ALBERT

Description: The nonequilibrium theory of strongly correlated systems is proposed theory which is grounded on the generalized Wick theorem. This theorem is employed for calculation of the thermal averages of the contour arranged products of electron operators by generalizing Keldysh formalism. Perturbation expansion is realized for Anderson impurity model in which we consider the Coulomb interaction of the impurity electrons as a main parameter of the model and the mixing interaction between impurity and conduction electrons as a perturbation. The first two approximations are used and is obtained the value of the current between one of the leads and central region of interacting electrons. The contribution of the strong correlations and of irreducible diagrams is analyzed.

Description: We begin with a brief description of the role of the Nernst-Ettingshausen effect in the studies of the high-temperature superconductors and Dirac materials such as graphene. The theoretical analysis of the NE effect is involved because the standard Kubo formalism has to be modified by the presence of magnetization currents in order to satisfy the third law of thermodynamics. A new generation of the low-buckled Dirac materials is expected to have a strong spin Nernst effect that represents the spintronics analog of the NE effect. These Dirac materials can be considered as made of two independent electron subsystems of the two-component gapped Dirac fermions. For each subsystem the gap breaks a time-reversal symmetry and thus plays a role of an effective magnetic field. We explicitly demonstrate how the correct thermoelectric coefficient emerges both by the explicit calculation of the magnetization and by a formal cancelation in the modified Kubo formula. We conclude by showing that the nontrivial dependences of the spin Nersnt signal on the carrier concentration and electric field applied are expected in silicene and other low-buckled Dirac materials.

Description: We study the electronic and magnetic properties of multilayer quantum dots (MQDs) of graphite in the nearest-neighbor approximation of tight-binding model. We calculate the electronic density of states and orbital susceptibility of the system as function of the Fermi level location. We demonstrate that properties of MQD depend strongly on the shape of the system, on the parity of the layer number and on the form of the cluster edge. The special emphasis is given to reveal the new properties with respect to the monolayer graphene quantum dots. The most interesting results are obtained for the triangular MQD with zig-zag edge at near-zero energies. The asymmetrically smeared multipeak feature is observed at Dirac point within the size-quantized energy gap region, where monolayer graphene flakes demonstrate the highly-degenerate zero-energy state. This feature, provided by the edge-localized electronic states results in the splash-wavelet behavior in diamagnetic orbital susceptibility as function of energy.

Description: The notion of the conformal phase transiton (CPhT) is discussed. As its realization, the dynamics with an infrared stable fixed point in the conformal window in QCD like theories with a relatively large number of fermion flavors is reviewed. The emphasis is on the description of a clear signature for the conformal window, which in particular can be useful for lattice computer simulations of these gauge theories. A possibility of the relevance of the CPhT in graphene is mentioned.

Description: The spin-transfer torque (STT) effect provides a new method of manipulation of magnetization in nanoscale objects. The STT effect manifests itself as a transfer of spin angular momentum between the parallel magnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic spacer and traversed by a dc electric current. The transfer of the spin angular momentum from one layer to another could result in the excitation of the microwave-frequency magnetization dynamics in one of the magnetic layers. On the other hand, when a magnetization dynamics is excited in a magnetic layered structure by an external microwave signal both the structure electrical resistance and current through the structure will acquire microwave components resulting in the appearance of a rectified dc voltage on the magnetic structure. This “spin-torque diode effect” can be used for the development of ultra-sensitive spin-torque microwave detectors (STMD). Below we present a brief review of our recent work on the general properties of STMDs, analyze the performance of the “resonance-type” and “threshold-type STMD” and consider the possible applications for such microwave detectors.

Description: It is shown that the manifestation of a magnetoelastic gap in a ferromagnet is caused by the same effect that endows the Higgs boson with mass. The “easy plane” state is studied in a uniaxial ferromagnet, taking into account magnetoelastic interaction. The strain tensor components of the ferromagnet in the ground state, magnetoelastic gap, and the renormalization of the magnetic anisotropy constant, are determined.

Description: We studied the optical absorption and luminescence of agate (SiO 2 ), topaz (Al 2 [SiO 4 ](F,OH) 2 ), beryl (Be 3 Al 2 Si 6 O 18 ), and prehnite (Ca 2 Al(AlSi 3 O 10 )(OH) 2 ) doped with different concentrations of transition metal ions and exposed to fast neutron irradiation. The exchange interaction between the impurity ions and the defects arising under neutron irradiation causes additional absorption as well as bands' broadening in the crystals. These experimental results allow us to suggest the method for obtaining new radiation-defect induced jewellery colors of minerals due to neutron irradiation.

Description: We analyzed carefully the experimental kinetics of the low-temperature diffusion-controlled F, H center recombination in a series of irradiated alkali halides and extracted the migration energies and pre-exponential parameters for the hole H centers. The migration energy for the complementary electronic F centers in NaCl was obtained from the colloid formation kinetics observed above room temperature. The obtained parameters were compared with data available from the literature.

Description: The effect of low-temperature uniaxial deformation on the self-trapping-limited mean free path of excitons in a KI–Tl crystal was revealed from x-ray luminescence spectra. The analysis of the dependence of the intensity ratio of the Tl-center emission (2.85 eV) and the luminescence of self-trapped excitons (π-component; 3.3 eV) on the extent of low-temperature deformation showed that in the KI–Tl crystal (3 × 10 −3 mol. %) the self-trapping-limited mean free path of excitons is comparable with the distance between Tl atoms (20–27) a under a deformation ε = 2%. As the compression increases to ε ≥ 2%–5%, the mean free path drops to (27-5.35) a . The results of modeling based on the continuum approximation showed that with increasing temperature and the degree of low-temperature deformation the height of the potential barrier for the exciton self-trapping drops, which is consistent with the reduction of the mean free path of excitons in the KI–Tl crystal.

Description: Free volume and pore size distribution size in functional micro and macro-micro-modified Cu 0.4 Co 0.4 Ni 0.4 Mn 1.8 O 4 ceramics are characterized by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy in comparison with Hg-porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy technique. Positron annihilation results are interpreted in terms of model implication positron trapping and ortho-positronium decaying. It is shown that free volume of positron traps are the same type for macro and micro modified Cu 0.4 Co 0.4 Ni 0.4 Mn 1.8 O 4 ceramics. Classic Tao-Eldrup model in spherical approximation is used to calculation of the size of nanopores smaller than 2 nm using the ortho-positronium lifetime.

Description: In order to predict optical properties of insulating materials under intensive laser excitation, we generalized methods of quantum electrodynamics, allowing us to simulate excitation of electrons and holes, interacting with each other and acoustic phonons. The prototypical model considers a two-band dielectric material characterized by the dispersion relations for electron and hole states. We developed a universal description of excited electrons, holes and acoustic phonons within joint quantum kinetics formalism. Illustrative solutions for the quasiparticle birth-annihilation operators, applicable at short laser pulses at 0 K, are obtained by the transition from the macroscopic description to the quantum field formalism.

Description: Monoclinic antiferromagnetic NiWO 4 was studied by far-infrared (30–600 cm −1 ) absorption spectroscopy in the temperature range of 5–300 K using the synchrotron radiation from SOLEIL source. Two isomorphous CoWO 4 and ZnWO 4 tungstates were investigated for comparison. The phonon contributions in the far-infrared range of tungstates were interpreted using the first-principles spin-polarized linear combination of atomic orbital calculations. No contributions from magnetic excitations were found in NiWO 4 and CoWO 4 below their Neel temperatures down to 5 K.

Description: The creation spectrum of stable F centres (being part of F-H pairs of Frenkel defects) by synchrotron radiation of 7–40 eV has been measured for highly pure NaCl single crystals at 12 K using a highly sensitive luminescent method. It is shown that the efficiency of F centre creation in a closely packed NaCl is low at the decay of anion or cation excitons (7.8–8.4 and 33.4 eV, respectively) or at the recombination of relaxed conduction electrons and valence holes. Only the recombination of nonrelaxed (hot) electrons with holes provides the energy exceeding threshold value E FD , which is sufficient for the creation of Frenkel defects at low temperature.

Description: An unambiguous attribution of the absorption spectra to definite paramagnetic centres identified by the EPR techniques in the most cases is problematic. This problem may be solved by applying of a direct measurement techniques—the EPR detected via the magnetic circular dichroism, or briefly MCD–EPR. The present survey reports on the advantages and disadvantages applying the MCD–EPR techniques to simple and complex paramagnetic centres in crystals as well as glasses and glass-ceramics.

