325 research outputs found
Common microscopic origin of the phase transitions in Ta<sub>2</sub>NiS<sub>5</sub> and the excitonic insulator candidate Ta<sub>2</sub>NiSe<sub>5</sub>
The structural phase transition in Ta2NiSe5 has been envisioned as driven by the formation of an excitonic insulating phase. However, the role of structural and electronic instabilities on crystal symmetry breaking has yet to be disentangled. Meanwhile, the phase transition in its complementary material Ta2NiS5 does not show any experimental hints of an excitonic insulating phase. We present a microscopic investigation of the electronic and phononic effects involved in the structural phase transition in Ta2NiSe5 and Ta2NiS5 using extensive first-principles calculations. In both materials the crystal symmetries are broken by phonon instabilities, which in turn lead to changes in the electronic bandstructure also observed in the experiment. A total energy landscape analysis shows no tendency towards a purely electronic instability and we find that a sizeable lattice distortion is needed to open a bandgap. We conclude that an excitonic instability is not needed to explain the phase transition in both Ta2NiSe5 and Ta2NiS5
Extreme rejuvenation of a bulk metallic glass at the nanoscale by swift heavy ion irradiation
Swift heavy ions can be used as a tool to tune material properties by generating high aspect ratio, nanometric
trails of defects, or new disordered phases. This work explores different aspects of using this tool for rejuvenating
and enhancing plasticity in bulk metallic glasses. An amorphous alloy with a nominal composition of Pd40Ni40P20
was irradiated with GeV-accelerated Au ions. Irradiation-induced out-of-plane swelling steps up to approxi-
mately 100 nm in height are measured at the boundary between irradiated and non-irradiated areas. Changes of
the relaxation enthalpy have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. Low-temperature heat
capacity measurements substantiate an irradiation-induced increase of the boson peak height with increasing
fluences. Accompanying transport measurements using radioactive Ag atoms as tracer also revealed increased
diffusion rates in the irradiated samples dependent on the total fluence. Nano-indentation measurements show
enhanced plasticity in the ion-irradiated glass which can be correlated with an increased heterogeneity as
indicated by variable resolution fluctuation electron microscopy. The whole volume of the derived data sub-
stantiates a prominent enhancement of the excess volume in the solidified ion tracks and the irradiation-induced
modifications are discussed and analyzed in the framework of strong glass rejuvenation within the nanometric
ion tracks
Nanolithographic TopâDown Patterning of Polyoxovanadateâbased Nanostructures with Switchable Electrical Resistivity
The top-down fabrication of âŒ10â
nm vanadium oxide nanostructures by electron beam lithography based on a molecular vanadium oxide resist material is reported. The new material enables the large-scale deposition of electrically switchable nanostructures which can be directly incorporated in established e-beam lithography. The findings could in future enable the top-down fabrication of functional metal oxide nanostructures in the < 10â
nm domain.
The top-down lithographic fabrication of functional metal oxide nanostructures enables technologically important applications such as catalysis and electronics. Here, we report the use of molecular vanadium oxides, polyoxovanadates, as molecular precursors for electron beam lithography to obtain functional vanadium oxide nanostructures. The new resist class described gives access to nanostructures with minimum dimensions close to 10â
nm. The lithographically prepared structures exhibit temperature-dependent switching behaviour of their electrical resistivity. The work could lay the foundation for accessing functional vanadium oxide nanostructures in the sub-10-nm domain using industrially established nanolithographic methods
Hydrogen atom moving across a strong magnetic field: analytical approximations
Analytical approximations are constructed for binding energies,
quantum-mechanical sizes and oscillator strengths of main radiative transitions
of hydrogen atoms arbitrarily moving in magnetic fields 10^{12}-10^{13} G.
Examples of using the obtained approximations for determination of maximum
transverse velocity of an atom and for evaluation of absorption spectra in
magnetic neutron star atmospheres are presented.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables, LaTeX with IOP style files (included).
In v.2, Fig.1 and Table 5 have been corrected. In v.3, a misprint in the fit
for oscillator strengths, Eq.(21), has been correcte
The helium atom in a strong magnetic field
We investigate the electronic structure of the helium atom in a magnetic
field b etween B=0 and B=100a.u. The atom is treated as a nonrelativistic
system with two interactin g electrons and a fixed nucleus. Scaling laws are
provided connecting the fixed-nucleus Hamiltonia n to the one for the case of
finite nuclear mass. Respecting the symmetries of the electronic Ham iltonian
in the presence of a magnetic field, we represent this Hamiltonian as a matrix
with res pect to a two-particle basis composed of one-particle states of a
Gaussian basis set. The corresponding generalized eigenvalue problem is solved
numerically, providing in the present paper results for vanish ing magnetic
quantum number M=0 and even or odd z-parity, each for both singlet and triplet
spin symmetry. Total electronic energies of the ground state and the first few
excitations in each su bspace as well as their one-electron ionization energies
are presented as a function of the magnetic fie ld, and their behaviour is
discussed. Energy values for electromagnetic transitions within the M=0 sub
space are shown, and a complete table of wavelengths at all the detected
stationary points with respect to their field dependence is given, thereby
providing a basis for a comparison with observed ab sorption spectra of
magnetic white dwarfs.Comment: 21 pages, 4 Figures, acc.f.publ.in J.Phys.
The ground state of the Lithium atom in strong magnetic fields
The ground and some excited states of the Li atom in external uniform
magnetic fields are calculated by means of our 2D mesh Hartree-Fock method for
field strengths ranging from zero up to 2.35 10^8 T. With increasing field
strength the ground state undergoes two transitions involving three different
electronic configurations: for weak fields the ground state configuration
arises from the field-free 1s^22s configuration, for intermediate fields from
the 1s^22p_{-1} configuration and in high fields the 1s2p_{-1}3d_{-2}
electronic configuration is responsible for the properties of the atom. The
transition field strengths are determined. Calculations on the ground state of
the Li+ ion allow us to describe the field-dependent ionization energy of the
Li atom. Some general arguments on the ground states of multi-electron atoms in
strong magnetic fields are provided.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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