Nonlinear thermoelectric effects in high-field superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions

Thermoelectric effects result from the coupling of charge and heat transport, and can be used for thermometry, cooling and harvesting of thermal energy. The microscopic origin of thermoelectric effects is a broken electron-hole symmetry, which is usually quite small in metal structures, and vanishes at low temperatures. We report on a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of thermoelectric effects in superconductor/ferromagnet hybrid structures. We investigate the depencence of thermoelectric currents on the thermal excitation, as well as on the presence of a dc bias voltage across the junction. Large thermoelectric effects are observed in superconductor/ferromagnet and superconductor/normal-metal hybrid structures. The spin-independent signals observed under finite voltage bias are shown to be reciprocal to the physics of superconductor/normal-metal microrefrigerators. The spin-dependent thermoelectric signals in the linear regime are due to the coupling of spin and heat transport, and can be used to design more efficient refrigeratorsComment: 11 pages, submitted to Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnolog

Aspects of Defect Topology in Smectic Liquid Crystals

We study the topology of smectic defects in two and three dimensions. We give a topological classification of smectic point defects and disclination lines in three dimensions. In addition we describe the combination rules for smectic point defects in two and three dimensions, showing how the broken translational symmetry of the smectic confers a path dependence on the result of defect addition.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure

The Geometry of the Cholesteric Phase

We propose a construction of a cholesteric pitch axis for an arbitrary nematic director field as an eigenvalue problem. Our definition leads to a Frenet-Serret description of an orthonormal triad determined by this axis, the director, and the mutually perpendicular direction. With this tool we are able to compare defect structures in cholesterics, biaxial nematics, and smectics. Though they all have similar ground state manifolds, the defect structures are different and cannot be, in general, translated from one phase to the other.Comment: 5 pages, the full catastroph

High pressure x-ray diffraction study of the volume collapse in Ba24Si100 clathrate

International audienceThe high pressure stability of the silicon type-III clathrate Ba24Si100 has been studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD) up to a maximum pressure of 37.4 GPa. The high pressure behavior of this Si type-III clathrate appears to be analogous to the structural type-I parent Ba8Si46. An isostructural volume collapse is observed at ~23 GPa, a value higher than for Ba8Si46 (13-15 GPa). The crystallinity of the structure is preserved up to the maximum attained pressure without amorphization, which appears to be in contradiction with the interpretation given in a Raman spectroscopy study [Shimizu et al., Phys. Rev. B 71, 094108 (2005)]. Nevertheless, the XRD analysis shows the appearance of a type-III disordered nanocaged-based crystalline structure after the volume collapse. Moreover, we find that the volume collapse transformation is (quasi)reversible after pressure release. Additionally, a low pressure transition first evidenced by Raman spectroscopy is also observed in our XRD study at 5 GPa: The variation of the isotropic thermal factors of Ba atoms shows a clear discontinuity at this pressure while the average positions of Ba atoms remain identical

Pressure-induced polyamorphism in TiO2 nanoparticles

Machon, Denis Daniel, Marlene Pischedda, Vittoria Daniele, Stephane Bouvier, Pierre LeFloch, SylvieTwo different nanometric (6 nm) TiO2 compounds, anatase polycrystals and amorphous particles, were investigated under high pressure using Raman spectroscopy. Nanoanatase undergoes a pressure-induced amorphization. The pressure-induced transformations of this mechanically prepared amorphous state are compared with those of a chemically prepared amorphous particles. In the mechanically prepared amorphous state, a reversible transformation from a low-density amorphous state to high-density amorphous state (HDA1) is observed in the range 13-16 GPa. In the chemically prepared sample, a transformation to a new high-density amorphous state (HDA2) is observed at around 21 GPa. Further compression leads to the transformation HDA2 -> HDA1 at similar to 30 GPa. We demonstrate that depending on the starting amorphous material, the high-pressure polyamorphic transformations may differ. This observation indicates that pressure is a suited tool to discriminate between nanomaterials apparently similar at ambient conditions

High-pressure phase transformations, pressure-induced amorphization, and polyamorphic transition of the clathrate Rb6.15Si46

International audienceThe type-I clathrate Rb6.15Si46 with partly empty cage sites has been studied up to 36 GPa using Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron x-ray diffraction in diamond-anvil cells, and ab initio total-energy and lattice-dynamics calculations. A first phase transition is observed at 13±1 GPa and a "volume collapse" transition within the clathrate structure is then observed at 24±1 GPa. Pressure-induced amorphization into a high-density amorphous (HDA) state occurs above P=33±1 GPa. The HDA form transforms into a low-density amorphous polymorph during decompression. During the compression study using angle dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction techniques we measured bulk modulus parameters for rocksalt-structured TaO, included adventitiously in the clathrate sample [K0=293(3) GPa and K′0=5.4(3)]

Probing high pressure properties of single wall carbon nanotubes through fullerene encapsulation

The high pressure behavior of bundled 1.35±0.1nm diameter single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) filled with C70 fullerenes (usually called peapods) has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy and compared with the corresponding behavior of the nonfilled SWNT. We show experimentally that two reversible pressure-induced transitions take place in the compressed bundle SWNT. The first transition, in the 2–2.5GPa range, is in good correspondence with predictions of the thermodynamic instability of the nanotube circular cross section for the studied tube diameter. An interaction between the fullerenes and the tube walls is then observed at about 3.5GPa, which evidences a progressive deformation of the tube cross section. The second transition takes place at pressures between 10 and 30GPa, and is evidenced by two effects by a strong frequency downshift of the Raman transverse modes and the concomitant disappearance of the fullerenes Raman modes in peapods. The pressure at which the second transition takes place is strongly dependent on the nature of the pressure transmitting medium. We also report irreversible effects at high pressure as the shortening of the tubes, the formation of nanostructures and the disappearance of the C70 Raman signal in some cases. Transmission electron microscopy studies are also reported supporting these transformations

High-pressure behavior of polyiodides confined into single-walled carbon nanotubes: A Raman study

International audienceThe high-pressure behavior of polyiodides confined into the hollow core of single-walled carbon nanotubes organized into bundles has been studied by means of Raman spectroscopy. Several regimes of the structural properties are observed for the nanotubes and the polyiodides under pressure. Raman responses of both compounds exhibit correlations over the whole pressure range (0–17 GPa). Modifications, in particular, take place, respectively, between 1 and 2.3 GPa for polyiodides and between 7 and 9 GPa for nanotubes, depending on the experiment. Differences between one experiment to another are discussed in terms of nanotube filling homogeneity. These transitions can be presumably assigned to the tube ovalization pressure and to the tube collapse pressure. A nonreversibility of several polyiodide mode modifications is evidenced and interpreted in terms of a progressive linearization of the iodine polyanions and a reduction in the charged species on pressure release. Furthermore, the significant change in the mode intensities could be associated to an enhancement of lattice modes, suggesting the formation of a new structure inside the nanotube. Changes in the nanotube mode positions after pressure release point out a decrease in the charge transfer in the hybrid system consistent with the observed evolution of the charged species