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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Introducing the monoclinic polymorph of the honeycomb magnet Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6

Recent theoretical studies have suggested that the low-energy Hamiltonian of honeycomb cobaltate systems could be dominated by anisotropic Kitaev interactions. Motivated by the theory, a honeycomb layered material Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6 with a hexagonal unit cell has been studied and found to exhibit antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering at 27 K with two spin reorientation transitions at 15 and 5 K. Here we report a monoclinic polymorph of Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6 , also with honeycomb layered structure but with a single AFM transition at 9.6 K and without spin reorientation transitions at lower temperatures. Here, using neutron diffraction, we identify an in-plane zigzag AFM order in the ground state with the spins canted out of the honeycomb planes and ferromagnetically coupled between them. The zigzag order is suppressed by a magnetic field of 6T. The lower critical temperature and field, positive Curie-Weiss temperature, and out-of-plane canting of spins in the monoclinic Na 2 Co 2 TeO 6 suggest enhanced frustration in this polymorph compared to the hexagonal one.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantum phases in the honeycomb-lattice J 1 – J 3 ferro-antiferromagnetic model

The significant role of quantum effects in magnets with competing interactions remains at the forefront of condensed matter physics for over 50 years, inspiring a multitude of quests for exotic states, models that can realize them, and real materials that can host them. The elusive spin-liquid states with strong entanglement are but one example; others include valence-bond phases with spatial symmetry breaking, quantum spin nematics that are quantum analogues of liquid crystals, and an especially extensive class of unconventional magnetically ordered phases that do not appear in the classical solutions of the underlying spin models. It is the latter group of phenomena that creates a broader context for the research effort in the present work concerning the search for and an identification of the novel ground states of quantum magnets. In this work, we have studied one of the paradigmatic models in quantum magnetism that is also attracting a significant recent interest because it appears to be providing a tantalizingly close description for many of the newly synthesized materials. We demonstrated that the phase diagram of the quantum ferro-antiferromagnetic model on the honeycomb lattice differs dramatically from the classical one. It hosts the double-zigzag and Ising-z phases as unexpected intermediaries between ferromagnetic and zigzag states that are also extended beyond their classical regions of stability. In broad agreement with quantum order-by-disorder arguments, these collinear phases completely supersede the classical spiral state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1988

Resolved shear stress intensity coefficient and fatigue crack growth in large crystals

Fatigue crack growth tests were carried out on large-grain Al 7029 aluminum alloy and the finite element method was used to calculate the stress field near the tip of a zigzag crack. The resolved shear stresses on all 12 slip systems were computed, and the resolved shear stress intensity coefficient (RSSIC) was defined. The RSSIC was used to analyze the irregular crack path and was correlated with the rate of single-slip-plane shear crack growth. Fatigue crack growth was found to be caused primarily by shear decohesion at a crack tip. When the RSSIC on a single-slip system was much larger than all the others, the crack followed a single-slip plane. When the RSSICs on two conjugate slip systems were comparable, a crack grew in a zigzag manner on these planes and the macrocrack-plane bisected the two active slip planes. The maximum RSSIC on the most active slip system is proposed as a parameter to correlate with the shear fatigue crack growth rate in large crystals.

