In recent years, several papers reported an enhanced dielectric anisotropy when ferroelectric particles were suspended in a liquid crystal. These results seem to be sensitive to the liquid crystal used and the preparation method of the ferroelectric particles. In this paper, we compare different preparation methods of suspended barium titanate in two different liquid crystal hosts. As a control...

We compare predictions of the mean-field theory of superconductivity for metallic systems on the border of a density instability for cubic and tetragonal lattices. The calculations are based on the parameterisation of an effective interaction arising from the exchange of density fluctuations and assume that a single band is relevant for superconductivity. The results show that for comparable mo...

Alumina/zirconia (Al2O3/ZrO2) multilayer thin films were deposited on Si (100) substrates at an optimized oxygen partial pressure of 3 Pa at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition. The Al2O3/ZrO2 multilayers of 10:10, 5:10, 5:5, and 4:4 nm with 40 bilayers were deposited alternately in order to stabilize a high-temperature phase of zirconia at room temperature. All these films were charact...

Lithium nitride hydride, Li₄NH, was synthesised from lithium nitride and lithium hydride over minute timescales, using microwave synthesis methods in the solid state for the first time. The structure of the microwave-synthesised powders was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction [tetragonal space group I4₁/a; a = 4.8864(1) Å, c = 9.9183(2) Å] and the nitride hydride reacts with moist air under a...

An orthorhombic actin crystal (space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), unit-cell parameters a = 101.6, b = 103.0, c = 127.0 angstroms) was converted into a partially hemihedrally twinned tetragonal crystal (space group P4(3), unit-cell parameters a = b = 101.5, c = 104.2 angstroms) by induced condensation. This condensation (decrease in the c axis) was caused by the flash-freezing of the crystal, with 30% P...