Symmetry-Dependent Spin Transport Properties and Spin-Filter Effects in Zigzag-Edged Germanene Nanoribbons

We performed the first-principles calculations to investigate the spin-dependent electronic transport properties of zigzag-edged germanium nanoribbons (ZGeNRs). We choose of ZGeNRs with odd and even widths of 5 and 6, and the symmetry-dependent transport properties have been found, although the σ mirror plane is absent in ZGeNRs. Furthermore, even-N and odd-N ZGeNRs have very different current-voltage relationships. We find that the even 6-ZGeNR shows a dual spin-filter effect in antiparallel (AP) magnetism configuration, but the odd 5-ZGeNR behaves as conventional conductors with linear current-voltage dependence. It is found that when the two electrodes are in parallel configuration, the 6-ZGeNR system is in a low resistance state, while it can switch to a much higher resistance state when the electrodes are in AP configuration, and the magnetoresistance of 270% can be observed

State of the climate in 2018

In 2018, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their increase. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth’s surface was 407.4 ± 0.1 ppm, the highest in the modern instrumental record and in ice core records dating back 800 000 years. Combined, greenhouse gases and several halogenated gases contribute just over 3 W m−2 to radiative forcing and represent a nearly 43% increase since 1990. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of this radiative forcing. With a weak La Niña in early 2018 transitioning to a weak El Niño by the year’s end, the global surface (land and ocean) temperature was the fourth highest on record, with only 2015 through 2017 being warmer. Several European countries reported record high annual temperatures. There were also more high, and fewer low, temperature extremes than in nearly all of the 68-year extremes record. Madagascar recorded a record daily temperature of 40.5°C in Morondava in March, while South Korea set its record high of 41.0°C in August in Hongcheon. Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded its highest temperature of 50.2°C, which may be a new daily world record for April. Globally, the annual lower troposphere temperature was third to seventh highest, depending on the dataset analyzed. The lower stratospheric temperature was approximately fifth lowest. The 2018 Arctic land surface temperature was 1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average, tying for third highest in the 118-year record, following 2016 and 2017. June’s Arctic snow cover extent was almost half of what it was 35 years ago. Across Greenland, however, regional summer temperatures were generally below or near average. Additionally, a satellite survey of 47 glaciers in Greenland indicated a net increase in area for the first time since records began in 1999. Increasing permafrost temperatures were reported at most observation sites in the Arctic, with the overall increase of 0.1°–0.2°C between 2017 and 2018 being comparable to the highest rate of warming ever observed in the region. On 17 March, Arctic sea ice extent marked the second smallest annual maximum in the 38-year record, larger than only 2017. The minimum extent in 2018 was reached on 19 September and again on 23 September, tying 2008 and 2010 for the sixth lowest extent on record. The 23 September date tied 1997 as the latest sea ice minimum date on record. First-year ice now dominates the ice cover, comprising 77% of the March 2018 ice pack compared to 55% during the 1980s. Because thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to melting out in summer, this shift in sea ice age has contributed to the decreasing trend in minimum ice extent. Regionally, Bering Sea ice extent was at record lows for almost the entire 2017/18 ice season. For the Antarctic continent as a whole, 2018 was warmer than average. On the highest points of the Antarctic Plateau, the automatic weather station Relay (74°S) broke or tied six monthly temperature records throughout the year, with August breaking its record by nearly 8°C. However, cool conditions in the western Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea sector contributed to a low melt season overall for 2017/18. High SSTs contributed to low summer sea ice extent in the Ross and Weddell Seas in 2018, underpinning the second lowest Antarctic summer minimum sea ice extent on record. Despite conducive conditions for its formation, the ozone hole at its maximum extent in September was near the 2000–18 mean, likely due to an ongoing slow decline in stratospheric chlorine monoxide concentration. Across the oceans, globally averaged SST decreased slightly since the record El Niño year of 2016 but was still far above the climatological mean. On average, SST is increasing at a rate of 0.10° ± 0.01°C decade−1 since 1950. The warming appeared largest in the tropical Indian Ocean and smallest in the North Pacific. The deeper ocean continues to warm year after year. For the seventh consecutive year, global annual mean sea level became the highest in the 26-year record, rising to 81 mm above the 1993 average. As anticipated in a warming climate, the hydrological cycle over the ocean is accelerating: dry regions are becoming drier and wet regions rainier. Closer to the equator, 95 named tropical storms were observed during 2018, well above the 1981–2010 average of 82. Eleven tropical cyclones reached Saffir–Simpson scale Category 5 intensity. North Atlantic Major Hurricane Michael’s landfall intensity of 140 kt was the fourth strongest for any continental U.S. hurricane landfall in the 168-year record. Michael caused more than 30 fatalities and $25 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages. In the western North Pacific, Super Typhoon Mangkhut led to 160 fatalities and$6 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was responsible for 170 fatalities in Vietnam and Laos. Nearly all the islands of Micronesia experienced at least moderate impacts from various tropical cyclones. Across land, many areas around the globe received copious precipitation, notable at different time scales. Rodrigues and Réunion Island near southern Africa each reported their third wettest year on record. In Hawaii, 1262 mm precipitation at Waipā Gardens (Kauai) on 14–15 April set a new U.S. record for 24-h precipitation. In Brazil, the city of Belo Horizonte received nearly 75 mm of rain in just 20 minutes, nearly half its monthly average. Globally, fire activity during 2018 was the lowest since the start of the record in 1997, with a combined burned area of about 500 million hectares. This reinforced the long-term downward trend in fire emissions driven by changes in land use in frequently burning savannas. However, wildfires burned 3.5 million hectares across the United States, well above the 2000–10 average of 2.7 million hectares. Combined, U.S. wildfire damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons exceeded $40 billion (U.S. dollars)

