855 research outputs found
Criticality experiments with planar arrays of three-liter bottles containing plutonium nitrate solution
The objective of these experiments was to provide benchmark data to validate calculational codes used in critically safety assessments of plant configurations. Arrays containing up to as many as sixteen three-liter bottles filled with plutonium nitrate were used in the experiments. A split-table device was used in the final assembly of the arrays. Ths planar arrays were reflected with close fitting plexiglas on each side and on the bottom but not the top surface. The experiments addressed a number of factors effecting criticality: the critical air gap between bottles in an array of fixed number of bottles, the number of bottles required for criticality if the bottles were touching, and the effect on critical array spacing and critical bottle number due to the insertion of an hydrogeneous substance into the air gap between bottles. Each bottle contained about 2.4l of Pu(NO{sub 3}){sub 4} solution at a Pu concentration of 105g Pu/l, with the {sup 240}Pu content being 2.9 wt% at a free acid molarity H{sup +} of 5.1. After the initial series of experiments were performed with bottles separated by air gaps, plexiglas shells of varying thicknesses were placed around each bottle to investigate how moderation between bottles affects both the number of bottles required for criticality and the critical spacing between each bottle. The minimum of bottles required for criticality was found to be 10.9 bottles, occurring for a square array with bottles in contact. As the bottles were spaced apart, the critical number increased. For sixteen bottles in a square array, the critical separation between surfaces in both x and y direction was 0.96 cm. The addition of plexiglas around each bottle decreased the critical bottle number, compared to those separated in air, but the critical bottle number, even with interstitial plastic in place was always greater than 10.9 bottles. The most reactive configuration was a tightly packed array of bottles with no intervening material
Two different quasiparticle scattering rates in vortex line liquid phase of layered d-wave superconductors
We carry out a quantum mechanical analysis of the behavior of nodal
quasiparticles in the vortex line liquid phase of planar d-wave
superconductors. Applying a novel path integral technique we calculate a number
of experimentally relevant observables and demonstrate that in the low-field
regime the quasiparticle scattering rates deduced from photoemission and
thermal transport data can be markedly different from that extracted from
tunneling, specific heat, superfluid stiffness or spin-lattice relaxation time.Comment: Latex, 4 pages, no figure
Microwave Conductivity due to Scattering from Extended Linear Defects in d-Wave Superconductors
Recent microwave conductivity measurements of detwinned, high-purity,
slightly overdoped YBaCuO crystals reveal a linear
temperature dependence and a near-Drude lineshape for temperatures between 1
and 20 K and frequencies ranging from 1 to 75 GHz. Prior theoretical work has
shown that simple models of scattering by point defects (impurities) in d-wave
superconductors are inconsistent with these results. It has therefore been
suggested that scattering by extended defects such as twin boundary remnants,
left over from the detwinning process, may also be important. We calculate the
self-energy and microwave conductivity in the self-consistent Born
approximation (including vertex corrections) for a d-wave superconductor in the
presence of scattering from extended linear defects. We find that in the
experimentally relevant limit (), the
resulting microwave conductivity has a linear temperature dependence and a
near-Drude frequency dependence that agrees well with experiment.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended impurities: a real-space renormalization group approach
Using a real-space renormalization group (RSRG) technique, we compute the
microwave conductivity of a d-wave superconductor disordered by extended
impurities. To do this, we invoke a semiclassical approximation which naturally
accesses the Andreev bound states localized near each impurity. Tunneling
corrections (which are captured using the RSRG) lead to a delocalization of
these quasiparticles and an associated contribution to the microwave
conductivity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. 2 figures added to previous versio
Magnetic Interactions and Transport in (Ga,Cr)As
The magnetic, transport, and structural properties of (Ga,Cr)As are reported.
