X-ray natural circular dichroism in langasite crystal

Optical activity in the X-ray range stems from the electric-dipole-electric-quadrupole interference terms mixing multipoles of opposite parity, and can be observed exclusively in systems with broken inversion symmetry. The gyration tensor formalism is used to describe the X-ray optical activity in langasite La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ crystal with the P321 space group. An experimental study of the X-ray natural circular dichroism (XNCD) near the Ga K-edge in La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ single crystal was performed at ESRF beamline ID12, both along and perpendicular to the crystal optical axis. The combination of the quantum mechanical calculations and high-quality experimental results has allowed us to separate the contributions into X-ray absorption and XNCD spectra of Ga atoms occupying three distinct Wyckoff positions.

Acentric langanite La3Ga5.5Nb0.5O14 crystal: a new nonlinear crystal for the generation of mid-infrared parametric light

The mid-infrared spectral range extending from 2 to 6 μm is significant for scientific and technological applications. A promising nonlinear oxide crystal La₃Ga_5.5Nb_0.5O₁₄ (LGN) is proposed and fully characterized for the first time to our knowledge. The transparency range extends between 0.28 and 7.4 μm. The two principal refractive indices were measured and we found that the nonlinear coefficient d11 = 3.0 ± 0.1 pm/V at 0.532 μm. The simultaneous fit of data allowed us to refine the Sellmeier equations of LGN and to calculate the tuning curves for optical parametric generation (OPG) pumped at 1.064 μm. Calculations are consistent with recorded data and also show the generation of a supercontinuum between 1.5 and 3.5 μm when pumped at 0.98 μm by a Ti:Sapphire laser.

Phase diagram and magnetic structures of the Co-bearing dugganites Pb3TeCo3A2O14 (A = V, P)

Exhibiting rich magnetic behaviour and potentially multiferroic properties, the dugganites, a Te(6+) containing subgroup of the langasite series, are an attractive family of compounds for future study. It was recently shown that Pb-bearing members of the dugganite series undergo distortions away from the P321 symmetry that is characteristic of the langasites. Here, we detail the consequences these distortions have on the magnetism exhibited by Pb3TeCo3V2O14 and Pb3TeCo3P2O14, solving the magnetic structures of both compounds with respect to a new supercell. Using neutron scattering and magnetic susceptibility measurements, we show that small applied magnetic fields can seriously perturb the delicate magnetic states in both of these systems. This is further demonstrated by presenting how doping P(5+) onto the nonmagnetic V(5+) site completely changes the magnetic structure from either of the end series members. Finally, it is shown using inelastic neutron scattering and magnetic susceptibility measurements that Pb3TeCo3V2O14 can be characterized using a model for isosceles trimers, which do not exist in the previously reported P321 subcell.