Phase and microstructure evolution of Sc2O3–CeO2 –ZrO2ceramics in Na2SO4 + V2O5 molten salts

In this study, the destabilization resistance of Sc₂O₃ and CeO₂ co-stabilized ZrO₂ (SCZ) ceramics was tested in Na₂SO₄ + V₂O₅ molten salts at 750°C–1100 °C. The phase structure and microstructure evolution of the samples during the hot corrosion testing were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrum (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Results showed that the destabilization of SCZ ceramics at 750 °C was the result of the chemical reaction with V₂O₅ to produce m-ZrO₂ and CeVO₄, and little ScVO₄ was detected in the Sc₂O₃-rich SCZ ceramics. The primary corrosion products at 900 °C and 1100 °C were CeO₂ and m-ZrO₂ due to the mineralization effect. The Sc₂O₃-rich SCZ ceramics exhibited excellent degradation resistance and phase stability owing to the enhanced bond strength and the decreased size misfit between Zr⁴⁺ and Sc³⁺. The destabilization mechanism of SCZ ceramic under hot corrosion was also discussed.     

2.3–21 GHz broadband and high linearity distributed low noise amplifier

This paper focuses on the design of a 2.3–21 GHz Distributed Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) with low noise figure (NF), high gain (S₂₁), and high linearity (IIP3) for broadband applications. This distributed amplifier (DA) includes S/C/X/Ku/K-band, which makes it very suitable for heterodyne receivers. The proposed DA uses a 0.18 μm GaAs pHEMT process (OMMIC ED02AH) in cascade architecture with lines adaptation and equalization of phase velocity techniques, to absorb their parasitic capacitances into the gate and drain transmission lines in order to achieve wide bandwidth and to enhance gain and linearity. The proposed broadband DA achieved an excellent gain in the flatness of 13.5 ± 0.2 dB, a low noise figure of 3.44 ± 1.12 dB, and a small group delay variation of ±19.721 ps over the range of 2.3–21 GHz. The input and output reflection coefficients S₁₁ and S₂₂ are less than −10 dB. The input compression point (P_1dB) and input third-order intercept point (IIP3) are −1.5 dBm and 11.5 dBm, respectively at 13 GHz. The dissipated power is 282 mW and the core layout size is 2.2 × 0.8 mm².     

Enhanced strains of Nb-doped BNKT-4ST piezoelectric ceramics via phase boundary and domain design

A strategy that constructs the morphotropic phase boundary and manipulates the domain structure has been used to design the component of 0.96[Bi_0.5(Na_0.84K_0.16)_0.5Ti_(1-x)Nb_xO₃]-0.04SrTiO₃ (BNKT-4ST-100xNb) to enhance the strain properties for actuator application. Non-equivalent Nb⁵⁺ donor doping modulates the phase transition from the mixture of rhombohedral and tetragonal phases to the pseudocubic phase and results in the coexistence of multiple phases. Moreover, the high-resolution TEM confirms the existence of polar nano regions that contribute to the macroscopic relaxor behaviour. The size of the domains is reduced with increasing Nb⁵⁺, resulting in an enhanced relaxor behaviour. The ferroelectric-relaxor transition temperature decreases from 85 to below 30 °C, implying a non-ergodic to ergodic relaxor transition. An improved strain of 0.56% and a giant normalized strain of 1120 pm/V were achieved for BNKT-4ST-1.5Nb, which were attributed to the unique domain structure in which nanodomains are embedded in an undistorted cubic matrix. Ferroelectric, antiferroelectric, and relaxor phases coexist. As the electric field is large enough, a reversible phase transition occurs. Furthermore, good temperature stability was obtained due to the stability of the nanodomains, and no degradation in strains was observed even after 10⁴ cycles, which may originate from the reversible phase transition and dynamic domain wall. The results show that this design strategy offers a reference way to improve the strain behaviour and that BNKT-4ST-100xNb ceramics could be a potential material for high-displacement actuator applications.     

