4,600 research outputs found
Ultraviolet Raman Spectroscopy of Single and Multi-layer Graphene
We investigated Raman spectra of single-layer and multi-layer graphene under
ultraviolet laser excitation at the wavelength of 325 nm. It was found that
while the G peak of graphene remains pronounced in UV Raman spectra, the 2D
band intensity undergoes severe quenching. The evolution of the ratio of the
intensities of the G and 2D peaks, I(G)/I(2D), as the number of graphene layers
n changes from n=1 to n=5, is different in UV Raman spectra from that in
conventional visible Raman spectra excited at the 488 nm and 633 nm
wavelengths. The 2D band under UV excitation shifts to larger wave numbers and
is found near 2825 1/cm. The observed UV Raman features of graphene were
explained by invoking the resonant scattering model. The obtained results
contribute to the Raman nanometrology of graphene by providing an additional
metric for determining the number of graphene layers and assessing its quality.Comment: 18 pages; 5 figures; submitted for publication on February 20, 200
Electronic, vibrational, and thermodynamic properties of ZnS (zincblende and rocksalt structure)
We have measured the specific heat of zincblende ZnS for several isotopic
compositions and over a broad temperature range (3 to 1100 K). We have compared
these results with calculations based on ab initio electronic band structures,
performed using both LDA and GGA exchange- correlation functionals. We have
compared the lattice dynamics obtained in this manner with experimental data
and have calculated the one-phonon and two-phonon densities of states. We have
also calculated mode Grueneisen parameters at a number of high symmetry points
of the Brillouin zone. The electronic part of our calculations has been used to
investigate the effect of the 3d core electrons of zinc on the spin-orbit
splitting of the top valence bands. The effect of these core electrons on the
band structure of the rock salt modification of ZnS is also discussed.Comment: 33pages, 16 Figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Role of the Fractalkine Receptor in CNS Autoimmune Inflammation: New Approach Utilizing a Mouse Model Expressing the Human CX3CR1
Multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) is the leading cause of non-traumatic neurological disability in young adults. Immune mediated destruction of myelin and oligodendrocytes is considered the primary pathology of MS, but progressive axonal loss is the major cause of neurological disability. In an effort to understand microglia function during CNS inflammation, our laboratory focuses on the fractalkine/CX3CR1 signaling as a regulator of microglia neurotoxicity in various models of neurodegeneration. Fractalkine (FKN) is a transmembrane chemokine expressed in the CNS by neurons and signals through its unique receptor CX3CR1 present in microglia. During experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), CX3CR1 deficiency confers exacerbated disease defined by severe inflammation and neuronal loss. The CX3CR1 human polymorphism I249/M280 present in ∼20% of the population exhibits reduced adhesion for FKN conferring defective signaling whose role in microglia function and influence on neurons during MS remains unsolved. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of weaker signaling through hCX3CR1I249/M280 during EAE. We hypothesize that dysregulated microglial responses due to impaired CX3CR1 signaling enhance neuronal/axonal damage. We generated an animal model replacing the mouse CX3CR1 locus for the hCX3CR1I249/M280 variant. Upon EAE induction, these mice exhibited exacerbated EAE correlating with severe inflammation and neuronal loss. We also observed that mice with aberrant CX3CR1 signaling are unable to produce FKN and ciliary neurotrophic factor during EAE in contrast to wild type mice. Our results provide validation of defective function of the hCX3CR1I249/M280 variant and the foundation to broaden the understanding of microglia dysfunction during neuroinflammation. © 2018 Cardona et al
Electron-phonon renormalization of the absorption edge of the cuprous halides
Compared to most tetrahedral semiconductors, the temperature dependence of
the absorption edges of the cuprous halides (CuCl, CuBr, CuI) is very small.
