Non-additive sputtering of niobium and tantalum as large neutral and ion clusters.

An analysis of available literature data on both the positive ion emission from Nb and Ta bombarded by 6 keV/atom Au{sub m}{sup -} atomic and molecular ions (m=1, 2, 3) and positive ionization probabilities of Nb{sub n} and Ta{sub n} neutral clusters sputtered from the same metals by 5 keV Ar{sup +} ions have been conducted. Dependencies of cluster yields Y{sub n,m} (regardless of a charge state) on number of atoms n in a sputtered particle were found to follow a power law as Y{sub n,m} {approx} n{sup -{sigma}{sub m}} where {sigma}{sub m} decreased with an increase of m. A non-linear enhancement of yields for large Nb{sub n}{sup +} and Ta{sub n}{sup +} cluster ions (n>4) appeared to be due to a non-additive process of sputtering rather than because of a non-additive process of their ionization. A manifestation of the non-additive sputtering in kinetic energy distributions of secondary ions found to be different for atomic and cluster ions

Addressing the exciton fine structure in colloidal nanocrystals: the case of CdSe nanoplatelets

We study the band-edge exciton fine structure and in particular its bright-dark splitting in colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals by four different optical methods based on fluorescence line narrowing and time-resolved measurements at various temperatures down to 2 K. We demonstrate that all these methods provide consistent splitting values and discuss their advances and limitations. Colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets with thicknesses of 3, 4 and 5 monolayers are chosen for experimental demonstrations. The bright-dark splitting of excitons varies from 3.2 to 6.0 meV and is inversely proportional to the nanoplatelet thickness. Good agreement between experimental and theoretically calculated size dependence of the bright-dark exciton slitting is achieved. The recombination rates of the bright and dark excitons and the bright to dark relaxation rate are measured by time-resolved techniques

Modeling of Spiking-Bursting Neural Behavior Using Two-Dimensional Map

A simple model that replicates the dynamics of spiking and spiking-bursting activity of real biological neurons is proposed. The model is a two-dimensional map which contains one fast and one slow variable. The mechanisms behind generation of spikes, bursts of spikes, and restructuring of the map behavior are explained using phase portrait analysis. The dynamics of two coupled maps which model the behavior of two electrically coupled neurons is discussed. Synchronization regimes for spiking and bursting activity of these maps are studied as a function of coupling strength. It is demonstrated that the results of this model are in agreement with the synchronization of chaotic spiking-bursting behavior experimentally found in real biological neurons.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure

Analysis of the noise-induced bursting-spiking transition in a pancreatic beta-cell model

A stochastic model of the electrophysiological behavior of the pancreatic β cell is studied, as a paradigmatic example of a bursting biological cell embedded in a noisy environment. The analysis is focused on the distortion that a growing noise causes to the basic properties of the membrane potential signals, such as their periodic or chaotic nature, and their bursting or spiking behavior. We present effective computational tools to obtain as much information as possible from these signals, and we suggest that the methods could be applied to real time series. Finally, a universal dependence of the main characteristics of the membrane potential on the size of the considered cell cluster is presented.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology under Project Nos. BFM2000-0967 and BFM2003-03081 by a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affaires (2001), and by Universidad Rey Juan Carlos under Project Nos. PGRAL-2001-02, PIGE-02-04, and GCO-2003–16. J.A. acknowledges support from the Danish Natural Science Foundation.Peer reviewe

Prediction of chaos in a Josephson junction by the Melnikov-function technique

The Melnikov function for prediction of Smale horseshoe chaos is applied to the rf-driven Josephson junction. Linear and quadratic damping resistors are considered. In the latter case the analytic solution including damping and dc bias is used to obtain an improved threshold curve for the onset of chaos. The prediction is compared to new computational solutions. The Melnikov technique provides a good, but slightly low, estimate of the chaos threshold