Biological wastewater treatment in aeration tanks

Development of mathematical model for prediction of output parameters of aeration tank with account of dissolved oxygen, oxygen , sludge, substrate transfer and biological treatment. The mathematical model may be used in predicting the effectiveness of aeration tank under different regimes of work

Low-temperature structural transition in FeCr_2S_4

Transmission electron microscopy studies of [110] and [111] oriented FeCr_2S_4 single crystals at different temperatures reveal a structural transition at low temperatures indicating a cubic-to-triclinic symmetry reduction within crystallographic domains. The overall crystal symmetry was found to be reduced from Fd3m to F-43m. The triclinic distortions were suggested to result from the combined actions of tetragonal distortions due to the Jahn-Teller active Fe^2+ ions and trigonal distortions due to a displacement of the Cr^3+ ions in the direction.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure

Tuning orbital-selective correlation effects in superconducting Rb0.75_{0.75}Fe1.6_{1.6}Se2−z_{2-z}Sz_z

We report on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy on superconducting and metallic iron chalcogenides Rb$_{0.75}$Fe$_{1.6}$Se$_{2-z}$S$_z$. The superconducting transition is reduced from $T_c=$ 32 K ($z=0$) to 22 K ($z=1.0$), and finally suppressed ($z=1.4$) by isoelectronic substitution of Se with S. Dielectric constant and optical conductivity exhibit a metal-to-insulator transition associated with an orbital-selective Mott phase. This orbital-selective Mott transition appears at higher temperature $T_{met}$ with increasing sulfur content, identifying sulfur substitution as an efficient parameter to tune orbital-dependent correlation effects in iron-chalcogenide superconductors. The reduced correlations of the $d_{xy}$ charge carriers can account for the suppression of the superconductivity and the pseudogap-like feature between $T_c$ and $T_{met}$ that was observed for $z=0$.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Polar Dynamics at the Jahn-Teller Transition in Ferroelectric GaV4S8

We present a dielectric spectroscopy study of the polar dynamics linked to the orbitally driven ferroelectric transition in the skyrmion host GaV4S8. By combining THz and MHz-GHz spectroscopy techniques, we succeed in detecting the relaxational dynamics arising from coupled orbital and polar fluctuations in this material and traced its temperature dependence in the paraelectric as well as in the ferroelectric phase. The relaxation time significantly increases when approaching the critical temperature from both sides of the transition. It is natural to assume that these polar fluctuations map the orbital dynamics at the Jahn-Teller transition. Due to the first-order character of the orbital-ordering transition, the relaxation time shows an enormous jump of about five orders of magnitude at the polar and structural phase transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

THz spectroscopy in the pseudo-Kagome system Cu3Bi(SeO3)2O2Br

Terahertz (THz) transmission spectra have been measured as function of temperature and magnetic field on single crystals of Cu3Bi(SeO3)2O2Br. In the time-domain THz spectra without magnetic field, two resonance absorptions are observed below the magnetic ordering temperature T_N~27.4 K. The corresponding resonance frequencies increase with decreasing temperature and reach energies of 1.28 and 1.23 meV at 3.5 K. Multi-frequency electron spin resonance transmission spectra as a function of applied magnetic field show the field dependence of four magnetic resonance modes, which can be modeled as a ferromagnetic resonance including demagnetization and anisotropy effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. All comments are welcome and appreciate

Exciton-magnon transitions in the frustrated chromium antiferromagnets CuCrO2, alpha-CaCr2O4, CdCr2O4, and ZnCr2O4

We report on optical transmission spectroscopy of the Cr-based frustrated triangular antiferromagnets CuCrO2 and alpha-CaCr2O4, and the spinels CdCr2O4 and ZnCr2O4 in the near-infrared to visible-light frequency range. We explore the possibility to search for spin correlations far above the magnetic ordering temperature and for anomalies in the magnon lifetime in the magnetically ordered state by probing exciton-magnon sidebands of the spin-forbidden crystal-field transitions of the Cr3+ ions (spin S = 3/2). In CuCrO2 and alpha-CaCr2O4 the appearance of fine structures below T_N is assigned to magnon sidebands by comparison with neutron scattering results. The temperature dependence of the line width of the most intense sidebands in both compounds can be described by an Arrhenius law. For CuCrO2 the sideband associated with the 4A2 -> 2T2 transition can be observed even above T_N. Its line width does not show a kink at the magnetic ordering temperature and can alternatively be described by a Z2 vortex scenario proposed previously for similar materials. The exciton-magnon features in alpha-CaCr2O4 are more complex due to the orthorhombic distortion. While for CdCr2O4 magnon sidebands are identified below T_N and one sideband excitation is found to persist across the magnetic ordering transition, only a weak fine structure related to magnetic ordering has been observed in ZnCr2O4.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, all comments are welcome and appreciated, accepted for publication in PR

Spin-orbiton and quantum criticality in FeSc2S4

In FeSc2S4 spin-orbital exchange competes with strong spin-orbit coupling, suppressing long-range spin and orbital order and, hence, this material represents one of the rare examples of a spin-orbital liquid ground state. Moreover, it is close to a quantum-critical point separating the ordered and disordered regimes. Using THz and FIR spectroscopy we study low-lying excitations in FeSc2S4 and provide clear evidence for a spin-orbiton, an excitation of strongly entangled spins and orbitals. It becomes particularly well pronounced upon cooling, when advancing deep into the quantum-critical regime. Moreover, indications of an underlying structureless excitation continuum are found, a possible signature of quantum criticality.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures (including 4 pages and 5 figures in Supplemental Material). Revised version according to suggestions of referees. Phys. Rev. B (in press

Sub-gap optical response across the structural phase transition in van der Waals layered \alpha-RuCl3_3

We report magnetic, thermodynamic, thermal expansion, and on detailed optical experiments on the layered compound $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ focusing on the THz and sub-gap optical response across the structural phase transition from the monoclinic high-temperature to the rhombohedral low-temperature structure, where the stacking sequence of the molecular layers is changed. This type of phase transition is characteristic for a variety of tri-halides crystallizing in a layered honeycomb-type structure and so far is unique, as the low-temperature phase exhibits the higher symmetry. One motivation is to unravel the microscopic nature of spin-orbital excitations via a study of temperature and symmetry-induced changes. We document a number of highly unusual findings: A characteristic two-step hysteresis of the structural phase transition, accompanied by a dramatic change of the reflectivity. An electronic excitation, which appears in a narrow temperature range just across the structural phase transition, and a complex dielectric loss spectrum in the THz regime, which could indicate remnants of Kitaev physics. Despite significant symmetry changes across the monoclinic to rhombohedral phase transition, phonon eigenfrequencies and the majority of spin-orbital excitations are not strongly influenced. Obviously, the symmetry of the single molecular layers determine the eigenfrequencies of most of these excitations. Finally, from this combined terahertz, far- and mid-infrared study we try to shed some light on the so far unsolved low energy (< 1eV) electronic structure of the ruthenium $4d^5$ electrons in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure