Contact resistivity and current flow path at metal/graphene contact

The contact properties between metal and graphene were examined. The electrical measurement on a multiprobe device with different contact areas revealed that the current flow preferentially entered graphene at the edge of the contact metal. The analysis using the cross-bridge Kelvin structure (CBK) suggested that a transition from the edge conduction to area conduction occurred for a contact length shorter than the transfer length of ~1 micron. The contact resistivity for Ni was measured as ~5*10-6 Ohmcm2 using the CBK. A simple calculation suggests that a contact resistivity less than 10-9 Ohmcm2 is required for miniaturized graphene field effect transistors

Gap Anisotropy and de Haas-van Alphen Effect in Type-II Superconductors

We present a theoretical study on the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillation in the vortex state of type-II superconductors, with a special focus on the connection between the gap anisotropy and the oscillation damping. Numerical calculations for three different gap structures clearly indicate that the average gap along extremal orbits is relevant for the magnitude of the extra damping, thereby providing a support for experimental efforts to probe gap anisotropy through the dHvA signal. We also derive an analytic formula for the extra damping which gives a good fit to the numerical results.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, changes in Introductio

A theory of new type of heavy-electron superconductivity in PrOs_4Sb_12: quadrupolar-fluctuation mediated odd-parity pairings

It is shown that unconventional nature of superconducting state of PrOs_4Sb_12, a Pr-based heavy electron compound with the filled-Skutterudite structure, can be explained in a unified way by taking into account the structure of the crystalline-electric-field (CEF) level, the shape of the Fermi surface determined by the band structure calculation, and a picture of the quasiparticles in f$^{2}$-configuration with magnetically singlet CEF ground state. Possible types of pairing are narrowed down by consulting recent experimental results. In particular, the chiral "p"-wave states such as p_x+ip_y is favoured under the magnetic field due to the orbital Zeeman effect, while the "p"-wave states with two-fold symmetery such as p_x can be stabilized by a feedback effect without the magnetic field. It is also discussed that the double superconducting transition without the magnetic field is possible due to the spin-orbit coupling of the "triplet" Cooper pairs in the chiral state.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Matter Lette

Unconventional Vortices and Phase Transitions in Rapidly Rotating Superfluid ^{3}He

This paper studies vortex-lattice phases of rapidly rotating superfluid ^3He based on the Ginzburg-Landau free-energy functional. To identify stable phases in the p-Omega plane (p: pressure; Omega: angular velocity), the functional is minimized with the Landau-level expansion method using up to 3000 Landau levels. This system can sustain various exotic vortices by either (i) shifting vortex cores among different components or (ii) filling in cores with components not used in the bulk. In addition, the phase near the upper critical angular velocity Omega_{c2} is neither the A nor B phases, but the polar state with the smallest superfluid density as already shown by Schopohl. Thus, multiple phases are anticipated to exist in the p-Omega plane. Six different phases are found in the present calculation performed over 0.0001 Omega_{c2} <= Omega <= Omega_{c2}, where Omega_{c2} is of order (1- T/T_c) times 10^{7} rad/s. It is shown that the double-core vortex experimentally found in the B phase originates from the conventional hexagonal lattice of the polar state near Omega_{c2} via (i) a phase composed of interpenetrating polar and Scharnberg-Klemm sublattices; (ii) the A-phase mixed-twist lattice with polar cores; (iii) the normal-core lattice found in the isolated-vortex calculation by Ohmi, Tsuneto, and Fujita; and (iv) the A-phase-core vortex discovered in another isolated-vortex calculation by Salomaa and Volovik. It is predicted that the double-core vortex will disappear completely in the experimental p-T phase diagram to be replaced by the A-phase-core vortex for Omega >~ 10^{3} ~ 10^{4} rad/s. C programs to minimize a single-component Ginzburg-Landau functional are available at {http://phys.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~kita/index-e.html}.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Vertical and meridional distributions of the atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio between northern midlatitudes and southern subtropics

The atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio was measured using a continuous measurement system onboard a Gulfstream-II aircraft between the northern midlatitudes and the southern subtropics during the Biomass Burning and Lightning Experiment Phase A (BIBLE A) campaign in September-October 1998. The vertical distribution Of CO2 over tropical regions was almost constant from the surface to an altitude of 13 km. CO2 enhancements from biomass burning and oceanic release were observed in the tropical boundary layer. Measurements in the upper troposphere indicate interhemispheric exchange was effectively suppressed between 2°N-7°N. Interhemispheric transport of air in the upper troposphere was suppressed effectively in this region. The CO2 mixing ratios in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were almost constant, with an average value of about 365 parts per million (ppm) and 366 ppm, respectively. The correlation between the CO2 and NOy mixing ratios observed north of 7°N was apparently different from that obtained south of 2°N. This fact strongly supports the result that the north-south boundary in the upper troposphere during BIBLE A was located around 2°N-7°N as the boundary is not necessary a permanent feature

