2007, Kasinathan, Deepa, Koepernik, K., Pickett, W.E.

The zero temperature Mott transition region in antiferromagnetic, spin S = 5/2 MnO is probed using the correlated band theory LSDA + U method. The first transition encountered is an insulator-insulator volume collapse within the rocksalt structure that is characterized by an unexpected Hund's rule violating 'spin-flip' moment collapse. This spin-flip to S = 1/2 takes fullest advantage of the anisotropy of the Coulomb repulsion, allowing gain in the kinetic energy (which increases with decreasing volume) while retaining a sizable amount of the magnetic exchange energy. While transition pressures vary with the interaction strength, the spin-flip state is robust over a range of interaction strengths and for both B1 and B8 structures.

2007, Luna, E., Trampert, A., Pavelescu, E.-M., Pessa, M.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to determine the composition of quaternary (Ga,In)(N,As) quantum wells (QWs). Through a combined analysis of the chemically sensitive (002) dark-field (DF) images and the lattice-resolving high-resolution TEM images, the local distributions of nitrogen and indium in the growth direction are determined. In particular, we are able to directly detect the existence of indium segregation in (Ga,In)(N,As) QWs. A comparison with the indium distribution profile in the nitrogen-free (In,Ga)As QWs, grown under similar conditions, revealed that incorporating N into the alloy enhanced indium segregation.