First-principles Investigations on the Magnetic,Electronic, and Optical Properties of Honeycomb-Kagome-Structured Fe $$_{2}$$ O $$_3$$ Monolayer

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - Two-dimensional materials with a novel honeycomb-kagome structure have got a variety of attentions owing to their dramatic properties. In the...     

Electronic and Magnetic Properties of the BaTiO $$_{3}$$ 3 /LaMnO $$_{3}$$ 3 Interface: a DFT Study

Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism - The electronic and magnetic properties of the BaTiO $$_{3}$$ /LaMnO $$_{3}$$ interface were investigated by means of ab initio calculations within...     

Synthesis,characterization and electrochemical performance of $$\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{x}\hbox {Fe}_{1-x}\hbox {SiO}_{4}$$ cathode materials for lithium ion batteries

\(\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{x}\hbox {Fe}_{1-x}\hbox {SiO}_{4}\) (\(x = 0\), 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1) samples were prepared by a sol–gel process. The crystal structure of prepared samples of \(\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{x}\hbox {Fe}_{1-x}\hbox {SiO}_{4}\) was characterized using an X-ray diffractometer. Different crystallographic parameters such as crystallite size and lattice cell parameters have been calculated. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy investigations were carried out, which reveal the morphology and function groups of the synthesized samples. Furthermore, electrochemical impedance spectra measurements are performed. The obtained results indicated that the highest conductivity is achieved for the \(\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{0.4}\hbox {Fe}_{0.6}\hbox {SiO}_{4}\) electrode compound. It was observed that Li–\(\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{0.4}\hbox {Fe}_{0.6}\hbox {SiO}_{4}\) battery has initial discharge capacity of 164 mAh \(\hbox {g}^{-1}\) at 0.1C rate. The cycle life performance of all \(\hbox {Li}_{2}\hbox {Ni}_{x}\hbox {Fe}_{1-x}\hbox {SiO}_{4}\) batteries ranged between 100 and 156 mAh \(\hbox {g}^{-1}\) with coulombic efficiency range between 70.9 and 93.9%.     

Templated synthesis and characterization of red-emitting $$\hbox {Ca}_{{1-x}}\hbox {Sr}_{1-x}\hbox {Eu}_{2x}^{3+}\hbox {SiO}_{4}$$ phosphor for LED applications

A novel attempt towards the synthesis of red-emitting europium (\(\hbox {Eu}^{3+}\))-doped \(\hbox {CaSrSiO}_{4}\) phosphors has been made through a templated strategy using non-ionic surfactant as template. The concentrations of \(\hbox {Eu}^{3+}\) in the host were altered and the optimized concentration to extract the maximum efficacy was analysed. The crystalline structure and morphologies of the synthesized phosphor were studied and analysed. The results show the aggregated rod-like morphology with a continuous porous network that shows the maximum intensity at 10 mol% of dopant.     

Synthesis,structure and thermoelectric properties of $$\mathrm{La}_{1-x}\mathrm{Na}_{x}\mathrm{CoO}_{3 }$$ perovskite oxides

Monovalent ion doped lanthanum cobaltate \(\hbox {La}_{1-x}\hbox {Na}_{x}\hbox {CoO}_{3 }\) (\(0 \le x \le 0.25\)) compositions were synthesized by the nitrate–citrate gel combustion method. All the heat treatments were limited to below 1123 K, in order to retain the Na stoichiometry. Structural parameters for all the compounds were confirmed by the Rietveld refinement method using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and exhibit the rhombhohedral crystal structure with space group R-3c (No. 167). The scanning electron microscopy study reveals that the particles are spherical in shape and sizes, in the range of 0.2–0.5 \(\upmu \)m. High temperature electrical resistivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity measurements were performed on the high density hot pressed pellets in the temperature range of 300–800 K, which exhibit p-type conductivity of pristine and doped compositions. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies confirm the monotonous increase in \(\hbox {Co}^{4+}\) with doping concentration up to \(x = 0.15\), which is correlated with the electrical resistivity and Seebeck coefficient values of the samples. The highest power factor of \(10~\upmu \hbox {W~mK}^{-2 }\) is achieved for 10 at% Na content at 600 K. Thermoelectric figure of merit is estimated to be \({\sim }1 \times 10^{-2}\) at 780 K for 15 at% Na-doped samples.     

$$\hbox {NO}_{2}^{-}$$ and $$\hbox {SCN}^{-}$$SCN--intercalated layered double hydroxides: structure and orientation of anions in the interlayer gallery

