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At least 1,027 records · Page 57

Light–Induced Frenkel Defect Pair Formation Can Lead to Phase–Segregation of Otherwise Miscible Halide Perovskite Alloys

Alloys of ABX 3 halide perovskites (HP) exhibit unique phase behavior compared to traditional III-V and II-VI semiconductor alloys used in solar cells. While the latter typically have good mutual miscibility when their mixed components are size matched, and phase-segregate when size mismatched, HP alloys show good miscibility in the dark but can phase-segregate under light. Quantum mechanical calculations described herein reveal light-induced defect formation and migration hold the key. Specifically, the interaction between a halogen vacancy V X with halogen interstitial X i forming together a Frenkel-pair defect emerges as the enabler for phase-segregation in HP alloys. At a threshold bromine composition in the Br-I alloys, the photogenerated holes in the valence band localize, creating thereby a doubly-charged iodine Frenkel-pair (V I + I i ) 2+ . Faster migration of iodine over bromine interstitial into the vacant iodine V I site leads to the formation of iodine-rich and iodine-depleted regions, establishing phase-segregation. Removal of the mobile defects–the agent of segregation–by dark thermal annealing, supplies the opposing force, leading to reversal of phase-segregation. Furthermore, this atomistic understanding can enable some control of the phase-segregation by selecting substituting elements on the B site–such as replacing some Pb by Sn–that are unable to form stable Frenkel defects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Putting the Disulfide Bridge at Risk: How UV-C Radiation Leads to Ultrafast Rupture of the S-S Bond

We investigate here the ultrafast photoinduced dynamics of the cyclic disulfide 1,2-dithiane upon 200 nm excitation by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and show that the S-S bond breaks on an ultrafast time scale. This stands in stark contrast to excitation at longer wavelengths where the initially excited S 1 state evolves as the wavepacket is guided towards a conical intersection with S 0 by a torsional motion involving a partially broken bond between the sulfur atoms. This process at lower excitation energy allows for efficient (re-)population of S 0 , rendering dithiane intact. At 200 nm, in contrast, the excitation leads to a manifold of higher excited states, S n , that are primarily of Rydberg character. We are able to follow the gradual transition from the initially excited state to the dissociative receiver state in real time. The Rydberg states are intersected by a repulsive valence state that mediates a transition to the repulsive S 2 surface. Hence, we propose that the resulting diradical will eventually break apart on a longer timescale. The results imply that upon going from UV-B to UV-C light the structural integrity of the disulfide moiety is compromised and proteins irradiated in this range will not be able to reform the initial tertiary structure, leading to loss of function.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Computational and Experimental Investigation of Chiral and Achiral Two‐Dimensional Organic Lead Bromide Perovskites: Octahedral Distortions and Electronic and Optical Properties

A computational investigation is presented, in conjunction with synthesis and experimental characterization, into the structural, electronic, and optical properties of layered two-dimensional organic lead bromide perovskites. Materials based on the chiral (R/S)-4-fluoro-α-methylbenzylammonium (R/S-FMBA), which have been shown to lead to bright room-temperature circularly polarized luminescence, are contrasted with the similar achiral 4-fluorobenzylammonium (FBA). Using density functional theory (DFT) with van der Waals (vdW) corrections, relaxed structures (compared with X-ray diffraction, XRD) and optical absorption spectra (compared with experiments) are studied, as well as band structure and orbital character of transitions. A Python code is developed and provided to calculate octahedral distortions and compare DFT and XRD results, finding that vdW corrections are important for accuracy and that DFT overestimates octahedral tilt angles. (FMBA) 2 PbBr 4 shows among the largest tilt angle differences (often termed Δ β ) reported, 14°–15°, indicating strong inversion symmetry-breaking, which enables its chiral emission. A large resulting Dresselhaus spin-splitting effect is found. The lowest-energy optical transitions involve the perovskite only and are polarized within the layer. This work furthers understanding of structure-property relations with applications to optoelectronics and spintronics.

