30 research outputs found
Absence of confinement in (SrTiO3)/(SrTi0:8Nb0:2O3) superlattices
The reduction of dimensionality is an efficient pathway to boost the
performances of thermoelectric materials, it leads to the quantum confinement
of the carriers and thus to large Seebeck coefficients (S) and it also
suppresses the thermal conductivity by increasing the phonon scattering
processes. However, quantum confinement in superlattices is not always easy to
achieve and needs to be carefully validated. In the past decade, large values
of S have been measured in (SrTiO3)/(SrTi0:8Nb0:2O3) superlattices (Nat. Mater.
6, 129 (2007) and Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 192105 (2007)). In the -doped
compound, the measured S was almost 6 times larger than that of the bulk
material. This huge increase has been attributed to the two dimensional
confinement of the carriers in the doped regions. In this work, we demonstrate
that the experimental data can be well explained quantitatively within the
scenario in which electrons are delocalized in both in-plane and growth
directions, hence strongly suggesting that the confinement picture in these
superlattices may be unlikely.Comment: 5 figures, manuscript submitte
Unified modelling of the thermoelectric properties in SrTiO3
Thermoelectric materials are opening a promising pathway to address energy
conversion issues governed by a competition between thermal and electronic
transport. Improving the efficiency is a difficult task, a challenge that
requires new strategies to unearth optimized compounds. We present a theory of
thermoelectric transport in electron doped SrTiO3, based on a realistic tight
binding model that includes relevant scattering processes. We compare our
calculations against a wide panel of experimental data, both bulk and thin
films. We find a qualitative and quantitative agreement over both a wide range
of temperatures and carrier concentrations, from light to heavily doped.
Moreover, the results appear insensitive to the nature of the dopant La, B, Gd
and Nb. Thus, the quantitative success found in the case of SrTiO3, reveals an
efficient procedure to explore new routes to improve the thermoelectric
properties in oxides.Comment: 5 figures, manuscript submitte
The role of the dopant in the superconductivity of diamond
We present an {\it ab initio} study of the recently discovered
superconductivity of boron doped diamond within the framework of a
phonon-mediated pairing mechanism. The role of the dopant, in substitutional
position, is unconventional in that half of the coupling parameter
originates in strongly localized defect-related vibrational modes, yielding a
very peaked Eliashberg function. The electron-phonon
coupling potential is found to be extremely large and T is limited by the
low value of the density of states at the Fermi level
Intrinsic Low Temperature Paramagnetism in B-DNA
We present experimental study of magnetization in -DNA in
conjunction with structural measurements. The results show the surprising
interplay between the molecular structures and their magnetic property. In the
B-DNA state, -DNA exhibits paramagnetic behaviour below 20 K that is
non-linear in applied magnetic field whereas in the A-DNA state, remains
diamagnetic down to 2 K. We propose orbital paramagnetism as the origin of the
observed phenomena and discuss its relation to the existence of long range
coherent transport in B-DNA at low temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters October 200
Tip-functionalized carbon nanotubes under electric fields
We investigated the electronic structures of chemically modified carbon nanotube tips under electric fields using density functional calculations. Hydrogen, oxygen, and hydroxyl group-terminated nanotubes have been considered as field emitters or probe tips. In the case of the open-ended tubes, the field emission originates primarily from the dangling-bond states localized at the edge, whereas the pentagonal defects are the main source of the field emission in the capped tubes. The open-ended nanotube with a zigzag edge is an efficient field emitter because of the localized electronic states around the Fermi level and the atomic alignment of carbon-carbon bonds along with external electric fields. Tip functionalization alters the local density of states as well as the chemical selectivity of nanotubes in various ways. The correlations between atomic geometries of chemically functionalized tips and their electronic structures are further discussed. We propose that a hydrogen-terminated tube would be a promising probe tip for selective chemical imaging.open252
Special electronic structures and quantum conduction of B/P co-doping carbon nanotubes under electric field using the first principle
Boron (B)/phosphorus (P) doped single wall carbon nanotubes (B-PSWNTs) are
studied by using the First- Principle method based on density function theory
(DFT). Mayer bond order, band structure, electrons density and density of
states are calculated. It concludes that the B-PSWNTs have special band
structure which is quite different from BN nanotubes, and that metallic carbon
nanotubes will be converted to semiconductor due to boron/phosphorus co-doping
which breaks the symmetrical structure. The bonding forms in B-PSWNTs are
investigated in detail. Besides, Mulliken charge population and the quantum
conductance are also calculated to study the quantum transport characteristics
of B-PSWNT hetero-junction. It is found that the position of p-n junction in
this hetero-junction will be changed as the applied electric field increase and
it performs the characteristics of diode.Comment: 11 pages, 6 fiugres, 2 table
Chemically-induced Mobility Gaps in Graphene Nanoribbons: A Route for Upscaling Device Performances
We report a first-principles based study of mesoscopic quantum transport in
chemically doped graphene nanoribbons with a width up to 10 nm. The occurrence
of quasibound states related to boron impurities results in mobility gaps as
large as 1 eV, driven by strong electron-hole asymmetrical backscattering
phenomena. This phenomenon opens new ways to overcome current limitations of
graphene-based devices through the fabrication of chemically-doped graphene
nanoribbons with sizes within the reach of conventional lithography.Comment: Nano Letters (in press
FYVE-Dependent Endosomal Targeting of an Arrestin-Related Protein in Amoeba
International audienceBACKGROUND: Visual and β-arrestins are scaffolding proteins involved in the regulation of receptor-dependent intracellular signaling and their trafficking. The arrestin superfamilly includes several arrestin domain-containing proteins and the structurally related protein Vps26. In Dictyostelium discoideum, the arrestin-domain containing proteins form a family of six members, namely AdcA to -F. In contrast to canonical arrestins, Dictyostelium Adc proteins show a more complex architecture, as they possess, in addition to the arrestin core, other domains, such as C2, FYVE, LIM, MIT and SAM, which potentially mediate selective interactions with either lipids or proteins. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A detailed analysis of AdcA has been performed. AdcA extends on both sides of the arrestin core, in particular by a FYVE domain which mediates selective interactions with PI(3)P, as disclosed by intrinsic fluorescence measurements and lipid overlay assays. Localization studies showed an enrichment of tagged- and endogenous AdcA on the rim of early macropinosomes and phagosomes. This vesicular distribution relies on a functional FYVE domain. Our data also show that the arrestin core binds the ADP-ribosylation factor ArfA, the unique amoebal Arf member, in its GDP-bound conformation. SIGNIFICANCE: This work describes one of the 6 arrestin domain-containing proteins of Dictyostelium, a novel and atypical member of the arrestin clan. It provides the basis for a better understanding of arrestin-related protein involvement in trafficking processes and for further studies on the expanding roles of arrestins in eukaryotes