Strain dependence of bonding and hybridization across the metal-insulator transition of VO2

Soft x-ray spectroscopy is used to investigate the strain dependence of the metal-insulator transition of VO2. Changes in the strength of the V 3d - O 2p hybridization are observed across the transition, and are linked to the structural distortion. Furthermore, although the V-V dimerization is well-described by dynamical mean-field theory, the V-O hybridization is found to have an unexpectedly strong dependence on strain that is not predicted by band theory, emphasizing the relevance of the O ion to the physics of VO2

Analysis of potential impacts of Flaming Gorge Dam hydropower operations on archaeological sites

An archaeological field study was conducted along the Green River in the areas of Little Hole and Browns Park in Utah and Colorado. The purpose of the study was to measure the potential for hydropower operations at Flaming Gorge Dam to directly or indirectly affect archaeological sites in the study area. Thirty-four known sites were relocated, and six new sites were recorded. Information was collected at each site regarding location, description, geomorphic setting, sedimentary context, vegetation, slope, distance from river, elevation above river level, and site condition. Matching the hydrologic projections of river level and sediment load with the geomorphic and sedimentary context at specific site locations indicated that eight sites were in areas with a high potential for erosion

Unifying the Phase Diagrams of the Magnetic and Transport Properties of La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4, 0 < x < 0.05

An extensive experimental and theoretical effort has led to a largely complete mapping of the magnetic phase diagram of La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4, and a microscopic model of the spin textures produced in the x < 0.05 regime has been shown to be in agreement with this phase diagram. Here we use this same model to derive a theory of the impurity-dominated, low temperature transport. Then, we present an analysis of previously published data for two samples: x = 0.002 data from Chen et. al., and x = 0.04 data from Keimer et. al. We show that the transport mechanisms in the two systems are the same, even though they are on opposite sides of the observed insulator-to-metal transition. Our model of impurity effects on the impurity band conduction, variable-range hopping conduction, and coulomb gap conduction, is similar to that used to describe doped semiconductors. However, for La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 we find that in addition to impurity-generated disorder effects, strong correlations are important and must be treated on a equal level with disorder. On the basis of this work we propose a phase diagram that is consistent with available magnetic and transport experiments, and which connects the undoped parent compound with the lowest x value for which La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 is found to be superconducting, x about 0.06.Comment: 7 pages revtex with one .ps figur

Demagnetization of Quantum Dot Nuclear Spins: Breakdown of the Nuclear Spin Temperature Approach

The physics of interacting nuclear spins arranged in a crystalline lattice is typically described using a thermodynamic framework: a variety of experimental studies in bulk solid-state systems have proven the concept of a spin temperature to be not only correct but also vital for the understanding of experimental observations. Using demagnetization experiments we demonstrate that the mesoscopic nuclear spin ensemble of a quantum dot (QD) can in general not be described by a spin temperature. We associate the observed deviations from a thermal spin state with the presence of strong quadrupolar interactions within the QD that cause significant anharmonicity in the spectrum of the nuclear spins. Strain-induced, inhomogeneous quadrupolar shifts also lead to a complete suppression of angular momentum exchange between the nuclear spin ensemble and its environment, resulting in nuclear spin relaxation times exceeding an hour. Remarkably, the position dependent axes of quadrupolar interactions render magnetic field sweeps inherently non-adiabatic, thereby causing an irreversible loss of nuclear spin polarization.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Time-domain characterization and correction of on-chip distortion of control pulses in a quantum processor

We introduce Cryoscope, a method for sampling on-chip baseband pulses used to dynamically control qubit frequency in a quantum processor. We specifically use Cryoscope to measure the step response of the dedicated flux control lines of two-junction transmon qubits in circuit QED processors with the temporal resolution of the room-temperature arbitrary waveform generator producing the control pulses. As a first application, we iteratively improve this step response using optimized real-time digital filters to counter the linear-dynamical distortion in the control line, as needed for high-fidelity, repeatable one- and two-qubit gates based on dynamical control of qubit frequency

Entropy of vortex cores on the border of the superconductor-to-insulator transition in an underdoped cuprate

We present a study of Nernst effect in underdoped $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ in magnetic fields as high as 28T. At high fields, a sizeable Nernst signal was found to persist in presence of a field-induced non-metallic resistivity. By simultaneously measuring resistivity and the Nernst coefficient, we extract the entropy of vortex cores in the vicinity of this field-induced superconductor-insulator transition. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the thermo-electric Hall angle provides strong constraints on the possible origins of the finite Nernst signal above $T_c$, as recently discovered by Xu et al.Comment: 5 Pages inculding 4 figure

Behavior of the Quantum Critical Point and the Fermi-liquid Domain in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn5 studied by resistivity

We report detailed very low temperature resistivity measurements on the heavy fermion compounds Ce_{1-x}La_{x}CoIn5 (x=0 and x=0.01), with current applied in two crystallographic directions [100] (basal plane) and [001] (perpendicular to the basal plane) under magnetic field applied in the [001] or [011] direction. We found a Fermi liquid (\rho \propto T^{2}) ground state, in all cases, for fields above the superconducting upper critical field. We discuss the possible location of a field induced quantum critical point with respect to Hc2(0), and compare our measurements with the previous reports in order to give a clear picture of the experimental status on this long debated issue.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures accepted for publication in JPS