddenly
quenched upon passing an -dependent critical pressure. This was shown to
correlate with the stabilization of the high ferroelectric polarization state
which is coincident with the commensurate magnetic structure. The observation
is suggested to be due to a pressure induced phase transition into a
commensurate magnetic structure as exemplified by the pressure-temperature
(-) phase diagrams constructed in this work. The - phase diagrams
are determined for all three compounds.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted for review in Phys. Rev.
Helical spin-waves, magnetic order, and fluctuations in the langasite compound Ba3NbFe3Si2O14
We have investigated the spin fluctuations in the langasite compound
Ba3NbFe3Si2O14 in both the ordered state and as a function of temperature. The
low temperature magnetic structure is defined by a spiral phase characterized
by magnetic Bragg peaks at q=(0,0,tau ~ 1/7) onset at TN=27 K as previously
reported by Marty et al. The nature of the fluctuations and temperature
dependence of the order parameter is consistent with a classical second order
phase transition for a two dimensional triangular antiferromagnet. We will show
that the physical properties and energy scales including the ordering
wavevector, Curie-Weiss temperature, and the spin-waves can be explained
through the use of only symmetric exchange constants without the need for the
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. This is accomplished through a set of
``helical" exchange pathways along the c direction imposed by the chiral
crystal structure and naturally explains the magnetic diffuse scattering which
displays a strong vector chirality up to high temperatures well above the
ordering temperature. This illustrates a strong coupling between magnetic and
crystalline chirality in this compound.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Physical Review
On the electronic structure of the charge-ordered phase in epitaxial and polycrystalline La1-xCaxMnO3 (x = 0.55, 0.67) perovskite manganites
In this work the charge transport properties of charge ordered (CO)
La1-xCaxMnO3 (LCMO) (x= 0.55, 0.67) epitaxial thin films and polycrystals are
discussed following the recent controversy of localised electron states vs.
weakly or de- localised charge density wave (CDW) states in CO manganites. The
transport properties were investigated by current vs. voltage, direct current
resistivity vs. temperature, local activation energy vs. temperature,
magnetoresistance and admittance spectroscopy measurements, which all indicated
a localised electronic structure in the single CO phase. Delocalised charge
anomalies observed previously may be restricted to phase separated materials.Comment: Physical Review B, to be publishe
Striped phases in the two-dimensional Hubbard model with long-range Coulomb interaction
We investigate the formation of partially filled domain walls in the
two-dimensional Hubbard model in the presence of long-range interaction. Using
an unrestricted Gutzwiller variational approach we show that: i) the strong
local interaction favors charge segregation in stripe domain walls; ii) The
long-range interaction favors the formation of half-filled vertical stripes
with a period doubling due to the charge and a period quadrupling due to the
spins along the wall. Our results show that, besides the underlying lattice
structure, also the electronic interactions can contribute to determine the
different domain wall textures in Nd doped copper oxides and nickel oxides
Investigation of Silicon Nanoparticle-Polystyrene Hybrids
Current LED lights are created with quantum dots made of metals like selenium, tellurium, and cadmium which can be toxic. Silicon is used as a non-toxic substance and is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust. When silicon is prepared at a nanometer size, unique luminesce optical properties emerge that can be tuned using sized surface chemistry. Therefore, silicon nanoparticles can be used as an alternative emitter for LED lights. To produce hydride-terminated silicon nanoparticles we must synthesize the particles. Hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) is processed at 1100 °C for one hour causing Si to cluster and form a SiO2 matrix, also known as the composite. The composite is then manually crushed in ethanol. The solution is further ground using glass beads, then filtered to get the composite powder. The final step is the HF etching. The hydride-terminated particles are then functionalized using three different methods to synthesize silicon nanoparticle-polystyrene hybrids, which determine the magnitude of luminosity and the quality of the hybrids. We spin coat each method and results were analyzed. Method 1 uses heat to functionalize hydride-terminated silicon nanoparticles with styrene. This process also causes styrene to attach to styrene to form a polystyrene chain. Method 1 gave a homogeneous mixture which yielded a consistent, bright and homogenous film. In method 2, dodecyl-terminated silicon nanoparticles are mixed with premade polystyrene. While this method gave better control of the amount of silicon nanoparticles inside the polymer hybrid, a homogeneous mixture was not created due to the different structures of polystyrene and dodecyl chains. Method 3 has dodecyl-terminated silicon with in-situ styrene polymerization. It generated a homogeneous mixture. The in-situ polymerization stabilizes the particles, allowing for brighter luminescence. Because of the stability and lower molecular weight, the mixture was easier to dissolve. We concluded that the different methods resulted in different polymer molecular weights and this created distinct properties between the polymer hybrids when spin-coating.
 
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