Andrey Podlesnyak

Giant anharmonic phonon scattering in PbTe

Understanding the microscopic processes affecting the bulk thermal conductivity is crucial to develop more efficient thermoelectric materials. PbTe is currently one of the leading thermoelectric materials, largely thanks to its low thermal conductivity. However, the origin of this low thermal conductivity in a simple rocksalt structure has so far been elusive. Using a combination of inelastic neutron scattering measurements and first-principles computations of the phonons, we identify a strong anharmonic coupling between the ferroelectric transverse optic mode and the longitudinal acoustic modes in PbTe. This interaction extends over a large portion of reciprocal space, and directly affects the heat-carrying longitudinal acoustic phonons. The longitudinal acoustic-transverse optic anharmonic coupling is likely to play a central role in explaining the low thermal conductivity of PbTe. The present results provide a microscopic picture of why many good thermoelectric materials are found near a lattice instability of the ferroelectric type.

The new cold neutron chopper spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source: Design and performance

The design and performance of the new cold neutron chopper spectrometer (CNCS) at the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge are described. CNCS is a direct-geometry inelastic time-of-flight spectrometer, designed essentially to cover the same energy and momentum transfer ranges as IN5 at ILL, LET at ISIS, DCS at NIST, TOFTOF at FRM-II, AMATERAS at J-PARC, PHAROS at LANSCE, and NEAT at HZB, at similar energy resolution. Measured values of key figures such as neutron flux at sample position and energy resolution are compared between measurements and ray tracing Monte Carlo simulations, and good agreement (better than 20% of absolute numbers) has been achieved. The instrument performs very well in the cold and thermal neutron energy ranges, and promises to become a workhorse for the neutron scattering community for quasielastic and inelastic scattering experiments.

Einstein modes in the phonon density of states of the single-filled skutterudite Yb0-2Co4Sb12

Measurements of the phonon density of states by inelastic neutron time-of-flight scattering and specific-heat measurements along with first-principles calculations, provide compelling evidence for the existence of an Einstein oscillator (rattler) at {omega}{sub E1} {approx} 5.0 meV in the filled skutterudite Yb{sub 0.2}Co{sub 4}Sb{sub 12}. Multiple dispersionless modes in the measured density of states of Yb{sub 0.2}Co{sub 4}Sb{sub 12} at intermediate transfer energies (14 {le} {omega} {le} 20 meV) are exhibited in both the experimental and theoretical density of states of the Yb-filled specimen. A peak at 12.4 meV is shown to coincide with a second Einstein mode at {omega}{sub E2} {approx} 12.8 meV obtained from heat-capacity data. The local modes at intermediate transfer energies are attributed to altered properties of the host CoSb{sub 3} cage as a result of Yb filling. It is suggested that these modes are owed to a complementary mechanism for the scattering of heat-carrying phonons in addition to the mode observed at {omega}{sub E1} {approx} 5.0 meV. Our observations offer a plausible explanation for the significantly higher dimensionless figures of merit of filled skutterudites, compared to their parent compounds.

Structure and magnetic properties of the pyrochlore iridate Y2Ir2O7

Neutron powder diffraction and inelastic measurements were performed examining the

A comparison of four direct geometry time-of-flight spectrometers at the Spallation Neutron Source

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Long-Range Magnetic Interactions in the Multiferroic Antiferromagnet MnWO4

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Magnetic excitations in the geometric frustrated multiferroic CuCrO2

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Spin-state polarons in lightly hole-doped LaCoO3

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Magnetic structure of CuCrO2: a single crystal neutron diffraction study

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Dipolar Antiferromagnetism and Quantum Criticality in LiErF4

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