No Arabic abstract
The electron spin g- and hyperfine tensors of the endohedral metallofullerene Sc@C82 are anisotropic. Using electron spin resonance (ESR) and density functional theory (DFT), we can relate their principal axes to the coordinate frame of the molecule, finding that the g-tensor is not axially symmetric. The Sc bond with the cage is partly covalent and partly ionic. Most of the electron spin density is distributed around the carbon cage, but 5% is associated with the scandium d_yz orbital, and this drives the observed anisotropy.
Hexagonal rare-earth ferrite RFeO$_3$ family represents a unique class of multiferroics exhibiting weak ferromagnetism, and a strong coupling between magnetism and structural trimerization is predicted. However, the hexagonal structure for RFeO$_3$ remains metastable in conventional condition. We have succeeded in stabilizing the hexagonal structure of polycrystalline YbFeO$_3$ by partial Sc substitution of Yb. Using bulk magnetometry and neutron diffraction, we find that Yb$_{0.42}$Sc$_{0.58}$FeO$_3$ orders into a canted antiferromagnetic state with the Neel temperature $T_N$ ~ 165 K, below which the $Fe^{3+}$ moments form the triangular configuration in the $ab$-plane and their in-plane projections are parallel to the [100] axis, consistent with magnetic space group $P$6$_{3}$$cm$. It is determined that the spin-canting is aligned along the $c$-axis, giving rise to the weak ferromagnetism. Furthermore, the $Fe^{3+}$ moments reorient toward a new direction below reorientation temperature $T_R$ ~ 40 K, satisfying magnetic subgroup $P$6$_{3}$, while the $Yb^{3+}$ moments order independently and ferrimagnetically along the $c$-axis at the characteristic temperature $T_{Yb}$ ~ 15 K. Interestingly, reproducible modulation of electric polarization induced by magnetic field at low temperature is achieved, suggesting that the delicate structural distortion associated with two-up/one-down buckling of the Yb/Sc-planes and tilting of the FeO$_5$ bipyramids may mediate the coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic orders under magnetic field. The present work represents a substantial progress to search for high-temperature multiferroics in hexagonal ferrites and related materials.
Time differential perturbed angular gamma-gamma-correlation (TDPAC) method on 111Cd nuclei probes inserted in ZrZn1.9 is used to measure the magnetic hyperfine fields (MHF) at Zr and Zn sites and the electric field gradient (EFG) Vzz at Zn sites as a function of temperature at various pressures and as a function of pressure at the temperature 4 K. Our data indicate that the local magnetic moment of Zr in the magnetically ordered state is substantially larger than its value obtained from the macroscopic measurements and that there is also an induced magnetic moment at the Zn site. We conclude that ZrZn2 is not a simple ferromagnet and discuss a possible type of its magnetic ordering.
We point out that contrary to a recent suggestion by Boero et al. (PRL 78, 887 (1997)) the +1 charge state of the oxygen vacancy in alpha-quartz cannot be invoked as a candidate E center in alpha-quartz and silica.
We computed the optical properties and the folded and unfolded band structure of Cu-doped KCl crystals. The calculations use the plane-wave pseudo-potential approach implemented in the ABINIT electronic structure package within the first-principles density-functional theory framework. Cu substitution into pristine KCl crystals requires calculation by the supercell (SC) method from a theoretical perspective. This procedure shrinks the Brillouin zone, resulting in a folded band structure that is difficult to interpret. To solve this problem and gain insight into the effect of cuprous ion (Cu+) on electronic properties; We unfolded the band structure of SC KCl:Cu to directly compare with the band structure of the primitive cell (PC) of pristine KCl. To understand the effect of Cu substitution on optical absorption, we calculated the imaginary part of the dielectric function of KCl:Cu through a sum-over-states formalism and broke it down into different band contributions by partially making an iterated cumulative sum (ICS) of selected valence and conduction bands. As a result, we identified those interband transitions that give rise to the absorption peaks due to the Cu ion. These transitions include valence and conduction bands formed by the Cu-3d and Cu-4s electronic states. To investigate the effects of doping position, we consider different doping positions, where the Cu dopant occupies all the substitutional sites replacing host K cations. Our results indicate that the doping positions effects give rise to two octahedral shapes in the geometric structure. The distorted-twisted octahedral square bipyramidal geometric-shape induces a difference in the crystal field splitting energy compared to that of the perfect octahedral square bipyramidal geometric-shape.
By investigating the crystalline structure of ground-state orthorhombic SrRuO$_3$, we present a benchmark study of some of the most popular density functional theory (DFT) approaches from the local density approximation (LDA), generalized-gradient approximation (GGA), and hybrid functional families. Recent experimental success in stabilizing tetragonal and monoclinic phases of SrRuO$_3$ at room temperature sheds a new light on the ability to accurately describe geometry of this material by applying first-principles calculations. Therefore, our work is aimed to analyse the performance of different DFT functionals and provide some recommendations for future research of SrRuO$_3$. A comparison of the obtained results to the low-temperature experimental data indicates that revised GGAs for solids are the best choice for the lattice constants and volume due to their nice accuracy and low computational cost. However, when tilting and rotation angles appear on the scene, a combination of the revised GGAs with the hybrid scheme becomes the most preferable option. It is important to note that a worse performance of LDA functional is somewhat compensated by its realistic reproduction of electronic and magnetic structure of SrRuO$_3$, making it a strong competitor if the physical features are also taken into account.