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At least 55 records · Page 3

Nuclear pumped electronic transition laser studies

An experiment is proposed that should yield unambiguous absolute results on the production efficiency of rare gas excimers from fission fragments. Laser threshold efficiency is parameterized and calculations indicate that some lasers can be operated using relatively simple experimental apparatus adjacent to GODIVA. Operation of a KrF excimer laser adjacent to GODIVA appears to be possible, although the neutron pulse width is not well matched to the laser pulse duration. However, calculation indicates that KrF excimer laser output on the order of a joule may be possible.

Hughes, W. M.↗

Spinodal electronic phase separation during insulator-metal transitions

Electronic phase transitions such as insulator-metal transitions are common in strongly correlated systems. Here, using a combination of thermodynamic linear-stability analysis and phase-field simulations and employing VO 2 as a prototypical example, we predict that an insulator-metal transition driven by photoexcitation may involve an intermediate, modulated charge density state with a temperature-dependent characteristic wavelength. It is shown that such an intermediate two-phase electronic state is formed through a spinodal mechanism and that its formation can be generic for insulator-metal transitions driven by fast stimuli. This transient electronic phase separation is expected to stimulate future experimental and computational efforts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Observation of Strong Two-Electron-One-Photon Transitions in Few-Electron Ions

We resonantly excite the K series of O5+ and O6+ up to principal quantum number n = 11 with monochromatic x rays, producing K-shell holes, and observe their relaxation by soft-x-ray emission. Some photoabsorption resonances of O5+ reveal strong two-electron–one-photon (TEOP) transitions. We find that for the [(1s2s)15p3/2]3/2;1/2 states, TEOP relaxation is by far stronger than the radiative decay and competes with the usually much faster Auger decay path. This enhanced TEOP decay arises from a strong correlation with the near-degenerate upper states [(1s2p3/2 )14s]3/2;1/2 of a Li-like satellite blend of the He-like Kα transition. Even in three-electron systems, TEOP transitions can play a dominant role, and the present results should guide further research on the ubiquitous and abundant many-electron ions where electronic energy degeneracies are far more common and configuration mixing is stronger.

M Togawa↗

Laser Assisted Free-Free Transition in Electron - Atom Collision

Free-free transition is studied for electron-Hydrogen atom system in ground state at very low incident energies in presence of an external homogeneous, monochromatic and linearly polarized laser field. The incident electron is considered to be dressed by the laser in a non perturbative manner by choosing the Volkov solutions in both the channels. The space part of the scattering wave function for the electron is solved numerically by taking into account the effect of electron exchange, short range as well as of the long range interactions. Laser assisted differential as well as elastic total cross sections are calculated for single photon absorption/emission in the soft photon limit, the laser intensity being much less than the atomic field intensity. A strong suppression is noted in the laser assisted cross sections as compared to the field free situations. Significant difference is noted in the singlet and the triplet cross sections.

Sinha, C.↗

Electronic Topological Transition as a Route to Improve Thermoelectric Performance in Bi 0.5 Sb 1.5 Te 3

The electronic structure near the Fermi surface determines the electrical properties of the materials, which can be effectively tuned by external pressure. Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 is a p-type thermoelectric material which holds the record high figure of merit at room temperature. Here it is examined whether the figure of merit of this model system can be further enhanced through some external parameter. With the application of pressure, it is surprisingly found that the power factor of this material exhibits λ behavior with a high value of 4.8 mW m –1 K –2 at pressure of 1.8 GPa. Such an enhancement is found to be driven by pressure-induced electronic topological transition, which is revealed by multiple techniques. Together with a low thermal conductivity of about 0.89 W m –1 K –1 at the same pressure, a figure of merit of 1.6 is achieved at room temperature. The results and findings highlight the electronic topological transition as a new route for improving the thermoelectric properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Squeezed states of electrons and transitions of the density of states

Electron systems which have low dimensional properties have been constructed by squeezing the motion in zero, one, or two-directions. An isolated quantum dot is modeled by a potential box with delta-profiled, penetrable potential walls embedded in a large outer box with infinitely high potential walls which represent the world function with respect to vacuum. We show the smooth crossover of the density of states from the three-dimensional to the quasi-zero dimensional electron gas.

Lee, Seung Joo↗

Electron-impact excitation of the low-lying electronic states of HCN

The first study of the low-energy electron-impact excitation of low-lying electronic transitions in the HCN molecule is reported. Measurements were made at incident electron energies of 11.6 and 21.6 eV in the energy-loss range of 3-10 eV, and at scattering angles of 20-130 deg. Inelastic scattering spectra were placed on the absolute cross-section scale by determining first the ratio of inelastic-to-elastic scattering cross sections, and then separately measuring the absolute elastic scattering cross section. Several new electronic transitions are observed which are intrinsically overlapped in the molecule itself. Assignments of these electronic transitions are suggested. These assignments are based on present spectroscopic and cross-sections measurements, high-energy electron scattering spectra, optical absorption spectra, and ab initio molecular orbital calculations.

