1,209 research outputs found
Doping evolution of the electronic specific heat coefficient in slightly-doped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals
Detailed doping dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma
is studied for La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) single crystals in the slightly-doped
regime. We find that gamma systematically increases with doping, and
furthermore, even for the samples in the antiferromagnetic (AF) regime, gamma
already acquires finite value and grows with x. This suggests that finite
electronic density of states (DOS) is created in the AF regime where the
transport shows strong localization at low temperatures, and this means the
system is not a real insulator with a clear gap even though it still keeps long
range AF order.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics:
Conference Series (LT25 proceeding
The Bacterial Photosynthetic Reaction Center as a Model for Membrane Proteins
Membrane proteins participate in many fundamental cellular processes. Until recently, an understanding of the function and properties of membrane proteins was hampered by an absence of structural information at the atomic level. A landmark achievement toward understanding the structure of membrane proteins was the crystallization (1) and structure determination (2-5) the photosynthetic reaction center (RC) from the purple bacteria Rhodopseudomonas viridis, followed by that of the RC from Rhodobacter sphaeroides (6-17). The RC is an integral membrane protein-pigment complex, which carries out the initial steps of photosynthesis (reviewed in 18). RCs from the purple bacteria Rps. viridis and Rb. sphaeroides are composed of three membrane-associated protein subunits (designated L, M, and H), and the following cofactors: four bacteriochlorophylls (Bchl or B), two bacteriopheophytins (Bphe or [phi]), two quinones, and a nonheme iron. The cofactors are organized into two symmetrical branches that are approximately related by a twofold rotation axis (2, 8). A central feature of the structural organization of the RC is the presence of 11 hydrophobic [alpha]-helixes, approximately 20-30 residues long, which are believed to represent the membrane-spanning portion of the RC (3, 9). Five membrane-spanning helixes are present in both the L and M subunits, while a single helix is in the H subunit. The folding of the L and M subunits is similar, consistent with significant sequence similarity between the two chains (19-25). The L and M subunits are approximately related by the same twofold rotation axis that relates the two cofactor branches.
RCs are the first membrane proteins to be described at atomic resolution; consequently they provide an important model for discussing the folding of membrane proteins. The structure demonstrates that [alpha]-helical structures may be adopted by integral membrane proteins, and provides confirmation of the utility of hydropathy plots in identifying nonpolar membrane-spanning regions from sequence data. An important distinction between the folding environments of water-soluble proteins and membrane proteins is the large difference in water concentration surrounding the proteins. As a result, hydrophobic interactions (26) play very different roles in stabilizing the tertiary structures of these two classes of proteins; this has important structural consequences. There is a striking difference in surface polarity of membrane and water-soluble proteins. However, the characteristic atomic packing and surface area appear quite similar.
A computational method is described for defining the position of the RC in the membrane (10). After localization of the RC structure in the membrane, surface residues in contact with the lipid bilayer were identified. As has been found for soluble globular proteins, surface residues are less well conserved in homologous membrane proteins than the buried, interior residues. Methods based on the variability of residues between homologous proteins are described (13); they are useful (a) in defining surface helical regions of membrane and water-soluble proteins and (b) in assigning the side of these helixes that are exposed to the solvent. A unifying view of protein structure suggests that water-soluble proteins may be considered as modified membrane proteins with covalently attached polar groups that solubilize the proteins in aqueous solution
Hall effect in superconducting Fe(Se0.5Te0.5) thin films
The Hall effect is investigated for eight superconducting Fe(Se_0.5_Te_0.5_)
thin films grown on MgO and LaSrAlO_4_ substrates with different transition
temperatures (T_c_). The normal Hall coefficients (R_H_) have positive values
with magnitude of 1 - 1.5 x 10^-3^ cm^3^/C at room temperature for the all
samples. With decreasing temperature, we find two characteristic types of
behavior in R_H_(T) depending on T_c_. For thin films with lower T_c_
(typically T_c_ < 5 K), R_H_ start decreasing approximately below T = 250 K
toward a negative side, some of which shows sign reversal at T = 50 - 60 K, but
turns positive toward T = 0 K. On the other hand for the films with higher T_c_
(typically T_c_ > 9 K), R_ H_ leaves almost unchanged down to T = 100 K, and
then starts decreasing toward a negative side. Around the temperatures when
R_H_ changes its sign from positive to negative, obvious nonlinearity is
observed in the field-dependence of Hall resistance as to keep the low-field
R_H_ positive while the high-field R_H_ negative. Thus the electronic state
just above T_c_ is characterized by n_e_ (electron density) > n_h_ (hole
density) with keeping \mu_e_ < \mu_h_. These results suggest the dominance of
electron density to the hole density is an essential factor for the occurence
of superconductivity in Fe-chalcogenide superconductors.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, revised version for Physical Review B. accepted
for publication in Physical Review
Thermal Conductivity of Pr_{1.3-x}La_{0.7}Ce_xCuO_4 Single Crystals and Signatures of Stripes in an Electron-Doped Cuprate
It was recently demonstrated that the anisotropic phonon heat transport
behavior is a good probe of the stripe formation in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 (LSCO)
[X. F. Sun {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. B {\bf 67}, 104503 (2003)]. Using this
