Physics Commons^™

Calculations Of Surface Effects On Phonon Modes And Raman Intensities Of Ge Quantum Dots, Shang-Fen Ren, Wei Cheng

Faculty publications – Physics

Phonon modes and Raman intensities of Ge quantum dots (QDs) with two different types of surfaces, a free standing surface or a fixed surface, in a size range from five atoms to 7 nm in diameter, are calculated by using a microscopic valence force field model. The results are compared, and the effects of surfaces on phonon properties of QDs are investigated. It is found that phonon modes and Raman intensities of QDs with these two different types of surfaces have obvious differences which clearly reveal the effects of the surfaces of QDs. The calculated results agree with existing experimental …

Heat Transport In Sb2àXvxte3 Single Crystals, Jeffrey Dyck, W. Chen, C. Uher, Č. DrašAr, P. LošŤÁK

Jeffrey Dyck

Antimony telluride doped with small concentrations of vanadium was recently identified as a diluted magnetic semiconductor. We present a study of the heat transport in single crystals of [formula] with [formula] 0.01, 0.02, and 0.03. Thermopower and thermal conductivity were measured from 1.5 K to 300 K. The thermopower is positive for all samples investigated and has a modest dependence on vanadium content. At low temperatures, the lattice thermal conductivity has an approximate [formula] dependence and the data up to 100 K can be fitted well assuming that phonons scatter on boundaries, point defects, charge carriers, and other phonons. Theoretical …

Dielectric Properties Of A Ferroelectric Copolymer Langmuir–Blodgett Film, Mahantappa S. Jogad, Stephen Ducharme

Stephen Ducharme Publications

We report measurements of the real (epsilon prime) and imaginary (epsilon double-prime) parts of the relative complex permittivity of a Langmuir–Blodgett film of ferroelectric copolymer of vinylidene fluoride (70%) with trifluoroethylene (30%). The measurements were made in the temperature range of 35 to 125° C, and frequency range of 19 Hz to 5 MHz. The results indicate low frequency loss due to conduction and dielectric loss peak near the ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition.

Spin Injection Into Amorphous Semiconductors, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, V. M. Burlakov, Ivan I. Oleinik

Evgeny Tsymbal Publications

Using a realistic model for the atomic and electronic structure of amorphous silicon, we explore spin injection into amorphous semiconductors. We calculate the spin-dependent conductance of magnetoresistive devices within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism including inelastic scattering. We find that reducing the density of injected carriers and increasing the spin polarization of the electrodes are favorable for spin injection, whereas inelastic scattering is detrimental, and show that the upper limit for magnetoresistance is given by Julliere's formula.

Competition Between Ferromagnetic Metallic And Paramagnetic Insulating Phases In Manganites, G. Li, H. D. Zhou, S. J. Feng, Xiaojuan Fan, X. G. Li, Z. D. Wang

Physics Faculty Research

La_0.67Ca_0.33Mn_1−xCu_xO₃(x=0 and 0.15) epitaxial thin films were grown on the (100) LaAlO₃ substrates, and the temperature dependence of their resistivity was measured in magnetic fields up to 12 T by a four-probe technique. We found that the competition between the ferromagnetic metallic (FM) and paramagnetic insulating (PI) phases plays an important role in the observed colossal magnetoresistance(CMR) effect. Based on a scenario that the doped manganites approximately consist of phase-separated FM and PI regions, a simple phenomenological model was proposed to describe the CMR effect. Using this model, we …

Highly Anisotropic Crystal Growth And Thermoelectric Properties Of K2bi8_Xsbxse13 Solid Solutions: Band Gap Anomaly At Low X, Jeffrey S. Dyck, Theodora Kyratsi, Wei Chan, Duck-Young Chung, Ctirad Uher, Konstantinos Paraskevopoulos, Mercouri Kanatzidis

Jeffrey Dyck

The thermoelectric properties of solid solutions of the type B -K2Bi8_xSbxSe13 (0

