952 research outputs found
Screen Printed PZT Thick Films Using Composite Film Technology
A spin coating composite sol gel technique for producing lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thick films has been modified for use with screen printing techniques. The resulting screen printing technique can be used to produce 10 ?m thick films in a single print. The resultant films are porous but the density can be increased through the use of repeated sol infiltration/pyrolysis treatments to yield a high density film. When fired at 710°C the composite screen printed films have dielectric and piezoelectric properties comparable to, or exceeding, those of films produced using a 'conventional' powder/glass frit/oil ink and fired at 890°C
Giant electrocaloric effect in thin film Pb Zr_0.95 Ti_0.05 O_3
An applied electric field can reversibly change the temperature of an
electrocaloric material under adiabatic conditions, and the effect is strongest
near phase transitions. This phenomenon has been largely ignored because only
small effects (0.003 K V^-1) have been seen in bulk samples such as
Pb0.99Nb0.02(Zr0.75Sn0.20Ti0.05)0.98O3 and there is no consensus on macroscopic
models. Here we demonstrate a giant electrocaloric effect (0.48 K V^-1) in 300
nm sol-gel PbZr0.95Ti0.05O3 films near the ferroelectric Curie temperature of
222oC. We also discuss a solid state device concept for electrical
refrigeration that has the capacity to outperform Peltier or magnetocaloric
coolers. Our results resolve the controversy surrounding macroscopic models of
the electrocaloric effect and may inspire ab initio calculations of
electrocaloric parameters and thus a targeted search for new materials.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Dislocation-mediated growth of bacterial cell walls
Recent experiments have illuminated a remarkable growth mechanism of
rod-shaped bacteria: proteins associated with cell wall extension move at
constant velocity in circles oriented approximately along the cell
circumference (Garner et al., Science (2011), Dominguez-Escobar et al. Science
(2011), van Teeffelen et al. PNAS (2011). We view these as dislocations in the
partially ordered peptidoglycan structure, activated by glycan strand extension
machinery, and study theoretically the dynamics of these interacting defects on
the surface of a cylinder. Generation and motion of these interacting defects
lead to surprising effects arising from the cylindrical geometry, with
important implications for growth. We also discuss how long range elastic
interactions and turgor pressure affect the dynamics of the fraction of
actively moving dislocations in the bacterial cell wall.Comment: to appear in PNA
Quantitative high-dynamic-range electron diffraction of polar nanodomains in Pb2 ScTaO6
Highly Bâsite ordered Pb2ScTaO6 crystals are studied as a function of temperature via dielectric spectroscopy and in situ highâdynamicârange electron diffraction. The degree of ordering is examined on the local and macroscopic scale and is determined to be 76%. Novel analysis of the electron diffraction patterns provides structural information with two types of antiferroelectric displacements determined to be present in the polar structure. It is then found that a lowâtemperature transition occurs on cooling at â210 K that is not present on heating. This phenomenon is discussed in terms of the freezing of dynamic polar nanodomains where a high density of domain walls creates a metastable state
Pyroelectric and photovoltaic properties of Nb doped PZT thin films
Nb-doped lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films with up to 12 at.â% of Nb were co-sputtered from oxide PZT and metallic Nb targets at a substrate temperature of 600â°C. Up to 4 at.â% of Nb was doped into the perovskite structure with the formation of B-site cation vacancies for charge compensation. The preferential (111) PZT orientation decreased with Nb-doping within the solid solution region. The ferroelectric response of the films was affected by the large values of the internal field present in the samples (e.g., â84.3 kV cmâ1 in 12 at.â% Nd doped films). As-deposited unpoled films showed large values of the pyroelectric coefficient due to self-poling. The pyroelectric coefficient increased with Nb-doping and showed a complex dependence on the applied bias. The photovoltaic effect was observed in the films. The value of the photocurrent increased with the A/B ratio. The combined photovoltaicâpyroelectric effect increased the values of the measured current by up to 47% upon light illumination
Octahedral tilting, monoclinic phase and the phase diagram of PZT
Anelastic and dielectric spectroscopy measurements on PZT close to the
morphotropic (MPB) and antiferroelectric boundaries provide new insight in some
controversial aspects of its phase diagram. No evidence is found of a border
separating monoclinic (M) from rhombohedral (R) phases, in agreement with
recent structural studies supporting a coexistence of the two phases over a
broad composition range x < 0.5, with the fraction of M increasing toward the
MPB. It is also discussed why the observed maximum of elastic compliance
appears to be due to a rotational instability of the polarisation and therefore
cannot be explained by extrinsic softening from finely twinned R phase alone,
but indicates the presence also of M phase, not necessarily homogeneous.
A new diffuse transition is found within the ferroelectric phase near x ~
0.1, at a temperature T_IT higher than the well established boundary T_T to the
phase with tilted octahedra. It is proposed that around T_IT the octahedra
start rotating in a disordered manner and finally become ordered below T_T. In
this interpretation, the onset temperature for octahedral tilting monotonically
increases up to the antiferroelectric transition of PbZrO3, and the depression
of T_T(x) below x = 0.18 would be a consequence of the partial relieve of the
mismatch between the cation radii with the initial stage of tilting below T_IT.Comment: submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Research on the Geography of Agricultural Change: Redundant or Revitalized?
Future research directions for agricultural geography were the subject of debate in Area in the late 1980s. The subsequent application of political economy ideas undoubtedly revived interest in agricultural research. This paper argues that agricultural geography contains greater diversity than the dominant political economy discourse would suggest. It reviews âotherâ areas of agricultural research on policy, post-productivism, people, culture and animals, presenting future suggestions for research. They should ensure that agricultural research continues revitalized rather than redundant into the next millennium
Creativity and the computer nerd: an exploration of attitudes
This study arises from our concern that many of our best art and design students are failing to make the most of the opportunities provided by IT because of their fear or dislike of computers. This not only deprives them of useful skills, but, even more importantly, deprives many IT based developments of their input. In this paper we investigate the relationship between attitudes to creativity and to computers among students. We quickly discard an approach based on theories of personality types as philosophically and educationally problematic. An approach based on the self-concept of artists and designers, in relation to their own creativity and to their feelings about computers, offers more hope of progress. This means that we do not try to define the attributes of "creative people". Rather, we ask what creativity means to students of art and design and relate these responses to their attitudes to computers. Self-concept depends on how the subjects see themselves within society and culture, and is liable to change as culture changes. One major instrument of cultural change at the present time is the growth of IT itself. We then describe a first attempt at using a psychological method - Kelly's Repertory Grids - to investigate the self-concept of artists and designers. It is hoped to continue with this approach in further studies over the next few years
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