1,184 research outputs found
Anomalous temperature-induced volume contraction in GeTe
The recent surge of interest in phase change materials GeTe,
GeSbTe, and related compounds motivated us to revisit the
structural phase transition in GeTe in more details than was done before.
Rhombohedral-to-cubic ferroelectric phase transition in GeTe has been studied
by high resolution neutron powder diffraction on a spallation neutron source.
We determined the temperature dependence of the structural parameters in a wide
temperature range extending from 309 to 973 K. Results of our studies clearly
show an anomalous volume contraction of 0.6\% at the phase transition from the
rhombohedral to cubic phase. In order to better understand the phase transition
and the associated anomalous volume decrease in GeTe we have performed phonon
calculations based on the density functional theory. Results of the present
investigations are also discussed with respect to the experimental data
obtained for single crystals of GeTe
Magnetoelastic effects in Jahn-Teller distorted CrF and CuF studied by neutron powder diffraction
We have studied the temperature dependence of crystal and magnetic structures
of the Jahn-Teller distorted transition metal difluorides CrF and CuF
by neutron powder diffraction in the temperature range 2-280 K. The lattice
parameters and the unit cell volume show magnetoelastic effects below the
N\'eel temperature. The lattice strain due to the magnetostriction effect
couples with the square of the order parameter of the antiferromagnetic phase
transition. We also investigated the temperature dependence of the Jahn-Teller
distortion which does not show any significant effect at the antiferromagnetic
phase transition but increases linearly with increasing temperature for CrF
and remains almost independent of temperature in CuF. The magnitude of
magnetovolume effect seems to increase with the low temperature saturated
magnetic moment of the transition metal ions but the correlation is not at all
perfect
Stability of Ca-montmorillonite hydrates: A computer simulation study
Classic simulations are used to study interlayer structure, swelling curves,
and stability of Ca-montmorillonite hydrates. For this purpose, NPzzT$ and
MuPzzT ensembles are sampled for ground level and given burial conditions. For
ground level conditions, a double layer hydrate having 15.0 A of basal spacing
is the predominant state for relative vapor pressures (p/po) ranging in
0.6-1.0. A triple hydrate counting on 17.9 A of interlaminar distance was also
found stable for p/po=1.0. For low vapor pressures, the system may produce a
less hydrated but still double layer state with 13.5 A or even a single layer
hydrate with 12.2 A of interlaminar distance. This depends on the established
initial conditions. On the other hand, the effect of burial conditions is two
sided. It was found that it enhances dehydration for all vapor pressures except
for saturation, where swelling is promoted.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Antiferromagnetic Order in MnO Spherical Nanoparticles
We have performed unpolarized and polarized neutron diffraction experiments
on monodisperse 8 nm and 13 nm antiferromagnetic MnO nanoparticles. For the 8
nm sample, the antiferromagnetic transition temperature (114 K) is
suppressed compared to the bulk material (119 K) while for the 13 nm sample
(120 K) is comparable to the bulk. The neutron diffraction data of the
nanoparticles is well described using the bulk MnO magnetic structure but with
a substantially reduced average magnetic moment of 4.20.3 /Mn for
the 8 nm sample and 3.90.2 /Mn for the 13 nm sample. An analysis of
the polarized neutron data on both samples shows that in an individual MnO
nanoparticle about 80 of Mn ions order. These results can be explained by a
structure in which the monodisperse nanoparticles studied here have a core that
behaves similar to the bulk with a surface layer which does not contribute
significantly to the magnetic order.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Neutron diffraction study on phase transition and thermal expansion of SrFeAsF
The magnetic ordering and crystal structure of iron pnictide SrFeAsF was
investigated by using neutron powder diffraction method. With decreasing
temperature, the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition is found at 180 K,
while the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase transition set in at 133 K.
