Fracture strain of LPCVD polysilicon

A polysilicon bridge-slider structure in which one end of the bridge is fixed and the other is connected to a plate sliding in two flanged guideways, is designed and fabricated to study the strain at fracture of LPCVD polysilicon. In the experiments, a mechanical probe is used to push against the plate end, compressing and forcing the bridge to buckle until it breaks. The distance that the plate needs to be pushed to break the bridge is recorded. Nonlinear beam theory is then used to interpret the results of these axially-loaded-bridge experiments. The measured average fracture strain of as-deposited LPCVD polysilicon is 1.72%. High-temperature annealing of the bridge-sliders at 1000°C for 1 h decreases the average fracture strain to 0.93%

Negative Differential Resistance Induced by Mn Substitution at SrRuO3/Nb:SrTiO3 Schottky Interfaces

We observed a strong modulation in the current-voltage characteristics of SrRuO$_3$/Nb:SrTiO$_3$ Schottky junctions by Mn substitution in SrRuO$_3$, which induces a metal-insulator transition in bulk. The temperature dependence of the junction ideality factor indicates an increased spatial inhomogeneity of the interface potential with substitution. Furthermore, negative differential resistance was observed at low temperatures, indicating the formation of a resonant state by Mn substitution. By spatially varying the position of the Mn dopants across the interface with single unit cell control, we can isolate the origin of this resonant state to the interface SrRuO$_3$ layer. These results demonstrate a conceptually different approach to controlling interface states by utilizing the highly sensitive response of conducting perovskites to impurities

Buried heterostructure vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with semiconductor mirrors

We report a buried heterostructure vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser fabricated by epitaxial regrowth over an InGaAs quantum well gain medium. The regrowth technique enables microscale lateral confinement that preserves a high cavity quality factor (loaded $Q\approx$ 4000) and eliminates parasitic charging effects found in existing approaches. Under optimal spectral overlap between gain medium and cavity mode (achieved here at $T$ = 40 K) lasing was obtained with an incident optical power as low as $P_{\rm th}$ = 10 mW ($\lambda_{\rm p}$ = 808 nm). The laser linewidth was found to be $\approx$3 GHz at $P_{\rm p}\approx$ 5 $P_{\rm th}$

Assessment of MISR and MODIS cloud top heights through inter-comparison with a back-scattering lidar at SIRTA

One year of back-scattering lidar cloud boundaries and optical depth were analysed for coincident inter-comparison with the latest processed versions of the NASA-TERRA MISR stereo and MODIS CO2-slicing operational cloud top heights. Optically thin clouds were found to be accurately characterised by the MISR cloud top height product as long as no other cloud was present at lower altitude. MODIS cloud top heights were generally found within the cloud extent retrieved by lidar; agreement improved as cloud optical depth increased and when CO2-slicing was the only technique used for the retrieval. The difference between Lidar and MISR cloud top heights was found to lie between −0.1 and 0.4 km for low clouds and between 0.1 and 3.1 km for high clouds. The difference between Lidar and MODIS cloud top heights was found to lie between −1.2 and 1.5 km for low clouds and between −1.4 and 2.7 km for high clouds

Jet Modification in a Brick of QGP Matter

We have implemented the LPM effect into a microscopic transport model with partonic degrees of freedom by following the algorithm of Zapp & Wiedemann. The Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (LPM) effect is a quantum interference process that modifies the emission of radiation in the presence of a dense medium. In QCD this results in a quadratic length dependence for radiative energy loss. This is an important effect for the modification of jets by their passage through the QGP. We verify the leading parton energy loss in the model against the leading order Baier-Dokshitzer-Mueller-Peigne-Schiff-Zakharov (BDMPS-Z) result. We apply our model to the recent observations of the modification of di-jets at the LHC.Comment: Presented at Panic 1

Nanometer scale electronic reconstruction at the interface between LaVO3 and LaVO4