UV/vis spectroscopy↗

High‐throughput combinatorial approach expedites the synthesis of a lead‐free relaxor ferroelectric system

Abstract Developing novel lead‐free ferroelectric materials is crucial for next‐generation microelectronic technologies that are energy efficient and environment friendly. However, materials discovery and property optimization are typically time‐consuming due to the limited throughput of traditional synthesis methods. In this work, we use a high‐throughput combinatorial synthesis approach to fabricate lead‐free ferroelectric superlattices and solid solutions of (Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3 )TiO 3 (BCT) and Ba(Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 )O 3 (BZT) phases with continuous variation of composition and layer thickness. High‐resolution x‐ray diffraction (XRD) and analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) demonstrate high film quality and well‐controlled compositional gradients. Ferroelectric and dielectric property measurements identify the “optimal property point” achieved at the composition of 48BZT–52BCT. Displacement vector maps reveal that ferroelectric domain sizes are tunable by varying {BCT–BZT} N superlattice geometry. This high‐throughput synthesis approach can be applied to many other material systems to expedite new materials discovery and properties optimization, allowing for the exploration of a large area of phase space within a single growth. image

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Strontium‐Enriched Barite for Enhanced PbSO 4 Nucleation in Lead‐Acid Batteries

Abstract Barite (BaSO 4 ) crystals are an important additive in lead acid batteries due to their ability to promote the controlled nucleation and growth of anglesite (PbSO 4 ) during battery cycling. This is due to BaSO 4 ’s isostructural match with PbSO 4 , which facilitates epitaxial nucleation. However, BaSO 4 ’s efficacy as a nucleation promoter is limited by lattice mismatches between the two phases of 1–5%. Here, strontium‐enriched barite, (Ba,Sr)SO 4 , is synthesized to produce a nucleating promoter that displays an improved lattice match with PbSO 4 . Nucleation of PbSO 4 from Pb‐rich sulfuric acid solutions on strontium‐free and strontium‐enriched barite (up to 17 mol% Sr) is investigated using in‐situ atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy. At low strontium concentrations, PbSO 4 forms by the Stranski–Krastanov growth pathway (monolayer + island formation), with most nucleation occurring on edges and surface defects. At higher concentrations, the layer‐by‐layer growth mechanism known as Frank van‐der‐Merwe growth is observed, which allows for facile growth of continuous PbSO 4 films across the BaSO 4 surface. These films are successfully re‐dissolved on exposure to Pb‐free sulfuric acid. The results show that strontium incorporation fundamentally alters the mechanism of PbSO 4 nucleation on BaSO 4 , and thus provides a potential avenue for creating improved nucleation promoters in lead‐acid batteries.

Campbell, Colin T. [Pacific Northwest National Lab↗

Computational Methodology to Simulate Pyrometallurgical Processes in a Secondary Lead Furnace

Pyrometallurgical recovery of nonferrous metals involves a combination of thermally intensive transformations during exothermic gas-phase reactions, endothermic decomposition of solid charge, and melting of simpler solids. In the recovery of secondary lead, simultaneous thermal effects in a reverberatory-style furnace cause a melt pool to accumulate at the bottom, with lighter solids (slag) floating above and gaseous products from decomposition of the charge diffusing through the gas–slag interface. Species from oxy-fuel combustion of natural gas, species profiles from smelting reactions, and the formation of a melt pool consisting primarily of lead are simulated via a time-averaged formulation. Predictions of outflow are compared with preset inflow profiles to ensure conservation of mass. Thermal profiles for solid, liquid, and gas phases are presented by species. A novel method is implemented to model the latent heat of fusion using a heterogeneous chemical reaction. The simulation is conducted in Simcenter STAR-CCM+ v. 16.02.009-R8.

