164 research outputs found
High In-content InGaN layers synthesized by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy: growth conditions, strain relaxation and In incorporation kinetics
We report the interplay between In incorporation and strain relaxation
kinetics in high-In-content InxGa1-xN (x = 0.3) layers grown by plasma-assisted
molecular-beam epitaxy. For In mole fractions x = 0.13-0.48, best structural
and morphological quality is obtained under In excess conditions, at In
accumulation limit, and at a growth temperature where InGaN decomposition is
active. Under such conditions, in situ and ex situ analysis of the evolution of
the crystalline structure with the growth thickness points to an onset of
misfit relaxation after the growth of 40 nm, and a gradual relaxation during
more than 200 nm which results in an inhomogeneous strain distribution along
the growth axis. This process is associated with a compositional pulling
effect, i.e. indium incorporation is partially inhibited in presence of
compressive strain, resulting in a compositional gradient with increasing In
mole fraction towards the surface
Raman signatures of classical and quantum phases in coupled dots: A theoretical prediction
We study electron molecules in realistic vertically coupled quantum dots in a
strong magnetic field. Computing the energy spectrum, pair correlation
functions, and dynamical form factor as a function of inter-dot coupling via
diagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian, we identify structural
transitions between different phases, some of which do not have a classical
counterpart. The calculated Raman cross section shows how such phases can be
experimentally singled out.Comment: 9 pages, 2 postscript figures, 1 colour postscript figure, Latex 2e,
Europhysics Letters style and epsfig macros. Submitted to Europhysics Letter
Enhancing single-molecule photostability by optical feedback from quantum-jump detection
We report an optical technique that yields an enhancement of single-molecule
photostability, by greatly suppressing photobleaching pathways which involve
photoexcitation from the triplet state. This is accomplished by dynamically
switching off the excitation laser when a quantum-jump of the molecule to the
triplet state is optically detected. This procedure leads to a lengthened
single-molecule observation time and an increased total number of detected
photons. The resulting improvement in photostability unambiguously confirms the
importance of photoexcitation from the triplet state in photobleaching
dynamics, and may allow the investigation of new phenomena at the
single-molecule level
Effective absorption correction for energy dispersive X-ray mapping in a scanning transmission electron microscope: analyzing the local indium distribution in rough samples of InGaN alloy layers
We have applied our previous method of self-consistent k*-factors for absorption correction in energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to quantify the indium content in X-ray maps of thick compound InGaN layers. The method allows us to quantify the indium concentration without measuring the sample thickness, density or beam current, and works even if there is a drastic local thickness change due to sample roughness or preferential thinning. The method is shown to select, point-by-point in a two-dimensional spectrum image or map, the k*-factor from the local Ga K/L intensity ratio that is most appropriate for the corresponding sample geometry, demonstrating it is not the sample thickness measured along the electron beam direction but the optical path length the X-rays have to travel through the sample that is relevant for the absorption correction
Combination of electron energy-loss spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to determine indium concentration in InGaN thin film structures
We demonstrate a method to determine the indium concentration, x, of In x Ga1-x N thin films by combining plasmon excitation studies in electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) with a novel way of quantification of the intensity of x-ray lines in energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). The plasmon peak in EELS of InGaN is relatively broad. We fitted a Lorentz function to the main plasmon peak to suppress noise and the influence from the neighboring Ga 3d transition in the spectrum, which improves the precision in the evaluation of the plasmon peak position. As the indium concentration of InGaN is difficult to control during high temperature growth due to partial In desorption, the nominal indium concentrations provided by the growers were not considered reliable. The indium concentration obtained from EDXS quantification using Oxford Instrument ISIS 300 x-ray standard quantification software often did not agree with the nominal indium concentration, and quantification using K and L lines was inconsistent. We therefore developed a self-consistent iterative procedure to determine the In content from thickness-dependent k-factors, as described in recent work submitted to Journal of Microscopy. When the plasmon peak position is plotted versus the indium concentration from EDXS we obtain a linear relationship over the whole compositional range, and the standard error from linear least-squares fitting shows that the indium concentration can be determined from the plasmon peak position to within Îx = ± 0.037 standard deviation