probe, we examined an electron-doped cuprate Pr_{1.3-x}La_{0.7}Ce_xCuO_4
(PLCCO) and found that essentially the same features as those in LSCO are
observed. Moreover, the in-plane resistivity \rho_{ab} of lightly-doped PLCCO
shows metallic behavior (d\rho_{ab}/dT > 0) in the N\'eel ordered state with a
mobility comparable to that in LSCO. It is discussed that these peculiar
properties in common with LSCO signify the existence of stripes in
electron-doped cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revised version accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. Let
Numerical Simulation of Upwelling Flow in Pipe Generated by Perpetual Salt Fountain
Upwelling of deep seawater to the region, where sunlight reaches, can produce the ocean farm since deep seawater contains high concentration of nutrient. The numerical simulation for upwelling of deep seawater with the perpetual salt fountain proposed by Stommel et al. was conducted in this study. The temperature and salinity distributions measured in Mariana area where the upwelling experiment was conducted by Maruyama et al. was used. As a result, the velocity profile of the upwelling experiment was predicted as M-shape flow and the flow rate was estimated as 43t/day in the pipe. Additionally the possibility of reverse flow in the pipe was indicated. Furthermore the possibility of upwelling in other ocean areas using the results was discussed. As a result, it became clear that the unified representation of ocean conditions was achieved by the new dimensionless number RaR, which was modified Rayleigh number, and flow rate in the pipe could be evaluated by RaR
Doping dependence of charge-transfer excitations in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4
We report a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) study of the doping
dependence of charge-transfer excitations in . The mome
ntum dependence of these charge excitations are studied over the whole
Brillouin zone in underdoped (x=0.05) and optimally doped (x=0.17) samples, and
compared with that of the undoped (x=0) sample. We observe a large change in
the RIXS spectra between the x=0 and x=0.17 sample, while the RIXS spectra of
the x=0.05 sample are similar to that of the x=0 sample. The most prominent
effect of doped-holes on the charge excitation spectra is the appearance of a
continuum of intensity, which exhibits a strong momentum-dependence below 2 eV.
For the x=0.17 sample, some of the spectral weight from the lowest-lying
charge-transfer excitation of the undoped compound is transferred to the
continuum intensity below the gap, in agreement with earlier optical studies.
However, the higher energy charge-transfer excitation carries significant
spectral weight even for the x=0.17 sample. The doping dependence of the
dispersion of this charge-transfer excitation is also discussed and compared
with recent theoretical calculations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Large magneto-thermal effect and the spin-phonon coupling in a parent insulating cuprate Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4
The magnetic-field (H) dependence of the thermal conductivity \kappa of
Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4 is found to show a pronounced minimum for in-plane fields
at low temperature, which is best attributed to the scattering of phonons by
free spins that are seen by a Schottky-type specific heat and a Curie-Weiss
susceptibility. Besides pointing to a strong spin-phonon coupling in cuprates,
the present result demonstrates that the H-dependence of the phonon heat
transport should not be naively neglected when discussing the \kappa(H)
behavior of cuprates, since the Schottky anomaly is ubiquitously found in
cuprates at any doping.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Curie-like paramagnetism due to incomplete Zhang-Rice singlet formation in La2-xSrxCuO4
In an effort to elucidate the origin of the Curie-like paramagnetism that is
generic for heavily-overdoped cuprates, we have performed high transverse-field
muon spin rotation (TF-muSR) measurements of La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals over
the Sr content range 0.145 < x < 0.33. We show that the x-dependence of the
previously observed field-induced broadening of the internal magnetic field
distribution above the superconducting transition temperature Tc reflects the
presence of two distinct contributions. One of these becomes less pronounced
with increasing x and is attributed to diminishing antiferromagnetic
correlations. The other grows with increasing x, but decreases above x ~ 0.30,
and is associated with the Curie-like term in the bulk magnetic susceptibility.
In contrast to the Curie-like term, however, this second contribution to the
TF-muSR line width extends back into the underdoped regime. Our findings imply
a coexistence of antiferromagnetically correlated and paramagnetic moments,
with the latter becoming dominant beyond x ~ 0.185. This suggests that the
doped holes do not neutralize all Cu spins via the formation of Zhang-Rice
singlets. Moreover, the paramagnetic component of the TF-muSR line width is
explained by holes progressively entering the Cu 3d_{x^2-y^2} orbital with
doping.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
"Spin-Flop" Transition and Anisotropic Magnetoresistance in Pr_{1.3-x}La_{0.7}Ce_{x}CuO_{4}: Unexpectedly Strong Spin-Charge Coupling in Electron-Doped Cuprates
We use transport and neutron-scattering measurements to show that a
magnetic-field-induced transition from noncollinear to collinear spin
arrangement in adjacent CuO_{2} planes of lightly electron-doped
Pr_{1.3-x}La_{0.7}Ce_{x}CuO_{4} (x=0.01) crystals affects significantly both
the in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity. In the high-field collinear state,
the magnetoresistance (MR) does not saturate, but exhibits an intriguing
four-fold-symmetric angular dependence, oscillating from being positive at
B//[100] to being negative at B//[110]. The observed MR of more than 30% at low
temperatures induced by a modest modification of the spin structure indicates
an unexpectedly strong spin-charge coupling in electron-doped cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
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