Rao, Vivek↗

Probing gluon saturation with next-to-leading order photon production at central rapidities in proton-nucleus collisions

Here, we compute the cross section for photons emitted from sea quarks in proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies. The computation is performed within the dilute-dense kinematics of the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective field theory. Albeit the result obtained is formally at next-to-leading order in the CGC power counting, it provides the dominant contribution for central rapidities. We observe that the inclusive photon cross section is proportional to all-twist Wilson line correlators in the nucleus. These correlators also appear in quark-pair production; unlike the latter, photon production is insensitive to hadronization uncertainties and therefore more sensitive to multi-parton correlations in the gluon saturation regime of QCD. We demonstrate that k ⊥ and collinear factorized expressions for inclusive photon production are obtained as leading twist approximations to our result. In particular, the collinearly factorized expression is directly sensitive to the nuclear gluon distribution at small x. Other results of interest include the realization of the Low-Burnett-Kroll soft photon theorem in the CGC framework and a comparative study of how the photon amplitude is obtained in Lorenz and light-cone gauges.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in proton-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_\mathrm{NN}}} =$ 5.02 and 8.16 TeV

The pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in proton-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies $ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02 $ and 8.16 TeV are presented. The measurements are based on data samples collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The number of primary charged hadrons produced in non-single-diffractive proton-lead collisions is determined in the pseudorapidity range |η$_{lab}$| < 2.4. The charged-hadron multiplicity distributions are compared to the predictions from theoretical calculations and Monte Carlo event generators. In the center-of-mass pseudorapidity range |η$_{cm}$| < 0.5, the average charged-hadron multiplicity densities 〈dN$_{ch}$/dη$_{cm}$〉$_{|η}_{cm|}$ < 0.5 are 17.31 ± 0.01 (stat) ± 0.59 (syst) and 20.10 ± 0.01 (stat) ± 0.85(syst) at $ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02 $ and 8.16 TeV, respectively. The particle densities per participant nucleon are compared to similar measurements in proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Polarized hyperon production in single-inclusive electron-positron annihilation at next-to-leading order

We study the production of polarized Λ-hyperons in electron-positron annihilation. We are particularly interested in the transverse-spin dependence of the cross section for unpolarized incident electron-positron pairs. At high energies this process may be described in the collinear twist-3 framework, where the hadronization transition of partons into a transversely polarized Λ-hyperon can be written in terms of collinear twist-3 fragmentation matrix elements. We calculate the hard partonic cross sections and interference terms in perturbative QCD to next-to-leading order accuracy. We find that the QCD equation of motion plays a crucial role in our analysis. As a byproduct, assuming the validity of QCD factorization for twist-3 observables at next-to-leading order, we derive the evolution equation for the relevant twist-3 fragmentation matrix element.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Sub-leading structures in superconformal indices: subdominant saddles and logarithmic contributions

We systematically study various sub-leading structures in the superconformal index of N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory with SU(N) gauge group. We concentrate in the superconformal index description as a matrix model of elliptic gamma functions and in the Bethe-Ansatz presentation. Our saddle-point approximation goes beyond the Cardy-like limit and we uncover various saddles governed by a matrix model corresponding to SU(N) Chern-Simons theory. The dominant saddle, however, leads to perfect agreement with the Bethe-Ansatz approach. We also determine the logarithmic correction to the superconformal index to be log N, finding precise agreement between the saddle-point and Bethe-Ansatz approaches in their respective approximations. We generalize the two approaches to cover a large class of 4d N = 1 superconformal theories. We find that also in this case both approximations agree all the way down to a universal contribution of the form log N. The universality of this last result constitutes a robust signature of this ultraviolet description of asymptotically AdS 5 black holes and could be tested by low-energy IIB supergravity.