CuCl and CuBr show a small increase of the gap with increasing
temperature, with a change in the slope of vs. at around 150 K: above
this temperature, the variation of with becomes even smaller. This
unusual behavior has been clarified for CuCl by measurements of the low
temperature gap vs. the isotopic masses of both constituents, yielding an
anomalous negative shift with increasing copper mass. Here we report the
isotope effects of Cu and Br on the gap of CuBr, and that of Cu on the gap of
CuI. The measured isotope effects allow us to understand the corresponding
temperature dependences, which we also report, to our knowledge for the first
time, in the case of CuI. These results enable us to develop a more
quantitative understanding of the phenomena mentioned for the three halides,
and to interpret other anomalies reported for the temperature dependence of the
absorption gap in copper and silver chalcogenides; similarities to the behavior
observed for the copper chalcopyrites are also pointed out.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Process model comparison based on cophenetic distance
The automated comparison of process models has received increasing attention in the last decade, due to the growing existence of process models and repositories, and the consequent need to assess similarities between the underlying processes. Current techniques for process model comparison are either structural (based on graph edit
distances), or behavioural (through activity profiles or the analysis of the execution semantics). Accordingly, there is a gap between the quality of the information provided by these two families, i.e., structural techniques may be fast but inaccurate, whilst behavioural are accurate but complex. In this paper we present a novel technique, that is based on a well-known technique to compare labeled trees through the notion of Cophenetic distance. The technique lays between
the two families of methods for comparing a process model: it has an structural nature, but can provide accurate information on the differences/similarities of two process models. The experimental evaluation on various benchmarks sets are reported, that position the proposed technique as a valuable tool for process model comparison.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Fermi surface of MoO2 studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, de Haas-van Alphen measurements, and electronic structure calculations
A comprehensive study of the electronic properties of monoclinic MoO2 from
both an experimental and a theoretical point of view is presented. We focus on
the investigation of the Fermi body and the band structure using angle resolved
photoemission spectroscopy, de Haas-van Alphen measurements, and electronic
structure calculations. For the latter, the new full-potential augmented
spherical wave (ASW) method has been applied. Very good agreement between the
experimental and theoretical results is found. In particular, all Fermi surface
sheets are correctly identified by all three approaches. Previous controversies
concerning additional hole-like surfaces centered around the Z- and B-point
could be resolved; these surfaces were an artefact of the atomic-sphere
approximation used in the old calculations. Our results underline the
importance of electronic structure calculations for the understanding of MoO2
and the neighbouring rutile-type early transition-metal dioxides. This includes
the low-temperature insulating phases of VO2 and NbO2, which have crystal
structures very similar to that of molybdenum dioxide and display the
well-known prominent metal-insulator transitions.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figures, more information at
http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/~eyert
Electronic and phononic Raman scattering in detwinned YBaCuO and YCaBaCuO: s-wave admixture to the -wave order parameter
Inelastic light (Raman) scattering has been used to study electronic
excitations and phonon anomalies in detwinned, slightly overdoped
YBaCuO and moderately overdoped
YCaBaCuO single crystals. In both samples
modifications of the electronic pair-breaking peaks when interchanging the a-
and b-axis were observed. The lineshapes of several phonon modes involving
plane and apical oxygen vibrations exhibit pronounced anisotropies with respect
to the incident and scattered light field configurations. Based on a
theoretical model that takes both electronic and phononic contributions to the
Raman spectra into account, we attribute the anisotropy of the
superconductivity-induced changes in the phonon lineshapes to a small s-wave
admixture to the pair wave-function. Our theory allows us to
disentangle the electronic Raman signal from the phononic part and to identify
corresponding interference terms. We argue that the Raman spectra are
consistent with an s-wave admixture with an upper limit of 20 percent.Comment: accepted in Phys. Rev. B, 11 page
Far-infrared and submillimeter-wave conductivity in electron-doped cuprate La_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4
We performed far-infrared and submillimeter-wave conductivity experiments in
the electron-doped cuprate La_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4 with x = 0.081 (underdoped regime,
T_c = 25 K). The onset of the absorption in the superconducting state is
gradual in frequency and is inconsistent with the isotropic s-wave gap.
Instead, a narrow quasiparticle peak is observed at zero frequency and a second
peak at finite frequencies, clear fingerprints of the conductivity in a d-wave
superconductor. A far-infrared conductivity peak can be attributed to 4Delta_0,
or to 2Delta_0 + Delta_spin, where Delta_spin is the resonance frequency of the
spin-fluctuations. The infrared conductivity as well as the suppression of the
quasiparticle scattering rate below T_c are qualitatively similar to the
results in the hole-doped cuprates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures include
Electronic structure and optical properties of ZnX (X=O, S, Se, Te)
Electronic band structure and optical properties of zinc monochalcogenides
with zinc-blende- and wurtzite-type structures were studied using the ab initio
density functional method within the LDA, GGA, and LDA+U approaches.
Calculations of the optical spectra have been performed for the energy range
0-20 eV, with and without including spin-orbit coupling. Reflectivity,
absorption and extinction coefficients, and refractive index have been computed
from the imaginary part of the dielectric function using the Kramers--Kronig
transformations. A rigid shift of the calculated optical spectra is found to
provide a good first approximation to reproduce experimental observations for
almost all the zinc monochalcogenide phases considered. By inspection of the
calculated and experimentally determined band-gap values for the zinc
monochalcogenide series, the band gap of ZnO with zinc-blende structure has
been estimated.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
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