121 research outputs found
Orbital-selective confinement effect of Ru orbitals in SrRuO ultrathin film
The electronic structure of SrRuO thin film with thickness from 50 to 1
unit cell (u.c.) is investigated via the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
(RIXS) technique at the O K-edge to unravel the intriguing interplay of orbital
and charge degrees of freedom. We found that orbital-selective quantum
confinement effect (QCE) induces the splitting of Ru orbitals. At the same
time, we observed a clear suppression of the electron-hole continuum across the
metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) occurring at the 4 u.c. sample. From these
two clear observations we conclude that QCE gives rise to a Mott insulating
phase in ultrathin SrRuO films. Our interpretation of the RIXS spectra is
supported by the configuration interaction calculations of RuO clusters.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
surface reconstruction and electronic structure of BaSnO film
We studied surface and electronic structures of barium stannate (BaSnO)
thin-film by low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) techniques.
BaSnO/BaLaSnO/SrTiO (10 nm/100 nm/0.5 mm) samples
were grown using pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) method and were \emph{ex-situ}
transferred from PLD chamber to ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chambers for annealing,
LEED and ARPES studies. UHV annealing starting from 300C up to
550C, followed by LEED and ARPES measurements show 11
surfaces with non-dispersive energy-momentum bands. The 11 surface
reconstructs into a one at the annealing
temperature of 700C where the ARPES data shows clear dispersive bands
with valence band maximum located around 3.3 eV below Fermi level. While the
surface reconstruction is stable under
further UHV annealing, it is reversed to 11 surface by annealing the
sample in 400 mTorr oxygen at 600C. Another UHV annealing at
600C followed by LEED and ARPES measurements, suggests that LEED
surface reconstruction and ARPES
dispersive bands are reproduced. Our results provide a better picture of
electronic structure of BaSnO surface and are suggestive of role of oxygen
vacancies in the reversible surface
reconstruction.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Journa
Roles of the mitochondrial Na+-Ca2+ exchanger, NCLX, in B lymphocyte chemotaxis
Lymphocyte chemotaxis plays important roles in immunological reactions, although the mechanism of its regulation is still unclear. We found that the cytosolic Na+-dependent mitochondrial Ca2+ efflux transporter, NCLX, regulates B lymphocyte chemotaxis. Inhibiting or silencing NCLX in A20 and DT40 B lymphocytes markedly increased random migration and suppressed the chemotactic response to CXCL12. In contrast to control cells, cytosolic Ca2+ was higher and was not increased further by CXCL12 in NCLX-knockdown A20 B lymphocytes. Chelating intracellular Ca2+ with BAPTA-AM disturbed CXCL12-induced chemotaxis, suggesting that modulation of cytosolic Ca2+ via NCLX, and thereby Rac1 activation and F-actin polymerization, is essential for B lymphocyte motility and chemotaxis. Mitochondrial polarization, which is necessary for directional movement, was unaltered in NCLX-knockdown cells, although CXCL12 application failed to induce enhancement of mitochondrial polarization, in contrast to control cells. Mouse spleen B lymphocytes were similar to the cell lines, in that pharmacological inhibition of NCLX by CGP-37157 diminished CXCL12-induced chemotaxis. Unexpectedly, spleen T lymphocyte chemotaxis was unaffected by CGP-37157 treatment, indicating that NCLX-mediated regulation of chemotaxis is B lymphocyte-specific, and mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ dynamics are more important in B lymphocytes than in T lymphocytes. We conclude that NCLX is pivotal for B lymphocyte motility and chemotaxis
Emergence of robust 2D skyrmions in SrRuO3 ultrathin film without the capping layer
Magnetic skyrmions have fast evolved from a novelty, as a realization of
topologically protected structure with particle-like character, into a
promising platform for new types of magnetic storage. Significant engineering
progress was achieved with the synthesis of compounds hosting room-temperature
skyrmions in magnetic heterostructures, with the interfacial
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI) conducive to the skyrmion formation.
Here we report findings of ultrathin skyrmion formation in a few layers of
SrRuO3 grown on SrTiO3 substrate without the heavy-metal capping layer.
