Ultrahard magnetism from mixed-valence dilanthanide complexes with metal-metal bonding

Magnetic effects of lanthanide bonding Lanthanide coordination compounds have attracted attention for their persistent magnetic properties near liquid nitrogen temperature, well above alternative molecular magnets. Gould et al . report that introducing metal-metal bonding can enhance coercivity. Reduction of iodide-bridged terbium or dysprosium dimers resulted in a single electron bond between the metals, which enforced alignment of the other valence electrons. The resultant coercive fields exceeded 14 tesla below 50 and 60 kelvin for the terbium and dysprosium compounds, respectively. —JSY

Effect of low temperature rolling on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of CrCoNi medium entropy alloy

Abstract: For the casted CrCoNi medium entropy alloy melted by magnetic levitation, the deformation was carried out in 4 passes under the condition of liquid nitrogen temperature (-196°C), the total reduction was 50%,The microstructure and properties were analyzed after liquid nitrogen low temperature rolled. The experimental data showed that the phase structure of the alloy was not changed under the low-temperature rolling. The grains, crushed and refined, were elongated along the rolling direction. With the increasing of passes and reduction, the tensile strength increased from 585 MPa to 1359 MPa, while the elongation decreased from 37.8% to 5.9%. work With the increasing of work hardening,the tensile strength of the CrCoNi medium entropy alloy gradually increased, while the plasticity dramatic decreased. At the same time,the corrosion resistance of the CrCoNi medium entropy alloy was improved by low temperature cold rolled. The corrosion resistance of as-cast and rolled CrCoNi was much better than 304 stainless steel.

Investigation on the performance dependence of proton radiated SiGe HBTs with emitter area and temperature

The DC and AC performances of proton radiated Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (HBTs) with different emitter areas at liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K), room temperature and heating hotplate (393 K) were presented in this work. Performance dependence on the emitter area and temperature was investigated. Results showed that SiGe HBTs with a large emitter area had more damage by proton radiation. Furthermore, the SiGe HBTs showed better tolerance to proton radiation at extreme temperatures than at room temperature. To reveal the underlying mechanism, the radiated SiGe HBTs were modeled based on the device structure and parameters. The electron density, Shockley–Read–Hall (SRH) recombination and carrier mobility were extracted from the device model and demonstrated to have major impacts on the performance dependence of the radiated SiGe HBTs. The results provide useful guidance for the application of SiGe HBTs at extreme environments.

Optical Spectra of Oligofurans: A Theoretical Approach to the Transition Energies, Reorganization Energies, and the Vibronic Activity

There is experimental evidence of high vibronic activity that accompanies the allowed transition between the ground state and the lowest electronic singlet excited state of oligofurans that contain two, three, and four furan rings. The absorption and emission spectra of the three lowest oligofurans measured at liquid nitrogen temperature show distinct fine structures that are reproduced using the projection-based model of vibronic coupling (with Dushinsky rotation included) parameterized utilizing either Density Functional Theory (DFT, with several different exchange-correlation functionals) or ab initio (CC2) quantum chemistry calculations. Using as a reference the experimental data concerning the electronic absorption and fluorescence for the eight lowest oligofurans, we first analyzed the performance of the exchange-correlation functionals for the electronic transition energies and the reorganization energies. Subsequently, we used the best functionals alongside with the CC2 method to explore how the reorganization energies are distributed among the totally symmetric vibrations, identify the normal modes that dominate in the fine structures present in the absorption and emission bands, and trace their evolution with the increasing number of rings in the oligofuran series. Confrontation of the simulated spectra with the experiment allows for the verification of the performance of the selected DFT functionals and the CC2 method.

Site-controlled telecom-wavelength single-photon emitters in atomically-thin MoTe2

Quantum emitters (QEs) in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDCs) have advanced to the forefront of quantum communication and transduction research. To date, QEs capable of operating in O-C telecommunication bands have not been demonstrated in TMDCs. Here we report site-controlled creation of telecom QEs emitting over the 1080 to 1550 nm telecommunication wavelength range via coupling of 2D molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) to strain inducing nano-pillar arrays. Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiments conducted at 10 K reveal clear photon antibunching with 90% single-photon purity. The photon antibunching can be observed up to liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K). Polarization analysis further reveals that while some QEs display cross-linearly polarized doublets with ~1 meV splitting resulting from the strain induced anisotropic exchange interaction, valley degeneracy is preserved in other QEs. Valley Zeeman splitting as well as restoring of valley symmetry in cross-polarized doublets are observed under 8 T magnetic field.

