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D. Baldomir

Publications and source records attributed to D. Baldomir.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2021

Nanoparticle size threshold for magnetic agglomeration and associated hyperthermia performance

The likelihood of magnetic nanoparticles to agglomerate is usually estimated through the ratio between magnetic dipole-dipole and thermal energies, thus neglecting the fact that, depending on the magnitude of the magnetic anisotropy constant ($K$), the particle moment may fluctuate internally and thus undermine the agglomeration process. Based on the comparison between the involved timescales, we study in this work how the threshold size for magnetic agglomeration ($d_{aggl}$) varies depending on the $K$ value. Our results suggest that small variations in $K$ -due to e.g. shape contribution-, might shift $d_{aggl}$ by a few nm. A comparison with the usual \textit{superparamagnetism} estimation is provided, as well as with the energy competition approach. In addition, based on the key role of the anisotropy in the hyperthermia performance, we also analyse the associated heating capability, as non-agglomerated particles would be of high interest for the application.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2013

Ab initio study of $Z_2$ topological phases in perovskite (111) $(\text{SrTiO}_3)_7/(\text{SrIrO}_3)_2$ and $(\text{KTaO}_3)_7/(\text{KPtO}_3)_2$ multilayers

Honeycomb structures formed by the growth of perovskite 5d transition metal oxide heteroestructures along the (111) direction in $t_{2g}^5$ configuration can give rise to topological ground states characterized by a topological index $ν$=1. Using a combination of a tight binding model and ab initio calculations we study the multilayers $(\text{SrTiO}_3)_7/(\text{SrIrO}_3)_2$ and $(\text{KTaO}_3)_7/(\text{KPtO}_3)_2$ as a function of parity asymmetry, on-site interaction and uniaxial strain and determine the nature and evolution of the gap. $(\text{SrTiO}_3)_7/(\text{SrIrO}_3)_2$ is found to be a topological semimetal. $(\text{KTaO}_3)_7/(\text{KPtO}_3)_2$ is a topological Mott insulator that can be driven to a trivial insulating phase by an external electric field.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Tuning the thermoelectric properties of SrTiO3 by controlled oxygen doping

We report the thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, and electrical resistivity) of lightly doped single crystals of (001)-oriented SrTiO3 (STO). Hall effect measurements show that electron doping around 10^-5 carriers per unit cell can be achieved by vacuum annealing of the crystals under carefully controlled conditions. The steep density of states near the Fermi energy of STO at this doping level (confirmed by ab initio calculations) retains an unusually large Seebeck coefficient, in spite of an increase in the electronic conductivity by several orders of magnitude. This effect, combined with a decrease in thermal conductivity due to vacancy disorder scattering makes intrinsic doping in STO (and other materials) an alternative strategy to optimize its thermoelectric figure of merit.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Ab initio study of the influence of nanoscale doping inhomogeneities in the phase separated state of La$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_3$

The chemical influence in the phase separation phenomenon that occurs in perovskite manganites is discussed by means of ab initio calculations. Supercells have been used to simulate a phase separated state, that occurs at Ca concentrations close to the localized to itinerant crossover. We have first considered a model with two types of magnetic ordering coexisting within the same compound. This is not stable. However, a non-isotropic distribution of chemical dopants is found to be the ground state. This leads to regions in the system with different effective concentrations, that would always accompany the magnetic phase separation at the same nanometric scale, with hole-rich regions being more ferromagnetic in character and hole-poor regions being in the antiferromagnetic region of the phase diagram, as long as the system is close to a phase crossover.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Electronic structure of CrN: A comparison between different exchange correlation potentials

We report a series of electronic structure calculations for CrN using different exchange correlation potentials: PBE, LDA+$U$, the Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson, and hybrid functionals. In every case, our calculations show that the onset of magnetism in CrN should be accompanied by a gap opening. The experimentally found antiferromagnetic order always leads to an insulating behavior. Our results give further evidence that the Tran-Blaha functional is very useful for treating the electronic structure of correlated semiconductors allowing a parameter free description of the system. Hybrid functionals are also well capable of describing the electronic structure of CrN. The analysis of the system is complemented with our calculations of the thermopower that are in agreement with the experimental data.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2011

Electronic structure of V$_4$O$_7$: charge ordering, metal-insulator transition and magnetism

