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At least 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Correlation functions for a spin-(1/2) Ising-XYZ diamond chain: Further evidence for quasi-phases and pseudo-transitions

One-dimensional systems with short-range interactions cannot exhibit a long-range order at nonzero temperature. However, there are some particular one-dimensional models, such as the Ising–Heisenberg spin models with a variety of lattice geometries, which exhibit unexpected behavior similar to the discontinuous or continuous temperature-driven phase transition. Although these pseudo-transitions are not true temperature-driven transitions showing only abrupt changes or sharp peaks in thermodynamic quantities, they may be confused while interpreting experimental data. Here we consider the spin-(1/2) Ising-XYZ diamond chain in the regime when the model exhibits temperature-driven pseudo-transitions. We provide a detailed investigation of several correlation functions between distant spins that illustrates the properties of quasi-phases separated by pseudo-transitions. Inevitably, all correlation functions show the evidence of pseudo-transition, which are supported by the analytical solutions and, besides we provide a rigorous analytical investigation around the pseudo-critical temperature. It is worth to mention that the correlation functions between distant spins have an extremely large correlation length at pseudo-critical temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Bifurcation theory of a one-dimensional transport model for the L-H transition

Transitions between low and high-confinement (L-H transitions) in magnetically confined plasmas can appear as three qualitatively different types: sharp, smooth, and oscillatory. Bifurcation analysis unravels these possible transition types and how they are situated in parameter space. In this paper the bifurcation analysis is applied to a 1-dimensional model for the radial transport of energy and density near the edge of magnetically confined plasmas. This phenomenological L-H transition model describes the reduction of the turbulent transport by E×B-flow shear self-consistently with the evolution of the radial electric field. Therewith, the exact parameter space, including the threshold values of the control parameters, of the possible L-H transitions in the model is determined. Furthermore, a generalised equal area rule is derived to describe the evolution of the transport barrier in space and time self-consistently. Applying this newly developed rule to the model analysed in this paper reveals a naturally occurring transition to an extra wide transport barrier that may correspond to the improved confinement known as the very-high-confinement mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1990

Nonlogarithmic magnetization relaxation at the initial time intervals and magnetic field dependence of the flux creep rate in Bi2Sr2Ca(sub I)Cu2Ox single crystals

At the initial time intervals, preceding the thermally activated flux creep regime, fast nonlogarithmic relaxation is found. The fully magnetic moment Pm(t) relaxation curve is shown. The magnetic measurements were made using SQUID-magnetometer. Two different relaxation regimes exist. The nonlogarithmic relaxation for the initial time intervals may be related to the viscous Abrikosov vortices flow with j is greater than j(sub c) for high enough temperature T and magnetic field induction B. This assumption correlates with Pm(t) measurements. The characteristic time t(sub O) separating two different relaxation regimes decreases as temperature and magnetic field are lowered. The logarithmic magnetization relaxation curves Pm(t) for fixed temperature and different external magnetic field inductions B are given. The relaxation rate dependence on magnetic field, R(B) = dPm(B, T sub O)/d(1nt) has a sharp maximum which is similar to that found for R(T) temperature dependences. The maximum shifts to lower fields as temperature goes up. The observed sharp maximum is related to a topological transition in shielding critical current distribution and, consequently, in Abrikosov vortices density. The nonlogarithmic magnetization relaxation for the initial time intervals is found. This fast relaxation has almost an exponentional character. The sharp relaxation rate R(B) maximum is observed. This maximum corresponds to a topological transition in Abrikosov vortices distribution.

Moshchalcov, V. V.↗
NASA NTRS1957

Some Effects of Bluntness on Boundary-Layer Transition and Heat Transfer at Supersonic Speeds

Large downstream movements of transition observed when the leading edge of a hollow cylinder or a flat plate is slightly blunted are explained in terms of the reduction in Reynolds number at the outer edge of the boundary layer due to the detached shock wave. The magnitude of this reduction is computed for cones and wedges for Mach numbers to 20. Concurrent changes in outer-edge Mach number and temperature occur in the direction that would increase the stability of the laminar boundary layer. The hypothesis is made that transition Reynolds number is substantially unchanged when a sharp leading edge or tip is blunted. This hypothesis leads to the conclusion that the downstream movement of transition is inversely proportional to the ratio of surface Reynolds number with blunted tip or leading edge to surface Reynolds number with sharp tip or leading edge. The conclusion is in good agreement with the hollow-cylinder result at Mach 3.1.

