Size effects in radiospectroscopy spectra of ferroelectric nanopowders

The theoretical and experimental investigation of ferroelectric nanopowders is performed. The manifestation in radiospectroscopy spectra of size driven ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition at some critical particle average size was the main goal of the consideration. In theoretical part the size effect for the materials with ferroelectric tetragonal phase and cubic paraelectric phase was considered allowing for the spontaneous polarization inhomogeneity inside a particle and distribution of particle sizes. In ESR the transformation of the spectra from tetragonal symmetry to cubic symmetry with decreasing of nanoparticle sizes was calculated. Measurements of Fe3+ ESR spectra in nanopowder of BaTiO3 were carried out at room temperature. The decrease of intensity of tetragonal symmetry ESR lines of Fe3+ and appearance of cubic symmetry line with asymmetry of the shoulders was observed with the average sizes decrease with complete disappearance of tetragonal spectrum at average size less or equal 40 nm. The comparison of the theory with experiment was carried out. The value of critical size Rc = 40 nm was extracted from ESR data. The asymmetry and broadening of right hand side shoulder of ESR cubic symmetry line was shown to be related to contribution of paramagnetic centers in the vicinity of the particles surface. The deconvolution of the cubic line allowed to show, that this region size is about 3 nm.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Study of BaTiO₃ ceramics doped with Mn and Ce or Nb and Sr

ESR study of BaTiO₃ ferroelectrics doped with cerium or with niobium and strontium, both types of samples being doped with manganese, was performed at room temperature. In the samples of the first type the most intensive line with g-factor 1.9612 was shown to originate from paramagnetic center Ti³⁺–Ce³⁺. The small intensity line was related to Fe³⁺–Vo center, which can be unavoidable impurity in BaTiO₃. In the samples doped with strontium, the six lines intensive spectrum, which corresponds to hyperfine structure of Mn²⁺, was observed. The intensity of the spectrum was shown to decrease with strontium concentration increase. This effect was supposed to be related to the decrease of the grain sizes that results in migration of manganese and, possibly, niobium ions. The influence of these impurities, of their charge states and positions in crystalline lattice of BaTiO₃ on the PTCR effect is discussed.Представлено результати ЕПР досліджень сегнетоелектричної кераміки BaTiO₃ двох серій: легованої церієм та марганцем або ніобієм, стронцієм та марганцем, при кімнатній температурі. Показано, що у зразках першої серії найбільш інтенсивна лінія з g-фактором 1.9612 належить до парамагнітного центру Ti³⁺–Ce³⁺. Лінії малої інтенсивності належать до центру Fe³⁺–Vo (пов’язаного з неконтрольованою домішкою заліза у зразках) та до іону Mn²⁺. В другій серії зразків спостерігався спектр, який відповідає надтонкій структурі іону Mn²⁺. Інтенсивність цього спектру зменшувалась із збільшенням концентрації стронцію. Можливо цей ефект пов’язаний із зменшенням розмірів зерен та міграцією марганцю та, можливо ніобію, у міжзерновий простір. Обговорюється вплив домішок, їх зарядового стану та позиції у кристалічній ґратці на ефект позитивного температурного коефіцієнту опору

Correlation between Internal States and Strength in Bulk Metallic Glass

The internal states or local structures of bulk metallic glass (BMGs) can be well reflected from the changes of density, structural relaxation as well as the elastic constants. With the increasing free volume (FV) content, more local atomic clusters are capable of simultaneous plastic shear at different sites in the metallic glasses, inducing large plasticity. In this work, we report a close correlation between the internal states and strength in a BMG and discover that the yield strength can be changed by varying of the casting current, revealing that the yielding strength of BMGs is not only intrinsically associated with the glass transition, but also with the internal states, such as free volume and elastic properties. Such results may have some implications for understanding the correlations between the internal states and mechanical properties of BMGs.Comment: 8 pages, 3figures, The paper has been accepte by: PRICM: 8 Pacific Rim International Congress on Advanced Materialsand Processing. pp. 3199-3206. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118792148.ch394/summar

Fatigue behaviour of SiC p -reinforced aluminium composites in the very high cycle regime using ultrasonic fatigue

The fatigue behaviour of a 2009/SiC/15p-T4 DRA composite has been examined in the very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) regime where 10 7 ≤ N f ≤ 10 9 cycles. Ultrasonic fatigue was used to achieve the very high cycle counts. Careful processing yielded a composite with a very homogeneous particle distribution with minimal clustering. Fatigue crack initiation was observed almost exclusively at AlCuFe inclusions with no crack initiation observed at SiC particle clusters. Fatigue lives at a given stress level exhibited minimal scatter and subsurface crack initiation was observed in all cases. This behaviour is consistent with the presence of a low number density of critical inclusions that are responsible for crack initiation very early in fatigue life.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73177/1/j.1460-2695.2006.00998.x.pd

Twenty years after the Chernobyl accident: Solid cancer incidence in various groups of the Ukrainian population

Several major international studies such as those performed on the A-bomb survivors, have shown a clear linkage between the exposure to ionizing radiation and the occurrence of various cancer types including leukemia. While these studies are mostly characterized by high dose rates, studies on populations exposed after the Chernobyl accident are in most cases characterized by low dose rates which are typical for occupational radiation protection. Here, data on more than 60,000 Ukrainian workers who participated in recovery operation works in Chernobyl in 1986-1987, more than 50,000 evacuees from the city of Prypyat and the 30 km zone, and about 360,000 residents of most contaminated territories are presented, which cover a period of observation from 1980 to 2004. For all cancers combined, statistically significant higher incidence rates than the national rates were found only for the recovery workers (standardized incidence ratio (SIR) 117.2%, 95% confidence interval: 114.1-120.3), while those for the other investigated groups were lower. In all groups under study a significant increase of thyroid cancer incidence rates has been registered. This increase appears to be associated, at least partly, with the fallout of radioiodine, and it was found not only in children, but also in adolescents and adults. For example, the most significant excess was found for male recovery workers corresponding to a factor of 8.0. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the contribution of confounding factors such as an intensified thyroid screening after the Chernobyl accident could not be quantified, in the present study. For female recovery workers there was also an excess of breast cancer over the national rates (SIR 190.6%; 95% confidence interval: 163.6-217.7%). An analysis of the two other groups (evacuees and residents of contaminated territories) gave controversial results: relative to the local standard there was a statistically significant excess, while comparison with the national level did not substantiate this conclusion. © 2007 Springer-Verlag