1,658 research outputs found
Electron-Hole Asymmetry in GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x}: Evidence for Spin Blockade of Electron Transport in a Correlated Electron System
In RBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} compounds (R is rare earth) variability of the oxygen
content allows precise doping of CoO_2 planes with both types of charge
carriers. We study transport properties of doped GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} single
crystals and find a remarkable asymmetry in the behavior of holes and electrons
doped into a parent insulator GdBaCo_{2}O_{5.5}. Doping dependences of
resistivity, Hall response, and thermoelectric power reveal that the doped
holes greatly improve the conductivity, while the electron-doped samples always
remain poorly conducting. This doping asymmetry provides strong evidence for a
spin blockade of the electron transport in RBaCo_{2}O_{5+x}.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PR
Ab initio Studies of the Possible Magnetism in BN Sheet by Non-magnetic Impurities and Vacancies
We performed first-principles calculations to investigate the possible
magnetism induced by the different concentrations of non-magnetic impurities
and vacancies in BN sheet. The atoms of Be, B, C, N, O, Al and Si are used to
replace either B or N in the systems as impurities. We discussed the changes in
density of states as well as the extent of the spatial distributions of the
defect states, the possible formation of magnetic moments, the magnitude of the
magnetization energies and finally the exchange energies due to the presence of
these defects. It is shown that the magnetization energies tend to increase as
the concentrations of the defects decreases in most of the defect systems which
implies a definite preference of finite magnetic moments. The calculated
exchange energies are in general tiny but not completely insignificant for two
of the studied defect systems, i.e. one with O impurities for N and the other
with B vacancies.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Ion-Size Effect at the Surface of a Silica Hydrosol
The author used synchrotron x-ray reflectivity to study the ion-size effect
for alkali ions (Na, K, Rb, and Cs), with densities as high as
m, suspended above the surface of a
colloidal solution of silica nanoparticles in the field generated by the
surface electric-double layer. According to the data, large alkali ions
preferentially accumulate at the sol's surface replacing smaller ions, a
finding that qualitatively agrees with the dependence of the Kharkats-Ulstrup
single-ion electrostatic free energy on the ion's radius.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Transport and magnetic properties of GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} single crystals: A cobalt oxide with square-lattice CoO_2 planes over a wide range of electron and hole doping
Single crystals of the layered perovskite GdBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} (GBCO) have been
grown by the floating-zone method, and their transport, magnetic, and
structural properties have been studied in detail over a wide range of oxygen
contents. The obtained data are used to establish a rich phase diagram centered
at the "parent'' compound GdBaCo_{2}O_{5.5} -- an insulator with Co ions in the
3+ state. An attractive feature of GBCO is that it allows a precise and
continuous doping of CoO_{2} planes with either electrons or holes, spanning a
wide range from the charge-ordered insulator at 50% electron doping (x=0) to
the undoped band insulator (x=0.5), and further towards the heavily hole-doped
metallic state. This continuous doping is clearly manifested in the behavior of
thermoelectric power which exhibits a spectacular divergence with approaching
x=0.5, where it reaches large absolute values and abruptly changes its sign. At
low temperatures, the homogeneous distribution of doped carriers in GBCO
becomes unstable, and both the magnetic and transport properties point to an
intriguing nanoscopic phase separation. We also find that throughout the
composition range the magnetic behavior in GBCO is governed by a delicate
balance between ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions,
which can be easily affected by temperature, doping, or magnetic field,
bringing about FM-AF transitions and a giant magnetoresistance (MR) phenomenon.
An exceptionally strong uniaxial anisotropy of the Co spins, which dramatically
simplifies the possible spin arrangements, together with the possibility of
continuous ambipolar doping turn GBCO into a model system for studying the
competing magnetic interactions, nanoscopic phase separation and accompanying
magnetoresistance phenomena.Comment: 31 pages, 32 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Survival benefits in mimicry: a quantitative framework
Mimicry is a resemblance between species that benefits at least one of the
species. It is a ubiquitous evolutionary phenomenon particularly common among
prey species, in which case the advantage involves better protection from
predation. We formulate a mathematical description of mimicry among prey
species, to investigate benefits and disadvantages of mimicry. The basic setup
involves differential equations for quantities representing predator behavior,
namely, the probabilities for attacking prey at the next encounter. Using this
framework, we present new quantitative results, and also provide a unified
description of a significant fraction of the quantitative mimicry literature.
The new results include `temporary' mutualism between prey species, and an
optimal density at which the survival benefit is greatest for the mimic. The
formalism leads naturally to extensions in several directions, such as the
evolution of mimicry, the interplay of mimicry with population dynamics, etc.
We demonstrate this extensibility by presenting some explorations on
spatiotemporal pattern dynamics.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Buoyancy regulation and aggregate formation in Amoebobacter purpureus from Mahoney lake
Abstract The meromictic Mahoney Lake (British Columbia, Canada) contains an extremely dense layer of purple sulfur bacteria (Amoebobacter purpureus). The buoyant density of Amoebobacter cells grown in pure culture at saturating light intensity was significantly higher (1027–1034 kg m−3) than the density of lake water (1015 kg m−3). When stationary cultures were shifted to the dark, the gas-vesicle content increased by a factor of 9 and buoyant density decreased to 1002 kg m−3 within three days.
