Local conductivity and the role of vacancies around twin walls of (001)-BiFeO3 thin films

BiFeO3 thin films epitaxially grown on SrRuO3-buffered (001)-oriented SrTiO3 substrates show orthogonal bundles of twin domains, each of which contains parallel and periodic 71o domain walls. A smaller amount of 109o domain walls are also present at the boundaries between two adjacent bundles. All as-grown twin walls display enhanced conductivity with respect to the domains during local probe measurements, due to the selective lowering of the Schottky barrier between the film and the AFM tip (see S. Farokhipoor and B. Noheda, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 127601 (2011)). In this paper we further discuss these results and show why other conduction mechanisms are discarded. In addition we show the crucial role that oxygen vacancies play in determining the amount of conduction at the walls. This prompts us to propose that the oxygen vacancies migrating to the walls locally lower the Schottky barrier. This mechanism would then be less efficient in non-ferroelastic domain walls where one expects no strain gradients around the walls and thus (assuming that walls are not charged) no driving force for accumulation of defects

Gravitational lensing by gravitational waves

Gravitational lensing by gravitational wave is considered. We notice that although final and initial direction of photons coincide, displacement between final and initial trajectories occurs. This displacement is calculated analytically for the plane gravitational wave pulse. Estimations for observations are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Equilibrium basal-plane magnetization of superconductive YNi(2)B(2)C - the influence of non-local electrodynamics

For a single crystal of YNi(2)B(2)C superconductor, the equilibrium magnetization M in the square basal plane has been studied experimentally as a function of temperature and magnetic field. While the magnetization M(H) deviates from conventional London predictions, a recent extension of London theory (to include effects of non-local electrodynamics) describes the experiments accurately. The resulting superconductive parameters are well behaved. These results are compared with corresponding findings for the case with M perpendicular to the basal plane.Comment: 7 pages, 5 Postscript Figures, 2 table

On Quantum Nature of Black-Hole Spacetime: A Possible New Source of Intense Radiation

Atoms and the planets acquire their stability from the quantum mechanical incompatibility of the position and momentum measurements. This incompatibility is expressed by the fundamental commutator [x, p_x]=i hbar, or equivalently, via the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle Delta x Delta p_x sim hbar. A further stability-related phenomenon where the quantum realm plays a dramatic role is the collapse of certain stars into white dwarfs and neutron stars. Here, an intervention of the Pauli exclusion principle, via the fermionic degenerate pressure, stops the gravitational collapse. However, by the neutron-star stage the standard quantum realm runs dry. One is left with the problematic collapse of a black hole. This essay is devoted to a concrete argument on why the black-hole spacetime itself should exhibit a quantum nature. The proposed quantum aspect of spacetime is shown to prevent the general-relativistic dictated problematic collapse. The quantum nature of black-hole spacetime is deciphered from a recent result on the universal equal-area spacing [=lambda_P^2 4 ln(3)] for black holes. In one interpretation of the emergent picture, an astrophysical black hole can fluctuate to sqrt{pi/ln(3)} approx 1.7 times its classical size, and thus allow radiation and matter to escape to the outside observers. These fluctuations I conjecture provide a new source, perhaps beyond Hawking radiation, of intense radiation from astrophysical black holes and may be the primary source of observed radiation from those galactic cores what carry black hole(s). The presented interpretation may be used as a criterion to choose black holes from black hole candidates.Comment: This essay received an "honorable mention" in the 1999 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation - Ed. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D (1999, in press). For Joseph Knech

Nature of 45 degree vortex lattice reorientation in tetragonal superconductors

The transformation of the vortex lattice in a tetragonal superconductor which consists of its 45 degree reorientation relative to the crystal axes is studied using the nonlocal London model. It is shown that the reorientation occurs as two successive second order (continuous) phase transitions. The transition magnetic fields are calculated for a range of parameters relevant for borocarbide superconductors in which the reorientation has been observed

Four-fold basal plane anisotropy of the nonlocal magnetization of YNi2B2C

Studies of single crystal YNi2B2C have revealed a four-fold anisotropy of the equilibrium magnetization in the square crystallographic basal plane. This pi/2 periodicity occurs deep in the superconductive mixed state. In this crystal symmetry, an ordinary superconductive mass anisotropy (as in usual London theory) allows only a constant, isotropic response. In contrast, the experimental results are well described by generalized London theory incorporating non-local electrodynamics, as needed for this clean, intermediate-k superconductor.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Josephson junction between anisotropic superconductors

The sin-Gordon equation for Josephson junctions with arbitrary misaligned anisotropic banks is derived. As an application, the problem of Josephson vortices at twin planes of a YBCO-like material is considered. It is shown that for an arbitrary orientation of these vortices relative to the crystal axes of the banks, the junctions should experience a mechanical torque which is evaluated. This torque and its angular dependence may, in principle, be measured in small fields, since the flux penetration into twinned crystals begins with nucleation of Josephson vortices at twin planes.Comment: 6 page

Spin polarization control by electric stirring: proposal for a spintronic device

We propose a spintronic device to generate spin polarization in a mesoscopic region by purely electric means. We show that the spin Hall effect in combination with the stirring effect are sufficient to induce measurable spin polarization in a closed geometry. Our device structure does not require the application of magnetic fields, external radiation or ferromagnetic leads, and can be implemented in standard semiconducting materials

Interaction of vortices in thin superconducting films and Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition

The precondition for the BKT transition in thin superconducting films, the logarithmic intervortex interaction, is satisfied at distances short relative to $\Lambda=2\lambda^2/d$, $\lambda$ is the London penetration depth of the bulk material and $d$ is the film thickness. For this reason, the search for the transition has been conducted in samples of the size $L<\Lambda$. It is argued below that film edges turn the interaction into near exponential (short-range) thus making the BKT transition impossible. If however the substrate is superconducting and separated from the film by an insulated layer, the logarithmic intervortex interaction is recovered and the BKT transition should be observable.Comment: 4 pages, no figure

Field-induced axion emission via process e+e−→ae^+ e^- \to a in plasma

The annihilation into axion $e^+ e^- \to a$ is investigated in a plasma and an external magnetic field. This process via a plasmon intermediate state has a resonant character at a particular energy of the emitted axion. The emissivity by $e^+ e^- \to a$ is compared with the axion cyclotron emissivity.Comment: 8 pages, latex, 4 PS figure