Electronic structure of crystalline binary and ternary Cd-Te-O compounds

The electronic structure of crystalline CdTe, CdO, $\alpha$-TeO$_2$, CdTeO$_3$ and Cd$_3$TeO$_6$ is studied by means of first principles calculations. The band structure, total and partial density of states, and charge densities are presented. For $\alpha$-TeO$_2$ and CdTeO$_3$, Density Functional Theory within the Local Density Approximation (LDA) correctly describes the insulating character of these compounds. In the first four compounds, LDA underestimates the optical bandgap by roughly 1 eV. Based on this trend, we predict an optical bandgap of 1.7 eV for Cd$_3$TeO$_6$. This material shows an isolated conduction band with a low effective mass, thus explaining its semiconducting character observed recently. In all these oxides, the top valence bands are formed mainly from the O 2p electrons. On the other hand, the binding energy of the Cd 4d band, relative to the valence band maximum, in the ternary compounds is smaller than in CdTe and CdO.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. Accepted in Phys Rev

Estudios de perfiles de profundidad AES y fotoconductividad de películas delgadas de AgInS2 preparadas por co-evaporación

In this study, thin films of AgInS2 with chalcopyrite-type tetragonalstructure were grown by means of a procedure based on the sequential evaporation of metallic precursors in presence of elemental sulfur in a two-stage process. The effect of the growth temperature and the proportion of the evaporated Ag mass in relation to the evaporated In mass (mAg/mIn) on the phase and homogeneity in the chemical composition were researched through X-ray diffraction measurements and Auger electrons spectroscopy. These measurements evidenced that the conditions for preparing thin films containing only the AgInS2 phase, grown with tetragonal chalcopyrite-type structure and good homogeneity of thechemical composition in the entire volume, are a temperature of 500 ºC and a 0.89 mAg/mIn proportionEn este trabajo se crecieron películas delgadas de AgInS2 con estructura tetragonal tipo calcopirita usando un procedimiento basado en la evaporación secuencial de precursores metálicos en presencia de azufre elemental, en un proceso en dos etapas. Se investigó el efecto de la temperatura de crecimiento y la proporción de la masa de Ag evaporada a la masa de In evaporada (mAg/mIn) sobre la fase y la homogeneidad en la composición química a través de medidas de difracción de rayos X y espectroscopía de electrones Auger. Estas medidas mostraron que las condiciones parapreparar películas delgadas que contengan únicamente la fase AgInS2, crecidas con estructura tipo calcopirita tetragonal y buena homogeneidad de la composición química en todo el volumen son temperatura de 500 °C y proporción mAg/mIn 0.89.  Las medidas de fotocorriente de transiente indicaron que el transporte eléctrico es afectado por procesos de recombinación, vía transiciones banda a banda y transiciones asistidas por trampas

AES depth profile and photoconductive studies of AgInS2 thin films prepared by co-evaporation

In this study, thin films of AgInS2 with chalcopyrite-type tetragonal structure were grown by means of a procedure based on the sequential evaporation of metallic precursors in presence of elemental sulfur in a two-stage process. The effect of the growth temperature and the proportion of the evaporated Ag mass in relation to the evaporated In mass (mAg/mIn) on the phase and homogeneity in the chemical composition were researched through X-ray diffraction measurements and Auger electrons spectroscopy. These measurements evidenced that the conditions for preparing thin films containing only the AgInS2 phase, grown with tetragonal chalcopyrite-type structure and good homogeneity of the chemical composition in the entire volume, are a temperature of 500 ºC and a 0.89 mAg/mIn proportion.En este trabajo se crecieron películas delgadas de AgInS2 con estructura tetragonal tipo calcopirita usando un procedimiento basado en la evaporación secuencial de precursores metálicos en presencia de azufre elemental, en un proceso en dos etapas. Se investigó el efecto de la temperatura de crecimiento y la proporción de la masa de Ag evaporada a la masa de In evaporada (mAg/mIn) sobre la fase y la homogeneidad en la composición química a través de medidas de difracción de rayos X y espectroscopía de electrones Auger. Estas medidas mostraron que las condiciones para preparar películas delgadas que contengan únicamente la fase AgInS2, crecidas con estructura tipo calcopirita tetragonal y buena homogeneidad de la composición química en todo el volumen son temperatura de 500 °C y proporción mAg/mIn 0.89.  Las medidas de fotocorriente de transiente indicaron que el transporte eléctrico es afectado por procesos de recombinación, vía transiciones banda a banda y transiciones asistidas por trampas

