8,581 research outputs found
Two-channel conduction in YbPtBi
We investigated transport, magnetotransport, and broadband optical properties
of the half-Heusler compound YbPtBi. Hall measurements evidence two types of
charge carriers: highly mobile electrons with a temperature-dependent
concentration and low-mobile holes; their concentration stays almost constant
within the investigated temperature range from 2.5 to 300 K. The optical
spectra (10 meV - 2.7 eV) can be naturally decomposed into contributions from
intra- and interband absorption processes, the former manifesting themselves as
two Drude bands with very different scattering rates, corresponding to the
charges with different mobilities. These results of the optical measurements
allow us to separate the contributions from electrons and holes to the total
conductivity and to implement a two-channel-conduction model for description of
the magnetotransport data. In this approach, the electron and hole mobilities
are found to be around 50000 and 10 cm/Vs at the lowest temperatures (2.5
K), respectively.Comment: 6 page
Spin Transfer Torques in MnSi at Ultra-low Current Densities
Spin manipulation using electric currents is one of the most promising
directions in the field of spintronics. We used neutron scattering to observe
the influence of an electric current on the magnetic structure in a bulk
material. In the skyrmion lattice of MnSi, where the spins form a lattice of
magnetic vortices similar to the vortex lattice in type II superconductors, we
observe the rotation of the diffraction pattern in response to currents which
are over five orders of magnitude smaller than those typically applied in
experimental studies on current-driven magnetization dynamics in
nanostructures. We attribute our observations to an extremely efficient
coupling of inhomogeneous spin currents to topologically stable knots in spin
structures
Global and regional left ventricular myocardial deformation measures by magnetic resonance feature tracking in healthy volunteers: comparison with tagging and relevance of gender
This work was funded by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G030693/1) and supported by the Oxford British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence and the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centr
Microtubules: Montroll's kink and Morse vibrations
Using a version of Witten's supersymmetric quantum mechanics proposed by
Caticha, we relate Montroll's kink to a traveling, asymmetric Morse double-well
potential suggesting in this way a connection between kink modes and
vibrational degrees of freedom along microtubulesComment: 2pp, twocolum
A Hot Helium Plasma in the Galactic Center Region
Recent X-ray observations by the space mission Chandra confirmed the
astonishing evidence for a diffuse, hot, thermal plasma at a temperature of 9.
K (8 keV) found by previous surveys to extend over a few hundred parsecs
in the Galactic Centre region. This plasma coexists with the usual components
of the interstellar medium such as cold molecular clouds and a soft (~0.8 keV)
component produced by supernova remnants, and its origin remains uncertain.
First, simple calculations using a mean sound speed for a hydrogen-dominated
plasma have suggested that it should not be gravitationally bound, and thus
requires a huge energy source to heat it in less than the escape time. Second,
an astrophysical mechanism must be found to generate such a high temperature.
No known source has been identified to fulfill both requirements. Here we
address the energetics problem and show that the hot component could actually
be a gravitationally confined helium plasma. We illustrate the new prospects
this opens by discussing the origin of this gas, and by suggesting possible
heating mechanisms.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in APJ
Comparison of T1 mapping techniques for ECV quantification. histological validation and reproducibility of ShMOLLI versus multibreath-hold T1 quantification equilibrium contrast CMR
BACKGROUND: Myocardial extracellular volume (ECV) is elevated in fibrosis or infiltration and can be quantified by measuring the haematocrit with pre and post contrast T1 at sufficient contrast equilibrium. Equilibrium CMR (EQ-CMR), using a bolus-infusion protocol, has been shown to provide robust measurements of ECV using a multibreath-hold T1 pulse sequence. Newer, faster sequences for T1 mapping promise whole heart coverage and improved clinical utility, but have not been validated.
METHODS: Multibreathhold T1 quantification with heart rate correction and single breath-hold T1 mapping using Shortened Modified Look-Locker Inversion recovery (ShMOLLI) were used in equilibrium contrast CMR to generate ECV values and compared in 3 ways.Firstly, both techniques were compared in a spectrum of disease with variable ECV expansion (n=100, 50 healthy volunteers, 12 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, 18 with severe aortic stenosis, 20 with amyloid). Secondly, both techniques were correlated to human histological collagen volume fraction (CVF%, n=18, severe aortic stenosis biopsies). Thirdly, an assessment of test:retest reproducibility of the 2 CMR techniques was performed 1 week apart in individuals with widely different ECVs (n=10 healthy volunteers, n=7 amyloid patients).
RESULTS: More patients were able to perform ShMOLLI than the multibreath-hold technique (6% unable to breath-hold). ECV calculated by multibreath-hold T1 and ShMOLLI showed strong correlation (r(2)=0.892), little bias (bias -2.2%, 95%CI -8.9% to 4.6%) and good agreement (ICC 0.922, range 0.802 to 0.961, p<0.0001). ECV correlated with histological CVF% by multibreath-hold ECV (r(2)= 0.589) but better by ShMOLLI ECV (r(2)= 0.685). Inter-study reproducibility demonstrated that ShMOLLI ECV trended towards greater reproducibility than the multibreath-hold ECV, although this did not reach statistical significance (95%CI -4.9% to 5.4% versus 95%CI -6.4% to 7.3% respectively, p=0.21).
CONCLUSIONS: ECV quantification by single breath-hold ShMOLLI T1 mapping can measure ECV by EQ-CMR across the spectrum of interstitial expansion. It is procedurally better tolerated, slightly more reproducible and better correlates with histology compared to the older multibreath-hold FLASH techniques
Long-range crystalline nature of the skyrmion lattice in MnSi
We report small angle neutron scattering of the skyrmion lattice in MnSi
using an experimental set-up that minimizes the effects of demagnetizing fields
and double scattering. Under these conditions the skyrmion lattice displays
resolution-limited Gaussian rocking scans that correspond to a magnetic
correlation length in excess of several hundred {\mu}m. This is consistent with
exceptionally well-defined long-range order. We further establish the existence
of higher-order scattering, discriminating parasitic double-scattering with
Renninger scans. The field and temperature dependence of the higher-order
scattering arises from an interference effect. It is characteristic for the
long-range crystalline nature of the skyrmion lattice as shown by simple mean
field calculations.Comment: 4 page
Electronic Scattering Effects in Europium-Based Iron Pnictides
In a comprehensive study, we investigate the electronic scattering effects in
EuFe(AsP) by using Fourier-transform infrared
spectroscopy. In spite of the fact that Eu local moments order around
\,K, the overall optical response is strikingly similar
to the one of the well-known Ba-122 pnictides. The main difference lies within
the suppression of the lower spin-density-wave gap feature. By analysing our
spectra with a multi-component model, we find that the high-energy feature
around 0.7\,eV -- often associated with Hund's rule coupling -- is highly
sensitive to the spin-density-wave ordering, this further confirms its direct
relationship to the dynamics of itinerant carriers. The same model is also used
to investigate the in-plane anisotropy of magnetically detwinned
EuFeAs in the antiferromagnetically ordered state, yielding a
higher Drude weight and lower scattering rate along the crystallographic
-axis. Finally, we analyse the development of the room temperature spectra
with isovalent phosphor substitution and highlight changes in the scattering
rate of hole-like carriers induced by a Lifshitz transition
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