arXiv subjects

Z. F. Ren

Publications and source records attributed to Z. F. Ren.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2015

Anomalous transport and thermoelectric performances of CuAgSe compounds

The copper silver selenide has two phases: the low-temperature semimetal phase (α-CuAgSe) and high-temperature phonon-glass superionic phase (\b{eta}-CuAgSe). In this work, the electric transport and thermoelectric properties of the two phases are investigated. It is revealed that the \b{eta}-CuAgSe is a p-type semiconductor and exhibits low thermal conductivity while the α-CuAgSe shows metallic conduction with dominant n-type carriers and low electrical resistivity. The thermoelectric figure of merit zT of the polycrystalline \b{eta}-CuAgSe at 623 K is ~0.95, suggesting that superionic CuAgSe can be a promising thermoelectric candidate in the intermediate temperature range.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Enhancing the Figure of Merit in Te-doped FeSb2 through nanostructuring

We study the thermoelectric properties of Te-doped FeSb2 nanostructured samples. Four samples of stoichiometry FeSb1.84Te0.16 were prepared by a hot press method at temperatures of 200, 400, 500, and 600 oC. Te-doping enhances the dimensionless figure of merit (ZT) on FeSb2 via two mechanisms. First, a semiconductor to metal transition is induced, which enhances the value of the power factor at low-temperatures. Second, the thermal conductivity, which was already reduced in nanostructured FeSb2 samples, is further reduced by increased point defect scattering through the n type substitution of Sb site by Te atom. The combined effect results in a ZT = 0.022 at 100 K, an increase of 62% over the ZT value for the optimized Te-doped single crystal sample. Hall coefficient and electrical resistivity measurements reveal a decreased mobility and increased concentration of the carriers in the doped sample.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Thermal Stability of Thermoelectric Materials via In Situ Resistivity Measurements

An experimental setup for determining the electrical resistivity of several types of thermoelectric materials over the temperature range 20 < T < 550 C is described in detail. One resistivity measurement during temperature cycling is also explained for Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 while a second measurement is made on Yb0.35Co4Sb12 as a function of time at 400 C. Both measurements confirm that the materials are thermally stable for the temperature range and time period measured. Measurements made during temperature cycling show an irreversible decrease in the electrical resistivity of Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 when the measuring temperature exceeds the pressing temperature. Several other possible uses of such a system include but are not limited to studying the effects of annealing and/or oxidation as a function of both temperature and time.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Thermoelectric Properties of Ho-doped Bi1-xSbx

The Seebeck coefficients, electrical resistivities, total thermal conductivities, and magnetization are reported for temperatures between 5 and 350 K for n-type Bi0.88Sb0.12 nano-composite alloys made by Ho-doping at the 0, 1 and 3% atomic levels. The alloys were prepared using a dc hot-pressing method, and are shown to be single phase for both Ho contents with grain sizes on the average of 900 nm. We find the parent compound has a maximum of ZT = 0.28 at 231 K, while doping 1% Ho increases the maximum ZT to 0.31 at 221 K and the 3% doped sample suppresses the maximum ZT = 0.24 at a temperature of 260 K.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Experimental Determination of the Lorenz Number in Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 and Bi0.88Sb0.12

Nanostructuring has been shown to be an effective approach to reduce the lattice thermal conductivity and improve the thermoelectric figure of merit. Because the experimentally measured thermal conductivity includes contributions from both carriers and phonons, separating out the phonon contribution has been difficult and is mostly based on estimating the electronic contributions using the Wiedemann-Franz law. In this paper, an experimental method to directly measure electronic contributions to the thermal conductivity is presented and applied to Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3, [Cu0.01Bi2Te2.7Se0.3]0.98Ni0.02, and Bi0.88Sb0.12. By measuring the thermal conductivity under magnetic field, electronic contributions to thermal conductivity can be extracted, leading to knowledge of the Lorenz number in thermoelectric materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Neutron scattering study of magnetic phase separation in nanocrystalline La$_{5/8}$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$

We demonstrate that magnetic phase separation and competing spin order in the colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) manganites can be directly explored via tuning strain in bulk samples of nanocrystalline La$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$. Our results show that strain can be reversibly frozen into the lattice in order to stabilize coexisting antiferromagnetic domains within the nominally ferromagnetic metallic state of La$_{5/8}$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$. The measurement of tunable phase separation via magnetic neutron powder diffraction presents a direct route of exploring the correlated spin properties of phase separated charge/magnetic order in highly strained CMR materials and opens a potential avenue for realizing intergrain spin tunnel junction networks with enhanced CMR behavior in a chemically homogeneous material.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Multiferroicity, The coupling between magnetic and polarization

