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Register a new userSodium Trimer Ordering on NaxCoO2 Surface
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Sodium ion ordering on in situ cleaved NaxCoO2 (x=0.84) surface has been studied by ultra high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-STM) at room temperature. Three main phases, with p(3x3), (root 7 x root 7), and (2 root 3 x 2 root 3) hexagonal unit cells and surface Na concentration of 1/3, 3/7, 1/2, respectively, were identified. One surprising finding is that Na trimers act as the basic building blocks that order in long range. The stability of Na trimers is attributed to the increased Na coordination with oxygen as indicated by ab initio calculations, and possibly at finite temperature by configuration entropy.
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In this paper, we report the growth of NaxCoO2 thin films by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD). It is shown that the concentration of sodium is very sensitive to the substrate temperature and the target-substrate distance due to the evaporation of sodium during the deposition. alpha prime-phase Na0.75CoO2 and gamma- phase Na0.71CoO2 thin films can be obtained with different conditions. Correspondingly, the surface morphology of the films changes from flake-like to particle-like. The temperature dependence of resistivity for the films prepared with the optimal condition shows metallic behavior, consistent with the data of NaxCoO2 single crystals. This work demonstrates that PLD is a promising technique to get high quality NaxCoO2 thin films.
By combining first-principles electronic-structure calculations with the model Hamiltonian approach, we systematically study the magnetic properties of sodium superoxide (NaO2), originating from interacting superoxide molecules. We show that NaO2 exhibits a rich variety of magnetic properties, which are controlled by relative alignment of the superoxide molecules as well as the state of partially filled antibonding molecular pi_g-orbitals. The orbital degeneracy and disorder in the high-temperature pyrite phase gives rise to weak isotropic antiferromagnetic (AFM) interactions between the molecules. The transition to the low-temperature marcasite phase lifts the degeneracy, leading to the orbital order and formation of the quasi-one-dimensional AFM spin chains. Both tendencies are consistent with the behavior of experimental magnetic susceptibility data. Furthermore, we evaluate the magnetic transition temperature and type of the long-range magnetic order in the marcasite phase. We argue that this magnetic order depends on the behavior of weak isotropic as well as anisotropic and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interactions between the molecules. Finally, we predict the existence of a multiferroic phase, where the inversion symmetry is broken by the long-range magnetic order, giving rise to substantial ferroelectric polarization.
Sodium chloride (NaCl), or rocksalt, is well characterized at ambient pressure. Due to the large electronegativity difference between Na and Cl atoms, it has highly ionic chemical bonding, with stoichiometry 1:1 dictated by charge balance, and B1-type crystal structure. Here, by combining theoretical predictions and diamond anvil cell experiments we show that new materials with different stoichiometries emerge at pressure as low as 20 GPa. Compounds such us Na3Cl, Na2Cl, Na3Cl2, NaCl3 and NaCl7 are theoretically stable and have unusual bonding and electronic properties. To test this prediction, at 55-80 GPa we synthesized cubic and orthorhombic NaCl3 at 55-70 GPa and 2D-metallic tetragonal Na3Cl. This proves that novel compounds, violating chemical intuition, can be thermodynamically stable even in simplest systems at non-ambient conditions.
We have performed specific heat and electric resistivity measurements of Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}$ ($x=0.70$-0.78). Two anomalies have been observed in the specific heat data for $x=0.78$, corresponding to magnetic transitions at $T_{c}=22$ K and $T_{k}simeq 9$ K reported previously. In the electrical resistivity, a steep decrease at $T_{c}$ and a bending-like variation at $T_{b}$(=120K for $x=0.78$) have been observed. Moreover, we have investigated the $x$-dependence of these parameters in detail. The physical properties of this system are very sensitive to $x$, and the inconsistent results of previous reports can be explained by a small difference in $x$. Furthermore, for a higher $x$ value, a phase separation into Na-rich and Na-poor domains occurs as we previously proposed, while for a lower $x$ value, from characteristic behaviors of the specific heat and the electrical resistivity at the low-temperature region, the system is expected to be in the vicinity of the magnetic instability which virtually exists below $x=0.70$.
Powder Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}$ ($0.70leq xleq 0.84$) samples were synthesized and characterized carefully by X-ray diffraction analysis, inductive-coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, and redox titration. It was proved that $gamma$-Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}$ is formed only in the narrow range of $0.70leq xleq 0.78$. Nevertheless, the magnetic properties depend strongly on $x$. We found, for the first time, two characteristic features in the magnetic susceptibility of Na$_{0.78}$CoO$_{2}$, a sharp peak at $T_{p}=16$ K and an anomaly at $T_{k}=9$ K, as well as the transition at $T_{c}=22$ K and the broad maximum at $T_{m}=50$ K which had already been reported. A type of weak ferromagnetic transition seems to occur at $T_{k}$. The transition at $T_{c}$, which is believed to be caused by spin density wave formation, was observed clearly for $xgeq 0.74$ with constant $T_{c}$ and $T_{p}$ independent of $x$. On the other hand, ferromagnetic moment varies systematically depending on $x$. These facts suggest the occurrence of a phase separation at the microscopic level, such as the separation into Na-rich and Na-poor domains due to the segregation of Na ions. The magnetic phase diagram and transition mechanism proposed previously should be reconsidered.
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