641 research outputs found
Tailoring strain in SrTiO3 compound by low energy He+ irradiation
The ability to generate a change of the lattice parameter in a near-surface
layer of a controllable thickness by ion implantation of strontium titanate is
reported here using low energy He+ ions. The induced strain follows a
distribution within a typical near-surface layer of 200 nm as obtained from
structural analysis. Due to clamping effect from the underlying layer, only
perpendicular expansion is observed. Maximum distortions up to 5-7% are
obtained with no evidence of amorphisation at fluences of 1E16 He+ ions/cm2 and
ion energies in the range 10-30 keV.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter
(http://iopscience.iop.org/0295-5075
Efficiency at maximum power of thermally coupled heat engines
We study the efficiency at maximum power of two coupled heat engines, using
thermoelectric generators (TEGs) as engines. Assuming that the heat and
electric charge fluxes in the TEGs are strongly coupled, we simulate
numerically the dependence of the behavior of the global system on the
electrical load resistance of each generator in order to obtain the working
condition that permits maximization of the output power. It turns out that this
condition is not unique. We derive a simple analytic expression giving the
relation between the electrical load resistance of each generator permitting
output power maximization. We then focuse on the efficiency at maximum power
(EMP) of the whole system to demonstrate that the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency may
not always be recovered: the EMP varies with the specific working conditions of
each generator but remains in the range predicted by irreversible
thermodynamics theory. We finally discuss our results in light of non-ideal
Carnot engine behavior.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Field-effect control of superconductivity and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in top-gated LaAlO3/SrTiO3 devices
The recent development in the fabrication of artificial oxide
heterostructures opens new avenues in the field of quantum materials by
enabling the manipulation of the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom.
In this context, the discovery of two-dimensional electron gases (2-DEGs) at
LAlO3/SrTiO3 interfaces, which exhibit both superconductivity and strong Rashba
spin-orbit coupling (SOC), represents a major breakthrough. Here, we report on
the realisation of a field-effect LaAlO3/SrTiO3 device, whose physical
properties, including superconductivity and SOC, can be tuned over a wide range
by a top-gate voltage. We derive a phase diagram, which emphasises a
field-effect-induced superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition.
Magneto-transport measurements indicate that the Rashba coupling constant
increases linearly with electrostatic doping. Our results pave the way for the
realisation of mesoscopic devices, where these two properties can be
manipulated on a local scale by means of top-gates
A HPMT based set-up to characterize scintillating crystals
We have developed a fully automatic measurement set-up, capable of measuring light yields arising from scintillating crystals in a linear range of about four orders of magnitude. The photodetector is a Hybrid Photomultiplier Tube especially developed to optimize linear range and photon detection. Crystal and photodetector are temperature controlled by a closed water circuit, as this is essential when measuring low light yield scintillating crystals with a marked temperature dependence of their light yield. Gamma sources can be placed either on top or on the side of the crystal. In this latter case, the source can be automatically moved by a computer-controlled step motor to provide a uniformity profile of the light yield along the crystal. Tagged and not-tagged operation modes are possible. The whole set-up is computer-controlled in an effort to provide fast and reliable measurements, to characterize many crystals per day. This is important for the quality control of the Lead Tungstate crystals that will be applied in the electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS-detector at the LHC at CERN
Mesoscale magnetism at the grain boundaries in colossal magnetoresistive films
We report the discovery of mesoscale regions with distinctive magnetic
properties in epitaxial LaSrMnO films which exhibit
tunneling-like magnetoresistance across grain boundaries. By using
temperature-dependent magnetic force microscopy we observe that the mesoscale
regions are formed near the grain boundaries and have a different Curie
temperature (up to 20 K {\it higher}) than the grain interiors. Our images
provide direct evidence for previous speculations that the grain boundaries in
thin films are not magnetically and electronically sharp interfaces. The size
of the mesoscale regions varies with temperature and nature of the underlying
defect.Comment: 4 pages of text, 4 figure
Gaia Data Release 1. The Cepheid and RR Lyrae star pipeline and its application to the south ecliptic pole region