Moeckel, W E↗
DOE OSTI2017

Collapsed tetragonal phase transition in LaRu 2 P 2

Here, the structural properties of LaRu 2 P 2 under external pressure have been studied up to 14 GPa, employing high-energy x-ray diffraction in a diamond-anvil pressure cell. At ambient conditions, LaRu 2 P 2 (I4/ mmm ) has a tetragonal structure with a bulk modulus of B = 105(2) GPa and exhibits superconductivity at T c = 4.1 K. With the application of pressure, LaRu 2 P 2 undergoes a phase transition to a collapsed tetragonal (cT) state with a bulk modulus of B = 175(5) GPa. At the transition, the c-lattice parameter exhibits a sharp decrease with a concurrent increase of the a-lattice parameter. The cT phase transition in LaRu 2 P 2 is consistent with a second-order transition, and was found to be temperature dependent, increasing from P = 3.9(3) GPa at 160 K to P = 4.6(3) GPa at 300 K. In total, our data are consistent with the cT transition being near, but slightly above 2 GPa at 5 K where superconductivity is suppressed. Finally, we compare the effect of physical and chemical pressure in the R Ru 2 P 2 ( R = Y, La–Er, Yb) isostructural series of compounds and find them to be analogous.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOW LIGHT CURVES FROM A LORENTZ-BOOSTED SIMULATION FRAME AND THE SHAPE OF THE JET BREAK

The early stages of decelerating gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow jets have been notoriously difficult to resolve numerically using two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations even at very high resolution, due to the extreme thinness of the blast wave and high outflow Lorentz factors. However, these resolution issues can be avoided by performing the simulations in a boosted frame, which makes it possible to calculate afterglow light curves from numerically computed flows in sufficient detail to accurately quantify the shape of the jet break and the post-break steepening of the light curve. Here, we study afterglow jet breaks for jets with opening angles of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 radians decelerating in a surrounding medium of constant density, observed at various angles ranging from on-axis to the edge of the jet. A single set of scale-invariant functions describing the time evolution of afterglow synchrotron spectral break frequencies and peak flux, depending only on jet opening angle and observer angle, are all that is needed to reconstruct light curves for arbitrary explosion energy, circumburst density and synchrotron particle distribution power law slope p. These functions are presented in the paper. Their time evolutions change directly following the jet break, although an earlier reported temporary post-break steepening of the cooling break is found to have been resolution-induced. We compare synthetic light curves to fit functions using sharp power law breaks as well as smooth power law transitions. We confirm our earlier finding that the measured jet break time is very sensitive to the angle of the observer and can be postponed significantly. We find that the difference in temporal indices across the jet break is larger than theoretically anticipated and is about -(0.5 + 0.5p) below the cooling break and about -(0.25 + 0.5p) above the cooling break, both leading to post-break slopes of roughly about 0.25 - 1.3p, although different observer angles, jet opening angles and heuristic descriptions of the break introduce a wide range of temporal indices. Nevertheless, the post-break slope from our constant density interstellar medium simulations is sufficiently steep to be hard to reconcile with post-break slopes measured for the Swift sample, suggesting that Swift GRBs mostly do not explode in a homogeneous medium or that the jet breaks are hidden from view by additional physics such as prolonged energy injection or viewing angle effects. A comparison between different smooth power law fit functions shows that although smooth power law transitions of the type introduced by Harrison et al. often provide better fits, smooth power law transitions of the type introduced by Beuermann et al. or even sharp power law fits are easier to interpret in terms of the underlying model. Light curves and spectral break and peak flux evolution functions will be made publicly available online at http://cosmo.nyu.edu/afterglowlibrary.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Oscillating paramagnetic Meissner effect and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

ABSTRACT Superconducting phase transitions in two dimensions lie beyond the description of the Ginzburg-Landau symmetry-breaking paradigm for three-dimensional superconductors. They are Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transitions of paired-electron condensate driven by the unbinding of topological excitations, i.e. vortices. The recently discovered monolayers of layered high-transition-temperature (${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$) cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) meant that this 2D superconductor promised to be ideal for the study of unconventional superconductivity. But inhomogeneity posed challenges for distinguishing BKT physics from charge correlations in this material. Here, we utilize the phase sensitivity of scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy susceptometry to image the local magnetic response of underdoped Bi2212 from the monolayer to the bulk throughout its phase transition. The monolayer segregates into domains with independent phases at elevated temperatures below ${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$. Within a single domain, we find that the susceptibility oscillates with flux between diamagnetism and paramagnetism in a Fraunhofer-like pattern up to ${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$. The finite modulation period, as well as the broadening of the peaks when approaching ${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$ from below, suggests well-defined vortices that are increasingly screened by the dissociation of vortex-antivortex plasma through a BKT transition. In the multilayers, the susceptibility oscillation differs in a small temperature regime below ${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$, consistent with a dimensional crossover led by interlayer coupling. Serving as strong evidence for BKT transition in the bulk, we observe a sharp jump in phase stiffness and paramagnetism at small fields just below ${{{T}}}_{{\rm C}}$. These results unify the superconducting phase transitions from the monolayer to the bulk underdoped Bi2212, and can be collectively referred to as the BKT transition with interlayer coupling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thermal transport measurements through the charge density wave transition in CsV 3 Sb 5

