163 research outputs found
Rare earth magnetism and ferroelectricity in RMnO3
Magnetic rare earths R have been proven to have a significant effect on the
multiferroic properties of the orthorhombic manganites RMnO3. A re-examination
of previous results from synchrotron based x-ray scattering experiments
suggests that symmetric exchange striction between neighboring R and Mn ions
may account for the enhancement of the ferroelectric polarization in DyMnO3 as
well as the magnetic-field induced ferroelectricity in GdMnO3. In general,
adding a second magnetic species to a multiferroic material may be a route to
enhance its ferroelectric properties.Comment: Contribution to ICM 2009; accepted for publication in Journal of
Physics: Conference Serie
Commensurate Dy magnetic ordering associated with incommensurate lattice distortion in orthorhombic DyMnO3
Synchrotron x-ray diffraction and resonant magnetic scattering experiments on
single crystal DyMnO3 have been carried out between 4 and 40 K. Below TN(Dy) =
5K, the Dy magnetic moments order in a commensurate structure with propagation
vector 0.5 b*. Simultaneous with the Dy magnetic ordering, an incommensurate
lattice modulation with propagation vector 0.905 b* evolves while the original
Mn induced modulation is suppressed and shifts from 0.78 b* to 0.81 b*. This
points to a strong interference of Mn and Dy induced structural distortions in
DyMnO3 besides a magnetic coupling between the Mn and Dy magnetic moments.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. B Rapid Communication
Enhanced ferroelectric polarization by induced Dy spin-order in multiferroic DyMnO3
Neutron powder diffraction and single crystal x-ray resonant magnetic
scattering measurements suggest that Dy plays an active role in enhancing the
ferroelectric polarization in multiferroic DyMnO3 above TNDy = 6.5 K. We
observe the evolution of an incommensurate ordering of Dy moments with the same
periodicity as the Mn spiral ordering. It closely tracks the evolution of the
ferroelectric polarization which reaches a maximum value of 0.2 muC/m^2. Below
TNDy, where Dy spins order commensurately, the polarization decreases to values
similar for those of TbMnO3
Transition from a phase-segregated state to single-phase incommensurate sodium ordering in Na_xCoO_2 with x \approx 0.53
Synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigations of two single crystals of
Na_xCoO_2 from different batches with composition x = 0.525-0.530 reveal
homogeneous incommensurate sodium ordering with propagation vector (0.53 0.53
0) at room-temperature. The incommensurate (qq0) superstructure exists between
220 K and 430 K. The value of q varies between q = 0.514 and 0.529, showing a
broad plateau at the latter value between 260 K and 360 K. On cooling, unusual
reversible phase segregation into two volume fractions is observed. Below 220
K, one volume fraction shows the well-known commensurate orthorhombic x = 0.50
superstructure, while a second volume fraction with x = 0.55 exhibits another
commensurate superstructure, presumably with a 6a x 6a x c hexagonal supercell.
We argue that the commensurate-to-incommensurate transition is an intrinsic
feature of samples with Na concentrations x = 0.5 + d with d ~ 0.03.Comment: Corrected/improved versio
An outer measure on a commutative ring
We show how to produce a reasonable outer measure on a commutative ring from a given measure on a family of prime ideals of this ring. We provide a few examples and prove several properties of such outer measures
Determining ethylene group disorder levels in -(BEDT-TTF)Cu[N(CN)]Br
We present a detailed structural investigation of the organic superconductor
-(BEDT-TTF)Cu[N(CN)]Br at temperatures from 9 to 300 K.
