National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

High-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) studies of the microstructure and specific defects in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) precursors and cubic boron nitride (c-BN) crystals made under high-pressure high-temperature conditions revealed the presence of half-nanotubes at the edges of the h-BN particles. Their sp(3) bonding tendency could strongly influence the nucleation rates of c-BN. The atomic resolution at extended dislocations was insufficient to allow us to determine the stacking fault energy in the c-BN crystals. Its mean value of 191 +/- 15 mJ m(-2) is of the same order of magnitude as that of diamond. High-frequency (94 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance studies on c-BN single crystals have produced new data on the D1 centres associated with the boron species. Ion-beam-induced luminescence measurements have indicated that c-BN is a very interesting luminescent material, which is characterized by four luminescence bands and exhibits a better resistance to ionizing radiation than CVD diamond.

A practical approach for in-plane angular spin distributions in layered systems, as obtained by Mossbauer spectroscopy, is discussed. The line intensity ratio R-23 of a Mossbauer pattern is expressed versus particular distribution parameters in unidirectional, step-shaped and ellipse-type models. The distribution parameters are deduced from experimental spectra taken by rotating the sample in its own plane. Three-dimensional spin distributions with small out-of-plane components can be analysed using the same method. The procedure is exemplified on four samples containing metallic nano-particles. The in-plane angular magnetic moment distributions derived with this method are compared with the results from bulk vector vibrating sample magnetometry in order to prove the accuracy of the described technique. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We report the growth of TlBa2Ca2Cu3Oy superconducting thin film on CeO2 buffered r-cut sapphire substrate by amorphous phase epitaxy method, wherein an amorphous phase of a composition, TlBa2Ca3Cu4Oy was deposited by rf magnetron sputtering and subsequently crystallized by annealing at high temperatures in a closed system. There exists an optimum thickness of about 200 Angstrom of CeO2 buffer layer that gives a smooth buffer layer surface. At the temperature around 840 degreesC we get only Tl-2212 phase and for a longer annealing time it results in Tl-1212 phase. At higher temperatures Ba reacts with Ce to form BaCeO3. To avoid this reaction process we introduced another amorphous buffer layer, TlSr2CaCu2Oy onto CeO2 layer. By this method we could prepare a good quality TI-1223 thin film which showed a T-c of 104 K and a J(c) = 0.3 MA/cm(2) at 77 K and 0.1 T field. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

A 50 mum thick slice of (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy (CU:1234) bulk superconductor grown by high-pressure synthesis technique was irradiated with high-energy (240 MeV) Au15+ ions (10(11) cm(-2)). Complimentary DC magnetization measurements up to 5 T showed an increase in critical current density by two orders of magnitude. AC susceptibility studies were performed in DC magnetic fields up to 14 T and at various temperatures, using various AC field amplitudes (up to 15 Oe) and frequencies (up to 10 kHz). Critical current densities at various temperatures and fields were estimated from critical state model. Using the third harmonic response of the sample we were able to separate different contributions to the dissipation: inter-grain regions, grains without columnar defects (heavy-ions penetration depth is about one quarter of sample's thickness), and grains with columnar defects. In irradiated grains, we could observe a peak-effect in the field dependence of critical current density at high DC fields and temperatures between 85 and 105 K, suggesting the possibility of the highest irreversibility field at liquid nitrogen temperature. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Superconducting samples have been synthesized from starting compositions CU0.5TlxBa2Ca3Cu4O12+y, x(Tl) = 0.35-1 in the sealed Au-tubes. Starting oxygen content was y = 0 and/or y = +/-0.225. Samples contain non-superconducting phases and only one main superconducting phase, 1234. The energy dispersive spectroscopy grain composition was Tl0.87-1.3Ba1.9-2.05Ca2.55-3.1Cu4Ox (normalized to Cu = 4). The starting Tl and oxygen content do not influence the occurrence of the phases, grain size, morphology and composition. On the other hand the phase content strongly depends on Tl content and almost does not depend on oxygen content. Both Tl and oxygen content are important for the transport properties of the superconducting grains and it seems that also of the non-superconducting matrix. T-c of the samples was in the range 119.1-111.3 K. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Thin films of Cum-1Bam(Sr,Ca)(n)Cun+1O2m+2n+1, i.e., [BaCuO2](m)/[(Sr,Ca)CuO2](n) superlattices have been grown by layer-by-layer growth method with rf magnetron sputtering on NdGaO3(1 1 0) substrate. Two targets with the compositions BaCuO2 and (Sr,Ca)CuO2, which form the charge reservoir and superconducting layers, respectively, were used. [BaCuO2](m)/[(Sr,Ca)CuO2](n) superlattice was grown at 460-520 degreesC in a gas mixture of Ar and N2O by alternatively depositing the charge reservoir layer and superconducting layer. The superlattice modulation is close to that of high pressure synthesized bulk materials. By means of the layer-by-layer growth method, a system of Cu-based artificial lattice structures is formed. Electrical transport properties of these superlattices were also investigated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