We study thermal transport and thermalization in single crystals of CsV 3 Sb 5 through the CDW transition by directly measuring thermal diffusivity (D), thermal conductivity (κ), specific heat (c), and resistivity (ρ). Commensurate with previous reports, we observe a sharp, narrow anomaly in specific heat associated with a first-order transition that results in a CDW state below ~94 K. While a corresponding sharp anomaly in thermal diffusivity is also observed, resistivity and thermal conductivity only exhibit small steps at the transition, where the feature is sharp for resistivity and broader for thermal conductivity. Scrutinizing the thermal Einstein relation κ = cD, we find that this relation is generally satisfied, except in the narrow two-phase regime of the putative first-order transition. Here, the Wiedemann-Franz law as well seems to work outside the two-phase regime, where strong resemblance between the specific heat and the resistivity derivative below the transition may point to a concurrent emergence of a secondary electronic order parameter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structure transitions induced by the Hall term in homogeneous and isotropic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Hall effects on local structures in homogeneous, isotropic, and incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence are studied numerically. The transition of vortices from sheet-like to tubular structures induced by the Hall term is found, while the kinetic energy spectrum does not distinguish the two types of structures. It is shown by the use of the sharp low-pass filter that the transition occurs not only in the scales smaller than the ion skin depth but also in a larger scale. The transition is related with the forward energy transfer in the spectral space. Analyses by the use of the sharp low-pass filter show that the nonlinear energy transfer associated with the Hall term is dominated by the forward transfer and relatively local in the wave number space. A projection of the simulation data to a Smagorinsky-type sub-grid-scale model shows that the high wave number component of the Hall term may possibly be replaced by the model effectively.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Intrinsic Nanostructure in Zr 2-x Fe 4 Si 16-y (x=0.81, y=6.06)

We present a study of the crystal structure and physical properties of single crystals of a new Fe-based ternary compound, Zr 2-x Fe 4 Si 16-y (x=0.81,y=6.06). Zr 1.19 Fe 4 Si 9.94 is a layered compound, where stoichiometric β-FeSi 2 -derived slabs are separated by Zr-Si planes with substantial numbers of vacancies. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) experiments show that these Zr-Si layers consist of 3.5nm domains where the Zrand Si vacancies are ordered within a supercell sixteen times the volume of the stoichiometric cell. Within these domains, the occupancies of the Zr and Si sites obey symmetry rules that permit only certain compositions, none of which by themselves reproduce the average composition found in x-ray diffraction experiments. Magnetic susceptibility and magnetization measurements reveal a small but appreciable number of magnetic moments that remain freely fluctuating to 1.8K, while neutron diffraction confirms the absence of bulk magnetic order with a moment of 0.2μB or larger down to 1.5K. Electrical resistivity measurements find that Zr 1.19 Fe 4 Si 9.94 is metallic, and the modest value of the Sommerfeld coefficient of the specific heat γ = C/T suggests that quasi-particle masses are not particularly strongly enhanced. The onset of superconductivity at T c ≃ 6K results in a partial resistive transition and a small Meissner signal, although a bulk-like transition is found in the specific heat. Sharp peaks in the ac susceptibility signal the interplay of the normal skin depth and the London penetration depth, typical of a system in which nano-sized superconducting grains are separated by a on-superconducting host. Ultra low field differential magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal the presence of a surprisingly large number of trace magnetic and superconducting phases, suggesting that the Zr-Fe-Si ternary system could be a potentially rich source of new bulk superconductor.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2016

Transition Prediction in Hypersonic Boundary Layers Using Receptivity and Freestream Spectra

Boundary-layer transition in hypersonic flows over a straight cone can be predicted using measured freestream spectra, receptivity, and threshold values for the wall pressure fluctuations at the transition onset points. Simulations are performed for hypersonic boundary-layer flows over a 7-degree half-angle straight cone with varying bluntness at a freestream Mach number of 10. The steady and the unsteady flow fields are obtained by solving the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in axisymmetric coordinates using a 5th-order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for space discretization and using a third-order total-variation-diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta scheme for time integration. The calculated N-factors at the transition onset location increase gradually with increasing unit Reynolds numbers for flow over a sharp cone and remain almost the same for flow over a blunt cone. The receptivity coefficient increases slightly with increasing unit Reynolds numbers. They are on the order of 4 for a sharp cone and are on the order of 1 for a blunt cone. The location of transition onset predicted from the simulation including the freestream spectrum, receptivity, and the linear and the weakly nonlinear evolutions yields a solution close to the measured onset location for the sharp cone. The simulations over-predict transition onset by about twenty percent for the blunt cone.

