674 research outputs found
The effect of small elongations on the electronic and optical signatures in InAs nanocrystal quantum dots
We present a detailed theoretical investigation of the electronic structure and
optical properties of InAs nanocrystals at the transition from spheres to rods. Using
a semiempirical pseudopotential approach, we predict that, despite the qualitative
similarity of both intra- and inter-band optical spectra, for NCs with R > 15 °A even
slight elongations should result in shifts of the order of hundreds of meV in the spacings
between STM peaks measured in the positive bias regime, in the position of the intra-
band absorption peaks associated with transitions in the conduction band and in the
separation between the first and the fifth peak in PLE experiments. Our results show
that, based on the spectroscopic data, it should be possible to discriminate between
spherical and elongated NCs with aspect ratios of length over diameter as small as
1.2. Indeed our results suggest that many nominally spherical experimental samples
contained a large fraction of slightly elongated structures
Size dependent tunneling and optical spectroscopy of CdSe quantum rods
Photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy
are used to study the electronic states in CdSe quantum rods that manifest a
transition from a zero dimensional to a one dimensional quantum confined
structure. Both optical and tunneling spectra show that the level structure
depends primarily on the rod diameter and not on length. With increasing
diameter, the band-gap and the excited state level spacings shift to the red.
The level structure was assigned using a multi-band effective-mass model,
showing a similar dependence on rod dimensions.Comment: Accepted to PRL (nearly final version). 4 pages in revtex, 4 figure
Higher order contributions to the effective action of N=2 super Yang-Mills
We apply heat kernel techniques in N=1 superspace to compute the one-loop
effective action to order for chiral superfields coupled to a non-Abelian
super Yang-Mills background. The results, when combined with those of
hep-th/0210146, yield the one-loop effective action to order for any N=2
super Yang-Mills theory coupled to matter hypermultiplets.Comment: 23 pages, references adde
Height-diameter allometry of tropical forest trees
Tropical tree height-diameter (H:D) relationships may vary by forest type and region making large-scale estimates of above-ground biomass subject to bias if they ignore these differences in stem allometry. We have therefore developed a new global tropical forest database consisting of 39 955 concurrent H and D measurements encompassing 283 sites in 22 tropical countries. Utilising this database, our objectives were:
1. to determine if H:D relationships differ by geographic region and forest type (wet to dry forests, including zones of tension where forest and savanna overlap).
2. to ascertain if the H:D relationship is modulated by climate and/or forest structural characteristics (e.g. stand-level basal area, A).
3. to develop H:D allometric equations and evaluate biases to reduce error in future local-to-global estimates of tropical forest biomass.
Annual precipitation coefficient of variation (PV), dry season length (SD), and mean annual air temperature (TA) emerged as key drivers of variation in H:D relationships at the pantropical and region scales. Vegetation structure also played a role with trees in forests of a high A being, on average, taller at any given D. After the effects of environment and forest structure are taken into account, two main regional groups can be identified. Forests in Asia, Africa and the Guyana Shield all have, on average, similar H:D relationships, but with trees in the forests of much of the Amazon Basin and tropical Australia typically being shorter at any given D than their counterparts elsewhere. The region-environment-structure model with the lowest Akaike\u27s information criterion and lowest deviation estimated stand-level H across all plots to within amedian −2.7 to 0.9% of the true value. Some of the plot-to-plot variability in H:D relationships not accounted for by this model could be attributed to variations in soil physical conditions. Other things being equal, trees tend to be more slender in the absence of soil physical constraints, especially at smaller D. Pantropical and continental-level models provided less robust estimates of H, especially when the roles of climate and stand structure in modulating H:D allometry were not simultaneously taken into account
Three decades of post-logging tree community recovery in naturally regenerating and actively restored dipterocarp forest in Borneo
Selective logging has affected large areas of tropical forests and there is increasing interest in how to manage selectively logged forests to enhance recovery. However, the impacts of logging and active restoration, by liberation cutting and enrichment planting, on tree community composition are poorly understood compared to trajectories of biomass recovery. Here, we assess the long-term impacts of selective logging and active restoration for biomass recovery on tree species diversity, community composition, and forest structure. We censused all stems ≥2 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) on 46 permanent plots in unlogged, primary forest in the Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA; 12 plots, totalling 0.6 ha) and in sites logged 23–35 years prior to the census in the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve adjacent to DVCA (34 plots, totalling 1.7 ha) in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Active restoration treatments, including enrichment planting and climber cutting, were implemented on 17 of the logged forest plots 12–24 years prior to the census. Total plot-level basal area and pole (5–10 cm DBH) stem density were lower in logged than unlogged forests, however no