2,138 research outputs found
Glass-Like Heat Conduction in High-Mobility Crystalline Semiconductors
The thermal conductivity of polycrystalline semiconductors with type-I
clathrate hydrate crystal structure is reported. Ge clathrates (doped with Sr
and/or Eu) exhibit lattice thermal conductivities typical of amorphous
materials. Remarkably, this behavior occurs in spite of the well-defined
crystalline structure and relatively high electron mobility (). The dynamics of dopant ions and their interaction with the
polyhedral cages of the structure are a likely source of the strong phonon
scattering.Comment: 4 pages, 3 postscript figures, to be published, Phys. Rev. Let
Cage-size control of guest vibration and thermal conductivity in Sr8Ga16Si30-xGex
We present a systematic study of thermal conductivity, specific heat,
electrical resistivity, thermopower and x-ray diffraction measurements
performed on single-crystalline samples of the pseudoquaternary type-I
clathrate system Sr8Ga16Si30-xGex, in the full range of 0 < x < 30. All the
samples show metallic behavior with n-type majority carriers. However, the
thermal conductivity and specific heat strongly depend on x. Upon increasing x
from 0 to 30, the lattice parameter increases by 3%, from 10.446 to 10.726 A,
and the localized vibrational energies of the Sr guest ions in the
tetrakaidekahedron (dodecahedron) cages decrease from 59 (120) K to 35 (90) K.
Furthermore, the lattice thermal conductivity at low temperatures is largely
suppressed. In fact, a crystalline peak found at 15 K for x = 0 gradually
decreases and disappears for x > 20, evolving into the anomalous glass-like
behavior observed for x = 30. It is found that the increase of the free space
for the Sr guest motion directly correlates with a continuous transition from
on-center harmonic vibration to off-center anharmonic vibration, with
consequent increase in the coupling strength between the guest's low-energy
modes and the cage's acoustic phonon modes.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PR
In-situ X-ray-absorption Spectroscopy Study of Hydrogen Absorption by Nickel-Magnesium Thin Films
Structural and electronic properties of co-sputtered Ni-Mg thin films with varying Ni to Mg ratio were studied by in-situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy in the Ni L-edge and Mg K-edge regions. Co-deposition of the metals led to increased disorder and decreased coordination around Ni and Mg compared to pure metal films. Exposure of the metallic films to hydrogen resulted in formation of hydrides and increased disorder. The presence of hydrogen as a near neighbor around Mg caused a drastic reduction in the intensities of multiple scattering resonances at higher energies. The optical switching behavior and changes in the x-ray spectra varied with Ni to Mg atomic ratio. Pure Mg films with Pd overlayers were converted to MgH2: the H atoms occupy regular sites as in bulk MgH2. Although optical switching was slow in the absence of Ni, the amount of H2 absorption was large. Incorporation of Ni in Mg films led to an increase in the speed of optical switching but decreased maximum transparency. Significant shifts in the Ni L3 and L2 peaks are consistent with strong interaction with hydrogen in the mixed films
Linear-response theory of the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect
We theoretically investigate the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect, in which
the spin current is injected from a ferromagnet into an attached nonmagnetic
metal in a direction parallel to the temperature gradient. Using the fact that
the phonon heat current flows intensely into the attached nonmagnetic metal in
this particular configuration, we show that the sign of the spin injection
signal in the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect can be opposite to that in the
conventional transverse spin Seebeck effect when the electron-phonon
interaction in the nonmagnetic metal is sufficiently large. Our linear-response
approach can explain the sign reversal of the spin injection signal recently
observed in the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect.Comment: Proc. of ICM 2012 (Accepted for publication in J. Korean Phys. Soc.),
typos correcte
Exchange Anisotropy in Epitaxial and Polycrystalline NiO/NiFe Bilayers
(001) oriented NiO/NiFe bilayers were grown on single crystal MgO (001)
substrates by ion beam sputtering in order to determine the effect that the
crystalline orientation of the NiO antiferromagnetic layer has on the