Balakumar, P.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tuning of magnetic transition temperatures in nanoparticles of CoCr{sub 2}O{sub 4} multiferroic by B-site mixing

Highlights: • Pure CoCr{sub 2−x}Fe{sub x}O{sub 4} (x = 0.1 and 0.2) nanoparticles of 16–20 and 6–10 nm show enhancement of T{sub c} from 100 to 110 K and T{sub s} from 18 K to 36 K with increasing Fe. • The theoretical variation of reciprocal susceptibility with temperature in paramagnetic region using the function χ{sup −1} = T/C + 1/χ{sub 0} – b/(T − θ) is fitted with the experimental data. • The difference in ferrimagnetic Curie point, θ{sub f} and paramagnetic Curie point, θ{sub p} is 30 K and 7 K respectively for sample x = 0.1 and 0.2 indicating a sharp ferri- to para-magnetic transition in the former one. - Abstract: Pure CoCr{sub 2−x}Fe{sub x}O{sub 4} nanoparticles synthesized through conventional coprecipitation technique show particle size distribution in the range of 16–20 and 6–10 nm for x = 0.1 and 0.2 respectively. Magnetic and specific heat measurements show an enhancement of paramagnetic to collinear ferrimagnetic transition temperature, T{sub c} from 100 to 110 K and to a short range non-collinear spiral ordering, T{sub s} from 18 to 36 K with increasing x from 0.1 to 0.2 respectively. In addition, a strong disagreement between the paramagnetic moment obtained from the fitting of χ{sup −1} = T/C + 1/χ{sub 0} – b/(T − θ) and ferrimagnetic moment measured from the M vs. H loop at 10 K corroborates the nonsaturation behavior of magnetization at 50–100 kOe field and an order of magnitude higher coercivity (H{sub c}). The enhancement of T{sub c} and T{sub s} with increasing Fe concentration is attributed to an intrinsic change in non-collinear to collinear spin structure and strong J{sub A–B} interaction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

The influence of temperature induced phase transition on the energy storage density of anti-ferroelectric ceramics

Anti-ferroelectric (AFE) composite ceramics of (Pb{sub 0.858}Ba{sub 0.1}La{sub 0.02}Y{sub 0.008})(Zr{sub 0.65}Sn{sub 0.3}Ti{sub 0.05})O{sub 3}-(Pb{sub 0.97}La{sub 0.02})(Zr{sub 0.9}Sn{sub 0.05} Ti{sub 0.05})O{sub 3} (PBLYZST-PLZST) were fabricated by the conventional solid-state sintering process (CS), the glass-aided sintering (GAS), and the spark plasma sintering (SPS), respectively. The influence of the temperature induced phase transition on the phase structure, hysteresis loops, and energy storage properties of the composite ceramics were investigated in detail. The measured results of X-ray diffraction demonstrate that the composite ceramics exhibit the perovskite phases and small amounts of non-functional pyrochlore phases. Compared with the CS process, the GAS and SPS processes are proven more helpful to suppress the diffusion behaviors between the PBLYZST and PLZST phases according to the field emission scanning electron microscopy, thereby being able to improve the contribution of PBLYZST phase to the temperature stability of the orthogonal AFE phase. When the ambient temperature rises from 25 °C to 125 °C, CS and GAS samples have undergone a phase transition from orthorhombic AFE phase to tetragonal AFE phase, which results in a sharp decline in the energy storage density. However, the phase transition temperature of SPS samples is higher than 125 °C, and the energy storage density only slightly decreases due to the disorder of material microstructure caused by the high temperature. As a result, the SPS composite ceramics obtain a recoverable high energy storage density of 6.46 J/cm{sup 3} and the excellent temperature stability of the energy storage density of 1.16 × 10{sup −2} J/°C·cm{sup 3}, which is 1.29 × 10{sup −2} J/°C·cm{sup 3} lower than that of CS samples and about 0.43 times as that of GAS samples.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Atomically sharp jagged edges of chemical vapor deposition-grown WS 2 for electrocatalysis