1/N expansion↗

e + e – → ZH process in the SMEFT beyond leading order

We systematically study potential effects of Beyond the Standard Model physics in the e + e – → ZH process. To this end, we include all relevant dimension-6 Standard Model Effective Field Theory operators and work to next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy in the electroweak coupling. We consider both polarized and unpolarized electron and positron beams and present results for $\sqrt {s}$ = 240, 365 and 500 GeV, emphasizing contributions where the NLO predictions differ significantly from the leading order results. At NLO, a sensitivity arises to operators that do not contribute at tree level, such as the Higgs tri-linear coupling, CP-violating operators, and dimension-6 operators involving the top quark, among many others. We compare the prospects of future e + e – colliders to explore these new physics effects with existing measurements from the LHC, electron EDMs (for CP violating operators), and Z pole measurements.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Study of Drell-Yan dimuon production in proton-lead collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 8.16 TeV

Differential cross sections for the Drell-Yan process, including Z boson production, using the dimuon decay channel are measured in proton-lead (pPb) collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV. A data sample recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC is used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 173 nb$^{−1}$. The differential cross section as a function of the dimuon mass is measured in the range 15–600 GeV, for the first time in proton-nucleus collisions. It is also reported as a function of dimuon rapidity over the mass ranges 15–60 GeV and 60–120 GeV, and ratios for the p-going over the Pb-going beam directions are built. In both mass ranges, the differential cross sections as functions of the dimuon transverse momentum p$_{T}$ and of a geometric variable ϕ$^{*}$ are measured, where ϕ$^{*}$ highly correlates with p$_{T}$ but is determined with higher precision. In the Z mass region, the rapidity dependence of the data indicate a modification of the distribution of partons within a lead nucleus as compared to the proton case. The data are more precise than predictions based upon current models of parton distributions.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The seven-gluon amplitude in multi-Regge kinematics beyond leading logarithmic accuracy

We present an all-loop dispersion integral, well-defined to arbitrary logarithmic accuracy, describing the multi-Regge limit of the 2 → 5 amplitude in planar N = 4 super Yang-Mills theory. It follows from factorization, dual conformal symmetry and consistency with soft limits, and specifically holds in the region where the energies of all produced particles have been analytically continued. After promoting the known symbol of the 2-loop N -particle MHV amplitude in this region to a function, we specialize to N = 7, and extract from it the next-to-leading order (NLO) correction to the BFKL central emission vertex, namely the building block of the dispersion integral that had not yet appeared in the well-studied six-gluon case. As an application of our results, we explicitly compute the seven-gluon amplitude at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy through 5 loops for the MHV case, and through 3 and 4 loops for the two independent NMHV helicity configurations, respectively.

1/N expansion↗

The sub-leading scattering waveform from amplitudes

We compute the next-to-leading order term in the scattering waveform of uncharged black holes in classical general relativity and of half-BPS black holes in $\mathcal{N}$ = 8 supergravity. We propose criteria, generalizing explicit calculations at next-to-leading or der, for determining the terms in amplitudes that contribute to local observables. For general relativity, we construct the relevant classical integrand through generalized unitary in two distinct ways, (1) in a heavy-particle effective theory and (2) in general relativity minimally-coupled to scalar fields. With a suitable prescription for the matter propagator in the former, we find agreement between the two methods, thus demonstrating the absence of interference of quantum and classically-singular contributions. The classical $\mathcal{N}$ = 8 integrand for massive scalar fields is constructed through dimensional reduction of the known five-point one-loop integrand. Our calculation exhibits novel features compared to conservative calculations and inclusive observables, such as the appearance of master integrals with intersecting matter lines and the appearance of a classical infrared divergence whose absence from classical observables requires a suitable definition of the retarded time.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Leading-color two-loop QCD corrections for three-jet production at hadron colliders

We present the complete set of leading-color two-loop contributions required to obtain next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) QCD corrections to three-jet production at hadron colliders. We obtain analytic expressions for a generating set of finite remainders, valid in the physical region for three-jet production. The analytic continuation of the known Euclidean-region results is determined from a small set of numerical evaluations of the amplitudes. We obtain analytic expressions that are suitable for phenomenological applications and we present a C++ library for their efficient and stable numerical evaluation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Next-to-leading power endpoint factorization and resummation for off-diagonal “gluon” thrust