Illustration of quantum complementarity using single photons interfering on a grating
A recent experiment performed by S. S. Afshar et al. has been interpreted as
a violation of Bohr's complementarity principle between interference visibility
and which-path information in a two-path interferometer. We have reproduced
this experiment, using true single-photon pulses propagating in a two-path
wavefront- splitting interferometer realized with a Fresnel's biprism, and
followed by a grating with adjustable transmitting slits. The measured values
of interference visibility V and which-path information, characterized by the
distinguishability parameter D, are found to obey the complementarity relation
V^2+D^2=<1. This result demonstrates that the experiment can be perfectly
explained by the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Phosphoribulokinase abundance is not limiting the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Improving photosynthetic efficiency in plants and microalgae is of utmost importance to support the growing world population and to enable the bioproduction of energy and chemicals. Limitations in photosynthetic light conversion efficiency can be directly attributed to kinetic bottlenecks within the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (CBBC) responsible for carbon fixation. A better understanding of these bottlenecks in vivo is crucial to overcome these limiting factors through bio-engineering. The present study is focused on the analysis of phosphoribulokinase ( PRK) in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We have characterized a PRK knock-out mutant strain and showed that in the absence of PRK, Chlamydomonas cannot grow photoautotrophically while functional complementation with a synthetic construct allowed restoration of photoautotrophy. Nevertheless, using standard genetic elements, the expression of PRK was limited to 40% of the reference level in complemented strains and could not restore normal growth in photoautotrophic conditions suggesting that the CBBC is limited. We were subsequently able to overcome this initial limitation by improving the design of the transcriptional unit expressing PRK using diverse combinations of DNA parts including PRK endogenous promoter and introns. This enabled us to obtain strains with PRK levels comparable to the reference strain and even overexpressing strains. A collection of strains with PRK levels between 16% and 250% of WT PRK levels was generated and characterized. Immunoblot and growth assays revealed that a PRK content of approximate to 86% is sufficient to fully restore photoautotrophic growth. This result suggests that PRK is present in moderate excess in Chlamydomonas. Consistently, the overexpression of PRK did not increase photosynthetic growth indicating that that the endogenous level of PRK in Chlamydomonas is not limiting the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle under optimal conditions
Search for Direct CP Violation in Non-Leptonic Decays of Charged and Hyperons
A search for direct CP violation in the non-leptonic decays of hyperons has
been performed. In comparing the product of the decay parameters,
, in terms of an asymmetry parameter,
, between hyperons and anti-hyperons in the charged and decay sequence, we found no evidence of
direct CP violations. The parameter was measured to be .Comment: Submitted for publication; RevTex, 13 pages, 4 figure
Neutral weak currents in pion electroproduction on the nucleon
Parity violating asymmetry in inclusive scattering of longitudinally
polarized electrons by unpolarized protons with or meson
production, is calculated as a function of the momentum transfer squared
and the total energy of the -system. This asymmetry, which is
induced by the interference of the one-photon exchange amplitude with the
parity-odd part of the -exchange amplitude, is calculated for the
processes ( is a virtual photon and
a virtual Z-boson) considering the -contribution in the channel,
the standard Born contributions and vector meson ( and )
exchanges in the channel. Taking into account the known isotopic properties
of the hadron electromagnetic and neutral currents, we show that the P-odd term
is the sum of two contributions. The main term is model independent and it can
be calculated exactly in terms of fundamental constants. It is found to be
linear in . The second term is a relatively small correction which is
determined by the isoscalar component of the electromagnetic current. Near
threshold and in the -region, this isoscalar part is much smaller (in
absolute value) than the isovector one: its contribution to the asymmetry
depend on the polarization state (longitudinal or transverse) of the virtual
photon.Comment: 30 pages 9 figure
Measurement of Decay Parameters for Decay
Based on 1.35 million polarized events, we measure the parameter
to be for
decay. New results for the parameters
and are also presented. Assuming that the
CP-violating phase-shift difference is negligible, we deduce the strong
phase-shift difference between the P-wave and S-wave amplitudes of the
final state to be . This strong phase-shift difference reduces the theoretical
uncertainty in estimating the level of CP violation in -hyperon decay.Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letter
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