Magnetic properties of high entropy oxides

High entropy oxides (HEOs) are single phase solid solutions consisting of five or more elements in equiatomic or near-equiatomic proportions incorporated into the cationic sub-lattice(s). The uniqueness of the HEOs lies in their extreme chemical complexity enveloped in a single crystallographic structure, which in many cases results in novel functionalities. From the local structure perspective, HEOs consist of an unusually large number of different metal–oxygen–metal couples. Consequently, magnetic correlations in HEOs that inherently depend on the coordination geometry, valence, spin state and type of the metal cations that are hybridized with the bridging oxygen, are naturally affected by an extreme diversity of neighboring ionic configurations. In these conditions, a complex magneto-electronic free-energy landscape in HEOs can be expected, potentially leading to stabilization of unconventional spin-electronic states. This Frontier article provides an overview of the unique magnetic features stemming from the extreme chemical disorder in HEOs along with the possible opportunities for further research and exploration of potential functionalities

Epitaxial strain adaption in chemically disordered FeRh thin films

Strain and strain adaption mechanisms in modern functional materials are of crucial importance for their performance. Understanding these mechanisms will advance innovative approaches for material properties engineering. Here we study the strain adaption mechanism in a thin film model system as function of epitaxial strain. Chemically disordered FeRh thin films are deposited on W-V buffer layers, which allow for large variation of the preset lattice constants, e.g. epitaxial boundary condition. It is shown by means of high resolution X-ray reciprocal space maps and transmission electron microscopy that the system reacts with a tilting mechanism of the structural units in order to adapt to the lattice constants of the buffer layer. This response explained by density functional theory calculations, which evidence an energetic minimum for structures with a distortion of c/a =0.87. The experimentally observed tilting mechanism is induced by this energy gain and allows the system to remain in the most favorable structure. In general, it is shown that the use of epitaxial model heterostructures consisting of alloy buffer layers of fully miscible elements and the functional material of interest allows to study strain adaption behaviors in great detail. This approach makes even small secondary effects observable, such as the directional tilting of the structural domains identified in the present case study

Hole‐doped high entropy ferrites: Structure and charge compensation mechanisms in (Gd 0.2 La 0.2 Nd 0.2 Sm 0.2 Y 0.2 ) 1− x Ca x FeO 3

High entropy oxides (HEOs) can be defined as single-phase oxide solid solutions with five or more cations in near equiatomic proportion occupying a given cation sub-lattice. The compositional flexibility while retaining the phase purity can be considered one of the major strengths of this materials class. Taking advantage of this aspect, here we explore the extent to which an aliovalent hole dopant can be incorporated into a perovskite-HEO system. Nine systems, (Gd0.2La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Y0.2)1−xCaxFeO3, with varying amount of Ca content (x = 0–.5) are synthesized using nebulized spray pyrolysis. Single-phase orthorhombic (Pbnm) structure can be retained up to 20% of Ca doping. Beyond 20% of Ca, a secondary rhombohedral (R-3c) phase emerges. The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra indicate that charge compensation occurs only via oxygen vacancy formation in the single-phase systems containing up to 15% of Ca. In addition, partial transition from Fe3+ to Fe4+ occurs in the 20% Ca-doped case. Room temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy further reflects the coexistence of multiple magnetic phases in crystallographic single-phase (Gd0.2La0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Y0.2)1−xCaxFeO3, which is supported by magnetometry measurements. These initial results show the potential of charge doping to tune structural–magneto–electronic properties in compositionally complex HEOs, warranting further research in this direction

Iron abundance in the prototype PG1159 star, GW Vir pulsator PG1159-035, and related objects

We performed an iron abundance determination of the hot, hydrogen deficient post-AGB star PG1159-035, which is the prototype of the PG1159 spectral class and the GW Vir pulsators, and of two related objects (PG1520+525, PG1144+005), based on the first detection of Fe VIII lines in stellar photospheres. In another PG1159 star, PG1424+535, we detect Fe VII lines. In all four stars, each within Teff = 110,000 - 150,000 K, we find a solar iron abundance. This result agrees with our recent abundance analysis of the hottest PG1159 stars (Teff = 150,000 - 200,000 K) that exhibit Fe X lines. On the whole, we find that the PG1159 stars are not significantly iron deficient, in contrast to previous notions.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Structural insights into metal-metalloid glasses from mass spectrometry

