Low temperature dielectric relaxation in ordinary perovskite ferroelectrics: enlightenment from high-energy x-ray diffraction

Ordinary ferroelectrics exhibit a second order phase transition that is characterized by a sharp peak in the dielectric permittivity at a frequency-independent temperature. Furthermore, these materials show a low temperature dielectric relaxation that appears to be a common behavior of perovskite systems. Tetragonal lead zirconate titanate is used here as a model system in order to explore the origin of such an anomaly, since there is no consensus about the physical phenomenon involved in it. Crystallographic and domain structure studies are performed from temperature dependent synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurement. Results indicate that the dielectric relaxation cannot be associated with crystallographic or domain configuration changes. The relaxation process is then parameterized by using the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann phenomenological equation. Results allow us to hypothesize that the observed phenomenon is due to changes in the dynamic behavior of the ferroelectric domains related to the fluctuation of the local polarization.Postprint (author's final draft

Attitudes toward cost-conscious care among U.S. physicians and medical students: analysis of national cross-sectional survey data by age and stage of training

Abstract Background The success of initiatives intended to increase the value of health care depends, in part, on the degree to which cost-conscious care is endorsed by current and future physicians. This study aimed to first analyze attitudes of U.S. physicians by age and then compare the attitudes of physicians and medical students. Methods A paper survey was mailed in mid-2012 to 3897 practicing physicians randomly selected from the American Medical Association Masterfile. An electronic survey was sent in early 2015 to all 5,992 students at 10 U.S. medical schools. Survey items measured attitudes toward cost-conscious care and perceived responsibility for reducing healthcare costs. Physician responses were first compared across age groups (30–40 years, 41–50 years, 51–60 years, and > 60 years) and then compared to student responses using Chi square tests and logistic regression analyses (controlling for sex). Results A total of 2,556 physicians (65%) and 3395 students (57%) responded. Physician attitudes generally did not differ by age, but differed significantly from those of students. Specifically, students were more likely than physicians to agree that cost to society should be important in treatment decisions (p < 0.001) and that physicians should sometimes deny beneficial but costly services (p < 0.001). Students were less likely to agree that it is unfair to ask physicians to be cost-conscious while prioritizing patient welfare (p < 0.001). Compared to physicians, students assigned more responsibility for reducing healthcare costs to hospitals and health systems (p < 0.001) and less responsibility to lawyers (p < 0.001) and patients (p < 0.001). Nearly all significant differences persisted after controlling for sex and when only the youngest physicians were compared to students. Conclusions Physician attitudes toward cost-conscious care are similar across age groups. However, physician attitudes differ significantly from medical students, even among the youngest physicians most proximate to students in age. Medical student responses suggest they are more accepting of cost-conscious care than physicians and attribute more responsibility for reducing costs to organizations and systems rather than individuals. This may be due to the combined effects of generational differences, new medical school curricula, students’ relative inexperience providing cost-conscious care within complex healthcare systems, and the rapidly evolving U.S. healthcare system.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146517/1/12909_2018_Article_1388.pd

On the Origin of the Large Remanent Polarization in La:HfO 2

The outstanding remanent polarization of 40 µC cm–2 reported for a 10 nm thin La:HfO2 film in 2013 has attracted much attention. However, up to now, no explanation for this large remanent polarization has been presented. Density functional theory and X-ray diffraction are used to shine light onto three major aspects that impact the macroscopically observed remanent polarization: phase fraction, spontaneous polarization, and crystallographic texture. Density functional theory calculations show that the spontaneous polarization (Ps) of La:HfO2 is indeed a bit larger than for other HfO2- or ZrO2-based compounds; however, the Ps is not large enough to explain the observed differences in remanent polarization. While neither phase fractions nor spontaneous polarization nor strain are significantly different from those in other HfO2 films, a prominent 020/002 texture distinguishes La doped from other HfO2-based ferroelectric films. Angular-dependent diffraction data provide a pathway to calculate the theoretically expected remanent polarization, which is in agreement with the experimental observations. Finally, an interplay of the in-plane strain and texture is proposed to impact the formation of the ferroelectric phase during annealing. Further aspects of the special role of La as a dopant are collected and discussed to motivate future research. © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, WeinheimN

Low temperature dielectric relaxation in ordinary perovskite ferroelectrics: enlightenment from high-energy x-ray diffraction

Ordinary ferroelectrics exhibit a second order phase transition that is characterized by a sharp peak in the dielectric permittivity at a frequency-independent temperature. Furthermore, these materials show a low temperature dielectric relaxation that appears to be a common behavior of perovskite systems. Tetragonal lead zirconate titanate is used here as a model system in order to explore the origin of such an anomaly, since there is no consensus about the physical phenomenon involved in it. Crystallographic and domain structure studies are performed from temperature dependent synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurement. Results indicate that the dielectric relaxation cannot be associated with crystallographic or domain configuration changes. The relaxation process is then parameterized by using the Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann phenomenological equation. Results allow us to hypothesize that the observed phenomenon is due to changes in the dynamic behavior of the ferroelectric domains related to the fluctuation of the local polarization

On the Origin of the Large Remanent Polarization in La:HfO2

The outstanding remanent polarization of 40 µC cm–2 reported for a 10 nm thin La:HfO2 film in 2013 has attracted much attention. However, up to now, no explanation for this large remanent polarization has been presented. Density functional theory and X-ray diffraction are used to shine light onto three major aspects that impact the macroscopically observed remanent polarization: phase fraction, spontaneous polarization, and crystallographic texture. Density functional theory calculations show that the spontaneous polarization (Ps) of La:HfO2 is indeed a bit larger than for other HfO2- or ZrO2-based compounds; however, the Ps is not large enough to explain the observed differences in remanent polarization. While neither phase fractions nor spontaneous polarization nor strain are significantly different from those in other HfO2 films, a prominent 020/002 texture distinguishes La doped from other HfO2-based ferroelectric films. Angular-dependent diffraction data provide a pathway to calculate the theoretically expected remanent polarization, which is in agreement with the experimental observations. Finally, an interplay of the in-plane strain and texture is proposed to impact the formation of the ferroelectric phase during annealing. Further aspects of the special role of La as a dopant are collected and discussed to motivate future research. © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH &amp; Co. KGaA, WeinheimN

Effective residual stress prediction validated with neutron diffraction method for metal large-scale additive manufacturing

Metal Big Area Additive Manufacturing (MBAAM), an additive manufacturing based on wire-arc process, is progressively evolving from rapid prototyping to the industrial scale production. In MBAAM, the height of printed part can easily reach eight feet, and the printing can last for hours or days. For such large printed structures, distortion and residual stress management are primary challenges in production process. Although transient thermo-mechanical simulations with very small time increments have resulted in accurate process predictions on small parts, such time resolutions are not computationally feasible for large components. Hence, the time increment in thermo-mechanical simulations of large structures needs to be evaluated with respect to simulation accuracy and computational feasibility. In this work, two thin walls were printed using MBAAM, and temperature and process parameters were recorded and used to calibrate and validate the model results. The part distortion and residual stresses were measured before and after stress relaxation by neutron beam diffraction in High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). These measurements were compared to the predicted simulation results. In this work, we investigated the robustness of the computational model and the effects of time increment magnitude on the large-scale MBAAM simulations in terms of accuracy and model efficiency. We found that a coarse time increment of 20 s effectively captured the overall part distortion, but the model was not able to capture the development of residual stresses in the base plate. We determined a combination of fine and coarse time increments that offers an optimal computational efficiency and accuracy for residual stress prediction. A fine time increment of 1 s can be used to resolve the thermal interactions between the wall and base plate during the printing of the first few layers, as well as for other transitions in the geometry or process conditions. These findings provide general guidelines for selection of simulation time increments and offer a general understanding of the effect of time increments on computational efficiency and accuracy in prediction