Study of Resistive Micromegas in a Mixed Neutron and Photon Radiation Field

The Muon ATLAS Micromegas Activity (MAMMA) focuses on the development and testing of large-area muon detectors based on the bulk-Micromegas technology. These detectors are candidates for the upgrade of the ATLAS Muon System in view of the luminosity upgrade of Large Hadron Collider at CERN (sLHC). They will combine trigger and precision measurement capability in a single device. A novel protection scheme using resistive strips above the readout electrode has been developed. The response and sparking properties of resistive Micromegas detectors were successfully tested in a mixed (neutron and gamma) high radiation field supplied by the Tandem accelerator, at the N.C.S.R. Demokritos in Athens. Monte-Carlo studies have been employed to study the effect of 5.5 MeV neutrons impinging on Micromegas detectors. The response of the Micromegas detectors on the photons originating from the inevitable neutron inelastic scattering on the surrounding materials of the experimental facility was also studied

Electronic Transport in the Oxygen Deficient Ferromagnetic Semiconducting TiO2−δ_{2-\delta}

TiO$_{2-\delta}$ films were deposited on (100) Lanthanum aluminates LaAlO$_{3}$ substrates at a very low oxygen chamber pressure $P\approx 0.3$ mtorr employing a pulsed laser ablation deposition technique. In previous work, it was established that the oxygen deficiency in these films induced ferromagnetism. In this work it is demonstrated that this same oxygen deficiency also gives rise to semiconductor titanium ion impurity donor energy levels. Transport resistivity measurements in thin films of TiO$_{2-\delta}$ are presented as a function of temperature and magnetic field. Magneto- and Hall- resistivity is explained in terms of electronic excitations from the titanium ion donor levels into the conduction band.Comment: RevTeX4, Four pages, Four Figures in ^.eps forma

Off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed Co-based amorphous ribbons

The off-diagonal magnetoimpedance in field-annealed CoFeSiB amorphous ribbons was measured in the low-frequency range using a pick-up coil wound around the sample. The asymmetric two-peak behavior of the field dependence of the off-diagonal impedance was observed. The asymmetry is attributed to the formation of a hard magnetic crystalline phase at the ribbon surface. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of the surface impedance tensor. It is assumed that the ribbon consists of an inner amorphous region and surface crystalline layers. The coupling between the crystalline and amorphous phases is described through an effective bias field. A qualitative agreement between the calculated dependences and experimental data is demonstrated. The results obtained may be useful for development of weak magnetic-field sensors.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure

Nano granular metallic Fe - oxygen deficient TiO2−δ_{2-\delta} composite films: A room temperature, highly carrier polarized magnetic semiconductor

Nano granular metallic iron (Fe) and titanium dioxide (TiO$_{2-\delta}$) were co-deposited on (100) lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO$_3$) substrates in a low oxygen chamber pressure using a pulsed laser ablation deposition (PLD) technique. The co-deposition of Fe and TiO$_2$ resulted in $\approx$ 10 nm metallic Fe spherical grains suspended within a TiO$_{2-\delta}$ matrix. The films show ferromagnetic behavior with a saturation magnetization of 3100 Gauss at room temperature. Our estimate of the saturation magnetization based on the size and distribution of the Fe spheres agreed well with the measured value. The film composite structure was characterized as p-type magnetic semiconductor at 300 K with a carrier density of the order of $10^{22} /{\rm cm^3}$. The hole carriers were excited at the interface between the nano granular Fe and TiO$_{2-\delta}$ matrix similar to holes excited in the metal/n-type semiconductor interface commonly observed in Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) devices. From the large anomalous Hall effect directly observed in these films it follows that the holes at the interface were strongly spin polarized. Structure and magneto transport properties suggested that these PLD films have potential nano spintronics applications.Comment: 6 pages in Latex including 8 figure

Synthesis of easily sinterable ceramic electrolytes based on Bi-doped 8YSZ for IT-SOFC applications

Ceramic electrolytes formed by Bi (4 mol%)-doped 8YSZ, i.e., Y2O3 (8 mol%)-doped ZrO2, were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation route, using ammonia solution as precipitating agent. The amorphous as-synthesized powders convert into zirconia-based single phase with fluorite structure through a mild calcination step at 500 \ub0C. The calcined powders were sintered at very low temperatures (i.e., 900-1100 \ub0C) achieving in both cases very high values of relative densities (i.e., > 95%); the corresponding microstructures were highly homogeneous and characterized by micrometric grains or sub-micrometric grains for sintering at 1100 \ub0C and 900 \ub0C, respectively. Very interesting electrochemical properties were determined by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) in the best samples. In particular, their total ionic conductivity, recorded at 650 \ub0C, are 6.06 7 10-2S/cm and 4.44 7 10-2S/cm for Bi (4 mol%)-doped 8YSZ sintered at 1100 \ub0C and 900 \ub0C, respectively. Therefore, Bi was proved to be an excellent sintering aid dopant for YSZ, highly improving its densification at lower temperatures while increasing its total ionic conductivity

Relaxation Mechanism for Ordered Magnetic Materials

We have formulated a relaxation mechanism for ferrites and ferromagnetic metals whereby the coupling between the magnetic motion and lattice is based purely on continuum arguments concerning magnetostriction. This theoretical approach contrasts with previous mechanisms based on microscopic formulations of spin-phonon interactions employing a discrete lattice. Our model explains for the first time the scaling of the intrinsic FMR linewidth with frequency, and 1/M temperature dependence and the anisotropic nature of magnetic relaxation in ordered magnetic materials, where M is the magnetization. Without introducing adjustable parameters our model is in reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental measurements of the intrinsic magnetic resonance linewidths of important class of ordered magnetic materials, insulator or metals

Wigner crystallization in a polarizable medium

We present a variational study of the 2D and 3D Wigner crystal phase of large polarons. The method generalizes that introduced by S. Fratini,P.\ Qu{\'{e}}merais [Mod. Phys. Lett. B {\bf 12} 1003 (1998)]. We take into account the Wigner crystal normal modes rather than a single mean frequency in the minimization procedure of the variational free energy. We calculate the renormalized modes of the crystal as well as the charge polarization correlation function and polaron radius. The solid phase boundaries are determined via a Lindemann criterion, suitably generalized to take into account the classical-to-quantum cross-over. In the weak electron-phonon coupling limit, the Wigner crystal parameters are renormalized by the electron-phonon interaction leading to a stabilization of the solid phase for low polarizability of the medium. Conversely, at intermediate and strong coupling, the behavior of the system depends strongly on the polarizability of the medium. For weakly polarizable media, a density crossover occurs inside the solid phase when the renormalized plasma frequency approaches the phonon frequency. At low density, we have a renormalized polaron Wigner crystal, while at higher densities the electron-phonon interaction is weakened irrespective of the {\it bare} electron-phonon coupling. For strongly polarizable media, the system behaves as a Lorentz lattice of dipoles. The abrupt softening of the internal polaronic frequency predicted by Fratini and Quemerais is observed near the actual melting point only at very strong coupling, leading to a possible liquid polaronic phase for a wider range of parameters.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures v1.