97 research outputs found
Probing the mechanical properties of graphene using a corrugated elastic substrate
The exceptional mechanical properties of graphene have made it attractive for
nano-mechanical devices and functional composite materials. Two key aspects of
graphene's mechanical behavior are its elastic and adhesive properties. These
are generally determined in separate experiments, and it is moreover typically
difficult to extract parameters for adhesion. In addition, the mechanical
interplay between graphene and other elastic materials has not been well
studied. Here, we demonstrate a technique for studying both the elastic and
adhesive properties of few-layer graphene (FLG) by placing it on deformable,
micro-corrugated substrates. By measuring deformations of the composite
graphene-substrate structures, and developing a related linear elasticity
theory, we are able to extract information about graphene's bending rigidity,
adhesion, critical stress for interlayer sliding, and sample-dependent tension.
The results are relevant to graphene-based mechanical and electronic devices,
and to the use of graphene in composite, flexible, and strain-engineered
materials.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Observation of a Snap-Through Instability in Graphene
We examine the competition between adhesive and bending energies for
few-layered graphene samples placed on rigid, microscale-corrugated substrates.
Using atomic force microscopy, we show that the graphene undergoes a sharp
"snap-through" transition as a function of layer thickness, where the material
transitions between conforming to the substrate and lying flat on top of the
substrate. By utilizing the critical snap-through thickness in an elasticity
model for the FLG's bending, we extract a value for graphene-surface adhesion
energy that is larger than expected for van der Waals forces.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
New Perspectives on Glacial Geomorphology in Earth's Deep Time Record
International audienceThe deep time (pre-Quaternary) glacial record is an important means to understand the growth, development, and recession of the global cryosphere on very long timescales (10 6-10 8 Myr). Sedimentological description and interpretation of outcrops has traditionally played an important role. Whilst such data remain vital, new insights are now possible thanks to freely accessible aerial and satellite imagery, the widespread availability and affordability of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles, and accessibility to 3D rendering software. In this paper, we showcase examples of glaciated landscapes from the Cryogenian, Ediacaran, Late Ordovician and Late Carboniferous where this approach is revolutionizing our understanding of deep time glaciation. Although some problems cannot be overcome (erosion or dissolution of the evidence), robust interpretations in terms of the evolving subglacial environment can be made. Citing examples from Australia (Cryogenian), China (Ediacaran), North and South Africa (Late Ordovician, Late Carboniferous), and Namibia (Late Carboniferous), we illustrate how the power of glacial geomorphology can be harnessed to interpret Earth's ancient glacial record
Determination of the Bending Rigidity of Graphene via Electrostatic Actuation of Buckled Membranes
The small mass and atomic-scale thickness of graphene membranes make them
highly suitable for nanoelectromechanical devices such as e.g. mass sensors,
high frequency resonators or memory elements. Although only atomically thick,
many of the mechanical properties of graphene membranes can be described by
classical continuum mechanics. An important parameter for predicting the
performance and linearity of graphene nanoelectromechanical devices as well as
for describing ripple formation and other properties such as electron
scattering mechanisms, is the bending rigidity, {\kappa}. In spite of the
importance of this parameter it has so far only been estimated indirectly for
monolayer graphene from the phonon spectrum of graphite, estimated from AFM
measurements or predicted from ab initio calculations or bond-order potential
models. Here, we employ a new approach to the experimental determination of
{\kappa} by exploiting the snap-through instability in pre-buckled graphene
membranes. We demonstrate the reproducible fabrication of convex buckled
graphene membranes by controlling the thermal stress during the fabrication
procedure and show the abrupt switching from convex to concave geometry that
occurs when electrostatic pressure is applied via an underlying gate electrode.
