arXiv subjects

Archna Sagdeo

Publications and source records attributed to Archna Sagdeo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Order-disorder transition and Na-ion redistribution in NASICON-type Na$_3$FeCr(PO$_4$)$_3$

We report the temperature-dependent synchrotron based X-ray diffraction analysis of NASICON type Na$_3$FeCr(PO$_4$)$_3$ sample, which undergoes a symmetry-lowering structural transition from a monoclinic ($C2/c$) phase with long-range Na-vacancy order to a rhombohedral ($R\bar{3}c$) phase with statistical disordered Na ions. The [FeCr(PO$_4$)$_3$] polyanionic framework remains essentially unchanged, confirming that the transition is governed by redistribution of the Na sublattice rather than by reconstruction of the host framework. The structural evolution is accompanied by a discontinuous increase in the $c$-axis and the unit-cell volume, reflecting the progressive depopulation of the Na(1) sites and transfer of Na ions toward the Na(2) sublattice. The temperature dependence of superstructure intensity found to deviate from mean-field critical behavior, instead, the experimental evolution is accurately captured by a sigmoidal phase-fraction model. The calorimetric measurements show that the enthalpy change for the first transition around 350~K is significantly larger than that of the anomaly around 445 K, indicating the dominant configurational rearrangement of Na ions occurs within the lower-temperature interval. Overall, the diffraction and calorimetric results demonstrate that Na ordering proceeds through an order-disorder transition involving intermediate Na configurations and a finite coexisting regime. The quantitative correlation between Na-vacancy ordering, lattice strain, and symmetry lowering reveals the central role of configurational interactions within the Na conduction channels in governing the phase stability of NASICON-type materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Strain induced stabilization of high symmetry phase in MAPbBr3 perovskite

Structural phase transitions in the organic inorganic metal halide perovskites are driven via rearrangement of methylammonium cation and distortion in the PbX6 octahedra. Compositional tuning is usually incorporated for suppression of the structural phase transition in these systems with cation or anion tuning. Along with the compositional tuning, behaviour of strain present in the system can also lead to stabilization of single phase in these systems. In the present investigation, two different samples of CH3NH3PbBr3 perovskite were studied and it is observed that structural phase transition is absent for one of the sample while it is present in the other sample. The non-observance of structural phase transition and stabilization of single phase has been attributed to the perceived tensile strain in the system contrary to the compressive strain observed in the system showing structural phase transitions. This observation is further supported by theoretical calculations. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements revealed distorted octahedra with varying bond lengths along planar and axial directions in both samples, along with observed increase in bond lengths in one of the sample. This stabilization of the cubic phase can enhance device performance and increase overall environmental stability, making these systems more effective for practical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Structural and Magnetic Properties of V-Ti-Si Alloy Superconductors

The structural and magnetic properties of the as-cast and annealed V$_{0.6-x}$Si$_x$Ti$_{0.4}$ ($x$ = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) alloy superconductors are reported here. It is found that addition of silicon to the V-Ti alloys results in eutectic precipitation of Ti$_{5}$Si$_3$-phase in the body centred cubic (bcc) $β$-V-Ti matrix. In the as-cast V$_{0.6-x}$Si$_x$Ti$_{0.4}$ alloys, the superconducting transition temperature (T$_{C}$) changes non-monotonically with increasing silicon content whereas after annealing, it is about 7.7 K for all the alloys. On the other hand, the upper critical field decreases and the coherence length increases after annealing in the x = 0.10 alloy. The variations in the superconducting properties in the alloys are related to the solubility of 6 at.% Si in the V$_{0.60}$Ti$_{0.40}$ alloy and the vanadium enrichment in the $β$ matrix due to the precipitation of Ti$_{5}$Si$_3$ phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Emergent room-temperature ferroelectricity in spark-plasma sintered DyCrO$_3$ and LaCrO$_3$

