19,070 research outputs found
Fracture of complex metallic alloys: An atomistic study of model systems
Molecular dynamics simulations of crack propagation are performed for two
extreme cases of complex metallic alloys (CMAs): In a model quasicrystal the
structure is determined by clusters of atoms, whereas the model C15 Laves phase
is a simple periodic stacking of a unit cell. The simulations reveal that the
basic building units of the structures also govern their fracture behaviour.
Atoms in the Laves phase play a comparable role to the clusters in the
quasicrystal. Although the latter are not rigid units, they have to be regarded
as significant physical entities.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, for associated avi file, see
http://www.itap.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/~frohmut/MOVIES/C15.LJ.011.100.av
Dynamic fracture of icosahedral model quasicrystals: A molecular dynamics study
Ebert et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3827 (1996)] have fractured icosahedral
Al-Mn-Pd single crystals in ultrahigh vacuum and have investigated the cleavage
planes in-situ by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Globular patterns in the
STM-images were interpreted as clusters of atoms. These are significant
structural units of quasicrystals. The experiments of Ebert et al. imply that
they are also stable physical entities, a property controversially discussed
currently. For a clarification we performed the first large scale fracture
simulations on three-dimensional complex binary systems. We studied the
propagation of mode I cracks in an icosahedral model quasicrystal by molecular
dynamics techniques at low temperature. In particular we examined how the shape
of the cleavage plane is influenced by the clusters inherent in the model and
how it depends on the plane structure. Brittle fracture with no indication of
dislocation activity is observed. The crack surfaces are rough on the scale of
the clusters, but exhibit constant average heights for orientations
perpendicular to high symmetry axes. From detailed analyses of the fractured
samples we conclude that both, the plane structure and the clusters, strongly
influence dynamic fracture in quasicrystals and that the clusters therefore
have to be regarded as physical entities.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, for associated avi files, see
http://www.itap.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/~frohmut/MOVIES/emitted_soundwaves.avi
and
http://www.itap.physik.uni-stuttgart.de/~frohmut/MOVIES/dynamic_fracture.av
Quasicrystalline Order in Binary Dipolar Systems
Motivated by recent experimental findings, we investigate the possible
occurrence and characteristics of quasicrystalline order in two-dimensional
mixtures of point dipoles with two sorts of dipole moments. Despite the fact
that the dipolar interaction potential does not exhibit an intrinsic length
scale and cannot be tuned a priori to support the formation of quasicrystalline
order, we find that configurations with long--range quasicrystallinity yield
minima in the potential energy surface of the many particle system. These
configurations emanate from an ideal or perturbed ideal decoration of a binary
tiling by steepest descent relaxation. Ground state energy calculations of
alternative ordered states and parallel tempering Monte-Carlo simulations
reveal that the quasicrystalline configurations do not correspond to a
thermodynamically stable state. On the other hand, steepest descent relaxations
and conventional Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that they are rather robust
against fluctuations. Local quasicrystalline order in the disordered
equilibrium states can be strong.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Polymeric forms of carbon in dense lithium carbide
The immense interest in carbon nanomaterials continues to stimulate intense
research activities aimed to realize carbon nanowires, since linear chains of
carbon atoms are expected to display novel and technologically relevant
optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Although various allotropes of
carbon (e.g., diamond, nanotubes, graphene, etc.) are among the best known
materials, it remains challenging to stabilize carbon in the one-dimensional
form because of the difficulty to suitably saturate the dangling bonds of
carbon. Here, we show through first-principles calculations that ordered
polymeric carbon chains can be stabilized in solid LiC under moderate
pressure. This pressure-induced phase (above 5 GPa) consists of parallel arrays
of twofold zigzag carbon chains embedded in lithium cages, which display a
metallic character due to the formation of partially occupied carbon lone-pair
states in \emph{sp}-like hybrids. It is found that this phase remains the
most favorable one in a wide range of pressure. At extreme pressure (larger the
215 GPa) a structural and electronic phase transition towards an insulating
single-bonded threefold-coordinated carbon network is predicted.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Atomic Bose and Anderson glasses in optical lattices
An ultra cold atomic Bose gas in an optical lattice is shown to provide an
ideal system for the controlled analysis of disordered Bose lattice gases. This
goal may be easily achieved under the current experimental conditions, by
introducing a pseudo-random potential created by a second additional lattice
or, alternatively, by placing a speckle pattern on the main lattice. We show
that for a non commensurable filling factor, in the strong interaction limit, a
controlled growing of the disorder drives a dynamical transition from
superfluid to Bose-glass phase. Similarly, in the weak interaction limit, a
dynamical transition from superfluid to Anderson-glass phase may be observed.
