Archive

This paper theoretically investigates magnetic-field-induced phenomena in bent-core nematic liquid crystals, focusing on how molecular biaxiality modifies the response. Using molecular field and Landau theory, it reproduces reported experimental trends such as an enhanced Cotton-Mouton effect and an increase in the…

This engineering materials study reports fabrication and characterization of nanocomposite dielectrics in a PbO-BaO-Na2O-Nb2O5-SiO2 glass-ceramic system. X-ray diffraction and microstructural observations describe temperature-dependent phase formation with nanometer-sized crystallites dispersed in a glass matrix. The…

This paper describes an engineering method for nucleating nanocrystalline carbon films on monocrystalline silicon using a combination of microwave and radio frequency plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition. The approach is demonstrated via deposition of nanocrystalline diamond after a seeding step and growth of…

This engineering-focused mouse fMRI study evaluated a 400-MHz cryogenic RF probe (CryoProbe) versus a conventional room-temperature surface coil during electrical forepaw stimulation. The CryoProbe increased image SNR and temporal SNR and reduced temporal noise compared with the room-temperature coil. The authors…

This materials study reports that ZnO nanorod polymer hybrids can form liquid-crystalline phases and exhibit orientation switching under an applied AC electric field. The orientation reportedly changes from planar to homeotropic, analogous to switching in low-molecular liquid crystals. Dielectric measurements and…

This materials-physics study investigated quadrupolar hyperfine interactions of (111)In→(111)Cd probes in polycrystalline Zr4Al3 and Hf4Al3 containing minority (Zr/Hf)3Al2 phases. The authors observed a strong preference of (111)In solutes for the minority (Zr/Hf)3Al2 phases. Ab initio EFG calculations were used to…

This experimental study examined nucleation of superconductivity at the surface of a single-crystal yttrium hexaboride (YB6) in a tilted dc magnetic field. The authors measured Hc3 on each side of the sample as a function of the angle between the field and the surface. They report Hc3/Hc2 ≈ 1.28 for a perpendicular…

This study characterizes the electrical potential on the surface of ~300 nm SiO2 grown on single-crystalline Si under ambient conditions using electric field microscopy. It reports an inhomogeneous surface potential with fluctuations up to ~0.4 V over ~1 µm regions. The authors propose these fluctuations could affect…

This engineering/materials study synthesized nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite bioceramic powder using microwave radiation and then characterized the resulting material. The authors report highly crystalline HAp nanopowder with nanoscale size, mixed morphology, and elemental composition consistent with the HAp phase.…

This paper reports electric-field control of magnetic anisotropy in a Permalloy layer exchange-coupled to a multiferroic BiFeO3 single crystal. The anisotropy is described as arising from magnetic coupling to canted spins in BiFeO3’s cycloidal antiferromagnetic structure. An electric field-induced polarization change…

This experimental physics study examines how a static electric field affects the optical nonlinearity of methyl-red doped nematic liquid crystals. The authors report that low voltages below the Fredericks transition threshold can change the optical nonlinearity by orders of magnitude. They state that the data fit a…

This Physical Review Letters study investigates phase competition between spin- and orbital-ordered states in a DyVO3 single crystal. The abstract reports reentrant temperature-driven transitions in spin ordering and orbital ordering. It also reports that an applied magnetic field can switch between orbital-ordered…