Description: Luminescence properties of SiO 2 in different structural states are compared. Similar comparison is made for GeO 2 . Rutile and α-quartz structures as well as glassy state of these materials are considered. Main results are that for α-quartz crystals the luminescence of self-trapped exciton is the general phenomenon that is absent in the crystal with rutile structure. In rutile structured SiO 2 (stishovite) and GeO 2 (argutite) the main luminescence is due to a host material defect existing in as-received (as-grown) samples. The defect luminescence possesses specific two bands, one of which has a slow decay (for SiO 2 in the blue and for GeO 2 , in green range) and another, a fast ultraviolet (UV) band (4.75 eV in SiO 2 and at 3 eV in GeO 2 ). In silica and germania glasses, the luminescence of self-trapped exciton coexists with defect luminescence. The latter also contains two bands: one in the visible range and another in the UV range. The defect luminescence of glasses was studied in details during last 60–70 years and is ascribed to oxygen deficient defects. Analogous defect luminescence in the corresponding pure nonirradiated crystals with α-quartz structure is absent. Only irradiation of a α-quartz crystal by energetic electron beam, γ-rays and neutrons provides defect luminescence analogous to glasses and crystals with rutile structure. Therefore, in glassy state the structure containing tetrahedron motifs is responsible for existence of self-trapped excitons and defects in octahedral motifs are responsible for oxygen deficient defects.

Description: The ground state properties of cubic scandium trifluoride (ScF 3 ) perovskite were studied using first-principles calculations. The electronic structure of ScF 3 was determined by linear combination of atomic orbital (LCAO) and plane wave projector augmented-wave (PAW) methods using modified hybrid exchange-correlation functionals within the density functional theory (DFT). The comprehensive comparison of the results obtained by two methods is presented. Both methods allowed us to reproduce the lattice constant found experimentally in ScF 3 at low temperatures and to predict its electronic structure in good agreement with known experimental valence-band photoelectron and F 1 s x-ray absorption spectra.

Description: Photoluminescence and excitation spectra of microcrystalline and nanocrystalline nickel tungstate (NiWO 4 ) were measured using UV-VUV synchrotron radiation source. The origin of the bands is interpreted using comparative analysis with isostructural ZnWO 4 tungstate and based on the results of recent first-principles band structure calculations. The influence of the local atomic structure relaxation and of Ni 2+ intra-ion d–d transitions on the photoluminescence band intensity are discussed.

Description: In this paper a novel method for synthesis of LaInO 3 :Er 3+ is reported and upconversion luminescence properties of the synthesized material at different temperatures (9–300 K) are studied. The samples were prepared by co-precipitation and subsequent heat treatment of lanthanum, indium and erbium hydroxides. It is shown that the excitation at 980 nm leads to a strong green upconversion luminescence in the material. At the concentrations above 0.1 mol. % of Er 3+ the energy transfer upconversion mechanism of the luminescence becomes evident. Further increase of Er 3+ content in the material leads to higher red-to-green upconversion luminescence intensity ratio. The mechanisms responsible for the observed variation are discussed.

Description: Possible proximity effects in gases of cold, multiply charged atoms are discussed. Here we deal with rarefied gases with densities n d of multiply charged ( Z ≫ 1) atoms at low temperatures in the well-known Thomas-Fermi (TF) approximation, which can be used to evaluate the statistical properties of single atoms. In order to retain the advantages of the TF formalism, which is successful for symmetric problems, the external boundary conditions accounting for the finiteness of the density of atoms (donors), n d ≠ 0, are also symmetrized (using a spherical Wigner-Seitz cell) and formulated in a standard way that conserves the total charge within the cell. The model shows that at zero temperature in a rarefied gas of multiply charged atoms there is an effective long-range interaction E proxi ( n d ), the sign of which depends on the properties of the outer shells of individual atoms. The long-range character of the interaction E proxi is evaluated by comparing it with the properties of the well-known London dispersive attraction E Lond ( n d ) 〈 0, which is regarded as a long-range interaction in gases. For the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon E proxi 〉0 and for the alkali and alkaline-earth elements E proxi 〈 0. At finite temperatures, TF statistics manifests a new, anomalously large proximity effect, which reflects the tendency of electrons localized at Coulomb centers to escape into the continuum spectrum. The properties of thermal decay are interesting in themselves as they determine the important phenomenon of dissociation of neutral complexes into charged fragments. This phenomenon appears consistently in the TF theory through the temperature dependence of the different versions of E proxi . The anomaly in the thermal proximity effect shows up in the following way: for T ≠ 0 there is no equilibrium solution of TS statistics for single multiply charged atoms in a vacuum when the effect is present. Instability is suppressed in a Wigner-Seitz model under the assumption that there are no electron fluxes through the outer boundary R 3 ∝ n −1 d of a Wigner-Seitz cell. E proxi corresponds to the definition of the correlation energy in a gas of interacting particles. This review is written so as to enable comparison of the results of the TF formalism with the standard assumptions of the correlation theory for classical plasmas. The classic example from work on weak solutions (including charged solutions)—the use of semi-impermeable membranes for studies of osmotic pressure—is highly appropriate for problems involving E proxi . Here we are speaking of one or more sharp boundaries formed by the ionic component of a many-particle problem. These may be a metal-vacuum boundary in a standard Casimir cell in a study of the vacuum properties in the 2 l gap between conducting media of different kinds or different layered systems (quantum wells) in semiconductors, etc. As the mobile part of the equilibrium near a sharp boundary, electrons can (should) escape beyond the confines of the ion core into a gap 2 l with a probability that depends, among other factors, on the properties of E proxi for the electron cloud inside the conducting walls of the Casimir cell (quantum well). The analog of the Casimir sandwich in semiconductors is the widely used multilayer heterostructures referred to as quantum wells of width 2 l with sides made of suitable doped materials, which ensure statistical equilibrium exchange of electrons between the layers of the multilayer structure. The thermal component of the proximity effects in semiconducting quantum wells provides an idea of many features of the dissociation process in doped semiconductors. In particular, a positive E proxi 〉 0 (relative to the bottom of the conduction band) indicates that TF donors with a finite density n d ≠ 0 form a degenerate, semiconducting state in the semiconductor. At zero temperature, there is a finite density of free carriers which increases with a power-law dependence on T .

Description: The radiation properties and the electronic structure of hybrid composites based on suspension polystyrene (PS) and nanocrystals of BaZrO 3 (BZO) ( d 〈 50 nm) have been studied using luminescent spectroscopy and x-ray analysis. A strong cathodoluminescence (CL) in BZO-nanocrystals is observed in temperature range 80–293 K. It is modified in BZO-PS composites: both the low- and a high-energy bands (near 4 eV) appear, together with a significant reduction in the CL intensity. A decrease of the lattice parameter a for BZO phase in the composite and the modification of CL spectra indicate for changes in the nanocrystalline structure induced by the polymer.

Description: Fresh and aged melt-grown or gas-phase grown CdI 2 crystals are studied by means of low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. Noticeable transformations of emission spectra are observed after long-term aging. The formation of nanostructures containing cadmium oxide and cadmium hydroxide as well as the changes in local surrounding of iodine atoms and the possible growth of polytypic modifications of CdI 2 are taken into account when considering the diversity of optical spectra.

Description: Analytical calculations of the potential barrier hindering rotation of the hydrogen molecules in the molecular field of neighboring molecules are performed for molecular solid hydrogen. The calculations are made for the four-sublattice Pca 2 1 lattice which minimizes the electrostatic energy of classical quadrupoles on an hcp lattice.

Description: The model describing the effect of anharmonicity on the spin-crossover properties of Fe(II) complex is proposed. It is shown that anharmonicity can be one of the important factors controlling the magnetic transitions of the low-spin high-spin type.

