1,768 research outputs found
Field induced long-range-ordering in an S=1 quasi-one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet
We have measured the heat capacity and magnetization of the spin one
one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet NDMAP and constructed a magnetic
field versus temperature phase diagram. We found a field induced long-range
magnetic ordering. We have been successful in explaining the phase diagram
theoretically.Comment: 6 pages, 18 figure
Phase diagram and hidden order for generalized spin ladders
We investigate the phase diagram of antiferromagnetic spin ladders with
additional exchange interactions on diagonal bonds by variational and numerical
methods. These generalized spin ladders interpolate smoothly between the
chain with competing nn and nnn interactions, the chain with
alternating exchange and the antiferromagnetic chain. The Majumdar-Ghosh
ground states are formulated as matrix product states and are shown to exhibit
the same type of hidden order as the af chain. Generalized matrix product
states are used for a variational calculation of the ground state energy and
the spin and string correlation functions. Numerical (Lanczos) calculations of
the energies of the ground state and of the low-lying excited states are
performed, and compare reasonably with the variational approach. Our results
support the hypothesis that the dimer and Majumdar-Ghosh points are in the same
phase as the af chain.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX, 7 figure
Realization of the mean-field universality class in spin-crossover materials
In spin-crossover materials, the volume of a molecule changes depending on
whether it is in the high-spin (HS) or low-spin (LS) state. This change causes
distortion of the lattice. Elastic interactions among these distortions play an
important role for the cooperative properties of spin-transition phenomena. We
find that the critical behavior caused by this elastic interaction belongs to
the mean-field universality class, in which the critical exponents for the
spontaneous magnetization and the susceptibility are and , respectively. Furthermore, the spin-spin correlation function is a
constant at long distances, and it does not show an exponential decay in
contrast to short-range models. The value of the correlation function at long
distances shows different size-dependences: , , and
constant for temperatures above, at, and below the critical temperature,
respectively. The model does not exhibit clusters, even near the critical
point. We also found that cluster growth is suppressed in the present model and
that there is no critical opalescence in the coexistence region. During the
relaxation process from a metastable state at the end of a hysteresis loop,
nucleation phenomena are not observed, and spatially uniform configurations are
maintained during the change of the fraction of HS and LS. These
characteristics of the mean-field model are expected to be found not only in
spin-crossover materials, but also generally in systems where elastic
distortion mediates the interaction among local states.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure
Origin of the reduced exchange bias in epitaxial FeNi(111)/CoO(111) bilayer
We have employed Soft and Hard X-ray Resonant Magnetic Scattering and
Polarised Neutron Diffraction to study the magnetic interface and the bulk
antiferromagnetic domain state of the archetypal epitaxial
NiFe(111)/CoO(111) exchange biased bilayer. The combination of
these scattering tools provides unprecedented detailed insights into the still
incomplete understanding of some key manifestations of the exchange bias
effect. We show that the several orders of magnitude difference between the
expected and measured value of exchange bias field is caused by an almost
anisotropic in-plane orientation of antiferromagnetic domains. Irreversible
changes of their configuration lead to a training effect. This is directly seen
as a change in the magnetic half order Bragg peaks after magnetization
reversal. A 30 nm size of antiferromagnetic domains is extracted from the width
the (1/2 1/2 1/2) antiferromagnetic magnetic peak measured both by neutron and
x-ray scattering. A reduced blocking temperature as compared to the measured
antiferromagnetic ordering temperature clearly corresponds to the blocking of
antiferromagnetic domains. Moreover, an excellent correlation between the size
of the antiferromagnetic domains, exchange bias field and frozen-in spin ratio
is found, providing a comprehensive understanding of the origin of exchange
bias in epitaxial systems.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitte
On the athermal character of structural phase transitions
The significance of thermal fluctuations on nucleation in structural
first-order phase transitions has been examined. The prototype case of
martensitic transitions has been experimentally investigated by means of
acoustic emission techniques. We propose a model based on the mean
first-passage time to account for the experimental observations. Our study
provides a unified framework to establish the conditions for isothermal and
athermal transitions to be observed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
Microstructural characterization of AISI 431 martensitic stainless steel laser-deposited coatings
High cooling rates during laser cladding of stainless steels may alter the microstructure and phase constitution of the claddings and consequently change their functional properties. In this research, solidification structures and solid state phase transformation products in single and multi layer AISI 431 martensitic stainless steel coatings deposited by laser cladding at different processing speeds are investigated by optical microscopy, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), orientation imaging microscopy (OIM), ternary phase diagram, Schaeffler and TTT diagrams. The results of this study show how partitionless solidification and higher solidification rates alter the microstructure and phase constitution of martensitic stainless steel laser deposited coatings. In addition, it is shown that while different cladding speeds have no effect on austenite–martensite orientation relationship in the coatings, increasing the cladding speed has resulted in a reduction of hardness in deposited coatings which is in contrast to the common idea about obtaining higher hardness values at higher cladding speeds.
Three-Dimensional Elastic Compatibility: Twinning in Martensites
We show how the St.Venant compatibility relations for strain in three
dimensions lead to twinning for the cubic to tetragonal transition in
martensitic materials within a Ginzburg-Landau model in terms of the six
components of the symmetric strain tensor. The compatibility constraints
generate an anisotropic long-range interaction in the order parameter
(deviatoric strain) components. In contrast to two dimensions, the free energy
is characterized by a "landscape" of competing metastable states. We find a
variety of textures, which result from the elastic frustration due to the
effects of compatibility. Our results are also applicable to structural phase
transitions in improper ferroelastics such as ferroelectrics and
magnetoelastics, where strain acts as a secondary order parameter
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