67 research outputs found
Stabilization of the high-spin state of Co in LaCoRhO
The rhodium doping in the LaCoRhO perovskite series
() has been studied by X-ray diffraction, electric transport and
magnetization measurements, complemented by electronic structure GGA+U
calculations in supercell for different concentration regimes. No charge
transfer between Co and Rh is evidenced. The diamagnetic ground
state of LaCoO, based on Co in low-spin (LS) state, is disturbed
even by a small doping of Rh. The driving force is the elastic energy connected
with incorporation of a large Rh cation into the matrix of small LS
Co cations, which is relaxed by formation of large Co in
high-spin (HS) state in the next-nearest sites to the inserted Rh atom. With
increasing temperature, the population of Co in HS state increases
through thermal excitation, and a saturated phase is obtained close to room
temperature, consisting of a nearest-neighbor correlation of small (LS
Co) and large (HS Co and LS Rh) cations in a kind of
double perovskite structure. The stabilizing role of elastic and electronic
energy contributions is demonstrated in supercell calculations for dilute Rh
concentration compared to other dopants with various trivalent ionic radius.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Metal-insulator transition and the Pr/Pr valence shift in (PrY)CaCoO
The magnetic, electric and thermal properties of the
(Y)CaCoO perovskites (~=~Pr, Nd) were
investigated down to very low temperatures. The main attention was given to a
peculiar metal-insulator transition, which is observed in the praseodymium
based samples with and 0.15 at and 132~K, respectively.
The study suggests that the transition, reported originally in
PrCaCoO, is not due to a mere change of cobalt ions from
the intermediate- to the low-spin states, but is associated also with a
significant electron transfer between Pr and Co/Co sites,
so that the praseodymium ions occur below in a mixed
Pr/Pr valence. The presence of Pr ions in the insulating
phase of the yttrium doped samples (PrY)CaCoO
is evidenced by Schottky peak originating in Zeeman splitting of the ground
state Kramers doublet. The peak is absent in pure PrCaCoO
in which metallic phase, based solely on non-Kramers Pr ions, is
retained down to the lowest temperature.Comment: 10 figure
Magnetodielectric effect and optic soft mode behaviour in quantum paraelectric EuTiO3 ceramics
Infrared reflectivity and time-domain terahertz transmission spectra of
EuTiO3 ceramics revealed a polar optic phonon at 6 - 300K, whose softening is
fully responsible for the recently observed quantum paraelectric behaviour.
Even if our EuTiO3 ceramics show lower permittivity than the single crystal due
to a reduced density and/or small amount of secondary pyrochlore Eu2Ti2O7
phase, we confirmed the magnetic field dependence of the permittivity, also
slightly smaller than in single crystal. Attempt to reveal the soft phonon
dependence at 1.8K on the magnetic field up to 13T remained below the accuracy
of our infrared reflectivity experiment
Synchronization of multi-phase oscillators: An Axelrod-inspired model
Inspired by Axelrod's model of culture dissemination, we introduce and
analyze a model for a population of coupled oscillators where different levels
of synchronization can be assimilated to different degrees of cultural
organization. The state of each oscillator is represented by a set of phases,
and the interaction --which occurs between homologous phases-- is weighted by a
decreasing function of the distance between individual states. Both ordered
arrays and random networks are considered. We find that the transition between
synchronization and incoherent behaviour is mediated by a clustering regime
with rich organizational structure, where some of the phases of a given
oscillator can be synchronized to a certain cluster, while its other phases are
synchronized to different clusters.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Hole-doping dependence of percolative phase separation in Pr_(0.5-delta)Ca_(0.2+delta)Sr_(0.3)MnO_(3) around half doping
We address the problem of the percolative phase separation in polycrystalline
samples of PrCaSrMnO for (hole doping between 0.46 and 0.54). We perform
measurements of X-ray diffraction, dc magnetization, ESR, and electrical
resistivity. These samples show at a paramagnetic (PM) to ferromagnetic
(FM) transition, however, we found that for there is a coexistence of
both of these phases below . On lowering below the charge-ordering
(CO) temperature all the samples exhibit a coexistence between the FM
metallic and CO (antiferromagnetic) phases. In the whole range the FM phase
fraction () decreases with increasing . Furthermore, we show that only
for the metallic fraction is above the critical percolation
threshold . As a consequence, these samples show very
different magnetoresistance properties. In addition, for we
observe a percolative metal-insulator transition at , and for
the insulating-like behavior generated by the enlargement of
with increasing is well described by the percolation law , where is a critical exponent. On the basis of
the values obtained for this exponent we discuss different possible percolation
mechanisms, and suggest that a more deep understanding of geometric and
dimensionality effects is needed in phase separated manganites. We present a
complete vs phase diagram showing the magnetic and electric properties
of the studied compound around half doping.Comment: 9 text pages + 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
First-principles design and subsequent synthesis of a material to search for the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron
We describe the first-principles design and subsequent synthesis of a new
material with the specific functionalities required for a solid-state-based
search for the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron. We show
computationally that perovskite-structure europium barium titanate should
exhibit the required large and pressure-dependent ferroelectric polarization,
local magnetic moments, and absence of magnetic ordering even at liquid helium
temperature. Subsequent synthesis and characterization of
EuBaTiO ceramics confirm the predicted desirable
properties.Comment: Nature Materials, in pres
Recommended from our members
Ariel – a window to the origin of life on early earth?
Is there life beyond Earth? An ideal research program would first ascertain how life on Earth began and then use this as a blueprint for its existence elsewhere. But the origin of life on Earth is still not understood, what then could be the way forward? Upcoming observations of terrestrial exoplanets provide a unique opportunity for answering this fundamental question through the study of other planetary systems. If we are able to see how physical and chemical environments similar to the early Earth evolve we open a window into our own Hadean eon, despite all information from this time being long lost from our planet’s geological record. A careful investigation of the chemistry expected on young exoplanets is therefore necessary, and the preparation of reference materials for spectroscopic observations is of paramount importance. In particular, the deduction of chemical markers identifying specific processes and features in exoplanetary environments, ideally “uniquely”. For instance, prebiotic feedstock molecules, in the form of aerosols and vapours, could be observed in transmission spectra in the near future whilst their surface deposits could be observed from reflectance spectra. The same detection methods also promise to identify particular intermediates of chemical and physical processes known to be prebiotically plausible. Is Ariel truly able to open a window to the past and answer questions concerning the origin of life on our planet and the universe? In this paper, we discuss aspects of prebiotic chemistry that will help in formulating future observational and data interpretation strategies for the Ariel mission. This paper is intended to open a discussion and motivate future detailed laboratory studies of prebiotic processes on young exoplanets and their chemical signatures
- …