Thickness Dependence of Critical Current Density in MgB2 Films Prepared by Thermal Evaporation Method

MgB₂ films with the thickness of 350 to 1150 nm have been prepared on the Al₂O₃ (001) single crystal substrates from high purity B and Mg powder by the thermal evaporation method. Films were then heat treated ex-situ under Mg vapor at 950?°C to achieve actual MgB₂ stoichiometry. Thickness of the films, so the deposition time, was varied to investigate its influence on critical current density of the films. The films fabricated were analyzed by means of microstructural, transport, and magnetic properties. The best T _c and T _zero values were obtained to be 39.5 K and 38 K, respectively, and decreased with increasing the thickness. We found that the critical current density of the films prepared is highly thickness dependent. The maximum $J_{c}^{\mathrm{mag}}$ value was calculated to be 3.18×10⁶ A?cm^?2 at 10 K and zero field for 1150 nm thick films but dropped drastically by thickness.     

Synthesis and Characterization of MgB2 Thin Films Prepared by?2.4?Mhz Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis System

Nano-sized B and Mg powders have been successfully deposited onto single crystal MgO(100) and Al₂O₃(001) substrates using 2.4 MHz ultrasonic spray pyrolysis system and an appropriate solution to obtain thin films of MgB₂ superconductors. After an in-situ heating process, ??600?C1000 nm thick superconductor films were obtained. The microstructure, electrical, and magnetic properties were characterized by means of particle size analyzer, XRD, SEM?CEDX, R?CT, and M?CH analysis. The effect of particle concentration in the solution, spraying time, and heating temperature on the quality of the MgB₂ films were discussed. The best T _c and T _zero results were obtained to be 39.5 and 37.4 K, respectively, for the film deposited on the Al₂O₃(001) substrates. Magnetic properties of the MgB₂ films were investigated at 3 different temperatures and up to 5 T. Symmetric hysteresis loops for all temperature and field cases were obtained and maximum $J_{c}^{\mathrm{mag}}$ value was calculated to be 4.0×10⁶ A?cm^?2 at 10 K for 0 T for the film deposited on the Al₂O₃(001) substrates. The results obtained were found to be highly dependant on the particle concentration in the solution, heating temperature of substrates and carrier gas flow rate during spraying.     

Effect of Previous Milling of Precursors on Magnetoelectric Effect in Multiferroic {\mathrm{Bi}_{5}\mathrm{Ti}_{3}\mathrm{FeO}_{15}} Ceramic

$\mathrm{Bi}_{5}\mathrm{Ti}_{3}\mathrm{FeO}_{15}$ Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 magnetoelectric (ME) ceramics have been synthesized and investigated. The ME effect can be described as an induced electric polarization under an external magnetic field or an induced magnetization under an external electric field. The materials in the ME effect are called ME materials, and they are considered to be a kind of new promising materials for sensors, processors, actuators, and memory systems. Multiferroics, the materials in which both ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity can coexist, are the prospective candidates which can potentially host the gigantic ME effect. $\mathrm{Bi}_{5}\mathrm{Ti}_{3}\mathrm{FeO}_{15}$ Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 , an Aurivillius compound, was synthesized by sintering a mixture of $\mathrm{Bi}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}, \mathrm{Fe}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ Bi 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 , and $\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$ TiO 2 oxides. The precursor materials were prepared in a high-energy attritorial mill for (1, 5, and 10) h. The orthorhombic $\mathrm{Bi}_{5}\mathrm{Ti}_{3}\mathrm{FeO}_{15}$ Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 ceramics were obtained by a solid-state reaction process at 1313 K. The ME voltage coefficient ( $\alpha _\mathrm{ME}$ α ME ) was measured using the dynamic lock-in method. The highest ME voltage coefficient ( $\alpha _\mathrm{ME} = 8.28\,\text{ mV }{\cdot }\text{ cm }^{-1}{\cdot }\text{ Oe }^{-1})$ α ME = 8.28 mV · cm ? 1 · Oe ? 1 ) is obtained for the sample milled for 1 h at $H_\mathrm{DC }= 4$ H DC = 4  Oe (1 Oe = 79.58  $\text{ A }{\cdot }\text{ m }^{-1})$ A · m ? 1 ) .     

