Light atom quantum oscillations in UC and US
Abstract
High-energy vibrational scattering in the binary systems UC and US is measured using time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. A clear set of well-defined peaks equally separated in energy is observed in UC, corresponding to harmonic oscillations of the light C atoms in a cage of heavy U atoms. The scattering is much weaker in US and only a few oscillator peaks are visible. We show how the difference between the materials can be understood by considering the neutron scattering lengths and masses of the lighter atoms. Monte Carlo ray tracing is used to simulate the scattering, with near quantitative agreement with the data in UC, and some differences with US. The possibility of observing anharmonicity and anisotropy in the potentials of the light atoms is investigated in UC. Overall, the observed data is well accounted for by considering each light atom as a single atom isotropic quantum harmonic oscillator.
Additional Information
© 2016 American Physical Society. Received 6 August 2015; revised manuscript received 18 December 2015; published 19 January 2016. We are grateful to P. De V. Duplessis for growth of the excellent sample. This research was supported by the Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy. A.A.A., G.E.G., D.L.A., M.B.S. and S.E.N. were fully supported and J.Y.Y.L was partially supported by the Scientific User Facilities Division. G.D.S. and G.M.S. were fully supported by the Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. Neutron scattering experiments were performed at the Spallation Neutron Source, which is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division. Y.Y. was supported by Office of Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (Grant No. DE-FG02-08ER46528), Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy.Attached Files
Published - PhysRevB.93.014306.pdf
Submitted - 1508.00930v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 64421
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20160211-111249950
- DE-FG02-08ER46528
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- Created
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2016-02-19Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field