401 research outputs found
Ferromagnetism below 10 K in Mn doped BiTe
Ferromagnetism is observed below 10 K in [Bi0.75Te0.125Mn0.125]Te. This
material has the BiTe structure, which is made from the stacking of two
Te-Bi-Te-Bi-Te blocks and one Bi-Bi block per unit cell. Crystal structure
analysis shows that Mn is localized in the Bi2 blocks, and is accompanied by an
equal amount of TeBi anti-site occupancy in the Bi2Te3 blocks. These TeBi
anti-site defects greatly enhance the Mn solubility. This is demonstrated by
comparison of the [Bi1-xMnx]Te and [Bi1-2xTexMnx]Te series; in the former, the
solubility is limited to x = 0.067, while the latter has xmax = 0.125. The
magnetism in [Bi1-xMnx]Te changes little with x, while that for
[Bi1-2xTexMnx]Te shows a clear variation, leading to ferromagnetism for x >
0.067. Magnetic hysteresis and the anomalous Hall Effect are observed for the
ferromagnetic samples.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Coupling between electronic and structural degrees of freedom in the triangular lattice conductor NaxCoO2
The determination by powder neutron diffraction of the ambient temperature
crystal structures of compounds in the NaxCoO2 family, for 0.3 < x <= 1.0, is
reported. The structures consist of triangular CoO2 layers with Na ions
distributed in intervening charge reservoir layers. The shapes of the CoO6
octahedra that make up the CoO2 layers are found to be critically dependent on
the electron count and on the distribution of the Na ions in the intervening
layers, where two types of Na sites are available. Correlation of the shapes of
cobalt-oxygen octahedra, the Na ion positions, and the electronic phase diagram
in NaxCoO2 is made, showing how structural and electronic degrees of freedom
can be coupled in electrically conducting triangular lattice systems.Comment: 15 pages, 1 tables, 6 figures Submitted to Physical Review
Superconductivity in Mg10Ir19B16
Mg10Ir19B16, a previously unreported compound in the Mg-Ir-B chemical system,
is found to be superconducting at temperatures near 5 K. The fact that the
compound exhibits a range of superconducting temperatures between 4 and 5 K
suggests that a range of stoichiometries is allowed, though no structural
evidence for this is observed. The compound has a large, noncentrosymmetric,
body centered cubic unit cell with a = 10.568 Angstrom, displaying a structure
type for which no previous superconductors have been reported.Comment: submitted to PR
Phase-transitions in spin-crossover thin films probed by graphene transport measurements
Future multi-functional hybrid devices might combine switchable molecules and
2D material-based devices. Spin-crossover compounds are of particular interest
in this context since they exhibit bistability and memory effects at room
temperature while responding to numerous external stimuli. Atomically-thin 2D
materials such as graphene attract a lot of attention for their fascinating
electrical, optical, and mechanical properties, but also for their reliability
for room-temperature operations. Here, we demonstrate that thermally-induced
spin-state switching of spin-crossover nanoparticle thin films can be monitored
through the electrical transport properties of graphene lying underneath the
films. Model calculations indicate that the charge carrier scattering mechanism
in graphene is sensitive to the spin-state dependence of the relative
dielectric constants of the spin-crossover nanoparticles. This graphene sensor
approach can be applied to a wide class of (molecular) systems with tunable
electronic polarizabilities.Comment: main text: 13 pages, 5 figures ; SI: 14 pages, 12 figure
Charge-ordering, commensurability and metallicity in the phase diagram of layered Na(x)CoO(2)
The phase diagram of non-hydrated Na(x)CoO(2) has been determined by changing
the Na content x using a series of chemical reactions. As x increases from 0.3,
the ground state goes from a paramagnetic metal to a charge-ordered insulator
(at x=1/2) to a `Curie-Weiss metal' (around 0.70), and finally to a weak-moment
magnetically ordered state (x>0.75). The unusual properties of the state at 1/2
(including particle-hole symmetry at low T and enhanced thermal conductivity)
are described. The strong coupling between the Na ions and the holes is
emphasized.Comment: 4 pages with 3 figures, changed conten
Through-membrane electron-beam lithography for ultrathin membrane applications
We present a technique to fabricate ultrathin (down to 20 nm) uniform
electron transparent windows at dedicated locations in a SiN membrane for in
situ transmission electron microscopy experiments. An electron-beam (e-beam)
resist is spray-coated on the backside of the membrane in a KOH- etched cavity
in silicon which is patterned using through-membrane electron-beam lithography.
This is a controlled way to make transparent windows in membranes, whilst the
topside of the membrane remains undamaged and retains its flatness. Our
approach was optimized for MEMS-based heating chips but can be applied to any
chip design. We show two different applications of this technique for (1)
fabrication of a nanogap electrode by means of electromigration in thin
free-standing metal films and (2) making low-noise graphene nanopore devices
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