Chen, Q.↗
NASA NTRS1997

[Low-Frequency Flow Oscillation

The results of the research conducted under this grant are presented in detail in three Master theses, by Heinrich, Balow, and Broeren. Additional analysis of the experimental data can be found in two AIAA Journal articles and two conference papers. Citations for all of the studies' publications can be found in the bibliography which is attached. The objective of Heinrich's study was to document the low-frequency flow oscillation on the LRN-1007 airfoil, which had been previously observed at low Reynolds number, to determine its origin, and explore the phenomenon at higher Reynolds number. Heinrich performed detailed flow visualization on the airfoil using surface fluorescent oil and laser-sheet off-body visualization. A large leading-edge separation bubble and trailing-edge separation was identified on the airfoil just prior to the onset of the unsteady stall flow oscillation. From the laser-sheet data, the unsteady flow appeared as a massive boundary-layer separation followed by flow reattachment. Hot-wire data were taken in the wake to identify the presence of the flow oscillation and the dominant frequency. The oscillation was found in the flow from a Reynolds number of 0.3 to 1.3 x 10 exp 6. The Strouhal number based on airfoil projected height was nominally 0.02 and increased slightly with increasing Reynolds number and significantly with increasing airfoil angle of attack. Balow focused his research on the leading-edge separation bubble which was hypothesized to be the origin of the low-frequency oscillation. Initially, experimental measurements in the bubble at the onset of the low-frequency oscillation were attempted to study the characteristics of the bubble and explain possible relationships to the shear-layer-flapping phenomena. Unfortunately, the bubble proved to be extremely sensitive to the probe interference and it drastically reduced the size of the bubble. These detailed measurements were then abandoned by Balow. However, this led to a series of tests where the leading-edge bubble and trailing-edge separation were altered and the affect on the flow-oscillation studied. Balow found that by tripping the airfoil boundary-layer with "zigzag" tape ahead of bubble separation, the bubble was effectively eliminated mid the oscillation suppressed. Wake survey drag measurements showed a drastic reduction in airfoil drag when the bubble and oscillation were eliminated. Using the "zigzag" tape, the trailing-edge separation was moved downstream approximately 5 percent chord. This was found to reduce the amplitude of the oscillation, particularly in the onset stage at low angle of attack (around 14 degrees). Through detailed analysis of the wake behind the airfoil during the unsteady flow oscillation, Balow provided a better understanding of the wake flowfield. Broeren studied the oscillating flowfield in detail at Reynolds number equal 3 x 10 exp 5 and an angle of attack of 15 degrees using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). Two-dimensional LDV data were acquired at 687 grid points above the model upper surface while hot-wire data were taken simultaneously in the wake. Using the hot-wire signal, the LDV data were phase averaged into 24 bins to represent a single ensemble average of one oscillation cycle. The velocity data showed a flowfield oscillation that could be divided into three flow regimes. In the first regime, the flow over the airfoil was completely separated initially, the flowfield reattached from the leading edge and the reattachment point moved downstream with increasing time or phase. Broeren referred to this as the reattachment regime. The bubble development regime followed, where a leading-edge separation bubble formed at the leading edge and grew with increasing time. During the initial part of this regime the trailing-edge separation continued to move downstream. However, during the last 30 degrees of phase the trailing-edge separation moved rapidly forward and appeared to merge with the leading-edge bubble. During the third regime, the separation regime, the flow was segmented from the airfoil leading edge and did not reattach to the airfoil surface. The reverse flow was seen to grow in vertical extent up from the model surface as the phase increased. Next reattachment began again at the leading edge signaling the start of the reattachment regime, and so the cycle continued. From Broeren's work, the details of the unsteady flowfield over the airfoil were seen for the first time. From this research a great deal has been learned about the low-frequency flow oscillation which naturally occurs on the LRN-1007 airfoil near stall. The oscillation was seen to persist at higher Reynolds number, the dependence of the Strouhal number on angle of attack and Reynolds number were discovered, the critical role played by the laminar bubble was shown and the entire upper surface flowfield during a flow oscillation cycle was measured and analyzed. What still eludes understanding is the scaling of the flow oscillation and why certain airfoils, such as the LRN, have a very strong low-frequency mode and other airfoils exhibit no organized low-frequency oscillation at all.

Bragg, Michael B.↗
NASA NTRS2013

A Hybrid Fiber/Solid-State Regenerative Amplifier with Tunable Pulse Widths for Satellite Laser Ranging