Electrons at interfaces, driven to minimize their free energy, are distributed differently than in bulk. This can be dramatic at interfaces involving heterovalent compounds. Here we profile an abrupt interface between V 3d2 LaVO3 and V 3d0 LaVO4 using electron energy loss spectroscopy. Although no bulk phase of LaVOx with a V 3d1 configuration exists, we find a nanometer-wide region of V 3d1 at the LaVO3/LaVO4 interface, rather than a mixture of V 3d0 and V 3d2. The two-dimensional sheet of 3d1 electrons is a prototypical electronic reconstruction at an interface between competing ground states.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Emission of Massive Scalar Fields by a Higher-Dimensional Rotating Black-Hole

We perform a comprehensive study of the emission of massive scalar fields by a higher-dimensional, simply rotating black hole both in the bulk and on the brane. We derive approximate, analytic results as well as exact numerical ones for the absorption probability, and demonstrate that the two sets agree very well in the low and intermediate-energy regime for scalar fields with mass m_\Phi < 1 TeV in the bulk and m_\Phi < 0.5 TeV on the brane. The numerical values of the absorption probability are then used to derive the Hawking radiation power emission spectra in terms of the number of extra dimensions, angular-momentum of the black hole and mass of the emitted field. We compute the total emissivities in the bulk and on the brane, and demonstrate that, although the brane channel remains the dominant one, the bulk-over-brane energy ratio is considerably increased (up to 33%) when the mass of the emitted field is taken into account.Comment: 28 pages, 18 figure

Super-resolution restoration of spaceborne HD videos using the UCL MAGiGAN system

We developed a novel SRR system, called Multi-Angle Gotcha image restoration with Generative Adversarial Network (MAGiGAN), to produce resolution enhancement of 3-5 times from multi-pass EO images. The MAGiGAN SRR system uses a combination of photogrammetric and machine vision approaches including image segmentation and shadow labelling, feature matching and densification, estimation of an image degradation model, and deep learning approaches, to retrieve image information from distorted features and training networks. We have tested the MAGiGAN SRR using the NVIDIA® Jetson TX-2 GPU card for onboard processing within a smart-satellite capturing high definition satellite videos, which will enable many innovative remote-sensing applications to be implemented in the future. In this paper, we show SRR processing results from a Planet® SkySat HD 70cm spaceborne video using a GPU version of the MAGiGAN system. Image quality and effective resolution enhancement are measured and discussed

Solvable senescence model with positive mutations

We build upon our previous analytical results for the Penna model of senescence to include positive mutations. We investigate whether a small but non-zero positive mutation rate gives qualitatively different results to the traditional Penna model in which no positive mutations are considered. We find that the high-lifespan tail of the distribution is radically changed in structure, but that there is not much effect on the bulk of the population. Th e mortality plateau that we found previously for a stochastic generalization of the Penna model is stable to a small positive mutation rate.Comment: 3 figure

Gravitational Waves from Axisymmetric, Rotational Stellar Core Collapse

We have carried out an extensive set of two-dimensional, axisymmetric, purely-hydrodynamic calculations of rotational stellar core collapse with a realistic, finite-temperature nuclear equation of state and realistic massive star progenitor models. For each of the total number of 72 different simulations we performed, the gravitational wave signature was extracted via the quadrupole formula in the slow-motion, weak-field approximation. We investigate the consequences of variation in the initial ratio of rotational kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy and in the initial degree of differential rotation. Furthermore, we include in our model suite progenitors from recent evolutionary calculations that take into account the effects of rotation and magnetic torques. For each model, we calculate gravitational radiation wave forms, characteristic wave strain spectra, energy spectra, final rotational profiles, and total radiated energy. In addition, we compare our model signals with the anticipated sensitivities of the 1st- and 2nd-generation LIGO detectors coming on line. We find that most of our models are detectable by LIGO from anywhere in the Milky Way.Comment: 13 pages, 22 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (v600, Jan. 2004). Revised version: Corrected typos and minor mistakes in text and references. Minor additions to the text according to the referee's suggestions, conclusions unchange