RESUMEN
The strong interaction at an interface between a substrate and thin film leads to epitaxy and provides a means of inducing structural changes in the epitaxial film. These induced material phases often exhibit technologically relevant electronic, magnetic, and functional properties. The 2×1 surface of a Ge(001) substrate applies a unique type of epitaxial constraint on thin films of the perovskite oxide BaTiO_{3} where a change in bonding and symmetry at the interface leads to a non-bulk-like crystal structure of the BaTiO_{3}. While the complex crystal structure is predicted using first-principles theory, it is further shown that the details of the structure are a consequence of hidden phases found in the bulk elastic response of the BaTiO_{3} induced by the symmetry of forces exerted by the germanium substrate.
RESUMEN
X-ray microcomputed tomography (µCT) was applied in characterizing the internal structures of a number of irradiated materials, including carbon-carbon fibre composites, nuclear-grade graphite and tristructural isotropic-coated fuel particles. Local cracks in carbon-carbon fibre composites associated with their synthesis process were observed with µCT without any destructive sample preparation. Pore analysis of graphite samples was performed quantitatively, and qualitative analysis of pore distribution was accomplished. It was also shown that high-resolution µCT can be used to probe internal layer defects of tristructural isotropic-coated fuel particles to elucidate the resulting high release of radioisotopes. Layer defects of sizes ranging from 1 to 5 µm and up could be isolated by tomography. As an added advantage, µCT could also be used to identify regions with high densities of radioisotopes to determine the proper plane and orientation of particle mounting for further analytical characterization, such as materialographic sectioning followed by optical and electron microscopy. In fully ceramic matrix fuel forms, despite the highly absorbing matrix, characterization of tristructural isotropic-coated particles embedded in a silicon carbide matrix was accomplished using µCT and related advanced image analysis techniques.
RESUMEN
Single-crystal diffuse X-ray scattering was used to characterize radiation-induced defects in individual grains of a polycrystalline proton-irradiated Fe foil. The grains were probed with an intense 1 microm X-ray beam to demonstrate that both polycrystalline and micrometer-scale samples can be studied with single-crystal-like signal-to-noise. Scattering was measured with an X-ray-sensitive area detector, which measures intensity over a surface in reciprocal space. By scanning the X-ray energy, the intensity was measured over reciprocal-space volumes. Since the sample is not rotated, the real-space scattering volume does not change. Methods to minimize experimental artifacts arising from the use of an area detector are described.
RESUMEN
Relaxor ferroelectrics exemplify a class of functional materials where interplay between disorder and phase instability results in inhomogeneous nanoregions. Although known for about 30 years, there is no definitive explanation for polar nanoregions (PNRs). Here we show that ferroelectric phonon localization drives PNRs in relaxor ferroelectric PMN-30%PT using neutron scattering. At the frequency of a preexisting resonance mode, nanoregions of standing ferroelectric phonons develop with a coherence length equal to one wavelength and the PNR size. Anderson localization of ferroelectric phonons by resonance modes explains our observations and, with nonlinear slowing, the PNRs and relaxor properties. Phonon localization at additional resonances near the zone edges explains competing antiferroelectric distortions known to occur at the zone edges. Our results indicate the size and shape of PNRs that are not dictated by complex structural details, as commonly assumed, but by phonon resonance wave vectors. This discovery could guide the design of next generation relaxor ferroelectrics.