67 research outputs found
Correlations between pressure and bandwidth effects in metal-insulator transitions in manganites
The effect of pressure on the metal-insulator transition in manganites with a
broad range of bandwidths is investigated. A critical pressure is found at
which the metal-insulator transition temperature, T, reaches a maximum
value in every sample studied. The origin of this universal pressure and the
relation between the pressure effect and the bandwidth on the metal-insulator
transition are discussed
Pressure Induced Reentrant Electronic and Magnetic State in Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 Manganite
In PrCaMnO, pressure induces reentrant magnetic and
electronic state changes in the range 1 atm to 6 GPa. The
metal-insulator and magnetic transition temperatures coincide from 1 to 5
GPa, decouple outside of this range and do not change monotonically with
pressure. The effects may be explained by pressure tuned competition between
double exchange and super exchange. The insulating state induced by pressure
above 5 GPa is possibly ferromagnetic, different from the ferromagnetic
and antiferromagnetic phase-separated insulating state below 0.8 GPa
Pressure effects on charge, spin, and metal-insulator transitions in narrow bandwidth manganite PrCaMnO
Pressure effects on the charge and spin states and the relation between the
ferromagnetic and metallic states were explored on the small bandwidth
manganite PrCaMnO (x = 0.25, 0.3, 0.35). Under pressure,
the charge ordering state is suppressed and a ferromagnetic metallic state is
induced in all three samples. The metal-insulator transition temperature
(T) increases with pressure below a critical point P*, above which
T decreases and the material becomes insulating as at the ambient
pressure. The e electron bandwidth and/or band-filling mediate the
pressure effects on the metal-insulator transition and the magnetic transition.
In the small bandwidth and low doping concentration compound (x = 0.25), the
T and Curie temperature (T) change with pressure in a reverse way
and do not couple under pressure. In the x = 0.3 compound, the relation of
T and T shows a critical behavior: They are coupled in the range
of 0.8-5 GPa and decoupled outside of this range. In the x = 0.35
compound, T and T are coupled in the measured pressure range where
a ferromagnetic state is present
Observation of Ferromagnetic Clusters in Bi0.125Ca0.875MnO3
The electron doped manganite system, Bi0.125Ca0.875MnO3, exhibits large bulk
magnetization of unknown origin. To select amongst possible magnetic ordering
models, we have conducted temperature and magnetic field dependent small-angle
neutron scattering measurements. Nontrivial spin structure has been revealed.
Ferromagnetic spin clusters form in the antiferromagnetic background when
temperature is decreased to Tc~108K. With a further reduction in temperature or
the application of external magnetic field, the clusters begin to form in
larger numbers, which gives an overall enhancement of magnetization below Tc.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figue
Promotion of water-mediated carbon removal by nanostructured barium oxide/nickel interfaces in solid oxide fuel cells
The existing Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia anodes in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) perform poorly in carbon-containing fuels because of coking and deactivation at desired operating temperatures. Here we report a new anode with nanostructured barium oxide/nickel (BaO/Ni) interfaces for low-cost SOFCs, demonstrating high power density and stability in C3H8, CO and gasified carbon fuels at 750°C. Synchrotron-based X-ray analyses and microscopy reveal that nanosized BaO islands grow on the Ni surface, creating numerous nanostructured BaO/Ni interfaces that readily adsorb water and facilitate water-mediated carbon removal reactions. Density functional theory calculations predict that the dissociated OH from H2O on BaO reacts with C on Ni near the BaO/Ni interface to produce CO and H species, which are then electrochemically oxidized at the triple-phase boundaries of the anode. This anode offers potential for ushering in a new generation of SOFCs for efficient, low-emission conversion of readily available fuels to electricity
Observation of Changes in the Atomic and Electronic Structure of Single-Crystal YBaâCuâOâ.â Accompanying Bromination
To ascertain the role of bromination in the recovery of superconductivity in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+y (YBCO), we have performed polarized multiple-edge x-ray-absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements on normal (y~0.6) and brominated (Br/Cu~1/30, y~0.6) single crystals with superconducting transitions at 63 and 89 K, respectively. The brominated sample becomes strongly heterogeneous on an atomic length scale. Approximately one-third of YBCO is locally decomposed yet incorporated as a well-ordered host lattice as nanoscale regions. The decomposed phase consists of heavily distorted domains with an order not following that of the host lattice. Structurally, these domains are fragments of the YBCO lattice that are discontinued along the Cu(1)-O(1) containing planes. The local structure is consistent with the cluster expansions: Y-O(2,3)8-Cu(2)8-..., Ba-O8-Cu(2)4Cu(1)2-..., and Cu-O4... about the Y, Ba, and Cu sites. Interatomic distances and Debye-Waller factors for the expansions were determined from fits to Y K-, Ba L3-, and Cu K-edge XAFS data at room temperature. Br K-edge data reveal that Br does not enter substitutionally or interstitially into the perfect YBCO lattice. However, Br does occupy the Cu(1) sites in a nanofragment of the YBCO lattice, forming Br-O(4)-Ba-Cu2(1)Cu(2)-... nanoclusters. From polarized measurements these nanoclusters were found to be almost randomly oriented with respect to the host crystal, and probably are the nucleus of the decomposed phase. This heterogeneity brings about the unusual structural and electronic properties of the normal state previously reported in the literature. Implications on for diffraction, transport, and magnetization measurements are discussed
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