Identification of novel multiferroic materials with high-ordering temperatures remains at the forefront of condensed matter physics research. In this regard, the antiferromagnetic RCrO$_3$ compounds (like GdCrO$_3$) constitute a promising class of multiferroic compounds, which, however, mostly become ferroelectric concomitant with the antiferromagnetic ordering much below room-temperature, arising from a subtle competition between the ferroelectric off-centering mode and a non-polar antiferrodistortive rotation mode that inhibits ferroelectricity. Recently, room-temperature ferroelectricity of structural origin, arising from off-centering displacements of R and Cr ions, has been identified in spark-plasma sintered GdCrO$_3$ [Suryakanta Mishra et al., Phys. Rev. B 104, L180101 (2021)]. Interestingly, some of the experimentally observed non-ferroelectric RCrO$_3$ compounds have been theoretically predicted to host similar ferroelectric instabilities. Here, we have identified two such non-ferroelectric RCrO3 compounds, one DyCrO$_3$ (which is reported as a quantum paraelectric) and another LaCrO$_3$ (which is paraelectric), and using a modified synthesis protocol involving spark-plasma-sintering (SPS), we have been successful in engineering an intrinsic room-temperature ferroelectricity in the paramagnetic state, driven by noncentrosymmetric structural phase in both SPS sintered DyCrO$_3$ and LaCrO$_3$, in contrast to room-temperature paraelectricity in solid-state synthesized DyCrO$_3$ and LaCrO$_3$. While the ferroelectricity in SPS-prepared DyCrO$_3$ and LaCrO$_3$ is stable at room-temperature, it undergoes an irreversible transition from a ferroelectric (Pna2$_1$) phase to a paraelectric (Pbnm) phase at 440 K. Significantly, SPS-sintered LaCrO$_3$, which undergoes antiferromagnetic ordering at 290 K, emerges as a promising near room-temperature multiferroic material.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Temperature and terahertz frequency dependence of the dielectric properties of Fe3O4 thin films deposited on Si substrate

The Fe$_3$O$_4$/Si films are considered to be promising materials for THz spintronic applications due to their high temperature magnetic transition and semiconducting properties. In this article, we present the real part of the dielectric constant ($ε_1$) and the optical conductivity ($σ_1$) of Fe$_3$O$_4$ films of different thicknesses deposited on Si substrate (Fe$_3$O$_4$/Si) in the THz range at temperatures 2- 300 K. Although the magnetization of the films with thickness $\geq$ 115 nm shows a clear change at the Verwey transition temperature T$_v$ = 121 K, their optical properties in the THz frequency range are drastically different from each other. We have shown that $σ_1$ is maximum and $ε_1$ is minimum when the Fe$^{+2}$/Fe$^{+3}$ ratio is equal to 0.54 which is the ratio of Fe+2/Fe+3 for pure Fe$_3$O$_4$. The $σ_1$ reduces and $ε_1$ increases at all temperatures when the Fe$^{+2}$/Fe$^{+3}$ ratio deviates from 0.54. We have shown that a slight change in the Fe$^{+2}$/Fe$^{+3}$ ratio can induce large changes in the optical properties which shall have implications in the application of the Fe3O4 films in THz spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Coexistence of local structural heterogeneities and long-range ferroelectricity in Pb-free (1-x)Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-x(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 ceramics

Environmentally benign (1-x)Ba(Ti$_{0.8}$Zr$_{0.2}$)O$_3$-x(Ba$_{0.7}$Ca$_{0.3}$)TiO$_3$ (BZT-BCT) ceramics are promising materials due to their remarkable high piezoresponse [Liu and Ren, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{103}, 257602 (2009)]. In this Letter, by focusing on local and average structure in combination with macroscopic electromechanical and dielectric measurements we demonstrate the structure property relationship in the tetragonal BZT-BCT ceramic. During high-temperature cubic to tetragonal phase transformation, polar nanoregions are manifested through the spontaneous volume ferroelectrostriction at temperatures below $\sim$ 477 K. Temperature-dependent local structural investigations across the Zr K edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy reveal an anomalous collaboration between the ZrO$_{6}$ and TiO$_6$ octahedra. These octahedra compromise their individuality during polarization development. The presence of domains of submicron size embedded inside the macroscopic ferroelectric regions below T$_{m}$, as well as their hierarchical arrangement, is observed by piezo-response force microscopy. Effects of the existence of the structural/polar heterogeneities below T$_{m}$ are observed also when polarizibilities of the poled and the unpoled samples are compared; the poled sample is found to be more susceptible to the electric field. In addition, by using electric field dependent x-ray diffraction studies we also show that this ceramic under field exhibits reduction of tetragonal distortion, which is consistent with earlier reports.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Monoclinic symmetry at the nanoscale in lead-free ferroelectric BaZr$_{x}$Ti$_{1-x}$O$_{3}$ ceramics

Local structural symmetries play a key role in the functionalities of ferroelectric materials and are often found different from average symmetry. Here, we study the real space nanoscale structure in Pb-free BaZr$_{x}$Ti$_{1-x}$O$_{3}$ (x $\leq$ 0.10) by pair distribution function measurements, complemented by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. Our observations show existence of the rhombohedrally distorted unit cells; however, at intermediate length scales, at least up to 5 nm, there exist nano-scale correlated regions of monoclinic symmetry. This is complemented by the observation of curved frustrated nanodomains. Further, the average structure is found to have coexisting monoclinic and rhombohedral symmetries. Our observation of a two-phase ferroelectric state is in contrast to interferroelectric instabilities of conventional polymorphic phase boundaries reported for doped BaTiO$_{3}$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Determination of Al occupancy and local structure for \b{eta}-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloys across nearly full composition range from Rietveld analysis

Al occupancy and local structure (bond length and bond angles) for monoclinic \b{eta}-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloys, with Al compositions (x) up to 90%, have been determined from Rietveld refinement of x-ray diffraction data. Al atom preferentially occupies octahedron (Oh) atomic site in comparison to tetrahedron (Td) atomic site. However, sizable number of Td atomic sites i.e. 20% for Al composition of 5% remain occupied by Al atoms, which is found to increase sharply with Al composition. The Oh atomic sites are not fully occupied by Al atoms even for Al composition of 90%. The lattice parameters (band gap) of \b{eta}-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloy decrease (increases) linearly with Al composition, but a change in slope of variation of both lattice parameters and band gap is observed at around Al composition of 50%. The lattice is found to be distorted for Al compositions more than 50% as indicated by large change in the bond angles. The lattice distortion is determined to be the origin for the observed change in slope for the variation of both lattice parameters and band gap for monoclinic \b{eta}-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloy system. Our results provide an insight in to the local structure of \b{eta}-(AlxGa1-x)2O3 alloys, which are required to have better understanding of their physical properties.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Ce substituted yttrium iron garnet epitaxial thin films

Cerium substituted yttrium iron garnet (Ce:YIG) epitaxial thin films are prepared on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrate with pulsed laser deposition (PLD). It is observed that the films grown on GGG(111) substrate exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) as compared to films grown on GGG(100) substrate. The developed PMA is confirmed from magneto-optical Kerr effect, bulk magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. Further, the magnetic bubble domains are observed in the films exhibiting PMA. The observations are explained in terms of the growth direction of Ce:YIG films and the interplay of various magnetic anisotropy terms. The observed PMA is found to be tunable with thickness of the film and a remarkable temperature stability of the PMA is observed in all the studied films of Ce:YIG deposited on GGG(111) substrate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Enhancement of functional properties of V$_{0.6}$Ti$_{0.4}$ alloy superconductor by the addition of yttrium

We show here that the yttrium is immiscible and precipitates with various sizes in the body centred cubic V$_{0.6}$Ti$_{0.4}$ alloy superconductor. The number and size of the precipitates are found to depend on the amount of yttrium added. Precipitates with various sizes up to 30~$μ$m are found in the V$_{0.6}$Ti$_{0.4}$ alloy containing 5 at.\% yttrium. The large amount of line disorders generated by the addition of yttrium in this alloy are found to be effective in pinning the magnetic flux lines. While the superconducting transition temperature increases with the increasing amount of yttrium in the V$_{0.6}$Ti$_{0.4}$ alloy, the critical current density is maximum for the alloy containing 2 at. \% yttrium, where it is more than 7.5 times the parent alloy in fields higher than 1~T. We found that the effectiveness of each type of defect in pinning the flux lines is dependent on the temperature and the applied magnetic filed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Temperature induced first order electronic topological transition in $β$-Ag$_2$Se

$β$-Ag$_2$Se is a promising material for room temperature thermoelectric applications and magneto-resistive sensors. However, no attention was paid earlier to the hysteresis in the temperature dependence of resistivity ($ρ$($T$)). Here, we show that a broad hysteresis above 35 K is observed not only in $ρ$($T$), but also in other electronic properties such as Hall coefficient ($R_H$($T$)), Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra (UPS). We also show that the hysteresis is not associated with a structural transition. The $ρ$($T$) and $R_H$($T$) show that $β$-Ag$_2$Se is semiconducting above 300 K, but metallicity is retained below 300 K. While electronic states are absent in the energy range from the Fermi level ($E_F$) to 0.4 eV below the $E_F$ at 300 K, a distinct Fermi edge is observed in the UPS at 15 K suggesting that the $β$-Ag$_2$Se undergoes an electronic topological transition from a high temperature semiconducting state to a low temperature metallic state. Our study reveals that a constant and moderately high thermoelectric figure of merit ($ZT$) in the range 300-395 K is observed due to the broad semiconductor to metal transition in $β$-Ag$_2$Se.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Strain Induced Relaxor-type Ferroelectricity Near Room Temperature in Delafossite CuCrO2

Polycrystalline samples of CuCrO2 were synthesized by solid state reaction method. Temperature dependent dielectric measurements, synchrotron x-ray diffraction (SXRD), pyroelectric current and Raman measurements have been performed on these samples. Evidences of the presence of relaxor type ferroelectricity, which otherwise have gone unnoticed in CuCrO2 system (a member of delafossite family) near room temperature, have been presented. Presence of broad maximum in dielectric permittivity and its frequency dispersion indicates relaxor-type ferroelectricity in CuCrO2 near room temperature. Careful analysis of temperature dependent SXRD data and Raman spectroscopic data indicates that the distorted CrO6 octahdera, is giving rise to strain in the sample. Due to this strain, polar regions are forming in an otherwise non-polar matrix, which is giving rise to relaxor type ferroelectricity in the sample. Regularization of CrO6 octahedra and disappearance of disorder induced peak in Raman spectra at high temperatures could be the reason behind observed dielectric anomaly in this sample. Present investigations propose that relaxor type ferroelectricity near room temperature is an inherent property of the CuCrO2 system, making it a fascinating material to be explored further.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Magneto-dielectric coupling and non-ergodic electrical behaviour in hexagonal Sr0.6Ba0.4MnO3 via local strain driven magnetic ordering

The crystal structure of hexagonal-Sr0.6Ba0.4MnO3 allows various competing superexchange interactions, leading to intriguing magnetic properties. Local structural changes modify overlapping between Mn and oxygen ions with temperature. Calculations based on our model spin-Hamiltonian reveal that the dominant linear antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction between the oxygen-linked Mn4+ ions results in short range correlations (SRC), manifesting a smooth drop in magnetization below 325K. Dominance of superexchange interaction changes its allegiance towards the non-linear oxygen-linked Mn-O-Mn interactions, onsetting long-range correlations (LRC) below 225K. Below the SRC-LRC crossover temperature, electrical response arising from the interacting dipoles exhibits power-law divergent behaviour of relaxation time, upon cooling. Non-ergodic character of the dipole-cluster glass state is examined via the indispensable aging and rejuvenation effects, similar to the spin glasses. Competitive-frustration among spin-exchange and local-strain is reckoned as responsible for the electrical glass origin.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Superconductivity in V$_{1-x}$Zr$_x$ alloys]{Evolution of high field superconductivity and high critical current density in the as-cast V$_{1-x}$Zr$_x$ alloys

We report here the structural, electrical and magnetic properties of as-cast V$_{1-x}$Zr$_x$ alloys ($x$ =0 - 0.4) at low temperatures. We observe that all the alloys undergo successive peritectic and eutectic reactions during cooling from the melt which leads to the formation of five phases, namely, a body centred cubic $β$-V phase, two phases with slightly different compositions having face centred cubic ZrV$_2$ structure, a hexagonal closed packed $α$-Zr phase, and the $β$-Zr precipitates. The amount of each phase is found to be dependent on the concentration of zirconium in vanadium. The $β$-V and ZrV$_2$ phases show superconductivity below 5.3~K and 8.5~K respectively. We show that the critical current density is large for V-rich V$_{1-x}$Zr$_x$ alloys with $x >$ 0.1. The grain boundaries generated from the eutectic reaction, and the point defects formed due to the variation in the composition are found to be responsible for the pinning of flux lines in low and high magnetic fields respectively. Our studies reveal that the choice of the composition and the heat treatment which leads to eutectic reaction are important in improving the critical current density in this alloy system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Hexagonal Sr0.6Ba0.4MnO3: Spin and Dipole Coupling via Local Structure