High energy storage properties of lead-free Mn-doped (1-x)AgNbO3-xBi0.5Na0.5TiO3 antiferroelectric ceramics

In this work, 0.2 wt.% Mn-doped (1-x)AgNbO₃-xBi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ (x = 0.00–0.04) ceramics were synthesized via solid state reaction method in flowing oxygen. The evolution of microstructure, phase transition and energy storage properties were investigated to evaluate the potential as high energy storage capacitors. Relaxor ferroelectric Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ was introduced to stabilize the antiferroelectric state through modulating the M₁-M₂ phase transition. Enhanced energy storage performance was achieved for the 3 mol% Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ doped AgNbO₃ ceramic with high recoverable energy density of 3.4 J/cm³ and energy efficiency of 62% under an applied field of 220 kV/cm. The improved energy storage performance can be attributed to the stabilized antiferroelectricity and decreased electrical hysteresis ΔE. In addition, the ceramics also displayed excellent thermal stability with low energy density variation (<6%) over a wide temperature range of 20−80 °C. These results indicate that Mn-doped (1-x)AgNbO₃-xBi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃ ceramics are highly efficient lead-free antiferroelectric materials for potential application in high energy storage capacitors.     

Macroscopic and Microscopic Structures of Cesium Lead Iodide Perovskite from Atomistic Simulations

A first‐principles‐based effective Hamiltonian is developed and employed to investigate finite‐temperature structural properties of a prototype of perovskite halides, that is CsPbI₃. Such simulations, when using first‐principles‐extracted coefficients, successfully reproduce the existence of an orthorhombic Pnma state and its iodine octahedral tilting angles around room temperature. However, they also yield a direct transformation from Pnma to cubic $Pm\overline{3}m$ upon heating, unlike measurements that reported the occurrence of an intermediate long‐range‐tilted tetragonal P4/mbm phase in‐between the orthorhombic and cubic phases. Such disagreement, which may cast some doubts about the extent to which first‐principle methods can be trusted to mimic hybrid perovskites, can be resolved by “only” changing one short‐range tilting parameter in the whole set of effective Hamiltonian coefficients. In such a case, some reasonable values of this specific parameter result in the predictions that i) the intermediate P4/mbm state originates from fluctuations over many different tilted states; and ii) the cubic $Pm\overline{3}m$ phase is highly locally distorted and develops strong transverse antiphase correlation between first‐nearest neighbor iodine octahedral tiltings, before undergoing a phase transition to P4/mbm under cooling.     

Investigation on phase shifting for a 4 K Stirling pulse tube cryocooler with He-3 as working fluid

He-3 is generally recognized for its ability to provide more excellent thermophysical performance than He-4, especially in the 4 K temperature range. However, this was not always the case in our preliminary experiments on a three-stage Stirling-type pulse tube cryocooler (SPTC). Our ongoing studies, as reported in this paper, demonstrate that the different working fluids also affect the performance through their phase shifting capability. This feature has been passed over in large part by researchers considering refrigerant substitution. Unlike previous theoretical analyses that focus primarily on regenerator losses, this report investigates the effects of the working fluid on the phase angle at the cold end in order to quantitatively reveal the relationship between the lowest attainable temperature and the cooling capacity. The analysis agrees well with our experimental results on a three-stage SPTC. While running with the operating parameters optimized for He-3, the lowest temperature of the SPTC decreased from 5.4 K down to 4.03 K. This is the lowest refrigeration temperature ever achieved with a three-stage SPTC.     