Pinning enhancement in MgB2 superconducting thin films by magnetic nanoparticles of Fe2O3

MgB₂ thin films were fabricated on r-plane Al₂O₃ ( ${1} \overline{{1}} {0} {2})$ substrates. First, deposition of boron was performed by rf magnetron sputtering on Al₂O₃ substrates and followed by a post-deposition annealing at 850 °C in magnesium vapour. In order to investigate the effect of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles on the structural and magnetic properties of films, MgB₂ films were coated with different concentrations of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles by spin coating process. The magnetic field dependence of the critical current density J _c was calculated from the M–H loops and magnetic field dependence of the pinning force density, f _p(b), was investigated for the films containing different concentrations of Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The critical current densities, J _c, in 3T magnetic field at 5 K were found to be around 2·7 × 10⁴ A/cm², 4·3 × 10⁴ A/cm², 1·3 × 10⁵ A/cm² and 5·2 × 10⁴ A/cm² for films with concentrations of 0, 25, 50 and 100% Fe₂O₃, respectively. It was found that the films coated with Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles have significantly enhanced the critical current density. It can be noted that especially the films coated by Fe₂O₃ became stronger in the magnetic field and at higher temperatures. It was believed that coated films indicated the presence of artificial pinning centres created by Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles. The results of AFM indicate that surface roughness of the films significantly decreased with increase in concentration of coating material.     

Accurate loading analyses of curved cracks under mixed-mode conditions applying the J-integral

In linear elastic fracture mechanics the path-independent J-integral is a loading quantity equivalent to stress intensity factors (SIF) or the energy release rate. Concerning plane crack problems, $J_k$ J k is a 2-dimensional vector with its components $J_1$ J 1 and $J_2$ J 2 . These two parameters can be related to the mode-I and mode-II SIFs $K_{\mathrm{I}}$ K I and $K_{\mathrm{II}}$ K II . To guarantee path-independence for curved crack geometries, an integration path along the crack faces must be considered. This paper deals with problems occurring at the numerical calculation of the J-integral in connection with the FE-method. Two new methods for accurately calculating values of $J_2$ J 2 for arbitrary cracks are presented.     

Atomistic and continuum modelling of temperature-dependent fracture of graphene

This paper presents a comprehensive molecular dynamics study on the effects of nanocracks (a row of vacancies) on the fracture strength of graphene sheets at various temperatures. Comparison of the strength given by molecular dynamics simulations with Griffith’s criterion and quantized fracture mechanics theory demonstrates that quantized fracture mechanics is more accurate compared to Griffith’s criterion. A numerical model based on kinetic analysis and quantized fracture mechanics theory is proposed. The model is computationally very efficient and it quite accurately predicts the fracture strength of graphene with defects at various temperatures. Critical stress intensity factors in mode I fracture reduce as temperature increases. Molecular dynamics simulations are used to calculate the critical values of $J$ integral ( $J_\mathrm{IC}$ ) of armchair graphene at various crack lengths. Results show that $J_\mathrm{IC}$ depends on the crack length. This length dependency of $J_\mathrm{IC}$ can be used to explain the deviation of the strength from Griffith’s criterion. The paper provides an in-depth understanding of fracture of graphene, and the findings are important in the design of graphene based nanomechanical systems and composite materials     

The Influence of Oxygen/Argon Ratio on the Structure and Surface Morphology of GaBa2Cu3O7?δ Films Deposited by RF Magnetic Sputtering

$\mathrm{GaBa}_{2}\mathrm{Cu}_{3}\mathrm{O}_{7\mbox{-}\delta}$ thin films have been grown on CeO₂ cap layer by RF magnetic sputtering with different oxygen/argon partial pressure ratio from 2:1 to 1:5. The CeO₂ cap layers were fabricated by pulse laser deposition (PLD) on YSZ/CeO₂/Ni-5%W alloy substrate and had good properties in structure and surface morphology. We study the relationship between oxygen/argon ratio and the performance of the $\mathrm{GaBa}_{2}\mathrm{Cu}_{3}\mathrm{O}_{7\mbox{-}\delta}$ film in order to find out the optimized deposition condition. The structure and surface morphology of the $\mathrm{GaBa}_{2}\mathrm{Cu}_{3}\mathrm{O}_{7\mbox{-}\delta}$ thin films were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the texture and surface performance of $\mathrm{GaBa}_{2}\mathrm{Cu}_{3}\mathrm{O}_{7\mbox{-}\delta}$ film, such as growth orientation, grain roughness, grain size and surface morphology, are deeply affected by the oxygen/argon ratio. And the film??s performance was the best when the oxygen/argon partial pressure ratio is 1:1.     