The low and high-temperature phases of V$_4$O$_7$ have been studied by \textit{ab initio} calculations. At high temperature, all V atoms are electronically equivalent and the material is metallic. Charge and orbital ordering, associated with the distortions in the V pseudo-rutile chains, occur below the metal-insulator transition. Orbital ordering in the low-temperature phase, different in V$^{3+}$ and V$^{4+}$ chains, allows to explain the distortion pattern in the insulating phase of V$_4$O$_7$. The in-chain magnetic couplings in the low-temperature phase turn out to be antiferromagnetic, but very different in the various V$^{4+}$ and V$^{3+}$ bonds. The V$^{4+}$ dimers formed below the transition temperature form spin singlets, but V$^{3+}$ ions, despite dimerization, apparently participate in magnetic ordering.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2011

Sr$_6$Co$_5$0{$_1$$_5$}: non-one-dimensional behavior of a charge ordered structurally quasi-one-dimensional oxide

We have synthesized Sr$_6$Co$_5$O$_{15}$, a quasi-one-dimensional oxide, measured its magnetic properties and calculated its electronic structure by ab initio techniques. We have found strong evidence for its electronic and magnetic behavior not to follow the trend of its structural series. The magnetic coupling inside the CoO$_3$ chains is not purely ferromagnetic, the long-range coupling inside them is very weak. The Co moments are slightly canted due to their large orbital angular momenta being oriented along each particular quantization axis, that is different for each Co$^{4+}$ atom in the structure. Our thermopower calculations are in agreement with the experiment, supporting our model of the magnetic ground state of the compound.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Nonmonotonic Evolution of the Blocking Temperature in Dispersions of Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles

We use a Monte Carlo approach to simulate the influence of the dipolar interaction on assemblies of monodisperse superparamagnetic $γ-Fe_{2}O_{3}$ nanoparticles. We have identified a critical concentration c*, that marks the transition between two different regimes in the evolution of the blocking temperature ($T_{B}$) with interparticle interactions. At low concentrations (c < c*) magnetic particles behave as an ideal non-interacting system with a constant $T_{B}$. At concentrations c > c* the dipolar energy enhances the anisotropic energy barrier and $T_{B}$ increases with increasing c, so that a larger temperature is required to reach the superparamagnetic state. The fitting of our results with classical particle models and experiments supports the existence of two differentiated regimes. Our data could help to understand apparently contradictory results from the literature.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2010

CdV2O4: A rare example of a collinear multiferroic spinel

By studying the dielectric properties of the geometrically frustrated spinel CdV2O4, we observe ferroelectricity developing at the transition into the collinear antiferromagnetic ground state. In this multiferroic spinel, ferroelectricity is driven by local magnetostriction and not by the more common scenario of spiral magnetism. The experimental findings are corroborated by ab-initio calculations of the electric polarization and the underlying spin and orbital order. The results point towards a charge rearrangement due to dimerization, where electronic correlations and the proximity to the insulator-metal transition play an important role.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Fermiology and transport properties of the half-metallic itinerant ferromagnet CoS$_2$: influence of spin orbit coupling

Electronic structure calculations were performed on the compound CoS$_2$, an itinerant ferromagnet whose magnetic properties can be understood in terms of spin fluctuation theory. We have identified nesting features in the Fermi surface of the compound, active for long wavelength spin fluctuations. The electronic structure of the material is close to a half-metal. We show the importance of introducing spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in the calculations, that partially destroys the half-metallicity of the material. By means of transport properties calculations, we have quantified the influence of SOC in the conductivity at room temperature, with an important decrease comparing to the GGA alone conductivity. SOC also helps to understand the negative 0 of the material, whose conductivity varies by a few percent with the introduction of small perturbations in the states around the Fermi level.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2009

Origin of the anomalous Slater-Pauling curve in cobalt-manganese alloy clusters

Surprising enhancement of the magnetic moments recently observed in dilute Co-Mn alloy clusters is explained using ab initio electronic structure calculations. The calculated magnetic moments generally agree with the reported experimental data. An equation for calculating the magnetic moments of the Co-Mn alloy clusters has been derived to correct the deviations predicted by the rigid-band model and the virtual bound states approximation. A strategy is proposed to obtain the ground-state structures of the Co-Mn clusters and it was also put to the test of the experiment.