Planck 2013 results. XXII. Constraints on inflation

We analyse the implications of the Planck data for cosmic inflation. The Planck nominal mission temperature anisotropy measurements, combined with the WMAP large-angle polarization, constrain the scalar spectral index to be ns = 0:9603 _ 0:0073, ruling out exact scale invariance at over 5_: Planck establishes an upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r < 0:11 (95% CL). The Planck data thus shrink the space of allowed standard inflationary models, preferring potentials with V00 < 0. Exponential potential models, the simplest hybrid inflationary models, and monomial potential models of degree n _ 2 do not provide a good fit to the data. Planck does not find statistically significant running of the scalar spectral index, obtaining dns=dln k = 0:0134 _ 0:0090. We verify these conclusions through a numerical analysis, which makes no slowroll approximation, and carry out a Bayesian parameter estimation and model-selection analysis for a number of inflationary models including monomial, natural, and hilltop potentials. For each model, we present the Planck constraints on the parameters of the potential and explore several possibilities for the post-inflationary entropy generation epoch, thus obtaining nontrivial data-driven constraints. We also present a direct reconstruction of the observable range of the inflaton potential. Unless a quartic term is allowed in the potential, we find results consistent with second-order slow-roll predictions. We also investigate whether the primordial power spectrum contains any features. We find that models with a parameterized oscillatory feature improve the fit by __2 e_ _ 10; however, Bayesian evidence does not prefer these models. We constrain several single-field inflation models with generalized Lagrangians by combining power spectrum data with Planck bounds on fNL. Planck constrains with unprecedented accuracy the amplitude and possible correlation (with the adiabatic mode) of non-decaying isocurvature fluctuations. The fractional primordial contributions of cold dark matter (CDM) isocurvature modes of the types expected in the curvaton and axion scenarios have upper bounds of 0.25% and 3.9% (95% CL), respectively. In models with arbitrarily correlated CDM or neutrino isocurvature modes, an anticorrelated isocurvature component can improve the _2 e_ by approximately 4 as a result of slightly lowering the theoretical prediction for the ` <_ 40 multipoles relative to the higher multipoles. Nonetheless, the data are consistent with adiabatic initial conditions

Planck 2015 results. XXIII. The thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect--cosmic infrared background correlation

We use Planck data to detect the cross-correlation between the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (tSZ) effect and the infrared emission from the galaxies that make up the the cosmic infrared background (CIB). We first perform a stacking analysis towards Planck-confirmed galaxy clusters. We detect infrared emission produced by dusty galaxies inside these clusters and demonstrate that the infrared emission is about 50% more extended than the tSZ effect. Modelling the emission with a Navarro--Frenk--White profile, we find that the radial profile concentration parameter is $c_{500} = 1.00^{+0.18}_{-0.15}$. This indicates that infrared galaxies in the outskirts of clusters have higher infrared flux than cluster-core galaxies. We also study the cross-correlation between tSZ and CIB anisotropies, following three alternative approaches based on power spectrum analyses: (i) using a catalogue of confirmed clusters detected in Planck data; (ii) using an all-sky tSZ map built from Planck frequency maps; and (iii) using cross-spectra between Planck frequency maps. With the three different methods, we detect the tSZ-CIB cross-power spectrum at significance levels of (i) 6 $\sigma$, (ii) 3 $\sigma$, and (iii) 4 $\sigma$. We model the tSZ-CIB cross-correlation signature and compare predictions with the measurements. The amplitude of the cross-correlation relative to the fiducial model is $A_{\rm tSZ-CIB}= 1.2\pm0.3$. This result is consistent with predictions for the tSZ-CIB cross-correlation assuming the best-fit cosmological model from Planck 2015 results along with the tSZ and CIB scaling relations.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figure

