No Arabic abstract
The hyperfine interaction between the quadrupole moment of atomic nuclei and the electric field gradient (EFG) provides information on the electronic charge distribution close to a given atomic site. In ferroelectric materials, the loss of inversion symmetry of the electronic charge distribution is necessary for the appearance of the electric polarization. We present first-principles density functional theory calculations of ferroelectrics such as BaTiO3, KNbO3, PbTiO3 and other oxides with perovskite structures, by focusing on both EFG tensors and polarization. We analyze the EFG tensor properties such as orientation and correlation between components and their link with electric polarization. This work supports previous studies of ferroelectric materials where a relation between EFG tensors and polarization was observed, which may be exploited to study ferroelectric order when standard techniques to measure polarization are not easily applied.
We report the high-pressure synthesis of novel superconductor MgB$_2$ and some related compounds. The superconducting transition temperature of our samples of MgB$_2$ is equal to 36.6 K. The MgB$_2$ lattice parameters determined via X-ray diffraction are in excellent agreement with results of our ab initio calculations. The time-differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) experiments demonstrate a small increase in quadrupole frequency of $^111$Cd probe with decreasing temperature from 293 to 4.2 K. The electric field gradient (EFG) at the B site calculated from first principles is in fair agreement with EFG obtained from $^11$B NMR spectra of MgB$_2$ reported in the literature. It is also very close to EFG found in our $^111$Cd TDPAC measurements, which suggests that the $^111$Cd probe substitutes for boron in the MgB$_2$ lattice.
Synthesis and extensive structural, pyroelectric, magnetic, dielectric and magneto-electric characterizations are reported for polycrystalline Co4Nb2O9 towards unraveling the multiferroic state especially in reference to the magnetic spin flop transition. Magnetic measurements confirm the Co4Nb2O9 becomes antiferromagnetic (AFM) at around 28 K but no clear evidence for spin-flop effect was found. Associated with the magnetic phase transition, a sharp peak in pyroelectric current indicates the appearance of the strong magneto-electric coupling below Neel temperature (TN) with a large coupling constant upto 17.8 uC/m^2T. Using temperature oscillation technique, we establish Co4Nb2O9 to be a genuine multiferroic with spontaneous electric polarization in the anti-ferromagnetic state.
First principles electronic structure calculations have been carried out on ordered double perovskites Sr_2BBO_6 (for B = Cr or Fe and B 4d and 5d transition metal elements) with increasing number of valence electrons at the B-sites, and on Ba_2MnReO_6 as well as Ba_2FeMoO_6. The Curie temperatures are estimated ab initio from the electronic structures obtained with the local spin-density functional approximation, full-potential generalized gradient approximation and/or the LDA+U method (U - Hubbard parameter). Frozen spin-spirals are used to model the excited states needed to evaluate the spherical approximation for the Curie temperatures. In cases, where the induced moments on the oxygen was found to be large, the determination of the Curie temperature is improved by additional exchange functions between the oxygen atoms and between oxygen and B and B atoms. A pronounced systematics can be found among the experimental and/or calculated Curie temperatures and the total valence electrons of the transition metal elements.
In RIn3 and RSn3 the rare earth (R) is trivalent, except for Eu and Yb, which are divalent. This was experimentally determined in 1977 by perturbed angular correlation measurements of the electric-field gradient on a 111Cd impurity. At that time, the data were interpreted using a point charge model, which is now known to be unphysical and unreliable. This makes the valency determination potentially questionable. We revisit these data, and analyze them using ab initio calculations of the electric-field gradient. From these calculations, the physical mechanism that is responsible for the influence of the valency on the electric-field gradient is derived. A generally applicable scheme to interpret electric-field gradients is used, which in a transparent way correlates the size of the field gradient with chemical properties of the system.
A stochastic model for polarization switching in tetragonal ferroelectric ceramics is introduced, which includes sequential 90{deg}- and parallel 180{deg}-switching processes and accounts for the dispersion of characteristic switching times due to a nonuniform spatial distribution of the applied field. It presents merging of the recent multistep stochastic mechanism (MSM) with the earlier nucleation limited switching (NLS) and inhomogeneous field mechanism (IFM) models. The new model provides a much better description of simultaneous polarization and strain responses over a wide time window and a deeper insight into the microscopic switching mechanisms, as is exemplarily shown by comparison with measurements on lead zirconate titanate.