940 research outputs found
Magnetic breakdown in a normal-metal - superconductor proximity sandwich
We study the magnetic response of a clean normal-metal slab of finite
thickness in proximity with a bulk superconductor. We determine its free energy
and identify two (meta-)stable states, a diamagnetic one where the applied
field is effectively screened, and a second state, where the field penetrates
the normal-metal layer. We present a complete characterization of the first
order transition between the two states which occurs at the breakdown field,
including its spinodals, the jump in the magnetization, and the latent heat.
The bistable regime terminates at a critical temperature above which the sharp
transition is replaced by a continuous cross-over. We compare the theory with
experiments on normal-superconducting cylinders.Comment: 7 pages Revtex, 3 Postscript figures, needs psfig.te
Differential expression of synaptophysin and synaptoporin during pre- and postnatal development of the hippocampal network
The closely related synaptic vesicle membrane proteins synaptophysin and synaptoporin are abundant in the hippocampal formation of the adult rat. But the prenatal hippocampal formation contains only synaptophysin, which is first detected at embryonic day 17 (E17) in perikarya and axons of the pyramidal neurons. At E21 synaptophysin immunoreactivity extends into the apical dendrites of these cells and in newly formed terminals contacting these dendrites. The transient presence of synaptophysin in axons and dendrites suggests a functional involvement of synaptophysin in fibre outgrowth of developing pyramidal neurons. Synaptoporin expression parallels the formation of dentate granule cell synaptic contacts with pyramidal neurons: the amount of hippocampal synaptoporin, determined in immunoblots and by synaptoporin immunostaining of developing mossy fibre terminals, increases during the first postnatal week. Moreover, in the adult, synaptoporin is found exclusively in the mossy fibre terminals present in the hilar region of the dentate gyrus and the regio inferior of the cornu ammonis. In contrast, synaptophysin is present in all synaptic fields of the hippocampal formation, including the mossy fibre terminals, where it colocalizes with synaptoporin in the same boutons. Our data indicate that granule neuron terminals differ from all other terminals of the hippocampal formation by the presence of both synaptoporin and synaptophysin. This difference, observed in the earliest synaptic contacts in the postnatal hippocampus and persisting into adult life, suggests distinct functions of synaptoporin in these nerve terminals
Diamagnetic response of cylindrical normal metal - superconductor proximity structures with low concentration of scattering centers
We have investigated the diamagnetic response of composite NS proximity
wires, consisting of a clean silver or copper coating, in good electrical
contact to a superconducting niobium or tantalum core. The samples show strong
induced diamagnetism in the normal layer, resulting in a nearly complete
Meissner screening at low temperatures. The temperature dependence of the
linear diamagnetic susceptibility data is successfully described by the
quasiclassical Eilenberger theory including elastic scattering characterised by
a mean free path l. Using the mean free path as the only fit parameter we found
values of l in the range 0.1-1 of the normal metal layer thickness d_N, which
are in rough agreement with the ones obtained from residual resistivity
measurements. The fits are satisfactory over the whole temperature range
between 5 mK and 7 K for values of d_N varying between 1.6 my m and 30 my m.
Although a finite mean free path is necessary to correctly describe the
temperature dependence of the linear response diamagnetic susceptibility, the
measured breakdown fields in the nonlinear regime follow the temperature and
thickness dependence given by the clean limit theory. However, there is a
discrepancy in the absolute values. We argue that in order to reach
quantitative agreement one needs to take into account the mean free path from
the fits of the linear response. [PACS numbers: 74.50.+r, 74.80.-g]Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Optical absorption in the strong coupling limit of Eliashberg theory
We calculate the optical conductivity of superconductors in the
strong-coupling limit. In this anomalous limit the typical energy scale is set
by the coupling energy, and other energy scales such as the energy of the
bosons mediating the attraction are negligibly small. We find a universal
frequency dependence of the optical absorption which is dominated by bound
states and differs significantly from the weak coupling results. A comparison
with absorption spectra of superconductors with enhanced electron-phonon
coupling shows that typical features of the strong-coupling limit are already
present at intermediate coupling.Comment: 10 pages, revtex, 4 uuencoded figure
Systematic and Causal Corrections to the Coherent Potential Approximation
The Dynamical Cluster Approximation (DCA) is modified to include disorder.
The DCA incorporates non-local corrections to local approximations such as the
Coherent Potential Approximation (CPA) by mapping the lattice problem with
disorder, and in the thermodynamic limit, to a self-consistently embedded
finite-sized cluster problem. It satisfies all of the characteristics of a
successful cluster approximation. It is causal, preserves the point-group and
translational symmetry of the original lattice, recovers the CPA when the
cluster size equals one, and becomes exact as . We use the DCA to
study the Anderson model with binary diagonal disorder. It restores sharp
features and band tailing in the density of states which reflect correlations
in the local environment of each site. While the DCA does not describe the
localization transition, it does describe precursor effects of localization.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, and 11 PS figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B.
