373 research outputs found
Princess and the Pea at the nanoscale: Wrinkling and delamination of graphene on nanoparticles
Thin membranes exhibit complex responses to external forces or geometrical
constraints. A familiar example is the wrinkling, exhibited by human skin,
plant leaves, and fabrics, resulting from the relative ease of bending versus
stretching. Here, we study the wrinkling of graphene, the thinnest and stiffest
known membrane, deposited on a silica substrate decorated with silica
nanoparticles. At small nanoparticle density monolayer graphene adheres to the
substrate, detached only in small regions around the nanoparticles. With
increasing nanoparticle density, we observe the formation of wrinkles which
connect nanoparticles. Above a critical nanoparticle density, the wrinkles form
a percolating network through the sample. As the graphene membrane is made
thicker, global delamination from the substrate is observed. The observations
can be well understood within a continuum elastic model and have important
implications for strain-engineering the electronic properties of graphene.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review
High-fidelity conformation of graphene to SiO2 topographic features
Strain engineering of graphene through interaction with a patterned substrate
offers the possibility of tailoring its electronic properties, but will require
detailed understanding of how graphene's morphology is determined by the
underlying substrate. However, previous experimental reports have drawn
conflicting conclusions about the structure of graphene on SiO2. Here we show
that high-resolution non-contact atomic force microscopy of SiO2 reveals
roughness at the few-nm length scale unresolved in previous measurements, and
scanning tunneling microscopy of graphene on SiO2 shows it to be slightly
smoother than the supporting SiO2 substrate. Quantitative analysis of the
competition between bending rigidity of the graphene and adhesion to the
substrate explains the observed roughness of monolayer graphene on SiO2 as
extrinsic, and provides a natural, intuitive description in terms of highly
conformal adhesion. The analysis indicates that graphene adopts the
conformation of the underlying substrate down to the smallest features with
nearly 99% fidelity.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures plus supplemental informatio
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Implementation of and Early Outcomes From Anal Cancer Screening at a Community-Engaged Health Care Facility Providing Care to Nigerian Men Who Have Sex With Men.
PurposeAnal cancer risk is substantially higher among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) as compared with other reproductive-age adults, but screening is rare across sub-Saharan Africa. We report the use of high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) as a first-line screening tool and the resulting early outcomes among MSM in Abuja, Nigeria.MethodsFrom August 2016 to August 2017, 424 MSM enrolled in an anal cancer screening substudy of TRUST/RV368, a combined HIV prevention and treatment cohort. HRA-directed biopsies were diagnosed by histology, and ablative treatment was offered for high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). HRA proficiency was assessed by evaluating the detection of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) over time and the proportion biopsied. Prevalence estimates of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and HSIL with 95% CIs were calculated. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify those at the highest risk of SIL.ResultsMedian age was 25 years (interquartile range [IQR], 22-29), median time since sexual debut was 8 years (IQR, 4-12), and 59% (95% CI, 54.2% to 63.6%) were HIV infected. Rate of detection of any SIL stabilized after 200 screenings, and less than 20% had two or more biopsies. Preliminary prevalence estimates of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and HSIL were 50.0% (95% CI, 44.7% to 55.3%) and 6.3% (95% CI, 4.0% to 9.3%). HIV infection, at least 8 years since anal coital debut, concurrency, and external warts were independently statistically associated with SIL.ConclusionProficiency with HRA increased with experience over time. However, HSIL detection rates were low, potentially affected by obstructed views from internal warts and low biopsy rates, highlighting the need for ongoing evaluation and mentoring to validate this finding. HRA is a feasible first-line screening tool at an MSM-friendly health care facility. Years since anal coital debut and external warts could prioritize screening
CfAIR2: Near Infrared Light Curves of 94 Type Ia Supernovae
CfAIR2 is a large homogeneously reduced set of near-infrared (NIR) light
curves for Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) obtained with the 1.3m Peters Automated
InfraRed Imaging TELescope (PAIRITEL). This data set includes 4607 measurements
of 94 SN Ia and 4 additional SN Iax observed from 2005-2011 at the Fred
Lawrence Whipple Observatory on Mount Hopkins, Arizona. CfAIR2 includes JHKs
photometric measurements for 88 normal and 6 spectroscopically peculiar SN Ia
in the nearby universe, with a median redshift of z~0.021 for the normal SN Ia.
CfAIR2 data span the range from -13 days to +127 days from B-band maximum. More
than half of the light curves begin before the time of maximum and the coverage
typically contains ~13-18 epochs of observation, depending on the filter. We
present extensive tests that verify the fidelity of the CfAIR2 data pipeline,
including comparison to the excellent data of the Carnegie Supernova Project.