A fiber/solid-state hybrid seeded regenerative amplifier, capable of achieving high output energy with tunable pulse widths, has been developed for satellite laser ranging applications. The regenerative amplifier cavity uses a pair of Nd:YAG zigzag slabs oriented orthogonally to one another in order to make thermal lensing effects symmetrical and simplify optical correction schemes. The seed laser used is a fiber-coupled 1,064-nm narrowband (<0.02 nm) diode laser that is discretely driven in a new short-pulsed mode, enabling continuously tunable seed pulse widths in the 0.2-to-0.4-ns range. The amplifier gain unit consists of a pair of Brewster-cut 6-bounce zigzag Nd:YAG laser slabs, oriented 90deg relative to each other in the amplifier head. This arrangement creates a net-symmetrical thermal lens effect (an opposing singleaxis effect in each slab), and makes thermo-optical corrections simple by optimizing the curvature of the nearest cavity mirror. Each slab is pumped by a single 120-W, pulsed 808-nm laser diode array. In this configuration, the average pump beam distribution in the slabs had a 1-D Gaussian shape, which matches the estimated cavity mode size. A half-wave plate between the slabs reduces losses from Fresnel reflections due to the orthogonal slabs Brewster-cut end faces. Successful "temporal" seeding of the regenerative amplifier cavity results in a cavity Q-switch pulse envelope segmenting into shorter pulses, each having the width of the input seed, and having a uniform temporal separation corresponding to the cavity round-trip time of approx. =10 ns. The pulse energy is allowed to build on successive passes in the regenerative amplifier cavity until a maximum is reached, (when cavity gains and losses are equal), after which the pulse is electro- optically switched out on the next round trip The overall gain of the amplifier is approx. =82 dB (or a factor of 1.26 million). After directing the amplified output through a LBO frequency doubling crystal, approx. = 2.1 W of 532-nm output (>1 mJ) was measured. This corresponds to a nonlinear conversion efficiency of >60%. Furthermore, by pulse pumping this system, a single pulse per laser shot can be created for the SLR (satellite laser ranging) measurement, and this can be ejected into the instrument. This is operated at the precise frequency needed by the measurement, as opposed to commercial short-pulsed, mode-locked systems that need to operate in a continuous fashion, or CW (continuous wave), and create pulses at many MHz. Therefore, this design does not need to throw away or dump 99% of the laser energy to produce what is required; this system can be far smaller, more efficient, cheaper, and readily deployed in the field when packaged efficiently. Finally, by producing custom diode seed pulses electronically, two major advantages over commercial systems are realized: First, this pulse shape is customizable and not affected by the cavity length or gain of the amplifier cavity, and second, it can produce adjustable (selectable) pulse widths by simply adding multiple seed diodes and coupling each into commercial, low-cost fiber-optic combiners.

Coyle, Barry↗
DOE OSTI2023

Topological Analysis of Temporal Hypergraphs

In this work we study the topological properties of temporal hypergraphs. Hypergraphs provide a higher dimensional generalization of a graph that is capable of capturing multi-way connections. As such, they have become an integral part of network science. A common use of hypergraphs is to model events as hyperedges in which the event can involve many elements as nodes. This provides a more complete picture of the event in comparison to the standard dyadic connection limitation of a graph. However, a common attribution to events is temporal information as an interval for when the event occurred. Consequently, a temporal hypergraph is born which accurately captures both the temporal information of events as well as their multi-way connections. Common tools for studying these temporal hypergraphs typically use summary statistics of snapshots from a sliding window procedure to capture changes in the underlying dynamics. However, these do not provide insight into how the changing structure of the hypergraph evolves and which components of the temporal hypergraph persist and are influential to the underlying system. To alleviate this need we leverage zigzag persistence from the field of Topological Data Analysis (TDA) to study the change in topological structure of time-evolving hypergraphs. We apply our pipeline to both a cyber security and social network dataset and show how the topological structure of their temporal hypergraphs change and can be used to understand the underlying dynamics.

hypergraphs, topological data analysis, zigzag per↗
DOE OSTI2023

Magnetic states of graphene proximitized Kitaev materials

Single-layer α-ruthenium trichloride (α–RuCl 3 ) has been proposed as a potential quantum spin liquid. Graphene/RuCl 3 heterobilayers have been extensively studied with a focus on the large interlayer electron transfer that dopes both materials. Here we examine the interplay between the competing magnetic state of RuCl 3 layer and graphene electronic properties. We perform self-consistent Hartree-Fock calculations on a Hubbard-Kanamori model of the 4d 5 t 2g electrons of α–RuCl 3 and confirm that out-of-plane ferromagnetic and zigzag antiferromagnetic states are energetically competitive. We show that the influence of hybridization between graphene and RuCl 3 bands is strongly sensitive to the magnetic configuration of RuCl 3 and the relative orientations of the two layers. We argue that strong hybridization leads to graphene magnetoresistance and that it may tilt the balance between closely competing magnetic states. Furthermore, Our analysis can be applied to any van der Waals heterobilayer system with weak interlayer hybridization and allows for arbitrary lattice constant mismatch and relative orientation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Domain Nucleation and Growth in an Epitaxially Grown Wurtzite Ferroelectric

