928 research outputs found
Thermoelectric cross-plane properties on p- and n-Ge/SixGe1-x superlattices
Silicon and germanium materials have demonstrated an increasing attraction for energy harvesting, due to their sustainability and integrability with complementary metal oxide semiconductor and micro-electro-mechanical-system technology. The thermoelectric efficiencies for these materials, however, are very poor at room temperature and so it is necessary to engineer them in order to compete with telluride based materials, which have demonstrated at room temperature the highest performances in literature [1].
Micro-fabricated devices consisting of mesa structures with integrated heaters, thermometers and Ohmic contacts were used to extract the cross-plane values of the Seebeck coefficient and the thermal conductivity from p- and n-Ge/SixGe1-x superlattices. A second device consisting in a modified circular transfer line method structure was used to extract the electrical conductivity of the materials. A range of p-Ge/Si0.5Ge0.5 superlattices with different doping levels was investigated in detail to determine the role of the doping density in dictating the thermoelectric properties. A second set of n-Ge/Si0.3Ge0.7 superlattices was fabricated to study the impact that quantum well thickness might have on the two thermoelectric figures of merit, and also to demonstrate a further reduction of the thermal conductivity by scattering phonons at different wavelengths. This technique has demonstrated to lower the thermal conductivity by a 25% by adding different barrier thicknesses per period
Ultra-high critical current densities of superconducting YBaCuO thin films in the overdoped state
Doping is one of the most relevant paths to tune the functionality of
cuprates, it determines carrier density and the overall physical properties of
these impressive superconducting materials. We present an oxygen doping study
of YBaCuO (YBCO) thin films from underdoped to overdoped
state, correlating the measured charge carrier density, , the
hole doping, , and the critical current density, . Our results
show a continuous increase of with charge carrier density,
reaching 90 MA/cm at 5 K for -doping at the Quantum Critical Point
(QCP), linked to an increase of the superconducting condensation energy. The
ultra-high achived corresponds to a third of the depairing
current, i.e. a value 60 % higher than ever reported in YBCO films. The
overdoped regime is characterized by a sudden increase of ,
associated to the reconstruction of the Fermi-surface at the QCP. Overdoping
YBCO opens a promising route to extend the current carrying capabilities of
REBCO coated conductors for applications
Oblique roughness replication in strained SiGe/Si multilayers
The replication of the interface roughness in SiGe/Si multilayers grown on miscut Si(001) substrates has been studied by means of x-ray reflectivity reciprocal space mapping. The interface profiles were found to be highly correlated and the direction of the maximal replication was inclined with respect to the growth direction. This oblique replication is explained by the influence of the inhomogeneous strain distribution around step bunches. The formation of step bunches is described by a kinetic step-flow model based on the work by Tersoff et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2730 (1995)]. We have generalized this model by taking into account local variations of the in-plane strain. The angle of obliqueness deduced from these calculations agrees very well with the experimental findings
Oblique roughness replication in strained SiGe/Si multilayers
The replication of the interface roughness in SiGe/Si multilayers grown on miscut Si(001) substrates has been studied by means of x-ray reflectivity reciprocal space mapping. The interface profiles were found to be highly correlated and the direction of the maximal replication was inclined with respect to the growth direction. This oblique replication is explained by the influence of the inhomogeneous strain distribution around step bunches. The formation of step bunches is described by a kinetic step-flow model based on the work by Tersoff et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 2730 (1995)]. We have generalized this model by taking into account local variations of the in-plane strain. The angle of obliqueness deduced from these calculations agrees very well with the experimental findings
Immunotherapeutic targeting of membrane Hsp70-expressing tumors using recombinant human granzyme B
Background: We have previously reported that human recombinant granzyme B (grB) mediates apoptosis in membrane heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70)-positive tumor cells in a perforin-independent manner
Metatranscriptomics captures dynamic shifts in mycorrhizal coordination in boreal forests
Carbon storage and cycling in boreal forests—the largest terrestrial carbon store—ismoderated by complex interactions between trees and soil microorganisms. However,existing methods limit our ability to predict how changes in environmental conditionswill alter these associations and the essential ecosystem services they provide. To addressthis, we developed a metatranscriptomic approach to analyze the impact of nutrientenrichment on Norway sprucefine roots and the community structure, function, andtree–microbe coordination of over 350 root-associated fungal species. In response toaltered nutrient status, host trees redefined their relationship with the fungal commu-nity by reducing sugar efflux carriers and enhancing defense processes. This resulted ina profound restructuring of the fungal community and a collapse in functional coordi-nation between the tree and the dominant Basidiomycete species, and an increase infunctional coordination with versatile Ascomycete species. As such, there was a func-tional shift in community dominance from Basidiomycetes species, with importantroles in enzymatically cycling recalcitrant carbon, to Ascomycete species that have mela-nized cell walls that are highly resistant to degradation. These changes were accompa-nied by prominent shifts in transcriptional coordination between over 60 predictedfungal effectors, with more than 5,000 Norway spruce transcripts, providing mechanis-tic insight into the complex molecular dialogue coordinating host trees and their fungalpartners. The host–microbe dynamics captured by this study functionally inform howthese complex and sensitive biological relationships may mediate the carbon storagepotential of boreal soils under changing nutrient conditions
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