120 research outputs found
Patterned accumulation mode capacitive phase shifter
A semiconductor waveguide device includes a first semiconductor layer having a first surface, wherein the first surface comprises a first protrusion and a second protrusion collectively forming a first trench in the first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer having a second surface opposing the first surface of the first semiconductor layer, and an insulator layer disposed between and in contact with the first surface and the second surface, wherein the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer, and the insulator layer form a semiconductor waveguide region, and wherein the first trench is configured to confine a mode of light beam propagation in the semiconductor waveguide regio
Patterned accumulation mode capacitive phase shifter
A semiconductor waveguide device includes a first semiconductor layer having a first surface, wherein the first surface comprises a first protrusion and a second protrusion collectively forming a first trench in the first semiconductor layer, a second semiconductor layer having a second surface opposing the first surface of the first semiconductor layer, and an insulator layer disposed between and in contact with the first surface and the second surface, wherein the first semiconductor layer, the second semiconductor layer, and the insulator layer form a semiconductor waveguide region, and wherein the first trench is configured to confine a mode of light beam propagation in the semiconductor waveguide regio
Tapping Spin Glasses
We consider a tapping dynamics, analogous to that in experiments on granular
media, on spin glasses and ferromagnets on random thin graphs. Between taps,
zero temperature single spin flip dynamics takes the system to a metastable
state. Tapping, corresponds to flipping simultaneously any spin with
probability . This dynamics leads to a stationary regime with a steady state
energy . We analytically solve this dynamics for the one dimensional
ferromagnet and spin glass. Numerical simulations for spin glasses and
ferromagnets of higher connectivity are carried out, in particular we find a
novel first order transition for the ferromagnetic systems.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, RevTe
Slow Logarithmic Decay of Magnetization in the Zero Temperature Dynamics of an Ising Spin Chain: Analogy to Granular Compaction
We study the zero temperature coarsening dynamics in an Ising chain in
presence of a dynamically induced field that favors locally the `-' phase
compared to the `+' phase. At late times, while the `+' domains still coarsen
as , the `-' domains coarsen slightly faster as . As
a result, at late times, the magnetization decays slowly as, . We establish this behavior both analytically within an
independent interval approximation (IIA) and numerically. In the zero volume
fraction limit of the `+' phase, we argue that the IIA becomes asymptotically
exact. Our model can be alternately viewed as a simple Ising model for granular
compaction. At late times in our model, the system decays into a fully compact
state (where all spins are `-') in a slow logarithmic manner , a fact that has been observed in recent experiments on granular systems.Comment: 4 pages Revtex, 3 eps figures, supersedes cond-mat/000221
Steady State Behavior of Mechanically Perturbed Spin Glasses and Ferromagnets
A zero temperature dynamics of Ising spin glasses and ferromagnets on random
graphs of finite connectivity is considered, like granular media these systems
have an extensive entropy of metastable states. We consider the problem of what
energy a randomly prepared spin system falls to before becoming stuck in a
metastable state. We then introduce a tapping mechanism, analogous to that of
real experiments on granular media, this tapping, corresponding to flipping
simultaneously any spin with probability , leads to stationary regime with a
steady state energy . We explicitly solve this problem for the one
dimensional ferromagnet and spin glass and carry out extensive
numerical simulations for spin systems of higher connectivity. The link with
the density of metastable states at fixed energy and the idea of Edwards that
one may construct a thermodynamics with a flat measure over metastable states
is discussed. In addition our simulations on the ferromagnetic systems reveal a
novel first order transition, whereas the usual thermodynamic transition on
these graphs is second order.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Ions in mixed dielectric solvents: density profiles and osmotic pressure between charged interfaces
The forces between charged macromolecules, usually given in terms of osmotic
pressure, are highly affected by the intervening ionic solution. While in most
theoretical studies the solution is treated as a homogeneous structureless
dielectric medium, recent experimental studies concluded that, for a bathing
solution composed of two solvents (binary mixture), the osmotic pressure
between charged macromolecules is affected by the binary solvent composition.