Bi2O3–Nd2O3–WO3 system: Phase formation,polymorphism, and conductivity

Cubic, tetragonal, and monoclinic (Bi₂O₃)_x (Nd₂O₃)_y (WO₃)_z (x + y + z = 1) solid solutions based on the Bi₂O₃ oxygen ion conductor have been prepared by solid-state reactions in the ternary system Bi₂O₃–Nd₂O₃–WO₃. The field of monoclinic compounds with a Bi_3·24La₂W_0·76O_10.14-type structure has been shown to account for most of the ternary system. Compounds with a cubic fluorite structure exist at the boundary of the monoclinic phase field in two small regions at high (83–91 mol% Bi₂O₃, δ-phase) and low (20–55 mol% Bi₂O₃, δ′-phase) Bi concentrations. The cubic samples of the δ-phase retain their structure only during rapid heating and cooling, but annealing in the range of 300–700 °C results in structure degradation to lower symmetry phases. The monoclinic compounds and Bi-poor cubic compounds (δ′-phase) have good thermal stability. The cubic samples of the δ′-phase are hygroscopic. Their bulk conductivity noticeably increases with atmospheric humidity, suggesting that these materials are potential proton conductors.     

Producing fully-lamellar microstructure for wrought beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field

Fine-grained fully-lamellar (FL) microstructure is desired for TiAl components to serve as compressor/turbine blades and turbocharger turbine wheels. This study deals with the process and phase transformation to produce FL microstructure for Mo stabilized beta-gamma TiAl alloys without single α-phase field. Unlike the α + γ two-phased TiAl or beta-gamma TiAl with single α-phase field, the wrought multi-phase TiAl–4/6Nb–2Mo–B/Y alloys exhibit special annealing process to obtain FL microstructure. Short-term annealing at temperatures slightly above β-transus is recommended to produce the desired FL microstructure. The related mechanism is to guarantee the sufficient diffusion homogenization of β stabilizers during single β-phase annealing, and further avoid α decomposition by α → γ + β when cooling through α + β + γ phase field. The colony boundary β phase contributes to fine-grained nearly FL microstructure, by retarding the coarsening of the α phase grains.     

Binary Ti–Fe system. Part I: Experimental investigation at high pressure

The present work illustrates the effect of quasi-hydrostatic pressure on the positions and widths of the homogeneity ranges of the intermetallic phases TiFe and TiFe₂ at high temperatures. The experiments were performed with Ti–Fe diffusion couples that were heat treated in a multi-anvil press at 2.5 GPa. The solubility limits of the phases were derived from the concentration profiles that were measured using electron probe microanalysis. It was found that the homogeneity ranges of TiFe and TiFe₂ extend to higher titanium concentrations, if the pressure is applied. The positions of the phase boundaries of the intermetallics on the iron-rich side are not affected by the pressure. The accuracy of the experimental data including the homogeneity ranges and temperatures was verified by comparing the homogeneity ranges of β-Ti(Fe), α/δ-Fe(Ti) and γ-Fe measured in this study with the homogeneity ranges taken from literature. The pressure was calibrated using the pressure-induced phase transitions of bismuth.     

Optimised phase compositions and improved microwave dielectric properties based on calcium tin silicates

The Ca_(1+2y)Sn_(1-x)Si_(1+y)O_(5-2x+4y) low-permittivity microwave dielectric ceramics were prepared through solid-state reaction at 1350–1450 °C for 5 h. The relations between microwave dielectric properties and phase compositions for non-stoichiometric Ca_(1+2y)Sn_(1-x)Si_(1+y)O_(5-2x+4y) ceramics have been investigated. A single CaSnSiO₅ phase with abnormally positive temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (τ_f = + 62.5 ppm/°C) was synthesised at 1450 °C. This composition was an effective τ_f compensator of CaSiO₃ and Ca₃SnSi₂O₉ phases with typically negative τ_f value. The CaSiO₃ second phase was related to the Sn deficiency in the CaSn_(1-x)SiO_(5-2x) (0 < x < 1.0) composition, whereas the Ca₃SnSi₂O₉ second phase was obtained by controlling the Ca:Sn:Si ratios on the basis of the Ca_(1+2y)SnSi_(1+y)O_(5+4y) (0 < y < 1.0) composition. A promising low-permittivity millimetre-wave ceramic with most excellent microwave dielectric properties (ε_r = 10.2, Q×f = 81,000 GHz and τ_f = −4.8 ppm/°C) was produced from the Ca_(1+2y)SnSi_(1+y)O_(5+4y) (y = 0.4) ceramic.