15,751 research outputs found
Template-Stripped Multifunctional Wedge and Pyramid Arrays for Magnetic Nanofocusing and Optical Sensing
We present large-scale reproducible
fabrication of multifunctional ultrasharp metallic structures on planar
substrates with capabilities including magnetic field nanofocusing
and plasmonic sensing. Objects with sharp tips such as wedges and
pyramids made with noble metals have been extensively used for enhancing
local electric fields via the lightning-rod effect or plasmonic nanofocusing.
However, analogous nanofocusing of magnetic fields using sharp tips
made with magnetic materials has not been widely realized. Reproducible
fabrication of sharp tips with magnetic as well as noble metal layers
on planar substrates can enable straightforward application of their
material and shape-derived functionalities. We use a template-stripping
method to produce plasmonic-shell-coated nickel wedge and pyramid
arrays at the wafer-scale with tip radius of curvature close to 10
nm. We further explore the magnetic nanofocusing capabilities of these
ultrasharp substrates, deriving analytical formulas and comparing
the results with computer simulations. These structures exhibit nanoscale
spatial control over the trapping of magnetic microbeads and nanoparticles
in solution. Additionally, enhanced optical sensing of analytes by
these plasmonic-shell-coated substrates is demonstrated using surface-enhanced
Raman spectroscopy. These methods can guide the design and fabrication
of novel devices with applications including nanoparticle manipulation,
biosensing, and magnetoplasmonics
Self Assembled II-VI Magnetic Quantum Dot as a Voltage-Controlled Spin-Filter
A key element in the emergence of a full spintronics technology is the
development of voltage controlled spin filters to selectively inject carriers
of desired spin into semiconductors. We previously demonstrated a prototype of
such a device using a II-VI dilute-magnetic semiconductor quantum well which,
however, still required an external magnetic field to generate the level
splitting. Recent theory suggests that spin selection may be achievable in
II-VI paramagnetic semiconductors without external magnetic field through local
carrier mediated ferromagnetic interactions. We present the first experimental
observation of such an effect using non-magnetic CdSe self-assembled quantum
dots in a paramagnetic (Zn,Be,Mn)Se barrier.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Supra-oscillatory critical temperature dependence of Nb-Ho bilayers
We investigate the critical temperature Tc of a thin s-wave superconductor
(Nb) proximity coupled to a helical rare earth ferromagnet (Ho). As a function
of the Ho layer thickness, we observe multiple oscillations of Tc superimposed
on a slow decay, that we attribute to the influence of the Ho on the Nb
proximity effect. Because of Ho inhomogeneous magnetization, singlet and
triplet pair correlations are present in the bilayers. We take both into
consideration when solving the self consistent Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations,
and we observe a reasonable agreement. We also observe non-trivial transitions
into the superconducting state, the zero resistance state being attained after
two successive transitions which appear to be associated with the magnetic
structure of Ho.Comment: Main article: 5 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary materials: 4 pages, 5
figure
Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Models for Teaching Assistant Assignment and Extensions
© 2017 Xiaobo Qu et al. In this paper, we develop mixed-integer linear programming models for assigning the most appropriate teaching assistants to the tutorials in a department. The objective is to maximize the number of tutorials that are taught by the most suitable teaching assistants, accounting for the fact that different teaching assistants have different capabilities and each teaching assistant's teaching load cannot exceed a maximum value. Moreover, with optimization models, the teaching load allocation, a time-consuming process, does not need to be carried out in a manual manner. We have further presented a number of extensions that capture more practical considerations. Extensive numerical experiments show that the optimization models can be solved by an off-the-shelf solver and used by departments in universities
Gate-Voltage Control of Chemical Potential and Weak Anti-localization in Bismuth Selenide
We report that BiSe thin films can be epitaxially grown on
SrTiO substrates, which allow for very large tunablity in carrier density
with a back-gate. The observed low field magnetoconductivity due to weak
anti-localization (WAL) has a very weak gate-voltage dependence unless the
electron density is reduced to very low values. Such a transition in WAL is
correlated with unusual changes in longitudinal and Hall resistivities. Our
results suggest much suppressed bulk conductivity at large negative
gate-voltages and a possible role of surface states in the WAL phenomena. This
work may pave a way for realizing three-dimensional topological insulators at
ambient conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures
X-ray Spectral and timing properties of the black hole x-ray transient Swift J1753.5-0127
We have carried out detailed analysis on the black hole candidate (BHC) X-
ray transient Swift J1753.5-0127 observed by the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer
(RXTE) during its outburst in 2005 {2006. The spectral analysis shows that the
emissions are dominated by the hard X-rays, thus revealing the low/hard state
of the source during the outburst. The peak luminosity is found lower than the
typical value of balancing the mass flow and evaporation of the inner edge of
disk (Meyer-Hofmeister 2004). As a result, the disk is prevented from extending
inward to produce strong soft X-rays, corresponding to the so-called high/soft
state. These are the typical characteristics for a small subset of BHCs, i.e.
