H.M. Fretwell

Fermi surface as the driving mechanism for helical antiferromagnetic ordering in Gd-Y alloys

The first direct experimental evidence for the Fermi surface (FS) driving the helical antiferromagnetic ordering in a gadolinium-yttrium alloy is reported. The presence of a FS sheet capable of nesting is revealed, and the nesting vector associated with the sheet is found to be in excellent agreement with the periodicity of the helical ordering.

Positron and positronium annihilation studies of the phase behaviour of fluids in Vycor

We summarize the results of a recent positron annihilation study of the phase behaviour of confined in Vycor glass. Particular emphasis is placed on the phase diagram of the confined fluid and on the usefulness of the positron annihilation technique in determining the mechanisms underlying phase transitions of fluids in porous solids.

Positron and positronium annihilation studies of phase behaviour in confined geometry

In this paper we present a brief review of the current state of positron annihilation research into the phase behaviour of fluids confined within restricted boundaries. We summarise, in the form of selected examples, the work done so far on: (1) fluids confined in the nanometer-size pores of VYCOR glass, with particular emphasis on the confined phase diagram and the mechanisms behind phase transitions compared to bulk. (2) The adsorption/physisorption of gases on internal surfaces of grafoil and the potential of positron technique for revealing physical properties, such as the intricate molecular arrangements during phase transitions of the “layered” fluid.

Fermiology of Cr and Mo

An interpretation of the two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) for paramagnetic chromium (Cr) and molybdenum (Mo) is presented. Rather than explaining the significant differences in the resulting k-space occupancies in terms of different Fermi surface (FS) topologies, the recovery of a FS topology for paramagnetic Cr in agreement with band theory (and similar to the Mo experiment) through the application of a recently introduced maximum-entropy-based filtering technique suggests an explanation related to positron wavefunction perturbations.

Positron lifetime studies of free volume hole size distribution in amorphous and in semi-crystalline polymers

Positron lifetime spectroscopy has been applied to estimate the free-volume hole size distribution in glassy polycarbonate (PC) and polystyrene (PS) as well as in plastically deformed and undeformed, semi-crystalline polyethylene (HDPE). The hole radius density distribution is determined from the ortho-positronium lifetime distribution which is obtained via a Laplace-inversion of the positron lifetime spectrum. The hole volume density distribution and the number density distribution of holes is estimated from the hole radius density distribution. In PC and in PS all of the distributions may be well approximated by a single Gaussian. The hole radius and the hole number density distributions have centres and at 0.29 nm and 0.1 nm3 in PC, and at 0.28 nm and 0.09 nm3 in PS. The FWHM of the corresponding distributions are 0.042 nm and 0.040 nm3 (PC), and 0.039 nm and 0.34 nm3 (PS), respectively. Both, the shape and the width of the distributions correlate well with the free volume theory of BUECHE. In PE the lifetime spectra consist of four components. The o-Ps lifetime distribution is bimodal and may be attributed to o-Ps annihilation in the crystalline and in the amorphous phase of the polymer. The corresponding hole size distributions show definite changes of their position and width following plastic deformation which we attribute to homogeneous crystal lattice dilatation and/or a local disorder in the crystals and to an increase in the eccentricity of holes in the amorphous phase.

De-noising of two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation data using daubechies wavelet thresholding

Two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) experiments provide a means of determining the electron - positron momentum density in metals and alloys over a wide range of temperatures. A difficult task regarding this method is the reconstruction of the three-dimensional density from a limited number of two-dimensional projections. Difficulties arise from noise superimposed on the data. This paper explains and demonstrates the use of a wavelet noise filter, and gives a comparison of wavelet and Fourier filters.

Phase behaviour near the triple point of carbon dioxide confined in mesoporous VYCOR glass

The phase behaviour of carbon dioxide confined in VYCOR glass at pressures below that of the bulk triple point (∼0.51 MPa) has been investigated. The temperature at which freezing occurs appears to be pressure dependent below 0.3 MPa. As experiments are performed at successively lower pressures, the confined phase transitions gradually disappear, due to either partial pore filling, or the proximity of the confined triple point.

Anomalous freezing and melting behaviour of capillary confined CO2

In this paper we present our recent positron annihilation study of the liquid»solid phase boundary for CO2 confined in nanometer pores of VYCOR glass. We find that CO2 remains liquid in the pores far below the bulk freezing temperature and there is pronounced hysteresis between freezing and melting compared to that seen at the gas-liquid boundary in the pores. On freezing we see evidence of open space created in the pores. This leads to complex melting behaviour possibly involving the formation of gas-liquid interfaces. We see that frezing in the pores is totally irreversible, so that any solid which forms (no matter how small) remains stable up to the higher melting temperature. In contrast melting is more reversible (possibly indicating nucleation centres which permit immediate re-freezing). Finally, the pre-frozen state in the pores is different to the post-melted state.

Fermi-surface reconstruction from two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) data using maximum-likelihood fitting of wavelet-like functions

A novel method for reconstructing the Fermi surface from experimental two-dimensional angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) projections is proposed. In this algorithm, the 3D electron momentum-density distribution is expanded in terms of a basis of wavelet-like functions. The parameters of the model, the wavelet coefficients, are determined by maximizing the likelihood function corresponding to the experimental data and the projections calculated from the model. In contrast to other expansions, in the case of that in terms of wavelets a relatively small number of model parameters are sufficient for representing the relevant parts of the 3D distribution, thus keeping computation times reasonably short. Unlike other reconstruction methods, this algorithm takes full account of the statistical information content of the data and therefore may help to reduce the amount of time needed for data acquisition. An additional advantage of wavelet expansion may be the possibility of retrieving the Fermi surface directly from the wavelet coefficients rather than indirectly using the reconstructed 3D distribution.