In both regimes, we show that even very low-intensity disorder-inducing lasers
cause large modifications of the superfluid fraction of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes. To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.
(2003
Phase behavior of a confined nano-droplet in the grand-canonical ensemble: the reverse liquid-vapor transition
The equilibrium density distribution and thermodynamic properties of a
Lennard-Jones fluid confined to nano-sized spherical cavities at constant
chemical potential was determined using Monte Carlo simulations. The results
describe both a single cavity with semipermeable walls as well as a collection
of closed cavities formed at constant chemical potential. The results are
compared to calculations using classical Density Functional Theory (DFT). It is
found that the DFT calculations give a quantitatively accurate description of
the pressure and structure of the fluid. Both theory and simulation show the
presence of a ``reverse'' liquid-vapor transition whereby the equilibrium state
is a liquid at large volumes but becomes a vapor at small volumes.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, to appear in J. Phys. : Cond. Mat
About the dynamics and thermodynamics of trapped ions
This tutorial introduces the dynamics of charged particles in a
radiofrequency trap in a very general manner to point out the differences
between the dynamics in a quadrupole and in a multipole trap. When dense
samples are trapped, the dynamics is modified by the Coulomb repulsion between
ions. To take into account this repulsion, we propose to use a method,
originally developed for particles in Penning trap, that model the ion cloud as
a cold fluid. This method can not reproduce the organisation of cold clouds as
crystals but it allows one to scale the size of large samples with the trapping
parameters and the number of ions trapped, for different linear geometries of
trap.Comment: accepted for publication in the "Modern Applications of Trapped Ions"
special issu
Charge Transfer and Charge Broadening of GEM Structures in High Magnetic Fields
We report on measurements of charge transfer in GEM structures in high
magnetic fields. These were performed in the framework of the R&D work for a
Time Projection Chamber at a future Linear Collider. A small test chamber has
been installed into the aperture of a superconducting magnet with the GEM
structures mounted perpendicular to the B field direction. The charge transfer
is derived from the electrical currents monitored during irradiation with an
Fe source. No severe loss of primary ionisation charge is observed,
but an improved ion feedback suppression is achieved for high magnetic fields.
Additionally, the width of the charge cloud released by individual Fe
photons is measured using a finely segmented strip readout after the triple GEM
structure. Charge widths between 0.3 and 0.5 mm RMS are observed, which
originate from the charge broadening inside the GEM readout. This charge
broadening is only partly suppressed at high magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Magnetocaloric Study of Spin Relaxation in `Frozen' Dipolar Spin Ice Dy2Ti2O7
The magnetocaloric effect of polycrystalline samples of pure and Y-doped
dipolar spin ice Dy2Ti2O7 was investigated at temperatures from nominally 0.3 K
to 6 K and in magnetic fields of up to 2 T. As well as being of intrinsic
interest, it is proposed that the magnetocaloric effect may be used as an
appropriate tool for the qualitative study of slow relaxation processes in the
spin ice regime. In the high temperature regime the temperature change on
adiabatic demagnetization was found to be consistent with previously published
entropy versus temperature curves. At low temperatures (T < 0.4 K) cooling by
adiabatic demagnetization was followed by an irreversible rise in temperature
that persisted after the removal of the applied field. The relaxation time
derived from this temperature rise was found to increase rapidly down to 0.3 K.
The data near to 0.3 K indicated a transition into a metastable state with much
slower relaxation, supporting recent neutron scattering results. In addition,
magnetic dilution of 50 % concentration was found to significantly prolong the
dynamical response in the milikelvin temperature range, in contrast with
results reported for higher temperatures at which the spin correlations are
suppressed. These observations are discussed in terms of defects and loop
correlations in the spin ice state.Comment: 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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