\(\hbox {NO}_{2}^{-}\) and \(\hbox {SCN}^{-}\) are two common small inorganic anions. The former is a common industrial pollutant. The latter is linear and is a good mimic for the toxic \(\hbox {CN}^{-}\) ion. The structures of these two anions are refined within the gallery of the [Zn–Al]-layered double hydroxide (LDH). Both LDHs crystallize as mixed anion phases. The nitrite is found to co-exist with the nitrate ion. The nitrite ion is intercalated with its molecular plane inclined to the metal hydroxide layer. In the case of the \(\hbox {SCN}^{-}\) intercalated LDH, no other anion was detected by ion chromatography, suggesting that the \(\hbox {SCN}^{-}\) deficiency is compensated by intercalated hydroxyl ions. In this case, the \(\hbox {SCN}^{-}\) ion is found to be intercalated with its molecular axis inclined to the metal hydroxide layer.     

Raman Studies of ${rm Ti}_{bm{ 1-x}} {rm Fe}_{bm x} {rm O}_{bm 2}$ Nanoparticles

Ti_1-xFe_xO₂ (x = 0.00-0.13) nanoparticle samples were prepared by hydrolysis method. We investigated the effects of Fe doping on the structural and magnetic properties of the Ti_1-xFe_xO₂ nanoparticle system. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements confirm that the particle size of the powder is in nanoscale, and that the magnetic Fe impurities substitute for the Ti sites in the anatase TiO₂ phase. All the samples with x > 0 were found to be super-paramagnetic at room temperature by magnetization measurements. Raman spectra also strongly support that the Fe atoms go into the Ti-site in theTiO₂ structure. For comparison, ceramic Ti_1-xFe_xO₂ samples were also prepared by usual ceramic method. Ferromagnetism was observed only in the ceramic Ti_1-xFe_xO₂ system. Additional Raman peak at around 610 cm^-1 is observed only in the ceramic samples. This may be related to the clusters created by mixture of various valence state of Fe, which probably would be the cause for ferromagnetism observed in the ceramic Ti_1-xFe_xO₂ system.     

Temperature effects on the electrical characteristics of $$\mathrm{Al}/\mathrm{PTh}-\mathrm{SiO}_{2}/\mathrm{p\hbox {-}Si}$$ structure

The temperature-dependent current–voltage (\(I\text {--}V\)) and capacitance–voltage (\(C\text {--}V\)) characteristics of the fabricated Al/p-Si Schottky diodes with the polythiopene–SiO\(_{2}\) nanocomposite (\(\hbox {PTh--SiO}_{2}\)) interlayer were investigated. The ideality factor of \(\hbox {Al}/\hbox {PTh--SiO}_{2}/{p}\text {-Si}\) Schottky diodes has decreased with increasing temperature and the barrier height has increased with increasing temperature. The change in the barrier height and ideality factor values with temperature was attributed to inhomogeneties of the zero-bias barrier height. Richardson plot has exhibited curved behaviour due to temperature dependence of barrier height. The activation energy and effective Richardson constant were calculated as 0.16 eV and \(1.79 \times 10^{-8} \hbox {A\,cm}^{-2} \,\hbox {K}^{-2}\) from linear part of Richardson plots, respectively. The barrier height values determined from capacitance–voltage–temperature (\(C\text {--}V\text {--}T\)) measurements decrease with increasing temperature on the contrary of barrier height values obtained from \(I\text {--}V\text {--}T\) measurements.     

Evidence for One-Gap Superconductivity in Mg(B_{1-x}C_{x})_{2} Single Crystals at x=0.132 by Point-Contact Spectroscopy

We report the results of directional point-contact measurements in Mg(B $_{1-x}$ C $_{x})_{2}$ single crystals. The amplitudes of the gaps, $\Delta_{\pi}$ and $\Delta_{\sigma}$ , were determined for each C content by fitting the experimental low-temperature normalized conductance curves of our “soft” point contacts with the BTK model generalized to the two-band case. We found that, on increasing the carbon content, $\Delta_{\sigma}$ decreases almost linearly with $T_{c}$ and $\Delta_{\pi}$ slightly increases until, at $x=0.132$ (where $T_{c}=19$ K), they assume the same value $\Delta =3.2 \pm 0.9$ meV. This result is confirmed by the temperature and magnetic-field dependence of the conductance curves at this C content, which do not show any evidence of two distinct gap values. In particular, the Δ versus T curve follows very well a standard BCS curve, with a gap ratio $2\Delta /k_{B} T_{c}=3.9$ . These experimental findings are compared to the theoretical predictions of the two-band model in the Eliashberg formulation.     

