Suppression and enhancement of the critical current in multiterminal S/N/S mesoscopic structures

We analyse the measured critical current $I_{m\text{}}$ in a mesoscopic 4-terminal S/N/S structure. The current through the S/N interface is shown to consist not only of the Josephson component $I_{c}\sin \phi ,$ but also a phase-coherent part $I_{sg}\cos \phi$ of the subgap current. The current $I_{m}$ is determined by the both components $I_{c}$ and $I_{sg},$ and depends in a nonmonotonic way on the voltage $V$ between superconductors and normal reservoirs reaching a maximum at $V\cong \Delta /e$. The obtained theoretical resultas are in qualitative agreement with recent experimental data.Comment: 4 page, 3 figures. To be puplished in PRB Rapid co

Expression of anion exchanger 2 in human gastric cancer

Anion exchanger 2 (AE2), which mediates exchange of Cl-/HCO3- across the plasma membrane, is widely expressed in body tissues. It is most abundantly expressed in stomach and is responsible for the uptake of Cl- ions that are destined to become HCl molecules. Aim: To determine whether AE2 expression was altered in gastric tumors. Methods: We have studied AE2 expression in normal human gastric tissues (n =16) and in gastric tumors (n = 33) using immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent labeling. Results: In normal gastric tissue positive staining was observed in gastric fundus gland, suggesting parietal cell-related expression of AE2, and AE2 expression was localized in the nuclear membrane and even in cell nuclei. For assay of cancerous gastric tissues, specimens of human gastric cancer arising from the region of the fundus (2 cases), the body (14 cases) and the antrum (17 cases) were randomly selected. Immunohistochemical staining has showed that AE2 was down-regulated in all 14 cancerous gastric body specimens, whereas staining for AE2 in cancerous antrum was less intense and had a diffuse profile. Conclusions: The data suggest that AE2 might be associated with gastric carcinogenesis and the achlorhydria experienced by gastric cancer patients.Анионный обменник 2 (АЕ2), который опосредует перенос Cl- /HCO3 - через плазматическую мембрану, экспрессируется клетками разных тканей. Самый высокий уровень экспрессии АЕ2 в желудке, поскольку этот белок отвечает за поглощение ионов Cl- , которые впоследствии используются для секреции HCl. Цель: Изучить изменения в экспрессии АЕ2 при раке желудка. Методы: исследована экспрессия АЕ2 в нормальных тканях (n = 16) и опухолях желудка (n = 33) с применением методов иммуногистохимии и иммунофлуоресценции. Результаты: в нетрансформированной ткани желудка в фундальной железе выявляли сильную положительную реакцию, что свидетельствует об экспрессии АЕ2 париетальными клетками, причем экспрессия АЕ2 была локализирована в ядерной мембране и в ядре. В опухолях желудка (фундального отдела (n = 2), тела (n = 14) и антрального отдела (n = 17)), отобранных случайным образом, был проведен анализ экспрессии АЕ2. Иммуногистохимическое исследование показало снижение экспрессии АЕ2 во всех 14 случаях рака тела желудка. Окрашивание АЕ2 в образцах рака антрального отдела желудка было менее интенсивным и диффузным. Выводы: полученные данные позволяют предположить наличие связи между экспрессией АЕ2 и развитием рака желудка, а также ахлоргидрией, отмечаемой у больных раком желудка

First-principles Calculation of the Formation Energy in MgO-CaO Solid Solutions

The electronic structure and total energy were calculated for ordered and disordered MgO-CaO solid solutions within the multiple scattering theory in real space and the local density approximation. Based on the dependence of the total energy on the unit cell volume the equilibrium lattice parameter and formation energy were determined for different solution compositions. The formation energy of the solid solutions is found to be positive that is in agreement with the experimental phase diagram, which shows a miscibility gap.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Proximity-induced transport in hybrid mesoscopic normal-superconducting metal structures

Using an approach based on quasiclassical Green's functions we present a theoretical study of transport in mesoscopic S/N structures in the diffusive limit. The subgap conductance in S/N structures with barriers (zero bias and finite bias anomalies) are discused. We also analyse the temperature dependence of the conductance variation $\delta S(T)$ for a Andreev interferometer. We show that besides the well know low temperature maximum a second maximum near $T_c$ may appear. We present the results of studies on the Josephson effect in 4 terminal S/N/S contacts and on the possible sign reversal of the Josephson critical current.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, with added refrence

