Synthesis and characterization of nanoscale composite particles formed by 2D layers of Cu-Fe sulfide and Mg-based hydroxide

We introduce here a multifunctional material composed of alternating atomic sulfide sheets close to CuFeS2 and Mg-based hydroxide ones (valleriite), which are assembled due to their electric charges of opposite sign. Valleriite particles of 50-200 nm in the lateral size and 10-20 nm thick were synthesized via a simple hydrothermal pathway using various concentrations of precursors and dopants, and examined with XRD, TEM, EDS, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS), Mössbauer, Raman and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopies, magnetic, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential measurements. The electronic, magnetic and optical characteristics are found to be critically dependent of the charge (electron density) at the narrow-gap sulfide layers containing Cu+ and Fe3+ cations, and can be tuned via the composition of hydroxide part. Particularly, substitution of Mg2+ with Al3+ increases the negative charge of the hydroxide layers and reduces the content of Fe3+-OH centers (10-45% of total iron); the effects of Cr and Co dopants entering both layers are more complicated. Mössbauer doublets of paramagnetic Fe3+ detected at room temperature transform to several Zeeman sextets at 4.2 K; the hyperfine fields up to 500 kOe and complex magnetic behavior, but not pure paramagnetism or antiferromagnetism, were observed for valleriites with the higher positive charge of the sulfide sheets, probably due to the depopulation of the minority-spin 3d states of S-bonded Fe3+ ions. Aqueous colloids of valleriite show optical absorption at 500 - 750 nm, which, along with the peaks at the same energies in REELS, may arise due to quasi-static dielectric resonance involving the vacant Fe 3d band and being dependent on the composition of both layers too. These and other findings call attention to the of valleriites as a new rich family of 2D materials for a variety of potential applications.

Characterization of steel billet scales generated during the continuous casting process in SIDERPERU steel plant

Tons of waste is produced during iron steel’s industrial production, creating environmental pollution. This work aims to characterize the steel scale formed on the billet surface during the last step of steel production in the SIDERPERU steel plant. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) shows stacked layers one above the other on steel billets scales surface. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) reveal the high content of Fe and O, with Ca, Si, Mn, and Cr as minority elemental compounds. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) shows FeO, α-Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 as crystallographic phases. Magnetometry reveals Verwey transition and paramagnetic signals that screen the Morin transition. Mössbauer Spectroscopy at room temperature displays magnetic and non-magnetic parts. The non-magnetic part has the hyperfine parameters corresponding to predominant nonstoichiometric wustite. Octahedral (Fe+2/Fe3+) and tetrahedral Fe+3 hyperfine fields of 46.0 and 49.4 T values respectively are associated to nonstoichiometric magnetite and another sextet with a hyperfine field of 52.0 T is related to hematite.

Evolution of the magnetic hyperfine field profiles in an ion-irradiated Fe60Al40 film measured by nuclear resonant reflectivity

Nuclear resonant reflectivity (NRR) from an Fe60Al40 film was measured using synchrotron radiation at several grazing angles near the critical angle of total external reflection. Using laterally resolved measurements after irradiation with 20 keV Ne+ ions of gradually varying fluence of 0–3.0 × 1014 ions cm−2, the progressive creation of the ferromagnetic A2 phase with increasing ion fluence was confirmed. The observed depth selectivity of the method has been explained by application of the standing wave approach. From the time spectra of the nuclear resonant scattering in several reflection directions the depth profiles for different hyperfine fields were extracted. The results show that the highest magnetic hyperfine fields (∼18–23 T) are initially created in the central part of the film and partially at the bottom interface with the SiO2 substrate. The evolution of the ferromagnetic onset, commencing at a fixed depth within the film and propagating towards the interfaces, has been directly observed. At higher fluence (3.0 × 1014 ions cm−2) the depth distribution of the ferromagnetic fractions became more homogeneous across the film depth, in accordance with previous results.

Radiation Effects in Amorphous Metallic Alloys as Revealed by Mössbauer Spectrometry: Part I. Neutron Irradiation

Iron-based amorphous metallic alloys (AMAs) of several compositions were exposed to neutron irradiation with fluences of up to 1019 n/cm2. These materials exhibit excellent magnetic properties which predetermine them for use in electronic devices operated also in radiation-exposed environments. Response of the studied AMAs to neutron irradiation is followed by Mössbauer spectrometry which probes the local microstructure. Neutron irradiation leads to rearrangement of constituent atoms, their clustering, and formation of stress centers. The observed modifications of topological short-range order result in changes of spectral parameters including average hyperfine magnetic field, , standard deviation of the distribution of hyperfine fields, and position of the net magnetic moment. After irradiation, especially differences in -values develop in two opposite directions. This apparent controversy can be explained by formation of specific atomic pairs with different exchange interactions, which depend on the composition of the samples. Part II of this paper will be devoted to radiation effects caused in Fe-based AMAs by ion irradiation.

