4,602 research outputs found
Nonpolar resistance switching of metal/binary-transition-metal oxides/metal sandwiches: homogeneous/inhomogeneous transition of current distribution
Exotic features of a metal/oxide/metal (MOM) sandwich, which will be the
basis for a drastically innovative nonvolatile memory device, is brought to
light from a physical point of view. Here the insulator is one of the
ubiquitous and classic binary-transition-metal oxides (TMO), such as Fe2O3,
NiO, and CoO. The sandwich exhibits a resistance that reversibly switches
between two states: one is a highly resistive off-state and the other is a
conductive on-state. Several distinct features were universally observed in
these binary TMO sandwiches: namely, nonpolar switching, non-volatile threshold
switching, and current--voltage duality. From the systematic sample-size
dependence of the resistance in on- and off-states, we conclude that the
resistance switching is due to the homogeneous/inhomogeneous transition of the
current distribution at the interface.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, REVTeX4, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (Feb. 23,
2007). If you can't download a PDF file of this manscript, an alternative one
can be found on the author's website: http://staff.aist.go.jp/i.inoue
Multiscale modeling and simulation for polymer melt flows between parallel plates
The flow behaviors of polymer melt composed of short chains with ten beads
between parallel plates are simulated by using a hybrid method of molecular
dynamics and computational fluid dynamics. Three problems are solved: creep
motion under a constant shear stress and its recovery motion after removing the
stress, pressure-driven flows, and the flows in rapidly oscillating plates. In
the creep/recovery problem, the delayed elastic deformation in the creep motion
and evident elastic behavior in the recovery motion are demonstrated. The
velocity profiles of the melt in pressure-driven flows are quite different from
those of Newtonian fluid due to shear thinning. Velocity gradients of the melt
become steeper near the plates and flatter at the middle between the plates as
the pressure gradient increases and the temperature decreases. In the rapidly
oscillating plates, the viscous boundary layer of the melt is much thinner than
that of Newtonian fluid due to the shear thinning of the melt. Three different
rheological regimes, i.e., the viscous fluid, visco-elastic liquid, and
visco-elastic solid regimes, form over the oscillating plate according to the
local Deborah numbers. The melt behaves as a viscous fluid in a region for
, and the crossover between the liquid-like and
solid-like regime takes place around (where
is the angular frequency of the plate and and
are Rouse and relaxation time, respectively).Comment: 13pages, 12figure
Spontaneous Oscillations of Collective Molecular Motors
We analyze a simple stochastic model to describe motor molecules which
cooperate in large groups and present a physical mechanism which can lead to
oscillatory motion if the motors are elastically coupled to their environment.
Beyond a critical fuel concentration, the non-moving state of the system
becomes unstable with respect to a mode with angular frequency omega. We
present a perturbative description of the system near the instability and
demonstrate that oscillation frequencies are determined by the typical
timescales of the motors.Comment: 11 pages, Revtex, 4 pages Figure
Unusual behaviours and Impurity Effects in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor CePt3Si
We report a study in which the effect of defects/impurities, growth process,
off-stoichiometry, and presence of impurity phases on the superconducting
properties of noncentrosymmetric CePt3Si is analysed by means of the
temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth. We found that the
linear low-temperature response of the penetration depth -indicative of line
nodes in this material- is robust regarding sample quality, in contrast to what
is observed in unconventional centrosymmetric superconductors with line nodes.
We discuss evidence that the broadness of the superconducting transition may be
intrinsic, though not implying the existence of a second superconducting
transition. The superconducting transition temperature systematically occurs
around 0.75 K in our measurements, in agreement with resistivity and ac
magnetic susceptibility data but in conflict with specific heat, thermal
conductivity and NMR data in which Tc is about 0.5 K. Random defects do not
change the linear low-temperature dependence of the penetration depth in the
heavy-fermion CePt3Si with line nodes, as they do in unconventional
centrosymmetric superconductors with line nodes.Comment: To appear in New Journal of Physic
Connective neck evolution and conductance steps in hot point contacts
Dynamic evolution of the connective neck in Al and Pb mechanically
controllable break junctions was studied during continuous approach of
electrodes at bias voltages V_b up to a few hundred mV. A high level of power
dissipation (10^-4 - 10^-3 W) and high current density (j > 10^10 A/cm^2) in
the constriction lead to overheating of the contact area, electromigration and
current-enhanced diffusion of atoms out of the "hot spot". At a low electrode
approach rate (10 - 50 pm/s) the transverse dimension of the neck and the
conductance of the junction depend on V_b and remain nearly constant over the
approach distance of 10 - 30 nm. For V_b > 300 mV the connective neck consists
of a few atoms only and the quantum nature of conductance manifests itself in
abrupt steps and reversible jumps between two or more levels. These features
are related to an ever changing number of individual conductance channels due
to the continuous rearrangement in atomic configuration of the neck, the
recurring motion of atoms between metastable states, the formation and breaking
of isolated one-atom contacts and the switching between energetically
preferable neck geometries.Comment: 21 pages 10 figure
Bond-Dilution-Induced Quantum Phase Transitions in Heisenberg Antiferromagnets
Bond-dilution effects on the ground state of the square-lattice
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, consisting of coupled bond-alternating
chains, are investigated by means of the quantum Monte Carlo simulation. It is
found that, when the ground state of the non-diluted system is a non-magnetic
state with a finite spin gap, a sufficiently weak bond dilution induces a
disordered state with a mid gap in the original spin gap, and under a further
stronger bond dilution an antiferromagnetic long-range order emerges. While the
site-dilution-induced long-range order is induced by an infinitesimal
concentration of dilution, there exists a finite critical concentration in the
case of bond dilution. We argue that this essential difference is due to the
occurrence of two types of effective interactions between induced magnetic
moments in the case of bond dilution, and that the antiferromagnetic
long-range-ordered phase does not appear until the magnitudes of the two
interactions become comparable.Comment: 7 pages, 13 figure
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