Magnetism in Gallium doped CeFe_2: The martensitic scenario

Ce(Fe_{1-x}Ga_x)_2 compounds with x = 0, 0.01, 0.025 and 0.05 have been investigated to unravel the effect of Ga on the magnetic state of CeFe_2. For the first time, we find that the dynamic antiferromagnetic phase present in CeFe_2 gets stabilized with Ga substitution. The hysteresis loops show that while the compounds with x = 0 and 0.01 show normal behavior, the other two show multiple magnetization steps across the antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic transition region. The virgin curve is found to lie outside the envelope curve in these two compounds, similar to the observations made in Ru and Re substituted CeFe_2 compounds. Temperature, sweep rate and time dependences of the magnetization show that the compounds with x >=0.025 possess glassy behavior at low temperatures. Various results obtained reveal that these two compounds belong to the martensite family.Comment: 23 pages, 12 Figure

Foraging for elements: mammalian responses to plant stoichiometry across scales

Energetic demands, nutritional needs, and the scale of foraging collectively influence terrestrial herbivore feeding decisions to meet nitrogen (N) intake requirements. I measured moose (Alces alces) selection for distributions of browse N content and biomass at three scales. Additionally, I measured snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) preference for browse N content under varying energetic and nutritional demands using cafeteria experiments. I predicted that both herbivores would select for N content; this selection would be stronger for moose at smaller scales and for hares under greater nutritional demands and weaker for moose at larger scales and for hares under greater energetic demands. Moose responses did not support my scalar predictions, but I uncovered individual-level selection trade-offs. The hare experiments supported my energetic and nutritional demand predictions. Collectively, nutrient availability within terrestrial systems may influence herbivore movement and behaviours, although individuals remain flexible in how they respond to and attain limiting nutrients

Grain Boundaries

The present document is a progress report describing the work accomplished to date during the second year of our four-year grant (February 15, 1990--February 14, 1994) to study grain boundaries. The research was focused on the following three major efforts: Study of the atomic structure of grain boundaries by means of x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and computer modeling; study of short-circuit diffusion along grain boundaries; and development of a Thin-film Deposition/Bonding Apparatus for the manufacture of high purity bicrystals

Quantifying the Energetics and Length Scales of Carbon Segregation to Fe Symmetric Tilt Grain Boundaries Using Atomistic Simulations

Segregation of impurities to grain boundaries plays an important role in both the stability and macroscopic behavior of polycrystalline materials. The research objective in this work is to better characterize the energetics and length scales involved with the process of solute and impurity segregation to grain boundaries. Molecular dynamics simulations are used to calculate the segregation energies for carbon within multiple grain boundary sites over a database of 125 symmetric tilt grain boundaries in Fe. The simulation results show that the majority of atomic sites near the grain boundary have segregation energies lower than in the bulk. Moreover, depending on the boundary, the segregation energies approach the bulk value approximately 5-12 \AA\ away from the center of the grain boundary, providing an energetic length scale for carbon segregation. A subsequent data reduction and statistical representation of this dataset provides critical information such as about the mean segregation energy and the associated energy distributions for carbon atoms as a function of distance from the grain boundary, which quantitatively informs higher scale models with energetics and length scales necessary for capturing the segregation behavior of impurities in Fe. The significance of this research is the development of a methodology capable of ascertaining segregation energies over a wide range of grain boundary character (typical of that observed in polycrystalline materials), which herein has been applied to carbon segregation in a specific class of grain boundaries in iron

Helium bubble formation in ultrafine and nanocrystalline tungsten under different extreme conditions

We have investigated the effects of helium ion irradiation energy and sample temperature on the performance of grain boundaries as helium sinks in ultrafine grained and nanocrystalline tungsten. Irradiations were performed at displacement and non-displacement energies and at temperatures above and below that required for vacancy migration. Microstructural investigations were performed using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) combined with either in-situ or ex-situ ion irradiation. Under helium irradiation at an energy which does not cause atomic displacements in tungsten (70 eV), regardless of temperature and thus vacancy migration conditions, bubbles were uniformly distributed with no preferential bubble formation on grain boundaries. At energies that can cause displacements, bubbles were observed to be preferentially formed on the grain boundaries only at high temperatures where vacancy migration occurs. Under these conditions, the decoration of grain boundaries with large facetted bubbles occurred on nanocrystalline grains with dimensions less than 60 nm. We discuss the importance of vacancy supply and the formation and migration of radiation-induced defects on the performance of grain boundaries as helium sinks and the resulting irradiation tolerance of ultrafine grained and nanocrystalline tungsten to bubble formatio

Fast Diffusion Process in Quenched hcp Dilute Solid 3^3He-4^4He Mixture

The study of phase structure of dilute $^3$He - $^4$He solid mixture of different quality is performed by spin echo NMR technique. The diffusion coefficient is determined for each coexistent phase. Two diffusion processes are observed in rapidly quenched (non-equilibrium) hcp samples: the first process has a diffusion coefficient corresponding to hcp phase, the second one has huge diffusion coefficient corresponding to liquid phase. That is evidence of liquid-like inclusions formation during fast crystal growing. It is established that these inclusions disappear in equilibrium crystals after careful annealing.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, QFS200

Viscous regularization and r-adaptive remeshing for finite element analysis of lipid membrane mechanics

As two-dimensional fluid shells, lipid bilayer membranes resist bending and stretching but are unable to sustain shear stresses. This property gives membranes the ability to adopt dramatic shape changes. In this paper, a finite element model is developed to study static equilibrium mechanics of membranes. In particular, a viscous regularization method is proposed to stabilize tangential mesh deformations and improve the convergence rate of nonlinear solvers. The Augmented Lagrangian method is used to enforce global constraints on area and volume during membrane deformations. As a validation of the method, equilibrium shapes for a shape-phase diagram of lipid bilayer vesicle are calculated. These numerical techniques are also shown to be useful for simulations of three-dimensional large-deformation problems: the formation of tethers (long tube-like exetensions); and Ginzburg-Landau phase separation of a two-lipid-component vesicle. To deal with the large mesh distortions of the two-phase model, modification of vicous regularization is explored to achieve r-adaptive mesh optimization

The truth and beauty of chemical potentials

This essay in honour of Mike Brown addresses aspects of chemical equilibrium and equilibration in rocks, with a focus on the role that chemical potentials play. Chemical equilibrium is achieved by diffusive attening of chemical potential gradients. The idea of equilibration volume is developed, and the way equilibration volumes may evolve along a pressure-temperature path is discussed. The effect of the environment of an equilibration volume is key to understanding the evolution of the equilibration volume with changing conditions. The likely behaviour of equilibration volumes is used to suggest why preservation of equilibrium mineral assemblages and mineral compositions from metamorphism tends to occur. This line of logic then provides the conceptual support to conventional equilibrium thermodynamic approaches to studying rocks, using, for example, thermobarometry and pseudosections.PostprintPeer reviewe