392 research outputs found
The theoretical DFT study of electronic structure of thin Si/SiO2 quantum nanodots and nanowires
The atomic and electronic structure of a set of proposed thin (1.6 nm in
diameter) silicon/silica quantum nanodots and nanowires with narrow interface,
as well as parent metastable silicon structures (1.2 nm in diameter), was
studied in cluster and PBC approaches using B3LYP/6-31G* and PW PP LDA
approximations. The total density of states (TDOS) of the smallest
quasispherical silicon quantum dot (Si85) corresponds well to the TDOS of the
bulk silicon. The elongated silicon nanodots and 1D nanowires demonstrate the
metallic nature of the electronic structure. The surface oxidized layer opens
the bandgap in the TDOS of the Si/SiO2 species. The top of the valence band and
the bottom of conductivity band of the particles are formed by the silicon core
derived states. The energy width of the bandgap is determined by the length of
the Si/SiO2 clusters and demonstrates inverse dependence upon the size of the
nanostructures. The theoretical data describes the size confinement effect in
photoluminescence spectra of the silica embedded nanocrystalline silicon with
high accuracy.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Reading-out the state of a flux qubit by Josephson transmission line solitons
We describe the read-out process of the state of a Josephson flux qubit via
solitons in Josephson transmission lines (JTL) as they are in use in the
standard rapid single flux quantum (RSFQ) technology. We consider the situation
where the information about the state of the qubit is stored in the time delay
of the soliton. We analyze dissipative underdamped JTLs, take into account
their jitter, and provide estimates of the measuring time and efficiency of the
measurement for relevant experimental parameters.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figure
Thermokarst Landscape Development Detected by Multiple-Geospatial Data in Churapcha, Eastern Siberia
Thermokarst is a typical process that indicates widespread permafrost degradation in
yedoma landscapes. The Lena-Aldan interfluvial area in Central Yakutia in eastern Siberia is
now facing extensive landscape changes with surface subsidence due to thermokarst
development during the past few decades. To clarify the spatial extent and rate of
subsidence, multiple spatial datasets, including GIS and remote sensing observations,
were used to analyze the Churapcha rural locality, which has a typical yedoma landscape in
Central Yakutia. Land cover classification maps for 1945 and 2009 provide basic
information on anthropogenic disturbance to the natural landscape of boreal forest and
dry grassland. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with ALOS-2/PALSAR-2
data revealed activated surface subsidence of 2 cm/yr in the disturbed area, comprising
mainly abandoned agricultural fields. Remote sensing with an unmanned aerial system also
provided high-resolution information on polygonal relief formed by thermokarst development
at a disused airfield where InSAR analysis exhibited extensive subsidence. It is worth noting
that some historically deforested areas have likely recovered to the original landscape
without further thermokarst development. Spatial information on historical land-use change
is helpful because most areas with thermokarst development correspond to locations where
land was used by humans in the past. Going forward, the integrated analysis of geospatial
information will be essential for assessing permafrost degradation
Polynomial unconstrained binary optimisation inspired by optical simulation
We propose an algorithm inspired by optical coherent Ising machines to solve
the problem of polynomial unconstrained binary optimisation (PUBO). We
benchmark the proposed algorithm against existing PUBO algorithms on the
extended Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model and random third-degree polynomial
pseudo-Boolean functions, and observe its superior performance. We also address
instances of practically relevant computational problems such as protein
folding and electronic structure calculations with problem sizes not accessible
to existing quantum annealing devices. In particular, we successfully find the
lowest-energy conformation of lattice protein molecules containing up to eleven
amino-acids. The application of our algorithm to quantum chemistry sheds light
on the shortcomings of approximating the electronic structure problem by a PUBO
problem, which, in turn, puts into question the applicability of quantum
annealers in this context.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Optical activity induced by curvature in a gravitational pp-wave background
We study optical activity induced by curvature. The optical activity model we
present has two phenomenological gyration parameters, within which we analyze
three model cases, namely, an exactly integrable model, the Landau-Lifshitz
model and the Fedorov model, these latter two are solved in the short
wavelength approximation. The model background is a gravitational pp-wave. The
solutions show that the optical activity induced by curvature leads to Faraday
rotation.Comment: 16 pages, late
Magnetic Dirac semimetal state of (Mn,Ge)BiTe
For quantum electronics, the possibility to finely tune the properties of
magnetic topological insulators (TIs) is a key issue. We studied solid
solutions between two isostructural Z TIs, magnetic MnBiTe and
nonmagnetic GeBiTe, with Z invariants of 1;000 and 1;001,
respectively. For high-quality, large mixed crystals of
GeMnBiTe, we observed linear x-dependent magnetic
properties, composition-independent pairwise exchange interactions along with
an easy magnetization axis. The bulk band gap gradually decreases to zero for
from 0 to 0.4, before reopening for , evidencing topological phase
transitions (TPTs) between topologically nontrivial phases and the semimetal
state. The TPTs are driven purely by the variation of orbital contributions. By
tracing the x-dependent contribution to the states near the fundamental
gap, the effective spin-orbit coupling variation is extracted. As varies,
the maximum of this contribution switches from the valence to the conduction
band, thereby driving two TPTs. The gapless state observed at closely
resembles a Dirac semimetal above the Neel temperature and shows a magnetic gap
below, which is clearly visible in raw photoemission data. The observed
behavior of the GeMnBiTe system thereby demonstrates an
ability to precisely control topological and magnetic properties of TIs
OPPORTUNITY ESTIMATION OF OPTICAL METHOD APPLICATION IN PROBLEM OF KINEMATIC CHARACTERISTICS REGISTRATION OF DYNAMIC INDENTING PROCESS
Subject of Research. A stereoscopic method of technical vision is proposed for recording the kinematic characteristics of the dynamic indentation process in determining the physico-mechanical properties of materials. The proposed method makes it possible to determine the values of the indenter motion speed with high accuracy. Method. The method is based on the use of two high-speed video cameras immovably fixed on one flat platform. Cameras allow for synchronous recording of the indentation process. The objectives and orientation of cameras in the stereo system provide intersection of the visual fields and the required depth of the image space field. Measurement of the movement speed is performed by triangulation method. The distance between the conjugate points of the recorded object on the stereo images is inversely proportional to the distance between the pair of cameras and the corresponding point of the object in the three-dimensional space. Based on the analysis of images obtained by spatially separated cameras, the coordinates of the object point are determined. Main Results. The experimental setup consisted of two high-speed monochrome camcorders Evercam 4000-32-M, rigidly fixed through stereo. Synchronous recording was kept at a speed of 4000 frames/s with a resolution of 1280 × 860 pixels. The indenter was made in the form of a steel ball with a mass of 230 g with a diameter of 38 mm and fell onto an aluminum disk 10 mm thick from a height of 310 mm. Video images from cameras were transferred to a personal computer for processing. The analysis of the obtained data was carried out in the MATLAB system with the help of a specially written software module. The sensitivity of the proposed method made it possible to determine confidently the values of the maximum approach speed of a steel ball equal to 2.39 m/s and a rebound velocity of 1.2 m/s. The random component of the method error did not exceed 2.5%. Practical Relevance. The development of this approach will enable to create high-precision sensors of dynamic indentation. The research results may be of interest to specialists involved in metrological support and non-destructive testing of materials and products in various fields of engineering and construction
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