Measurement of the topological Hall effect (THE) reveals a robust stability of
skyrmions in this platform, judging from the high value of the critical field
1.57 Tesla (T) at low temperature. THE survives as the field is tilted by as
much as 85 degrees at 10 Kelvin, with the in-plane magnetic field reaching up
to 6.5 T. Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis, or COBRA for short, on the same film
proves the rumpling of the Ru-O plane to be the source of inversion symmetry
breaking and DMI. First-principles calculations based on the structure obtained
from COBRA find significant magnetic anisotropy in the SrRuO3 film to be the
main source of skyrmion robustness. These features promise a few-layer SRO to
be an important new platform for skyrmionics, without the necessity of
introducing the capping layer to boost the spin-orbit coupling strength
artificially.Comment: Supplementary Information available upon reques
Emergence of robust 2D skyrmions in SrRuO3 ultrathin film without the capping layer
Magnetic skyrmions have fast evolved from a novelty, as a realization of
topologically protected structure with particle-like character, into a
promising platform for new types of magnetic storage. Significant engineering
progress was achieved with the synthesis of compounds hosting room-temperature
skyrmions in magnetic heterostructures, with the interfacial
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI) conducive to the skyrmion formation.
Here we report findings of ultrathin skyrmion formation in a few layers of
SrRuO3 grown on SrTiO3 substrate without the heavy-metal capping layer.
Measurement of the topological Hall effect (THE) reveals a robust stability of
skyrmions in this platform, judging from the high value of the critical field
1.57 Tesla (T) at low temperature. THE survives as the field is tilted by as
much as 85 degrees at 10 Kelvin, with the in-plane magnetic field reaching up
to 6.5 T. Coherent Bragg Rod Analysis, or COBRA for short, on the same film
proves the rumpling of the Ru-O plane to be the source of inversion symmetry
breaking and DMI. First-principles calculations based on the structure obtained
from COBRA find significant magnetic anisotropy in the SrRuO3 film to be the
main source of skyrmion robustness. These features promise a few-layer SRO to
be an important new platform for skyrmionics, without the necessity of
introducing the capping layer to boost the spin-orbit coupling strength
artificially.Comment: Supplementary Information available upon reques
Measurement of hepatitis B virus DNA in fresh versus processed dentin from chronically infected patients
Background
Demineralized dentin matrix (DDM) is commonly used as a bone-graft substitute. This study measured and compared human hepatitis B viruses (HBV) DNA in fresh dentin to that of dentin processed into DDM extracted during dental treatment from HBV-infected patients. The hypothesis was that the processing procedure for DDM would inactivate or eliminate HBV in the dentin matrix obtained from infected patients.
Methods
Dentin from eighteen HBV-infected patients was collected and each dentin specimen was divided into two fragments. One fragment was used before processing as fresh dentin (control group) and the other was processed into DDM (experimental group). DNA was extracted and purified from each fresh and processed dentin specimen and the HBV DNA copy number quantitated by real time polymerase chain reaction. The HBV DNA copy number in the fresh dentin specimens were compared relative to serologic test results. The second parameter was to evaluate the effectiveness of the processing procedure (defatting, demineralization, freeze-drying, and sterilization) to inactivate or eliminate HBV by comparing the DNA copy number in the processed DDM with that in the matched fresh dentin specimens. All results were analyzed using Mann–Whitney U test to compare numerical measurements between groups and differences were considered statistically significant at P-values less than 0.05.
Results
The presence of HBV DNA was detected in 55.56% (10/18) of the fresh dentin specimens. For the ten HBV DNA-positive fresh dentin specimens, HBV DNA was detected in two (20%) of the matched processed dentin specimens. The copy number of HBV DNA in the two positive processed dentin specimens was 1.79 and 4.03, which were statistically lower than that of the fresh dentin specimens (P = 0.0167).
Conclusions
The results from this study suggested that fresh dentin may be a carrier of HBV and that the procedure used to generate DDM extensively reduced the levels of HBV DNA. Further studies are needed to evaluate the infectivity of HBV in processed dentin.This research was supported by a grant from the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant Number: HI15C1535)
Unconventional Anomalous Hall Effect from Antiferromagnetic Domain Walls of Nd\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e7\u3c/sub\u3e Thin Films
Ferroic domain walls (DWs) create different symmetries and ordered states compared with those in single-domain bulk materials. In particular, the DWs of an antiferromagnet with noncoplanar spin structure have a distinct symmetry that cannot be realized in those of their ferromagnet counterparts. In this paper, we show that an unconventional anomalous Hall effect (AHE) can arise from the DWs of a noncoplanar antiferromagnet, Nd2Ir2O7. Bulk Nd2Ir2O7 has a cubic symmetry; thus, its Hall signal should be zero without an applied magnetic field. The DWs generated in this material break the twofold rotational symmetry, which allows for finite anomalous Hall conductivity. A strong f−d exchange interaction between the Nd and Ir magnetic moments significantly influences antiferromagnetic (AFM) domain switching. Our epitaxial Nd2Ir2O7 thin film showed a large enhancement of the AHE signal when the AFM domains switched, indicating that the AHE is mainly due to DWs. Our paper highlights the symmetry-broken interface of AFM materials as a means of exploring topological effects and their relevant applications
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