Zincblende GaCrAs was grown by low-temperature molecular beam
epitaxy (MBE). At low concentrations, x0.1, the materials exhibit unusual
magnetic properties associated with the random magnetism of the alloy. At low
temperatures the magnetization M(B) increases rapidly with increasing field due
to the alignment of ferromagnetic units (polarons or clusters) having large
dipole moments of order 10-10. A standard model of
superparamagnetism is inadequate for describing both the field and temperature
dependence of the magnetization M(B,T). In order to explain M(B) at low
temperatures we employ a distributed magnetic moment (DMM) model in which
polarons or clusters of ions have a distribution of moments. It is also found
that the magnetic susceptibility increases for decreasing temperature but
saturates below T=4 K. The inverse susceptibility follows a linear-T
Curie-Weiss law and extrapolates to a magnetic transition temperature
=10 K. In magnetotransport measurements, a room temperature resistivity
of =0.1 cm and a hole concentration of cm
are found, indicating that Cr can also act as a acceptor similar to Mn. The
resistivity increases rapidly for decreasing temperature below room
temperature, and becomes strongly insulating at low temperatures. The
conductivity follows exp[-(T/T)] over a large range of
conductivity, possible evidence of tunneling between polarons or clusters.Comment: To appear in PRB 15 Mar 200
Optical and Thermal-Transport Properties of an Inhomogeneous d-Wave Superconductor
We calculate transport properties of disordered 2D d-wave superconductors
from solutions of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations, and show that weak
localization effects give rise to a finite frequency peak in the optical
conductivity similar to that observed in experiments on disordered cuprates. At
low energies, order parameter inhomogeneities induce linear and quadratic
temperature dependencies in microwave and thermal conductivities respectively,
and appear to drive the system towards a quasiparticle insulating phase.Comment: 5 pages,3 figure
Impurity-Induced Quasiparticle Transport and Universal Limit Wiedemann-Franz Violation in d-Wave Superconductors
Due to the node structure of the gap in a d-wave superconductor, the presence
of impurities generates a finite density of quasiparticle excitations at zero
temperature. Since these impurity-induced quasiparticles are both generated and
scattered by impurities, prior calculations indicate a universal limit (\Omega
-> 0, T -> 0) where the transport coefficients obtain scattering-independent
values, depending only on the velocity anisotropy v_f/v_2. We improve upon
prior results, including the contributions of vertex corrections and Fermi
liquid corrections in our calculations of universal limit electrical, thermal,
and spin conductivity. We find that while vertex corrections modify electrical
conductivity and Fermi liquid corrections renormalize both electrical and spin
conductivity, only thermal conductivity maintains its universal value,
independent of impurity scattering or Fermi liquid interactions. Hence, low
temperature thermal conductivity measurements provide the most direct means of
obtaining the velocity anisotropy for high T_c cuprate superconductors.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures; revised version to be published in Phys Rev
Bound Magnetic Polaron Interactions in Insulating Doped Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors
The magnetic behavior of insulating doped diluted magnetic semiconductors
(DMS) is characterized by the interaction of large collective spins known as
bound magnetic polarons. Experimental measurements of the susceptibility of
these materials have suggested that the polaron-polaron interaction is
ferromagnetic, in contrast to the antiferromagnetic carrier-carrier
interactions that are characteristic of nonmagnetic semiconductors. To explain
this behavior, a model has been developed in which polarons interact via both
the standard direct carrier-carrier exchange interaction (due to virtual
carrier hopping) and an indirect carrier-ion-carrier exchange interaction (due
to the interactions of polarons with magnetic ions in an interstitial region).
Using a variational procedure, the optimal values of the model parameters were
determined as a function of temperature. At temperatures of interest, the
parameters describing polaron-polaron interactions were found to be nearly
temperature-independent. For reasonable values of these constant parameters, we
find that indirect ferromagnetic interactions can dominate the direct
antiferromagnetic interactions and cause the polarons to align. This result
supports the experimental evidence for ferromagnetism in insulating doped DMS.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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Investigation of network-based information system model
The objective of the DOE-LBNL summer student research program in computer and information sciences focused on investigating database- based http-based information architectures, and implementation of a prototype using DOE`s Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) metadata or Epidemiology Guide content. We were successful in identifying the components of such an information system, and appropriate configuration given the requirements, and in implementing a prototype. This work comprised investigation of various information systems architectures or variants, evaluation and selection of various tools, products, and packages, preparation of databases, database content, output formats, and graphical (World Wide Web- compatible) interfaces. We successfully prepared and demonstrated network access to content from both the CEDR structured documentation and from the DOD Epidemiology Guides (site archive records)
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