Lanthanum Concentration Effect of Magnetocaloric Properties in La<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3−<Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis></Subscript>

Magnetocaloric properties of La _x MnO _3?δ films in the composition range 0.75 ≤ x ≤ 1 near phase transition from a ferromagnetic to a paramagnetic state were investigated. For x > 0.75 composition, it is showed that the increasing of La concentration improves magnetocaloric properties. It is also showed that post-annealing films in O ₂ improves magnetocaloric effect. The magnetocaloric properties are affected by Mn ⁺³/Mn ⁺⁴ ratios, which can be varied either by changing La concentration or varying the oxygen content in the La _x MnO _3?δ system. Moreover, La _x MnO _3?δ films can be used as a working material of an apparatus based on the active magnetic regenerator cycle that cools hydrogen gas.     

Theory of Pseudogap in La<Subscript>2−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Sr<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>CuO<Subscript>4</Subscript>

This paper proposes a mechanism for both the pseudogap and the superconducting gap in La_2−x Sr _x CuO₄ (LSCO), and gives theoretical temperature evolutions of the pseudogap and the superconducting gap for experimental verification.     

Mechanism of nanostructuring in fluorite-like Ca<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>La<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>F<Subscript>2 + <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

Nanostructuring in fluorite-like Ca_{1 ? x} La _x F_{2 + x} is shown to be associated with the precipitation of an CuAu-ordered phase. The shape of the precipitates is governed by the energetics of the {001} and {111} faces of tetragonal inclusions in highly anisotropic media and is nearly cuboctahedral. The misfit strain relaxes through the generation of twins, which nucleate along the intersection lines of {001} and {111} faces. The twins impede facial development and further growth and ordering of precipitates, thereby freezing the precipitation process in its initial stage. For this reason, the phase segregation is difficult to reveal, and Ca_{1 ? x} La _x F_{2 + x} crystals appear homogeneous.     

Synthesis of ultrafine fluorite Sr<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Nd<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>F<Subscript>2 + <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> powders

We have identified conditions that ensure the preparation of ultrafine Sr_{1 − x} Nd _x F_{2 + x} powders uniform in phase composition. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The powder particles have the form of faceted nano- and microcubes and range in size from 30–100 nm to 0.3–2.5 μm, depending on precipitation conditions.     

Thermoelectric properties of perovskite oxides La<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Sr<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>CoO<Subscript>3</Subscript> prepared by polymerlized complex method

P-type perovskite oxides La_1−x Sr _x CoO₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) have been prepared using a polymerlized complex method and sintering. The Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity of the oxides were studied from room temperature to 773 K. The ln(σT)−1/T relationships revealed small-polaron hopping mechanism for the higher Sr contents. Large Seebeck coefficients were observed in lightly Sr-doped samples. Sr doping greatly reduced the Seebeck coefficient and enhanced the electrical and thermal conductivity of the samples. The temperature-induced spin-state transition of Co³⁺ ions strongly influenced the transport properties. The highest ZT value found in this series of oxides was 0.046 at 300 K for x = 0.1.     

Magnetocaloric effect in La<Subscript>1–<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ca<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> for <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis> = 0.3, 0.35, and 0.4

We present systematic studies of the magnetocaloric properties of the polycrystalline La_1−x Ca _x MnO₃ system for x = 0.3, 0.35, and 0.4 near a second-order phase transition from a ferromagnetic to a paramagnetic state. The crystal structure of the studied manganites was shown to be in good agreement with previous reports. The value of the magnetocaloric effect has been determined from the measurement of magnetization as a function of temperature and external magnetic field. The maximum entropy change detected in La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ at a field of 2 T reaches 8 J/kg K which exceeds that of gadolinium. In all studied samples, the paramagnetic–ferromagnetic transition is very narrow but no hysteresis is observed and the transitions are identified as second-order ones. The phase transition in La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ appears to be almost of first-order.     

Enhanced Superconductivity in Double-Doping Cu<Subscript>0.15</Subscript>TaSe<Subscript>2−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

Superconducting Cu _x TaSe₂(x=0.05, 0.15) and Cu_0.15TaSe_2?x S _x (x=0, 0.5, 1, 1.5) single crystals have been systematically fabricated by a chemical vapor transport method. It is found that the double doping in TaSe₂, i.e., the simultaneous intercalation of Cu and substitution of Se by S, can substantially enhance the superconducting transition temperature. Transport property measurements give evidence of the coexistence and competition of charge density wave state and superconductivity in Cu _x TaSe₂ which provide meaningful information to understand the complex electronic states in this system. The parallel shift and the fan-shape broadening behaviors are observed in the superconducting transition curves under magnetic fields of Cu_0.15TaSeS and TaSeS, respectively, indicating an increase of coherence length and suppression of superconducting fluctuation induced by copper intercalation.     

