Elastic and dynamical structural properties of La and Mn-doped SrTiO3 studied by neutron scattering and their relation with thermal conductivities

Optimization and inference of bin widths for histogramming inelastic neutron scattering spectra

A data-driven bin-width optimization for the histograms of measured data sets based on inhomogeneous Poisson processes was developed in a neurophysiology study [Shimazaki & Shinomoto (2007). Neural Comput. 19, 1503-1527], and a subsequent study [Muto, Sakamoto, Matsuura, Arima & Okada (2019). J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, 88, 044002] proposed its application to inelastic neutron scattering (INS) data. In the present study, the results of the method on experimental INS time-of-flight data collected under different measurement conditions from a copper single crystal are validated. The extrapolation of the statistics on a given data set to other data sets with different total counts precisely infers the optimal bin widths on the latter. The histograms with the optimized bin widths statistically verify two fine-spectral-feature examples in the energy and momentum transfer cross sections: (i) the existence of phonon band gaps; and (ii) the number of plural phonon branches located close to each other. This indicates that the applied method helps in the efficient and rigorous observation of spectral structures important in physics and materials science like novel forms of magnetic excitation and phonon states correlated to thermal conductivities.

Sub-lattice of Jahn-Teller centers in hexaferrite crystal

A novel type of sub-lattice of the Jahn-Teller (JT) centers was arranged in Ti-doped barium hexaferrite BaFe₁₂O₁₉. In the un-doped crystal all iron ions, sitting in five different crystallographic positions, are Fe³⁺ in the high-spin configuration (S = 5/2) and have a non-degenerate ground state. We show that the electron-donor Ti substitution converts the ions to Fe²⁺ predominantly in tetrahedral coordination, resulting in doubly-degenerate states subject to the [Formula: see text] problem of the JT effect. The arranged JT complexes, Fe²⁺O₄, their adiabatic potential energy, non-linear and quantum dynamics, have been studied by means of ultrasound and terahertz-infrared spectroscopies. The JT complexes are sensitive to external stress and applied magnetic field. For that reason, the properties of the doped crystal can be controlled by the amount and state of the JT complexes.

Tuning the Electrical and Thermoelectric Properties of N Ion Implanted SrTiO3 Thin Films and Their Conduction Mechanisms

The SrTiO₃ thin films were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. Subsequently ion implantation with 60 keV N ions at two different fluences 1 × 10¹⁶ and 5 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² and followed by annealing was carried out. Thin films were then characterized for electronic structure, morphology and transport properties. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals the local distortion of TiO₆ octahedra and introduction of oxygen vacancies due to N implantation. The electrical and thermoelectric properties of these films were measured as a function of temperature to understand the conduction and scattering mechanisms. It is observed that the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient (S) of these films are significantly enhanced for higher N ion fluence. The temperature dependent electrical resistivity has been analysed in the temperature range of 80–400 K, using various conduction mechanisms and fitted with band conduction, near neighbour hopping (NNH) and variable range hopping (VRH) models. It is revealed that the band conduction mechanism dominates at high temperature regime and in low temperature regime, there is a crossover between NNH and VRH. The S has been analysed using the relaxation time approximation model and dispersive transport mechanism in the temperature range of 300–400 K. Due to improvement in electrical conductivity and thermopower, the power factor is enhanced to 15 µWm⁻¹ K⁻² at 400 K at the higher ion fluence which is in the order of ten times higher as compared to the pristine films. This study suggests that ion beam can be used as an effective technique to selectively alter the electrical transport properties of oxide thermoelectric materials.