difference was found in stem density amongst saplings (2–5 cm DBH) or established trees (≥10 cm DBH). Neither basal area, nor plot-level stem density varied with time since logging at any size class, although sapling and pole stem densities were lower in actively restored than naturally regenerating logged forest. Sapling species diversity was lower in logged than unlogged forest, however there were no other significant effects of logging on tree species richness or diversity indices. Tree species composition, however, differed between logged and unlogged forests across all stem size classes (PERMANOVA), reflected by 23 significant indicator species that were only present in unlogged forest. PERMANOVA tests revealed no evidence that overall species composition changed with time since logging or with active restoration treatments at any size class. However, when naturally regenerating and actively restored communities were compared, two indicator species were identified in naturally regenerating forest and three in actively restored forests. Together our results suggest that selective logging has a lasting effect on tree community composition regardless of active restoration treatments and, even when species richness and diversity are stable, species composition remains distinct from unlogged forest for more than two decades post-harvest. Active restoration efforts should be targeted, monitored, and refined to try to ensure positive outcomes for multiple metrics of forest recovery
The Russian Revolution As a Tourist Attraction
Looking at Soviet guidebooks from the 1920s to the 1960s, this essay argues that 1905 and 1917 revolutionary places as “tourist attractions” were mostly tangential to the tourist experience, although one could argue that the entire USSR was a monument to the “revolution.” The revolution remained one destination of many possible tourist excursions, its memory one building block of many that made up the basis of Soviet citizenship. The revolution as tourist attraction did not celebrate 1917 as a rupture, but rather a point of entry, the moment from which the many and not the few could share in a culture of world importance
Electrical transport through single-molecule junctions: from molecular orbitals to conduction channels
We present an atomistic theory of electronic transport through single organic
molecules that reproduces the important features of the current-voltage
characteristics observed in recent experiments. We trace these features to
their origin in the electronic structure of the molecules and their local
atomic environment. We demonstrate how conduction channels arise from the
molecular orbitals and elucidate which specific properties of the individual
orbitals determine their contribution to the current.Comment: Revtex4, 4 pages, 4 figures. Version with color figures in
http://www-tfp.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de/~cuevas/Publications.htm
Electron and hole states in quantum-dot quantum wells within a spherical 8-band model
In order to study heterostructures composed both of materials with strongly
different parameters and of materials with narrow band gaps, we have developed
an approach, which combines the spherical 8-band effective-mass Hamiltonian and
the Burt's envelope function representation. Using this method, electron and
hole states are calculated in CdS/HgS/CdS/H_2O and CdTe/HgTe/CdTe/H_2O
quantum-dot quantum-well heterostructures. Radial components of the wave
functions of the lowest S and P electron and hole states in typical quantum-dot
quantum wells (QDQWs) are presented as a function of radius. The 6-band-hole
components of the radial wave functions of an electron in the 8-band model have
amplitudes comparable with the amplitude of the corresponding 2-band-electron
component. This is a consequence of the coupling between the conduction and
valence bands, which gives a strong nonparabolicity of the conduction band. At
the same time, the 2-band-electron component of the radial wave functions of a
hole in the 8-band model is small compared with the amplitudes of the
corresponding 6-band-hole components. It is shown that in the CdS/HgS/CdS/H_2O
QDQW holes in the lowest states are strongly localized in the well region
(HgS). On the contrary, electrons in this QDQW and both electron and holes in
the CdTe/HgTe/CdTe/H_2O QDQW are distributed through the entire dot. The
importance of the developed theory for QDQWs is proven by the fact that in
contrast to our rigorous 8-band model, there appear spurious states within the
commonly used symmetrized 8-band model.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, E-mail addresses: [email protected],
[email protected]
Size Dependence of Metal-Insulator Transition in Stoichiometric Fe3O4 Nanocrystals
Magnetite (Fe3O4) is one of the most actively studied materials with a famous
metal-insulator transition (MIT), so-called the Verwey transition at around 123
K. Despite the recent progress in synthesis and characterization of Fe3O4
nanocrystals (NCs), it is still an open question how the Verwey transition
changes on a nanometer scale. We herein report the systematic studies on size
dependence of the Verwey transition of stoichiometric Fe3O4 NCs. We have
successfully synthesized stoichiometric and uniform-sized Fe3O4 NCs with sizes
ranging from 5 to 100 nm. These stoichiometric Fe3O4 NCs show the Verwey
transition when they are characterized by conductance, magnetization, cryo-XRD,
and heat capacity measurements. The Verwey transition is weakly size-dependent
and becomes suppressed in NCs smaller than 20 nm before disappearing completely
for less than 6 nm, which is a clear, yet highly interesting indication of a
size effect of this well-known phenomena. Our current work will shed new light
on this ages-old problem of Verwey transition.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Nano Letters (accepted
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