Thermal conductivity of Er<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Sn<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Se (<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis> ≤ 0.025) solid solutions

The thermal conductivity of Er _x Sn_{1 ? x} Se solid solutions has been measured at temperatures from 80 to 360 K. The results have been used to evaluate the electronic and lattice components of thermal conductivity for elastic carrier scattering, parabolic bands, and arbitrary degeneracy. With increasing erbium content and temperature, both the electronic and lattice components decrease considerably. Long-term annealing increases both components. It follows from the present experimental data that heat conduction in Er _x Sn_{1 ? x} Se is mainly due to phonons and that the observed rise in thermal resistance with Er content is due to phonon-phonon and paramagnetic-ion scattering.     

Structure,electrical and magnetic properties of La<Subscript>0.67</Subscript>Ca<Subscript>0.33−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>K<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> polycrystalline ceramic

A systematic investigation of structure, electrical and magnetic properties of polycrystalline ceramics La_0.67Ca_0.33?x K _x MnO₃ (x?=?0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25) samples, prepared by sol–gel method had been undertaken. As K content increases the crystal structures were transformed from orthorhombic to rhombohedral structure identified by X-ray diffraction, and the effect of increasing K ion is to increment the Mn–O–Mn bond angle. The surface morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscope, which indicates that grain size decreasing with increasing of K⁺. Temperature dependence of resistivity (ρ ? T) was measured by standard four-probe method. The insulator–metal transition temperature (T _P ) shifted to higher temperature and the temperature coefficient of resistivity decreased sharply with the substitution K⁺ for Ca²⁺ ion. The temperature dependence of magnetization (M–T) shown that Curie temperature (T _C ) was increasing with the increase of K content, which can be explained by enhancement of double–exchange interaction. The data of resistivity on low-temperature (T?<?T _P ) had been fitted with the relation ρ(T) = ρ ₀?+?ρ ₂T²?+?ρ _4.5T^4.5; the high-temperature (T?>?T _P ) resistivity data were explained using small-polaron hopping and variable-range hopping models. Resistivity data in whole temperature range (100–320 K) could be fitted by percolation model. Polaron activation energy E _a was found to decrease with the content K⁺ increasing, which suggested that K doping increase bond angle Mn–O–Mn, thereby the effective band gap was decreased and the double exchange coupling was increased of, this is the reason for the decrease of resistivity.     

Properties of amorphous Si<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>:H (<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis> = 0−1) films

Plasma deposition has been used to grow Si_1?x Ge _x :H(x= 0 ? 1) films, undoped and doped with PH₃ or B₂H₆, for p-i-n solar cells and other optoelectronic applications. The optical, electrical, and photoelectric properties of the films have been studied at constant hydrogenation and doping levels. The films deposited under appropriate conditions are amorphous, and three-layer solar cells fabricated from such films offer an efficiency of 9.5% at an illumination of 100 mW/cm². The photoresponse of the a-Si_{1 ? x} Ge _x :H films strongly depends on Ge content. The hydrogen concentration in the films was controlled by varying the gas phase composition and was determined from the IR absorption in the films.     

Visible-light-induced hydrogen evolution reaction with WS<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Se<Subscript>2−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

WS₂ is a promising catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction. We have explored photocatalytic properties of ternary sulphoselenides of tungsten (WS _x Se _2?x ) by the dye-sensitized hydrogen evolution. WS _x Se _2?x solid solutions are found to exhibit high activity reaching 2339 μmol h^?1 g^?1 for WSSe, which is three times higher than that of WS₂ alone (866 μmol h^?1 g^?1 ). The turnover frequency is also high (0.7 h^?1 ). Such synergistic effect of selenium substitution in WS₂ is noteworthy.     

