Topological materials provide an exclusive platform to study the dynamics of relativistic particles in table-top experiments and offer the possibility of wide-scale technological applications. ZrSiS is a newly discovered topological nodal-line semimetal and has drawn enormous interests. In this report, we have investigated the lattice dynamics and electron-phonon interaction in single crystalline ZrSiS using Raman spectroscopy. Polarization and angle resolved measurements have been performed and the results have been analyzed using crystal symmetries and theoretically calculated atomic vibrational patterns along with phonon dispersion spectra. Wavelength and temperature dependent measurements show the complex interplay of electron and phonon degrees of freedom, resulting in resonant phonon and quasielastic electron scatterings through inter-band transitions. Our highpressure Raman studies reveal vibrational anomalies, which were further investigated from the high-pressure synchrotron x-ray diffraction (HPXRD) spectra. From HPXRD, we have clearly identified pressure-induced structural transitions and coexistence of multiple phases, which also indicate possible electronic topological transitions in ZrSiS. The present study not only provides the fundamental information on the phonon subsystem, but also sheds some light in understanding the topological nodal-line phase in ZrSiS and other iso-structural systems.

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Rationale:Carbonate clumped isotope analysis involves the reaction of carbonate minerals with phosphoric acid to release CO 2 for measurement in a gas-source isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Although the clumped isotope proxy is based on the temperature dependence of 13 C-18 O bonding preference in the mineral lattice, which is captured in the product CO 2 , there is limited information on the phosphoric acid reaction mechanism and the magnitude of clumped isotopic fractionation (mass 63 in CO 3 2− to mass 47 in CO 2 ) during the acid digestion. Methods:We studied the reaction mechanism for the phosphoric acid digestion of calcite using first-principles density functional theory. We identified the transition state structures for each reaction involving different isotopologues and used the corresponding vibrational frequencies in reduced partition function theory to estimate the Δ 47 acid fractionation. Experimental Δ 47 data were acquired by processing the sample CO 2 gas through the dual-inlet peripheral of a ThermoFinnigan MAT253 isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Results:We showed that the acid digestion reaction, which results in the formation of CO 2 enriched with 13 C-18 O bonds, began with the protonation of calcium carbonate in the presence of water. Our simulations yielded a relationship between the Δ 47 acid fractionation and reaction temperature as Δ 47 = −0.30175 + 0.57700 × (10 5 /T 2 ) -0.10791 × (10 5 /T 2 ) 2 , with T varying between 298.15 and 383.15 K. Conclusions:We propose a reaction mechanism that shows a higher slope (Δ 47 acid fractionation vs. 1/T 2 curve) for the phosphoric acid digestion of calcite than in previous studies. The theoretical estimates from the present and earlier studies encapsulate experimental observations from both "sealed vessel" and "common acid bath" acid digestion methods.

Motivated by the recent experimental reports, we explore the formation of Rayleigh-like instability in metallic nanowires during the solid state annealing, a concept originally introduced for liquid columns. Our molecular dynamics study using realistic interatomic potential reveals instability induced pattern formation at temperatures even below the melting temperature of the wire, in accordance with the experimental observations. We find that this is driven by the surface diffusion, which causes plastic slips in the system initiating necking in the nanowire. We further find the surface dominated mass-transport is of subdiffusive nature with time exponent less than unity. Our study provides an atomistic perspective of the instability formation in nanostructured solid phase.

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