Hexagonal Sr0.6Ba0.4MnO3 (SBMO) follows P63/mmc symmetry where MnO6 octahedra are both face-shared (Mn2O9 bi-octahedra) and corner-shared via oxygen anion. It undergoes ferroelectric (FE) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) orderings close to the room temperature. Magnetic properties appear to be governed by intricate exchange interactions among Mn4+ ions within and in adjacent Mn2O9 bi-octahedra, contingent upon the local structural changes. Calculations based on our model spin-Hamiltonian reveal that the dominant linear AFM fluctuations between the Mn4+ ions of two oxygen-linked bi-octahedra result in short range correlations, manifest as a smooth drop in magnetization below 325 K. Competition between spin-exchange and local-strain is reckoned as responsible for the atypical magneto-electricity, obtained near the room temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Metastable behavior of Urbach tail states in BaTiO3 across phase transition

The temperature dependent diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements were carried out on the polycrystalline samples of BaTiO3 across the tetragonal to cubic structural phase transition temperature. The values of various optical parameters such as band gap (Eg), Urbach energy (EU) and Urbach focus (E0) are estimated in the range of 300 K to 470K. It is observed that near structural phase transition temperatures there exists two value of E0, suggesting presence of electronic heterogeneity over wide temperature range. Further near transition temperature EU shows metastability i.e. value of EU at temperature T is not constant but is a function of time (t). Interestingly it is observed that the ratio of EU(t=0)/ EU(t = tm), is almost remains constant at 295 K (pure tetragonal phase) and at 450 K (pure cubic phase), whereas this ratio shows decreasing behavior close to structural phase transition temperature, which confirms the presence of electronic metastibility in the pure BaTiO3. The observed metastibility can be fitted with the stretch exponents relaxation behavior, suggesting the presence of dynamic heterogeneous electronic disorder present in the sample across the transition. Further it appears that these metastable Urbach tail states (electronic disorder) may couple with the soft phonon modes and responsible for the observed terahertz dielectric relaxation (Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 167402 (2008)). Further; present studies suggest that the optical studies appear to be more sensitive to probe the disorder/heterogeneity present in the sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Low temperature Synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies on spin lattice coupling in Co3TeO6 and Co2.5Mn0.5TeO6

In the quest of understanding significant variations in the physical, chemical and electronic properties of the novel functional materials, low temperature Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction (LT-SXRD) measurements on CTO (a type-II) and CMTO (a type-I) multiferroics are presented. Magnetic phase diagram of CTO shows multiple magnetic transitions at zero fields, whereas, in CMTO, 20 K enhancement in the antiferromagnetic transition temperature is observed followed by near room temperature Griffiths phase. Rietveld analysis on LT-SXRD data of both the samples indicates important observations. For both CTO and CMTO, the magnetic anomalies are followed by structural anomalies, which is a clear signature of spin lattice coupling and the positive shift of spin lattice coupling from CTO to CMTO.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Optical bandgap and bowing parameter for Fe doped LaGaO3

The polycrystalline samples of LaGa1-xFexO3 have been prepared by standard solid state reaction route. The phase purity of the prepared samples is confirmed by powder xray diffraction experiments followed by Rietveld analysis. It has been observed that the variation of lattice parameters is governed by Vegards law. The optical band gap of these samples is estimated using diffuse reflectance analysis and it is observed that the optical gap systematically decreases with Fe doping from 3.62 eV and attains the saturation value of approximately 1.9 eV at x equal to 0.4. The value of the bowing parameter b for the prepared solid solution LaGa1-xFexO3 is estimated to be 3.8eV.The xray absorption near edge spectroscopy XANES suggests that the Fe is in mixed valence state in all prepared samples and these mixed states of Fe due to offstoichiometry acts like electron doping in LaGa1-xFexO3 and thereby results in the reduction in the effective band gap. Our results may be useful to design the LaGaO3based light emitting diodes and new generation of semiconductor photo-detectors.

cond-mat.str-el↗