Description: We report Raman light scattering in the phase separated superconducting single crystal Rb 0.77 Fe 1.61 Se 2 with T c = 32 K over a wide temperature region 3–500 K. The observed phonon lines from the majority vacancy ordered Rb 2 Fe 4 Se 5 (245) antiferromagnetic phase with T N = 525 K demonstrate modest anomalies in the frequency, intensity and halfwidth at the superconductive phase transition. We identify phonon lines from the minority compressed Rb δ Fe 2 Se 2 (122) conductive phase. The superconducting gap with d x 2 − y 2 symmetry has been detected in our spectra. In the range 0–600 cm −1 we observe a weak but highly polarized B 1 g -type background which becomes well-structured upon cooling. A possible magnetic or multiorbital origin of this background is discussed. We argue that the phase separation in M 0.8+ x Fe 1 . 6+y Se 2 is of pure magnetic origin. It occurs below the Néel temperature when the magnetic moment of iron reaches a critical value. We state that there is a spacer between the majority 245 and minority 122 phases. Using ab initio spin-polarized band structure calculations we demonstrate that the compressed vacancy ordered Rb 2 Fe 4 Se 5 phase can be conductive and therefore may serve as a protective interface spacer between the purely metallic Rb δ Fe 2 Se 2 phase and the insulating Rb 2 Fe 4 Se 5 phase providing percolative Josephson-junction like superconductivity all throughout of Rb 0.8+ x Fe 1.6+ y Se 2 . Our lattice dynamics calculations show significant differences in the phonon spectra of the conductive and insulating Rb 2 Fe 4 Se 5 phases.

Description: The relative elongation ε of samples of high purity (99.9999 mol. % with respect to nonhydrogenic impurities) parahydrogen ( p -H 2 , ∼0.2% o -H 2 ) with different amounts of the stable hydrogen isotope deuterium is measured as a function of applied stress σ at temperatures of 1.8–4.2 K. The samples were subjected to uniaxial tension by stepwise loading. The ratio [D]/[H] of the number [D] of deuterium atoms to the number [H] of p -H 2 hydrogen atoms ranged from 0.0055 ± 0.0005 at. % up to 0.07 at. %. For deuterium enriched p- H 2 , the easy slip dislocation stage vanished from the σ(ε) curves and there was a significant reduction in the total relative elongation of the samples, as well as a substantial increase in the hardening coefficient d σ/ d ε. Deformation of samples of p- H 2 with deuterium contents higher than the natural amount produces an unusual change in their shape owing to the appearance of a rotational component of the low-temperature plastic mass transfer.

Description: Raman spectrum of single-crystal SmFe 3 (BO 3 ) 4 was studied in the frequency range from 3 to 1500 cm −1 at temperatures 10–300 K. All the A 1 and E phonon modes predicted by the group theory for a given symmetry of the crystal were observed. The magnitudes of splitting between the LO and TO components of polar E phonons were determined. It was found that under the transition to a magnetically ordered phase, the behavior of the intensity of the line corresponding to the A 1 vibrational mode is anomalous. It was shown that at low temperatures the spectrum of two-magnon excitations has a complex shape and is observed with both nondiagonal and diagonal components of the scattering tensor. This complex shape reflects the features in the density of states of the magnetic branches. An estimate of the magnon energy E m at the Brillouin zone boundary gave ∼47 cm −1 . The structure of the ground multiplet 6 H 5/2 of a Sm +3 ion in paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states as well as the effect of the magnetic phase transition on it were studied. Electron-phonon interaction for the electronic excitation at 225 cm −1 was revealed.

Description: Two series of nanosized cobalt spinel ferrites CoFe 2 O 4 are synthesized from metal salts using high-energy ball milling with the addition of NaCl as a growth agent (series CFO-NaCl), and without (CFO Series). The particle properties are characterized using atomic force microscopy, as well as magnetic and calorimetric measurements. It is shown that the average sizes of the nanoparticles were ∼5.6 and ∼10.3 nm for CFO and CFO-NaCl series, respectively. We performed magnetostatic measurements and determined the parameters that are required to analyze the magnetic state and remagnetization processes of the nanoparticles. It is shown that the blocking temperature is ≈160 K for CFO samples and ≈300 K for the CFO-NaCl series. It was concluded that at 293 K the CFO series particles exhibit a superparamagnetic state, whereas the CFO-NaCl series are in the blocked state. The specific loss power that is scattered by the synthesized nanoparticle ensembles placed in an alternating magnetic field, is measured experimentally and theoretically assessed. The nature of the processes that determine the thermal characteristics of the nanoparticles is analyzed.

Description: Amplification of acoustic in-plane phonons due to an external temperature gradient (∇ T ) in single-layer graphene (SLG) was studied theoretically. The threshold temperature gradient ( ∇ T ) 0 g and the threshold voltage ( V T ) 0 g in SLG were evaluated. For T = 77   K , the calculated value for ( ∇ T ) 0 g = 746.8     K / cm and ( V T ) 0 g = 6.6   mV . The calculation was done in the hypersound regime. Further, the dependence of the normalized amplification ( Γ / Γ 0 ) on the frequency ω q and ∇ T / T were evaluated numerically and presented graphically. The calculated threshold temperature gradient ( V T ) 0 g for SLG was higher than that obtained for homogeneous semiconductors ( n -InSb) ( ∇ T ) 0 hom ≈ 10 3   K / cm , superlattices ( ∇ T ) 0 S L ≈ 384   K / cm , and cylindrical quantum wire ( ∇ T ) 0 c q w ≈ 10 2   K / cm . This makes SLG a much better material for thermoelectric phonon amplification.

Description: We found that the coupled system of Josephson junctions under external electromagnetic radiation demonstrates a cascade of parametric instabilities. These instabilities appear along the IV characteristics within bias current intervals corresponding to Shapiro step subharmonics and lead to charging in the superconducting layers. The amplitudes of the charge oscillations increase with increasing external radiation power. We demonstrate the existence of longitudinal plasma waves at the corresponding bias current values. An essential advantage of the parametric instabilities in the case of subharmonics is the lower amplitude of radiation that is needed for the creation of the longitudinal plasma wave. This fact gives a unique possibility to create and control longitudinal plasma waves in layered superconductors. We propose a novel experiment for studying parametric instabilities and the charging of superconducting layers based on the simultaneous variation of the bias current and radiation amplitude.

Description: The Coulombic effect on the stability range of the photo-excited electron gas on liquid helium is shown to favor formation of domains of different densities. Domains appear to eliminate or greatly reduce regions with negative conductivity. An analysis of the density domain structure allows explaining remarkable observations reported recently for the photo-excited electron gas.

Description: We present thoroughly analyzed experimental results that demonstrate the anomalous manifestation of the exciton self-trapping effect, which is already well-known in bulk crystals, in ordered molecular nanoclusters called J -aggregates. Weakly-coupled one-dimensional (1D) molecular chains are the main structural feature of J -aggregates, wherein the electron excitations are manifested as 1D Frenkel excitons. According to the continuum theory of Rashba-Toyozawa, J -aggregates can have only self-trapped excitons, because 1D excitons must adhere to barrier-free self-trapping at any exciton-phonon coupling constant g = ε LR /2β, wherein ε LR is the lattice relaxation energy, and 2β is the half-width of the exciton band. In contrast, very often only the luminescence of free, mobile excitons would manifest in experiments involving J -aggregates. Using the Urbach rule in order to analyze the low-frequency region of the low-temperature exciton absorption spectra has shown that J -aggregates can have both a weak ( g 〈 1) and a strong ( g 〉 1) exciton-phonon coupling. Moreover, it is experimentally demonstrated that under certain conditions, the J -aggregate excited state can have both free and self-trapped excitons, i.e., we establish the existence of a self-trapping barrier for 1D Frenkel excitons. We demonstrate and analyze the reasons behind the anomalous existence of both free and self-trapped excitons in J -aggregates, and demonstrate how exciton-self trapping efficiency can be managed in J -aggregates by varying the values of g , which is fundamentally impossible in bulk crystals. We discuss how the exciton-self trapping phenomenon can be used as an alternate interpretation of the wide band emission of some J -aggregates, which has thus far been explained by the strongly localized exciton model.

Description: We present results of theoretical and experimental studies of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of RFe 4 Al 8 , RMn 4 Al 8 , and RCr 4 Al 8 compounds with nonmagnetic elements R = Sc, Y, La, and Lu. The electron spectrum and field induced magnetic moment, as well as their dependences on the unit cell volume, are calculated for the paramagnetic phase of the RT 4 Al 8 systems. The calculations are supplemented by measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of representative RT 4 Al 8 compounds as a function of temperature and hydrostatic pressure.