A novel mechanism of cell aggregation was detected for the Mahoney Lake strain. Dense cell aggregates were formed after depletion of sulfide. Formation of aggregates was correlated with an increase in cell surface hydrophobicity. Cell aggregates could be disintegrated within less than 1 s by addition of sulfide or various thiol compounds. Mercaptanes with a branched structure in the vicinity of the terminal thiol group, compounds with esterified thiol groups (methylmercaptanes), reducing compounds lacking thiol groups and detergents did not influence aggregate stability. Cell aggregates disintegrated upon addition of urea or of proteinase K. Addition of various sugars had no effect on aggregation; this points to the absence of lectins. The results indicate that cell-to-cell adhesion in A, purpureus ML1 is mainly caused by a hydrophobic effect and includes a specific mechanism possibly mediated by a surface protein.
Extrapolation of laboratory results to field conditions demonstrated that both regulation of buoyant density and formation of cell aggregates result in passive accumulation of cells at the chemocline and contribute to the narrow stratification of A. purpureus in Mahoney Lake
Magnetoelastic effects in Jahn-Teller distorted CrF and CuF studied by neutron powder diffraction
We have studied the temperature dependence of crystal and magnetic structures
of the Jahn-Teller distorted transition metal difluorides CrF and CuF
by neutron powder diffraction in the temperature range 2-280 K. The lattice
parameters and the unit cell volume show magnetoelastic effects below the
N\'eel temperature. The lattice strain due to the magnetostriction effect
couples with the square of the order parameter of the antiferromagnetic phase
transition. We also investigated the temperature dependence of the Jahn-Teller
distortion which does not show any significant effect at the antiferromagnetic
phase transition but increases linearly with increasing temperature for CrF
and remains almost independent of temperature in CuF. The magnitude of
magnetovolume effect seems to increase with the low temperature saturated
magnetic moment of the transition metal ions but the correlation is not at all
perfect
Ionocovalency and Applications 1. Ionocovalency Model and Orbital Hybrid Scales
Ionocovalency (IC), a quantitative dual nature of the atom, is defined and correlated with quantum-mechanical potential to describe quantitatively the dual properties of the bond. Orbiotal hybrid IC model scale, IC, and IC electronegativity scale, XIC, are proposed, wherein the ionicity and the covalent radius are determined by spectroscopy. Being composed of the ionic function I and the covalent function C, the model describes quantitatively the dual properties of bond strengths, charge density and ionic potential. Based on the atomic electron configuration and the various quantum-mechanical built-up dual parameters, the model formed a Dual Method of the multiple-functional prediction, which has much more versatile and exceptional applications than traditional electronegativity scales and molecular properties. Hydrogen has unconventional values of IC and XIC, lower than that of boron. The IC model can agree fairly well with the data of bond properties and satisfactorily explain chemical observations of elements throughout the Periodic Table
Cyclische Diazastannylene. - XIX : Zur Reaktion eines Bis-(amino)germylens, - stannylens und -plumbylens mit Phosphortrichlorid und 2,3-Dimethyl-1,3- butadien
Das cyclische Bis(amino)germylen 1 reagiert mit PCl3 unter dreifacher Insertion in die P—Cl-Bindungen und Bildung von [Me2Si(NtBu)2Ge(Cl)]3P (4). 4 kristallisiert triklin in der Raumgruppe P1 mit den Gitterkonstanten: a = 1955,2(9), b = 1378,3(6), c = 1074,3(5) pm, alpha = 90,4(1), beta = 121,6(1), gamma = 97,9(1)° und Z = 2. Nach Röntgenstrukturanalyse besitzt 4 nahezu C3h-Symmetrie, wobei alle Germanium-, Chlor-, und Siliciumatome fast exakt in einer Ebene liegen, zu der die GeN2Si-Ringe senkrecht ausgerichtet sind. Von den schwereren Atomen stört lediglich das Phosphoratom durch eine leicht pyramidale Konfiguration (Ge—P—Ge = 115,0(2)°) die Spiegelsymmetrie. Wichtige mittlere Bindungslängen sind: Ge—P = 231,0(4), Ge—N = 182,4(7), Ge—Cl = 217,9(2) und Si—N = 173,6(7) pm. Die ungewöhnliche, nahezu trigonal planare Koordination des Phosphoratoms in 4 kann mit den besonderen sterischen Gegebenheiten erklärt werden. PCl3 oxidiert das Zinnatom im Bis(amino)stannylen 2 unter Bildung von Me2Si(NtBu)2SnCl2(5); als weiteres Produkt bildet sich ein amorpher Festkörper der analytischen Zusammensetzung (PCl)n. Im Unterschied zu 1 und 2 behält das Bleiatom bei der Umsetzung des Bis(amino)plumbylens 3 mit PCl3 seine Oxydationsstufe bei: in einer Sustitutionsreaktion entstehen Me2Si(NtBu)2PCl (6) und PbCl2. 2, 3-Dimethyl-1, 3-butadien reagiert nur mit dem Germylen 1 zu einem Cycloadditionsprodukt 7 (10%), in dem das Germaniuamtom als Spirozentrum einen SiN2Ge-Vierring mit einem GeC4-Fünfring verknüpft, und zu einem Polymer 8 (90%), dem die gleiche Bruttozusammensetzung zukommt. 2 und 3 dagegen setzen sich mit dem 1, 3-Dien nicht um
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