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown 2D transition metal dichalcogenides can adopt faceted edges. To investigate how sharp these sites can be, we utilize aberration-corrected annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) to resolve the atomic structure of two-dimensional (2D) WS 2 domains that show jagged edges. Nanoscale triangular edge structures with S zigzag terminations are observed. Both the peak and valley regions exhibit near-atomic sharpness. The peaks are as sharp as two atoms in width. Highly ordered valley sites display a minimum width of three atoms, and prospective single-atom valleys appear as two-atom-wide sites in the ADF-STEM contrast. Regarding the kinetics, density-functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the 2-W-atom peak would not evolve into a single-W-atom peak even though the latter configuration is also stable with a high enough binding energy under the growth conditions. These results help deepen our understanding of the possible structuring at the nanoscale and the atomic-scale limits of peaks and valleys formed via intersection of two zigzag edges. The enriched edge sites lead to higher catalytic activities for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nematic transitions in iron pnictide superconductors imaged with a quantum gas

The Scanning Quantum Cryogenic Atom Microscope (SQCRAMscope) uses an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate to measure magnetic fields emanating from solid-state samples. The quantum sensor does so with unprecedented d.c. sensitivity at micrometre resolution, from room to cryogenic temperatures. An additional advantage of the SQCRAMscope is the preservation of optical access to the sample so that magnetometry imaging of, for example, electron transport may be performed in concert with other imaging techniques. Here, we apply this multimodal imaging capability to the study of nematicity in iron pnictide high-temperature superconductors, where the relationship between electronic and structural symmetry breaking resulting in a nematic phase is under debate. We combine the SQCRAMscope with an in situ microscope that measures optical birefringence near the surface. This enables simultaneous and spatially resolved detection of both bulk and near-surface manifestations of nematicity via transport and structural deformation channels, respectively. By performing local measurements of emergent resistivity anisotropy in iron pnictides, we observe sharp, nearly concurrent transport and structural transitions. More broadly, these measurements demonstrate the SQCRAMscope’s ability to reveal important insights into the physics of complex quantum materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Structure and ferroelectric studies of (Ba{sub 0.85}Ca{sub 0.15})(Ti{sub 0.9}Zr{sub 0.1})O{sub 3} piezoelectric ceramics

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • (Ba{sub 0.85}Ca{sub 0.15})(Ti{sub 0.9}Zr{sub 0.1})O{sub 3} (BCTZO) ceramic was synthesized by the ceramic method. • In situ XRD and Raman spectra showed the phase transition of BCTZO around 360 K. • The ceramics showed a tunability of 82% at 40 kV cm{sup −1} electric field. • BCTZO exhibited good quality factor of 111 at microwave frequencies. • Piezoforce microscopy studies indicated the switchability of ferroelectric domains. - Abstract: We have synthesized and studied the structural and ferroelectric properties of lead-free 0.5(Ba{sub 0.7}Ca{sub 0.3})TiO{sub 3}–0.5Ba(Zr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8})O{sub 3} ceramics in the temperature region of its ferroelectric transition. The synthesized material showed high dielectric constant, low loss and good pyroelectric figure of merit. From the temperature dependent X-ray diffraction measurements, we determined the tricritical point to be in the temperature range of 303–400 K. The dielectric measurements indicate a diffuse ferroelectric phase transition (DPT) around 360 K in agreement with the X-ray measurements. We studied the evolution of Raman spectra with temperature to understand the nature of phase transition in BaTiO{sub 3} (BTO) and the BCTZO. The results indicates that the transition of ferroelectric–paraelectric state is not sharp as in the case of BTO and the polar state persists through the paraelectric state. In general, our study indicates that there are ferroelectric domains of nanometer size beyond the commonly defined transition temperature. The observation of local piezoelectric hysteresis loop indicated the existence of intrinsic ferroelectric property of the ceramic at the nanoscale. The ceramics exhibited electric field tunable dielectric properties with a tunability of 82% at an applied DC field of 40 kV cm{sup −1}, low dielectric loss of 0.001 and room temperature pyroelectric coefficient of 6 × 10{sup −8} C cm{sup −2} K{sup −1} and the detectivity of 1.9 × 10{sup −8} C cm{sup −1} J{sup −1}; larger than those reported for other BaTiO{sub 3}-based materials. Overall, our results indicate that BCTZO ceramics with coexistence of rhombohedral–tetragonal phases is a promising candidate for lead-free ferroelectric applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