Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-122).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-168).

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

In this thesis, we have performed systematical study of anomalous electric and magnetic behaviors of the 3d transition metal oxides; colossal magnetoresistance (La1−xRxMnO3 where R is a divalent alkaline earth ion) and Multiferroic (Ho1-xLaxMn2O5) systems by X-ray and Neutron scattering techniques. In our study, the enhancement of the transfer temperature for La0.8Ba0.2MnO3 under strain effect from the SrTiO3 substrate could be possible due to two reasons which one is Sr diffusion from SrTiO3 substructure, and other one is the octahedral MnO6 high symmetry are increasing. We focus the intrinsic strain effect on La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 and La0.8Ba0.2MnO3 films, and findings show that due to the different ionic sizes of doped Ca or Ba ions, the strain effect acts differently in the way it deforms. The interfacial strain effect produces opposite influences on the lattice symmetry, the average Mn¡VO bond lengths, the average oxygen disorders, the coupling symmetries inside and in the vicinity of the MnO6 octahedrons, as well as producing an opposing trend in metal-insulator and magnetic transition temperatures of the strained La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 and La0.8Ba0.2MnO3 films. The strain effects on the electronic structures of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 and La0.8Ba0.2MnO3 thin films have been studied by O K-edge x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. For La0.67Ca0.33MnO3, the first-principles calculations reveal that the features in the XANES spectra are associated with hybridized states between O 2p and Mn minority-spin 3d t2g and eg, La 5d/Ca 3d, and Mn 4s/Ca 4p states. An analysis of these features shows that the tensile strain decreases substantially La¡VO and Ca¡VO hybridization and TC for La0.67Ca0.33MnO3. For La0.8Ba0.2MnO3, the small compressive strain enhances slightly La¡VO and Ba¡VO hybridization and TC. In this thesis, the influence of the local structure distortion on the magnetic transition in La doped HoMn2O5 Multiferroics has been investigated systematically. The orthorhombic crystal structure of Ho1−xLaxMn2O5 is maintained up to x¡Ø0.2 but decomposed into multiphase for x¡Ù0.25. By doping La ions to a concentration of 0.1¡Øx¡Ø0.2, the formation of the RMnO3 1(13) phase can be suppressed and single-phase Ho1−xLaxMn2O5 (0.1¡Øx¡Ø0.2) compounds can be formed under 1 atm flowing oxygen. For x=0.2, a ferromagnetic FM transition at 150 K is superimposed on the paramagnetic background, which implies that the compound undergoes a ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition. This unique FM to AFM transition is observed for the first time. The FM transition is attributed to the formation of magnetic clusters in a host paramagnetic matrix. The anomalous magnetic clusters phenomena observed in Ho0.8La0.2Mn2O5 can be directly attributed to the different properties between Ho and La ions, and the differences of Ho and La ions are not only in the ionic radius but also in the electron negativity. During 90~150K, X-ray scattering diffraction presented the new addition peaks indicates the new electric density distribution, and the Neutron powder scattering diffraction (NPD) refining results show that the local structure of R-O (R: La, Ho) is un-symmetry which is conflict to the La Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) (which shows that the local structure of La-O becomes more symmetry than H-O. Since the refining values of the NPD are an average of entire crystal, such that it cannot tell the local changes. X-ray absorption spectrum (XAS) and EXAFS, in contrarily, can provide the local information. They implies that the temperature evolutions of the coupling strength with O 2p or unoccupied density state are opposite for the Ho and La ions in our Ho0.8La0.2Mn2O5 sample. Therefore, local change of ions position and charge redistribution happens in this specific temperature range.

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [153]-167).

Summary Serpentinites from the northern Vermont were examined for the distribution and abundance of As. XRD and electron microprobe showed the samples are composed of antigorite, chromite, magnetite, and carbonate minerals (magnesite, dolomite, calcite). The concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in H3PO4 was 10% of the concentration in As when the samples were dissolved in concentrated HF/HNO3, suggesting that As is mainly incorporated in the structure of antigorite. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra showed that the As is As(III) in the samples. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectra suggested that the As has a tetrahedral coordination and is located in the Si-site in serpentine.

We have performed fluorescence extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements on the Cd K-edge of partial electrolyte (PE) treated Cu(In[subscript 0.7]Ga[subscript 0.3])Se��� (CIGS) thin film samples using synchrotron X-ray radiation. This data was compared to the EXAFS spectra of CdSe and CdO standards. Cd local structure models were constructed and used for the least square analysis of the spectra. The first model employed implantation of a cadmium atom and a single oxygen atom into the CIGS lattice. Specifically, an oxygen atom was introduced in the tetrahedral bonded Cd-Se local structure. Employing FEFF8 with WinXAS software package, experimental data was theoretically fitted to the first shell single-scattering paths of the Cd atom in the (PE) treated Cu(In[subscript 0.7]Ga[subscript 0.3])Se��� thin film samples. The main peak observed in the data represents the Cd-Se bonds and the shoulder corresponds to the Cd-O bond. However, the number of total nearest neighbors is not consistent with this model. A two-phase model that includes both Cd-Se tetrahedron and Cd-O octahedron were then reconstructed. Again, a least-agrees very well with the experimental data, and the total first nearest neighbor number is consistent with the two phase model at NN=4.2. This study indicates the surface of Cd partial electrolyte treated Cu(In[subscript 0.7]Ga[subscript 0.3])Se��� thin films contains both CdSe and CdO. / Graduation date: 2004

La diffraction des neutrons avec substitution isotopique du fer combinée avec des simulations structurales (Empirical Potential Structure Refinement, EPSR) a permis de sonder les sites de Fe2+ et de Fe3+ dans un verre NaFeSi2O6 oxydé. Cette étude met en évidence la présence de deux sites pour Fe3+. 70% du Fe3+ est en site tétraédrique (dFe3+-O=1.866±0.001 Å), le reste de Fe3+ et tout Fe2+ (~12% de Fetot) est en coordinence 5. Fe3+ en coordinence 4 jouerait un rôle de formateur de réseau, alors que le fer en coordinence 5 a tendance à ségréger et jouerait le rôle de modificateur. La présence de cette espèce, bien que minoritaire, permettrait d'expliquer les variations de certaines propriétés physiques des verres contenant du fer. Le remplacement progressif de Fe par Al a été étudié le long du joint NaFeSi2O6- NaAlSi2O6 en utilisant la diffraction des neutrons combinée avec des simulations EPSR. Quelle que soit la teneur en fer (et en aluminium), les rôles structuraux de Fe, Al3+ et Si4+ ne sont pas modifiés. Quelle que soit la teneur en aluminium, Al (en coordinence 4) est réparti de façon aléatoire dans le réseau, ce qui est en accord avec un rôle de formateur. Il en est de même pour le fer : les deux populations mises en évidence dans le pôle NaFeSi2O6 ainsi que les rôles structuraux qu'on leur a assignés sont conservés jusqu'au pôle NaAlSi2O6. Pour la première fois, la spectroscopie d'absorption des rayons X (XANES) aux seuils L2,3 de l'aluminium a été utilisée pour suivre l'évolution de l'environnement de l'aluminium dans ces verres. Enfin, la spectroscopie Mössbauer a permis de déterminer le rapport redox du fer le long du joint.