Description: Negative magnetoresistance of InSb whiskers with different impurity concentrations 4.4 × 10 16 –7.16 × 10 17 cm −3 was studied in longitudinal magnetic field 0–14 T in the temperature range 4.2–77 K. The negative magnetoresistance reaches about 50% for InSb whiskers with impurity concentration in the vicinity to the metal–insulator transition. The negative magnetoresistance decreases to 35 and 25% for crystals with Sn concentration from the metal and dielectric side of the transition. The longitudinal magnetoresistance twice crosses the axis of the magnetic field induction for the lightly doped crystals. The behavior of the negative magnetoresistance could be explained by the existence of classical size effect, in particular boundary scattering in the subsurface whisker layer.

Description: Yu. M. Poluektov and A. S. Rybalko An explanation is proposed for the maxima in the dielectric constant and density observed in liquid helium slightly above the superfluid transition temperature. It is shown that they may be caused by a phase transition that results in spontaneous polarization of the helium. This kind of transition i ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 770 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: J. Amrit and A. Ramiere Kapitza resistance measurements conducted at T 〉 1 K on silicon and niobium single crystals in contact with helium demonstrate respectively the importance of atomic scale surface roughness and dislocations due to surface damage at the boundary. Two different experimental configurations were used. ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 752 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: E. Ya. Rudavskii and S. S. Sokolov Abstract not available. [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 723 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: S. I. Vilchynskyy, A. I. Yakimenko, K. O. Isaieva, and A. V. Chumachenko We present a brief overview of crucial historical stages in creation of superfluidity theory and of the current state of the microscopic theory of superfluid He. We pay special attention to the role of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in understanding of physical mechanisms of superfluidity and iden ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 724 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: H. Matsuda, A. Ochi, R. Isozaki, R. Nomura, and Y. Okuda Formation of superfluid liquid pockets of He surrounded by He crystals were observed in an aerogel of 96% porosity. The liquid pockets did not crystallize by application of pressure but crystallized via avalanche by cooling below a particular temperature. The crystallization by cooling was also obse ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 780 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: A. P. Birchenko, Ye. O. Vekhov, N. P. Mikhin, and E. Ya. Rudavskii Processes of spin-lattice relaxation in superfluid inclusions, formed during growth and rapid cooling of helium crystals, are studied by the pulse nuclear magnetic resonance method. Measurements of spin-lattice relaxation times were carried out using the two spin-echoes method. This allows to obtain ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 801 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: Nobuo Wada, Mitsunori Hieda, Ryo Toda, and Taku Matsushita Even though there is no long-range-ordered state of a superfluid in dimensions lower than the three-dimension (3D) such as bulk He liquid, superfluidity has been observed for flat He films in 2D and recently for nanotubes of He in 1D by the torsional oscillator method. In the 2D state, in addition t ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 786 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: F. Arrigoni, E. Vitali, D. E. Galli, and L. Reatto In this work we perform an ab-initio study of an ideal two-dimensional sample of He atoms, a model for He films adsorbed on several kinds of substrates. Starting from a realistic Hamiltonian we face the microscopic study of the excitation phononroton spectrum of the system at zero temperature. Our a ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 793 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: I. O. Vakarchuk, V. S. Pastukhov, and R. O. Prytula A new method of calculation of the density matrix of a many-boson system is proposed. The calculation of thermodynamic and structure functions at finite temperatures based on density matrix of Bose liquid is made. The structure factor of liquid He at T = 0 K is used as an input information for numer ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 741 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: I. N. Adamenko and E. K. Nemchenko The hamiltonian for the interaction of phonons in superfluid helium with an oscillating solid surface is derived. It can be used to calculate the probabilities of elastic, and all the possible inelastic, processes for phonon transformation at superfluid helium-solid interfaces. The contributions of ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 756 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: O. W. B. Benningshof and R. Jochemsen We describe experiments on superfluid He in a cylinder of 1 mm in diameter. This geometry causes the preferred orientation of the n-vector in the superfluid B-phase to be locally different, resulting in a curved configuration across the sample. Exclusive to our experiment is the observation that we ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 765 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: Yu. M. Tsipenyuk, O. Kirichek, and O. Petrenko Experiments on small-angle scattering of neutrons on liquid helium at temperatures of 1.05 K at the ISIS pulsed neutron source (England) are reported. Detailed measurements of the angular distribution of the scattered neutrons reveal a significant change in the temperature dependence of the second m ... [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 777 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: Paul Leiderer, Horst Meyer, Jukka Pekola, and Neil Sullivan Abstract not available. [Low Temp. Phys. 39, 808 (2013)] published Thu Sep 26, 2013.

Description: Analysis of the experimentally found dependences of the Hall and magnetoresistance coefficients in the temperature range 77–300 K was presented for the Bi 0.88 Sb 0.12 single-crystal alloy doped with 0.2 at. % of Te. On the basis of these data, the temperature dependences of the Hall and magnetoresistance factors were determined.

Description: We have studied transport characteristics of mesoscopic multiple-mode superconducting contacts formed between two grains in bulk two-gap magnesium diboride. The experimental setup was realized by driving a normal-metal tip into MgB 2 polycrystalline sample and proved to be extremely stable, providing possibility to perform pressure experiments at low temperatures. It is argued that in our procedure a small piece of the superconducting electrode is captured by the tip apex and, as a result, two junctions in series are formed: a junction between a tip and MgB 2 grain and a mesoscopic disordered contact between two superconducting pellets. Although the relative weight of the first junction resistance was considerably less, its contribution is shown to be important for the comparison of measured data with expected gap values. Two hallmarks of multiple Andreev reflections inside the MgB 2 –c–MgB 2 contact (c stands for a high-transparent constriction), a zero-bias 1/ | V | -like singularity of the dc differential conductance and peaks connected to the two gap values, have been revealed. Finally, we report results of a hydrostatic compression experiment showing the evolution of the MgB 2 gap values with pressure. In contrast to the theoretical expectations, we have observed an increase of the smaller gap Δ π whereas the larger gap Δ σ decreased with increasing pressure as it should be for the electron–phonon pairing mechanism. We argue that the so-called separable model of anisotropy effects is insufficient to describe such changes and only improved two-band versions are capable to reproduce the pressure effect on the energy gaps in magnesium diboride.

Description: The effects of radiation exposure in a hydrogen atmosphere on hydrogen sorption by a synthetic porous carbon nanosorbent, SCN (spherical carbonite saturated). The exposure was created by γ-rays from cobalt-60 (photon energy 1.2 MeV, irradiation dose 4.8 × 10 7 rad) in a normal hydrogen atmosphere at a pressure of 1 atm and a temperature of 300 K. The processes of hydrogen sorption-desorption by SCN samples before and after irradiation were studied in a temperature interval of 15–1173 K. It was found that the irradiation of SCN in a hydrogen atmosphere significantly increased the amount hydrogen sorbed in the sample. We conducted a comparison with the results of earlier studies investigating the influence of irradiation on the sorption of hydrogen by single-walled carbon nanotubes. The amount of physically sorbed hydrogen in the synthetic SCN sorbent that was irradiated in the hydrogen atmosphere, is four times greater than the amount of hydrogen that was physically sorbed by the single-walled carbon nanotubes that were irradiated under similar conditions. At a temperature below 25 K, the hydrogen diffusion in the SCN was almost temperature independent for the porous subsystem with the highest diffusion coefficients, which is typical for cases when the tunnel diffusion mechanism dominates the thermodynamic mechanism.

Description: Experimental data on the motion of He II driven by an oscillating quartz tuning fork are analyzed. It is found that before a certain threshold of a parameter with the structure of the Reynolds number is reached, the normal and superfluid components move independently. Then the force and drag coefficient are entirely determined by the motion of the normal component. For values of the parameter above the threshold (critical for the velocity), turbulence sets in and is related to quantum effects below the superconducting transition temperature. The universality of the motion of liquid helium at temperatures above the transition point is also discussed.

Description: Magnetoresonance (in the frequency range 22–80 GHz) and magnetostatic studies of the La 1−x Sr x MnO 3 compound with strontium impurity concentrations x  = 0.15; 0.225; 0.3; 0.45; 0.6, performed at room and liquid helium temperatures. A splitting of the electron magnetic resonance curve is detected for x  = 0.3, which serves as evidence of mixed magnetic phases. The samples' concentration dependences of saturation magnetization are determined based on the obtained experimental data.

Description: A Green function analysis is used to study spin-waves excitations in a ferromagnetic semiconductor nanowires. The expressions of Green function for different spins of ferromagnetic nanowires are derived. The nanowire is modeled as having a cubic cross section. The results are illustrated numerically for a particular choice of parameters

Description: The effect of a magnetic field on the magnetic susceptibility χ( T ) and the temperature of the three magnetic phase transitions in single-crystal β-TeVO 4 is studied at low temperatures. The H-T phase diagram is obtained for H || b and H  ⊥  b . A tricritical point with coordinates H * = 3.2 ± 0.1 T and T * = 3.0 ± 0.1 K is found for H || b .

Description: The electrical resistance of polycrystalline Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 3.85 Ru 0.15 B 4 is measured for the first time near the superconducting transition temperature ( T c 1/2 ≈ 6.66 K) in various inclined magnetic fields (φ = 0, 45, and 90°) and plots are made of R ( T ) and the upper critical field in dimensionless units h *( t ). These dependences exhibit strong anisotropy with respect to the transport current through a sample when the orientation of the magnetic field is changed from φ = 0 to 90°. This appears to be related to texturing of the polycrystals. An analysis of the R ( T ) and h *( t ) curves shows that the magnetic field suppresses the superconducting state more strongly at φ = 45° than at the other angles of inclination. The h *( t ) dependences are analyzed in terms of the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg theory and the Maki parameter α and the spin-orbital scattering parameter λ SO are estimated. It is shown that for φ = 0 and 90°, α = 0 and λ SO = 0 and only the orbital contribution is observed, while for φ = 45°, α = 4.2 and λ SO = 0 and there is a substantial increase in the relative contribution of spin paramagnetic effects. It is suggested that the character of the R ( T ) and h *( t ) curves in inclined magnetic fields is influenced by the effect on the superconducting state of the internal magnetism of the dysprosium atoms, which depends on the inclination of the field.

Description: It is shown for the low-plasticity ferritic-pearlitic steel 15Kh2NMFA (2Cr, 1Ni, 0.5Mn, 0.5Mo), subjected to severe rolling deformation at 90 K, that the treatment by the alternating magnetic field results in a substantial decrease of the yield strength and an increase of fracture stress, total elongation, necking and dynamic shear modulus. This is accompanied by reduction of the internal friction background and coercive force. The changes in the physical-mechanical properties and the structure are related to magnetic- and electrical-nature processes giving rise to stress relaxation in the microvolumes with a high density of deformation defects.

Description: The aim of this review is the analysis of dynamical properties of Josephson junctions (JJ) with anharmonic current-phase relation (CPR). Firstly, discussion of theoretical foundation of anharmonic CPR in different Josephson structures and their experimental observation are presented. The influence of anisotropy and multiband effects on CPR of JJ are analyzed. We present recent theoretical study results of the anharmonic CPR influence on I–V curve, plasma frequency, and dynamics of long JJ. Results of study of Shapiro steps in I–V curve of anharmonic JJ are also presented. Finally, CPR anharmonicity effect on characteristics of JJ-based qubits is discussed.

Description: The optical characteristics of sustained weak luminescence of liquid nitrogen were studied after exposure to a pulse of UV radiation. The luminescence consisted of a bulk emission of the liquid and localized luminous regions. The luminescence spectrum of liquid nitrogen in UV-VIS range was studied. The UV radiation parameters that influence the excitation of the luminescence of liquid nitrogen were investigated. A possible scheme of bulk luminescence of liquid nitrogen and a hypothesis of the formation of localized luminous regions were discussed.

Description: We consider a graphene sheet with a zigzag edge subject to a perpendicular magnetic field and investigate the propagation of in-plane acoustic edge waves. In particular it is shown that propagation is significantly blocked for certain frequencies defined by the resonant absorption due to electronic-acoustic interaction. We study absorption of acoustic energy as a function of magnetic field and find that, for a finite gate voltage and fixed acoustic frequency, tuning the magnetic field may bring the system through a number of electronic resonances. We suggest that the strong interaction between the acoustic and electronic edge states in graphene may generate significant nonlinear effects leading to the existence of acoustic solitons in such systems.

Description: For the first time the longitudinal and transverse magneto-resistive effect in textured polycrystalline Bi 93.99 Mn 6 Fe 0.01 was studied. The ρ( T ) dependences were measured in a wide temperature range from 4.2 K up to 300 K, both with no magnetic field applied and in a dc magnetic field of 6 T. Positive magnetoresistance as well as crystallographic and magnetic anisotropies of resistivity were revealed.

Description: Anomalously strong change of ferromagnetic ordering parameters upon a small variation of aluminum content was revealed in low-temperature experimental studies of electrical resistivity and galvanomagnetic properties of iron-vanadium-aluminum magnetic alloys with the compositions near the stoichiometric Fe 2 VAl. By comparing the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the electrical resistivity and Hall effect in Fe 2.1 V 0.91 Al 0.99 and Fe 2.05 V 0.91 Al 1.04 alloys, it was shown that a small increase of aluminum content leads to doubling of the Curie temperature and a sharp change in the temperature dependences of the magnetoresistance and saturation of the spontaneous magnetization.

Description: Specific heat C M ( T ) of polycrystalline Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 4 B 4 and Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 3.85 Ru 0.15 B 4 was studied in the temperature range of 0.5–9 K and magnetic fields 0–10 kOe for the first time. It was found that the λ-anomaly in the specific heat exists at T c ≈ 6 K for Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 4 B 4 and at T c ≈ 6.6 K for Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 3.85 Ru 0.15 B 4. It is suppressed in a magnetic field and shifted to lower temperatures. Partial substitution of Rh by Ru enhances superconductivity, presumably, due to stronger inner magnetism of the dysprosium sublattice in Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 4 B 4 as compared with Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 3.85 Ru 0.15 B 4 . Furthermore, it was observed that the molar heat capacity C M ( T ) of Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 3.85 Ru 0.15 B 4 increases with decreasing temperature for T 〈 4 K. In Dy 0.6 Y 0.4 Rh 4 B 4 , an increase in C M ( T ) with decreasing temperature is accompanied by the appearance of a maximum at T max = 1.5 K, which might be a manifestation of the magnetic phase transition in the dysprosium subsystem at this temperature.

Description: The thermoluminescence spectra of impurity-helium condensates (IHC) submerged in superfluid helium have been observed for the first time. Thermoluminescence of impurity-helium condensates submerged in superfluid helium is explained by neutralization reactions occurring in impurity nanoclusters. Optical spectra of excited products of neutralization reactions between nitrogen cations and thermoactivated electrons were rather different from the spectra observed at higher temperatures, when the luminescence due to nitrogen atom recombination dominates. New results on current detection during the IHC destruction are presented. Two different mechanisms of nanocluster charging are proposed to describe the phenomena observed during preparation and warm-up of IHC samples in bulk superfluid helium, and destruction of IHC samples out of liquid helium.

Description: X-ray diffractometry is used to study samples of type PM-A group B polyimide (Kapton H) subjected to uniaxial tension at room temperature and cooling to liquid nitrogen and helium temperatures. An asymmetry in the halo of the diffraction pattern from the amorphous sample is observed as a result of deformation and cooling of the samples. Deformation and cooling are found to have different effects on the intensity distribution. Thus, deformation produces “stretched” regions, while cooling produces “compressed” regions. An analysis of the diffraction patterns shows that uniaxial tension leads to partial ordering of the polyimide molecules in a sample along the direction of the applied load. The observed changes in the structure during cooling of films may indicate that mutual ordering of some of the molecules relative to one another is taking place.

Description: Integrated phosphorescence spectra of meta-bromobenzophenone crystals were measured in the temperature range from 1.6 to 297 K. The spectra were found to contain two series of monomeric bands associated with the stretching mode of the C=O carbonyl at all temperatures. Above 70 K in the red spectral region, a broad structureless band of unknown nature was observed, the center of gravity of which was shifted to red with increasing temperature. The above phenomena and others anomalies can be due to the structural properties of both the molecule and the crystal.