57Fe Mössbauer Spectroscopy as a Tool for Study of Spin States and Magnetic Interactions in Inorganic Chemistry

In this mini-review of our research group’s activity, the application of 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in studies of electronic structure, coordination environment, and magnetic interactions in an interesting series of Fe(II/III) compounds selected is discussed. We selected two prominent phenomena that arose during investigations of selected groups of compounds carried out at different periods of time: (1) very high magnetic hyperfine fields observed at low temperatures; (2) changes in the oxidation state of the central iron atom of complexes in the solid state during interactions with gaseous O2/H2O mixtures, resulting in spin crossover (SCO).

Floquet spin states in OLEDs

Electron and hole spins in organic light-emitting diodes constitute prototypical two-level systems for the exploration of the ultrastrong-drive regime of light-matter interactions. Floquet solutions to the time-dependent Hamiltonian of pairs of electron and hole spins reveal that, under non-perturbative resonant drive, when spin-Rabi frequencies become comparable to the Larmor frequencies, hybrid light-matter states emerge that enable dipole-forbidden multi-quantum transitions at integer and fractional g-factors. To probe these phenomena experimentally, we develop an electrically detected magnetic-resonance experiment supporting oscillating driving fields comparable in amplitude to the static field defining the Zeeman splitting; and an organic semiconductor characterized by minimal local hyperfine fields allowing the non-perturbative light-matter interactions to be resolved. The experimental confirmation of the predicted Floquet states under strong-drive conditions demonstrates the presence of hybrid light-matter spin excitations at room temperature. These dressed states are insensitive to power broadening, display Bloch-Siegert-like shifts, and are suggestive of long spin coherence times, implying potential applicability for quantum sensing.

Огромное магнетосопротивление в структуре металл--органический полупроводник--металл

The article represents results of huge magnetoresistance effect investigation in the structure of magnetic metal / organic semiconductor / nonmagnetic metal with magnitude of ~ 2600%. There are observed influence of magnetic field on concentration and mobility of charge carriers and on magnitude of ferromagnetic/semiconductor potential barrier. Theoretical interpretation is considered with previously discussed model. The model describes influence of hyperfine fields on spin selective hopping rate between the sites in the polymer

Fitting the magnetoresponses of the OLED using polaron pair model to obtain spin-pair dynamics and local hyperfine fields

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays a sign reversal magnetic field effect (MFE) when the applied magnetic field range is reduced to the sub-milliTesla range and the Polaron Pair Model has been successful in explaining the ultra-small MFE. Here, we obtained high resolution (~ 1 µT) magnetoconductance (MC) and magnetoelectroluminescence (MEL) of a tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium-based (Alq3) OLED within the magnetic field range of ± 500 µT with the earth magnetic field components cancelled. A clear “W” shaped MC with a dip position of ± 250 µT and a monotonic MEL were observed. We demonstrate a fitting technique using the polaron pair model to the experimentally obtained MC and MEL. The fitting process extracts physically significant parameters within a working OLED: the local hyperfine fields for electron and hole in Alq3: Bhf1 = (0.63 ± 0.01) mT (electron), Bhf2 = (0.24 ± 0.01) mT (hole); the separation rates for singlet and triplet polaron pairs: kS,s = (44.59 ± 0.01) MHz, kT,s = (43.97 ± 0.01) MHz, and the recombination rate for singlet polaron pair kS,r = (88 ± 6) MHz. The yielded parameters are highly reproducible across different OLEDs and are in broad agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations and reported experimental observations. This demonstrates the feasibility of this fitting technique to approach any working OLED for obtaining significant microscopic parameters.

Modelling hyperfine interactions for nuclear g-factor measurements

A promising technique for g-factor measurements on short-lived nuclear states utilises the hyperfine fields of free ions in vacuum. To fully utilise this technique the hyperfine interaction must be modelled based on atomic structure calculations. Atomic structure calculations were performed using the most recent release of the General Relativistic Atomic Structure Package, and Monte-Carlo simulations of atomic-decay cascades in highly charged ions were developed. The simulations were used to fit experimental data on excited 56Fe ions recoiling in vacuum with a view to determining the first-excited state g factor, g(21+), of 56Fe.