Abstract: The crystal structure of α-K3AlF6 was solved and refined from a combination of powder X-ray and neutron diffraction data (a = 18.8385(3)Å, c = 33.9644(6)Å, S.G. I41/a, Z = 80, RP(X-ray) = 0.037, RP(neutron) = 0.053). The crystal structure is of the A2BB′X6 elpasolite type with the a = b ≈ ae√5, c = 4ae superstructure (ae, parameter of the elpasolite subcell) and rock-salt-type ordering of the K and Al cations over the B and B′ positions, respectively. The remarkable feature of α-K3AlF6 is a rotation of 2/5 of the AlF6 octahedra by π/4 around one of the crystal axes of the elpasolite subcell, coinciding with the 4-fold symmetry axes of the AlF6 octahedra. The rotation of the AlF6 octahedra replaces the corner-sharing between the K and Al polyhedra by edge-sharing, resulting in an increase of coordination numbers of the K cations at the B positions up to 7 and 8. Due to significant deformations of the K polyhedra, the corner-sharing connectivity of the octahedral elpasolite framework is broken and the rotations of the AlF6 octahedra do not have a cooperative character. Elpasolites and double perovskites with similar structural organization are discussed. The difference in ionic radii of the B and B′ cations as well as the tolerance factor are proposed to be the parameters governing the formation of elpasolites and double perovskites with broken corner-sharing connectivity of the octahedral framework.

Abstract: We investigate theoretically the charge and spin transport in quantum wires grown along different crystallographic planes in the presence of the Rashba spinorbit interaction (RSOI) and the Dresselhaus spinorbit interaction (DSOI). We find that changing the crystallographic planes leads to a variation of the anisotropy of the conductance due to a different interplay between the RSOI and DSOI, since the DSOI is induced by bulk inversion asymmetry, which is determined by crystallographic plane. This interplay depends sensitively on the crystallographic planes, and consequently leads to the anisotropic charge and spin transport in quantum wires embedded in different crystallographic planes.

Abstract: Cyclotron resonance (CR) of the electrons accumulated at sheets with heavy Si doping in InSb were observed using far infrared radiation. The angular dependence of the CR follows closely the 1/cos theta behaviour with some small deviations at high angles attributed to coupling between subbands. From the effective mass of the lowest subband, which is found to be 0.027m(o), the bottom of the lowest subband was determined to lie 125 meV below the Fermi level.

Abstract: Uniaxial straining experiments were performed on a rolled and annealed Si-alloyed TRIP (transformation-induced plasticity) steel sheet in order to assess the role of its microstructure on the mechanical stability of austenite grains with respect to martensitic transformation. The transformation behavior of individual metastable austenite grains was studied both at the surface and inside the bulk of the material using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) by deforming the samples to different strain levels up to about 20%. A comparison of the XRD and EBSD results revealed that the retained austenite grains at the surface have a stronger tendency to transform than the austenite grains in the bulk of the material. The deformation-induced changes of individual austenite grains before and after straining were monitored with EBSD. Three different types of austenite grains can be distinguished that have different transformation behaviors: austenite grains at the grain boundaries between ferrite grains, twinned austenite grains, and embedded austenite grains that are completely surrounded by a single ferrite grain. It was found that twinned austenite grains and the austenite grains present at the grain boundaries between larger ferrite grains typically transform first, i.e. are less stable, in contrast to austenite grains that are completely embedded in a larger ferrite grain. In the latter case, straining leads to rotations of the harder austenite grain within the softer ferrite matrix before the austenite transforms into martensite. The analysis suggests that austenite grain rotation behavior is also a significant factor contributing to enhancement of the ductility. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.