physics.atm-clus↗
arXiv2009

Study of the pressure effects in TiOCl by ab initio calculations

Electronic structure calculations on the low dimensional spin-1/2 compound TiOCl were performed at several pressures in the orthorhombic phase, finding that the structure is quasi-one-dimensional. The Ti3+ (d1) ions have one t2g orbital occupied (dyz) with a large hopping integral along the b direction of the crystal. The most important magnetic coupling is Ti-Ti along the b axis. The transition temperature (Tc) has a linear evolution with pressure, and at about 10 GPa this Tc is close to room temperature, leading to a room temperature spin-Peierls insulator-insulator transition, with an important reduction of the charge gap in agreement with the experiment. On the high-pressure monoclinic phase, TiOCl presents two possible dimerized structures, with a long or short dimerization. Long dimerized state occurs above 15 GPa, and below this pressure the short dimerized structure is the more stable phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2008

Identification of a Marginal Fermi-Liquid in Itinerant Ferromagnet CoS2

We report specific heat, resistivity and susceptibility measurements at different temperatures, magnetic fields, and pressures to provide solid evidence of CoS2 being a marginal Fermi liquid. The presence of a tricritical point in the phase diagram of the system provides an opportunity to test the spin fluctuation theory with a high limit of accuracy. A magnetic field suppresses the amplitude of the spin fluctuations and recovers conventional Fermi liquid behavior, connecting both states continuously.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2008

Enhanced dimerization of TiOCl under pressure: spin-Peierls - to - Peierls transition

We report high-pressure x-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements combined with ab-initio calculations to demonstrate that the high-pressure optical and transport transitions recently reported in TiOCl, correspond in fact to an enhanced Ti3+-Ti3+ dimerization existing already at room temperature. Our results confirm the formation of a metal-metal bond between Ti3+ ions along the b-axis of TiOCl, accompanied by a strong reduction of the electronic gap. The evolution of the dimerization with pressure suggests a crossover from the spin-Peierls to a conventional Peierls situation at high pressures.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2008

Homopolar bond formation in ZnV$_2$O$_4$ close to a metal-insulator transition

Electronic structure calculations for spinel vanadate ZnV$_2$O$_4$ show that partial electronic delocalization in this system leads to structural instabilities. These are a consequence of the proximity to the itinerant-electron boundary, not being related to orbital ordering. We discuss how this mechanism naturally couples charge and lattice degrees of freedom in magnetic insulators close to such a crossover. For the case of ZnV$_2$O$_4$, this leads to the formation of V-V dimers along the [011] and [101] directions that readily accounts for the intriguing magnetic structure of ZnV$_2$O$_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2007

Enhanced Pressure Dependence of Magnetic Exchange in A2+[V2]O4 Spinels Approaching the Itinerant Electron Limit

We report a systematic enhancement of the pressure dependence of TN in A2+[V2]O4 spinels as the V-V separation approaches the critical separation for a transition to itinerant-electron behavior. An intermediate phase between localized and itinerant electron behavior is identified in Zn[V2]O4 and Mg[V2]O4 exhibiting mobile holes as large polarons. In Zn[V2]O4, cooperative ordering of V-V pairs below a Ts=TN does not totally suppress the V3+-ion spins at ambient pressure, but makes TN to decrease with pressure. Our results demonstrate that Zn[V2]O4 and Mg[V2]O4 are less localized than previously thought.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2007

Structure and static response of small silver clusters to an external electric field

The static response properties and the structural stability of silver clusters in the size range $1\le n \le 23$ have been studied using a linear combination of atomic Gaussian-type orbitals within the density functional theory in the finite field approach. The Kohn-Sham equations have been solved in conjuction with a generalized gradient approximation (GGA) exchange-correlation functional. A proof that the finite basis set GGA calculation holds the Hellmann-Feynman theorem is also included in the Appendix. The calculated polarizabilities of silver clusters are compared with the experimental measurements and the jellium model in the spillout approximation. Despite the fact that the calculated polarizabilities are in good agreement with both of them, we have found that the polarizability appears to be strongly correlated to the cluster shape and the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular-orbital gap.

physics.atm-clus↗