The combinatorics of plane curve singularities. How Newton polygons blossom into lotuses

This survey may be seen as an introduction to the use of toric and tropical geometry in the analysis of plane curve singularities, which are germs $(C,o)$ of complex analytic curves contained in a smooth complex analytic surface $S$. The embedded topological type of such a pair $(S, C)$ is usually defined to be that of the oriented link obtained by intersecting $C$ with a sufficiently small oriented Euclidean sphere centered at the point $o$, defined once a system of local coordinates $(x,y)$ was chosen on the germ $(S,o)$. If one works more generally over an arbitrary algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, one speaks instead of the combinatorial type of $(S, C)$. One may define it by looking either at the Newton-Puiseux series associated to $C$ relative to a generic local coordinate system $(x,y)$, or at the set of infinitely near points which have to be blown up in order to get the minimal embedded resolution of the germ $(C,o)$ or, thirdly, at the preimage of this germ by the resolution. Each point of view leads to a different encoding of the combinatorial type by a decorated tree: an Eggers-Wall tree, an Enriques diagram, or a weighted dual graph. The three trees contain the same information, which in the complex setting is equivalent to the knowledge of the embedded topological type. There are known algorithms for transforming one tree into another. In this paper we explain how a special type of two-dimensional simplicial complex called a lotus allows to think geometrically about the relations between the three types of trees. Namely, all of them embed in a natural lotus, their numerical decorations appearing as invariants of it. This lotus is constructed from the finite set of Newton polygons created during any process of resolution of $(C,o)$ by successive toric modifications.Comment: 104 pages, 58 figures. Compared to the previous version, section 2 is new. The historical information, contained before in subsection 6.2, is distributed now throughout the paper in the subsections called "Historical comments''. More details are also added at various places of the paper. To appear in the Handbook of Geometry and Topology of Singularities I, Springer, 202

Planck intermediate results. XLVIII. Disentangling Galactic dust emission and cosmic infrared background anisotropies

Using the Planck 2015 data release (PR2) temperature maps, we separate Galactic thermal dust emission from cosmic infrared background (CIB) anisotropies. For this purpose, we implement a specifically tailored component-separation method, the so-called generalized needlet internal linear combination (GNILC) method, which uses spatial information (the angular powerspectra) to disentangle the Galactic dust emission and CIB anisotropies. We produce significantly improved all-sky maps of Planck thermal dust emission, with reduced CIB contamination, at 353, 545, and 857 GHz. By reducing the CIB contamination of the thermal dust maps, we provide more accurate estimates of the local dust temperature and dust spectral index over the sky with reduced dispersion, especially at high Galactic latitudes above b = ±20°. We find that the dust temperature is T = (19.4 ± 1.3) K and the dust spectral index is β = 1.6 ± 0.1 averaged over the whole sky, while T = (19.4 ± 1.5) K and β = 1.6 ± 0.2 on 21% of the sky at high latitudes. Moreover, subtracting the new CIB-removed thermal dust maps from the CMB-removed Planck maps gives access to the CIB anisotropies over 60% of the sky at Galactic latitudes |b| > 20°. Because they are a significant improvement over previous Planck products, the GNILC maps are recommended for thermal dust science. The new CIB maps can be regarded as indirect tracers of the dark matter and they are recommended for exploring cross-correlations with lensing and large-scale structure optical surveys. The reconstructed GNILC thermal dust and CIB maps are delivered as Planck products

Planck intermediate results. XLIX. Parity-violation constraints from polarization data