One-Step Synthesis and Sintering of MgB2 by Spark Plasma Sintering

We have studied the one-step procedure for simultaneous synthesis and sintering of SiC-doped MgB₂ by the spark plasma sintering technique. Two types of composition, one in which Mg is strongly deficient, with the atomic ratio $\mathrm{B/Mg} = 3.75$ , and one in which Mg content is slightly higher than the stoichiometric value, specifically $\mathrm{B/Mg} = 1.87$ , were investigated. The amount of SiC was 12 wt.% and 9 wt.%, respectively. For comparison we also studied the way the deficit of Mg can be compensated in a second process of sintering. The sample with Mg deficit shows that SiC is left almost unreacted but the results are spectacular: the highest critical temperature, 36.5 K, the highest upper critical field and the highest self-field critical current density 6.7×10⁵ A/cm² at 10 K. In the sample with overstoichiometric Mg, SiC is decomposed, carbon diffuses within MgB₂ but the critical temperature is only of 35.8 K and the zero-field critical current density is one order of magnitude lower. The compensation of the deficit of Mg in the two-step procedure is not efficient. The critical temperature is even lower, 35.8 K, the upper critical field is also lower despite SiC decomposition and C diffusion within MgB₂ and the critical current density is slightly above 10⁵ A/cm². However, at low temperatures and fields of order 7 T the sample with overstoichiometric Mg and the sample prepared by the two-step procedure have higher critical current density.     

Pulsed Nuclear Magnetic Resonance on 3He Adsorbed on Bare and 4He Preplated MCM-41 Using DC SQUID Detection

We report low field DC SQUID NMR measurements down to 1.5 K of ³He adsorbed in the pores of the mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41. In the first experiment measurements were made on ³He adsorbed onto the bare pore walls of MCM-41 with coverages ranging from $n_{^{3}\mathrm{He}}=0.86n_{1}$ to full pores at $n_{^{3}\mathrm{He}}=1.79n_{1}$ , where n ₁ is the coverage for monolayer completion. A second experiment was performed with low ³He coverages ( $n_{^{3}\mathrm{He}}\sim0.01n_{1}$ ) on ⁴He preplated pores, where a crossover to a quasi-1D state is expected to occur at temperatures sufficiently below 700 mK. In both experiments relaxation times T ₁ and T ₂ ^* were measured as a function of temperature and coverage at frequencies from 80 to 240 kHz. The frequency dependence of the linewidth in the pure ³He experiment is extremely weak therefore T ₂ ^* ≈T ₂. The 1.5 K isotherm shows a small minimum in T ₂ ^* at a coverage corresponding to monolayer completion. In the experiment with ⁴He preplating there was no significant change in T ₁ or T ₂ ^* when the ³He coverage was doubled from $n_{^{3}\mathrm{He}}=0.01n_{1}$ to 0.02n ₁ at a ⁴He preplating of $n_{^{4}\mathrm{He}}=1.05n_{1}$ . This suggests that the relaxation times are dominated by single particle effects in the low density regime.     