Multiferroics, defined for those multifunctional materials in which two or more kinds of fundamental ferroicities coexist, have become one of the hottest topics of condensed matter physics and materials science in recent years. The coexistence of several order parameters in multiferroics brings out novel physical phenomena and offers possibilities for new device functions. The revival of research activities on multiferroics is evidenced by some novel discoveries and concepts, both experimentally and theoretically. In this review article, we outline some of the progressive milestones in this stimulating field, specially for those single phase multiferroics where magnetism and ferroelectricity coexist. Firstly, we will highlight the physical concepts of multiferroicity and the current challenges to integrate the magnetism and ferroelectricity into a single-phase system. Subsequently, we will summarize various strategies used to combine the two types of orders. Special attentions to three novel mechanisms for multiferroicity generation: (1) the ferroelectricity induced by the spin orders such as spiral and E-phase antiferromagnetic spin orders, which break the spatial inversion symmetry, (2) the ferroelectricity originating from the charge ordered states, and (3) the ferrotoroidic system, will be paid. Then, we will address the elementary excitations such as electromagnons, and application potentials of multiferroics. Finally, open questions and opportunities will be prospected.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

Discretely guided electromagnetic effective medium

A material comprised of an array of subwavelength coaxial waveguides decomposes incident electromagnetic waves into spatially discrete wave components, propagates these components without frequency cut-off, and reassembles them on the far side of the material. The propagation of these wave components is fully controlled by the physical properties of the waveguides and their geometrical distribution in the array. This allows for an exceptional degree of control over the electromagnetic response of this effective medium, with numerous potential applications. With the development of nanoscale subwavelength coaxial waveguides, these applications (including metamaterial functionality) can be enabled in the visible frequency range.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

Surface phase separation in nanosized charge-ordered manganites

Recent experiments showed that the robust charge-ordering in manganites can be weakened by reducing the grain size down to nanoscale. Weak ferromagnetism was evidenced in both nanoparticles and nanowires of charge-ordered manganites. To explain these observations, a phenomenological model based on surface phase separation is proposed. The relaxation of superexchange interaction on the surface layer allows formation of a ferromagnetic shell, whose thickness increases with decreasing grain size. Possible exchange bias and softening of the ferromagnetic transition in nanosized charge-ordered manganites are predicted.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Improved superlensing in two-dimensional photonic crystals with a basis

We study propagation of light in square and hexagonal two-dimensional photonic crystals. We show, that slabs of these crystals focus light with subwavelength resolution. We propose a systematic way to increase this resolution, at an essentially fixed frequency, by employing a hierarchy of crystals of the same structure, and the same lattice constant, but with an increasingly complex basis.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv1999

C-axis Penetration Depth and Inter-layer Conductivity in the Thallium Based Cuprate Superconductors

The c-axis Josephson plasmon in optimally doped single-layer and bi-layer high Tc cuprates Tl2201 and Tl2212 have been investigated using infrared spectroscopy. We observed the plasma frequencies for these two compounds at 27.8 and 25.6 cm-1 respectively, which we interpret as a Josephson resonance across the TlO blocking layers. No maximum in the temperature dependence of the c-axis conductivity was observed below Tc, indicating that even in the superconducting state a coherent quasi-particle contribution to the c-axis conductivity is absent or very weak, in contrast to the behaviour of the ab-plane conductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Systematics of c-axis Phonons in the Thallium and Bismuth Based Cuprate Superconductors

We present grazing incidence reflectivity measurements in the far infrared region at temperatures above and below Tc for a series of thallium (Tl2Ba2CuO6, Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8) and bismuth (Bi2Sr2CuO6, Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, and Bi(2-x)Pb(x)Sr2CaCu2O8) based cuprate superconductors. From the spectra, which are dominated by the c-axis phonons, longitudinal frequencies (LO) are directly obtained. The reflectivity curves are well fitted by a series of Lorentz oscillators. In this way the transverse (TO) phonon frequencies were accurately determined. On the basis of the comparative study of the Bi and Tl based cuprates with different number of CuO2 layers per unit cell, we suggest modifications of the assignment of the main oxygen modes. We compare the LO frequencies in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 and Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 obtained from intrinsic Josephson junction characteristics with our measurements, and explain the discrepancy in LO frequencies obtained by the two different methods.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1998

Global and Local Measures of the Intrinsic Josephson Coupling in Tl2Ba2CuO6

The Intlerlayer Josephson coupling between the planes of Tl2Ba2CuO6 was determined using infrared spectroscopy and magnetic flux vortex imaging. These methods give a consistent value of $ω_J$= 28 cm$^{-1}$ which, when combined with the condensation energy produces a discrepancy of at least an order of magnitude with deductions based on the interlayer tunneling model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Experimental Test of the Inter-Layer Pairing Models for High-Tc Superconductivity Using Grazing Incidence Infrared Reflectometry

From measurements of the far-infrared reflectivity at grazing angles of incidence with p-polarized light we determined the c-axis Josephson plasma frequencies of the single layer high T_c cuprates Tl_2Ba_2CuO_6 and La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4. We detected a strong plasma resonance at 50 cm^{-1} for La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 in excellent agreement with previously published results. For Tl_2Ba_2CuO_6 we were able to determine an upper limit of the unscreened c-axis Josephson plasma frequency 100 cm^{-1} or a c-axis penetration depth > 15 μm. The small value of $ω_J$ stands in contrast to recent a prediction based on the inter-layer tunneling mechanism of superconductivity.

cond-mat.str-el↗