1,863 research outputs found
Rotator and extender ferroelectrics: Importance of the shear coefficient to the piezoelectric properties of domain-engineered crystals and ceramics
The importance of a high shear coefficient d15 (or d24) to the piezoelectric
properties of domain-engineered and polycrystalline ferroelectrics is
discussed. The extent of polarization rotation, as a mechanism of piezoelectric
response, is directly correlated to the shear coefficient. The terms "rotator"
and "extender" are introduced to distinguish the contrasting behaviors of
crystals such as 4mm BaTiO3 and PbTiO3. In "rotator" ferroelectrics, where d15
is high relative to the longitudinal coefficient d33, polarization rotation is
the dominant mechanism of piezoelectric response; the maximum longitudinal
piezoelectric response is found away from the polar axis. In "extender"
ferroelectrics, d15 is low and the collinear effect dominates; the maximum
piezoelectric response is found along the polar axis. A variety of 3m, mm2 and
4mm ferroelectrics, with various crystal structures based on oxygen octahedra,
are classified in this way. It is shown that the largest piezoelectric
anisotropies d15/d33 are always found in 3m crystals; this is a result of the
intrinsic electrostrictive anisotropy of the constituent oxygen octahedra.
Finally, for a given symmetry, the piezoelectric anisotropy increases close to
ferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transitions; this includes morphotropic phase
boundaries and temperature induced polymorphic transitions.Comment: accepted in J. Appl. Phy
Spatio-temporal vortex beams and angular momentum
We present a space-time generalization of the known spatial (monochromatic)
wave vortex beams carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM) along the
propagation direction. Generic spatio-temporal vortex beams are polychromatic
and can carry intrinsic OAM at an arbitrary angle to the mean momentum.
Applying either (i) a transverse wave-vector shift or (ii) a Lorentz boost to a
monochromatic Bessel beam, we construct a family of either (i) time-diffracting
or (ii) non-diffracting spatio-temporal Bessel beams, which are exact solutions
of the Klein-Gordon wave equations. The proposed spatio-temporal OAM states are
able to describe either photon or electron vortex states (both relativistic and
nonrelativistic), and can find applications in particle collisions, optics of
moving media, quantum communications, and astrophysics.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Probing Cold Dark Matter Cusps by Gravitational Lensing
I elaborate on my prediction that an indirect detection of cold dark matter
(CDM) may be possible by observing the gravitational lensing effects of the CDM
cusp caustics at cosmological distances. Cusps in the distribution of CDM are
plentiful once density perturbations enter the nonlinear regime of structure
formation. Caustic ring model of galactic halo formation provides a well
defined density profile and geometry near the cusps of the caustic rings. I
calculate the gravitational lensing effects of the cusps in this model. As a
pointlike background source passes behind a cusp of a cosmological foreground
halo, the magnification in its image may be detected by present instruments.