Synthesis, Magnetic Properties, Magnetic Entropy and Arrot Plot of Antiferromagnetic Frustrated Er2Ti2O7 Compound

The pyrochlore $\mathrm{Er}_{2}^{3 +} \mathrm{Ti}_{2}^{4 +}\mathrm{O}_{7}^{2 -}$ was synthesized via a ceramic method using two different oxides (Er₂O₃ and TiO₂). The compound was found to crystallize in the cubic system with the $\mathrm{Fd}\overline{3}\mathrm{m}$ space group (No. 227). A magnetic study, carried out at 2 and 300 K under an applied magnetic field ?? ₀ H=0.05?T, has revealed a complex magnetic structure at low temperature. The effective paramagnetic moment $\mu_{\mathrm{eff}}^{\exp}$ , deduced from (????? ₀)^?1=f(T) curve, was found by assuming a zero moment on the transition metal atom Ti⁴⁺. The paramagnetic Curie?CWeiss temperature ?? _CW=?21.54?K, the nearest neighbor interaction J _nn =?2.30?K, the classical nearest neighbor J ^cl=?8.65?K and the dipolar D _nn =3.76?K interactions?? values have revealed an antiferromagnetic behavior for Er₂Ti₂O₇ compound at low temperature. We have also studied the effects of the magnetic field splitting of rare-earth atom Er³⁺ in the compound Er₂Ti₂O₇ curved Arrott plots.     

Properties of MgB2 Thin Films Deposited on Different Substrates Prepared by Ex-Situ Annealing Process

MgB₂ thin films were deposited on MgO (100) substrate and r-plane Al₂O₃ $(1\bar{1}02)$ substrate by ex-situ annealing of boron film in magnesium vapor. The thickness of ex-situ annealed MgB₂ films is approximately 600 nm according to data observation by ellipsometer. The magnetic properties of samples were determined using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The magnetic field dependence of the critical current density J _c was calculated from M–H loops and also the magnetic field dependence of F _p was compared for the different temperature ranges from 5 to 25 K. The critical current density J _c was found to be around 1.0×10⁶ A/cm² and 1.7×10⁶ A/cm² in zero field at 5 K for MgB₂ films deposited on MgO and r-plane Al₂O₃ substrates, respectively. It was found that the critical current density of the film deposited on MgO became stronger than that of r-plane Al₂O₃ in the magnetic field. The superconducting transition temperature was determined by ac susceptibility measurement using physical properties measurement system. ac susceptibility measurements for MgB₂ films deposited on MgO and r-plane Al₂O₃ substrates were performed as a function of temperatures at constant frequency and ac field amplitude in the absence of dc bias field. The critical current densities as a function of temperature were estimated from the ac susceptibility data.     

Magnetoresistance of Superconducting Granules and Grain Boundaries in Ceramic YBa2Cu3O7−δ High-Temperature Superconductors in Weak Magnetic Fields

The objective of the work is to establish the contribution of superconductive granules and grain boundaries (weak links) in magnetoresistance ρ value of YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ granular high-temperature superconductor (HTS) at T<T _c. The current-voltage characteristics (CVCs) $E(j)_{H_{\mathrm{ext}} = \mathrm{const}}$ of YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 ceramic samples were measured in H _ext (0≤H _ext≤≈500 Oe) magnetic fields. The CVCs $E(j)_{H_{\mathrm{trap}} = \mathrm{const}}$ of the samples magnetized in H _treat magnetic fields were measured at H _ext=0. Based on the CVCs, $\rho(j)_{H_{\mathrm{ext}} = \mathrm{const}}$ , ρ(H _ext) _j=const and $\rho(j)_{H_{\mathrm{treat}} = \mathrm{const}}$ dependences were reestablished. The comparative analysis of $\rho(j)_{H_{\mathrm{ext}} = \mathrm{const}}$ and ρ(H _ext) _j=const dependences indicates the magnetic field redistribution between grain boundaries and superconductive granules influence on transport and galvanomagnetic properties of granular HTS. The superconductive grain magnetoresistance ρ _g was established to be significantly lower than ρ _J value of Josephson medium.     