Revised version with typos corrected and references adde
The Role of Zero-Modes in the Canonical Quantization of Heavy-Fermion QED in Light-Cone Coordinates
Four-dimensional heavy-fermion QED is studied in light-cone coordinates with
(anti-)periodic field boundary conditions. We carry out a consistent light-cone
canonical quantization of this model using the Dirac algorithm for a system
with first- and second-class constraints. To examine the role of the zero
modes, we consider the quantization procedure in {the }zero-mode {and the
non-zero-mode} sectors separately. In both sectors we obtain the physical
variables and their canonical commutation relations. The physical Hamiltonian
is constructed via a step-by-step exclusion of the unphysical degrees of
freedom. An example using this Hamiltonian in which the zero modes play a role
is the verification of the correct Coulomb potential between two heavy
fermions.Comment: 22 pages, CWRUTH-93-5 (Latex
Overscreening Diamagnetism in Cylindrical Superconductor-Normal Metal-Heterostructures
We study the linear diamagnetic response of a superconducting cylinder coated
by a normal-metal layer due to the proximity effect using the clean limit
quasiclassical Eilenberger equations. We compare the results for the
susceptibility with those for a planar geometry. Interestingly, for
the cylinder exhibits a stronger overscreening of the magnetic field, i.e., at
the interface to the superconductor it can be less than (-1/2) of the applied
field. Even for , the diamagnetism can be increased as compared to the
planar case, viz. the magnetic susceptibility becomes smaller than
-3/4. This behaviour can be explained by an intriguing spatial oscillation of
the magnetic field in the normal layer
On the energy of charged black holes in generalized dilaton-axion gravity
In this paper we calculate the energy distribution of some charged black
holes in generalized dilaton-axion gravity. The solutions correspond to charged
black holes arising in a Kalb-Ramond-dilaton background and some existing
non-rotating black hole solutions are recovered in special cases. We focus our
study to asymptotically flat and asymptotically non-flat types of solutions and
resort for this purpose to the M{\o}ller prescription. Various aspects of
energy are also analyzed.Comment: LaTe
Infrared spectroscopy of NGC 1068: Probing the obscured ionizing AGN continuum
The ISO-SWS 2.5-45 um infrared spectroscopic observations of the nucleus of
the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 (see companion paper) are combined with a
compilation of UV to IR narrow emission line data to determine the spectral
energy distribution (SED) of the obscured extreme-UV continuum that
photoionizes the narrow line emitting gas in the active galactic nucleus. We
search a large grid of gas cloud models and SEDs for the combination that best
reproduces the observed line fluxes and NLR geometry. Our best fit model
reproduces the observed line fluxes to better than a factor of 2 on average and
is in general agreement with the observed NLR geometry. It has two gas
components that are consistent with a clumpy distribution of dense outflowing
gas in the center and a more extended distribution of less dense and more
clumpy gas farther out that has no net outflow. The best fit SED has a deep
trough at ~4 Ryd, which is consistent with an intrinsic Big Blue Bump that is
partially absorbed by ~6x10^19 cm^-2 of neutral hydrogen interior to the NLR.Comment: 15 pp, 4 figures, ApJ accepte
Spin injection and spin accumulation in all-metal mesoscopic spin valves
We study the electrical injection and detection of spin accumulation in
lateral ferromagnetic metal-nonmagnetic metal-ferromagnetic metal (F/N/F) spin
valve devices with transparent interfaces. Different ferromagnetic metals,
permalloy (Py), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni), are used as electrical spin
injectors and detectors. For the nonmagnetic metal both aluminium (Al) and
copper (Cu) are used. Our multi-terminal geometry allows us to experimentally
separate the spin valve effect from other magneto resistance signals such as
the anomalous magneto resistance (AMR) and Hall effects. We find that the AMR
contribution of the ferromagnetic contacts can dominate the amplitude of the
spin valve effect, making it impossible to observe the spin valve effect in a
'conventional' measurement geometry. In a 'non local' spin valve measurement we
are able to completely isolate the spin valve signal and observe clear spin
accumulation signals at T=4.2 K as well as at room temperature (RT). For
aluminum we obtain spin relaxation lengths (lambda_{sf}) of 1.2 mu m and 600 nm
at T=4.2 K and RT respectively, whereas for copper we obtain 1.0 mu m and 350
nm. The spin relaxation times tau_{sf} in Al and Cu are compared with theory
and results obtained from giant magneto resistance (GMR), conduction electron
spin resonance (CESR), anti-weak localization and superconducting tunneling
experiments. The spin valve signals generated by the Py electrodes (alpha_F
lambda_F=0.5 [1.2] nm at RT [T=4.2 K]) are larger than the Co electrodes
(alpha_F lambda_F=0.3 [0.7] nm at RT [T=4.2 K]), whereas for Ni (alpha_F
lambda_F<0.3 nm at RT and T=4.2 K) no spin signal is observed. These values are
compared to the results obtained from GMR experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PR
- …