The bending rigidity of bilayer graphene membranes under ambient conditions was
determined to be eV. Monolayers have significantly lower
{\kappa} than bilayers
Stark deceleration of CaF molecules in strong- and weak-field seeking states
We report the Stark deceleration of CaF molecules in the strong-field seeking
ground state and in a weak-field seeking component of a rotationally-excited
state. We use two types of decelerator, a conventional Stark decelerator for
the weak-field seekers, and an alternating gradient decelerator for the
strong-field seekers, and we compare their relative merits. We also consider
the application of laser cooling to increase the phase-space density of
decelerated molecules.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
Scattering of Stark-decelerated OH radicals with rare-gas atoms
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the rotationally
inelastic scattering of OH (X\,^2\Pi_{3/2}, J=3/2, f) radicals with the
collision partners He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and D as a function of the collision
energy between cm and 400~cm. The OH radicals are state
selected and velocity tuned prior to the collision using a Stark decelerator,
and field-free parity-resolved state-to-state inelastic relative scattering
cross sections are measured in a crossed molecular beam configuration. For all
OH-rare gas atom systems excellent agreement is obtained with the cross
sections predicted by close-coupling scattering calculations based on accurate
\emph{ab initio} potential energy surfaces. This series of experiments
complements recent studies on the scattering of OH radicals with Xe [Gilijamse
\emph{et al.}, Science {\bf 313}, 1617 (2006)], Ar [Scharfenberg \emph{et al.},
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. {\bf 12}, 10660 (2010)], He, and D [Kirste \emph{et
al.}, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 82}, 042717 (2010)]. A comparison of the relative
scattering cross sections for this set of collision partners reveals
interesting trends in the scattering behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Bird’s-eye view of an Ediacaran subglacial landscape
Depositional evidence for glaciation (dropstones, diamictites) is common in Neoproterozoic strata, and often debated, but erosional evidence (e.g., unconformities cut directly by ice) is rare. Only two such unconformities are known to have been well preserved globally from the Ediacaran Period (in western Australia and central China). This paper provides the first full description of a spectacular subglacial landscape carved beneath ice masses in the Shimengou area of central China, with classical subglacial bed forms including general faceted forms, müschelbruche, cavetto, spindle forms, and striations that testify to an abundance of meltwater during subglacial erosion. These features were produced during the southward, somewhat sinuous, flow of a temperate to polythermal ice mass
On the role of the magnetic dipolar interaction in cold and ultracold collisions: Numerical and analytical results for NH() + NH()
We present a detailed analysis of the role of the magnetic dipole-dipole
interaction in cold and ultracold collisions. We focus on collisions between
magnetically trapped NH molecules, but the theory is general for any two
paramagnetic species for which the electronic spin and its space-fixed
projection are (approximately) good quantum numbers. It is shown that dipolar
spin relaxation is directly associated with magnetic-dipole induced avoided
crossings that occur between different adiabatic potential curves. For a given
collision energy and magnetic field strength, the cross-section contributions
from different scattering channels depend strongly on whether or not the
corresponding avoided crossings are energetically accessible. We find that the
crossings become lower in energy as the magnetic field decreases, so that
higher partial-wave scattering becomes increasingly important \textit{below} a
certain magnetic field strength. In addition, we derive analytical
cross-section expressions for dipolar spin relaxation based on the Born
approximation and distorted-wave Born approximation. The validity regions of
these analytical expressions are determined by comparison with the NH + NH
cross sections obtained from full coupled-channel calculations. We find that
the Born approximation is accurate over a wide range of energies and field
strengths, but breaks down at high energies and high magnetic fields. The
analytical distorted-wave Born approximation gives more accurate results in the
case of s-wave scattering, but shows some significant discrepancies for the
higher partial-wave channels. We thus conclude that the Born approximation
gives generally more meaningful results than the distorted-wave Born
approximation at the collision energies and fields considered in this work.Comment: Accepted by Eur. Phys. J. D for publication in Special Issue on Cold
Quantum Matter - Achievements and Prospects (2011
Entangled Stories: The Red Jews in Premodern Yiddish and German Apocalyptic Lore
“Far, far away from our areas, somewhere beyond the Mountains of Darkness, on the other side of the Sambatyon River…there lives a nation known as the Red Jews.” The Red Jews are best known from classic Yiddish writing, most notably from Mendele's Kitser masoes Binyomin hashlishi (The Brief Travels of Benjamin the Third). This novel, first published in 1878, represents the initial appearance of the Red Jews in modern Yiddish literature. This comical travelogue describes the adventures of Benjamin, who sets off in search of the legendary Red Jews. But who are these Red Jews or, in Yiddish, di royte yidelekh? The term denotes the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, the ten tribes that in biblical times had composed the Northern Kingdom of Israel until they were exiled by the Assyrians in the eighth century BCE. Over time, the myth of their return emerged, and they were said to live in an uncharted location beyond the mysterious Sambatyon River, where they would remain until the Messiah's arrival at the end of time, when they would rejoin the rest of the Jewish people.
This article is part of a broader study of the Red Jews in Jewish popular culture from the Middle Ages through modernity. It is partially based on a chapter from my book, Umstrittene Erlöser: Politik, Ideologie und jüdisch-christlicher Messianismus in Deutschland, 1500–1600 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011). Several postdoctoral fellowships have generously supported my research on the Red Jews: a Dr. Meyer-Struckmann-Fellowship of the German Academic Foundation, a Harry Starr Fellowship in Judaica/Alan M. Stroock Fellowship for Advanced Research in Judaica at Harvard University, a research fellowship from the Heinrich Hertz-Foundation, and a YIVO Dina Abramowicz Emerging Scholar Fellowship. I thank the organizers of and participants in the colloquia and conferences where I have presented this material in various forms as well as the editors and anonymous reviewers of AJS Review for their valuable comments and suggestions. I am especially grateful to Jeremy Dauber and Elisheva Carlebach of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University, where I was a Visiting Scholar in the fall of 2009, for their generous encouragement to write this article. Sue Oren considerably improved my English. The style employed for Romanization of Yiddish follows YIVO's transliteration standards. Unless otherwise noted, translations from the Yiddish, Hebrew, German, and Latin are my own. Quotations from the Bible follow the JPS translation, and those from the Babylonian Talmud are according to the Hebrew-English edition of the Soncino Talmud by Isidore Epstein
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