Transfer Partial Molar Isentropic Compressibilities of (l-Alanine/l-Glutamine/Glycylglycine) from Water to 0.512 {\mathrm{mol}}\!\cdot \!{\mathrm{kg}}^{-1} Aqueous {\mathrm{KNO}}_{3}/0.512\, {\mathrm{mol}}\!\cdot \! {\mathrm{kg}}^{-1} Aqueous {\mathrm{K}}_{2}{\mathrm{SO}}_{4} Solutions Between 298.15 K and 323.15 K

Speeds of sound of (l-alanine/l-glutamine/glycylglycine $\,+\, 0.512\, {\mathrm{mol}}\cdot {\mathrm{kg}}^{-1}$ + 0.512 mol · kg ? 1 aqueous ${\mathrm{KNO}}_{3}/0.512\, {\mathrm{mol}}\cdot {\mathrm{kg}}^{-1}$ KNO 3 / 0.512 mol · kg ? 1 aqueous ${\mathrm{K}}_{2}{\mathrm{SO}}_{4}$ K 2 SO 4 ) systems have been measured for several molal concentrations of amino acid/peptide at different temperatures: $T$ T = (298.15 to 323.15) K. Using the speed-of-sound and density data, the parameters, partial molar isentropic compressibilities $\phi _{\kappa }^{0}$ ? κ 0 and transfer partial molar isentropic compressibilities $\Delta _{\mathrm{tr}} \phi _{\kappa }^{0}$ Δ tr ? κ 0 , have been computed. The trends of variation of $\phi _{\kappa }^{0}$ ? κ 0 and $\Delta _{\mathrm{tr}} \phi _{\kappa }^{0}$ Δ tr ? κ 0 with changes in molal concentration of the solute and temperature have been discussed in terms of zwitterion–ion, zwitterion–water dipole, ion–water dipole, and ion–ion interactions operative in the systems.     

Evaluation of Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of Ag-Diffused Bulk MgB2 Superconductors

Electrical, microstructural, and mechanical properties of undiffused and Ag-diffused bulk MgB₂ superconductors are systematically studied using dc resistivity, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Vickers microhardness (H _V ) measurements. The resistivity (at room temperature), critical (onset and offset) temperature, variation of transition temperature, hole-carrier concentration, surface morphology, Vickers microhardness, elastic modulus, and yield strength values of the samples are obtained and compared with each other. One can see that all superconducting parameters given above depend on the Ag diffusion on MgB₂ system. The obtained results illustrate that the room temperature resistivity reduces with the increment of diffusion annealing temperature because of the hole filling when the onset ( $T_{c}^{\mathrm{onset}}$ ) and offset ( $T_{c}^{\mathrm{offset}}$ ) critical temperatures determined from the resistivity curves are obtained to enhance from 38.4 to 39.7 K and from 36.9 to 38.8 K, respectively. Further, SEM studies carried out for the microstructural characterization demonstrate that the surface morphology and grain connectivity also improve with the increase of the diffusion annealing temperature. In fact, the best surface morphology is observed for the Ag-diffused bulk MgB₂ superconductor exposed to 850 °C annealing temperature. Besides, it is obtained that the load-dependent microhardness values reduce nonlinearly as the applied load increases until 2 N, beyond which the curves shift to the saturation region, presenting that all the samples exhibit the indentation size effect (ISE) behavior. Further, the elastic modulus and yield strength values observed decrease with the enhancement of the applied load.     

Higgs Bosons in Particle Physics and in Condensed Matter

Higgs bosons—the amplitude modes—have been experimentally investigated in condensed matter for many years. An example is superfluid ³He-B, where the broken symmetry leads to 4 Goldstone modes and at least 14 Higgs modes, which are characterized by angular momentum quantum number J and parity (Zeeman splitting of Higgs modes with J=2⁺ and J=2^? in magnetic field has been observed in 80’s). Based on the relation $E_{J+}^{2}+E_{J-}^{2}=4\varDelta^{2}$ for the energy spectrum of these modes, Yoichiro Nambu proposed the general sum rule, which relates masses of Higgs bosons and masses of fermions. If this rule is applicable to Standard Model, one may expect that the observed Higgs boson with mass M _H1=125 GeV has a Nambu partner—the second Higgs boson with mass M _H2=325 GeV. Together they satisfy the Nambu relation $M_{\mathrm{H}1}^{2} + M_{\mathrm{H}2}^{2} = 4 M_{\mathrm{top}}^{2}$ , where M _top is the top quark mass. Also the properties of the Higgs modes in superfluid ³He-A, where the symmetry breaking is similar to that of the Standard Model, suggest the possible existence of two electrically charged Higgs particles with masses M _H+=M _H?～245 GeV, which together obey the Nambu rule $M_{\mathrm{H}+}^{2} + M_{\mathrm{H}-}^{2} = 4 M_{\mathrm{top}}^{2}$ . A certain excess of events at 325 GeV and at 245 GeV has been reported in 2011, though not confirmed in 2012 experiments. Besides, we consider the particular relativistic model of top—quark condensation that suggests the possibility that two twice degenerated Higgs bosons contribute to the Nambu sum rule. This gives the mass around 210 GeV for the Nambu partner of the 125 GeV Higgs boson. We also discuss the other possible lessons from the condensed matter to Standard Model, such as hidden symmetry, where light Higgs emerges as quasi Nambu-Goldstone mode, and the role of broken time reversal symmetry.     