Description: The energy spectrum of a quasi-two-dimensional electron gas in an in-plane magnetic field is studied using the perturbation theory and quasiclassical approach in the presence of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. The existence of the intersection of energy sublevels in electron spectrum is demonstrated. The reciprocal mass tensor of electrons is analyzed. The heat capacity of the degenerate electron gas is examined, and its relations with the key features of the spectrum are shown.

Description: We discuss and analyze the dependence spectra of the transmission coefficient T on the quasiparticle energy E of one variety of graphene-based Fibonacci superlattices (SL). The SL is built from armchair graphene nanoribbons (GNR), and the quasi-periodicity is produced by metal-like (MGNR) and semiconductor (SCGNR) ribbons, placed along the lattice growth axis in accordance with the Fibonacci sequence, which are used as individual SL elements. It is shown that the difference in the values of quantized transverse quasi-momentum of electrons in MGNR and SCGNR is enough to form an effective quasi-periodic modulation in the examined structure (no additional factors required), and the optimal nanoribbon width range for this purpose is determined. We also analyzed the dependence of the spectral properties of the test structure on the geometric parameters of the superlattice, and the external electrostatic potential. We paid particular attention to the fact that each Fibonacci generation had a Dirac superlattice band gap. The results of the study can be useful in the determination of optimal parameters for graphene-based nanoelectronic devices.

Description: Quasistable laminar flow of He II at a temperature of 140 mK is studied experimentally. The liquid flow was excited by a vibrating quartz tuning fork with a resonance frequency of about 24 kHz. It was found that for velocities of the tuning fork oscillations from 0.046 to 0.16 m/s, the He II flow can be both quasistable laminar and turbulent. Transitions between these flow regimes were observed. When the velocity of the tuning fork oscillations increases more rapidly, the velocity at which the quasistable flow becomes unstable and undergoes a transition to a turbulent flow is higher. Mechanisms for the dissipation of the energy of the oscillating tines of the tuning fork in the quasistable laminar flow regime are analyzed. It is found that there is an additional mechanism for dissipation of the energy of the oscillating tuning fork beyond internal friction in the quartz. This mechanism is associated with mutual friction owing to scattering of thermal excitations of He II on quantized vortices and leads to a cubic dependence of the exciting force on the fluid velocity.

Description: We study the dynamics of a qubit-resonator system, when the resonator is driven by two signals. The interaction of the qubit with the high-amplitude driving we consider in terms of the qubit dressed states. Interaction of the dressed qubit with the second probing signal can essentially change the amplitude of this signal. We calculate the transmission amplitude of the probe signal through the resonator as a function of the qubit's energy and the driving frequency detuning. The regions of increase and attenuation of the transmitted signal are calculated and demonstrated graphically. We present the influence of the signal parameters on the value of the amplification, and discuss the values of the qubit-resonator system parameters for an optimal amplification and attenuation of the weak probe signal.

Description: The previously derived equations for the components of the order parameter (OP) of dense superfluid neutron matter (SNM) with anisotropic spin-triplet p-wave pairing and with taking into account the effects of magnetic field and finite temperatures are reduced to the single equation for the one-component OP in the limit of zero magnetic field. Here this equation is solved analytically for arbitrary parametrization of the effective Skyrme interaction in neutron matter and as the main results the energy gap (in the energy spectrum of neutrons in SNM) is obtained as nonlinear function of temperature T and density n in two limiting cases: for low temperatures near T = 0 and in the vicinity of phase transition temperature T c 0 ( n ) for dense neutron matter from normal to superfluid state. These solutions for the energy gap are specified for generalized BSk21 and BSk24 parametrizations of the Skyrme forces (with additional terms dependent on density n ) and figures are plotted on the interval 0.1 n 0 〈 n 〈 2.0 n 0 , where n 0 = 0.17 fm −3 is nuclear density.

Description: An analysis of known experimental literature data on the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility of beryllium. It is shown that this dependence can be explained if we take into account that beryllium has an electron topological transition of 3½ kind near the Fermi level.

Description: The electronic structure and optical properties of the SmNi 5– x Cu x ( x = 0, 1, 2) compounds are studied. The band spectra of the studied intermetallics were calculated with LDA + U + SO method supplementing the local density approximation with a correction for strong electron interaction on the shell of the rare-earth element. Optical properties were studied by ellipsometry method in the wide wavelength range. It was found that the substitution of copper for nickel leads to local changes in the optical conductivity spectra. Both the spectroscopic measurements and theoretical calculations demonstrate the presence of a broad absorption band around 4 eV associated with the Cu 3 d → Ni 3 d electron transitions and increasing with the grown of copper content. The experimental dispersion curves of optical conductivity in the interband absorption region were interpreted using the results of the calculations.

Description: Magnetoresistance Δρ( H , T ) of several heavy-fermion compounds, CeAl 2 , CeAl 3 and CeCu 6 , substitutional solid solutions with quantum critical behavior CeCu 6– x Au x ( x = 0.1, 0.2) and alloys with magnetic ground state Ce(Al 1– x M x ) 2 (M = Co, Ni, x ≤ 0.8) was studied in a wide range of temperatures (1.8–40 K) in magnetic fields up to 80 kOe. It was shown that a consistent interpretation of the field dependences of the resistance for both non-magnetic and magnetically ordered cerium-based intermetallic compounds with strong electron correlations can be achieved within the framework of an approach that accounts for scattering of charge carriers by localized magnetic moments in a metal matrix. Within this approach, three different components of the magnetoresistance of cerium intermetallic compounds were identified: the negative Brillouin contribution proportional to the local magnetization ( − Δ ρ / ρ ∼ M loc 2 ), the alternating linear contribution ( Δ ρ / ρ ∼ H ) and the magnetic component, saturating in magnetic fields below 15 kOe. In the framework of the Yosida model for the cerium alloys under study, estimates of the local magnetic susceptibility χ loc ( H , T 0 ) were obtained from the magnetoresistance data. Numerical differentiation of the magnetoresistance with respect to the magnetic field and analysis of the obtained d ( Δ ρ / ρ ) / d H = f ( H , T ) dependences allowed us to reconstruct the H–T magnetic phase diagrams of the strongly correlated electron systems under study as well as to examine the effects of spin polarization and renormalization of the electronic states on charge transport both in the regime of quantum critical behavior and in the magnetically ordered state.

Description: We consider the field dependence of magnetization in the paramagnetic phase of manganese monosilicde, MnSi, which is characterized by an anomalously large effective magnetic moment μ* = 5.3μ B , and a small saturation magnetization M 0 = 0.3μ B /Mn. It follows from the conducted analysis, that neither the theory of band magnetism, nor the cluster approach can explain the experimental data, but an adequate description is possible within the framework of the spin-polaron model, in which the spin-polaron is a quasi-bonded state of the band electron and localized magnetic moment of Mn. It is found that the inclusion of specific interaction for a simple ferrimagnet-like configuration that characterizes the spin-polaron, allows us to explain the experimental data, wherein the observed values of μ* are not associated with large localized magnetic moments in the sample volume. The possible methods of experimental verification of the spin-polaron model are analyzed, including experimentum crucis . The obtained results show that the paramagnetic phase of MnSi should be regarded as a phase in which its physical properties are determined by the magnetic inhomogeneities on a nanometer spatial scale.

Description: Exchange bias phenomenon, evident of antiferromagnetic–ferromagnetic phase segregation state, has been observed in (Nd 1− x Y x ) 2/3 Ca 1/3 MnO 3 ( x = 0, 0.1) compounds at low temperatures. A contribution to the total magnetization of the compounds due to the ferromagnetic phase has been evaluated. It has been found that yttrium doping leads to the growth of the ferromagnetic phase fraction. The ferromagnetic phase in the doped compound has a lower coercivity H c and more rectangular form of the hysteresis loop. The values of the exchange bias field H EB and coercivity are found to be strongly dependent on the cooling magnetic field H cool . In sufficiently high magnetic fields, H cool 〉 5 kOe, H EB in the doped compound is about twice as low as in the parent compound. This difference is attributed to a lower exchange interaction and higher saturation magnetization of the ferromagnetic phase in (Nd 0.9 Y 0.1 ) 2/3 Ca 1/3 MnO 3 .

Description: The construction and operating principle of a pendulum magnetometer for measuring the magnetic susceptibility of solids under high gas pressures are described. This device is distinctive in having the pendulum mounted directly in the high pressure chamber. Experimental plots of the susceptibility of the compound V 4 S 9 Br 4 as a function of pressure up to 2 kbar at temperatures of 60–300 K are presented as an example of the use of the magnetometer.