Ferroelectric domain nucleation and growth in epitaxial (Al, B, Sc)N films grown on n-GaN substrates are explored using a combination of ferroelectric property measurements and scanning transmission electron microscopy, including novel in situ switching studies. The films are electrically switched to nitrogen-polar (N-polar) and metal-polar (M-polar) configurations, attaining a remanent polarization of 120 µC cm −2 with coercive fields of ≈6 MV cm −1 . In the initial switching cycle, the ferroelectric domains nucleate near the bottom n-GaN electrode and develop domain walls with zigzag morphologies, while residual “dead layers” that do not switch from the as-deposited orientation persist at the top and bottom electrodes. The in situ microscopy experiments reveal that domain walls propagate fastest in the lateral direction, parallel to the electrode/film interface. These findings provide insights into the domain dynamics and structural evolution of wurtzite ferroelectrics, offering implications for next-generation electronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

A New Family of Ternary Intermetallic Compounds with Dualistic Atomic Ordering – The ZIP Phases

A new family of nanostructured ternary intermetallic compounds − named the ZIP phases − is introduced in this work. The ZIP phases exhibit dualistic atomic ordering, i.e., they form two structural variants: one with the fcc diamond cubic structure (space group Fd$\bar{3}$m) and one with the hexagonal structure (space group P6 3 /mmc). They are also characterized by metallic behavior, ionic bonding, and atomic zigzagging. Powder metallurgical routes involving pressure-assisted densification are adopted to demonstrate ZIP phase synthesis in the Nb-Si-Ni, Nb-Si-Co, Ta-Si-Ni, V-Si-Ni, and Nb-Si-Fe ternary systems. Crucially, reactive hot pressing is capable of producing high-purity ZIP phase materials after the judicious, elemental system-specific optimization of the processing route. Synthesis of phase-pure materials – demonstrated in the Nb-Si-Ni ternary system by the synthesis of quasi phase-pure Nb 3 SiNi 2 and Ni 3 SiNb 2 ZIP phase-based materials – is a steppingstone to the prospective exploitation of the ZIP phases. Characterization of Nb 3 SiNi 2 and Ni 3 SiNb 2 involves crystal structure determination, spatially resolved chemical analysis, and determination of select thermal, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and physical properties. Density functional theory is used to assess the stability of Nb 3 SiNi 2 & Ni 3 SiNb 2 and derivative binary compounds at different temperatures, also exploring the exfoliation of these two ZIP phases along specific surfaces to produce 2D derivatives.

Intermetallic compounds (IMCs)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Defect‐Free Nanowelding of Bilayer SnSe Nanoplates

Nanowelding is a bottom‐up technique to create custom‐designed nanostructures and devices beyond the precision of lithographic methods. Here, a new technique is reported based on anisotropic lubricity at the van der Waals interface between monolayer and bilayer SnSe nanoplates and a graphene substrate to achieve precise control of the crystal orientation and the interface during the welding process. As‐grown SnSe monolayer and bilayer nanoplates are commensurate with graphene's armchair direction but lack commensuration along graphene's zigzag direction, resulting in a reduced friction along that direction and a rail‐like, 1D movement that permits joining nanoplates with high precision. This way, molecular beam epitaxially grown SnSe nanoplates of lateral sizes 30–100 nm are manipulated by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope at room temperature. In situ annealing is applied afterward to weld contacting nanoplates without atomic defects at the interface. This technique can be generalized to any van der Waals interfaces with anisotropic lubricity and is highly promising for the construction of complex quantum devices, such as field effect transistors, quantum interference devices, lateral tunneling junctions, and solid‐state qubits.

2D ferroelectrics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ultra‐Narrow Phosphorene Nanoribbons Produced by Facile Electrochemical Process

Abstract Phosphorene nanoribbons (PNRs) have inspired strong research interests to explore their exciting properties that are associated with the unique two‐dimensional (2D) structure of phosphorene as well as the additional quantum confinement of the nanoribbon morphology, providing new materials strategy for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Despite several important properties of PNRs, the production of these structures with narrow widths is still a great challenge. Here, a facile and straightforward approach to synthesize PNRs via an electrochemical process that utilize the anisotropic Na + diffusion barrier in black phosphorus (BP) along the [001] zigzag direction against the [100] armchair direction, is reported. The produced PNRs display widths of good uniformity (10.3 ± 3.8 nm) observed by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, and the suppressed B 2g vibrational mode from Raman spectroscopy results. More interestingly, when used in field‐effect transistors, synthesized bundles exhibit the n‐type behavior, which is dramatically different from bulk BP flakes which are p‐type. This work provides insights into a new synthesis approach of PNRs with confined widths, paving the way toward the development of phosphorene and other highly anisotropic nanoribbon materials for high‐quality electronic applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Crystal Structure of BaZn 2 Se 2 (OH) 2 Featuring Brownmillerite‐Type Layers

