COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF DOPING IONS OF YTTRIUM AND BORON FORMATION OF DEFECTS IN LITHIUM NIOBATE CRYSTALS

Кристалл ниобата лития, являющийся широко используемым и весьма востребованным в настоящее время нелинейно-оптическим материалом, примечателен своей способностью к варьирования широкого спектра сегнетоэлектрических и нелинейно-оптических характеристик в зависимости от типа и концентрации примесного иона, а также от соотношения Li / Nb . На основе разработанного нами подхода к моделированию кластеров в кристалле ниобата лития, в котором рост кластера идёт не элементарными ячейками, а кислородными октаэдрами, проведён сравнительный анализ особенностей внедрения в кристалл примесных ионов иттрия и бора с одинаковым зарядом +3 . Показано, что встраивание, вследствие различного ионного радиуса, идёт по двум механизмам: если для металла иттрия действует обычный механизм, когда примесной ион локализуется внутри кислородного октаэдра, то ион неметаллического элемента бора встраивается в тетраэдрические пустоты структуры, а именно в кислородные плоскости, образующие октаэдр. При этом влияние данных примесных ионов на одну из важнейших характеристик ниобата лития оказывается диаметрально противоположным: иттрий усиливает фоторефрактивный эффект, бор -понижает, что необходимо учитывать при направлении целевого использования кристаллов ниобата лития. Lithium niobate crystals, which are a widely used and highly demanded as nonlinear optical material, are remarkable for their ability to vary a wide range of ferroelectric and nonlinear optical characteristics depending on the type and concentration of the impurity ion, as well as on the Li / Nb ratio. Based on our approach to modeling clusters in the lithium niobate crystal, in which the cluster grows not by unit cells, but by oxygen octahedra, we have carried out a comparative analysis of the features of the incorporation of impurity ions of yttrium and boron with the same charge +3 into the crystal. It is shown that due to the different ionic radii the incorporation proceeds by to two mechanisms. If for yttrium the usual mechanism operates, when the impurity ion is localized inside the oxygen octahedron. The ion of boron, i.e. a nonmetallic element, is incorporated into the tetrahedral voids of the structure, namely, into the oxygen planes forming the octahedron. In this case, the influence of these impurity ions on one of the most important characteristics of lithium niobate turns out to be diametrically opposite: yttrium enhances the photorefractive effect, boron decreases it, which must be taken into account in the direction of targeted use of lithium niobate crystals.

Studies on impurity seeding and transport in edge and SOL of tokamak plasma

We present numerical simulation studies on impurity seeding using Nitrogen, Neon, and Argon gases. These impurity gases are ionized by the electron impact ionization. These ions can be at multiply ionized states, recombine again with the plasma electrons, and radiate energy. The radiation losses are estimated using a non-coronal equilibrium model. A set of 2D model equations to describe their self-consistent evolution are derived using interchange plasma turbulence in the edge and SOL regions and solved using BOUT++. It is found that impurity ions (with single or double-positive charges) move in the inward direction with a velocity ∼ 0.02cs so that these fluxes are negative. These fluxes are analyzed for different strengths of an effective gravity that help to understand the impurity ion dynamics. Increased gravity shows an accumulation of certain charged species in the edge region. The radiation loss is seen to have a fluctuation in time with frequency 5-20 kHz that closely follows the behavior of the interchange plasma turbulence. The simulation results on the radiated power and its frequency spectrum compare favourably with observations on the Aditya-U tokamak. The negative fluxes of the impurity ions, their dynamics in the edge region, and the fluctuating nature of the radiation loss are the most important results of this work.

Optical absorption of LiNaGe4O9:Mn crystal

The paper reports the results of optical absorption spectra studying in LiNaGe4O9 crystal doped with Mn. It is shown that Mn impurity causes the appearance of the additional absorption bands. The intensities of these bands change in different ways in the range of the ferroelectric phase transition. Semi-empirical version of the crystal field theory is used to discuss localization and charge state of Mn impurity ions in the LiNaGe4O9 structure.

PREPARATION OF CALCIUM SULFATE HEMIHYDRATE WHISKERS FROM COMPLEX JAROSITE WASTE

Complex jarosite waste was obtained from zinc metal hydrometallurgical process, which contained gypsum and ammonium jarosite (NH4Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6). The influence of impurity ions (Fe3+ and NH4+) on the calcium sulfate hemihydrate (HH) morphology was studied using pure gypsum as the raw material, respectively. HH crystals with a high aspect ratio were obtained without the impurity ions. The diameter increased and the aspect ratio of the HH decreased, while the addition of iron sulfate and ammonia sulfate increased. Ammonium iron (NH4+) can be removed by using calcium oxide to decompose the ammonium jarosite in the waste and then to wash the sediment with tap water. The sediment (calcified jarosite sediment) mainly contained CaSO4·2H2O and Fe(OH)3. The influence of cultivating time on HH crystals growth was researched by using the sediment as raw materials. The diameter of the whiskers increased, while the hydrothermal time increased. The whiskers were obtained, with high a aspect ratio (10–60), large diameter (1–4 µm) and smooth surface, after the sediment was treated at 140 °C for 6 h in pH = 5 solution.

Selective scandium ion capture via coordination templating in a covalent organic framework

The use of coordination complexes as building units within covalent organic frameworks (COFs) has significant potential to diversify the structures and properties of this class of materials. Here, we present a synergistic coordination and reticular chemistry approach to the design of a series of crystalline scandium–covalent organic frameworks (Sc–COFs), featuring tunable levels of metal incorporation. Removal of scandium from the material with the highest metal content results in a metal-imprinted COF (MICOF) that exhibits high affinity and capacity for Sc3+ ions in acidic environments and in the presence of competing metal ions. In particular, the selectivity of this MICOF for Sc3+ over common impurity ions such as La3+ and Fe3+ surpasses that of all reported scandium adsorbents. Importantly, analogous materials can be prepared starting from earth-abundant transition metals, highlighting the versatility of this approach for the development of tailor-made metal–COFs and MICOFs for applications involving selective metal ion capture.