CfAIR2 contributes to a firm local anchor for supernova cosmology studies in
the NIR. Because SN Ia are more nearly standard candles in the NIR and are less
vulnerable to the vexing problems of extinction by dust, CfAIR2 will help the
supernova cosmology community develop more precise and accurate extragalactic
distance probes to improve our knowledge of cosmological parameters, including
dark energy and its potential time variation.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, 10 tables. Accepted to ApJS. v2 modified to
more closely match journal versio
An On/Off Berry Phase Switch in Circular Graphene Resonators
The phase of a quantum state may not return to its original value after the
system's parameters cycle around a closed path; instead, the wavefunction may
acquire a measurable phase difference called the Berry phase. Berry phases
typically have been accessed through interference experiments. Here, we
demonstrate an unusual Berry-phase-induced spectroscopic feature: a sudden and
large increase in the energy of angular-momentum states in circular graphene
p-n junction resonators when a small critical magnetic field is reached. This
behavior results from turning on a -Berry phase associated with the
topological properties of Dirac fermions in graphene. The Berry phase can be
switched on and off with small magnetic field changes on the order of 10 mT,
potentially enabling a variety of optoelectronic graphene device applications
Strain Engineering a Charge Density Wave Phase in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide 1T-VSe
We report a rectangular charge density wave (CDW) phase in strained
1T-VSe thin films synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy on c-sapphire
substrates. The observed CDW structure exhibits an unconventional rectangular
4a{\times}{\sqrt{3a}} periodicity, as opposed to the previously reported
hexagonal structure in bulk crystals and exfoliated thin layered
samples. Tunneling spectroscopy shows a strong modulation of the local density
of states of the same CDW periodicity and an energy gap of
meV. The CDW energy gap evolves into a full gap at
temperatures below 500 mK, indicating a transition to an insulating phase at
ultra-low temperatures. First-principles calculations confirm the stability of
both and structures arising from soft modes in
the phonon dispersion. The unconventional structure becomes preferred in the
presence of strain, in agreement with experimental findings
Using multiple household food inventories to measure food availability in the home over 30 days: a pilot study
First radial velocity results from the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)
The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a dedicated
observatory of four 0.7m robotic telescopes fiber-fed to a KiwiSpec
spectrograph. The MINERVA mission is to discover super-Earths in the habitable
zones of nearby stars. This can be accomplished with MINERVA's unique
combination of high precision and high cadence over long time periods. In this
work, we detail changes to the MINERVA facility that have occurred since our
previous paper. We then describe MINERVA's robotic control software, the
process by which we perform 1D spectral extraction, and our forward modeling
Doppler pipeline. In the process of improving our forward modeling procedure,
we found that our spectrograph's intrinsic instrumental profile is stable for
at least nine months. Because of that, we characterized our instrumental
profile with a time-independent, cubic spline function based on the profile in
the cross dispersion direction, with which we achieved a radial velocity
precision similar to using a conventional "sum-of-Gaussians" instrumental
profile: 1.8 m s over 1.5 months on the RV standard star HD 122064.
Therefore, we conclude that the instrumental profile need not be perfectly
accurate as long as it is stable. In addition, we observed 51 Peg and our
results are consistent with the literature, confirming our spectrograph and
Doppler pipeline are producing accurate and precise radial velocities.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PASP, Peer-Reviewed and Accepte
High-velocity outflows in massive post-starburst galaxies at z > 1
We investigate the prevalence of galactic-scale outflows in post-starburst (PSB) galaxies at high redshift (1 1010M⊙) PSBs at z > 1, there is clear evidence for a strong blue-shifted component to the Mg ii absorption feature, indicative of high-velocity outflows (vout∼1150±160kms−1) in the interstellar medium. We conclude that such outflows are typical in massive PSBs at this epoch, and potentially represent the residual signature of a feedback process that quenched these galaxies. Using full spectral fitting, we also obtain a typical stellar velocity dispersion σ* for these PSBs of ∼200kms−1, which confirms they are intrinsically massive in nature (dynamical mass Md∼1011M⊙). Given that these high-z PSBs are also exceptionally compact (re ∼ 1–2kpc) and spheroidal (Sérsic index n ∼ 3), we propose that the outflowing winds may have been launched during a recent compaction event (e.g. major merger or disc collapse) that triggered either a centralized starburst or active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity. Finally, we find no evidence for AGN signatures in the optical spectra of these PSBs, suggesting they were either quenched by stellar feedback from the starburst itself, or that if AGN feedback is responsible, the AGN episode that triggered quenching does not linger into the post-starburst phase.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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