Simulation Analysis of Effect of Vacancies on Ferroic Domain Growth of BaTiO^3

BaTiO3 is one of the well-known ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials, which has been widely used in various devices. However, the microscopic mechanism of the ferroelectric domain growth is not understood well. We investigated the effects of point defects, mono- and di-vacancies of Ba, Ti, and O, on the domain growth of BaTiO3 using molecular dynamics simulation with the core-shell inter-atomic potential. We found the following: ｓ(1) One kind of monovacancy, VO1, located on the TiO plane perpendicular to the applied electric field direction, acts to hinder the polarization inversion induced by the applied electric field. The monopole electric field produced by VO1 either hinders or assists the local polarization inversion in accordance with the local intensity of the total electric field. (2) The 1st-neighbor divacancies VBa-VO and VTi-VO as compared to the 2nd-neighbor divacancies asymmetrically affect the domain growth with respect to the applied electric field, making the hysteresis behavior of applied electric field vs. polarization relation. The domain grows even at a small electric field when the directions of the applied electric field and the divacancy dipole are mutually the same. (3) The domain growth speed towards the applied electric field direction is about 2 orders of magnitude higher than that towards the perpendicular direction.

Current-Induced Spin Photocurrent in GaAs at Room Temperature

Circularly polarized photocurrent, observed in p-doped bulk GaAs, varies nonlinearly with the applied bias voltage at room temperature. It has been explored that this phenomenon arises from the current-induced spin polarization in GaAs. In addition, we found that the current-induced spin polarization direction of p-doped bulk GaAs grown in the (001) direction lies in the sample plane and is perpendicular to the applied electric field, which is the same as that in GaAs quantum well. This research indicates that circularly polarized photocurrent is a new optical approach to investigate the current-induced spin polarization at room temperature.

Platelet Deposition Onto Vascular Wall Regulated by Electrical Signal

Platelets deposition at the site of vascular injury is a key event for the arrest of bleeding and for subsequent vascular repair. Therefore, the regulation of platelet deposition onto the injured site during the process of platelet plug formation is an important event. Herein, we showed that electrical signal could regulate the deposition of platelets onto the injured site. On the one hand, the area of platelet deposition was reduced when the cathode of the applied electric field was placed at the injured site beforehand, while it was increased when the anode was at the site. On the other hand, if a cathode was placed at the injured site after the injury, the electrical signal could remove the outer layer of the deposited platelets. Furthermore, an electric field could drive rapid platelet deposition onto the blood vessel wall at the site beneath the anode even in uninjured blood vessels. Platelet deposition could thus be manipulated by externally applied electric field, which might provide a mechanism to drive platelet deposition onto the wall of blood vessels.

FEM Analysis of Piezoelectric Resonator Polarization Process

The polarization of the piezoelectric resonator depends on the direction of the applied electric field. The direction of the applied electric field is determined by the shape of the resonator and the position of the electrodes. In case of resonators with electrodes incompletely covering their bases, an inhomogeneous electric field is generated, which results in an inhomogeneous polarization of the resonator. The resonator will be polarized in some places either in a direction other than the desired one or not polarized at all. The aim of this work is to analyze the polarization process on resonators with electrodes incompletely covering their bases. The physical description is given by the linear piezoelectric equations, the Gaussian equation for the description of the electric field and by Newton’s law of force. On this basis, a FEM model is developed and used to analyze the polarization process. The results of the calculation of the electric field vector distribution are presented. Finally, the areas are identified in which polarization in the desired direction is achieved in the resonator as well as the ones where no polarization occurs.

Galvanotaxis of ciliates: Spatiotemporal dynamics of Coleps hirtus under electric fields

Galvanotaxis describes the functional response of organisms to electric fields. In ciliates, the electric field influences the electrophysiology and thus the cilia beat dynamics. This leads to a change of the swimming direction towards the cathode. The dynamical response to electric fields of Coleps hirtus has not been studied since the observations of Verworn in 1890 (1). While galvanotaxis has been studied in other cilitates, C. hirtus exhibit properties not found elsewhere, such as biomineralization-processes of alveolar plates with impact on the intracellular calcium regulation and a bimodal resting membrane potential, which leads unique electrophysiological driven bimodal swimming dynamics. Here, we statistically analyze the galvanotactic dynamics of C. hirtus by automated cell tracking routines. We found that the number of cells that show a galvanotactic response, increases with the increase of the applied electric field strength with a mean at about 2.1 V/cm. The spatiotemporal swimming dynamics change and lead to a statistical increase of linear elongated cell trajectories that point toward the cathode. Further, the increase of the electric fields decreases the mean velocity variance for electric fields larger than about 1.3 V/cm, while showing no significant change in the absolute velocity for any applied electric field. Fully functional galvanotactic responses were observed at a minimum extracellular calcium concentration of 20 μM. The results add important insights to the current understanding of cellular dynamics of ciliates and suggest that the currently accepted model lags the inclusion of the swimming dynamics and the complex calcium regulatory system of the cell. The results of this study do not only extend the fundamental understanding of C. hirtus dynamics, but also open possibilities for technical applications, such as biosensors or microrobots in the future.

Numerical simulation of domain wall motion in a surface discharge over a ferroelectric

The article presents a simplified numerical simulation of a vacuum ferroelectric cathode operating in a low-current mode (without surface plasma formation). The field emission from the cathode was simulated for the range of applied electric field magnitudes. The polarization domain growth process during the charging of ferroelectric surface was simulated using Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire model. Interaction of the electrons with a depolarization field of a domain wall led to an attraction of the electrons to the polarization domain boundaries. A close to the linear dependence of the equilibrium domain wall position from the applied electric field was found with the total emitted charge proportional to the domain size.

Conduction mechanism in (ZnO/PVC) polymer nanocomposite

The electrical conductivity of ZnO nanoparticle doped PVC polymer of different concentrations and thickness has been investigated as a function if applied electric field and temperature. The LnJ versus E1/2 plot for the pure sample shows transition field but for highly doped sample, the plot shows curvature for both low and high field, i.e., there is no transition field. This nonlinearity of the plot is due to space charge built up in the sample. The value of β is calculated from the slope of LnJ versus E1/2 plot and compared with the theoretical value. The result shows the Poole-Frenkel mechanism of conduction is operative.

Effect of Structural Deficiencies on Bi-Ferroic Behaviors of Lead-Free Bi0.5 Na0.40K0.10TiO3 Films

Lead-free Bi0.5Na0.4K0.1TiO3 (BNKT) ferroelectric films on Pt/TI/SIO2/Si substrates were prepared via a sol-gel spin coating routine. The microstructures and multiferroic behaviors of the films were examined intimately as a function of the annealing time. A rise of annealing time enhanced the crystallization of the films via the perovskite structure. The multiferroic behavior, including simultaneously the magnetic and ferroelectric orders, was observed altogether the films. When the annealing time rose, ferroelectric and magnetic properties were found significantly increased. The remnant polarization (Pr), also as maximum polarization (Pm) respectively increased to the very best values of 11.5 µC/cm2 and 40.0 µC/cm2 under an applied electric field of 500 kV/cm. The saturated magnetization (Ms) of films increased to 2.3 emu/cm3 for the annealing time of 60 minutes. Oxygen vacancies, originating from the evaporation of metal ions during annealing at high temperatures are attributed to the explanation for ferromagnetism within the BNKT films.