Parity-violating extensions of the standard electromagnetic theory cause in vacuo rotation of the plane of polarization of propagating photons. This effect, also known as cosmic birefringence, has an impact on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy angular power spectra, producing non-vanishing T–B and E–B correlations that are otherwise null when parity is a symmetry. Here we present new constraints on an isotropic rotation, parametrized by the angle α, derived from Planck 2015 CMB polarization data. To increase the robustness of our analyses, we employ two complementary approaches, in harmonic space and in map space, the latter based on a peak stacking technique. The two approaches provide estimates for α that are in agreement within statistical uncertainties and are very stable against several consistency tests.Considering the T–B and E–B information jointly, we find from the harmonic analysis and from the stacking approach. These constraints are compatible with no parity violation and are dominated by the systematic uncertainty in the orientation of Planck’s polarization-sensitive bolometers

Planck 2015 results. XX. Constraints on inflation

We present the implications for cosmic inflation of the Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies in both temperature and polarization based on the full Planck survey. The Planck full mission temperature data and a first release of polarization data on large angular scales measure the spectral index of curvature perturbations to be n s = 0.968 ± 0.006 and tightly constrain its scale dependence to dn s /dlnk = −0.003 ± 0.007 when combined with the Planck lensing likelihood. When the high-ℓ polarization data is included, the results are consistent and uncertainties are reduced. The upper bound on the tensor-to-scalar ratio is r 0.002 <0.11 (95% CL), consistent with the B-mode polarization constraint r<0.12 (95% CL) obtained from a joint BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck analysis. These results imply that V(ϕ)∝ϕ 2 and natural inflation are now disfavoured compared to models predicting a smaller tensor-to-scalar ratio, such as R 2 inflation. Three independent methods reconstructing the primordial power spectrum are investigated. The Planck data are consistent with adiabatic primordial perturbations. We investigate inflationary models producing an anisotropic modulation of the primordial curvature power spectrum as well as generalized models of inflation not governed by a scalar field with a canonical kinetic term. The 2015 results are consistent with the 2013 analysis based on the nominal mission data

Planck intermediate results : LVII. Joint Planck LFI and HFI data processing

We present the NPIPE processing pipeline, which produces calibrated frequency maps in temperature and polarization from data from the Planck Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) and High Frequency Instrument (HFI) using high-performance computers. NPIPE represents a natural evolution of previous Planck analysis efforts, and combines some of the most powerful features of the separate LFI and HFI analysis pipelines. For example, following the LFI 2018 processing procedure, NPIPE uses foreground polarization priors during the calibration stage in order to break scanning-induced degeneracies. Similarly, NPIPE employs the HFI 2018 time-domain processing methodology to correct for bandpass mismatch at all frequencies. In addition, NPIPE introduces several improvements, including, but not limited to: inclusion of the 8% of data collected during repointing manoeuvres; smoothing of the LFI reference load data streams; in-flight estimation of detector polarization parameters; and construction of maximally independent detector-set split maps. For component-separation purposes, important improvements include: maps that retain the CMB Solar dipole, allowing for high-precision relative calibration in higher-level analyses; well-defined single-detector maps, allowing for robust CO extraction; and HFI temperature maps between 217 and 857 GHz that are binned into 0 ' .9 pixels (N-side = 4096), ensuring that the full angular information in the data is represented in the maps even at the highest Planck resolutions. The net effect of these improvements is lower levels of noise and systematics in both frequency and component maps at essentially all angular scales, as well as notably improved internal consistency between the various frequency channels. Based on the NPIPE maps, we present the first estimate of the Solar dipole determined through component separation across all nine Planck frequencies. The amplitude is (3366.6 +/- 2.7) mu K, consistent with, albeit slightly higher than, earlier estimates. From the large-scale polarization data, we derive an updated estimate of the optical depth of reionization of tau =0.051 +/- 0.006, which appears robust with respect to data and sky cuts. There are 600 complete signal, noise and systematics simulations of the full-frequency and detector-set maps. As a Planck first, these simulations include full time-domain processing of the beam-convolved CMB anisotropies. The release of NPIPE maps and simulations is accompanied with a complete suite of raw and processed time-ordered data and the software, scripts, auxiliary data, and parameter files needed to improve further on the analysis and to run matching simulations.Peer reviewe