High-field ESR on Light-Induced Transition of Spin Multiplicity in FeCo Complex

Cyanide-bridged Fe-Co complex [Fe(Tp)(CN)₃]₂Co(bpe)?5H₂O (1?5H₂O; Tp = hydro-tris(pyrazolyl)borate; bpe = 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane) shows temperature- and light- induced metal-to-metal charge transfer (MMCT) involving spin state changes between magnetic $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{II}}\mathrm{HS}}$ (HS = high spin, LS = low spin) state and nonmagnetic $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{II}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}$ state, while the dehydrated material 1 does not show any MMCT and holds $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{II}}\mathrm{HS}}$ state. We have investigated the magnetic properties of each spin state in 1 and 1?5H₂O by means of magnetization and ESR measurement under pulsed high magnetic field. At low temperature below T _N, in both 1 and 1?5H₂O, the saturation magnetization in the induced ferromagnetic phase is well explained by S and g values derived from the magnetic susceptibility study. In the ESR of 1, we observed characteristic modes corresponding to a spin excitation in the induced ferromagnetic phase where its temperature dependence shows an evolution of spin correlation in the $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{II}}\mathrm{HS}}$ state at low temperature. We further found that the similar ESR modes grow in the light-induced state of 1?5H₂O. The results strongly suggest that the light-induced magnetization in 1?5H₂O is driven by a light-induced MMCT, which involves transition of spin multiplicity from the nonmagnetic $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{II}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}$ to the magnetic $\mathrm{Fe}^{\mathrm{III}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{III}}\mathrm{LS}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Co}^{\mathrm{II}}_{\phantom{\mathrm{\mathrm{II}}}\mathrm{HS}}$ pair.     

Experimental Measurements of Thermophysical Properties of \mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}– and \mathrm{TiO}_{2}–Ethylene Glycol Nanofluids

This paper presents measurements of the thermal conductivity and the dynamic viscosity of $\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ Al 2 O 3 –ethylene glycol and $\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$ TiO 2 –ethylene glycol (1 % to 3 % particle volume fraction) nanofluids carried out in the temperature range from $0\,^{\circ }$ 0 ° C to $50\,^{\circ }$ 50 ° C. The thermal-conductivity measurements were performed by using a transient hot-disk TPS 2500S apparatus instrumented with a 7577 probe (2.001 mm in radius) having a maximum uncertainty $(k=2)$ ( k = 2 ) lower than 5.0 % of the reading. The dynamic-viscosity measurements and the rheological analysis were carried out by a rotating disk type rheometer Haake Mars II instrumented with a single-cone probe (60 mm in diameter and $1^{\circ }$ 1 ° ) having a maximum uncertainty $(k=2)$ ( k = 2 ) lower than 5.0 % of the reading. The thermal-conductivity measurements of the tested nanofluids show a great sensitivity to particle volume fraction and a lower sensitivity to temperature: $\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$ TiO 2 –ethylene glycol and $\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ Al 2 O 3 –ethylene glycol nanofluids show a thermal-conductivity enhancement (with respect to pure ethylene glycol) from 1 % to 19.5 % and from 9 % to 29 %, respectively. $\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$ TiO 2 –ethylene glycol and $\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ Al 2 O 3 –ethylene glycol nanofluids exhibit Newtonian behavior in all the investigated temperature and particle volume fraction ranges. The relative viscosity shows a great sensitivity to the particle volume fraction and weak or no sensitivity to temperature: $\mathrm{TiO}_{2}$ TiO 2 –ethylene glycol and $\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ Al 2 O 3 –ethylene glycol nanofluids show a dynamic viscosity increase with respect to ethylene glycol from (4 to 5) % to 30 % and from 14 % to 50 %, respectively. Present experimental measurements were compared both with available measurements carried out by different researchers and computational models for thermophysical properties of nanofluids.     