Ozone-enhanced layers in the troposphere over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and the influence of transport of midlatitude UT/LS air

International audienceOccurrence of ozone (O3)-enhanced layers in the troposphere over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and their seasonal variation were investigated based on ozonesonde data obtained at three Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesondes (SHADOZ) sites, Watukosek, American Samoa and San Cristobal, for 6 years between 1998 and 2003. O3-enhanced layers were found in about 50% of observed O3 profiles at the three sites on yearly average. The formation processes of O3-enhanced layers were investigated by meteorological analyses including backward trajectories. On numerous occasions, O3-enhanced layers resulted from the transport of air masses affected by biomass burning. The contribution of this process was about 30% at San Cristobal during the periods from February to March and from August to September, while it was relatively low, about 10%, at Watukosek and Samoa. A significant number of the O3-enhanced layers were attributed to the transport of midlatitude upper-troposphere and lower-stratosphere (UT/LS) air. Meteorological analyses indicated that these layers originated from equatorward and downward transport of the midlatitude UT/LS air masses through a narrow region between high- and low-pressure systems around the subtropical jet stream. This process accounted for more than 40% at Watukosek between May and December, about 60% or more at Samoa all year around, and about 40% at San Cristobal between November and March, indicating that it was important for O3 budget over the equatorial Pacific Ocean

Entropy and Spin Susceptibility of s-wave Type-II Superconductors near Hc2H_{c2}

A theoretical study is performed on the entropy $S_{\rm s}$ and the spin susceptibility $\chi_{\rm s}$ near the upper critical field $H_{c2}$ of s-wave type-II superconductors with arbitrary impurity concentrations. The changes of these quantities through $H_{c2}$ may be expressed as $[S_{\rm s}(T,B)-S_{\rm s}(T,0)]/[S_{\rm n}(T)-S_{\rm s}(T,0)]=1-\alpha_{S}(1-B/H_{c2})\approx (B/H_{c2})^{\alpha_{S}}$, for example, where $B$ is the average flux density and $S_{\rm n}$ denotes entropy in the normal state. It is found that the slopes $\alpha_{S}$ and $\alpha_{\chi}$ at T=0 are identical, connected directly with the zero-energy density of states, and vary from 1.72 in the dirty limit to $0.5\sim 0.6$ in the clean limit. This mean-free-path dependence of $\alpha_{S}$ and $\alpha_{\chi}$ at T=0 is quantitatively the same as that of the slope $\alpha_{\rho}(T=0)$ for the flux-flow resistivity studied previously. The result suggests that $S_{\rm s}(B)$ and $\chi_{\rm s}(B)$ near T=0 are convex downward (upward) in the dirty (clean) limit, deviating substantially from the linear behavior $\propto B/H_{c2}$. The specific-heat jump at $H_{c2}$ also shows fairly large mean-free-path dependence.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Seasonal variations of atmospheric C2-C7 nonmethane hydrocarbons in Tokyo

Eighteen C2-C7 NMHCs (nonmethane hydrocarbons) were measured hourly during the Integrated Measurement Program for Aerosol and Oxidant Chemistry in Tokyo (IMPACT) measurement campaigns conducted in central Tokyo during four different periods (summer/autumn of 2003 and winter/summer of 2004). The ambient atmospheric concentrations of NMHCs showed an inverse correlation with wind speed and mixing height and were significantly affected by mesoscale weather conditions. The mixing ratio of isoprene tightly correlated with solar flux and temperature in summer, as it was dominantly emitted by the local vegetation. All the observed NMHCs except isoprene showed high correlation with each other in winter (r2 &gt; 0.5), suggesting concurrent accumulation under stagnant condition and common sources. Emission ratios were calculated on the basis of the correlation with carbon monoxide and ethyne. Compared to the typical winter NMEC composition, during summer there was a significant increase (up to 7 times higher than wintertime) of C4-C5 alkanes from ftiel evaporation; of C2-C3 alkenes, n-hexane and benzene from chemical industry; and of toluene from local manufacturers, reflecting the temperature dependence of these evaporative emissions. In addition to the online measurements in Tokyo, canister sampling at a suburban site (Kisai) followed by multidimensional GC analyses was conducted during the summer campaign in 2004. The atmospheric concentrations of longer-lived compounds (≥ several days) at Kisai showed the buildup under sea breeze circulation. The average ambient, concentration of toluene was 2 times higher than that in central Tokyo, likely because of substantial emissions from local industries as reported in the prefectural statistics. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union