Browsing by Author "Rols, S"

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    Central-atom size effects on the methyl torsions of group XIV tetratolyls
    (Wiley-V C H Verlag GMBH, 2012-10-01) Ng, MCC; Harper, JB; Stampfl, APJ; Kearley, GJ; Rols, S; Stride, JA
    The Group XIV tetratolyl series X(C6H4-CH3)4 (X=C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) were studied by using inelastic neutron scattering to measure the low-energy phonon spectra to directly access the methyl-group torsional modes. The effect of increased molecular radius as a function of the size of the central atom was shown to have direct influence on the methyl dynamics, reinforced with the findings of molecular dynamics and contact surface calculations, based upon the solid-state structures. The torsional modes in the lightest analogue were found to be predominantly intramolecular: the Si and Ge analogues have a high degree of intermolecular methylmethyl group interactions, whilst the heaviest analogues (Sn and Pb) showed pronounced intermolecular methyl interactions with the whole phonon bath of the lattice modes. © 2012, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
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    Experimental observation and computational study of the spin-gap excitation in Ba3BiRu2O9
    (American Physical Society, 2016-11-01) Ling, CD; Huang, Z; Kennedy, BJ; Rols, S; Johnson, MR; Zbiri, M; Kimber, SAJ; Hudspeth, J; Adroja, DT; Rule, KC; Avdeev, M; Blanchard, PER
    Ba3BiRu2O9 is a 6H-type perovskite compound containing face-sharing octahedral M2O9 (M=Ir, Ru) dimers, which are magnetically frustrated at low temperatures. On cooling through T∗=176 K, it undergoes a pronounced magnetostructural transition, which is not accompanied by any change in space group symmetry, long-range magnetic ordering, or charge ordering. Here, we report the first direct evidence from inelastic neutron scattering that this transition is due to an opening of a gap in the excitation spectra of dimers of low-spin Ru4+ (S=1) ions. X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals a change in Ru-Ru orbital overlap at T∗, linking the emergence of this spin-gap excitation to the magnetostructural transition. Ab initio calculations point to a geometrically frustrated magnetic ground state due to antiferromagnetic interdimer exchange on a triangular Ru2O9 dimer lattice. X-ray total-scattering data rule out long-range magnetic ordering at low temperatures, consistent with this geometrically frustrated model. ©2016 American Physical Society
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    Local structure, dynamics, and the mechanisms of oxide ionic conduction in Bi26Mo10O69
    (American Chemical Society, 2012-12-11) Ling, CD; Miiller, W; Johnson, MR; Richard, D; Rols, S; Madge, J; Evans, IR
    We report the results of a computational and experimental study into the stabilized fluorite-type delta-Bi(2)O(3)-related phase Bi(26)Mo(10)O(69) aimed at clarifying the local and average structure, for which two distinct models have previously been proposed, and the oxide ionic diffusion mechanism, for which three distinct models have previously been proposed. Concerning the structure, we propose a new model in which some molybdenum atoms have higher coordination numbers than 4; that is, some MoO(5) trigonal bipyramids coexist with MoO(4) tetrahedra. This accounts for the additional oxygen required to achieve the nominal composition (a tetrahedrononly model gives Bi(26)Mo(10)O(68)) without invoking a previously proposed unbonded interstitial site, which we found to be energetically unfavorable. All these MoO(x) units are rotationally disordered above a first-order transition at 310 degrees C, corresponding to a first-order increase in conductivity. Concerning oxide ionic diffusion above that transition temperature, we found excellent agreement between the results of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and quasielastic neutron scattering experiments. Our results indicate a mechanism related to that proposed by Holmes et al. (Chem. Mater. 2008, 20, 3638), with the role previously assigned to partially occupied interstitial oxygen sites played instead by transient but stable MoO(5) trigonal bipyramids and with more relaxed requirements in terms of the orientation and timing of the diffusive jumps. © 2012, American Chemical Society.