39 research outputs found
Experimental study of weak antilocalization effect in a high mobility InGaAs/InP quantum well
The magnetoresistance associated with quantum interference corrections in a
high mobility, gated InGaAs/InP quantum well structure is studied as a function
of temperature, gate voltage, and angle of the tilted magnetic field.
Particular attention is paid to the experimental extraction of phase-breaking
and spin-orbit scattering times when weak anti- localization effects are
prominent. Compared with metals and low mobility semiconductors the
characteristic magnetic field in high mobility
samples is very small and the experimental dependencies of the interference
effects extend to fields several hundreds of times larger. Fitting experimental
results under these conditions therefore requires theories valid for arbitrary
magnetic field. It was found, however, that such a theory was unable to fit the
experimental data without introducing an extra, empirical, scale factor of
about 2. Measurements in tilted magnetic fields and as a function of
temperature established that both the weak localization and the weak
anti-localization effects have the same, orbital origin. Fits to the data
confirmed that the width of the low field feature, whether a weak localization
or a weak anti-localization peak, is determined by the phase-breaking time and
also established that the universal (negative) magnetoresistance observed in
the high field limit is associated with a temperature independent spin-orbit
scattering time.Comment: 13 pages including 10 figure
Phonon drag thermopower and weak localization
Previous experimental work on a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas in a
Si-on-sapphire device led to the conclusion that both conductivity and phonon
drag thermopower are affected to the same relative extent by weak
localization. The present paper presents further experimental and theoretical
results on these transport coefficients for two very low mobility 2D electron
gases in doped GaAs/GaAlAs quantum wells. The experiments
were carried out in the temperature range 3-7K where phonon drag dominates the
thermopower and, contrary to the previous work, the changes observed in the
thermopower due to weak localization were found to be an order of magnitude
less than those in the conductivity. A theoretical framework for phonon drag
thermopower in 2D and 3D semiconductors is presented which accounts for this
insensitivity of to weak localization. It also provides transparent
physical explanations of many previous experimental and theoretical results.Comment: 19 page Revtex file, 3 Postscript figur
Winter Bird Assemblages in Rural and Urban Environments: A National Survey
Urban development has a marked effect on the ecological and behavioural traits of many living
organisms, including birds. In this paper, we analysed differences in the numbers of wintering
birds between rural and urban areas in Poland. We also analysed species richness
and abundance in relation to longitude, latitude, human population size, and landscape
structure. All these parameters were analysed using modern statistical techniques incorporating
species detectability. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km2 each) in December
2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 urban areas across Poland
(in each urban area we surveyed 3 squares and 3 squares in nearby rural areas). The influence
of twelve potential environmental variables on species abundance and richness was
assessed with Generalized Linear Mixed Models, Principal Components and Detrended
Correspondence Analyses. Totals of 72 bird species and 89,710 individual birds were recorded
in this study. On average (±SE) 13.3 ± 0.3 species and 288 ± 14 individuals were recorded
in each square in each survey. A formal comparison of rural and urban areas
revealed that 27 species had a significant preference; 17 to rural areas and 10 to urban areas. Moreover, overall abundance in urban areas was more than double that of rural
areas. There was almost a complete separation of rural and urban bird communities. Significantly
more birds and more bird species were recorded in January compared to December.
We conclude that differences between rural and urban areas in terms of winter conditions
and the availability of resources are reflected in different bird communities in the two
environments
Urban and rural habitats differ in number and type of bird feeders and in bird species consuming supplementary food
Bird feeding is one of the most widespread direct interactions between man and nature, and this has important social and environmental consequences. However, this activity can differ between rural and urban habitats, due to inter alia habitat structure, human behaviour and the composition of wintering bird communities. We counted birds in 156 squares (0.25 km(2) each) in December 2012 and again in January 2013 in locations in and around 26 towns and cities across Poland (in each urban area, we surveyed 3 squares and also 3 squares in nearby rural areas). At each count, we noted the number of bird feeders, the number of bird feeders with food, the type of feeders, additional food supplies potentially available for birds (bread offered by people, bins) and finally the birds themselves. In winter, urban and rural areas differ in the availability of food offered intentionally and unintentionally to birds by humans. Both types of food availability are higher in urban areas. Our findings suggest that different types of bird feeder support only those species specialized for that particular food type and this relationship is similar in urban and rural areas. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11356-015-4723-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Fractal Dimensions from Chaotic Oscillations in Semi-Insulating GaAs
Relaxation and domain current oscillations in undoped semi-insulating GaAs were observed at room temperature for a broad range of voltage applied to a sample. The oscillations were characterized by a reconstruction of an attractor of the system. An analysis of the attractor helped to discriminate between the two likes of oscillations. A transition from one like of oscillations to the other was connected with a chaotization of the current. A chaotic state of the system was analyzed by calculations of fractal dimensions D for -0.6 < g < 40 and the f(α) function