Chutjian, A.↗

Electronic topological transitions in cadmium under pressure studied via theoretical and experimental x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Here, an electronic topological transition (ETT) in cadmium below 1 GPa is investigated in situ with experimental x-ray absorption spectroscopy and projecting calculated core-valence excitons onto the band structure. These projections are a useful application of the Bethe-Salpeter equation approach that considers many-body effects. The method described herein can be used for systems that are otherwise difficult to probe in situ; therefore, it provides a generalizable approach to identifying and understanding ETTs under high pressure. Although pressure-induced ETTs are often probed using indirect structural responses, our own x-ray diffraction and Raman studies suggest a second-order structural transition around 3 GPa but are largely insensitive to or inconclusive for the previously studied ETT in this region.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Electronic bonding transitions in oxide glass above two megabar pressures

Inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) of B 2 O 3 glass up to ∼2.2 Mbar reveals electronic bonding transitions in oxide glasses. B -edge IXS identifies the high-energy feature above ∼1.4 Mbar and a gradual increase in its intensity toward ∼2.2 Mbar, indicating the formation of hypervalent boron via electron polarization to oxygen atoms. The pressure-driven high energy shifts in O -edge IXS indicate pronounced electronic dispersion that increases upon densification of amorphous oxides above ∼2 Mbar. The extent of the energy shifts and enhanced polarization correlate with increasing atomic radius of cation in oxide glass, establishing the role of cation radius in electronic structures of amorphous oxides under compression. The results elucidate the electronic mechanisms behind the structural transformation in low- oxide glasses, where transitions to highly coordinated cations are hindered well above 1 Mbar, providing the origin of incompressibility of low- amorphous oxide under multi-Mbar compression. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Semiclassical theory of electronically nonadiabatic transitions in molecular collision processes

An introductory account of the semiclassical theory of the S-matrix for molecular collision processes is presented, with special emphasis on electronically nonadiabatic transitions. This theory is based on the incorporation of classical mechanics with quantum superposition, and in practice makes use of the analytic continuation of classical mechanics into the complex space of time domain. The relevant concepts of molecular scattering theory and related dynamical models are described and the formalism is developed and illustrated with simple examples - collinear collision of the A+BC type. The theory is then extended to include the effects of laser-induced nonadiabatic transitions. Two bound continuum processes collisional ionization and collision-induced emission also amenable to the same general semiclassical treatment are discussed.

Lam, K. S.↗

General Design Rules for Bimetallic Platinum(II) Complexes

A series of platinum(II) bimetallic complexes were studied to investigate the effects of ligands on both the geometric and electronic structure. Modulating the Pt-Pt distance through the bridging ligand architecture was found to dictate the nature of the lowest energy electronic transitions, localized in one-half of the molecule or delocalized across the entire molecule. By reducing the separation between the platinum atoms, the lowest energy electronic transitions will be dominated by the metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer transition. Conversely, by increasing the distance between the platinum atoms, the lowest electronic transition will be largely localized metal-to-ligand charge transfer or ligand centered in nature. Additionally, the cyclometalating ligands were observed to have a noticeable stabilizing effect on the triplet excited states as the conjugation increased, arising from geometric reorientation and increased electron delocalization of the ligands. Furthermore, such stabilization of the triplet state energy has been shown to alter the excited state potential energy landscape as well as the excited state trajectory.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Theoretical Assessment of the Transition Between Electron Emission Mechanisms for Nonplanar Diodes

Theoretically and computationally describing the operation of nanodiodes requires characterizing the transitions between multiple electron emission mechanisms for nanodiodes with complicated geometries. This motivates our development of techniques to determine when simplified theories for individual mechanisms suffice compared to more complete, but more computationally expensive, models. Leveraging recent theories that define a canonical gap distance to translate planar theory to nonplanar diodes, we derive the conditions for the transitions among thermal emission, field emission, and space-charge-limited current density (SCLCD) in vacuum and with collisions for non-Cartesian coordinate systems, including spherical, cylindrical, and prolate spheroidal coordinate systems. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of the current density as a function of applied voltage for a tip-to-plate geometry in vacuum agreed qualitatively with the asymptotes for thermal emission at low voltage and SCLCD at higher voltage using the canonical gap distance. As a result, this demonstrates the utility of this approach for guiding system design and suggests future extensions to save simulation time for more realistic geometries that are more computationally expensive.

Conformal mapping↗