Asymmetry in fatigue and recovery in ferroelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin-film capacitors

We investigate the fatigue and refreshment by dc-electrical field of the electrical properties of Pt/Pb(Ti,Zr)O$_3$/Pt ferroelectric capacitors. We find an asymmetry in the refreshment, that is, the fatigued state can be refreshed by application of negative high dc-voltage to the top electrode, but no refreshment is measured by positive dc-voltage application. We also find that the fatigue can be prevented by driving the capacitor asymmetrically.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Direct Measurements of Magnetic Twist in the Solar Corona

In the present work we study evolution of magnetic helicity in the solar corona. We compare the rate of change of a quantity related to the magnetic helicity in the corona to the flux of magnetic helicity through the photosphere and find that the two rates are similar. This gives observational evidence that helicity flux across the photosphere is indeed what drives helicity changes in solar corona during emergence. For the purposes of estimating coronal helicity we neither assume a strictly linear force-free field, nor attempt to construct a non-linear force-free field. For each coronal loop evident in Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) we find a best-matching line of a linear force-free field and allow the twist parameter alpha to be different for each line. This method was introduced and its applicability was discussed in Malanushenko et. al. (2009). The object of the study is emerging and rapidly rotating AR 9004 over about 80 hours. As a proxy for coronal helicity we use the quantity averaged over many reconstructed lines of magnetic field. We argue that it is approximately proportional to "flux-normalized" helicity H/Phi^2, where H is helicity and Phi is total enclosed magnetic flux of the active region. The time rate of change of such quantity in the corona is found to be about 0.021 rad/hr, which is compatible with the estimates for the same region obtained using other methods Longcope et. al. (2007), who estimated the flux of normalized helicity of about 0.016 rad/hr

Intensity and Doppler velocity oscillations in pore atmospheres

We have investigated chromospheric traveling features running across two merged pores from their centers at speeds of about 55 km s−1, in the active region AR 11828. The pores were observed on 2013 August 24 by using high-time, spatial, and spectral resolution data from the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph of the 1.6 m New Solar Telescope. We infer a line-of-sight (LOS) velocity by applying the lambdameter method to the Ca ii 8542 Å band and Hα band, and investigate intensity and LOS velocity changes at different wavelengths and different positions at the pores. We find that they have three-minute oscillations, and the intensity oscillation from the line center (0.0 $\overset{\circ}{\rm A}$) is preceded by that from the core (−0.3 $\overset{\circ}{\rm A}$) of the bands. There is no phase difference between the intensity and the LOS velocity oscillations at a given wavelength. The amplitude of LOS velocity from the near core spectra (${\Delta }\lambda =0.10-0.21\;\overset{\circ}{\rm A}$) is greater than that from the far core spectra (${\Delta }\lambda =0.24-0.36\;\overset{\circ}{\rm A}$). These results support the interpretation of the observed wave as a slow magnetoacoustic wave propagating along the magnetic field lines in the pores. The apparent horizontal motion and a sudden decrease of its speed beyond the pores can be explained by the projection effect caused by inclination of the magnetic field with a canopy structure. We conclude that the observed wave properties of the pores are quite similar to those from the sunspot observations

Large 1/f noise of unipolar resistance switching and its percolating nature

We investigated the 1/f noise of Pt/NiO/Pt capacitors that show unipolar resistance switching. When they were switched from the low to high resistance states, the power spectral density of the voltage fluctuation was increased by approximately five orders of magnitude. At 100 K, the relative resistance fluctuation, SR/R2, in the low resistance state displayed a power law dependence on the resistance R with exponent w = 1.6. This behavior can be explained by percolation theory; however, at higher temperatures or near the switching voltage, SR/R2 becomes enhanced further. This large 1/f noise can be therefore an important problem in the development of resistance random access memory devices.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Epidermal Langerhans Cells Rapidly Capture and Present Antigens from C-Type Lectin-Targeting Antibodies Deposited in the Dermis

Antigen-presenting cells can capture antigens that are deposited in the skin, including vaccines given subcutaneously. These include different dendritic cells (DCs) such as epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs), dermal DCs, and dermal langerin+ DCs. To evaluate access of dermal antigens to skin DCs, we used mAb to two C-type lectin endocytic receptors, DEC-205/CD205 and langerin/CD207. When applied to murine and human skin explant cultures, these mAbs were efficiently taken up by epidermal LCs. In addition, anti-DEC-205 targeted langerin+ CD103+ and langerin− CD103− mouse dermal DCs. Unexpectedly, intradermal injection of either mAb, but not isotype control, resulted in strong and rapid labeling of LCs in situ, implying that large molecules can diffuse through the basement membrane into the epidermis. Epidermal LCs targeted in vivo by ovalbumin-coupled anti-DEC-205 potently presented antigen to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in vitro. However, to our surprise, LCs targeted through langerin were unable to trigger T-cell proliferation. Thus, epidermal LCs have a major function in uptake of lectin-binding antibodies under standard vaccination conditions

Mechanical Control of Spin States in Spin-1 Molecules and the Underscreened Kondo Effect

The ability to make electrical contact to single molecules creates opportunities to examine fundamental processes governing electron flow on the smallest possible length scales. We report experiments in which we controllably stretch individual cobalt complexes having spin S = 1, while simultaneously measuring current flow through the molecule. The molecule's spin states and magnetic anisotropy were manipulated in the absence of a magnetic field by modification of the molecular symmetry. This control enabled quantitative studies of the underscreened Kondo effect, in which conduction electrons only partially compensate the molecular spin. Our findings demonstrate a mechanism of spin control in single-molecule devices and establish that they can serve as model systems for making precision tests of correlated-electron theories.Comment: main text: 5 pages, 4 figures; supporting information attached; to appear in Science