215 research outputs found
The role of ferroelectric-ferromagnetic layers on the properties of superlattice-based multiferroics
A series of superlattices and trilayers composed of ferromagnetic and
ferroelectric or paraelectric layers were grown on (100) SrTiO3 by the pulsed
laser deposition technique. Their structural and magneto-electric properties
were examined. The superlattices made of ferromagnetic Pr0.85Ca0.15MnO3 (PCMO)
and a ferroelectric, namely Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) or BaTiO3, showed enhanced
magnetoresistance (MR) at high applied magnetic field, whereas such enhancement
was absent in Pr0.85Ca0.15MnO3/SrTiO3 superlattices, which clearly demonstrates
the preponderant role of the ferroelectric layers in this enhanced MR.
Furthermore, the absence of enhanced MR in trilayers of PCMO/BST indicates that
the magneto-electric coupling which is responsible for MR in these systems is
stronger in multilayers than in their trilayer counterparts.Comment: to be published in J. Appl. Phy
Structure determination of a brownmillerite Ca2Co2O5 thin film by Precession Electron Diffraction
Calcium cobaltite thin films with a ratio Ca/Co=1 were grown on (101)-NdGaO3
substrate by the pulsed laser deposition technique. The structure of the
deposited metastable phase is solved using a precession electron diffraction 3D
dataset recorded from a cross-sectional sample. It is shown that an ordered
oxygen-deficient Ca2Co2O5+d perovskite of the brownmillerite-type with lattice
parameters a= 0.546nm, b=1.488nm and c=0.546nm (SG: Ibm2) has been stabilized
using the substrate induced strain. The structure and microstructure of this
metastable cobaltite is further discussed and compared to related bulk
materials based on our transmission electron microscopy investigationsComment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, accepted in Phys. Rev.
Strain induced pressure effect in pulsed laser deposited thin films of the strongly correlated oxide V2O3
V2O3 thin films about 10 nm thick were grown on Al2O3 (0001) by pulsed laser
deposition. The XRD analysis is in agreement with R-3c space group. Some of
them exhibit the metal / insulator transition characteristic of V2O3 bulk
material and others samples exhibit a metallic behavior. For the latter, the
XPS analysis indicates an oxidation state of +III for vanadium. There is no
metal / insulator transition around 150 K in this sample and a strongly
correlated Fermi liquid rho = AT2 behavior of the resistivity at low
temperature is observed, with a value of A of 1.2 10-4 ohm cm, 3 times larger
than the bulk value at 25 kbar
Epitaxial Growth of LaSrFeO thin films by laser ablation
We report on the synthesis of high quality LaSrFeO (LSFO)
thin films using the pulsed laser deposition technique on both SrTiO (STO)
and LaAlO (LAO) substrates (100)-oriented. From X-Ray diffraction (XRD)
studies, we find that the films have an out-of-plane lattice parameter around
0.3865nm, almost independent of the substrate (i.e. the nature of the strains).
The transport properties reveal that, while LSFO films deposited on STO exhibit
an anomaly in the resistivity vs temperature at 180K (corresponding to the
charge-ordered transition and associated with a transition from a paramagnetic
to an antiferromagnetic state), the films grown on LAO display a very small
magnetoresistance behavior and present an hysteresis around 270K under the
application of a 4T magnetic field. The changes in transport properties between
both substrates are discussed and compared with the corresponding single
crystals.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
The DAG1 transcription factor negatively regulates the seed-to-seedling transition in Arabidopsis acting on ABA and GA levels
BACKGROUND:
In seeds, the transition from dormancy to germination is regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs), and involves chromatin remodelling. Particularly, the repressive mark H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) has been shown to target many master regulators of this transition. DAG1 (DOF AFFECTING GERMINATION1), is a negative regulator of seed germination in Arabidopsis, and directly represses the GA biosynthetic gene GA3ox1 (gibberellin 3-β-dioxygenase 1). We set to investigate the role of DAG1 in seed dormancy and maturation with respect to epigenetic and hormonal control.
