Spin mapping of intralayer antiferromagnetism and field-induced spin reorientation in monolayer CrTe2

Intrinsic antiferromagnetism in van der Waals (vdW) monolayer (ML) crystals enriches our understanding of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic orders and presents several advantages over ferromagnetism in spintronic applications. However, studies of 2D intrinsic antiferromagnetism are sparse, owing to the lack of net magnetisation. Here, by combining spin-polarised scanning tunnelling microscopy and first-principles calculations, we investigate the magnetism of vdW ML CrTe2, which has been successfully grown through molecular-beam epitaxy. We observe a stable antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at the atomic scale in the ML crystal, whose bulk is ferromagnetic, and correlate its imaged zigzag spin texture with the atomic lattice structure. The AFM order exhibits an intriguing noncollinear spin reorientation under magnetic fields, consistent with its calculated moderate magnetic anisotropy. The findings of this study demonstrate the intricacy of 2D vdW magnetic materials and pave the way for their in-depth analysis.

Bending stiffness of circular multilayer van der Waals material sheets

We study the bending stiffness of symmetrically bent circular multilayer van der Waals (vdW) material sheets, which corresponds to the non-isometric configuration in bulge tests. Frenkel sinusoidal function is employed to describe the periodic interlayer tractions due to the lattice structure nature and the bending stiffness of sheets is theoretically extracted via an energetic consideration. Our quantitative prediction shows good agreement with recent experimental results, where the bending stiffness of different types of sheets with the comparable thickness could follow a trend opposite to their Young's moduli. Based on our model, we propose that this trend may experience a transition as the thickness decreases. Apart from the apparent effects of Young's modulus and interlayer shear strength, the interlayer distance is also found to have an important impact on the bending stiffness. In addition, according to our analysis on the size effect, the bending stiffness of such symmetrically bent circular sheets can steadily own a relatively large value, in contrast to the cases of isometric deformations.

Numerical Approach in Superconductivity: An Advanced Study

The dependence of the critical temperature $T_c$ of high-temperature superconductors of various families on their composition and structure is proposed. A clear dependence of the critical temperature of high-temperature superconductors (hydrides, Hg- and Y-based cuprates) on the serial number of the constituent elements, their valence and crystal lattice structure has been revealed. For cuprates, it is shown that it is possible to obtain even higher temperatures of superconducting transitions at normal pressure by implanting mercury atoms into the crystal lattice of cuprate.

Development and testing of an additively manufactured lattice for DEMO limiters

In the conceptual design of EU-DEMO, damage to plasma-facing components under disruption events is planned to be mitigated by specific sacrificial limiter components. A new limiter concept has been proposed using lattice structures fabricated with tungsten powder by additive manufacturing techniques. The major potential benefits of using a lattice structure for limiters are the possibility to customise the thermal conductivity and structural compliance of the structure to manage temperatures and stress within material limits and lower sensitivity to crack propagation. This paper presents the results of the first investigations into the production, characterisation, and high heat flux testing of the lattices to assess their suitability for DEMO limiters. First stage prototypes have been manufactured from tungsten and tungsten tantalum mixed powder with two distinct laser power bed fusion processes, namely pulsed laser and continuous laser with heated bed. The samples are characterised in terms of mass, volume, density, extent of microcracks and voids, level of un-melted or partially melted particulates, texture and grain size, as well as tantalum segregation when applicable. High transient (0.25ms) heat load testing, with hydrogen plasma of energy density up to ~3 MJm-2 was carried out at KIPT on the QSPA Kh-50. These tests have shown that the energy absorbed by latticed targets preheated at 500°C is close to that absorbed by solid tungsten, suggesting that they may be used for limiter applications with the added advantage of adjustment of the heat transfer and stiffness performance by geometry design or material properties.

Study on bandgap and directional wave propagation of a two-dimensional lattice with nested core

This paper proposed a two-dimensional lattice structure with a nested core. The bandgap distribution and the anisotropy of phase velocity and group velocity were studied based on Bloch’s theorem and finite element method. The effects of eccentric ratio (e) and rotation angle (θ) of dual-phase structure on the bandgap distribution were investigated, and the anisotropy was studied via phase velocity and group velocity. The structure of (e) = 0.3 displayed the maximum total bandgap width. With (θ) increasing, the total bandgap widths of structures of different (e) all increased apparently and the low-frequency bandgap properties were improved. The phase velocity and group velocity of (e) = 0 displayed strong anisotropy, and the anisotropy was tuned by tuning (θ). Furthermore, the group velocity of the eighth mode displayed high directional wave propagation. For practical application, a single-phase structure was proposed and analyzed. Through additive manufacturing technology, the single-phase structure was prepared and tested by a low amplitude test setup. The experimental results displayed a good agreement with numerical results which demonstrated high directional propagation. This finding may pave the way for the practical application of the proposed lattice metamaterial in terms of wave filtering.

Multi-objective Bayesian topology optimization of a lattice-structured heat sink in natural convection

Additive manufacturing (AM) has an affinity with topology optimization to think of various designs with complex structures. Hence, this paper aims to optimize the design of a lattice-structured heat sink, which can be manufactured by AM. The design objectives are to maximize the thermal performance of convective heat transfer in natural convection simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and to minimize the material cost required for AM process at the same time. The lattice structure is represented as a node/edge system via graph theory with a moderate number of design variables. Bayesian optimization, which employs the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II and the Kriging surrogate model, is conducted to search for better designs with the minimum CFD cost. The present topology optimization successfully finds better lattice-structured heat sink designs than a reference fin-structured design regarding thermal performance and material cost. Also, several optimized lattice-structured designs outperform reference pin-fin-structured designs regarding thermal performance though the pin-fin structure is still advantageous for a material cost-oriented design. This paper also discusses the flow mechanism observed in the heat sink to explain how the optimized heat sink structure satisfies the competing design objectives simultaneously.

Design and Numerical Analysis of Electric Vehicle Li-Ion Battery Protections Using Lattice Structure Undergoing Ground Impact

Improvement in electric vehicle technology requires the lithium-ion battery system’s safe operations, protecting battery fire damage potential from road debris impact. In this research a design of sandwich panel construction with a lattice structure core is evaluated as the battery protection system. Additive manufacturing technology advancements have paved the way for lattice structure development. The sandwich protective structure designs are evaluated computationally using a non-linear dynamic finite element analysis for various geometry and material parameters. The lattice structure’s optimum shape was obtained based on the highest Specific Energy Absorption (SEA) parameter developed using the ANOVA and Taguchi robust design method. It is found that the octet-cross lattice structure with 40% relative density provided the best performance in terms of absorbing impact energy. Furthermore, the sandwich panel construction with two layers of lattice structure core performed very well in protecting the lithium-ion NCA battery in the ground impact loading conditions, which the impactor velocity is 42 m/s, representing vehicle velocity in highway, and weigh 0.77 kg. The battery shortening met the safety threshold of less than 3 mm deformation.