Low-frequency Einstein mode in the zero-expansion material YbGaGe
This paper was withdrawn by the authors.
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Publications and source records attributed to A. P. Ramirez.
This paper was withdrawn by the authors.
We present measurements of the transient photoconductivity in pentacene single crystals using optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy. We have measured the temperature and fluence dependence of the mobility of the photoexcited charge carriers with picosecond resolution. The pentacene crystals were excited at 3.0 eV which is above the bandgap of ~2.2 eV and the induced change in the far-infrared transmission was measured. At 30 K, the carrier mobility is mu ~ 0.4 cm^2/Vs and decreases to mu ~ 0.2 cm^2/Vs at room temperature. The transient terahertz signal reveals the presence of free carriers that are trapped on the timescale of a few ps or less, possibly through the formation of excitons, small polarons, or trapping by impurities.
We describe a defect in pentacene single crystals that is created by bias stress and persists at room temperature for an hour in the dark but only seconds with 420nm illumination. The defect gives rise to a hole trap at Ev + 0.38eV and causes metastable transport effects at room temperature. Creation and decay rates of the hole trap have a 0.67eV activation energy with a small (108 s-1) prefactor, suggesting that atomic motion plays a key role in the generation and quenching process.
We show that optical and electrical measurements on pentacene single crystals can be used to extract the density of states in the HOMO-LUMO bandgap. It is found that these highly purified crystals possess band tails broader than those typically observed in inorganic amorphous solids. Results on field effect transistors (FETs) fabricated from similar crystals are also compared. The FET data imply that the gap state density is much larger within 5-10 nm of the gate dielectric. These results are discussed in terms of both crystal phase domains and structural disorder mechanisms.
The resistivity $ρ$ of high mobility dilute 2D holes in GaAs exhibits a peak at a certain temperature $T^*$ in zero magnetic field($B$=0). In the $T>T^*$ regime where d$ρ$/d$T<$0, we observe for the first time both the $ν=1$ quantum Hall(QH) effect and a low field insulator-QH transition which is consistent with the 2D hole system being a Fermi liquid(FL). The known linear $T$-dependent conductivity in this $T$ regime then can be explained by hole-hole Coulomb interactions of this FL. The fact that the system is metallic (d$ρ$/d$T>$0) for $T<T^*$ implies that the high temperature FL transforms into the 2D metallic state in the neighborhood of $T^*$.
We explore the effect of molecular size on injected carrier transport. We have fabricated and characterized field effect transistors (FETs) on optically transparent single crystals of tetracene, the molecule of which is comprised of four benzene rings (BR). These FETs exhibit effective channel mobility up to 0.15 cm^2/Vs, intrinsic free carrier mobility of ~ 75 cm2/Vs, and on/off ratios up to 2*10^7. The present results show 1) the possibility of FET behavior in a transparent crystal with low intrinsic carrier density and 2) a weak dependence of performance on number of BRs, when compared to similar pentacene (5 BR) devices.
We report on fabrication and characterization of field effect transistors (FETs) on single-crystal pentacene. These FETs exhibit hole conductivity with room temperature effective mobility up to 0.30 cm2/Vs and on/off ratios up to 5*10^6. A negative gate voltage of -50V significantly decreases the activation energy (Ea) down to 0.143 eV near room temperature. Assuming thermal equilibrium between trapped and free carriers, from Ea = 0.143eV, we find the number of free carriers is only 0.4% of the total number of injected carriers. Along with effective mobility ~ 0.3 cm2/Vs this gives the intrinsic free carrier mobility of ~75 cm2/Vs.
We report on the effects of spin fluctuations, magnetic ordering, and external magnetic field on the dielectric constant of the ferromagnet SeCuO3, and the antiferromagnet TeCuO3. A model based on the coupling between uniform polarization and the q-dependent spin-spin correlation function is presented to explain the different behaviors for these isostructural compounds. The large magnetocapacitance near the transition temperature in the ferromagnet SeCuO3 suggests routes to enhancing the magnetodielectric response for practical applications.
Ni3V2O8 and Co3V2O8 have spin-1 and spin-3/2 magnetic lattices that are a new anisotropic variant of the Kagome net, wherein edge-sharing MO6 octahedra form the rises and rungs of a "Kagome staircase". The anisotropy largely relieves the geometric frustration, but results in rich magnetic behavior. Characterization of the magnetization of polycrystalline samples reveals that the compounds are ferrimagnetic in character. Heat capacity measurements show the presence of four magnetic phase transitions below 9 K for Ni3V2O8 and two below 11 K for Co3V2O8. Comparison to the low temperature heat capacity of isostructural nonmagnetic Zn3V2O8 provides an estimate of the magnetic entropy involved with the phase transitions. The results suggest that Co3V2O8 may display magnetic transitions below 2 K.
The spin-1/2 Cu2+ ions in beta-Cu3V2O8 occupy the sites of a Kagome-staircase lattice, an anisotropic variant of the Kagome net: buckled layers and imbedded plaquettes of three edge-shared CuO4 squares break the ideal Kagome symmetry. Susceptibility and heat capacity measurements show the onset of short-range ordering at approximately 75 K, and a magnetic phase transition with the characteristics of antiferromagnetism at ~29 K. Comparison to the Curie Weiss theta (theta,CW = -135 K) indicates that the geometric frustration is largely relieved by the anisotropy. A ferromagnetic contribution to the magnetization below the ordering temperature and negative magnetization in zero-field cooled measurements at low fields are attributed to uncompensated spins at grain boundaries or defects.
We report on the conductance from two-contact carrier injection in C60 single crystals. In the nonlinear regime, the current and voltage obey a power law, I \~ V^m, where m can be as high as 10 at room temperature. This nonlinear behavior - the resistance decreases by 6 orders of magnitude without saturation - is among the highest reported for organic systems, and can be explained by injection of free carriers into the trap-filling region. We find that H2 annealing suppresses shallow traps and enhances nonlinearity. Two limiting types of temperature dependence of the nonlinear resistance are observed - decreasing and increasing resistance at the orientational ordering temperature. A simple model incorporating deep traps is presented to understand this behavior and the impact of this model on possible field-effect transistor action is discussed.
The dielectric constant of CaCu3Ti4O12 is measured with a different electrode geometry than previous measurements. Similar colossal values are obtained showing that they are "intrinsic" to the material. We show that in braced structures such as CaCu3Ti4O12, a small concentration O(10-3) of defects, which disrupt the bracing and relax between different equivalent configurations, can lead to colossal dielectric constants above a characteristic temperature. The dielectric constant e(w,T) has a frequency and temperature dependence of the same form as found experimentally.
The structure and physical properties of the Zr-stabilized, nonstoichiometric molybdenum diboride superconductor are reported. Good quality material of the diboride structure type can only be obtained by partial substitution of Zr for Mo, and the quenching of melts. The phase is best made with boron in excess of the ideal 2:1 boron to metal ratio. Powder neutron diffraction measurements show that the non-stoichiometry is accommodated by atom deficiency in the metal layers. The diboride structure type exists for (Mo.96Zr.04)xB2 for x between 0.85 and 1.0. Electron diffraction shows that the stoichiometric material, x=1, has a significant number of stacking faults. Tc increases from 5.9 to 8.2K with the introduction of metal vacancies. Resistivity measurements indicate that (Mo.96Zr.04).88B2 is a bad metal, and specific heat measurements show that gamma= 4.4 mJ/mol K2, and that deltaC/gammaTc = 1.19. Preliminary boron isotope effect measurements indicate an exponent 0.11(5). Analysis of the data in terms of the electronic structure is reported, allowing an estimate of the electron-phonon coupling constant, lamda = 0.1-0.3, making these weak-coupling superconductors. Preliminary characterizations of the superconductivity in the related phases NbxB2 and (Mo.96X.04).85B2 for X=Ti, and Hf are reported.
Pulsed-laser deposition has been used to grow epitaxial thin films of the giant-dielectric-constant material CaCu_3Ti_4O_{12} on LaAlO_3 and SrTiO_3 substrates with or without various conducting buffer layers. The latter include YBa_2Cu_3O_7, La_{1.85}Sr_{0.15}CuO_{4+δ} and LaNiO_3. Above 100K - 150K the thin films have a temperature independent dielectric constant as do single crystals. The value of the dielectric constant is of the order of 1500 over a wide temperature region, potentially making it a good candidate for many applications. The frequency dependence of its dielectric properties below 100K - 150K indicates an activated relaxation process.
For CaCu$_{3}$Ti$_{4}$O$_{12}$ -- an insulator that exhibits a giant dielectric response above 100 K -- Cu$^{2+}$ antiferromagnetic spin ordering has been investigated by magnetic Raman scattering and magnetization measurements. Below the Néel temperature, T$_{N} = 25$ K, magnetic excitations have been identified. Above T$_{N}$ Raman spectra reveal short-range antiferromagnetic fluctuations that increase with cooling like T$^{-1}$. No deviations from Curie-Weiss law have been observed above T$_{N}$.
Field-driven phase transitions generally arise from competition between Zeeman energy and exchange or crystal-field anisotropy. Here we present the phase diagram of a frustrated pyrochlore magnet Gd2Ti2O7, where crystal field splitting is small compared to the dipolar energy. We find good agreement between zero-temperature critical fields and those obtained from a mean-field model. Here, dipolar interactions couple real-space and spin-space, so the transitions in Gd2Ti2O7 arise from field-induced "cooperative anisotropy" reflecting the broken spatial symmetries of the pyrochlore lattice.
The effects of partial substitution of Cu and Co for Ni in the intermetallic perovskite superconductor MgCNi3 are reported. Calculation of the expected electronic density of states suggests that electron (Cu) and hole (Co) doping should have different effects. For MgCNi3-xCux, solubility of Cu is limited to approximately 3% (x = 0.1), and Tc decreases systematically from 7K to 6K. For MgCNi3-xCox, solubility of Co is much more extensive, but bulk superconductivity disappears for Co doping of 1% (x = 0.03). No signature of long range magnetic ordering is observed in the magnetic susceptibility of the Co doped material.
The oxide perovskites are a large family of materials with many important physical properties. Of particular interest has been the fact that this structure type provides an excellent structural framework for the existence of superconductivity. The high Tc copper oxides are the most famous examples of superconducting perovskites, but there are many others [1]. Intermetallic compounds have been the source of many superconducting materials in the past, but they have been eclipsed in recent years by the perovskite oxides. The recent discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 [2] suggests that intermetallic compounds with simple structure types are worth serious reconsideration as sources of new superconducting materials. Here we report the observation of superconductivity at 8 K in the perovskite structure intermetallic compound MgCNi3, linking what appear at first sight to be mutually exclusive classes of superconducting materials. The observation of superconductivity in MgCNi3 indicates that MgB2 will not be the only one of its kind within the chemical paradigm that it suggests for new superconducting materials.