Description: A study of the magnetocaloric effect for Tm 2 Fe 16 , Tm 2 Fe 17 , Tm 2 Fe 18 , Tm 2 Fe 19 , Tm 2 Fe 17− x Mn x ( x ≤ 1.5), Ce 2 Fe 17− x Mn x H y ( x 〈 2, y ≤ 3), Lu 2 Fe 17− x Mn x ( x ≤ 2) systems at magnetic ordering temperatures T C , T N and a ferro-antiferromagnet phase transition Θ T , from magnetization measurements. In alloys with ground ferromagnetic and high-temperature antiferromagnetic states, the change in the magnetic entropy peak −Δ S M increases as the magnetic phase transition temperatures Θ T and T N converge with varying compound composition. Extrapolating the difference T N − Θ T to zero for the initial and doped alloys allows us to determine the maximum possible value of −Δ S M in such systems and the composition of the corresponding alloy. A superposition of the −Δ S M (T) maxima at Θ T and T N for compounds with two magnetic phase transitions creates much higher values of relative cooling power in comparison to compounds with only one magnetic phase transition at T C .

Description: The electronic structure of (Ti,Mn)O 2 diluted magnetic semiconductors was investigated theoretically from first principles using the fully relativistic Dirac linear muffin-tin orbital band structure method. The electronic structure was obtained with the local spin-density approximation taking into account strong Coulomb correlations in the frame of the LSDA + U approximation. The x-ray absorption spectra and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra at the Mn and Ti L 2,3 and O K edges were investigated theoretically from first principles. The origin of the XMCD spectra in these compounds was examined. The calculated results are compared with available experimental data.

Description: F-I-S tunnel junctions of Co 2 CrAl-I-Pb and Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al-I-Pb based on films of semimetal ferromagnetic Heusler alloys Co 2 CrAl (Curie temperature T C ≈ 334 K) have been fabricated and the features of spin-polarized current in them studied. A theoretical model of spin blocking of the tunnel current shows that the degree of spin polarization of the conduction electrons in quasi-single crystal films of Co 2 Cr 0.6 Fe 0.4 Al and Co 2 CrAl with B 2- and L 2 1 -type order is 0.91–0.97.

Description: We report an experimental investigation of the electric response of superfluid helium. Our results confirm the presence of electric potential that appears at the relative oscillatory motion of normal fluid and superfluid components in helium generated by the heater. The resonance of the electric potential was observed in the first four harmonics. A suggested method for the detection of the electric response allows the required resonance peak to be distinguished from spurious signals. Our results are in qualitative agreement with the data published by previous researchers. The reasons for the discrepancy in the measured values of the potential difference are discussed.

Description: A continuation of the theoretical study of the intrinsic properties of dislocation and crowdion structural defects in 2D crystals [V. D. Natsik and S. N. Smirnov, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 40 , 1366 (2014) and V. D. Natsik and S. N. Smirnov, Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 41 , 271 (2015)]. The atomic lattice model of conservative (glide) and non-conservative (climb) defect movement is discussed in detail. It is shown that given a continuum description of the 2D crystal, an individual defect can be examined as a point carrier of plastic deformation, its value being determined by the topological charge, which is compliant with the crystal geometry defect parameters. It is found that the strain rate depends on the rate at which the defect center moves, as well as its topological charge. The elastic forces acting on the dislocation and crowdion centers in the field of applied mechanical stresses, and the forces of elastic interaction between defects, are calculated in terms of the linear theory of elasticity of a 2D crystal. The non-linear effect pertaining to the interaction between defects and bending deformation of the crystalline membrane, which is specific to 2D crystals, is also discussed.

Description: A study of two-dimensional topological vortex-like solitons, for spin nematic states in magnets with spin S  = 1 and S  = 3/2. Depending on the parameters of the magnet, we get either pure multipole vortices, with a quadrupole parameter for S  = 1, or an octupole parameter for S  = 3/2, or vortices with a non-singular core. A vortex core corresponds to a macroscopic area with a disrupted nematic order. A transition to core vortices occurs at critical values of the system parameters. In this case, there is either the formation of a ferromagnetic vortex with a saturated magnetic moment in the core, or a vortex with an antiferromagnetic order at the core. The dynamic properties of the vortex with a ferromagnetic core are characterized by the presence of a gyroforce, whereas vortices with an antiferromagnetic core are Lorentz-invariant, which is typical for sigma-model antiferromagnets.

Description: Electronic spectrum of one-dimensional system with a low concentration of weakly bound Fano-Anderson impurities is considered. It is assumed that the energy of the impurity resonance is located in a vicinity of the band center of the host system. It is demonstrated that with increasing the impurity concentration the dispersion of states with the low damping undergoes a transformation. This transformation passes in a threshold manner and results in the reproduction of some characteristic features inherent in the cross-type spectrum rearrangement. At that, the density of states at the energy of the impurity resonance manifests a steady growth.

Description: Vortex core reversal in magnetic particle is essentially influenced by a surface anisotropy. Under the action of a perpendicular static magnetic field the vortex core undergoes a shape deformation of pillow- or barrel-shaped type, depending on the type of the surface anisotropy. This deformation plays a key point in the switching mechanism: We predict that the vortex polarity switching is accompanied (i) by a linear singularity in case of Heisenberg magnet with bulk anisotropy only and (ii) by a point singularities in case of surface anisotropy or exchange anisotropy. We study in details the switching process using spin-lattice simulations and propose a simple analytical description using a wired core model, which provides an adequate description of the Bloch point statics, its dynamics and the Bloch point mediated switching process. Our analytical predictions are confirmed by spin-lattice simulations for Heisenberg magnet and micromagnetic simulations for nanomagnet with account of a dipolar interaction.

Description: The model of hypothetical superconductivity, where the energy gap asymptotically approaches zero as temperature or magnetic field increases, has been proposed. Formally the critical temperature and the second critical field for such a superconductor is equal to infinity. Thus the material is in superconducting state always.

Description: The lattice dynamics of compressed atomic cryocrystals are based on ab initio quantum-mechanical theories of deformable and polarizable atoms (Tolpygo model), while taking into account the many-body interaction. The parameters of the three-particle interaction and deformation of the atomic electron shells, which are calculated in terms of the overlap integrals of atomic orbitals and their derivatives, have the same order of magnitude thus demonstrating that they must be considered in tandem. Accounting for the deformation effects of the electron shells in the dipole approximation when calculating phonon frequencies leads to a “softening” of the longitudinal modes at points L and X , for an entire series of Ne-Xe crystals, and of the transverse modes in the directions Σ and Λ for Xe, under high compression. It is shown that it impossible to adequately reproduce the observed deviation from the Cauchi relation δ( p ) for compressed atomic cryocrystals, without accounting for the deformation of electron shells of atoms in a quadrupole approximation. The inputs from a three-particle and quadrupole interaction for Ne, Kr, and Xe crystals are mutually compensated, which provides a weak dependence on pressure for δ( p ). We found a good agreement between the calculated phonon frequencies, Birch and Fuchs elastic moduli, the deviation from the Cauchi relation for the total number of Ne-Xe crystals in a wide range of pressures, and existing experiments.

Description: We present a theory of spin dynamics caused by spin-orbit coupling for two-dimensional gases of cold atoms and other quasiparticles with pseudospin 1/2 moving in orbital gauge fields. Our approach is based on the gauge transformation in the form of a SU(2) rotation gauging out the spin-orbit coupling. As a result, the analysis of the spin dynamics is reduced to calculation of the density-related susceptibility of the system without spin-orbit coupling at the wavevector determined by the spin-rotation length. This approach allows one to treat the spin dynamics in terms of the linear response theory for bosonic and fermionic ensembles. We study different regimes of irreversible spin relaxation and coherent spin dynamics in these systems. For bosonic gases the effects of low temperature are crucial due to accumulation of particles in the small-momentum subspace even if the Bose–Einstein condensation does not occur due to the system low dimensionality.

Description: We develop a numerical model for a defect-containing square lattice of microcavities with embedded ultracold atomic clusters (quantum dots). It is assumed that certain fractions of quantum dots and cavities are absent, which leads to transformation of polariton spectrum of the overall structure. The dispersion relations for polaritonic modes are derived as functions of defect concentrations and on this basis the band gap, the effective masses of lower and upper dispersion branch polaritons as well as their densities of states are evaluated.