Magnetochemical Origin For Invar Anomalies In Iron-Nickel Alloys, V. Crisan, P. Entel, H. Ebert, H. Akai, Duane D. Johnson, J. B. Staunton

Duane D. Johnson

Zero- and finite-temperature (T) first-principles calculations versus composition (c) show that magnetochemical effects lead to Invar anomalies in Fe-(Ni, Co, Pt) alloys. Chemical short- or long-range order and negative interatomic exchange interaction of electrons in antibonding majority-spin states force the face-centered-cubic lattice to compete simultaneously for a smaller volume (from antiferromagnetic tendencies) and a larger volume (from Stoner ferromagnetic tendencies). The resulting additional negative lattice anharmonicity is very large for Fe-(Ni, Co) while absent for Fe-Pt. Our results explain the T- and c-dependent behavior of Invar properties, including the lattice softening and thermal expansion of Fe-Ni. In addition, the occurrence …

Calculations On The Size Effects Of Raman Intensities Of Silicon Quantum Dots, Wei Cheng, Shang-Fen Ren

Faculty publications – Physics

Raman intensities of Si quantum dots (QD's) with up to 11489 atoms (about 7.6 nm in diameter) for different scattering configurations are calculated. First, phonon modes in these QD's, including all vibration frequencies and vibration amplitudes, are calculated directly from the lattice-dynamic matrix by using a microscopic valence force field model combined with the group theory. Then the Raman intensities of these quantum dots are calculated by using a bond-polarizability approximation. The size effects of the Raman intensity in these QD's are discussed in detail based on these calculations. The calculations are compared with the available experimental observations. We are …

Transport Properties Of Polycrystalline Type-I Sn Clathrates, G. S. Nolas, J. L. Cohn, Jeffrey Dyck, C. Uher, J. Lang

Jeffrey Dyck

Thermal conductivity, resistivity, Seebeck coefficient, and Hall measurements on polycrystalline Sn-clathrate compounds with the type-I hydrate crystal structure are reported. Interstitial alkali-metal atoms in these compounds reside inside polyhedral cavities formed by the tetrahedrally bonded Sn network atoms. Localized disorder associated with “rattling” motion of these interstitial atoms contributes to the low thermal conductivity of these semiconducting compounds. The Hall coefficient and resistivity for some compounds exhibit nonmonotonic temperature dependences consistent with a crossover with decreasing temperature from conduction-band to impurity-band conduction. The carrier mobility is found to be low even in the absence of interstitial atoms within the Sn …

Absolute Tin(111) Step Energies From Analysis Of Anisotropic Island Shape Fluctuations, S. Kodambaka, V. Petrova, S. V. Khare, Duane D. Johnson, I. Petrov, J. E. Greene

Duane D. Johnson

In situ high-temperature (1165–1248 K) scanning tunneling microscopy was used to measure fluctuations around the equilibrium shape of two-dimensional vacancy islands on TiN(111) terraces. From the equilibrium shape, the ratio of the two ⟨110⟩ step energies was found to be 0.72±0.02. Combining this with the results of an exact approach for analysis of shape fluctuations, applicable to highly anisotropic islands, we obtain absolute values for step energies and step stiffnesses as a function of orientation.

Thermoelectric Properties Of The N-Type Filled Skutterudite Ba0.3co4sb12 Doped With Ni, Jeffrey Dyck, Wei Chen, Ctirad Uher, Lidong Chen, Xinfeng Tang, Toshio Hirai

Jeffrey Dyck

Synthesis and electrical and thermal transport properties are reported for several filled skutterudite compounds doped with Ni: Ba0.3NixCo4_xSb12 with 0

Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors Based On Sb2àXvxte3 „0.01ïXï0.03., Jeffrey Dyck, Pavel Hájek, Petr LošŤÁK, Ctirad Uher

Jeffrey Dyck

We report on a diluted magnetic semiconductor based on the [formula] tetradymite structure doped with very low concentrations of vanadium (1—3 at. %). The anomalous transport behavior and robust magnetic hysteresis loops observed in magnetotransport and magnetic measurements are experimental manifestations of the ferromagnetic state in these materials. The [formula] exchange between holes and vanadium [formula] spins is estimated from the behavior of the magnetoresistance. A Curie temperature of at least 22 K is observed for [formula] This discovery offers possibilities for exploring magnetic properties of other tetradymite structure semiconductors doped with a wide range of [formula] transition metals.

