"Soft" Anharmonic Vortex Glass in Ferromagnetic Superconductors

Ferromagnetic order in superconductors can induce a {\em spontaneous} vortex (SV) state. For external field ${\bf H}=0$, rotational symmetry guarantees a vanishing tilt modulus of the SV solid, leading to drastically different behavior than that of a conventional, external-field-induced vortex solid. We show that quenched disorder and anharmonic effects lead to elastic moduli that are wavevector-dependent out to arbitrarily long length scales, and non-Hookean elasticity. The latter implies that for weak external fields $H$, the magnetic induction scales {\em universally} like $B(H)\sim B(0)+ c H^{\alpha}$, with $\alpha\approx 0.72$. For weak disorder, we predict the SV solid is a topologically ordered vortex glass, in the ``columnar elastic glass'' universality class.Comment: minor corrections; version published in PR

Spore Germination Time in Fuligo Septica

Author Institution: Biology Department, North High School, Springfield, OhioFuligo septica spores were selected randomly from six different aethalia collected within fifty feet of one another, on The Ohio State University campus. In each case the specimens were found growing on Paygro, a shredded hardwood-bark mulch used around most of the plantings of the O.S.U. campus. Germination time was determined for the spores of each individual aethalium and comparisons made. The number of spores per cubic millimeter, the pH, and the temperature were also recorded. Germination occurred in from 35 to 92 minutes in spores from all but two of the aethalia, where no germination had occurred as of two hours. The germination times for all spores taken from a single aethalium were found to vary by an average of about +/- 10 min. Spore viability seems to be related not so much to the age of the aethalium as to some condition or set of conditions during the formation of the fructification

Optimizing the internal electric field distribution of alternating current driven organic light-emitting devices for a reduced operating voltage

This work was funded with financial means of the European Social Fund and the Free State of Saxony through the OrthoPhoto project.The influence of the thickness of the insulating layer and the intrinsic organic layer on the driving voltage of p-i-n based alternating current driven organic light-emitting devices (AC-OLEDs) is investigated. A three-capacitor model is employed to predict the basic behavior of the devices, and good agreement with the experimental values is found. The proposed charge regeneration mechanism based on Zener tunneling is studied in terms of field strength across the intrinsic organic layers. A remarkable consistency between the measured field strength at the onset point of light emission (3-3.1 MV/cm) and the theoretically predicted breakdown field strength of around 3 MV/cm is obtained. The latter value represents the field required for Zener tunneling in wide band gap organic materials according to Fowler-Nordheim theory. AC-OLEDs with optimized thickness of the insulating and intrinsic layers show a reduction in the driving voltage required to reach a luminance of 1000 cd/m2 of up to 23% (8.9 V) and a corresponding 20% increase in luminous efficacy.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Enhanced light emission from top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes by optimizing surface plasmon polariton losses

We demonstrate enhanced light extraction for monochrome top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The enhancement by a factor of 1.2 compared to a reference sample is caused by the use of a hole transport layer (HTL) material possessing a low refractive index (1.52). The low refractive index reduces the in-plane wave vector of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) excited at the interface between the bottom opaque metallic electrode (anode) and the HTL. The shift of the SPP dispersion relation decreases the power dissipated into lost evanescent excitations and thus increases the outcoupling efficiency, although the SPP remains constant in intensity. The proposed method is suitable for emitter materials owning isotropic orientation of the transition dipole moments as well as anisotropic, preferentially horizontal orientation, resulting in comparable enhancement factors. Furthermore, for sufficiently low refractive indices of the HTL material, the SPP can be modeled as a propagating plane wave within other organic materials in the optical microcavity. Thus, by applying further extraction methods, such as micro lenses or Bragg gratings, it would become feasible to obtain even higher enhancements of the light extraction.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, will be submitted to PR

Coherent perfect absorption in oneport devices with wedged organic thin-film absorbers: Bloch states and control of lasing

We are using organic small molecules as absorbing material to investigate coherent perfect absorption in layered thin-film structures. Therefore we realize strongly asymmetric resonator structures with a high optical quality dielectric distributed Bragg reflector and thermally evaporated wedged organic materials on top. We investigate the optical properties of these structures systematically by selective optical pumping and probing of the structure. By shifting the samples along the wedge, we demonstrate how relations of phase and amplitude of all waves can be tuned to achieve coherent perfect absorption. Thus almost all incident radiation dissipates in the thin organic absorbing layer. Furthermore, we show how these wedged structures on a high-quality reflective dielectric mirror can be used to determine optical dispersion relations of absorbing materials in a broad spectral range. This novel approach does not require any specific a priori knowledge on the absorbing film

A Discotic Disguised as a Smectic: A Hybrid Columnar Bragg Glass

We show that discotics, lying deep in the columnar phase, can exhibit an x-ray scattering pattern which mimics that of a somewhat unusual smectic liquid crystal. This exotic, new glassy phase of columnar liquid crystals, which we call a ``hybrid columnar Bragg glass'', can be achieved by confining a columnar liquid crystal in an anisotropic random environment of e.g., strained aerogel. Long-ranged orientational order in this phase makes {\em single domain} x-ray scattering possible, from which a wealth of information could be extracted. We give detailed quantitative predictions for the scattering pattern in addition to exponents characterizing anomalous elasticity of the system.Comment: 4 RevTeX pgs, 2 eps figures. To appear in PR

Observation of feature ripening inversion effect at the percolation threshold for the growth of thin silver films

AbstractThe growth behavior of thin silver films on organic layers is investigated during deposition by means of simultaneous in-situ monitoring of sheet resistance and transmittance. Thermally evaporated films up to 11nm show a distinct percolation behavior with strong resistance drop at the percolation thickness. Additionally, evaporations are divided into a sequence of one nanometer steps. In the deposition breaks, the films exhibit a ripening effect with an inversion at the percolation thickness, by changing from an increasing to decreasing sheet resistance over time. Scanning electron micrographs suggest same ripening mechanisms for islands below the percolation thickness as for holes above