21,289 research outputs found
Current dependence of grain boundary magnetoresistance in La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO_3 films
We prepared epitaxial ferromagnetic manganite films on bicrystal substrates
by pulsed laser ablation. Their low- and high-field magnetoresistance (MR) was
measured as a function of magnetic field, temperature and current. At low
temperatures hysteretic changes in resistivity up to 70% due to switching of
magnetic domains at the coercitive field are observed. The strongly non-ohmic
behavior of the current-voltage leads to a complete suppression of the MR
effect at high bias currents with the identical current dependence at low and
high magnetic fields. We discuss the data in view of tunneling and mesoscale
magnetic transport models and propose an explicit dependence of the spin
polarization on the applied current in the grain boundary region.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in J. Appl. Phy
Biaxial order parameter in the homologous series of orthogonal bent-core smectic liquid crystals
The fundamental parameter of the uniaxial liquid crystalline state that governs nearly all of its physical properties is the primary orientational order parameter (S) for the long axes of molecules with respect to the director. The biaxial liquid crystals (LCs) possess biaxial order parameters depending on the phase symmetry of the system. In this paper we show that in the first approximation a biaxial orthogonal smectic phase can be described by two primary order parameters: S for the long axes and C for the ordering of the short axes of molecules. The temperature dependencies of S and C are obtained by the Haller's extrapolation technique through measurements of the optical birefringence and biaxiality on a nontilted polar antiferroelectric (Sm-APA) phase of a homologous series of LCs built from the bent-core achiral molecules. For such a biaxial smectic phase both S and C, particularly the temperature dependency of the latter, are being experimentally determined. Results show that S in the orthogonal smectic phase composed of bent cores is higher than in Sm-A calamatic LCs and C is also significantly large
The role of string-like, supramolecular assemblies in reentrant supernematic liquid crystals
Using a combination of isothermal-isobaric Monte Carlo and microcanonical
molecular dynamics we investigate the relation between structure and
self-diffusion in various phases of a model liquid crystal using the
Gay-Berne-Kihara potential. These molecules are confined to a mesoscopic
slit-pore with atomically smooth substrate surfaces. As reported recently [see
M. G. Mazza {\em et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 227802 (2010)], a
reentrant nematic (RN) phase may form at sufficiently high pressures/densities.
This phase is characterized by a high degree of nematic order and a
substantially enhanced self-diffusivity in the direction of the director
which exceeds that of the lower-density nematic and an
intermittent smectic A phase by about an order of magnitude. Here we
demonstrate that the unique transport behavior in the RN phase may be linked to
a confinement-induced packing effect which causes the formation of
supramolecular, string-like conformations. The strings consist of several
individual molecules that are capable of travelling in the direction of
as individual "trains" consisting of chains of molecular "cars".
Individual trains run in parallel and may pass each other at sufficiently high
pressures.Comment: 24 page
Efficient calculation of the antiferromagnetic phase diagram of the 3D Hubbard model
The Dynamical Cluster Approximation with Betts clusters is used to calculate
the antiferromagnetic phase diagram of the 3D Hubbard model at half filling.
Betts clusters are a set of periodic clusters which best reflect the properties
of the lattice in the thermodynamic limit and provide an optimal finite-size
scaling as a function of cluster size. Using a systematic finite-size scaling
as a function of cluster space-time dimensions, we calculate the
antiferromagnetic phase diagram. Our results are qualitatively consistent with
the results of Staudt et al. [Eur. Phys. J. B 17 411 (2000)], but require the
use of much smaller clusters: 48 compared to 1000
Experimental verification of entanglement generated in a plasmonic system
A core process in many quantum tasks is the generation of entanglement. It is
being actively studied in a variety of physical settings - from simple
bipartite systems to complex multipartite systems. In this work we
experimentally study the generation of bipartite entanglement in a nanophotonic
system. Entanglement is generated via the quantum interference of two surface
plasmon polaritons in a beamsplitter structure, i.e. utilising the
Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect, and its presence is verified using quantum state
tomography. The amount of entanglement is quantified by the concurrence and we
find values of up to 0.77 +/- 0.04. Verifying entanglement in the output state
from HOM interference is a nontrivial task and cannot be inferred from the
visibility alone. The techniques we use to verify entanglement could be applied
to other types of photonic system and therefore may be useful for the
characterisation of a range of different nanophotonic quantum devices.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Precise Charm- and Bottom-Quark Masses: Theoretical and Experimental Uncertainties
Recent theoretical and experimental improvements in the determination of
charm and bottom quark masses are discussed. A new and improved evaluation of
the contribution from the gluon condensate to the
charm mass determination and a detailed study of potential uncertainties in the
continuum cross section for production is presented, together with a
study of the parametric uncertainty from the -dependence of our
results. The final results, MeV and
MeV, represent, together with a closely related lattice
determination MeV, the presently most precise
determinations of these two fundamental Standard Model parameters. A critical
analysis of the theoretical and experimental uncertainties is presented.Comment: 12 pages, presented at Quarks~2010, 16th International Seminar of
High Energy Physics, Kolomna, Russia, June 6-12, 2010; v2: references adde
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Upper ocean climate of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Holocene Insolation Maximum – a model study
ine thousand years ago (9 ka BP), the Northern Hemisphere experienced enhanced seasonality caused by an orbital configuration close to the minimum of the precession index. To assess the impact of this "Holocene Insolation Maximum" (HIM) on the Mediterranean Sea, we use a regional ocean general circulation model forced by atmospheric input derived from global simulations. A stronger seasonal cycle is simulated by the model, which shows a relatively homogeneous winter cooling and a summer warming with well-defined spatial patterns, in particular, a subsurface warming in the Cretan and western Levantine areas.
The comparison between the SST simulated for the HIM and a reconstruction from planktonic foraminifera transfer functions shows a poor agreement, especially for summer, when the vertical temperature gradient is strong. As a novel approach, we propose a reinterpretation of the reconstruction, to consider the conditions throughout the upper water column rather than at a single depth. We claim that such a depth-integrated approach is more adequate for surface temperature comparison purposes in a situation where the upper ocean structure in the past was different from the present-day. In this case, the depth-integrated interpretation of the proxy data strongly improves the agreement between modelled and reconstructed temperature signal with the subsurface summer warming being recorded by both model and proxies, with a small shift to the south in the model results.
The mechanisms responsible for the peculiar subsurface pattern are found to be a combination of enhanced downwelling and wind mixing due to strengthened Etesian winds, and enhanced thermal forcing due to the stronger summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere. Together, these processes induce a stronger heat transfer from the surface to the subsurface during late summer in the western Levantine; this leads to an enhanced heat piracy in this region, a process never identified before, but potentially characteristic of time slices with enhanced insolation
Memristive operation mode of a site-controlled quantum dot floating gate transistor
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Union (FPVII (2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 318287 Landauer) as well as the state of Bavaria.We have realized a floating gate transistor based on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure with site-controlled InAs quantum dots. By short-circuiting the source contact with the lateral gates and performing closed voltage sweep cycles, we observe a memristive operation mode with pinched hysteresis loops and two clearly distinguishable conductive states. The conductance depends on the quantum dot charge which can be altered in a controllable manner by the voltage value and time interval spent in the charging region. The quantum dot memristor has the potential to realize artificial synapses in a state-of-the-art opto-electronic semiconductor platform by charge localization and Coulomb coupling.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
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