Magnetic Properties and Superconductivity in GdFeAsO<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>F<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>

Abstract A series of GdFeAsO_1−x F _x (x=0,0.1, 0.2, and 0.25) samples have been synthesized with conventional solid-state method. The phase purity is significantly improved by using Fe₂O₃ as the source of oxygen, compared to those prepared using Gd₂O₃ as the precursor. The lattice parameters are found to shrink with increasing fluorine doping level. The F-doped samples show a superconducting transition with T _c increasing with doping level, reaching T _c=40.1 K at x=0.25. A pronounced Curie–Weiss-like paramagnetic background, which is usually attributed to the impurity phases, is found to be independent of the fluorine doping level and proven to come from the Gd³⁺ in the GdFeAsO_1−x F _x compound with the effective magnetic moment of Gd³⁺ being μ _eff=7.83±0.05 μ_B. The extrapolated slope of dH_c2/dT|_T=Tc{dH}_{\mathrm{c2}}/dT|_{T=T_{\mathrm{c}}} in this system is about −4.5 T/K.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Cr<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>V<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Te (<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis> = 0−0.4) solid solutions

Cr_1?x V _x Te solid solutions with a hexagonal structure (NiAs type) have been obtained in the composition range x = 0?0.4 by direct melting of elemental mixtures, followed by annealing and quenching. The 80-K magnetic moment is found to decrease from 2.4μ_B in CrTe to 1.52μ_B in Cr_0.6V_0.4Te. The Curie temperature varies from 342 K to 321 K, respectively.     

Hydrochemical synthesis of AgCl<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Br<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> solid solutions

A phase-component model is proposed for the hydrochemical conversion of silver chloride to AgCl _x Br_{1 − x} solid solutions, and the corresponding quantitative relations are derived. Experimental data are used to obtain a relation between the equilibrium composition of solid solutions and that of the liquid phase at different temperatures. The possible mechanisms of solid-solution formation are considered.     

Relevance of the Phonon-Coupling Mode on the Superconducting Pairing Interaction of La<Subscript>2−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Sr<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>CuO<Subscript>4</Subscript>

Despite the intensive efforts for determining the mechanism that causes high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxide materials (cuprates), no consensus on the pairing mechanism has been reached. Recent advances in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopies (ARPES) have suggested that a sizeable electron–phonon coupling exists as the principal cause for kinks in the dispersion relations (energy versus wavevector) of the electronic states. Here, we report on a systematic study of the influence of the electron–phonon-coupling parameter “λ” in the electronic quasiparticle dispersions along the nodal direction for La_2−x Sr _x CuO₄, covering the entire doping range over which the electron transport properties vary from insulating (0≲x≲0.03) to superconducting (0.05≲x≲0.25) and eventually non-superconducting metal (x>0.25). This includes our recently introduced theoretical model to adjust the experimental data on the fermionic band dispersion. The coupling constant λ, calculated consistently with the nodal kink dispersions, reproduces the observed critical temperatures T _c , the gap ratio 2Δ ₀/k _B T _c , and other parameters which have been studied from several equations. Our results suggest that, at least in La_2−x Sr _x CuO₄, electron–phonon coupling is the most relevant boson-coupling mode to influence the electron dynamics, and must therefore be included in any microscopic theory of superconductivity.     

Recombination processes in solution-grown CdSe<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Te<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> films

CdSe_1?x Te _x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) films have been grown via precipitation from aqueous solutions, and their dark, photo-, and thermally stimulated conductivity has been investigated.     

Carrier mobility in Si<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> crystals

We have studied the 300-K carrier mobility in Czochralski-grown single crystals of undoped and heavily boron doped Si_{1 ? x} Ge _x (0 < x < 0.02) alloys. Comparison of our experimental data with theoretical predictions indicates that the Ge atoms in dilute Si_{1 ? x} Ge _x alloys do not act as neutral scattering centers. The carrier mobility related to the scattering by Ge atoms is governed by disorder (alloy) scattering. The carrier mobility in the boron-doped Si_{1 ? x} Ge _x alloys is much lower than that in the undoped alloys, depends very little on Ge content, and is governed by ionized impurity scattering.     

Preparation and Properties of Mn<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Hg<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Te

Mn _x Hg_{1 ? x}Te (x = 0.05, 0.12) single crystals were grown by solid-state recrystallization, and their axial and radial homogeneity was assessed by optical, electrical, and electron-microscopic measurements. The crystals are p-type, with a hole concentration of (4.3–5.3) × 10²² m^?3 and Hall mobility in the range (410–570) × 10^?4 m²/(V s).     

Raman spectroscopy determination of carrier concentration in <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-In<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ga<Subscript>1 − <Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>As epitaxial films

We have studied in detail the coupled phonon-plasmon mode Raman spectra of n-In _x Ga_{1 − x} As with n in the range 10¹⁷ to 10¹⁹ cm⁻³. The results indicate that the behavior of the high-frequency mode L ₊ can be described in terms of coupled modes in the Drude approximation. The proposed theory and experimental data are used to estimate the carrier concentration in the solid solution and its composition.