Magnetic Properties of Nanocrystalline Nickel–Cobalt Ferrites (\mathrm{Ni}_{1/2}{\mathrm{{Co}}}_{1/2}{\mathrm{{Fe}}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})

In this study, the nanocrystalline nickel–cobalt ferrites $(\mathrm{Ni}_{1/2}\mathrm{Co}_{1/2}\mathrm{Fe}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{4})$ were prepared via the citrate route method at $27\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ . The samples were calcined at $300\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ for 3 h. The crystalline structure and the single-phase formations were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Prepared materials showed the cubic spinel structure with m3m symmetry and Fd3m space group. The analyses of XRD patterns were carried out using POWD software. It gave an estimation of lattice constant “ $a$ ” of 8.3584 Å, which was in good agreement with the results reported in JCPDS file no. 742081. The crystal size of the prepared materials calculated by Scherer’s formula was 27.6 nm and the electrical conductivity was around $10^{-5}~\mathrm{S}\,\cdot \, \mathrm{m}^{-1}$ . The permeability component variations with frequency were realized. The magnetic properties of the prepared materials were analyzed by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). It showed a saturation magnetization of $27.26\,\mathrm{emu} \cdot \mathrm{m}^{-1}$ and the behavior of a hard magnet.     

Damping properties of epoxy-based composite embedded with sol–gel-derived Pb(Zr 0.53 Ti 0.47 )O 3 thin film with different thicknesses

Pb(Zr $_{\mathbf{0\boldsymbol{\cdot}53}}$ Ti $_{\mathbf{0\boldsymbol{\cdot}47}})$ O ₃ (PZT) thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO ₂ /Si substrate by sol?Cgel method. The effect of film thickness on microstructure, ferroelectric and dielectric properties was investigated. The single-phase PZT films were obtained with different thicknesses. PZT films with a thickness of 190?C440?nm had better dielectric and ferroelectric properties. The epoxy/PZT film/epoxy sandwiched composites were prepared. The thickness of PZT films influenced their damping properties of the composites, and the epoxy-based composites embedded with 310?nm-thick PZT films had the largest damping loss factor of 0 $\boldsymbol{\cdot} $ 915.     

Nuclear Spin Relaxation Characteristic of Submonolayer ^3He Films in Nanochannels

In order to obtain information on dynamics of helium films in the nondegenerate fluid region, we have performed a pulsed-NMR experiment at 3.29 MHz on $^3$ He films adsorbed in straight 2.4 nm channels of FSM silicates down to 0.54 K. In general, the spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times $T_1$ and $T_2$ were explained in terms of the two-dimensional Bloembergen–Purcell–Pound model for dipolar relaxation. Temperature dependences of $T_1$ in submonolayer $^3$ He films show a minimum, indicating that the dipolar-field correlation time $\tau _\mathrm {c}$ is about $\omega ^{-1}=4.8\times 10^{-8}$ s. The temperature $T_\mathrm {min}$ of the $T_1$ minimum monotonically lowers with increasing coverage, suggesting that $^3$ He adatoms become more mobile at higher coverages. The low-dimensional property of $^3$ He adatoms is observed as the separation of $T_1$ and $T_2$ above $T_\mathrm {min}$ where $\omega \tau _\mathrm {c}<1$ . On the other hand, several features specific to films in the nanochannel geometry were also found. Especially, the temperature dependence of $T_2$ becomes very small just below $T_\mathrm {min}$ and shows a shoulder at lower temperatures. This anomaly has not been observed in $^3$ He adsorbed in wider pores or on flat surfaces, so that it is considered to be characteristic of $^3$ He films confined in narrow channels with a diameter of a few nm.