Semiconducting-to-metallic photoconductivity crossover and temperature-dependent Drude weight in graphene

We investigated the transient photoconductivity of graphene at various gate-tuned carrier densities by optical-pump terahertz-probe spectroscopy. We demonstrated that graphene exhibits semiconducting positive photoconductivity near zero carrier density, which crosses over to metallic negative photoconductivity at high carrier density. Our observations are accounted for by considering the interplay between photo-induced changes of both the Drude weight and the carrier scattering rate. Notably, we observed multiple sign changes in the temporal photoconductivity dynamics at low carrier density. This behavior reflects the non-monotonic temperature dependence of the Drude weight, a unique property of massless Dirac fermions

Two-component radiation model of the sonoluminescing bubble

Based on the experimental data from Weninger, Putterman & Barber, Phys. Rev. (E), 54, R2205 (1996), we offer an alternative interpretation of their experimetal results. A model of sonoluminescing bubble which proposes that the electromagnetic radiation originates from two sources: the isotropic black body or bramsstrahlung emitting core and dipole radiation-emitting shell of accelerated electrons driven by the liquid-bubble interface is outlined.Comment: 5 pages Revtex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Optical characterization of Bi2_2Se3_3 in a magnetic field: infrared evidence for magnetoelectric coupling in a topological insulator material

We present an infrared magneto-optical study of the highly thermoelectric narrow-gap semiconductor Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Far-infrared and mid-infrared (IR) reflectance and transmission measurements have been performed in magnetic fields oriented both parallel and perpendicular to the trigonal $c$ axis of this layered material, and supplemented with UV-visible ellipsometry to obtain the optical conductivity $\sigma_1(\omega)$. With lowering of temperature we observe narrowing of the Drude conductivity due to reduced quasiparticle scattering, as well as the increase in the absorption edge due to direct electronic transitions. Magnetic fields $H \parallel c$ dramatically renormalize and asymmetrically broaden the strongest far-IR optical phonon, indicating interaction of the phonon with the continuum free-carrier spectrum and significant magnetoelectric coupling. For the perpendicular field orientation, electronic absorption is enhanced, and the plasma edge is slightly shifted to higher energies. In both cases the direct transition energy is softened in magnetic field.Comment: Final versio

Striving to Become a Better Teacher: Linking Teacher Emotions With Informal Teacher Learning Across the Teaching Career

The importance of informal teacher learning (ITL) to teaching effectiveness and student achievement has been repeatedly demonstrated, but there is limited research into the personal antecedents of ITL. We analyzed the relationships between teacher emotions and participation in five different kinds of ITL activities (learning through media, colleague interaction, stakeholder interaction, student interaction, and individual reflection) among 2,880 primary teachers (85.49% female) with a large range of teaching experience. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling revealed a positive association between enjoyment and engagement in all five ITL activities. Anxiety was found to be negatively related to colleague interaction and self-reflection, and anger was found to be negatively associated with student interaction. Furthermore, anxiety and anger were negatively related to teaching experience, whereas enjoyment was independent from teaching experience. Most ITL activities were positively related to teaching experience, except for stakeholder interaction. Implications for teacher training and intervention programs for in-service teachers are discussed

The impact on atmospheric CO2 of iron fertilization induced changes in the ocean's biological pump

© Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 5 (2008): 385-406, doi:10.5194/bg-5-385-2008Using numerical simulations, we quantify the impact of changes in the ocean's biological pump on the air-sea balance of CO2 by fertilizing a small surface patch in the high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll region of the eastern tropical Pacific with iron. Decade-long fertilization experiments are conducted in a basin-scale, eddy-permitting coupled physical/biogeochemical/ecological model. In contrast to previous studies, we find that most of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) removed from the euphotic zone by the enhanced biological export is replaced by uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Atmospheric uptake efficiencies, the ratio of the perturbation in air-sea CO2 flux to the perturbation in export flux across 100 m, integrated over 10 years, are 0.75 to 0.93 in our patch size-scale experiments. The atmospheric uptake efficiency is insensitive to the duration of the experiment. The primary factor controlling the atmospheric uptake efficiency is the vertical distribution of the enhanced biological production and export. Iron fertilization at the surface tends to induce production anomalies primarily near the surface, leading to high efficiencies. In contrast, mechanisms that induce deep production anomalies (e.g. altered light availability) tend to have a low uptake efficiency, since most of the removed DIC is replaced by lateral and vertical transport and mixing. Despite high atmospheric uptake efficiencies, patch-scale iron fertilization of the ocean's biological pump tends to remove little CO2 from the atmosphere over the decadal timescale considered here.The majority of this work was funded by the Office of Science (BER) of the US Department of Energy through Grant No. DE-FG03-00ER63010. Additional funding was provided by the Information and Technology Research section of the US National Science Foundation (NG, HF, and SD) and ETH Zurich (NG)