[en] The first sub-arcsec collimation of a monochromatic neutron beam, attained with an optimised Bragg prism monochromator-analyser pair, has enabled the recording of the first neutron diffraction pattern from a macroscopic grating with a 200 micrometre period. (author)

[en] An in-depth study into the spin dependent transport properties of nanostructures based on ferromagnetic manganites in the form of magnetic tunnel junctions, granular metal-insulator composites, thin films and multilayers have been carried out. In essence, the thesis addresses several issues relating to spin dependent transport in magnetic nanostructures based on manganites. (author)

[en] The DAE-BRNS solid state physics symposium was held during 16-20 December 2008. The topics include phase transitions, soft condensed matter (including biological systems), nano materials, experimental techniques, instrumentation and solid state devices, superconductivity, magnetism, electronic structure and phonons, semiconductor physics, transport properties, surface - interface and thin films, liquids, glasses and amorphous systems, etc. Thus it would be appropriate to say that these proceedings fairly accurately reflect an update on the research activities in solid-state physics being pursued in universities and national laboratories in India. The papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

[en] The pressure induced structural phase transition of zirconia has been investigated using an effective interionic interaction potential. The present potential has been found to reproduce well the experimentally observed phase (monoclinic to fluorite) transition pressure, associated volume collapse and elastic constants of ZrO₂. We have also reported the elastic properties of ZrO₂ in both the phases. (author)

[en] The present paper reports the design of an APPLE-II type undulator with a period of 60mm and length ∼4.1m that can provide intense synchrotron (∼ 1015 ph/s/mm2/0.1%BW) light of different polarizations viz., from linear horizontal to vertical through circular, in the desired energy range from 10 to 4000eV needed for Photo emission electron Microscopy (PEEM)/ Angle Resolved Photo Electron Spectroscopy (ARPES) beamline on Indus-2 Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS). Modeling and magnetic field calculations have been carried out using code RADIA. (author)

[en] We study the effect of ab-plane mass anisotropy on the properties of d-wave superconductors. We model the d-wave superconductors in terms of two-order parameter (s- and d-wave) Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory with in plane mass anisotropy. We compare our theoretical results with experiments on YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 which shows a large anisotropy between the a and b axes of the CuO₂ planes. (author)

[en] This work explores the regime of initial ballistic acceleration of a supercurrent when a voltage is first applied across a superconductor. The superconducting samples used in this study are niobium films patterned into long narrow meanders. Fast time-correlated pulsed electrical measurements are used to obtain the time evolutions of the current I(t) and voltage V(t). The temperature dependence of the measured inductive response and its quantitative breakdown into the kinetic-inductance and geometrical-inductance components will be shown to be in accord with theory. (author)

[en] We have developed a highly versatile low cost magnetometer that can be attached to the popular cryogen-free helium refrigerator systems for low temperature and high magnetic field measurements. The method of slow extraction of magnetized specimen and precise integration of voltages induced in the pickup coil assembly gives the magnetization. The drawing details of the various parts like extraction unit, pickup coil assembly, high quality integrator circuit and timing circuit will be presented and we shall demonstrate a bench top unit at the conference site. (author)

[en] We examine the crossover scenario from a condensate of overlapping Cooper pairs (BCS superconductor) to a Bose phase consisting of tightly bound local pairs via solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation numerically on a two dimensional attractive Hubbard model. To support the claim for the crossover phenomena, the chemical potential μ, is calculated as a function of interparticle attraction strength U at T = 0 and finite temperatures. It may be noted that μ slipping below the band minimum bears the signature of a crossover. Further, the variation of μ as a function of U for different values of electronic densities n, provides useful insight into the density dependence of crossover. (author)

[en] Ab-initio calculations are performed to understand the spin-state transition as well as the appearance of ferromagnetism in thin films of LaCoO₃. Unlike the case of the bulk parent compound, the strain induced tetragonal distortion is found to be responsible for the stabilization of the intermediate spin state. (author)