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This paper reports lattice dynamical measurements of Cu 1.8 Se superionic conductor in the superionic α-phase at ambient temperature. Measurements of phonon dispersion curves were performed with the new triple-axis spectrometer, TAIPAN, at the OPAL reactor. We found that TA [100], TA [111] and TA 1 [110] phonon branches demonstrate a decrease in frequency at wavevectors q > 0.5 rather than the flattening observed previously. Results are compared with calculated density functional theoretical calculations showing the presence of unstable soft mode related to ordering of Cu atoms observed in Cu 1.8 Se at room temperature followed by α–β phase transition at a lower temperature. Superstructure arising from the ordering causes effects similar to the folding of the Brillouin zone, although phonon intensities at new Brillouin zone centres are weak. The coupling of low-energy phonon modes with displacement of mobile ions can explain the strong damping of phonons at q > 0.5 observed in the experiment.

Recent experiments have indicated that the high-temperature properties of α-uranium may be strongly influenced by the formation of randomly distributed intrinsically localized vibrational modes, just a few atoms across in size. One observation was a loss of mechanical ductility that coincided with the formation of the intrinsically localized mode (ILM). Here, we consider this observation in more detail. In particular, we use the anisotropic thermal expansion behaviour to estimate the strains associated with each ILM and consider the implications for the forces between ILMs and the defects responsible for mechanical deformation. In the process we also suggest that an unusual transition from positive to negative thermal expansion along the [0 1 0] direction may be caused by the formation of ILMs.

Polarized and unpolarized triple-axis neutron measurements were performed on an underdoped crystal of YBa2Cu3O7-x (x = 0.4 +/- 0.02, T-c = 62.7 K). Our results indicate, contrary to earlier evidence, that the spin excitations in the superconducting state are essentially the same as those in the fully doped material except that the unusual 41 meV resonance is observed at 34.8 meV. The normal state spin excitations are characterized by a weakly energy-dependent continuum whose temperature dependence shows the clear signature of a superconducting gap at T-c. The enhancement at the resonance is accompanied by a suppression of magnetic fluctuations at both higher and lower energies.

Vanadium sesquioxide (V{sub 2}O{sub 3}) undergoes a number of phase transitions as a function of temperature and doping. These phase transformations have been studied extensively using numerous experimental techniques. In this article, the author attempts to briefly review the experimental data on the pure and doped V{sub 2}O{sub 3} system.

Magnetite (Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$) is a mixed valent system where electronic conductivity occurs on the B-site (octahedral) iron sublattice of the spinel structure. Below $T_{V}=122$ K, a metal-insulator transition occurs which is argued to arise from the charge ordering of 2+ and 3+ iron valences on the B-sites (Verwey transition). Inelastic neutron scattering measurements show that optical spin waves propagating on the B-site sublattice ($\sim$80 meV) are shifted upwards in energy above $T_{V}$ due to the occurrence of B-B ferromagnetic double exchange in the mixed valent metallic phase. The double exchange interaction affects only spin waves of $\Delta_{5}$ symmetry, not all modes, indicating that valence fluctuations are slow and the double exchange is constrained by electron correlations above $T_{V}$., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures

Inelastic neutron scattering results on magnetite (Fe3O4) show a large splitting in the acoustic spin wave branch, producing a 7 meV gap midway to the Brillouin zone boundary at q = (0,0,1/2) and E = 43 meV. The splitting occurs below the Verwey transition temperature, where a metal-insulator transition occurs simultaneously with a structural transformation, supposedly caused by the charge ordering on the iron sublattice. The wavevector (0,0,1/2) corresponds to the superlattice peak in the low symmetry structure. The dependence of the magnetic superexchange on changes in the crystal structure and ionic configurations that occur below the Verwey transition affect the spin wave dispersion. To better understand the origin of the observed splitting, we have constructed a series of Heisenberg models intended to reproduce the pairwise variation of the magnetic superexchange arising from both small crystalline distortions and charge ordering. We find that none of the models studied predicts the observed splitting, whose origin may arise from charge-density wave formation or magnetoelastic coupling., Comment: 62 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B

The peak effect in critical current density ${J}_{c}$ is investigated by studying the flux dynamics in ${\mathrm{V}}_{3}\mathrm{Si}$ using bulk magnetometry, small-angle neutron scattering, and transport measurements on clean single-crystal samples from the same ingot. For a field-cooled history, well-defined structure in the vortex lattice was found for fields and temperatures (H,T) below the peak-effect line ${H}_{P}(T);$ above this line, the structure disappeared. History-dependent, metastable disorder is found only for (H,T) below ${H}_{P}(T)$ but the vortex system is reproducibly re-ordered either by field cooling or a low-frequency, pulsed ``shaking'' transport current. The latter is shown to attain Bardeen-Stephen flux flow. In addition, flux flow is observed at ${H}_{P}(T)$ at high current levels. The results support the traditional picture of ${H}_{P}(T)$ as an order-disorder transition due to the competition between elasticity and pinning.

The possibility of magnetic-order induced phonon anisotropy in single crystals of MnO and NiO is investigated using inelastic neutron scattering. Below Tn both compounds exhibit a splitting in their transverse optical phonon spectra of approximately 10%. This behavior illustrates that, contrary to general assumption, the dynamic properties of MnO and NiO are substantially non-cubic., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

The thermal triple-axis spectrometer TAIPAN is the first instrument for inelastic neutron scattering at the new Australian research reactor OPAL. TAIPAN started operation in February 2009 and is in full user service since November 2010. Conceptually, it is similar to the triple-axis spectrometers IN8 (ILL) and PANDA (FRM-II) with variable incident and final energies and a secondary spectrometer with a single detector. The instrument can be operated either in a high flux mode with a double-focusing monochromator and analyser, or with Soller collimators - gaining resolution at the expense of intensity. Presently the PG (002) double-focusing monochromator and analyser are in use. The incident energy range on the TAIPAN TAS is from ~5 meV up to ~100 meV with neutron flux at sample position of 2.4≤107 n/cm2/s at incident energy of 14.8 meV. First experiments were performed with superionic conductor Cu2−δSe. The measurements reveal the presence of a soft mode related to ordering of Cu atoms followed by α - β phase transition at a lower temperature. The evolution of the magnetic structure with temperature in a magnetically modulated FePt3 thin film was investigated in the diffraction mode of TAIPAN. The results show that the film fabricated by modulation of the chemical order parameter consists of a magnetic FM/AFM superlattice in single-crystalline FePt3. The spin wave and phonon dispersion was recently investigated in TbVO3 single crystal. The acoustic and optical magnon branches were observed in the same energy range. This indicates that the 'orbital Peiers state' also exists in TbVO3.

Since its beginnings in Oak Ridge and Argonne in the late 1940's, neutron scattering has been established as the premier tool to study matter in its various states. Since the thermal neutron wavelength is of the same order of magnitude as typical atomic spacings and because they have comparable energies to those of atomic excitations in solids, both structure and dynamics of matter can be studied via neutron scattering. The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) provides an intense source of neutrons with which to carry out these measurements. This paper summarizes the available neutron scattering facilities at the HFIR.

We present magnetoresistance and Hall-effect measurements on single-crystal magnetite (Fe3O4) close to the Verwey transition TV=123.8K. We show that the formation of grain boundaries accompanying the reduction in crystal symmetry plays a significant role in the electron-scattering mechanism, and that grain boundaries can account for the apparent change in sign of the charge carriers below TV.