Effect Of Ni On The Transport And Magnetic Properties Of Co1àXnixsb3, Jeffrey Dyck, Wei Chen, Jihui Yang, Gregory P. Meisner, Ctirad Uher

Jeffrey Dyck

The filled skutterudite compounds based on the binary skutterudite [formula] are currently being investigated for their potential applications as thermoelectric materials. One route to optimization of these compounds is by doping on the Co site. An obvious candidate for an n-type dopant is Ni, since it has one more electron in its valence shell than Co. Up to now, however, only high concentrations of Ni in [formula] have been studied; and the valence of Ni in this compound and its influence on the transport and magnetic properties has been an open question. We present electrical resistivity, thermopower, Hall effect, magnetoresistance, …

Sensor Development For Single-Photon Thermoelectric Detectors, Armen Gulian, K. S. Wood, G. G. Fritz, D. Van Vechten, H.-D. Wu, J. S. Horwitz, G. R. Badalyantz, S. R. Harutyunyan, V. H. Vartanyan, S. A. Petrosyan, A. S. Kuzanyan

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

As we reported earlier [1], thermoelectric detectors can be competitive as nondispersive energy resolving focal-plane instruments in X-ray/UV spectrum. The first generations of prototype devices demonstrated the viability of detector design and provided good agreement between theoretical expectations and experimental data. These devices exploited sensors made of gold with a small fraction of iron impurity. To get the projected high resolution one needs another type of material, namely, lanthanum-cerium hexaborides. We report on the first experimental tests of the feasibility of lanthanum-cerium films as sensor materials. Progress with thin films of these materials argues for the success of these thermoelectric …

Influence Of Electron-Phonon Interaction On The Lattice Thermal Conductivity Of Co1àXnixsb3, J. Yang, D. T. Morelli, G. P. Meisner, W. Chen, Jeffrey Dyck, C. Uher

Jeffrey Dyck

We have investigated the effect of electron-phonon scattering in a series of n-type nickel-doped [formula] skutterudite materials. Samples were polycrystalline of the form [formula] with [formula] 0.001, 0.003, 0.005, 0.0075, and 0.01. The lattice thermal conductivity decreases dramatically with increasing Ni doping for [formula] For higher Ni concentration the reduction of the lattice thermal conductivity saturates. Our theoretical analysis indicates that this reduction of the lattice thermal conductivity cannot be explained solely by point-defect scattering of the phonons. Rather, we can fit the lattice thermal conductivity of Ni-doped [formula] by introducing an electron-phonon scattering mechanism, and this demonstrates that the …

First-Principles Theory Of The Temperature And Compositional Dependence Of Atomic Short-Range Order In Disordered Cu-Pd Alloys, R. V. Chepulskii, J. B. Staunton, Ezio Bruno, B. Ginatempo, Duane D. Johnson

Duane D. Johnson

We combine the first-principles, Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker coherent potential approximation based calculations of compositional fluctuations with a statistical mechanical ring approximation to study the temperature (T) and composition (c) dependence of the atomic short-range order (SRO) in disordered, face-centred cubic, Cu-Pd alloys. The fourfold splitting of SRO peaks around the equivalent X(0,1,0) points in reciprocal space is obtained in a wide T−c region. Such splitting is shown to be an “energy” effect caused by the absolute minima of the Fourier transform of the effective atomic interactions and related previously to the existence of nested sheets of the disordered alloy’s Fermi surface. However, …

Specification Of Jecp/Sp: Stereographic Projection With An Application For Specimen Orientation Adjustment Using Tem Holders, Xingzhong Li

