Morphology of PbTe crystal surface sputtered by argon plasma under Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry conditions

We have investigated morphology of the lateral surfaces of PbTe crystal samples grown from melt by the Bridgman method sputtered by Ar+ plasma with ion energy of 50-550 eV for 5-50 minutes under Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS) conditions. The sputtered PbTe crystal surface was found to be simultaneously both the source of sputtered material and the efficient substrate for re-deposition of the sputtered material during the depth profiling. During sputtering PbTe crystal surface is forming the dimple relief. To be redeposited the sputtered Pb and Te form arrays of the microscopic surface structures in the shapes of hillocks, pyramids, cones and others on the PbTe crystal sputtered surface. Correlation between the density of re-deposited microscopic surface structures, their shape, and average size, on the one hand, and the energy and duration of sputtering, on the other, is revealed

Magnetic and Superconducting Phase Diagram of Nb/Gd/Nb trilayers

We report on a study of the structural, magnetic and superconducting properties of Nb(25nm)/Gd($d_f$)/Nb(25nm) hybrid structures of a superconductor/ ferromagnet (S/F) type. The structural characterization of the samples, including careful determination of the layer thickness, was performed using neutron and X-ray scattering with the aid of depth sensitive mass-spectrometry. The magnetization of the samples was determined by SQUID magnetometry and polarized neutron reflectometry and the presence of magnetic ordering for all samples down to the thinnest Gd(0.8nm) layer was shown. The analysis of the neutron spin asymmetry allowed us to prove the absence of magnetically dead layers in junctions with Gd interlayer thickness larger than one monolayer. The measured dependence of the superconducting transition temperature $T_c(d_f)$ has a damped oscillatory behavior with well defined positions of the minimum at $d_f$=3nm and the following maximum at $d_f$=4nm; the behavior, which is in qualitative agreement with the prior work (J.S. Jiang et al, PRB 54, 6119). The analysis of the $T_c(d_f)$ dependence based on Usadel equations showed that the observed minimum at $d_f$=3nm can be described by the so called "$0$" to "$\pi$" phase transition of highly transparent S/F interfaces with the superconducting correlation length $\xi_f \approx 4$nm in Gd. This penetration length is several times higher than for strong ferromagnets like Fe, Co or Ni, simplifying thus preparation of S/F structures with $d_f \sim \xi_f$ which are of topical interest in superconducting spintronics

On the feasibility to study inverse proximity effect in a single S/F bilayer by Polarized Neutron Reflectometry

Here we report on a feasibility study aiming to explore the potential of Polarized Neutron Reflectometry (PNR) for detecting the inverse proximity effect in a single superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayer. Experiments, conducted on the V(40nm)/Fe(1nm) S/F bilayer, have shown that experimental spin asymmetry measured at T = 0.5TC is shifted towards higher Q values compared to the curve measured at T = 1.5TC. Such a shift can be described by the appearance in superconducting vanadium of magnetic sub-layer with thickness of 7 nm and magnetization of +0.8 kG.Comment: Changes in the 2nd version: small mistypes are corrected. Manuscript submitted to JETP let. 4 pages, 2 figure

Light-induced mass transport in amorphous chalcogenides: Towards surface plasmon-assisted nanolithography and near-field nanoimaging

Two types of amorphous functional materials, based on lightsensitive inorganic compounds like Se and As20Se80 chalcogenide glass (ChG) were investigated with the aim to establish the influence of plasmonic fields, excited by the band-gap light in nanocomposite layers made of these compounds and gold nanoparticles on their photomechanical response. Both these basic materials are characterized by pronounced photoplastic effect and used for real-time optical recording of optoelectronic elements (based mainly on surface relief gratings) due to high photofluidity and polarization-dependent masstransport. We established that mass-transport processes in these ChG can be enhanced in the presence of localized plasmonic fields generated by light if the condition of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is fulfilled. The subjects of special interest are the mass-transport processes at the nano-scale stimulated in the nano-copmosite layers of either by the uniform or periodically distributed optical fields. It was found that irradiation by light with SPR really enhance the efficiency of masstransport and produce surface nanostructurizations. The variation in the topography follows closely and permanently the underlying near field intensity pattern

Laser-induced optical changes in amorphous multilayers

It is shown that the well-known blue-shift of the fundamental absorption edge in as-deposited compositionally modulated amorphous Si/Ge and As6Se94/Se80Te20 multilayers (with periods of 4-8 nm) is further enhanced due to the thermal or laser-induced intermixing of adjacent layers. The laser-induced intermixing process, as supported by experiments and model calculations, can be attributed to both the local heating and photo-effects in As6Se94/Se80Te20 multilayers, while only the thermal effects were observed for Si/Ge multilayers. Structural transformations, based on this enhanced interdiffusion, provides good capability for spatially patterning optoelectronic devices and digital information recording

Adaptive response and enlargement of dynamic range

Many membrane channels and receptors exhibit adaptive, or desensitized, response to a strong sustained input stimulus, often supported by protein activity-dependent inactivation. Adaptive response is thought to be related to various cellular functions such as homeostasis and enlargement of dynamic range by background compensation. Here we study the quantitative relation between adaptive response and background compensation within a modeling framework. We show that any particular type of adaptive response is neither sufficient nor necessary for adaptive enlargement of dynamic range. In particular a precise adaptive response, where system activity is maintained at a constant level at steady state, does not ensure a large dynamic range neither in input signal nor in system output. A general mechanism for input dynamic range enlargement can come about from the activity-dependent modulation of protein responsiveness by multiple biochemical modification, regardless of the type of adaptive response it induces. Therefore hierarchical biochemical processes such as methylation and phosphorylation are natural candidates to induce this property in signaling systems.Comment: Corrected typos, minor text revision

Towards the development of a simulator for investigating the impact of people management practices on retail performance

               \ud           \ud 