Abstract A bimetallic hydroxychalcogenide, BaZn 2 Se 2 (OH) 2 , was synthesized through hydrothermal pouch methods. The single crystal X‐ray diffraction and electron diffraction indicates that the phase crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma and is composed of anionic layers [ZnSe 3/3 (OH) 1/1 ] − that are separated and charged balanced by Ba 2+ cations. The [ZnSe 3/3 (OH) 1/1 ] – layer comprises two unique Zn sites, which form interpenetrating zigzag chains with an in‐plane dipole moment and adopts a brownmillerite‐type structural motif. The adjacent layers contain tetrahedrally coordinated Zn chains of opposite handedness related by an inversion center, which cancel the microscopic dipoles to minimize the macroscopic electric polarization. The adoption of a brownmillerite structural motif in BaZn 2 Se 2 (OH) 2 can be rationalized by the distinct charge difference between Se 2− and OH − anions, which creates a sufficient dipole moment in the ZnSe 3 (OH) tetrahedra to allow the occurrence of twisted chains. FTIR spectroscopy confirms the existence of OH − anions and DFT calculations indicate that BaZn 2 Se 2 (OH) 2 is a semiconductor with a direct band gap. This work expands the chemistry of the brownmillerite family from traditional homoanionic oxides to multianion hydroxychalcogenides, offering a new opportunity to explore tunable structural complexity for better design of functional materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Strain-modulated intercalated phases of Pb monolayer with dual periodicity in SiC(0001)-graphene interface

Intercalation of metal atoms at the SiC(0001)-graphene (Gr) interface can provide confined 2D metal layers with interesting electronic properties. The intercalated Pb monolayer (ML) has shown the coexistence of the Gr(10 x 10)-moiré and a stripe phase, which still lacks understanding. Using density functional theory calculation and thermal annealing with ab initio molecular dynamics as motivated by experiment, we have studied the formation energy of Gr/Pb/SiC(0001) for different Pb coverages. Near the coverage of a Pb(111)-like ML mimicking the (10 x 10)-moiré, we find a slightly more stable stripe structure, where one half of the structure has compressive strain with Pb occupying the Si-top sites and the other half has tensile strain with Pb off the Si-top sites. This stripe structure along the Gr zigzag direction has a periodicity of 2.3 nm across the [1$\overline{2}$10] direction agreeing with the previous observations using scanning tunneling microscopy. Analysis with electron density difference and density of states show the tensile region has a more metallic character than the compressive region, while both are dominated by charge transfer from Pb ML to SiC(0001). As a result, the small energy difference between the stripe and Pb(111)-like structures means the two phases are almost degenerate and can coexist, which explains the experimental observations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Mechanistic study of direct coupling of CO 2 and C 2 H 4 over atomically dispersed metal at graphene edges

Direct coupling of CO 2 and ethylene (hereinafter DCCE) to acrylic acid is valuable for valorizing CO 2 to manufacture acrylate-derived products. However, previous studies in DCCE have been limited on molecular catalysts with challenges in improving catalytic performance. In this work, we employed density functional theory calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the heterogeneous catalysis of DCCE over atomically dispersed metal centers at nitrogen-doped zigzag edge of graphene. Based on competitive adsorption and structural stability, Mo, Cr, V, Ru, and Ni active sites are chosen to explore the reaction kinetics. Here, we find that the activation barriers are determined by the charge redistribution at transition states, which explains the trend of activity for the C-C coupling and the hydrogen transfer, two key steps in DCCE. Furthermore, we show that the intramolecular hydrogen transfer (rate-limiting step) is hindered due to the lack of local coordinate at the active sites. We thus propose to use co-adsorbed water as a “proton-exchanger” following a water-assisted route, and show that the activation barriers are reduced over all metal centers. Particularly, water promotes the hydrogen transfer over metals with strong CO 2 -ethylene co-activation and facile C-C coupling kinetics, which could be considered promising for DCCE. In both mechanisms, the stability of metallactone intermediate can be used to predict the catalytic activity. It is anticipated that the insights from this work can provide guidelines for mimicking well-defined multifunctional active sites in molecular catalysts to design heterogeneous catalysts for such C-C coupling, which advances catalytic utilization of CO 2 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Angle-resolved polarized Raman study of layered b-As x P x-1 alloys: Identification of As-P vibrational modes