$hbox{Mg}_{1-{rm x}}hbox{Co}_{rm x}hbox{Fe}_{1.98}hbox{O}_{4}$ Ceramics With Promising Magnetodielectric Properties for Antenna Miniaturization

We have studied the effects of concentration of cobalt and sintering temperature on the complex relative permittivity and permeability of MgFe_1.98O₄ ferrite ceramics. All samples were doped with 3 wt% Bi₂O₃ to improve the sintering properties of the Mg_1-xCo_xFe_1.98O₄ ceramics and thus attain a low dielectric loss tangent. X-ray diffraction data indicated that the ferrite samples all have a single-phase spinel structure and that there was no reaction between the ferrite and Bi₂O₃. In terms of microstructure development and grain growth, the effect of Bi₂O₃ is much more pronounced than that of Co. At a given concentration of Co, the magnetic properties can be fairly explained by a magnetic circuit model. The relationship between static permeability and the concentration of Co can be understood by using the single-ion model combined with the local uniaxial anisotropic model. Among the samples we prepared, Mg_0.96Co_0.04Fe_1.98O₄ sintered at 1000degC for 2 h has almost equal real permeability and permittivity-both approximately 10 - as well as sufficiently low dielectric and magnetic loss tangent over a range 3 to 30 MHz [the high-frequency (HF) band]. These properties that should be useful for miniaturization of HF antennas.     

Effect of Hafnium Impurities on the Magnetoresistance of $$\hbox {YBa}_{2}\hbox {Cu}_{3}\hbox {O}_{7-\delta }$$

In the present study, we investigate the influence of the hafnium (Hf) impurities on the magnetoresistance of \(\hbox {YBa}_{2}\hbox {Cu}_{3}\hbox {O}_{7-\delta }\) ceramic samples in the temperature interval of the transition to the superconducting state in constant magnetic field up to 12 T. The cause of the appearance of low- temperature “tails” (paracoherent transitions) on the resistive transitions, corresponding to different phase regimes of the vortex matter state is discussed. At temperatures higher than the critical temperature (T > \(T_\mathrm{c})\), the temperature dependence of the excess paraconductivity can be described within the Aslamazov–Larkin theoretical model of the fluctuation conductivity for layered superconductors.     

Study of Dynamic Magnetism in Low Bandwidth Manganite Pr_{1-x}Ca_xMnO_3 (x = 0.3 - 0.5) by Ac Susceptibility Measurements

The complex ac susceptibility is studied in the low bandwidth manganite Pr $_{1-x}$ Ca $_x$ MnO $_3$ at doping range $x = 0.3 - 0.5$ with and without a superimposed background dc field. It is found that all the samples had a frustrated magnetic phase. The fraction of the frustrated magnetic phase in the samples diminished as the Ca concentration was increased. The suppression of the frustrated magnetic phase is explained by the formation of charge order (CO) phase around 250 K in the samples with $x =$ 0.4 and 0.5. This result indicates that formation of CO-antiferromagnetic states reduces the magnetic frustration in the system and the spin glass behaviour is mainly associated with the coexisting antiferromagnetic—ferromagnetic phase in low bandwidth manganites.     

Influence of Thermal Annealings in Argon on the Structural and Thermochromic Properties of $$\mathrm{MoO}_{3}$$ Thin Films

The effect of thermal annealing in an inert atmosphere (argon) on the structural and thermochromic properties of \(\hbox {MoO}_{3}\) thin films was investigated. \(\hbox {MoO}_{3}\) thin films were deposited by thermal evaporation in vacuum of \(\hbox {MoO}_{3}\) powders. X-ray diffraction patterns of the films showed the presence of the monoclinic Magneli phase \(\hbox {Mo}_{9}\hbox {O}_{26}\) for annealing temperatures above \(250\,{^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\). Absorbance spectra of the films annealed in argon indicated that their thermochromic response increases with the annealing temperature in the analyzed range (23 \({^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\)–300 \({^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\)), a result opposite to the case of thermal annealings in air, for which case the thermochromic response shows a maximum value around 200 \({^{\circ }}\)C–225 \({^{\circ }}\)C and decreases for higher temperatures. These results are explained in terms of a higher density of oxygen vacancies formed upon thermal treatments in inert atmospheres.