those soft X-ray transients stay at the low/hard state during the outburst. In
most observational time, the QPO frequencies are found to vary roughly linearly
with the fluxes and the spectral indices, while the deviation from this
relationship at the peak luminosity might provide the first observational
evidence of a partially evaporated inner edge of the accretion disk. The
anti-correlation between the QPO frequency and spectral color suggests that the
global disk oscillation model proposed by Titarchuk & Osherovich (2000) is not
likely at work.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 24 pages, 13 figures, 3 table
Plant Stem Cell Signaling Involves Ligand-Dependent Trafficking of the CLAVATA1 Receptor Kinase
Background: Cell numbers in above-ground meristems of
plants are thought to be maintained by a feedback loop driven by perception of the glycopeptide ligand CLAVATA3 (CLV3) by the CLAVATA1 (CLV1) receptor kinase and the CLV2/CORYNE (CRN) receptor-like complex [1]. CLV3 produced in the stem cells at the meristem apex limits the expression level of the stem cell-promoting homeodomain protein WUSCHEL (WUS) in the cells beneath, where CLV1 and WUS RNA are localized. WUS downregulation nonautonomously reduces stem cell proliferation. Overexpression of CLV3 eliminates the stem cells, causing meristem termination [2], and loss of CLV3 function allows meristem overproliferation [3]. There are many questions regarding the CLV3/CLV1 interaction, including where in the meristem it occurs, how it is regulated, and how it is that a large range of CLV3 concentrations gives no meristem
size phenotype [4]. Results: Here we use genetics and live imaging to examine the cell biology of CLV1 in Arabidopsis meristematic tissue. We demonstrate that plasma membrane-localized CLV1 is reduced in concentration by CLV3, which causes trafficking of CLV1 to lytic vacuoles. We find that changes in CLV2 activity have no detectable effects on CLV1 levels. We also find that CLV3 appears to diffuse broadly in meristems, contrary to a recent sequestration model [5].
Conclusions: This study provides a new model for CLV1
function in plant stem cell maintenance and suggests that
downregulation of plasma membrane-localized CLV1 by its
CLV3 ligand can account for the buffering of CLV3 signaling
in the maintenance of stem cell pools in plants
Mesoscopic Electron and Phonon Transport through a Curved Wire
There is great interest in the development of novel nanomachines that use
charge, spin, or energy transport, to enable new sensors with unprecedented
measurement capabilities. Electrical and thermal transport in these mesoscopic
systems typically involves wave propagation through a nanoscale geometry such
as a quantum wire. In this paper we present a general theoretical technique to
describe wave propagation through a curved wire of uniform cross-section and
lying in a plane, but of otherwise arbitrary shape. The method consists of (i)
introducing a local orthogonal coordinate system, the arclength and two locally
perpendicular coordinate axes, dictated by the shape of the wire; (ii)
rewriting the wave equation of interest in this system; (iii) identifying an
effective scattering potential caused by the local curvature; and (iv), solving
the associated Lippmann-Schwinger equation for the scattering matrix. We carry
out this procedure in detail for the scalar Helmholtz equation with both
hard-wall and stress-free boundary conditions, appropriate for the mesoscopic
transport of electrons and (scalar) phonons. A novel aspect of the phonon case
is that the reflection probability always vanishes in the long-wavelength
limit, allowing a simple perturbative (Born approximation) treatment at low
energies. Our results show that, in contrast to charge transport, curvature
only barely suppresses thermal transport, even for sharply bent wires, at least
within the two-dimensional scalar phonon model considered. Applications to
experiments are also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, RevTe
Evolution of Hard X-Ray Spectra Along the Branches in Cir X-1
Using the data from the PCA and HEXTE on board the RXTE satellite, we
investigate the evolution of the 3-200 keV spectra of the peculiar low mass
X-ray binary (LMXB) Cir X-1 along the branches on its hardness-intensity
diagram (HID) from the vertical horizontal branch (VHB), through the horizontal
horizontal branch (HHB) and normal branch (NB), to the flaring branch (FB). We
detect a power-law hard component in the spectra. It is found that the derived
photon indices () of the power-law hard component are correlated with
the position on the HID. The power-law component dominates the X-ray emission
of Cir X-1 in the energy band higher than keV. The fluxes of the
power-law component are compared with those of the bremsstrahlung component in
the spectra. A possible origin of the power-law hard component is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, ApJ Letter accepte
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