Vol 42, No 2 (2016)

We investigate hybrid magnetic heterostructures consisting of thin epitaxial films of oxide ferromagnets La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ and intermetallic superlattices (TeCo₂/FeCo)_n. The magnetic characteristics of the heterostructures were studied by the ferromagnetic resonance and magneto-optical Kerr effect techniques. The interlayer interaction in a heterostructure is shown to be antiferromagnetic. It was established that the interface with the intermetallic compound broadens the ferromagnetic resonance line of the manganite film.

A method is proposed aimed for determination of the third-order elastic moduli (Murnaghan moduli) based on the estimation of measured parameters of bulk strain solitons in the three main waveguide configurations, a rod, a plate, and a shell. Formulas connecting the third-order moduli of the waveguide material and the parameters of a solitary strain wave (amplitude, velocity, full width at half-maximum) are derived. If the soliton parameters measured in three waveguide types manufactured from the same material are available, determination of the third-order elastic moduli is reduced to the solution of a system of three algebraic equations with a nondegenerate matrix.

Coherent population trapping (CPT) on ⁸⁷Rb atoms in neon atmosphere has been studied in small-size glass absorption cells under conditions of pumping with narrow-band laser radiation at the D₂ line of the main doublet. Parameters of the absorption signal have been measured in 3-mm-diameter cells at buffer gas (Ne) pressures varied within 200–400 Torr, cell temperatures within 65–120°C, and pumping radiation power densities within 30–400 μW/cm². Optimum values of the buffer gas pressures, cell temperature, and pumping power are determined at which the short-term instability of the resonance line is at minimum. Orientational shifts of the CPT resonance signal in gas-filled cells and small-size cells with antirelaxation coating have been compared.

The feasibility of efficient focusing of high-power pulsed X-ray radiation generated by explosive electron emission from carbon nanoclusters is shown by direct experiments with the use of polycapillary X-ray optics. It is shown that the X-ray spot in the focus of the polycapillary lens can be reduced to 1/20 of its initial size.

Submicron thin layers of BaZr_xTi_1–xO₃ are grown in-situ by RF magnetron sputtering of a ceramic target (x = 0.50) on a substrate of Pt/r-cut leucosapphire Al₂O₃. It is shown that the composition of the ferroelectric layer is not identical to the composition of the sputtered target and is shifted toward barium zirconate. The reasons for such behavior are discussed. The obtained samples are characterized by high breakdown voltages (1 MV/cm and higher). The structural and high-frequency dielectric properties are studied, and high tunability of the capacitance of thin layers is revealed.

The influence of the collective creep of magnetic flux on the electric field induced in a superconducting composite with fractal cluster structure is considered. Current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of these superconductors are determined with allowance for the influence of the fractal dimensionality of boundaries of the normal phase clusters and the height of pinning barriers on the nonlinearity of I–V characteristics at small transport currents. A relationship is established between the collective pinning and vortex glass state that is formed in superconductors with a fractal cluster structure. It is shown that the intensity of an electric field induced in the case of collective creep is smaller than that for Anderson–Kim creep.

This Letter presents results of analysis of the absorption spectra of AlN:Er³⁺ bulk crystals. In the spectral of 370–700 nm, absorption lines responsible for intraconfiguration electron transition from the ground state ⁴I_15/2 to the excited states of Er³⁺ ions are found. Transitions to the levels of the ⁴F_9/2, ²H_11/2, and ⁴G_11/2 states at 2 K are studied in detail. The number of observed lines for these transitions fully agrees with that theoretically possible for f–f electron transitions in Er³⁺ ions found in a noncubic crystal field. The small width of the observed lines and their number indicate that erbium ions displace mostly one regular crystal position. Most probably, Er³⁺ occupies the position of Al. Energy positions of excited states for the considered transitions are determined.

The possibility of forming a microprofile in diffractive optical elements by thermal oxidation of thin molybdenum films is analyzed. It is shown that the gain in the thickness of a starting film in the thermal oxidation process may reach a threefold value, with the optical quality of the surface preserved.

A new experimental approach to multiparametric three-dimensional (3D) investigation of a broad class of composite nanostructural materials is developed on the basis of scanning near-field optical nanotomography (SNONT). Using this method, it is possible to simultaneously study the optical properties, 3D morphology, and distribution of the mechanical and electrical properties of the same region of a sample. The proposed method combines features of the confocal and near-field optical microspectroscopy (fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy) with a lateral resolution of up to 50 nm and scanning-probe microscopy. The possibility of studying the volume distribution of optical, morphological, electrical, and mechanical characteristics of a material with nanoscale resolution is related to the probing of sequential layers at a step of up to 20 nm and a total Z-scan depth of up to 3 mm. In particular, the SNONT method has been used to study a liquid-crystalline polymer doped with fluorescent nanocrystals.

In the current paper a method of plasma position measurement, alternative to magnetic diagnostics, is proposed. The method is based on determination of the last closed flux surface (LCFS) location by detecting the maximum of electrostatic potential profile. The experiments were carried out on the TUMAN- 3M tokamak in a series of similar ohmic heating shots. The method proved effective in LCFS localization; it allowed calculation of corrections for magnetic diagnostics, used routinely for plasma position detection. This method can be used in limiter and divertor tokamaks for independent check and clarification of electromagnetic plasma position diagnostics.

We have studied the influence of low-frequency noise on the stability of resonance frequency of a self-oscillating magnetometer on ⁸⁷Rb vapor with simultaneous monitoring of the signal of radio-optical resonance on the magnetic-field-dependent microwave transition under laser pumping at the D₂ line of the head doublet. The difference of synchronous records of detected signals reduced to the same scale in magnetic field units was processed to determine the Allan variance as a function of the averaging time. The correlation coefficient characterizing the coupling of detected signals determined by the pumping rate and intensity of radio fields generated in the region of the absorption chamber. The self-oscillating magnetometer can only operate provided that there is laser tuning to the long-wavelength component of the electric-dipole transition.

The concept of detonation wave initiation in the local volume of a fuel–gas mixture containing suspended chemically neutral microparticles heated by radiant energy from an external source is proposed. Mechanisms of initiation of the combustion and detonation waves in a region of accumulation of the radiation- heated microparticles have been studied by numerical simulation methods. Criteria that determine geometric dimensions of a region of the two-phase medium, which are necessary for the initiation of detonation waves, are formulated.

We have studied the influence of strontium additives on the microstructure and mechanical properties of an aluminum alloy with 15 wt % silicon prepared by directional crystallization using the Stepanov method at a solidification rate of 10³ μm/s. The initial alloy has a fine-grained eutectic structure. The introduction of strontium leads to additional refinement of the structure and increases the tensile strength and elongation at break. These characteristics of a directionally crystallized alloy are higher than those of a eutectic alloy obtained by casting to a mold.

We present results of an experimental investigation of the transition to a microwave dynamic chaos regime in ring oscillators based on normally magnetized yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films. It is established that an increase in the ring gain leads to the sequential generation of monochromatic, periodic, quasi-periodic, and chaotic signals. The quasi-periodic regime is characterized by the appearance of secondary modulation of the signal amplitude. In the regime of dynamic chaos generation, the parameters can be controlled by gain of the ring.

The times of extraction of negative ions from the ionization chamber of a mass spectrometer have been measured. The obtained values amount to several dozen microseconds or above—that is, significantly exceed the time of free ion escape from the chamber. It is established that ions are retained in the ionization chamber because of their adsorption on the inner surface. This leads to distortion of the experimentally measured lifetimes of negative ions that become unstable with respect to autodetachment of the excess electron.