High orbital-moment Cooper pairs by crystalline symmetry breaking

The pairing structure of superconducting materials is regulated by the point group symmetries of the crystal. Here, we study spin-singlet multiorbital superconductivity in materials with unusually low crystalline symmetry content and unveil the the appearance of even-parity (s-wave) Cooper pairs with high orbital moment. We show that the lack of mirror and rotation symmetries makes pairing states with quintet orbital angular momentum symmetry-allowed. A remarkable fingerprint of this type of pairing state is provided by a nontrivial superconducting phase texture in momentum space with $\pi$-shifted domains and walls with anomalous phase winding. The pattern of the quintet pairing texture is shown to depend on the orientation of the orbital polarization and the strength of the mirror and/or rotation symmetry breaking terms. Such momentum dependent phase makes Cooper pairs with net orbital component suited to design orbitronic Josephson effects. We discuss how an intrinsic orbital dependent phase can set out anomalous Josephson couplings by employing superconducting leads with nonequivalent breaking of crystalline symmetry.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Polar Smectic Films

We report on a new experimental procedure for forming and studying polar smectic liquid crystal films. A free standing smectic film is put in contact with a liquid drop, so that the film has one liquid crystal/liquid interface and one liquid crystal/air interface. This polar environment results in changes in the textures observed in the film, including a boojum texture and a previously unobserved spiral texture in which the winding direction of the spiral reverses at a finite radius from its center. Some aspects of these textures are explained by the presence of a Ksb term in the bulk elastic free energy density that favors a combination of splay and bend deformations.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX, 3 figures, submitted to PR

Global Precedence In Visual Search? Not So Fast: Evidence Instead For An Oblique Effect

The evidence from an earlier report of global precedence in visual search is reexamined, Two new experiments are reported. The results of the first experiment indicate that the confusability of oblique orientations (a class-2 oblique effect) rather than global precedence was responsible for the earlier results. The results of the second experiment show that the effect critically depends on the presence of heterogeneous distracters rather than on differences in raw processing speed for different spatial scales. The possible role of symmetry is discussed

Phase boundary anisotropy and its effects on the maze-to-lamellar transition in a directionally solidified Al-Al2Cu eutectic

Solid-solid phase boundary anisotropy is a key factor controlling the selection and evolution of non-faceted eutectic patterns during directional solidification. This is most remarkably observed during the so-called maze-to-lamellar transition. By using serial sectioning, we followed the spatio-temporal evolution of a maze pattern over long times in a large Al-Al2Cu eutectic grain with known crystal orientation of the Al and Al2Cu phases, hence known crystal orientation relationship (OR). The corresponding phase boundary energy anisotropy ($\gamma$-plot) was also known, as being previously estimated from molecular-dynamics computations. The experimental observations reveal the time-scale of the maze-to-lamellar transition and shed light on the processes involved in the gradual alignment of the phase boundaries to one distinct energy minimum which nearly corresponds to one distinct plane from the family $\{120\}^{\rm{Al}} //\{110\}^{\rm{Al2Cu}}$. This particular plane is selected due to a crystallographic bias induced by a small disorientation of the crystals relative to the perfect OR. The symmetry of the OR is thus slightly broken, which promotes lamellar alignment. Finally, the maze-to-lamellar transition leaves behind a network of fault lines inherited from the phase boundary alignment process. In the maze pattern, the fault lines align along the corners of the Wulff shape, thus allowing us to propose a link between the pattern defects and missing orientations in the Wulff shapeComment: 26 pages, 6 figure

Chemical order and crystallographic texture of FePd:Cu thin alloy films

FePd thin films have been recently considered as promising material for high-density magnetic storage devices. However, it is necessary to find a proper method of fabrication for the (001)-textured and chemically well-ordered alloy. In this paper, we present the detailed investigations of lattice parameters, chemical order degree, grain sizes and crystallographic texture, carried out on FePd alloys with 10 at.% of Cu addition. The initial [Cu(0.2 nm)/Fe(0.9 nm)/Pd(1.1 nm)]x5 multilayers were thermally evaporated in an ultra-high vacuum on MgO(100), Si(100), Si(111) and Si(100) covered by 100 nm thick layer of amorphous SiO2. In order to obtain homogeneous FePd:Cu alloy, the multilayers were annealed in two different ways. First, the samples were rapidly annealed in nitrogen atmosphere at 600oC for 90 seconds. Next, the long annealing in a high vacuum for 1 hour at 700oC was done. This paper focuses on quantitative investigations of the chemical order degree and crystallographic texture of ternary FePd:Cu alloys deposited on four different substrates. In order to obtain both quantities we have taken a novel approach to consider the problem of dopant atoms located in the FePd structure. The studies of the structure were done using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) performed with synchrotron radiation and pole figures measurements. We have found that the addition of Cu changes the FePd lattice parameters and lattice distortion. We have also shown, that using different substrates it is possible to obtain a FePd:Cu alloy with different chemical order and texture. Moreover, it was observed that texture category is substrate dependent

Traditional and new principles of perceptual grouping

Perceptual grouping refers to the process of determining which regions and parts of the visual scene belong together as parts of higher order perceptual units such as objects or patterns. In the early 20th century, Gestalt psychologists identified a set of classic grouping principles which specified how some image features lead to grouping between elements given that all other factors were held constant. Modern vision scientists have expanded this list to cover a wide range of image features but have also expanded the importance of learning and other non-image factors. Unlike early Gestalt accounts which were based largely on visual demonstrations, modern theories are often explicitly quantitative and involve detailed models of how various image features modulate grouping. Work has also been done to understand the rules by which different grouping principles integrate to form a final percept. This chapter gives an overview of the classic principles, modern developments in understanding them, and new principles and the evidence for them. There is also discussion of some of the larger theoretical issues about grouping such as at what stage of visual processing it occurs and what types of neural mechanisms may implement grouping principles

Synthesizing Skyrmion Molecules in Fe-Gd Thin Films

We show that properly engineered amorphous Fe-Gd alloy thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy exhibit room-temperature skyrmion molecules, or a pair of like-polarity, opposite-helicity skyrmions. Magnetic mirror symmetry planes present in the stripe phase, instead of chiral exchange, determine the internal skyrmion structure and the net achirality of the skyrmion phase. Our study shows that stripe domain engineering in amorphous alloy thin films may enable the creation of skyrmion phases with technologically desirable properties.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter