2,925 research outputs found
Charge dynamics in thermally and doping induced insulator-metal transitions of (Ti1-xVx)2O3
Charge dynamics of (Ti1-xVx)2O3 with x=0-0.06 has been investigated by
measurements of charge transport and optical conductivity spectra in a wide
temperature range of 2-600K with the focus on the thermally and doping induced
insulator-metal transitions (IMTs). The optical conductivity peaks for the
interband transitions in the 3d t2g manifold are observed in the both
insulating and metallic states, while their large variation (by ~0.4 eV) with
change of temperature and doping level scales with that of the Ti-Ti dimer bond
length, indicating the weakened singlet bond in the course of IMTs. The
thermally and V-doping induced IMTs are driven with the increase in carrier
density by band-crossing and hole-doping, respectively, in contrast to the
canonical IMT of correlated oxides accompanied by the whole collapse of the
Mott gap.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Moving embedded lattice solitons
It was recently proved that isolated unstable "embedded lattice solitons"
(ELS) may exist in discrete systems. The discovery of these ELS gives rise to
relevant questions such as the following: are there continuous families of
ELS?, can ELS be stable?, is it possible for ELS to move along the lattice?,
how do ELS interact?. The present work addresses these questions by showing
that a novel differential-difference equation (a discrete version of a complex
mKdV equation) has a two-parameter continuous family of exact ELS. The
numerical tests reveal that these solitons are stable and robust enough to
withstand collisions. The model may apply to the description of a Bose-Einstein
condensate with dipole-dipole interactions between the atoms, trapped in a deep
optical-lattice potential.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure
A statistical model approximation for perovskite solid-solutions: a Raman study of lead-zirconate-titanate single crystal
Lead titanate (PbTiO3) is a classical example of a ferroelectric perovskite
oxide illustrating a displacive phase transition accompanied by a softening of
a symmetry-breaking mode. The underlying assumption justifying the soft-mode
theory is that the crystal is macroscopically sufficiently uniform so that a
meaningful free energy function can be formed. In contrast to PbTiO3,
experimental studies show that the phase transition behaviour of
lead-zirconate-titanate solid solution (PZT) is far more subtle. Most of the
studies on the PZT system have been dedicated to ceramic or powder samples, in
which case an unambiguous soft-mode study is not possible, as modes with
different symmetries appear together. Our Raman scattering study on
titanium-rich PZT single crystal shows that the phase transitions in PZT cannot
be described by a simple soft-mode theory. In strong contrast to PbTiO3,
splitting of transverse E-symmetry modes reveals that there are different
locally-ordered regions. The role of crystal defects, random distribution of Ti
and Zr at the B-cation site and Pb ions shifted away from their ideal
positions, dictates the phase transition mechanism. A statistical model
explaining the observed peak splitting and phase transformation to a complex
state with spatially varying local order in the vicinity of the morphotropic
phase boundary is given.Comment: Article contains four black-and-white figures, one colour figure and
one Table. Symmetry analysis and details of the model are given in Appendices
I and II, respectivel
Critical enhancement of thermopower in a chemically tuned polar semimetal MoTe
Ferroelectrics with spontaneous electric polarization play an essential role
in today's device engineering, such as capacitors and memories. Their physical
properties are further enriched by suppressing the long-range polar order, as
is exemplified by quantum paraelectrics with giant piezoelectric and dielectric
responses at low temperatures. Likewise in metals, a polar lattice distortion
has been theoretically predicted to give rise to various unusual physical
properties. So far, however, a "ferroelectric"-like transition in metals has
seldom been controlled and hence its possible impacts on transport phenomena
remain unexplored. Here we report the discovery of anomalous enhancement of
thermopower near the critical region between the polar and nonpolar metallic
phases in 1T'-MoNbTe with a chemically tunable polar
transition. It is unveiled from the first-principles calculations and
magnetotransport measurements that charge transport with strongly
energy-dependent scattering rate critically evolves towards the boundary to the
nonpolar phase, resulting in large cryogenic thermopower. Such a significant
influence of the structural instability on transport phenomena might arise from
the fluctuating or heterogeneous polar metallic states, which would pave a
novel route to improving thermoelectric efficiency.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figure
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