magnetization curve of the NiFe ferromagnetic layer. Simple models predict no
exchange anisotropy for the (001)-oriented surface, which in its bulk
termination is magnetically compensated. Nonetheless exchange anisotropy is
present in the epitaxial films, although it is approximately half as large as
in polycrystalline films that were grown simultaneously. Experiments show that
differences in exchange field and coercivity between polycrystalline and
epitaxial NiFe/NiO bilayers couples arise due to variations in induced surface
anisotropy and not from differences in the degree of compensation of the
terminating NiO plane. Implications of these observations for models of induced
exchange anisotropy in NiO/NiFe bilayer couples will be discussed.Comment: 23 pages in RevTex format, submitted to Phys Rev B
Low thermal conductivity of the layered oxide (Na,Ca)Co_2O_4: Another example of a phonon glass and an electron crystal
The thermal conductivity of polycrystalline samples of (Na,Ca)Co_2O_4 is
found to be unusually low, 20 mW/cmK at 280 K. On the assumption of the
Wiedemann-Franz law, the lattice thermal conductivity is estimated to be 18
mW/cmK at 280 K, and it does not change appreciably with the substitution of Ca
for Na. A quantitative analysis has revealed that the phonon mean free path is
comparable with the lattice parameters, where the point-defect scattering plays
an important role. Electronically the same samples show a metallic conduction
down to 4.2 K, which strongly suggests that NaCo_2O_4 exhibits a glass-like
poor thermal conduction together with a metal-like good electrical conduction.
The present study further suggests that a strongly correlated system with
layered structure can act as a material of a phonon glass and an electron
crystal.Comment: 5 pages 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Thermoelectric properties of lead chalcogenide core-shell nanostructures
We present the full thermoelectric characterization of nanostructured bulk
PbTe and PbTe-PbSe samples fabricated from colloidal core-shell nanoparticles
followed by spark plasma sintering. An unusually large thermopower is found in
both materials, and the possibility of energy filtering as opposed to grain
boundary scattering as an explanation is discussed. A decreased Debye
temperature and an increased molar specific heat are in accordance with recent
predictions for nanostructured materials. On the basis of these results we
propose suitable core-shell material combinations for future thermoelectric
materials of large electric conductivities in combination with an increased
thermopower by energy filtering.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Heat transport by lattice and spin excitations in the spin chain compounds SrCuO_2 and Sr_2CuO_3
We present the results of measurements of the thermal conductivity of the
quasi one-dimensional spin S=1/2 chain compound SrCuO_2 in the temperature
range between 0.4 and 300 K along the directions parallel and perpendicular to
the chains. An anomalously enhanced thermal conductivity is observed along the
chains. The analysis of the present data and a comparison with analogous recent
results for Sr_2CuO_3 and other similar materials demonstrates that this
behavior is generic for cuprates with copper-oxygen chains and strong
intrachain interactions. The observed anomalies are attributed to the
one-dimensional energy transport by spin excitations (spinons), limited by the
interaction between spin and lattice excitations. The energy transport along
the spin chains has a non-diffusive character, in agreement with theoretical
predictions for integrable models.Comment: 12 pages (RevTeX), 8 figure
First Order Bipolaronic Transition at Finite Temperature in the Holstein Model
We investigate the Holstein model by using the dynamical mean-field theory
combined with the exact diagonalization method. Below a critical temperature
Tcr, a coexistence of the polaronic and the bipolaronic solutions is found for
the same value of the electron-phonon coupling $ in the range gc1(T)<g<gc2(T).
In the coexistence region, the system shows a first order phase transition from
the bipolaronic to the polaronic states as T decreases at T=Tp(<Tcr), where the
double occupancy and the lattice fluctuation together with the anharmonicity of
the effective ion potential change discontinuously without any symmetry
breaking. The obtained bipolaronic transition seems to be consistent with the
rattling transition in the beta-pyrochlore oxide KOs2O6.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 79 (2010) 09370
- …