Impact of lithium composition on the thermoelectric properties of the layered cobalt oxide system LixCoO2

Thermoelectric properties of the layered cobalt oxide system LixCoO2 were investigated in a wide range of Li composition, 0.98 >= x >= 0.35. Single-phase bulk samples of LixCoO2 were successfully obtained through electrochemical deintercalation of Li from the pristine LiCoO2 phase. While LixCoO2 with x >= 0.94 is semiconductive, the highly Li-deficient phase (0.75 >= x >= 0.35) exhibits metallic conductivity. The magnitude of Seebeck coefficient at 293 K (S293K) significantly depends on the Li content (x). The S293K value is as large as +70 ~ +100 uV/K for x >= 0.94, and it rapidly decreases from +90 uV/K to +10 uV/K as x is lowered within a Li composition range of 0.75 >= x >= 0.50. This behavior is in sharp contrast to the results of x <= 0.40 for which the S293K value is small and independent of x (+10 uV/K), indicating that a discontinuous change in the thermoelectric characteristics takes place at x = 0.40 ~ 0.50. The unusually large Seebeck coefficient and metallic conductivity are found to coexist in a narrow range of Li composition at about x = 0.75. The coexistence, which leads to an enhanced thermoelectric power factor, may be attributed to unusual electronic structure of the two-dimensional CoO2 block.Comment: 29 pages, 1 table, 8 figure

Electronic phase diagram of the layered cobalt oxide system, LixCoO2 (0.0 <= x <= 1.0)

Here we report the magnetic properties of the layered cobalt oxide system, LixCoO2, in the whole range of Li composition, 0 <= x <= 1. Based on dc-magnetic susceptibility data, combined with results of 59Co-NMR/NQR observations, the electronic phase diagram of LixCoO2 has been established. As in the related material NaxCoO2, a magnetic critical point is found to exist between x = 0.35 and 0.40, which separates a Pauli-paramagnetic and a Curie-Weiss metals. In the Pauli-paramagnetic regime (x <= 0.35), the antiferromagnetic spin correlations systematically increase with decreasing x. Nevertheless, CoO2, the x = 0 end member is a non-correlated metal in the whole temperature range studied. In the Curie-Weiss regime (x >= 0.40), on the other hand, various phase transitions are observed. For x = 0.40, a susceptibility hump is seen at 30 K, suggesting the onset of static AF order. A magnetic jump, which is likely to be triggered by charge ordering, is clearly observed at Tt = 175 K in samples with x = 0.50 (= 1/2) and 0.67 (= 2/3), while only a tiny kink appears at T = 210 K in the sample with an intermediate Li composition, x = 0.60. Thus, the phase diagram of the LixCoO2 system is complex, and the electronic properties are sensitively influenced by the Li content (x).Comment: 29 pages, 1 table, 9 figure

CHARACTERISTICS OF JOINT MECHANICAL WORK IN MALE AND FEMALE ELDERLY DURING WALKING IN CONSIDERATION OF VELOCITY

Previous studies about how the elderly walk have reported their kinematical and kinetic characteristics by comparing their motions with those of young walkers (Murray et al., 1969; Hageman and Blanke, 1986; Blanke and Hageman, 1989; Winter et al., 1990; Kaneko et al., 1991; Judge et al., 1996). The results from these studies contain both the effects of aging and walking velocity because walking velocities of the elderly and the young differed from each other and the velocity strongly affects most biomechanical variables. In addition, the change in walking motion with aging after sixty has rarely been reported, and the differences between elderly male and female walkers were also not clear. This study seeks to clarify the differences in the characteristics of joint mechanical output and contribution during walking between different age groups and sexes for the elderly in consideration of walking velocity

Nonlocal magnon-polaron transport in yttrium iron garnet

The spin Seebeck effect (SSE) is observed in magnetic insulator|heavy metal bilayers as an inverse spin Hall effect voltage under a temperature gradient. The SSE can be detected nonlocally as well, viz. in terms of the voltage in a second metallic contact (detector) on the magnetic film, spatially separated from the first contact that is used to apply the temperature bias (injector). Magnon-polarons are hybridized lattice and spin waves in magnetic materials, generated by the magnetoelastic interaction. Kikkawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{117}, 207203 (2016)] interpreted a resonant enhancement of the local SSE in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) as a function of the magnetic field in terms of magnon-polaron formation. Here we report the observation of magnon-polarons in \emph{nonlocal} magnon spin injection/detection devices for various injector-detector spacings and sample temperatures. Unexpectedly, we find that the magnon-polaron resonances can suppress rather than enhance the nonlocal SSE. Using finite element modelling we explain our observations as a competition between the SSE and spin diffusion in YIG. These results give unprecedented insights into the magnon-phonon interaction in a key magnetic material.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure