Crystal growth and magnetic structure of MnBi2Te4

Millimeter-sized MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ single crystals are grown out of Bi-Te flux and characterized by measuring magnetic and transport properties, scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and spectroscopy (STS). The magnetic structure of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ below T$_N$ is determined by powder and single crystal neutron diffraction measurements. Below T$_N$=24\,K, Mn$^{2+}$ moments order ferromagnetically in the \textit{ab} plane but antiferromagnetically along the crystallographic \textit{c} axis. The ordered moment is 4.04(13) $\mu_{B}$/Mn at 10\,K and aligned along the crystallographic \textit{c}-axis. The electrical resistivity drops upon cooling across T$_N$ or when going across the metamagnetic transition in increasing fields below T$_N$. A critical scattering effect was observed in the vicinity of T$_N$ in the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity. However, A linear temperature dependence was observed for thermopower in the temperature range 2K-300K without any anomaly around T$_N$. These indicate that the magnetic order in Mn-Te layer has negligible effect on the electronic band structure, which makes possible the realization of proposed topological properties in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ after fine tuning of the electronic band structure

A natural-norm Successive Constraint Method for inf-sup lower bounds

We present a new approach for the construction of lower bounds for the inf-sup stability constants required in a posteriori error analysis of reduced basis approximations to affinely parametrized partial differential equations. We combine the “linearized” inf-sup statement of the natural-norm approach with the approximation procedure of the Successive Constraint Method (SCM): the former (natural-norm) provides an economical parameter expansion and local concavity in parameter—a small(er) optimization problem which enjoys intrinsic lower bound properties; the latter (SCM) provides a systematic optimization framework—a Linear Program (LP) relaxation which readily incorporates continuity and stability constraints. The natural-norm SCM requires a parameter domain decomposition: we propose a greedy algorithm for selection of the SCM control points as well as adaptive construction of the optimal subdomains. The efficacy of the natural-norm SCM is illustrated through numerical results for two types of non-coercive problems: the Helmholtz equation (for acoustics, elasticity, and electromagnetics), and the convection–diffusion equation.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Grant No. FA 9550-07-1-0425

Liquid-like thermal conduction in a crystalline solid

A solid conducts heat through both transverse and longitudinal acoustic phonons, but a liquid employs only longitudinal vibrations. Here, we report that the crystalline solid AgCrSe2 has liquid-like thermal conduction. In this compound, Ag atoms exhibit a dynamic duality that they are exclusively involved in intense low-lying transverse acoustic phonons while they also undergo local fluctuations inherent in an order-to-disorder transition occurring at 450 K. As a consequence of this extreme disorder-phonon coupling, transverse acoustic phonons become damped as approaching the transition temperature, above which they are not defined anymore because their lifetime is shorter than the relaxation time of local fluctuations. Nevertheless, the damped longitudinal acoustic phonon survives for thermal transport. This microscopic insight might reshape the fundamental idea on thermal transport properties of matter and facilitates the optimization of thermoelectrics.Comment: four figures, supplemental informatio

Mercury Contamination in Forest and Freshwater Ecosystems in the Northeastern United States

Eastern North America receives elevated atmospheric mercury deposition from a combination of local, regional, and global sources. Anthropogenic emissions originate largely from electric utilities, incinerators, and industrial processes. The mercury species in these emissions have variable atmospheric residence times, which influence their atmospheric transport and deposition patterns. Forested regions with a prevalence of wetlands and of unproductive surface waters promote high concentrations of mercury in freshwater biota and thus are particularly sensitive to mercury deposition. Through fish consumption, humans and wildlife are exposed to methylmercury, which markedly bioaccumulates up the freshwater food chain. Average mercury concentrations in yellow perch fillets exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s human health criterion across the region, and mercury concentrations are high enough in piscivorous wildlife to cause adverse behavioral, physiological, and reproductive effects. Initiatives are under way to decrease mercury emissions from electric utilities in the United States by roughly 70%

Electrical Control of Plasmon Resonance with Graphene

Surface plasmon, with its unique capability to concentrate light into sub-wavelength volume, has enabled great advances in photon science, ranging from nano-antenna and single-molecule Raman scattering to plasmonic waveguide and metamaterials. In many applications it is desirable to control the surface plasmon resonance in situ with electric field. Graphene, with its unique tunable optical properties, provides an ideal material to integrate with nanometallic structures for realizing such control. Here we demonstrate effective modulation of the plasmon resonance in a model system composed of hybrid graphene-gold nanorod structure. Upon electrical gating the strong optical transitions in graphene can be switched on and off, which leads to significant modulation of both the resonance frequency and quality factor of plasmon resonance in gold nanorods. Hybrid graphene-nanometallic structures, as exemplified by this combination of graphene and gold nanorod, provide a general and powerful way for electrical control of plasmon resonances. It holds promise for novel active optical devices and plasmonic circuits at the deep subwavelength scale

Recent breakthroughs in carrier depletion based silicon optical modulators

The majority of the most successful optical modulators in silicon demonstrated in recent years operate via the plasma dispersion effect and are more specifically based upon free carrier depletion in a silicon rib waveguide. In this work we overview the different types of free carrier depletion type optical modulators in silicon. A summary of some recent example devices for each configuration is then presented together with the performance that they have achieved. Finally an insight into some current research trends involving silicon based optical modulators is provided including integration, operation in the mid-infrared wavelength range and application in short and long haul data transmission link

Magnetic Coherence in Cuprate Superconductors

Recent inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments on La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ observed a {\it magnetic coherence effect}, i.e., strong frequency and momentum dependent changes of the spin susceptibility, $\chi''$, in the superconducting phase. We show that this effect is a direct consequence of changes in the damping of incommensurate antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations due to the appearance of a d-wave gap in the fermionic spectrum. Our theoretical results provide a quantitative explanation for the weak momentum dependence of the observed spin-gap. Moreover, we predict {\bf (a)} a Fermi surface in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ which is closed around $(\pi,\pi)$ up to optimal doping, and {\bf (b)} similar changes in $\chi''$ for all cuprates with an incommensurate magnetic response.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Fig.3 is in colo

Nkx2-5 and Sarcospan genetically interact in the development of the muscular ventricular septum of the heart

The muscular ventricular septum separates the flow of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood in air-breathing vertebrates. Defects within it, termed muscular ventricular septal defects (VSDs), are common, yet less is known about how they arise than rarer heart defects. Mutations of the cardiac transcription factor NKX2-5 cause cardiac malformations, including muscular VSDs. We describe here a genetic interaction between Nkx2-5 and Sarcospan (Sspn) that affects the risk of muscular VSD in mice. Sspn encodes a protein in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. Sspn knockout (Sspn(KO)) mice do not have heart defects, but Nkx2-5(+/−)/Sspn(KO) mutants have a higher incidence of muscular VSD than Nkx2-5(+/−) mice. Myofibers in the ventricular septum follow a stereotypical pattern that is disrupted around a muscular VSD. Subendocardial myofibers normally run in parallel along the left ventricular outflow tract, but in the Nkx2-5(+/−)/Sspn(KO) mutant they commonly deviate into the septum even in the absence of a muscular VSD. Thus, Nkx2-5 and Sspn act in a pathway that affects the alignment of myofibers during the development of the ventricular septum. The malalignment may be a consequence of a defect in the coalescence of trabeculae into the developing ventricular septum, which has been hypothesized to be the mechanistic basis of muscular VSDs