RESULTS:
We show that DAG1 expression is controlled at the epigenetic level through the H3K27me3 mark during the seed-to-seedling transition, and that DAG1 directly represses also the ABA catabolic gene CYP707A2; consistently, the ABA level is lower while the GA level is higher in dag1 mutant seeds. Furthermore, both DAG1 expression and protein stability are controlled by GAs.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results point to DAG1 as a key player in the control of the developmental switch between seed dormancy and germination
Comparison of two interferon-gamma release assays (QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube and T-SPOT.TB) in testing for latent tuberculosis infection among HIV-infected adults.
There is currently no 'gold standard' for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), and both the tuberculin skin test and interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) are used for diagnosis; the latter have a higher sensitivity than tuberculin skin tests for diagnosis of LTBI in HIV-infected individuals with lower CD4 counts. No evidence base exists for selection of IGRA methodology to identify LTBI among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients in the UK. We prospectively evaluated two commercially available IGRA methods (QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube [QFG] and T-SPOT.TB) for testing LTBI among HIV-infected patients potentially nosocomially exposed to an HIV-infected patient with 'smear-positive' pulmonary tuberculosis. Among the exposed patients median CD4 count was 550 cells/µL; 105 (90%) of 117 were receiving antiretroviral therapy, of who 104 (99%) had an undetectable plasma HIV load. IGRAs were positive in 12 patients (10.3%); QFG positive in 11 (9.4%) and T-SPOT.TB positive in six (5.1%); both IGRAs were positive in five patients (4.3%). There was one indeterminate QFG and one borderline T-SPOT.TB result. Concordance between the two IGRAs was moderate (κ = 0.56, 95% confidence interval = 0.27-0.85). IGRAs were positive in only 4 (29%) of 14 patients with previous culture-proven tuberculosis. No patient developed tuberculosis during 20 months of follow-up
High magnetic field transport measurement of charge-ordered PrCaMnO strained thin films
We have investigated the magnetic-field-induced phase transition of
charge-ordered (CO) PrCaMnO thin films, deposited onto
(100)-oriented LaAlO and (100)-oriented SrTiO substrates using the
pulsed laser deposition technique, by measuring the transport properties with
magnetic fields up to 22T. The transition to a metallic state is observed on
both substrates by application of a critical magnetic field ( at 60K).
The value of the field required to destroy the charge-ordered insulating state,
lower than the bulk compound, depends on both the substrate and the thickness
of the film. The difference of the critical magnetic field between the films
and the bulk material is explained by the difference of in-plane parameters at
low temperature (below the CO transition). Finally, these results confirm that
the robustness of the CO state, depends mainly on the stress induced by the
difference in the thermal dilatations between the film and the substrate.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Thickness-dependence of the electronic properties in V2O3 thin films
High quality vanadium sesquioxide V2O3 films (170-1100 {\AA}) were grown
using the pulsed laser deposition technique on (0001)-oriented sapphire
substrates, and the effects of film thickness on the lattice strain and
electronic properties were examined. X-ray diffraction indicates that there is
an in-plane compressive lattice parameter (a), close to -3.5% with respect to
the substrate and an out-of-plane tensile lattice parameter (c) . The thin film
samples display metallic character between 2-300 K, and no metal-to-insulator
transition is observed. At low temperature, the V2O3 films behave as a strongly
correlated metal, and the resistivity (\rho) follows the equation \rho =\rho_0
+ A T^2, where A is the transport coefficient in a Fermi liquid. Typical values
of A have been calculated to be 0.14 \mu\Omega cm K^{-2}, which is in agreement
with the coefficient reported for V2O3 single crystals under high pressure.
Moreover, a strong temperature-dependence of the Hall resistance confirms the
electronic correlations of these V2O3 thin films samples.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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