Similar to the parent compound of other iron pnictide system, the striped Fe
magnetism is confirmed in antiferromagnetic phase and the Fe moment of 0.58(6)
uB aligned along long a axis. The thermal expansion of orthorhombic phase of
SrFeAsF is also investigated. Based on the Grueneisen approximation and Debye
approximation for internal energy, the volume of SrFeAsF can be well fitted
with Debye temperature of 347(5) K. The experimental atomic displacement
parameters for different crystallographic sites in SrFeAsF are analyzed with
Debye model. The results suggested that the expansion of FeAs layers plays an
important role in determining the thermal expansion coefficient.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
LOOC UP: Locating and observing optical counterparts to gravitational wave bursts
Gravitational wave (GW) bursts (short duration signals) are expected to be
associated with highly energetic astrophysical processes. With such high
energies present, it is likely these astrophysical events will have signatures
in the EM spectrum as well as in gravitational radiation. We have initiated a
program, "Locating and Observing Optical Counterparts to Unmodeled Pulses in
Gravitational Waves" (LOOC UP) to promptly search for counterparts to GW burst
candidates. The proposed method analyzes near real-time data from the
LIGO-Virgo network, and then uses a telescope network to seek optical-transient
counterparts to candidate GW signals. We carried out a pilot study using
S5/VSR1 data from the LIGO-Virgo network to develop methods and software tools
for such a search. We will present the method, with an emphasis on the
potential for such a search to be carried out during the next science run of
LIGO and Virgo, expected to begin in 2009.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; v2) added acknowledgments, additional
references, and minor text changes v3) added 1 figure, additional references,
and minor text changes. v4) Updated references and acknowledgments. To be
published in the GWDAW 12 Conf. Proc. by Classical and Quantum Gravit
Lattice and magnetic instabilities in CaFe2As2: A single crystal neutron diffraction study
Neutron diffraction measurements of a high quality single crystal of CaFe2As2
are reported. A sharp transition was observed between the high temperature
tetragonal and low temperature orthorhombic structures at TS = 172.5K (on
cooling) and 173.5K (on warming). Coincident with the structural transition we
observe a rapid, but continuous, ordering of the Fe moments, in a commensurate
antiferromagnetic structure is observed, with a saturated moment of
0.80(5)muB/Fe directed along the orthorhombic a-axis. The hysteresis of the
structural transition is 1K between cooling and warming and is consistent with
previous thermodynamic, transport and single crystal x-ray studies. The
temperature onset of magnetic ordering shifts rigidly with the structural
transition providing the clearest evidence to date of the coupling between the
structural and magnetic transitions in this material and the broader class of
iron arsenides.Comment: submitted to PR
The Critical Coupling Likelihood Method: A new approach for seamless integration of environmental and operating conditions of gravitational wave detectors into gravitational wave searches
Any search effort for gravitational waves (GW) using interferometric
detectors like LIGO needs to be able to identify if and when noise is coupling
into the detector's output signal. The Critical Coupling Likelihood (CCL)
method has been developed to characterize potential noise coupling and in the
future aid GW search efforts. By testing two hypotheses about pairs of
channels, CCL is able to identify undesirable coupled instrumental noise from
potential GW candidates. Our preliminary results show that CCL can associate up
to of observed artifacts with , to local noise sources,
while reducing the duty cycle of the instrument by . An approach
like CCL will become increasingly important as GW research moves into the
Advanced LIGO era, going from the first GW detection to GW astronomy.Comment: submitted CQ
Search algorithm for a gravitational wave signal in association with Gamma Ray Burst GRB030329 using the LIGO detectors
One of the brightest Gamma Ray Burst ever recorded, GRB030329, occurred
during the second science run of the LIGO detectors. At that time, both
interferometers at the Hanford, WA LIGO site were in lock and acquiring data.
The data collected from the two Hanford detectors was analyzed for the presence
of a gravitational wave signal associated with this GRB. This paper presents a
detailed description of the search algorithm implemented in the current
analysis.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of 8th Gravitational Wave Data Analysis
Workshop (Milwaukee, WI) (Class. Quantum Grav.
A comparison of methods for gravitational wave burst searches from LIGO and Virgo
The search procedure for burst gravitational waves has been studied using 24
hours of simulated data in a network of three interferometers (Hanford 4-km,
Livingston 4-km and Virgo 3-km are the example interferometers). Several
methods to detect burst events developed in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration
(LSC) and Virgo collaboration have been studied and compared. We have performed
coincidence analysis of the triggers obtained in the different interferometers
with and without simulated signals added to the data. The benefits of having
multiple interferometers of similar sensitivity are demonstrated by comparing
the detection performance of the joint coincidence analysis with LSC and Virgo
only burst searches. Adding Virgo to the LIGO detector network can increase by
50% the detection efficiency for this search. Another advantage of a joint
LIGO-Virgo network is the ability to reconstruct the source sky position. The
reconstruction accuracy depends on the timing measurement accuracy of the
events in each interferometer, and is displayed in this paper with a fixed
source position example.Comment: LIGO-Virgo working group submitted to PR
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