Intrinsic Spin Hall Conductivity of MoTe2 and WTe2 Semimetals

We report a comprehensive study on the intrinsic spin Hall conductivity (SHC) of semimetals MoTe2 and WTe2 by ab initio calculation. Large SHC and desirable spin Hall angles have been discovered, due to the strong spin orbit coupling effect and low charge conductivity in semimetals. Diverse anisotropic SHC values, attributed to the unusual reduced-symmetry crystalline structure, have been revealed. We report an effective method on SHC optimization by electron doping, and exhibit the mechanism of SHC variation respect to the energy shifting by the spin Berry curvature. Our work provides insights into the realization of strong spin Hall effects in 2D systems

Deposition of Conducting Polyaniline Patterns with the Scanning Electrochemical Microscope

Conducting polyaniline patterns were deposited on gold, platinum, and carbon surfaces with the use of the scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM). The patterns were deposited in the “micro-reagent” mode in which a local pH change caused by proton reduction at the SECM tip allowed deposition to occur at the substrate. The effect of tip and substrate potential, tip-substrate separation, and deposition time were studied in order to produce well-resolved patterns of the desired thickness. Lateral resolution of the deposited polymer was as low as 3 mm. Conductivity of the film was verified by SECM imaging

Self-protected nanoscale thermometry based on spin defects in silicon carbide

Quantum sensors with solid state electron spins have attracted considerable interest due to their nanoscale spatial resolution.A critical requirement is to suppress the environment noise of the solid state spin sensor.Here we demonstrate a nanoscale thermometer based on silicon carbide (SiC) electron spins.We experimentally demonstrate that the performance of the spin sensor is robust against dephasing due to a self protected machenism. The SiC thermometry may provide a promising platform for sensing in a noisy environment ,e.g. biological system sensing

High-precision Monte Carlo study of directed percolation in (d+1) dimensions

We present a Monte Carlo study of the bond and site directed (oriented) percolation models in $(d+1)$ dimensions on simple-cubic and body-centered-cubic lattices, with $2 \leq d \leq 7$. A dimensionless ratio is defined, and an analysis of its finite-size scaling produces improved estimates of percolation thresholds. We also report improved estimates for the standard critical exponents. In addition, we study the probability distributions of the number of wet sites and radius of gyration, for $1 \leq d \leq 7$.Comment: 11 pages, 21 figure

Effects of 1-methylcyclopropene on superficial scald and related metabolism in ‘Wujiuxiang’ pears during cold storage

‘Wujiuxiang’ (Pyrus bretschneideri R. × Pyrus communis L.) pears often suffer from superficial scald after long-term cold storage. In this study, harvested ‘Wujiuxiang’ pear fruits were fumigated with 1-MCP at concentrations of 0.5 μL/L and 1.0 μL/L and subsequently stored at low temperature (0 °C). The superficial scald index; flesh firmness; total soluble solids (TSS) content; respiration and ethylene production rates; relative membrane permeability; concentrations of α-farnesene, conjugated trienols (CTols), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2); and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and lipoxygenase (LOX) of the peel were investigated. The results showed that compared with control, 1-MCP reduced the index of superficial scald; maintained a higher firmness and a lower TSS content; inhibited the accumulation of H2O2, α-farnesene and conjugated trienols and the increase in cell membrane permeability; and maintained a higher activity of APX, SOD and CAT and a lower activity of LOX. These findings indicate that 1-MCP regulates the activities of H2O2-scavenging enzymes to inhibit the accumulation of H2O2 and thereby reduces cell membrane damage and inhibits the accumulation of conjugated trienols. Thus, 1-MCP could decrease the incidence of superficial scald in ‘Wujiuxiang’ pears

A symbolic-arithmetic for teaching double-black node removal in red-black trees

A red-black (RB) tree is a data structure with red and black nodes coloration. The red and black color of nodes make up the principal component for balancing a RB tree. A balanced tree has an equal number of black nodes on any simple path. But when a black leaf node is deleted, a double-black (DB) node is formed, thus, causing a reduction in black heights and the tree becomes unbalanced. Rebalancing a RB tree with a DB node is a fairly complex process. Teaching and learning the removal of DB nodes is also challenging. This paper introduces a simplified novel method which is a symbolic-algebraic arithmetic procedure for the removal of DB nodes and the rebalancing of black heights in RB trees. This simplified approach has enhanced student learning of the DB node removal in RB trees. Feedback from students showed the learnability, workability and acceptance of the symbolic-algebraic method in balancing RB trees after a delete operation.Comment: 18 page