The lack of convergence of the convolution integrals appearing in next-to-leading-power (NLP) factorization theorems prevents the applications of existing methods to resum power-suppressed large logarithmic corrections in collider physics. We consider thrust distribution in the two-jet region for the flavour-nonsinglet off-diagonal contribution, where a gluon-initiated jet recoils against a quark-antiquark pair, which is power-suppressed. With the help of operatorial endpoint factorization conditions, we obtain a factorization formula, where the individual terms are free from endpoint divergences in convolutions and can be expressed in terms of renormalized hard, soft and collinear functions in four dimensions. This allows us to perform the first resummation of the endpoint-divergent SCETI observables at the leading logarithmic accuracy using exclusively renormalization-group methods. The presented approach relies on universal properties of the soft and collinear limits and may serve as a paradigm for the systematic NLP resummation for other 1 → 2 and 2 → 1 collider physics processes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Suppression of diffraction in deep-inelastic scattering on nuclei and dynamical mechanism of leading twist nuclear shadowing

Abstract Using the leading twist approach (LTA) to nuclear shadowing, we calculate the ratios of diffractive and usual parton distributions for a heavy nucleus (Pb) and the proton,$$ {R}_{A/p}=\left({f}_{i/A}^{D(3)}/{f}_{i/A}\right)/\left({f}_{i/p}^{D(3)}/{f}_{i/p}\right) $$ R A / p = f i / A D 3 / f i / A / f i / p D 3 / f i / p , for coherent and summed (coherent plus quasi-elastic) nuclear deep-inelastic scattering. We find thatR A/p ≈ 0.5 − 1 for quarks as well as for the ratio of the diffractive and total cross sections$$ {\left[\left({d\sigma}_{\textrm{diff}}/{d M}_X^2\right)/{\sigma}_{\textrm{tot}}\right]}_{eA}/{\left[\left({d\sigma}_{\textrm{diff}}/{d M}_X^2\right)/{\sigma}_{\textrm{tot}}\right]}_{ep} $$ dσ diff / dM X 2 / σ tot eA / dσ diff / dM X 2 / σ tot ep andR A/p ≈ 0.5 − 1.3 for gluons in a broad range ofx, including the kinematics of the Electron-Ion Collider, which reaffirms the difference from the nuclear enhancement ofR A/p predicted in the gluon saturation framework. We demonstrate that the magnitude ofR A/p is controlled by the cross section of the interaction of hadronic fluctuations of the virtual photon with target nucleons, which explains an enhancement ofR A/p in the color dipole model and its suppression in LTA. We argue that the black disk limit corresponds toR A/p = 1 and$$ {R}_{A/p}^{\textrm{coh}} $$ R A / p coh = 0.86 for the summed and coherent scattering, respectively. Relying on an intuitive definition of the saturation scale, we show that the ratio of the saturation scales of a heavy nucleus and proton$$ {Q}_{sA}^2(b)/{Q}_{sp}^2(b)\approx 1 $$ Q sA 2 b / Q sp 2 b ≈ 1 at small impact parametersbdue to the strong leading twist nuclear shadowing and diluteness of the nuclear density.

Physics↗

Leading singularities and off-shell conformal integrals

The three-loop four-point function of stress-tensor multiplets in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory contains two so far unknown, off-shell, conformal integrals, in addition to the known, ladder-type integrals. In our paper we evaluate the unknown integrals, thus obtaining the three-loop correlation function analytically. The integrals have the generic structure of rational functions multiplied by (multiple) polylogarithms. We use the idea of leading singularities to obtain the rational coefficients, the symbol — with an appropriate ansatz for its structure — as a means of characterising multiple polylogarithms, and the technique of asymptotic expansion of Feynman integrals to obtain the integrals in certain limits. The limiting behaviour uniquely fixes the symbols of the integrals, which we then lift to find the corresponding polylogarithmic functions. The final formulae are numerically confirmed. Furthermore, we develop techniques that can be applied more generally, and we illustrate this by analytically evaluating one of the integrals contributing to the same four-point function at four loops. This example shows a connection between the leading singularities and the entries of the symbol.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