717 research outputs found
Amorphous interface layer in thin graphite films grown on the carbon face of SiC
Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to
characterize an amorphous layer observed at the interface in graphite and
graphene films grown via thermal decomposition of C-face 4H-SiC. The amorphous
layer does not to cover the entire interface, but uniform contiguous regions
span microns of cross-sectional interface. Annular dark field scanning
transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) images and electron energy loss
spectroscopy (EELS) demonstrate that the amorphous layer is a carbon-rich
composition of Si/C. The amorphous layer is clearly observed in samples grown
at 1600{\deg}C for a range of growth pressures in argon, but not at
1500{\deg}C, suggesting a temperature-dependent formation mechanism
Observation of quantum-Hall effect in gated epitaxial graphene grown on SiC (0001)
Epitaxial graphene films were formed on the Si-face of semi-insulating 4H-SiC
substrates by a high temperature sublimation process. A high-k gate stack on
epitaxial graphene is realized by inserting a fully oxidized nanometer thin
aluminum film as a seeding layer followed by an atomic-layer deposition
process. The electrical properties of epitaxial graphene films are sustained
after gate stack formation without significant degradation. At low
temperatures, the quantum-Hall effect in Hall resistance is observed along with
pronounced Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations in diagonal magneto-resistance of
gated epitaxial graphene on SiC (0001).Comment: 2 new references adde
Earth-Space Link Attenuation Estimation via Ground Radar Kdp
A method of predicting attenuation on microwave Earth/spacecraft communication links, over wide areas and under various atmospheric conditions, has been developed. In the area around the ground station locations, a nearly horizontally aimed polarimetric S-band ground radar measures the specific differential phase (Kdp) along the Earth-space path. The specific attenuation along a path of interest is then computed by use of a theoretical model of the relationship between the measured S-band specific differential phase and the specific attenuation at the frequency to be used on the communication link. The model includes effects of rain, wet ice, and other forms of precipitation. The attenuation on the path of interest is then computed by integrating the specific attenuation over the length of the path. This method can be used to determine statistics of signal degradation on Earth/spacecraft communication links. It can also be used to obtain real-time estimates of attenuation along multiple Earth/spacecraft links that are parts of a communication network operating within the radar coverage area, thereby enabling better management of the network through appropriate dynamic routing along the best combination of links
On the Existence of the Logarithmic Correction Term in Black Hole Entropy-Area Relation
In this paper we consider a model universe with large extra dimensions to
obtain a modified black hole entropy-area relation. We use the generalized
uncertainty principle to find a relation between the number of spacetime
dimensions and the presence or vanishing of logarithmic prefactor in the black
hole entropy-area relation. Our calculations are restricted to the
microcanonical ensembles and we show that in the modified entropy-area
relation, the microcanonical logarithmic prefactor appears only when spacetime
has an even number of dimensions.Comment: 9 Pages, No Figure
Semiclassical States in Quantum Cosmology: Bianchi I Coherent States
We study coherent states for Bianchi type I cosmological models, as examples
of semiclassical states for time-reparametrization invariant systems. This
simple model allows us to study explicitly the relationship between exact
semiclassical states in the kinematical Hilbert space and corresponding ones in
the physical Hilbert space, which we construct here using the group averaging
technique. We find that it is possible to construct good semiclassical physical
states by such a procedure in this model; we also discuss the sense in which
the original kinematical states may be a good approximation to the physical
ones, and the situations in which this is the case. In addition, these models
can be deparametrized in a natural way, and we study the effect of time
evolution on an "intrinsic" coherent state in the reduced phase space, in order
to estimate the time for this state to spread significantly.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure; Version to be published in CQG; The discussion
has been slightly reorganized, two references added, and some typos correcte
Quantum Gravitational Corrections to the Real Klein-Gordon Field in the Presence of a Minimal Length
The (D+1)-dimensional -two-parameter Lorentz-covariant
deformed algebra introduced by Quesne and Tkachuk [C. Quesne and V. M. Tkachuk,
J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. \textbf {39}, 10909 (2006).], leads to a nonzero minimal
uncertainty in position (minimal length). The Klein-Gordon equation in a
(3+1)-dimensional space-time described by Quesne-Tkachuk Lorentz-covariant
deformed algebra is studied in the case where up to first order
over deformation parameter . It is shown that the modified Klein-Gordon
equation which contains fourth-order derivative of the wave function describes
two massive particles with different masses. We have shown that physically
acceptable mass states can only exist for which
leads to an isotropic minimal length in the interval . Finally, we have shown that the above estimation of
minimal length is in good agreement with the results obtained in previous
investigations.Comment: 10 pages, no figur
String-inspired cosmology: Late time transition from scaling matter era to dark energy universe caused by a Gauss-Bonnet coupling
The Gauss-Bonnet (GB) curvature invariant coupled to a scalar field
can lead to an exit from a scaling matter-dominated epoch to a late-time
accelerated expansion, which is attractive to alleviate the coincident problem
of dark energy. We derive the condition for the existence of cosmological
scaling solutions in the presence of the GB coupling for a general scalar-field
Lagrangian density , where is a kinematic
term of the scalar field. The GB coupling and the Lagrangian density are
restricted to be in the form and , respectively, where is a constant and is an
arbitrary function. We also derive fixed points for such a scaling Lagrangian
with a GB coupling and clarify the conditions
under which the scaling matter era is followed by a de-Sitter solution which
can appear in the presence of the GB coupling. Among scaling models proposed in
the current literature, we find that the models which allow such a cosmological
evolution are an ordinary scalar field with an exponential potential and a
tachyon field with an inverse square potential, although the latter requires a
coupling between dark energy and dark matter.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, version to appear in JCA
On (Cosmological) Singularity Avoidance in Loop Quantum Gravity
Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), mainly due to Bojowald, is not the cosmological
sector of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Rather, LQC consists of a truncation of
the phase space of classical General Relativity to spatially homogeneous
situations which is then quantized by the methods of LQG. Thus, LQC is a
quantum mechanical toy model (finite number of degrees of freedom) for LQG(a
genuine QFT with an infinite number of degrees of freedom) which provides
important consistency checks. However, it is a non trivial question whether the
predictions of LQC are robust after switching on the inhomogeneous fluctuations
present in full LQG. Two of the most spectacular findings of LQC are that 1.
the inverse scale factor is bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates which
hints at the avoidance of the local curvature singularity and 2. that the
Quantum Einstein Equations are non -- singular which hints at the avoidance of
the global initial singularity. We display the result of a calculation for LQG
which proves that the (analogon of the) inverse scale factor, while densely
defined, is {\it not} bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates. Thus, in
full LQG, if curvature singularity avoidance is realized, then not in this
simple way. In fact, it turns out that the boundedness of the inverse scale
factor is neither necessary nor sufficient for curvature singularity avoidance
and that non -- singular evolution equations are neither necessary nor
sufficient for initial singularity avoidance because none of these criteria are
formulated in terms of observable quantities.After outlining what would be
required, we present the results of a calculation for LQG which could be a
first indication that our criteria at least for curvature singularity avoidance
are satisfied in LQG.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figure
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