Enhanced thermoelectric properties in boron nitride quantum-dot

We have investigated the ballistic thermoelectric properties in boron nitride quantum dots by using the nonequilibrium Green’s function approach and the Landauer transport theory. The result shows that the phonon transport is substantially suppressed by the interface in the quantum dots. The resonant tunneling effect of electron leads to the fluctuations of the electronic conductance. It enhances significantly the Seebeck coefficient. Combined with the low thermal conductance of phonon, the high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT ∼0.78 can be obtained at room temperature T = 300 K and ZT ∼0.95 at low temperature T = 100 K. It is much higher than that of graphene quantum dots with the same geometry parameters, which is ZT ∼0.29 at room temperature T = 300 K and ZT ∼0.48 at low temperature T = 100 K. The underlying mechanism is that the boron nitride quantum dots possess higher thermopower and lower phonon thermal conductance than the graphene quantum dots. Thus the results indicate that the thermoelectric properties of boron nitride can be significantly enhanced by the quantum dot and are better than those of graphene. Keywords: Thermoelectric properties, Boron nitride quantum dot, Electron transport, Phonon transpor

Long-term Spatiotemporal Variability of Southwest Florida Whiting Events from MODIS Observations

Whiting events, or waters with high concentrations of fine-grained calcium carbonate, have been previously reported in southwest Florida using three years of observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. Here, the initial case study has been expanded to 13 years (2003–2015) with a statistical analysis that includes environmental data to document and understand longer term temporal and spatial variability of whiting occurrence in the same region. Annual mean whiting coverage (km2) peaked in 2011 and 2012, with the highest daily coverage in 2008 (126.0 km2). Over the time series, whiting events showed spatial variability based on distance from shore. Whiting seasonality also varied within the extended time series. Multivariate linear and non-linear regressions between mean whiting coverage (km2) and several environmental variables (wind speed, sea surface temperature, precipitation, and nearby river discharge) were performed over the entire study region as well as subregions based on spatial division from the coast line. Statistically significant correlations have been found with sea surface temperature and river discharge in subregions. These findings suggest that although observing spatial and temporal patterns of whiting events is possible with modern satellites, understanding the mechanisms regulating their initiation and maintenance is more difficult

Effects of heteroatom (B or N)-doping on the electronic and transport properties of armchair silicene nanoribbon

We investigate the effects of heteroatom (boron or nitrogen atom)-doping on the electronic and transport properties of armchair silicene nanoribbon by means of the First-principles method. The calculated results show that the bandgap of armchair silicene nanoribbons (ASiNRs) can be modulated by changing the distance between two doping sites. The ASiNRs appear the semi-metallic property with two boron atoms doping, while the ASiNRs transform from semiconducting to metallic property with two nitrogen atoms doping. It can be found that the bandgaps of ASiNRs are decreasing with the increasing distance between boron atom and nitrogen atom. The transport properties of ASiNRs with B/N codoping are also investigated, the differential conductance appears an oscillatory behavior, it is hoped that it may be useful for designing the silicene-based electronic devices