Despite being studied for nearly 50 years, smallest chemically stable moieties in the metallic glass (MG) could not be found experimentally. Herein, we demonstrate a novel experimental approach based on electrochemical etching of amorphous alloys in inert solvent (acetonitrile) in the presence of a high voltage (1 kV) followed by detection of the ions using electrolytic spray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS). The experiment shows stable signals corresponding to Pd, PdSi and PdSi$_{2}$ ions, which emerges due to the electrochemical etching of the Pd$_{80}$Si$_{20}$ metallic glass electrode. These fragments are observed from the controlled dissolution of the Pd$_{80}$Si$_{20}$ melt-spun ribbon (MSR) electrode. Annealed electrode releases different fragments in the same experimental condition. These specific species are expected to be the smallest and most stable chemical units from the metallic glass which survived the chemical dissolution and complexation (with acetonitrile) process. Theoretically, these units can be produced from the cluster based models for the MG. Similar treatment on Pd$_{40}$Ni$_{40}$P$_{20}$ MSR resulted several complex peaks consisting of Pd, Ni and P in various combinations suggesting this can be adopted for any metal-metalloid glass

Tailoring epitaxial growth and magnetism in La1-xSrxMnO3 / SrTiO3 heterostructures via temperature-driven defect engineering

Among the class of strongly-correlated oxides, La1-xSrxMnO3 $-$ a half metallic ferromagnet with a Curie temperature above room temperature $-$ has sparked a huge interest as a functional building block for memory storage and spintronic applications. In this respect, defect engineering has been in the focus of a long-standing quest for fabricating LSMO thin films with highest quality in terms of both structural and magnetic properties. Here, we discuss the correlation between structural defects, such as oxygen vacancies and impurity islands, and magnetism in La0.74Sr0.26MnO3/SrTiO3 (LSMO/STO) epitaxial heterostructures by systematic control of the growth temperature and post-deposition annealing conditions. Upon increasing the growth temperature within the 500 $-$ 700 $^{\circ}$C range, the epitaxial LSMO films experience a progressive improvement in oxygen stoichiometry, leading to enhanced magnetic characteristics. Concurrently, however, the use of a high growth temperature triggers the diffusion of impurities from the bulk of STO, which cause the creation of off-stoichiometric, dendritic-like SrMoOx islands at the film/substrate interface. As a valuable workaround, post-deposition annealing of the LSMO films grown at a relatively-low temperature of about 500 $^{\circ}$C permits to obtain high-quality epitaxy, atomically-flat surface as well as a sharp magnetic transition above room temperature and robust ferromagnetism. Furthermore, under such optimized fabrication conditions possible scenarios for the formation of the magnetic dead layer as a function of LSMO film thickness are discussed. Our findings offer effective routes to finely tailor the complex interplay between structural and magnetic properties of LSMO thin films via temperature-controlled defect engineering

The planned TEN-T railway corridor "Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea" as an opportunity for economic development of Eastern Poland

Abstract: The article describes the basic requirements for the railway infrastructure of the comprehensive, extended core and core TEN-T network resulting from the draft of a new regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) on this matter. Then, the proposed TEN-T corridor “Baltic Sea – Black Sea – Aegean” is presented, which route is to lead largely through eastern and south-eastern Poland. This corridor, along with its considered link with the “Rail Baltica” route, fits well with the concept of the so-called eastern main line. The condition for creation of the corridor and the link is to ensure technical and operational parameters in accordance with the TEN-T requirements on the sections of railway lines included in their route, therefore the article assesses, what scope of investment works is related to the achievement of this goal and what adjustments and optimization measures should be considered. The creation of the corridor with the link may increase the transport accessibility of Polish regions located within their range of influence, and thus contribute to the economic development of these regions. Key words: accessibility, railway infrastructur

Magnetotransport Properties of Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles in a Semiconductor Matrix Studied by Precise Size-Selective Cluster Ion Beam Deposition

The combination of magnetic and semiconducting properties in one material system has great potential for integration of emerging spintronics with conventional semiconductor technology. One standard route for the synthesis of magnetic semiconductors is doping of semiconductors with magnetic atoms. In many semiconductor–magnetic–dopant systems, the magnetic atoms form precipitates within the semiconducting matrix. An alternative and controlled way to realize such nanocomposite materials is the assembly by co-deposition of size-selected cluster ions and a semiconductor. Here we follow the latter approach to demonstrate that this fabrication route can be used to independently study the influence of cluster concentration and cluster size on magneto-transport properties. In this case we study Fe clusters composed of approximately 500 or 1000 atoms soft-landed into a thermally evaporated amorphous Ge matrix. The analysis of field and temperature dependent transport shows that tunneling processes affected by Coulomb blockade dominate at low temperatures. The nanocomposites show saturating tunneling magnetoresistance, additionally superimposed by at least one other effect not saturating upon the maximum applied field of 6 T. The nanocomposites’ resistivity and the observed tunneling magnetoresistance depend exponentially on the average distance between cluster surfaces. On the contrary, there is no notable influence of the cluster size on the tunneling magnetoresistance