5,741 research outputs found
Finite size and intrinsic field effect on the polar-active properties of the ferroelectric-semiconductor heterostructures
Using Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire approach we calculated the equilibrium
distributions of electric field, polarization and space charge in the
ferroelectric-semiconductor heterostructures containing proper or incipient
ferroelectric thin films. The role of the polarization gradient and intrinsic
surface energy, interface dipoles and free charges on polarization dynamics are
specifically explored. The intrinsic field effects, which originated at the
ferroelectric-semiconductor interface, lead to the surface band bending and
result into the formation of depletion space-charge layer near the
semiconductor surface. During the local polarization reversal (caused by the
inhomogeneous electric field induced by the nanosized tip of the Scanning Probe
Microscope (SPM) probe) the thickness and charge of the interface layer
drastically changes, it particular the sign of the screening carriers is
determined by the polarization direction. Obtained analytical solutions could
be extended to analyze polarization-mediated electronic transport.Comment: 35 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, 2 appendices, to be submitted to Phys.
Rev.
Bayesian inference of biochemical kinetic parameters using the linear noise approximation
Background
Fluorescent and luminescent gene reporters allow us to dynamically quantify changes in molecular species concentration over time on the single cell level. The mathematical modeling of their interaction through multivariate dynamical models requires the deveopment of effective statistical methods to calibrate such models against available data. Given the prevalence of stochasticity and noise in biochemical systems inference for stochastic models is of special interest. In this paper we present a simple and computationally efficient algorithm for the estimation of biochemical kinetic parameters from gene reporter data.
Results
We use the linear noise approximation to model biochemical reactions through a stochastic dynamic model which essentially approximates a diffusion model by an ordinary differential equation model with an appropriately defined noise process. An explicit formula for the likelihood function can be derived allowing for computationally efficient parameter estimation. The proposed algorithm is embedded in a Bayesian framework and inference is performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo.
Conclusion
The major advantage of the method is that in contrast to the more established diffusion approximation based methods the computationally costly methods of data augmentation are not necessary. Our approach also allows for unobserved variables and measurement error. The application of the method to both simulated and experimental data shows that the proposed methodology provides a useful alternative to diffusion approximation based methods
Energy-level quantization in YBa2Cu3O7-x phase-slip nanowires
Significant progress has been made in the development of superconducting
quantum circuits, however new quantum devices that have longer decoherence
times at higher temperatures are urgently required for quantum technologies.
Superconducting nanowires with quantum phase slips are promising candidates for
use in novel devices that operate on quantum principles. Here, we demonstrate
ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x nanowires with phase-slip dynamics and study their
switching-current statistics at temperatures below 20 K. We apply theoretical
models that were developed for Josephson junctions and show that our results
provide strong evidence for energy-level quantization in the nanowires. The
crossover temperature to the quantum regime is 12-13 K, while the lifetime in
the excited state exceeds 20 ms at 5.4 K. Both values are at least one order of
magnitude higher than those in conventional Josephson junctions based on
low-temperature superconductors. We also show how the absorption of a single
photon changes the phase-slip and quantum state of a nanowire, which is
important for the development of single-photon detectors with high operating
temperature and superior temporal resolution. Our findings pave the way for a
new class of superconducting nanowire devices for quantum sensing and
computing
Normal Mode Determination of Perovskite Crystal Structures with Octahedral Rotations: Theory and Applications
Nuclear site analysis methods are used to enumerate the normal modes of
perovskite polymorphs with octahedral rotations. We provide the modes
of the fourteen subgroups of the cubic aristotype describing the Glazer
octahedral tilt patterns, which are obtained from rotations of the
octahedra with different sense and amplitude about high symmetry axes. We
tabulate all normal modes of each tilt system and specify the contribution of
each atomic species to the mode displacement pattern, elucidating the physical
meaning of the symmetry unique modes. We have systematically generated 705
schematic atomic displacement patterns for the normal modes of all 15 (14
rotated + 1 unrotated) Glazer tilt systems. We show through some illustrative
examples how to use these tables to identify the octahedral rotations,
symmetric breathing, and first-order Jahn-Teller anti-symmetric breathing
distortions of the octahedra, and the associated Raman selection
rules. We anticipate that these tables and schematics will be useful in
understanding the lattice dynamics of bulk perovskites and would serve as
reference point in elucidating the atomic origin of a wide range of physical
properties in synthetic perovskite thin films and superlattices.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, 17 tables. Supporting information accessed
through link specified within manuscrip
Electronic and magnetic properties in strongly correlated heterostructures
We present a theoretical study of a model heterostructure for a
Mott-insulator sandwiched between two band insulators, such as SrTiO3/LaTiO3.
Particular emphasis is given on the interplay between magnetism and
inhomogeneous charge distributions. Our mean-field analysis of the generalized
Hubbard model displays numerous ordered phases in the ground-state phase
diagram. In particular, we find a canted antiferromagnetic state near the
interface when antiferromagnetic-ordering exists inside the Mott insulator. A
checkerboard charge-ordering proposed previously is also stabilized for large
long-range Coulomb interactions. Regarding its origin we also point out the
importance of interlayer spin-mediated interactions. It is further shown that
such a strong spin-charge coupling gives rise to pronounced magnetic/charge
order phase transitions in external magnetic fields: a firstorder metamagnetic
transition and a reentrant charge-order transition with checkerboard pattern.
The mechanisms stabilizing these intriguing phases are explored through a
detailed analysis of the physical quantities with special focus on the
spin-charge interplay.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figure
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