By adding local solvent composition terms to the free energy, we obtain a
general expression for the osmotic pressure, in planar geometry and within the
mean-field framework. The added effect is due to the permeability inhomogeneity
and nonelectrostatic short-range interactions between the ions and solvents
(preferential solvation). This effect is mostly pronounced at small distances
and leads to a reduction in the osmotic pressure for macromolecular separations
of the order 1--2 nm. Furthermore, it leads to a depletion of one of the two
solvents from the charged macromolecules (modeled as planar interfaces).
Lastly, by comparing the theoretical results with experimental ones, an
explanation based on preferential solvation is offered for recent experiments
on the osmotic pressure of DNA solutions.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
Slow Relaxation in a Constrained Ising Spin Chain: a Toy Model for Granular Compaction
We present detailed analytical studies on the zero temperature coarsening
dynamics in an Ising spin chain in presence of a dynamically induced field that
favors locally the `-' phase compared to the `+' phase. We show that the
presence of such a local kinetic bias drives the system into a late time state
with average magnetization m=-1. However the magnetization relaxes into this
final value extremely slowly in an inverse logarithmic fashion. We further map
this spin model exactly onto a simple lattice model of granular compaction that
includes the minimal microscopic moves needed for compaction. This toy model
then predicts analytically an inverse logarithmic law for the growth of density
of granular particles, as seen in recent experiments and thereby provides a new
mechanism for the inverse logarithmic relaxation. Our analysis utilizes an
independent interval approximation for the particle and the hole clusters and
is argued to be exact at late times (supported also by numerical simulations).Comment: 9 pages RevTeX, 1 figures (.eps
Order statistics for d-dimensional diffusion processes
We present results for the ordered sequence of first passage times of arrival
of N random walkers at a boundary in Euclidean spaces of d dimensions
Understanding Search Trees via Statistical Physics
We study the random m-ary search tree model (where m stands for the number of
branches of a search tree), an important problem for data storage in computer
science, using a variety of statistical physics techniques that allow us to
obtain exact asymptotic results. In particular, we show that the probability
distributions of extreme observables associated with a random search tree such
as the height and the balanced height of a tree have a traveling front
structure. In addition, the variance of the number of nodes needed to store a
data string of a given size N is shown to undergo a striking phase transition
at a critical value of the branching ratio m_c=26. We identify the mechanism of
this phase transition, show that it is generic and occurs in various other
problems as well. New results are obtained when each element of the data string
is a D-dimensional vector. We show that this problem also has a phase
transition at a critical dimension, D_c= \pi/\sin^{-1}(1/\sqrt{8})=8.69363...Comment: 11 pages, 8 .eps figures included. Invited contribution to
STATPHYS-22 held at Bangalore (India) in July 2004. To appear in the
proceedings of STATPHYS-2
A Spin Coating Method To Deposit Iridium-Based Catalysts onto Silicon for Water Oxidation Photoanodes
Silicon has shown promise for use as a small band gap (1.1 eV) absorber material in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, the limited stability of silicon in acidic electrolyte requires the use of protection strategies coupled with catalysts. Herein, spin coating is used as a versatile method to directly coat silicon photoanodes with an IrOâ oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst, reducing the processing complexity compared to conventional fabrication schemes. Biphasic strontium chloride/iridium oxide (SrClâ:IrOâ) catalysts are also developed, and both catalysts form photoactive junctions with silicon and demonstrate highphotoanode activity. The iridium oxide photoanode displays a photocurrent onset at 1.06 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), while the SrClâ:IrOâ photoanode onsets earlier at 0.96 V vs RHE. The differing potentials are consistent with the observed photovoltages of 0.43 and 0.53 V for the IrOâ and SrClâ:IrOâ, respectively. By measuring the oxidation of a reversible redox couple, Fe(CN)â ³¯ââ´ÂŻ, we compare the charge carrier extraction of the devices and show that the addition of SrClâ to the IrOx catalyst improves the siliconâelectrolyte interface compared to pure IrOâ. However, the durability of the strontium-containing photoanode remains a challenge, with its photocurrent density decreasing by 90% over 4 h. The IrOâ photoanode, on the other hand, maintained a stable photocurrent density over this timescale. Characterization of the as-prepared and post-tested material structure via Auger electron spectroscopy identifies catalyst film cracking and delamination as the primary failure modes. We propose that improvements to catalyst adhesion should further the viability of spin coating as a technique for photoanode preparation
- âŚ