Depending on the strength of detected effect and the time scale of brightness
change, it may even be possible to discriminate between the CDM candidates:
axions and weakly interacting massive particles.Comment: Invited Contribution to the IJMPD Special Issue on Dark Matter and
Dark Energy edited by D. Ahluwalia-Khalilova and D. Grumiller. To appear in
Int. J. Mod. Phys. D Special December 2006 issu
Polarized micro-Raman studies of femtosecond laser written stress-induced optical waveguides in diamond
Understanding the physical mechanisms of the refractive index modulation
induced by femtosecond laser writing is crucial for tailoring the properties of
the resulting optical waveguides. In this work we apply polarized Raman
spectroscopy to study the origin of stress-induced waveguides in diamond,
produced by femtosecond laser writing. The change in the refractive index
induced by the femtosecond laser in the crystal is derived from the measured
stress in the waveguides. The results help to explain the waveguide
polarization sensitive guiding mechanism, as well as providing a technique for
their optimization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Abrupt grain boundary melting in ice
The effect of impurities on the grain boundary melting of ice is investigated
through an extension of Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory, in which we
include retarded potential effects in a calculation of the full frequency
dependent van der Waals and Coulombic interactions within a grain boundary. At
high dopant concentrations the classical solutal effect dominates the melting
behavior. However, depending on the amount of impurity and the surface charge
density, as temperature decreases, the attractive tail of the dispersion force
interaction begins to compete effectively with the repulsive screened Coulomb
interaction. This leads to a film-thickness/temperature curve that changes
depending on the relative strengths of these interactions and exhibits a
decrease in the film thickness with increasing impurity level. More striking is
the fact that at very large film thicknesses, the repulsive Coulomb interaction
can be effectively screened leading to an abrupt reduction to zero film
thickness.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
A Low Temperature Nonlinear Optical Rotational Anisotropy Spectrometer for the Determination of Crystallographic and Electronic Symmetries
Nonlinear optical generation from a crystalline material can reveal the
symmetries of both its lattice structure and underlying ordered electronic
phases and can therefore be exploited as a complementary technique to
diffraction based scattering probes. Although this technique has been
successfully used to study the lattice and magnetic structures of systems such
as semiconductor surfaces, multiferroic crystals, magnetic thin films and
multilayers, challenging technical requirements have prevented its application
to the plethora of complex electronic phases found in strongly correlated
electron systems. These requirements include an ability to probe small bulk
single crystals at the micron length scale, a need for sensitivity to the
entire nonlinear optical susceptibility tensor, oblique light incidence
reflection geometry and incident light frequency tunability among others. These
measurements are further complicated by the need for extreme sample
environments such as ultra low temperatures, high magnetic fields or high
pressures. In this review we present a novel experimental construction using a
rotating light scattering plane that meets all the aforementioned requirements.
We demonstrate the efficacy of our scheme by making symmetry measurements on a
micron scale facet of a small bulk single crystal of SrIrO using
optical second and third harmonic generation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Non-minimal coupling for the gravitational and electromagnetic fields: A general system of equations
We establish a new self-consistent system of equations for the gravitational
and electromagnetic fields. The procedure is based on a non-minimal non-linear
extension of the standard Einstein-Hilbert-Maxwell action. General properties
of a three-parameter family of non-minimal linear models are discussed. In
addition, we show explicitly, that a static spherically symmetric charged
object can be described by a non-minimal model, second order in the derivatives
of the metric, when the susceptibility tensor is proportional to the
double-dual Riemann tensorComment: 15 page
Energy levels in polarization superlattices: a comparison of continuum strain models
A theoretical model for the energy levels in polarization superlattices is
presented. The model includes the effect of strain on the local
polarization-induced electric fields and the subsequent effect on the energy
levels. Two continuum strain models are contrasted. One is the standard strain
model derived from Hooke's law that is typically used to calculate energy
levels in polarization superlattices and quantum wells. The other is a
fully-coupled strain model derived from the thermodynamic equation of state for
piezoelectric materials. The latter is more complete and applicable to strongly
piezoelectric materials where corrections to the standard model are
significant. The underlying theory has been applied to AlGaN/GaN superlattices
and quantum wells. It is found that the fully-coupled strain model yields very
different electric fields from the standard model. The calculated intersubband
transition energies are shifted by approximately 5 -- 19 meV, depending on the
structure. Thus from a device standpoint, the effect of applying the
fully-coupled model produces a very measurable shift in the peak wavelength.
This result has implications for the design of AlGaN/GaN optical switches.Comment: Revtex
Correlative study of structural and optical properties of ZnSe under severe plastic deformation
The effect of plastic deformation on the optical and structural properties of ZnSe crystals has been investigated. The optical properties have been monitored by cathodoluminescence measurements as a function of the deformation degree. Remarkable differences in the defect-related emissions from the most severely deformed areas have been encountered. Deformation of the crystal lattice of ZnSe, associated with slip phenomena, has been studied by means of Electron Backscattered Diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The relation between the deformation and the optical properties of the ZnSe crystals has been described
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