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LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a next-generation dark matter direct detection experiment that will operate 4850 feet underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, USA. Using a two-phase xenon detector with an active mass of 7 tonnes, LZ will search primarily for low-energy interactions with weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are hypothesized to make up the dark matter in our galactic halo. In this paper, the projected WIMP sensitivity of LZ is presented based on the latest background estimates and simulations of the detector. For a 1000 live day run using a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, LZ is projected to exclude at 90% confidence level spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections above 1.4 × 10 −48 cm 2 for a 40 GeV=c 2 mass WIMP. Additionally, a 5σ discovery potential is projected, reaching cross sections below the exclusion limits of recent experiments. For spin-dependent WIMP-neutron(-proton) scattering, a sensitivity of 2.3 × 10 −43 cm 2 (7.1 × 10 −42 cm 2) for a 40 GeV=c 2 mass WIMP is expected. With underground installation well underway, LZ is on track for commissioning at SURF in 2020.

Simulations of electron diffraction patterns for each of the known perovskite tilt systems have been performed. The conditions for the appearance of superlattice reflections arising from rotations of the octahedra are modified to take into account the effects of different tilt systems for kinematical diffraction. The use of selected-area electron diffraction as a tool for perovskite structure determination is reviewed and examples are included.

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(1−x) Bi(Mg 1/2 Ti 1/2 ) O 3 –x PbTiO 3 polycrystalline ceramics were investigated for potential as high-temperature piezoelectric materials. A morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between tetragonal (T) and rhombohedral (R) ferroelectric (FE) phases, which exhibited enhanced piezoelectric activity and a ferroelectric–paraelectric phase transition at 478 °C was observed at x≈0.37. Electron diffraction patterns (x⩽0.37) contained discrete superlattice reflections at 12{hkl} positions arising from antiphase rotations of the O octahedra, consistent with R3c space group symmetry. These reflections were diffuse at the MPB (x=0.38) and absent in the T phase (x=0.5). In the unpoled state, FE R (x=0.35) ceramics revealed a polar microdomain structure whereas the T phase (x=0.5) contained classic {110} twin domain boundaries. However, poled R samples underwent a field-induced transformation to an aligned domain structure with {110} twin boundaries similar to those in the T phase. Correlations are made between structure and properties for these piezoelectric materials.