Anomalies in the dependence of the lattice parameters are associated with a
glass-like transition previously reported at = 77 K. From structure
refinements at 9, 100 and 300 K, the orthorhombic crystalline symmetry, space
group {\it Pnma}, is established at all temperatures. Further, we extract the
dependence of the occupation factor of the eclipsed conformation of the
terminal ethylene groups of the BEDT-TTF molecule. At 300 K, we find 67(2) %,
with an increase to 97(3) % at 9 K. We conclude that the glass-like transition
is not primarily caused by configurational freezing-out of the ethylene groups
Coupling of frustrated Ising spins to magnetic cycloid in multiferroic TbMnO3
We report on diffraction measurements on multiferroic TbMnO3 which
demonstrate that the Tb- and Mn-magnetic orders are coupled below the
ferroelectric transition TFE = 28 K. For T < TFE the magnetic propagation
vectors (tau) for Tb and Mn are locked so that tauTb = tauMn, while below TNTb
= 7 K we find that tauTb and tauMn lock-in to rational values of 3/7 b* and 2/7
b*, respectively, and obey the relation 3tauTb - tauMn = 1. We explain this
novel matching of wave vectors within the frustrated ANNNI model coupled to a
periodic external field produced by the Mn-spin order. The tauTb = tauMn
behavior is recovered when Tb magnetization is small, while the tauTb = 3/7
regime is stabilized at low temperatures by a peculiar arrangement of domain
walls in the ordered state of Ising-like Tb spins.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Origin of the reduced exchange bias in epitaxial FeNi(111)/CoO(111) bilayer
We have employed Soft and Hard X-ray Resonant Magnetic Scattering and
Polarised Neutron Diffraction to study the magnetic interface and the bulk
antiferromagnetic domain state of the archetypal epitaxial
NiFe(111)/CoO(111) exchange biased bilayer. The combination of
these scattering tools provides unprecedented detailed insights into the still
incomplete understanding of some key manifestations of the exchange bias
effect. We show that the several orders of magnitude difference between the
expected and measured value of exchange bias field is caused by an almost
anisotropic in-plane orientation of antiferromagnetic domains. Irreversible
changes of their configuration lead to a training effect. This is directly seen
as a change in the magnetic half order Bragg peaks after magnetization
reversal. A 30 nm size of antiferromagnetic domains is extracted from the width
the (1/2 1/2 1/2) antiferromagnetic magnetic peak measured both by neutron and
x-ray scattering. A reduced blocking temperature as compared to the measured
antiferromagnetic ordering temperature clearly corresponds to the blocking of
antiferromagnetic domains. Moreover, an excellent correlation between the size
of the antiferromagnetic domains, exchange bias field and frozen-in spin ratio
is found, providing a comprehensive understanding of the origin of exchange
bias in epitaxial systems.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitte
A complementary neutron and anomalous x-ray diffraction study
Distinguishing the scattering contributions of isoelectronic atomic species by
means of conventional x-ray- and/or electron diffraction techniques is a
difficult task. Such a problem occurs when determining the crystal structure
of compounds containing different types of atoms with equal number of
electrons. We propose a new structural model of Cu(InxGa1−x)3Se5 which is
valid for the entire compositional range of the CuIn3Se5–CuGa3Se5 solid
solution. Our model is based on neutron and anomalous x-ray diffraction
experiments. These complementary techniques allow the separation of scattering
contributions of the isoelectronic species Cu+ and Ga3+, contributing nearly
identically in monoenergetic x-ray diffraction experiments. We have found that
CuIII3Se5 (III=In,Ga) in its room temperature near-equilibrium modification
exhibits a modified stannite structure (space group I4¯2m). Different
occupation factors of the species involved, Cu+, In3+, Ga3+, and vacancies
have been found at three different cationic positions of the structure
(Wyckoff sites 2a, 2b, and 4d) depending on the composition of the compound.
Significantly, Cu+ does not occupy the 2b site for the In-free compound, but
does for the In-containing case. Structural parameters, including lattice
constants, tetragonal distortions, and occupation factors are given for
samples covering the entire range of the CuIn3Se5–CuGa3Se5 solid solution. At
the light of the result, the denotation of Cu-poor 1:3:5 compounds as
chalcopyrite-related materials is only valid in reference to their
composition
Nitridation of InP(1 0 0) surface studied by synchrotron radiation
The nitridation of InP(1 0 0) surfaces has been studied using synchrotron
radiation photoemission. The samples were chemically cleaned and then ion
bombarded, which cleaned the surface and also induced the formation of metallic
indium droplets. The nitridation with a Glow Discharge Cell (GDS) produced
indium nitride by reaction with these indium clusters. We used the In 4d and P
2p core levels to monitor the chemical state of the surface and the coverage of
the species present. We observed the creation of In-N and P-N bonds while the
In-In metallic bonds decrease which confirm the reaction between indium
clusters and nitrogen species. A theoretical model based on stacked layers
allows us to assert that almost two monolayers of indium nitride are produced.
The effect of annealing on the nitridated layers at 450 C has also been
analysed. It appears that this system is stable up to this temperature, well
above the congruent evaporation temperature (370 C) of clean InP(1 0
0): no increase of metallic indium bonds due to decomposition of the substrate
is detected as shown in previous works [L. Bideux, Y. Ould-Metidji, B. Gruzza,
V. Matolin, Surf. Interface Anal. 34 (2002) 712] studying the InP(1 0 0)
surfaces
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