Influence of PrBa2Cu3-xGaX07 barrier material on electrical behaviour of ramp-type Josephson junctions

The use of PrBa2Cu3-xGaxO7 barrier material with increased resistivity by Ga doping (x=0; 0.05 and 0.1) in ramp-type DyBa2Cu3O7/PrBa2Cu3-xGaxO7/DyBa2Cu3O7 Josephson junctions has been investigated. All junctions have been fabricated with very smooth sputtered films and show good RSJ-like I-V characteristics with clear Josephson behaviour. Both critical current Ic and normal state resistance Rn are influenced by the doping level as well as the barrier thickness. The temperature dependence of the normal state resistance at different Ga doping levels and barrier thicknesses will be discussed

Temperature and electric-field dependencies of PBCO c-axis resistivity in YBCO/PBCO/Au structures

The current-voltage characteristics of YBCO/PBCO/Au planar structures reflect the resistance behavior of PBCO in the c-axis direction. With increasing applied voltages the PBCO barrier shows a transition from thermally-activated hopping conductivity to an activationless-hopping regime. Variable-range hopping and weak-localization models are discussed to explain the experimental data. An account of the Lifshitz correlation in the hopping conductivity gives an satisfactory agreement with the junction resistivity for c-axis PBCO barrier thicknesses of 10 to 40 nm

Electrical resistivity of PrBa2Cu3-xGaxO7-y (001) and (105) oriented thin films

In the past almost all studies on the anisotropy of the transport properties in 1-2-3 materials were performed on single crystals. This study is focused particularly on the anisotropy of the specific resistivity p as measured on almost single domain thin films of PrBa2Cu3-xGaxO7-y. Gallium doped PrBa2Cu3O7-y was deposited on (305) SrTiO3 to obtain (105) oriented, almost single domain thin films [1]. The films are deposited by rf magnetron sputtering in a one-step process, at low deposition rate. A relatively simple route for the preparation of single-phase gallium doped PrBa2Cu3O7-y target material by a citrate synthesis and pyrolysis [2] is presented

Loss mechanisms of surface plasmon polaritons on gold probed by cathodoluminescence imaging spectroscopy

We use cathodoluminescence imaging spectroscopy to excite surface plasmon polaritons and measure their decay length on single crystal and polycrystalline gold surfaces. The surface plasmon polaritons are excited on the gold surface by a nanoscale focused electron beam and are coupled into free space radiation by gratings fabricated into the surface. By scanning the electron beam on a line perpendicular to the gratings, the propagation length is determined. Data for single-crystal gold are in agreement with calculations based on dielectric constants. For polycrystalline films, grain boundary scattering is identified as additional loss mechanism, with a scattering coefficient SG=0.2%

Resonant tunneling in Y(Dy)Ba2Cu3O7−δ/PrBa2Cu3−xGaxO7−δ/Y(Dy)Ba2Cu3O7−δ ramp-type Josephson junctions

We have investigated both experimentally and theoretically the normal state resistance and Josephson critical current of ramp-type Josephson junctions having YBCO (DyBCO) electrodes and 8–30 nm thick Ga-doped barriers PrBa2Cu3−xGaxO7−δ with Ga content x = 0, 0.05 and 0.1. Analysis of the data shows that the behavior of the junctions can be well described by the model assuming transport through a finite number of localized states in the barrier

Over vlugge spraak en vluchtige sjwa’s De relatie tussen spreektempo en de duur van Nederlandse svarabhaktivocalen

This study investigates the relationship between speech tempo and the duration of epentheticschwa in Dutch. The speech materials consisted of the spontaneous speech of 160 teachers of Dutch: these speakers were equally distributed over four different regions in Belgium and the Netherlands. There were an equal number of men and women. The research focus was on 750words which contained a consonant cluster with ras the first element and a non-alveolar consonant or nas the second element. These words consisted of two or three syllables after schwa insertion (e.g., werk‘work’ > [wɛrək], werken‘to work’ > [wɛrəkən]). The speech rate of these words was calculated and the duration of any inserted schwa was measured. As predicted, the results show a clear relationship between speech rate and the duration of schwa: faster speech yields shorter schwas. Besides this general trend a statistically significant effect was found of geographical region, the number of syllables, the place of articulation of rand the second element of the consonant cluster. In addition, there was a significant interaction between speech tempo and the schwa duration in men and women: women produce shorter schwas in faster speech, while their shwas in slower speech are longer thanthose in men. As such the durational differences in schwa are more outspoken in women thanin men. This can be accounted for by the general trend that vowels are generally longer in women’s speech. The shorter schwa durations in women’s fast speech may have to do with the fact that it is easier for women to bridge articulatory distances as a result of smaller oral cavity volume

Hepatic lipase mRNA is expressed in rat and human steroidogenic organs

Rat and human steroidogenic organs contain an enzyme activity that is indistinguishable from hepatic lipase present in liver. Using primers that recognize exons 5 and 8 of the rat and human HL gene, a 596-bp product was found by RT-PCR in rat liver, adrenal, ovaries and testes, but not in heart and kidney. A similar product was also observed with human hyperplastic adrenocortical tissue. Identity of this product with part of the HL cDNA was confirmed by restriction mapping and internal re-amplification. Our results indicate that the HL gene is transcribed in steroidogenic tissues that also contain HL protein

High quality ultrafast transmission electron microscopy using resonant microwave cavities

Ultrashort, low-emittance electron pulses can be created at a high repetition rate by using a TM$_{110}$ deflection cavity to sweep a continuous beam across an aperture. These pulses can be used for time-resolved electron microscopy with atomic spatial and temporal resolution at relatively large average currents. In order to demonstrate this, a cavity has been inserted in a transmission electron microscope, and picosecond pulses have been created. No significant increase of either emittance or energy spread has been measured for these pulses. At a peak current of $814\pm2$ pA, the root-mean-square transverse normalized emittance of the electron pulses is $\varepsilon_{n,x}=(2.7\pm0.1)\cdot 10^{-12}$ m rad in the direction parallel to the streak of the cavity, and $\varepsilon_{n,y}=(2.5\pm0.1)\cdot 10^{-12}$ m rad in the perpendicular direction for pulses with a pulse length of 1.1-1.3 ps. Under the same conditions, the emittance of the continuous beam is $\varepsilon_{n,x}=\varepsilon_{n,y}=(2.5\pm0.1)\cdot 10^{-12}$ m rad. Furthermore, for both the pulsed and the continuous beam a full width at half maximum energy spread of $0.95\pm0.05$ eV has been measured