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Different hybrid structures were obtained by coating magnetic nanoparticles of perovskite type manganite at optimal doping (La0.67Sr0.33MnO3,LSMO) with different quantities of polypyrrole (PPy). The amorphous layer of polypyrrole surrounding the crystalline magnetic core was observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and analyzed by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements in near edge structure (XANES) techniques. By analyzing the magnetic behavior of the samples one can observe that the surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles by PPy results in an increase in the saturation magnetization of the composites. The process is ascribed to paired electrons transferred from the delocalized π states of the PPy into the outer disordered layers of the manganite. The analysis of pre-edge peak of the Mn K-edge XANES spectra in the case of PPy coated LSMO nanoparticles indicates that the charge transfer between polymer and nanoparticles is (directed) going to missing or distorted oxygen positions, hence increasing the 3d electrons' mobility and orbital hybridization between the neighboring manganese ion. As a consequence, within the surface layers of LSMO nanoparticles, both energy bands disrupted the structure, and the double exchange process between Mn ions was reestablished determining the saturation magnetizations and pre-edge features increase, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron states at the SiO2/4H–SiC interface have been investigated using capacitor structures and especially, the influence of excess nitrogen, introduced by ion implantation, at the interface is studied in detail. Implanted and nonimplanted n-type samples with an interfacial concentration of nitrogen of ∼1019 cm-3 and 1016 cm-3, respectively, were analyzed by capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements, performed at different temperatures and probe frequencies, and thermal dielectric relaxation current (TDRC) measurements performed in the temperature range of 35–295 K. Three main categories of electron states are disclosed, true interface states (Dit), fast near interface states (NIToxfast) and slow near interface states (NIToxslow). The density versus energy distributions of Dit and NIToxfast have been deduced from the TDRC data and they are shown to give a close quantitative agreement with the shape and frequency dependence of the C-V curves. Further, the amount of NIToxslow extracted from TDRC is demonstrated to be responsible for the parallel shifts and hysterezis effects occurring in the C-V characteristics. All three categories of electron states are reduced in concentration in the implanted samples. This holds particularly for NIToxfast with a peak at ∼0.1 eV below the conduction band edge of 4H–SiC that is suppressed by at least two orders of magnitude relative to the nonimplanted samples. The decrease for Dit is also substantial (a factor of ∼10) while the loss for NIToxslow is considerably smaller (only ∼30%). The results provide firm evidence that NIToxfast and NIToxslow do not originate from the same kind of defect center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles of cobalt and nickel embedded in A1N matrix have been prepared by ion implantation or sputter deposition with average diameters ranging from 0.8 to 9 nm. The average magnetic moment per atom versus the average cluster diameter was measured either by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and/or by SQUID magnetometry. The resulting values are always smaller than the bulk ones. An interpretation is given in terms of an interaction between the atoms located at the cluster surface and the A1N matrix, leading to a magnetically dead layer about 0.1 nm thick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]