Context. The European Space Agency spacecraft Gaia is expected to observe about 10,000 Galactic Cepheids and over 100,000 Milky Way RR Lyrae stars (a large fraction of which will be new discoveries), during the five-year nominal lifetime spent scanning the whole sky to a faint limit of G = 20.7 mag, sampling their light variation on average about 70 times. Aims. We present an overview of the Specific Objects Study (SOS) pipeline developed within the Coordination Unit 7 (CU7) of the Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC), the coordination unit charged with the processing and analysis of variable sources observed by Gaia, to validate and fully characterise Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars observed by the spacecraft. The algorithms devel- oped to classify and extract information such as the pulsation period, mode of pulsation, mean magnitude, peak-to-peak amplitude of the light variation, sub-classification in type, multiplicity, secondary periodicities, light curve Fourier decomposition parameters, as well as physical parameters such as mass, metallicity, reddening and, for classical Cepheids, age, are briefly described. Methods. The full chain of the CU7 pipeline was run on the time-series photometry collected by Gaia during 28 days of Ecliptic Pole Scanning Law (EPSL) and over a year of Nominal Scanning Law (NSL), starting from the general Variability Detection, general Characterisation, proceeding through the global Classification and ending with the detailed checks and typecasting of the SOS for Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars (SOS Cep&RRL). We describe in more detail how the SOS Cep&RRL pipeline was specifically tailored to analyse Gaia’s G-band photometric time-series with a South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) footprint, which covers an external region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and to produce results for confirmed RR Lyrae stars and Cepheids to be published in Gaia Data Release 1 (Gaia DR1). Results. G-band time-series photometry and characterization by the SOS Cep&RRL pipeline (mean magnitude and pulsation char- acteristics) are published in Gaia DR1 for a total sample of 3,194 variable stars, 599 Cepheids and 2,595 RR Lyrae stars, of which 386 (43 Cepheids and 343 RR Lyrae stars) are new discoveries by Gaia. All 3,194 stars are distributed over an area extending 38 degrees on either side from a point offset from the centre of the LMC by about 3 degrees to the north and 4 degrees to the east. The vast majority, but not all, are located within the LMC. The published sample also includes a few bright RR Lyrae stars that trace the outer halo of the Milky Way in front of the LMC
A rhombohedral ferroelectric phase in epitaxially strained Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films
Hafnia-based thin films are a favoured candidate for the integration of robust ferroelectricity at the nanoscale into next-generation memory and logic devices. This is because their ferroelectric polarization becomes more robust as the size is reduced, exposing a type of ferroelectricity whose mechanism still remains to be understood. Thin films with increased crystal quality are therefore needed. We report the epitaxial growth of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films on (001)-oriented La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 substrates. The films, which are under epitaxial compressive strain and predominantly (111)-oriented, display large ferroelectric polarization values up to 34 mu C cm(-2) and do not need wake-up cycling. Structural characterization reveals a rhombohedral phase, different from the commonly reported polar orthorhombic phase. This finding, in conjunction with density functional theory calculations, allows us to propose a compelling model for the formation of the ferroelectric phase. In addition, these results point towards thin films of simple oxides as a vastly unexplored class of nanoscale ferroelectrics.</p
Gaia Data Release 2: Short-timescale variability processing and analysis
The Gaia DR2 sample of short-timescale variable candidates results from the
investigation of the first 22 months of Gaia photometry for a subsample of
sources at the Gaia faint end. For this exercise, we limited ourselves to the
case of suspected rapid periodic variability. Our study combines
fast-variability detection through variogram analysis, high-frequency search by
means of least-squares periodograms, and empirical selection based on the
investigation of specific sources seen through the Gaia eyes (e.g. known
variables or visually identified objects with peculiar features in their light
curves). The progressive definition and validation of this selection criterion
also benefited from supplementary ground-based photometric monitoring of a few
preliminary candidates, performed at the Flemish Mercator telescope (Canary
Islands, Spain) between August and November 2017. We publish a list of 3,018
short-timescale variable candidates, spread throughout the sky, with a
false-positive rate up to 10-20% in the Magellanic Clouds, and a more
significant but justifiable contamination from longer-period variables between
19% and 50%, depending on the area of the sky. Although its completeness is
limited to about 0.05%, this first sample of Gaia short-timescale variables
recovers some very interesting known short-period variables, such as
post-common envelope binaries or cataclysmic variables, and brings to light
some fascinating, newly discovered variable sources. In the perspective of
future Gaia data releases, several improvements of the short-timescale
variability processing are considered, by enhancing the existing variogram and
period-search algorithms or by classifying the identified candidates.
Nonetheless, the encouraging outcome of our Gaia DR2 analysis demonstrates the
power of this mission for such fast-variability studies, and opens great
perspectives for this domain of astrophysics
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