In this study, the polarization-resolved Raman spectra of b-As x P x-1 flakes with varying arsenic concentration (x = 0, 0.4, and 0.8) are systematically investigated. A clear polarization dependence is observed in the Raman intensity of all the P-P, As-P, and As-As modes and confirmed by the first-principles calculations. The observed angle-dependence can be related to the structure of the Raman tensors of each peak. In particular, the Raman intensities corresponding to As-P vibration modes are studied in detail. The out of plane As-P mode ($A$$^{1}_{g}$) is clearly identified, but the butterfly-shaped behavior observed in the polar plot around 350 cm -1 is interpreted as the combination of the two in-plane vibrations, one along the armchair and the other along the zigzag direction. This work allows unambiguous assignment of the $A$$^{1}_{g}$, B 2g , and $A$$^{2}_{g}$ modes of the As-P vibrational modes and the importance of the consideration of the superposition of the in-plane B 2g and $A$$^{2}_{g}$ modes. Such study can be utilized to further characterize the anisotropic structural properties and analyze the local distribution of the As and P in b-As x P x-1 alloys which will play key roles in electronic and optical properties. Furthermore, this methodology can be further extended to alloyed two-dimensional material systems with in-plane anisotropy in general.

2D materials↗
DOE OSTI2021

Giant anisotropic in-plane thermal conduction induced by Anomalous phonons in pentagonal PdSe 2

In two-dimensional materials, different atomic stacking induces anisotropic atomic interactions and phonon dispersions, leading to the anisotropy of in-plane thermal transport. In this work, we report an exceptional case in layered pentagonal PdSe 2 , where the bonding, force constants, and lattice constants are nearly-equal along the in-plane crystallographic axis directions, while the thermal conductivity is surprisingly much greater along b-axis than along a-axis with a ratio up to 1.8. Such strong anisotropy is not only unexpected in in-plane uniform structured materials, but also 2 comparable to the record high in-plane anisotropic thermal conductivity in the nonuniform structured material reported to date (the ratio is ~2.0 in TiS 3 ). By combining the inelastic X-ray scattering measurement and the first-principles calculations, we attribute such high anisotropy to the low-energy phonons along a-axis, particularly their lower group velocities and “avoided-crossing” behavior. The different buckling structures between a- (zigzag-type) and b-axis (flat-type) are mainly responsible for such unique phonon dynamics properties of PdSe 2 . This finding helps to discover materials with high anisotropic in-plane thermal conductivity in uniform structures and reveals new physics of anisotropy of in-plane thermal conduction. Due to the unique features in structure and thermal transport properties, PdSe 2 may serve as a new platform for designing novel devices to route heat flow precisely at the nanoscale.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Unveiling field-transverse spin anisotropy in the spin liquid candidate α-RuCl3 via spin Hall magnetoresistance

α-RuCl3 has emerged as a possible candidate for a quantum spin liquid (QSL) that promises exotic quasiparticles relevant for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Here, we report spin-sensitive transport measurements using a proximal spin Hall metal, platinum (Pt), to probe magnetic moments in the insulator α-RuCl3. We observe spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR), where both the transverse and longitudinal resistivities exhibit angular oscillations between the in-plane magnetic field and the current, driven by the interplay between the spin Hall effect in Pt and local magnetic moments in α-RuCl3. These oscillations occur from 1.5 to 18 T, covering the zigzag antiferromagnetic, putative QSL, and supposedly partially field-polarized phases. The phase of the SMR oscillations suggests that the local moments, whether static or fluctuating, develop spin anisotropy with a quantization axis in-plane and largely transverse to the magnetic field across all fields from 1.5 to 18 T. Temperature dependence indicates that the spin anisotropy operates at an energy scale similar to that of the reported QSL signatures in α-RuCl3.

Idzuchi, Hiroshi [Tohoku University, Japan]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Notes on remanent magnetization measurements in superconductors and hard ferromagnets

Data on zero applied field measurements of remanent magnetization and magnetic relaxation in a BCS superconductor LuNi 2 B 2 C and several hard ferromagnets are presented and compared. Apparent similarities and differences, in particular in Thermoremanent Magnetization (TRM) - like, Isothermal Remanent Magnetization (IRM) - like, and remanent magnetization measurements with zigzag temperature sweep measurements are outlined. It is discussed how these results could be relevant for the magnetization measurements in diamond anvil cells.

Ferromagnets↗