504 research outputs found
Diffractive wave guiding of hot electrons by the Au (111) herringbone reconstruction
The surface potential of the herringbone reconstruction on Au(111) is known
to guide surface-state electrons along the potential channels. Surprisingly, we
find by scanning tunneling spectroscopy that hot electrons with kinetic
energies twenty times larger than the potential amplitude (38 meV) are still
guided. The efficiency even increases with kinetic energy, which is reproduced
by a tight binding calculation taking the known reconstruction potential and
strain into account. The guiding is explained by diffraction at the
inhomogeneous electrostatic potential and strain distribution provided by the
reconstruction.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Bistability and oscillatory motion of natural nano-membranes appearing within monolayer graphene on silicon dioxide
The recently found material graphene is a truly two-dimensional crystal and
exhibits, in addition, an extreme mechanical strength. This in combination with
the high electron mobility favours graphene for electromechanical
investigations down to the quantum limit. Here, we show that a monolayer of
graphene on SiO2 provides natural, ultra-small membranes of diameters down to 3
nm, which are caused by the intrinsic rippling of the material. Some of these
nano-membranes can be switched hysteretically between two vertical positions
using the electric field of the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM).
They can also be forced to oscillatory motion by a low frequency ac-field.
Using the mechanical constants determined previously, we estimate a high
resonance frequency up to 0.4 THz. This might be favorable for
quantum-electromechanics and is prospective for single atom mass spectrometers.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Shock Induced Damages on alumina and zirconia hip prostheses
International audienceCeramics mostly used in orthopaedics are alumina (Al²O³) and zirconia (ZrO²), the rate of fracture bioceramics hip prostheses being around 0.01% [1]. Some in vivo fractures have been reported and some of them have occurred in overweight patients [2]. One may suggest that prostheses may fail because of important repeated mechanical shocks. Moreover, the microseparation between the head and cup that may occur in vivo [3,4] seems to be another key parameter influencing the lifetime of the prostheses. Only few walking hip simulators have been modified to take into account this phenomenon and it has been shown that microseparation increases the wear and creates the so-called wear bands that have been observed in vivo on ceramic heads [5,6]. The main goal of this work was to use a specially designed shock machine to test bioceramics heads and cups under microseparation
Dark matter annihilation and decay profiles for the Reticulum II dwarf spheroidal galaxy
The dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph) of the Milky Way are among the most
attractive targets for indirect searches of dark matter. In this work, we
reconstruct the dark matter annihilation (J-factor) and decay profiles for the
newly discovered dSph Reticulum II. Using an optimized spherical Jeans analysis
of kinematic data obtained from the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System (M2FS), we
find Reticulum II's J-factor to be among the largest of any Milky Way dSph. We
have checked the robustness of this result against several ingredients of the
analysis. Unless it suffers from tidal disruption or significant inflation of
its velocity dispersion from binary stars, Reticulum II may provide a unique
window on dark matter particle properties.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Match the ApJL accepted versio
Wave function mapping in graphene quantum dots with soft confinement
Using low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we map the local
density of states (LDOS) of graphene quantum dots supported on Ir(111). Due to
a band gap in the projected Ir band structure around the graphene K point, the
electronic properties of the QDs are dominantly graphene-like. Indeed, we
compare the results favorably with tight binding calculations on the honeycomb
lattice based on parameters derived from density functional theory. We find
that the interaction with the substrate near the edge of the island gradually
opens a gap in the Dirac cone, which implies soft-wall confinement.
Interestingly, this confinement results in highly symmetric wave functions.
Further influences of the substrate are given by the known moir{\'e} potential
and a 10% penetration of an Ir surface resonanceComment: 7 pages, 11 figures, DFT calculations directly showing the origin of
soft confinment, correct identification of the state penetrating from Ir(111)
into graphen
Cosmic-ray antiproton constraints on light dark matter candidates
Some direct detection experiments have recently collected excess events that
could be interpreted as a dark matter (DM) signal, pointing to particles in the
10 GeV mass range. We show that scenarios in which DM can self-annihilate
with significant couplings to quarks are likely excluded by the cosmic-ray (CR)
antiproton data, provided the annihilation is S-wave dominated when DM
decouples in the early universe. These limits apply to most of supersymmetric
candidates, eg in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and in the
next-to-MSSM (NMSSM), and more generally to any thermal DM particle with
hadronizing annihilation final states.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of TAUP-2011 (Munich, 5-9 IX 2011). 4
page
Galvanically enhanced fretting-crevice corrosion of cemented femoral stems
The Ultima TPS MoM THR was designed and developed as a 2nd generation MoM THR specifically aimed at younger more active patients due to the anticipated low wear rates and increased longevity of MoM THRs. In 2010, published clinical data highlighted the early failure of the Ultima TPS MoM due to fretting-crevice corrosion at the stem-cement interface. Since 2010 similar observations have been reported by other clinical centres implicating competitor products as well as the Ultima TPS MoM THR. In an attempt to replicate the electrochemical reaction and interactions established across MoM THR systems, fretting-crevice corrosion tests subjected to galvanic coupling were conducted. Galvanic coupling was seen to significantly increase the rates of corrosion under static and dynamic conditions. This was due to the large potential differences developed across the system between active and passive areas, increasing the rates of corrosion and metallic ion release from the stem-cement interface
Hysteresis of Electronic Transport in Graphene Transistors
Graphene field effect transistors commonly comprise graphene flakes lying on
SiO2 surfaces. The gate-voltage dependent conductance shows hysteresis
depending on the gate sweeping rate/range. It is shown here that the
transistors exhibit two different kinds of hysteresis in their electrical
characteristics. Charge transfer causes a positive shift in the gate voltage of
the minimum conductance, while capacitive gating can cause the negative shift
of conductance with respect to gate voltage. The positive hysteretic phenomena
decay with an increase of the number of layers in graphene flakes. Self-heating
in helium atmosphere significantly removes adsorbates and reduces positive
hysteresis. We also observed negative hysteresis in graphene devices at low
temperature. It is also found that an ice layer on/under graphene has much
stronger dipole moment than a water layer does. Mobile ions in the electrolyte
gate and a polarity switch in the ferroelectric gate could also cause negative
hysteresis in graphene transistors. These findings improved our understanding
of the electrical response of graphene to its surroundings. The unique
sensitivity to environment and related phenomena in graphene deserve further
studies on nonvolatile memory, electrostatic detection and chemically driven
applications.Comment: 13 pages, 6 Figure
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