Insulating and Conducting Phases of RbC60

Optical measurements were performed on thin films of Rb$_{x}$C$_{60}$, identified by X-ray diffraction as mostly $x=1$ material. The samples were subjected to various heat treatments, including quenching and slow cooling from 400K. The dramatic increase in the transmission of the quenched samples, and the relaxation towards the transmission observed in slow cooled samples provides direct evidence for the existence of a metastable insulating phase. Slow cooling results in a phase transition between two electrically conducting phases.Comment: Minor revisions. Submitted to PRB, RevTeX 3.0 file, 2 postscript figures included, ir_dop

Observation and Assignment of Silent and Higher Order Vibrations in the Infrared Transmission of C60 Crystals

We report the measurement of infrared transmission of large C60 single crystals. The spectra exhibit a very rich structure with over 180 vibrational absorptions visible in the 100 - 4000 cm-1 range. Many silent modes are observed to have become weakly IR-active. We also observe a large number of higher order combination modes. The temperature (77K - 300K) and pressure (0 - 25KBar) dependencies of these modes were measured and are presented. Careful analysis of the IR spectra in conjunction with Raman scattering data showing second order modes and neutron scattering data, allow the selection of the 46 vibrational modes C60. We are able to fit *all* of the first and second order data seen in the present IR spectra and the previously published Raman data (~300 lines total), using these 46 modes and their group theory allowed second order combinations.Comment: REVTEX v3.0 in LaTeX. 12 pages. 8 Figures by request. c60lon

Degree of entanglement for two qubits

In this paper, we present a measure to quantify the degree of entanglement for two qubits in a pure state.Comment: 5 page

Interatomic potentials for atomistic simulations of the Ti-Al system

Semi-empirical interatomic potentials have been developed for Al, alpha-Ti, and gamma-TiAl within the embedded atomic method (EAM) by fitting to a large database of experimental as well as ab-initio data. The ab-initio calculations were performed by the linear augmented plane wave (LAPW) method within the density functional theory to obtain the equations of state for a number of crystal structures of the Ti-Al system. Some of the calculated LAPW energies were used for fitting the potentials while others for examining their quality. The potentials correctly predict the equilibrium crystal structures of the phases and accurately reproduce their basic lattice properties. The potentials are applied to calculate the energies of point defects, surfaces, planar faults in the equilibrium structures. Unlike earlier EAM potentials for the Ti-Al system, the proposed potentials provide reasonable description of the lattice thermal expansion, demonstrating their usefulness in the molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo studies at high temperatures. The energy along the tetragonal deformation path (Bain transformation) in gamma-TiAl calculated with the EAM potential is in a fairly good agreement with LAPW calculations. Equilibrium point defect concentrations in gamma-TiAl are studied using the EAM potential. It is found that antisite defects strongly dominate over vacancies at all compositions around stoichiometry, indicating that gamm-TiAl is an antisite disorder compound in agreement with experimental data.Comment: 46 pages, 6 figures (Physical Review B, in press

Electromigration-Induced Flow of Islands and Voids on the Cu(001) Surface

Electromigration-induced flow of islands and voids on the Cu(001) surface is studied at the atomic scale. The basic drift mechanisms are identified using a complete set of energy barriers for adatom hopping on the Cu(001) surface, combined with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The energy barriers are calculated by the embedded atom method, and parameterized using a simple model. The dependence of the flow on the temperature, the size of the clusters, and the strength of the applied field is obtained. For both islands and voids it is found that edge diffusion is the dominant mass-transport mechanism. The rate limiting steps are identified. For both islands and voids they involve detachment of atoms from corners into the adjacent edge. The energy barriers for these moves are found to be in good agreement with the activation energy for island/void drift obtained from Arrhenius analysis of the simulation results. The relevance of the results to other FCC(001) metal surfaces and their experimental implications are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 13 ps figure

Onset of magnetism in B2 transition metals aluminides

Ab initio calculation results for the electronic structure of disordered bcc Fe(x)Al(1-x) (0.4<x<0.75), Co(x)Al(1-x) and Ni(x)Al(1-x) (x=0.4; 0.5; 0.6) alloys near the 1:1 stoichiometry, as well as of the ordered B2 (FeAl, CoAl, NiAl) phases with point defects are presented. The calculations were performed using the coherent potential approximation within the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method (KKR-CPA) for the disordered case and the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method for the intermetallic compounds. We studied in particular the onset of magnetism in Fe-Al and Co-Al systems as a function of the defect structure. We found the appearance of large local magnetic moments associated with the transition metal (TM) antisite defect in FeAl and CoAl compounds, in agreement with the experimental findings. Moreover, we found that any vacancies on both sublattices enhance the magnetic moments via reducing the charge transfer to a TM atom. Disordered Fe-Al alloys are ferromagnetically ordered for the whole range of composition studied, whereas Co-Al becomes magnetic only for Co concentration >0.5.Comment: 11 pages with 9 embedded postscript figures, to be published in Phys.Rev.