Description: We present a review of the investigations realized in the last decades of the phenomenon of the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) in the system of two-dimensional cavity polaritons in semiconductor nanostructures. The conditions at which the excitons interacting with cavity photons form new type of quasiparticles named as polaritons are described. Since polaritons can form in a microcavity a weakly interacting Bose gas, similarly to the exciton gas in semiconductors, the microcavity exciton-polariton BEC emerged in the last decades as a new direction of the exciton BEC in solids, promising for practical applications. The high interest in BEC of exciton-polaritons in semiconductor microcavities is related to the ultra-low threshold lasing which has been demonstrated, in particular, for an electrically injected polariton laser based on bulk GaN microcavity diode working at room temperature.

Description: Calculations on a microscopic level are used to explain the experimentally observed negative linear thermal expansion along some directions in a number of crystalline compounds with complicated lattices and anisotropic interactions between atoms. Anomalies in the temperature dependence of the coefficient of linear thermal expansion are analyzed in layered crystals made up of monatomic layers (graphite and graphene nanofilms) and multilayer “sandwiches” (transition metal dichalcogenides), in multilayered crystal structures such as high-temperature superconductors where the anisotropy of the interatomic interactions is not conserved in the long-range order, and in graphene nanotubes. The theoretical calculations are compared with data from x-ray, neutron diffraction, and dilatometric measurements.

Description: Ab initio calculations of structural, electron, and magnetic properties of “armchair” carbon nanotubes (NT) encapsulated by a “zigzag” chain of Fe atoms Fe 2 @( n , n ) m ( m = 1, 2; n = 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), are performed within the framework of the density functional theory. It is shown that optimizing the structure along the NT axis can significantly impact the binding energy of the NT and the Fe atom chain. It follows from the calculations that Fe 2 @(5,5) is the most stable of all the investigated encapsulated nanotubes. A two-fold decrease in the concentration of Fe in an encapsulated NT converts the system from exothermic to endothermic (Fe 2 @(5,5) m ) and vice versa (Fe 2 @(6,6) m )). For large radii of an encapsulated NT (〉4.13 Å) the binding energy of the NT and the Fe atom chain goes to zero, and the magnetic moments of the Fe atoms and the deviation of the Fe atoms from the NT axis go toward analogous values of the free “zigzag” Fe atom chain.

Description: By the use of the Rayleigh method we have calculated the angular dependence of the reflectivity and the efficiencies of several other diffracted orders when the periodically corrugated surface of an isotropic elastic medium is illuminated by a volume acoustic wave of shear horizontal polarization. These dependencies display the signatures of Rayleigh and Wood anomalies, usually associated with the diffraction of light from a metallic grating. The Rayleigh anomalies occur at angles of incidence at which a diffracted order appears or disappears; the Wood anomalies here are caused by the excitation of the shear horizontal surface acoustic waves supported by the periodically corrugated surface of an isotropic elastic medium. The dispersion curves of these waves in both the nonradiative and radiative regions of the frequency-wavenumber plane are calculated, and used in predicting the angles of incidence at which the Wood anomalies are expected to occur.

Description: The paper presents an analysis of the properties of bulk superconducting magnesium diboride-based materials obtained by heating at high quasi-hydrostatic pressures (1–2 GPa), hot pressing (30 MPa), spark plasma sintering (16–96 MPa) and loose powder sintering. It is shown that the optimization of impurity distribution in MgB 2 can be achieved by varying the synthesis conditions and introducing dopants. In particular, polycrystalline MgB 2 materials synthesized at 2 GPa and containing a high amount of impurity oxygen demonstrates high critical current densities (10 6 and 10 3 A/cm 2 at 20 K in magnetic fields of 1 and 8.5 T, respectively). It is found that the oxygen impurities are mainly localized in nanolayers or nanoinclusions, homogeneously distributed in the matrix. They act as pinning centers, while the MgB 2 matrix also contains small amounts of dissolved oxygen. Impurity or intentionally added carbon entering the magnesium diboride structure leads to an increase in the critical magnetic fields up to B c 2 (22 K) = 15 T and B irr (18.5 K) = 15 T. The results of ab initio calculations of the electronic structure and stability of the magnesium diboride compounds with partial oxygen or carbon substitution for boron show that it is energetically favorable for carbon to distribute homogeneously in MgB 2 structure, while oxygen atoms replace boron pairwise in neighboring positions or form zigzag chains.

Description: Thin film heterostructures composed of superconducting electrodes (molybdenum rhenium alloy) and a nanoscale silicon layer doped with tungsten, have been designed and experimentally studied. The current-voltage characteristics of junctions exhibiting local maxima of the current against the background of abrupt current increases for the first time, were measured in the voltage range of −800 to 800 mV, at temperatures of 4.2–8 K. The positions of these singularities, which are symmetrical with respect to zero voltage, varied from sample to sample within the range of 40–300 mV. With increasing temperature, they became blurred and completely vanished with the disappearance of superconductivity in the electrodes. The nature of the observed singularities is associated with the properties of electron tunneling through the impurity states localized in the semiconducting barrier. The use of a superconducting electrode enhances the interaction of the localized electron with the conduction electrons thanks to the root divergence in the density of electron states of a superconductor.

Description: Superconductor digital electronics using Josephson junctions as ultrafast switches and magnetic-flux encoding of information was proposed over 30 years ago as a sub-terahertz clock frequency alternative to semiconductor electronics based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. Recently, interest in developing superconductor electronics has been renewed due to a search for energy saving solutions in applications related to high-performance computing. The current state of superconductor electronics and fabrication processes are reviewed in order to evaluate whether this electronics is scalable to a very large scale integration (VLSI) required to achieve computation complexities comparable to CMOS processors. A fully planarized process at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, perhaps the most advanced process developed so far for superconductor electronics, is used as an example. The process has nine superconducting layers: eight Nb wiring layers with the minimum feature size of 350 nm, and a thin superconducting layer for making compact high-kinetic-inductance bias inductors. All circuit layers are fully planarized using chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of SiO 2 interlayer dielectric. The physical limitations imposed on the circuit density by Josephson junctions, circuit inductors, shunt and bias resistors, etc., are discussed. Energy dissipation in superconducting circuits is also reviewed in order to estimate whether this technology, which requires cryogenic refrigeration, can be energy efficient. Fabrication process development required for increasing the density of superconductor digital circuits by a factor of ten and achieving densities above 10 7 Josephson junctions per cm 2 is described.

Description: Bosonic lasers represent a new generation of coherent light sources. In contrast to conventional, fermionic, lasers they do not require inversion of electronic population and do not rely on the stimulated emission of radiation. Bosonic lasers are based on the spontaneous emission of light by condensates of bosonic quasiparticles. The first realization of bosonic lasers has been reported in semiconductor microcavities where bosonic condensates of exciton-polaritons first studied several decades ago by K. B. Tolpygo can be formed under optical or electronic pumping. In this paper we overview the recent progress in the research area of polaritonics, address the perspective of realization of polariton devices: from bosonic cascade lasers to spin transistors and switches.

Description: Experiments relating to studies of the coherence of Bose condensates of dipolar excitons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures with a wide, single quantum well and a Schottky gate are analyzed. Dipolar excitons were excited by light in an annular trap formed along the perimeter of a window in a metal gate with an applied electric voltage. A dual-beam interference technique involving interference combination of the amplitudes of the luminescence light field, together with subsequent analysis of first order correlators, is used to study the temporal (longitudinal) and spatial (transverse) coherence of the exciton condensates. It is found that the transverse coherence length of an exciton condensate is considerably longer than its thermal De Broglie wavelength. Experimental studies of the luminescence intensity correlator also confirm the coherence of the exciton Bose condensate.

Description: We examine the establishment of stationary non-equilibrium states when a flow of heat is turned on in superfluid solutions with a sufficiently high (9.8%) concentration of 3 He. We study the influence of possible relaxation mechanisms, focusing on the Kapitza jump in particular, on the process of establishing a constant temperature gradient. We found the thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and the Kapitza coefficients by comparing the theoretical calculations against experimental data. It is shown that it is necessary to include the Kapitza jump in order to perform a quantitative description of the experimental data.