4,525 research outputs found
The changing face of irrigation in Kenya: opportunities for anticipating changes in Eastern and Southern Africa
Small scale systems / Environmental effects / Government managed irrigation systems / Farmer managed irrigation systems / Health / Waterborne diseases / River basins / Pest control / Social impact / Water policy / Water law / Institutional development / Water allocation / Drip irrigation / Pumps / Technology / GIS / Databases / Irrigation programs / Drainage / Water resource management / Economic aspects / Social aspects / Water scarcity / Conflict / Case studies / Land management / Sedimentation / Flood control / Wetlands / Water quality / Erosion / Grassland management / Livestock / Rain / Drought / Participatory management / Design / Credit / Horticulture / Farmers’ associations / Farmers’ attitudes / Gender / Rice / Legislation / Land tenure / Cooperatives / Income / Southern Africa / Eastern Africa / Kenya / Upper Ewaso Ng’iro North Basin / Lake Victoria Basin / Tana River Basin / Mwea Irrigation Scheme
Superconducting Mg-B films by pulsed laser deposition in an in-situ two-step process using multi-component targets
Superconducting thin films have been prepared in a two-step in-situ process,
using the Mg-B plasma generated by pulsed laser ablation. The target was
composed of a mixture of Mg and MgB2 powders to compensate for the volatility
of Mg and therefore to ensure a high Mg content in the film. The films were
deposited at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300 degrees C
followed by a low-pressure in-situ annealing procedure. Various substrates have
been used and diverse ways to increase the Mg content into the film were
applied. The films show a sharp transition in the resistance and have a zero
resistance transition temperature of 22-24 K.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter
Growth of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in agar subjected to freezing and diurnal freezing and thawing
Aerobic and anaerobic bacteria growth in agar after freezing and diurnal freezing and thawin
Admixtures to d-wave gap symmetry in untwinned YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting films measured by angle-resolved electron tunneling
We report on an \textit{ab}-anisotropy of and in
ramp-edge junctions between untwinned YBaCuO and % -wave
Nb. For these junctions, the angle with the YBaCuO
crystal b-axis is varied as a single parameter. The
A()-dependence presents 2-fold symmetry. The minima in
at suggest a real s-wave subdominant
component and negligible -wave or imaginary s-wave admixtures. The
()-dependence is well-fitted by 83% -, 15%
isotropic - and 2% anisotropic s-wave order parameter symmetry, consistent
with .Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter
Electronically coupled complementary interfaces between perovskite band insulators
Perovskite oxides exhibit a plethora of exceptional electronic properties,
providing the basis for novel concepts of oxide-electronic devices. The
interest in these materials is even extended by the remarkable characteristics
of their interfaces. Studies on single epitaxial connections between the two
wide-bandgap insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 have revealed them to be either
high-mobility electron conductors or insulating, depending on the atomic
stacking sequences. In the latter case they are conceivably positively charged.
For device applications, as well as for basic understanding of the interface
conduction mechanism, it is important to investigate the electronic coupling of
closely-spaced complementary interfaces. Here we report the successful
realization of such electronically coupled complementary interfaces in SrTiO3 -
LaAlO3 thin film multilayer structures, in which the atomic stacking sequence
at the interfaces was confirmed by quantitative transmission electron
microscopy. We found a critical separation distance of 6 perovskite unit cell
layers, corresponding to approximately 2.3 nm, below which a decrease of the
interface conductivity and carrier density occurs. Interestingly, the high
carrier mobilities characterizing the separate electron doped interfaces are
found to be maintained in coupled structures down to sub-nanometer interface
spacing
Critical thickness and orbital ordering in ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films
Detailed analysis of transport, magnetism and x-ray absorption spectroscopy
measurements on ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 films with thicknesses from 3 to 70
unit cells resulted in the identification of a lower critical thickness for a
non-metallic, non-ferromagnetic layer at the interface with the SrTiO3 (001)
substrate of only 3 unit cells (~12 Angstrom). Furthermore, linear dichroism
measurements demonstrate the presence of a preferred (x2-y2) in-plane orbital
ordering for all layer thicknesses without any orbital reconstruction at the
interface. A crucial requirement for the accurate study of these ultrathin
films is a controlled growth process, offering the coexistence of
layer-by-layer growth and bulk-like magnetic/transport properties.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Characterisation of multilayer ramp-type ReBa2Cu3O7-delta structures by scanning probe microscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy
We studied the morphology of ramps in REBa2Cu3O7 (REBCO) epitaxial films on SrTiO3 substrates, fabricated by RF magnetron sputter deposition and pulsed laser deposition (PLD), by scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM). The ramps were fabricated by Ar ion beam etching using masks of standard photoresist and TiN. AFM-studies on ramps in sputter deposited films show a strong dependence, i.e. formation of facets and ridges, on the angle of incidence of the ion beam with respect to the substrate surface as well as the rotation angle with respect to the crystal axes of the substrate. Ramps in pulsed laser deposited films did not show this dependence. Furthermore, we studied the effect of an anneal step prior to the deposition of barrier layers (i.e. PrBu2CU3O7, SrTiO3, CeO2) on the ramp. First results show a recrystallization of the ramp surface, resulting in terraces and a non-homogeneous growth of the barrier material on top of it. The thickness variations, for thin layers of barrier material, can even become much larger than expected from the amount of deposited material and are dependent on the deposition and anneal conditions. HREM studies show a well defined interface between barrier layer and electrodes. The angle of the ramp depends on the etch rate of the mask and REBCO, and on the angle of incidence of the ion beam. TiN has a much lower etch rate compared to photoresist, resulting in an angle of the ramp comparable to the angle of incidence, resulting in a low etching rate on the ramp. These results will lead to improved electrical characteristics of ramp-type junctions
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