For further enhancement of critical currents density J(c) and irreversibility field H-irr of (Cu1-xCx) Ba2Can-1CunO2n+4-delta ((Cu,C)-(n - 1)n, n = 3, 4 and 5) family, pinning centers were introduced by ion and neutron irradiation in these compounds. The polycrystalline samples were irradiated with 3.6 x 10(17) neutrons/cm(2) or with Au15+ ions (240 MeV energy) at a fluence of 1 x 10(11) ions/cm(2). J(c) and H-irr were determined for the irradiated samples as well as unirradiated samples. The intragrain J(c) was evaluated from M-H curves using Bean's critical state model. In (Cu,C-12(n - 1) n, J(c) (77 K, 1 T) shows a remarkable increase from 3.9 x 10(4) to 9.1 x 10(5) A/cm(2) for neutron irradiated (Cu,C- 1234 and from 3.9 x 10(4) to 4.1 x 10(6) A/cm(2) for heavy-ion irradiated (Cu,C)-1234. These results indicate the possibility of further enhancement of J(c) and of achieving a very high H-irr of (Cu,C)-1234 in (Cu,C)-12(n - 1)n family. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

We report on the magnetic properties of the supramolecular compound iron(II) phthalocyanine in its alpha form. dc- and ac-susceptometry measurements and Mossbauer experiments show that the iron atoms are strongly magnetically coupled into ferromagnetic Ising chains with very weak antiferromagnetic interchain coupling. The transition to three-dimensional (3D) magnetic ordering below 10 K is hindered by the presence of impurities or other defects, by which the domain-wall arrangements along individual chains become gradually blocked/frozen, leading to a disordered 3D distribution of ferromagnetic chain segments. Below 5 K, field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization measurements show strong irreversible behavior, attributed to pinning of the domain walls by the randomly distributed defects in combination with the interchain coupling. High-field magnetization experiments reveal a canted arrangement of the moments in adjacent ferromagnetic chains.

An iterative method is presented for the characterization of lossy piezoelectric materials in the radial resonant mode, which provides a new formula to calculate the frequencies at which the electrical admittance is to be measured. This new method considerably reduces the measurement time by separating the programs for data acquisition and for calculus. The accuracies of the material constants for several soft and hard piezoceramic materials, covering a wide range of values of the planar coupling factor and mechanical quality factor, were tested and it was evidenced that they depended on the type of the piezoelectric material. The new method proved to be as accurate as, or in some cases even more accurate than, the other iterative methods. This new method can also be applied whenever the standard method does not allow the determination of the material constants. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Experimental results for the temperature dependence of density at normal pressure for two compositions of sodium lauryl sulphate/decanol/water solutions, exhibiting either a calamitic or a discotic lyotropic nematic phase at room temperature, are presented. Within the limits of experimental precision (+/-1 x 10(-5) g cm(-3)), the systems show no jump in density at the nematic to isotropic phase transition. Over the studied temperature range, the mean thermal expansion coefficients were also evaluated.