Influences of the Temperature on the Electrical Properties of HfO2-Based Resistive Switching Devices

In the attempt to understand the behavior of HfO2-based resistive switching devices at low temperatures, TiN/Ti/HfO2/W metal–insulator–metal devices were fabricated; the atomic layer deposition technique was used to grow the high-k layer. After performing an electroforming process at room temperature, the device was cooled in a cryostat to carry out 100 current–voltage cycles at several temperatures ranging from the “liquid nitrogen temperature” to 350 K. The measurements showed a semiconducting behavior in high and low resistance states. In the low resistance state, a hopping conduction mechanism was obtained. The set and reset voltages increased when temperature decreased because the thermal energies for oxygen vacancies and ions were reduced. However, the temperature did not influence the power absorbed in the reset transition, indicating the local temperature in the filament controls the transition. The set transition turned from gradual to abrupt when decreasing the temperature, due to a positive feedback between the current increase and the Joule heating at low temperatures.

Microstructure and Texture Evolution during Severe Plastic Deformation at Cryogenic Temperatures in an Al-0.1Mg Alloy

The deformation structures formed in an Al-0.1Mg single-phase aluminium alloy have been studied during plane strain compression (PSC) down to liquid nitrogen temperature, following prior equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) to a strain of ten. Under constant deformation conditions a steady state was approached irrespective of the temperature, where the rate of grain refinement stagnated and a minimum grain size was reached which could not be further reduced. A 98% reduction at 77 K (−196 °C) only transformed the ECAE processed submicron grain structure into a microstructure with thin ribbon grains, where a nanoscale high angle boundary (HAB) spacing was only approached in the sheet normal direction. It is shown that the minimum grain size achievable in severe deformation processing is controlled by a balance between the rate of compression of the HAB structure and dynamic recovery. The required boundary migration rate to maintain a constant boundary spacing is found far higher than can be justified from conventional diffusion-controlled grain growth and at low temperatures, a constant boundary spacing can only be maintained by invoking an athermal mechanism and is considered to be dominated by the operation of grain boundary dislocations.

Zeolite-based nanocomposite as a smart pH-sensitive nanovehicle for release of xylanase as poultry feed supplement

Xylanase improves poultry nutrition by degrading xylan in the cell walls of feed grains and release the entrapped nutrients. However, the application of xylanase as a feed supplement is restricted to its low stability in the environment and gastrointestinal (GI) tract of poultry. To overcome these obstacles, Zeozyme NPs as a smart pH-responsive nanosystem was designed based on xylanase immobilization on zeolitic nanoporous as the major cornerstone that was modified with L-lysine. The immobilized xylanase was followed by encapsulating with a cross-linked CMC-based polymer. Zeozyme NPs was structurally characterized using TEM, SEM, AFM, DLS, TGA and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms at liquid nitrogen temperature. The stability of Zeozyme NPs was evaluated at different temperatures, pH, and in the presence of proteases. Additionally, the release pattern of xylanase was investigated at a digestion model mimicking the GI tract. Xylanase was released selectively at the duodenum and ileum (pH 6–7.1) and remarkably preserved at pH ≤ 6 including proventriculus, gizzard, and crop (pH 1.6–5). The results confirmed that the zeolite equipped with the CMC matrix could enhance the xylanase thermal and pH stability and preserve its activity in the presence of proteases. Moreover, Zeozyme NPs exhibited a smart pH-dependent release of xylanase in an in vitro simulated GI tract.

Charge Density Wave and Electron-Phonon Interaction in Epitaxial Monolayer NbSe2 Films

Understanding the interplay between superconductivity and charge-density wave (CDW) in NbSe2 is vital for both fundamental physics and future device applications. Here, combining scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, we study the CDW phase in the monolayer NbSe2 films grown on various substrates of bilayer graphene (BLG), SrTiO3(111), and Al2O3(0001). It is found that the two stable CDW states of monolayer NbSe2 can coexist on NbSe2/BLG surface at liquid-nitrogen temperature. For the NbSe2/SrTiO3(111) sample, the unidirectional CDW regions own the kinks at ±41 meV and a wider gap at 4.2 K. It is revealed that the charge transfer from the substrates to the grown films will influence the configurations of the Fermi surface, and induce a 130 meV lift-up of the Fermi level with a shrink of the Fermi pockets in NbSe2/SrTiO3(111) compared with the NbSe2/BLG. Combining the temperature-dependent Raman experiments, we suggest that the electron-phonon coupling in monolayer NbSe2 dominates its CDW phase transition.