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

1. Purpose of the program 2. Graphic user interface and program design 3. Crystallographic principle and implementation 4. System requirement 5. Installation and user instruction 6. How to contact the author 7. References

1. Purpose of the program JECP/SP is a computer program in Java Electron Crystallography Package. JECP is developed for quantitative electron diffraction and image processing, the package is designed and written by Dr. XingZhong Li. JECP/SP provides the all necessary functions of stereographic projection for regular application and furthermore it can be used to minimized the difficulties encountered when tilting highly beam-sensitive, or small-grain-size specimens with known …

Low-Cost Manufacturing Process For Nanostructured Metals And Alloys, Travis L. Brown, Srinivasan Swaminathan, Srinivasan Chandrasekar, W. Dale Compton, Alexander H. King, Kevin P. Trumble

Alexander H. King

In spite of their interesting properties, nanostructured materials have found limited uses because of the cost of preparation and the limited range of materials that can be synthesized. It has been shown that most of these limitations can be overcome by subjecting a material to large-scale deformation, as occurs during common machining operations. The chips produced during lathe machining of a variety of pure metals, steels, and other alloys are shown to be nanostructured with grain (crystal) sizes between 100 and 800 nm. The hardness of the chips is found to be significantly greater than that of the bulk material.

Jecp/Ed Manual, Xingzhong Li

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

JECP/ED is a Java program with graphic interface for simulating electron diffraction pattern. It is designed and written by Dr. Xingzhong in University of Nebraska- Lincoln. This is verision 12-2002. It can be used for simulating electron diffraction zone pattern(ZOLZ with/without FOLZ), it allows to select zone axis, high voltage, sample thickness in the simulation, optional to show index, intensity and Laue center, featureed with manuniplating the pattern with slightly tilting, 360 degree rotation, zoom. The diffraction intensity is calculated on the basis of the kinematical theory. The program is extended to simulate electron diffraction with a precession of incident …

First-Principles Calculations Of Piezoelectricity And Polarization Rotation In Lead Zirconate Titanate, Zhigang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Recent experimental and theoretical work indicates that polarization rotation via a monoclinic phase at the morphotropic phase boundary in PZT is responsible for its large piezoelectric response. We performed Linearized augmented plane wave with the local orbital extension (LAPW+LO) method within local density approximation (LDA) on B-site [001]1:1 ordered Pb(Zr 0.5Ti0.5)O3 (PZT 50/50). We use a tetragonal super-cell and constrain it with monoclinic Cm space group. Atomic forces following the formulation of Yu et al. are calculated, and the conjugate gradient method is implemented to optimize the internal coordinates. Both the tetragonal (P4mm) and monoclinic (Cm) phases are reproduced, when …

Effects Of Longitudinal Disorder On The Magnetic Field Distribution In Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide, Xuewen Wan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Transverse Field muon spin relaxation (TF-muSR) experiments were performed in external magnetic fields 1.0, 2.7, 3.0, 4.5, 5.5, 6.0 and 7.0 T along the Bi2212 crystalline c-axis. For the first time, the heterodyned fitting analysis technique shows that the field profiles on the ab basal planes of single crystal Bi2212 are symmetric in all experimental fields 1.0--7.0 T and at all experimental temperatures 2.0-90.0 K. The muon spin relaxation rates due to the mixed state of Bi2212 were found to increase linearly from 0 mus-1 at the transition temperature, 90.0 K, to about 1.0 mus -1 at the lowest temperature, …

The Ground State Of Two-Dimensional Hubbard-Like Models, Eric Christopher Allman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We present results from a constrained path Monte Carlo (CPMC) study of a modified two-dimensional Hubbard model. We include more general forms of the band structure and electron interaction in order to examine their effects on ground-state properties, such as electron pairing correlations. Both next-nearest neighbor hopping, t', and third-nearest neighbor hopping, t″, are introduced in the Hamiltonian. A nearest neighbor interaction of strength V is also included. We carry out CPMC calculations on system sizes up to 16 x 16, at various electron fillings, to investigate the ground state of the model for different values of these parameters. For …