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Ionic and Electronic Conductivity of Nanostructured, Samaria-Doped Ceria
The ionic and electronic conductivities of samaria doped ceria electrolytes, Ce_(0.85)Sm_(0.15)O_(1.925−δ), with nanometric grain size have been evaluated. Nanostructured bulk specimens were obtained using a combination of high specific-surface-area starting materials and suitable sintering profiles under conventional, pressureless conditions. Bulk specimens with relatively high density (≥92% of theoretical density) and low medium grain size (as small as 33 nm) were achieved. Electrical A.C. impedance spectra were recorded over wide temperature (150 to 650°C) and oxygen partial pressure ranges (0.21 to 10^(−31) atm). Under all measurement conditions the total conductivity decreased monotonically with decreasing grain size. In both the electrolytic and mixed conducting regimes this behavior is attributed to the high number density of high resistance grain boundaries. The results suggest a possible variation in effective grain boundary width with grain size, as well as a possible variation in specific grain boundary resistance with decreasing oxygen partial pressure. No evidence appears for either enhanced reducibility or enhanced electronic conductivity upon nanostructuring
Dimensionality effects in the LDOS of ferromagnetic hosts probed via STM: spin-polarized quantum beats and spin filtering
We theoretically investigate the local density of states (LDOS) probed by a
STM tip of ferromagnetic metals hosting a single adatom and a subsurface
impurity. We model the system via the two-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian. By
using the equation of motion with the relevant Green functions, we derive
analytical expressions for the LDOS of two host types: a surface and a quantum
wire. The LDOS reveals Friedel-like oscillations and Fano interference as a
function of the STM tip position. These oscillations strongly depend on the
host dimension. Interestingly, we find that the spin-dependent Fermi wave
numbers of the hosts give rise to spin-polarized quantum beats in the LDOS.
While the LDOS for the metallic surface shows a damped beating pattern, it
exhibits an opposite behavior in the quantum wire. Due to this absence of
damping, the wire operates as a spatially resolved spin filter with a high
efficiency.Comment: revised tex
Nuclear multifragmentation within the framework of different statistical ensembles
The sensitivity of the Statistical Multifragmentation Model to the underlying
statistical assumptions is investigated. We concentrate on its micro-canonical,
canonical, and isobaric formulations. As far as average values are concerned,
our results reveal that all the ensembles make very similar predictions, as
long as the relevant macroscopic variables (such as temperature, excitation
energy and breakup volume) are the same in all statistical ensembles. It also
turns out that the multiplicity dependence of the breakup volume in the
micro-canonical version of the model mimics a system at (approximately)
constant pressure, at least in the plateau region of the caloric curve.
However, in contrast to average values, our results suggest that the
distributions of physical observables are quite sensitive to the statistical
assumptions. This finding may help deciding which hypothesis corresponds to the
best picture for the freeze-out stageComment: 20 pages, 7 figure
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