827 research outputs found
Long-Term Effects of Alternative Group Selection Harvesting Designs on Stand Production
Interest in group selection harvesting has increased in recent years because of limitations associated with both clearcutting and single-tree selection. Field data have suggested that group selection openings can have higher production rates than single-tree gaps, but whether this translates into higher production rates at the stand level is not clear. We used CANOPY, a crown-based northern hardwoods model calibrated with data from uneven-aged and even-aged stands, to simulate sustainable harvest volumes of a number of different group selection approaches over 300 years, and also compared results with those from single-tree selection and clearcutting. When a combination of single-tree and group selection was used with groups making up 3% of the stand area per cutting cycle, net harvestable production rates were similar to those of single-tree selection, and opening size (100-4000m2) had little effect on production rates. As the percentage of the matrix in groups increased from 1 to 9% per cutting cycle, production actually showed a small but consistent decline of about 6 to 7%. When group selection was used alone with no cutting between the groups, production rates varied considerably depending on opening size and rotation age. Small group selection (200 m2) had production rates similar to or slightly higher than single-tree selection, whereas 2000 m2 openings resulted in a production declines of 30 to 35%. Large patch sizes appear to have relatively low net production because of unsalvaged mortality. Similar trends were observed in unthinned even-aged stands compared to those thinned at 15-yr intervals. Although our results confirmed that trees in even-aged stands are more efficient producers than those in uneven-aged stands, there appear to be countervailing tendencies that reduce production rates in large single-cohort patches, including a lag time during the first few decades when production rates of merchantable volume in large openings are very low
Resonant photon tunneling enhancement of the van der Waals friction
We study the van der Waals friction between two flat metal surfaces in
relative motion. For good conductors we find that normal relative motion gives
a much larger friction than for parallel relative motion. The friction may
increase by many order of magnitude when the surfaces are covered by
adsorbates, or can support low-frequency surface plasmons. In this case the
friction is determined by resonant photon tunneling between adsorbate
vibrational modes, or surface plasmon modes.Comment: Published in PR
Influence of the magnetic field on the plasmonic properties of transparent Ni anti-dot arrays
Extraordinary optical transmission is observed due to the excitation of
surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in 2-Dimensional hexagonal anti-dot patterns
of pure Ni thin films, grown on sapphire substrates. A strong enhancement of
the polar Kerr rotation is recorded at the surface plasmon related transmission
maximum. Angular resolved reflectivity measurements under an applied field,
reveal an enhancement and a shift of the normalized reflectivity difference
upon reversal of the magnetic saturation (transverse magneto-optical Kerr
effect-TMOKE). The change of the TMOKE signal clearly shows the magnetic field
modulation of the dispersion relation of SPPs launched in a 2D patterned
ferromagnetic Ni film
Influence of random roughness on the Casimir force at small separations
The influence of random surface roughness of Au films on the Casimir force is
explored with atomic force microscopy in the plate-sphere geometry. The
experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions for separations
ranging between 20 and 200 nm. The optical response and roughness of the Au
films were measured and used as input in theoretical predictions. It is found
that at separations below 100 nm, the roughness effect is manifested through a
strong deviation from the normal scaling of the force with separation distance.
Moreover, deviations from theoretical predictions based on perturbation theory
can be larger than 100%.Comment: 18, 5 figure
Optical detection of spin transport in non-magnetic metals
We determine the dynamic magnetization induced in non-magnetic metal wedges
composed of silver, copper and platinum by means of Brillouin light scattering
(BLS) microscopy. The magnetization is transferred from a ferromagnetic
Ni80Fe20 layer to the metal wedge via the spin pumping effect. The spin pumping
efficiency can be controlled by adding an insulating but transparent interlayer
between the magnetic and non-magnetic layer. By comparing the experimental
results to a dynamical macroscopic spin-transport model we determine the
transverse relaxation time of the pumped spin current which is much smaller
than the longitudinal relaxation time
Experimental cross-polarization detection of coupling far-field light to highly confined plasmonic gap modes via nanoantennas
We experimentally demonstrate the coupling of far-field light to highly
confined plasmonic gap modes via connected nanoantennas. The excitation of
plasmonic gap modes is shown to depend on the polarization, position and
wavelength of the incident beam. Far-field measurements performed in crossed
polarization allow for the detection of extremely weak signals re-emitted from
gap waveguides and can increase the signal-to-noise ratio dramatically.Comment: 5 figures; http://apl.aip.org
New approach to the thermal Casimir force between real metals
The new approach to the theoretical description of the thermal Casimir force
between real metals is presented. It uses the plasma-like dielectric
permittivity that takes into account the interband transitions of core
electrons. This permittivity precisely satisfies the Kramers-Kronig relations.
The respective Casimir entropy is positive and vanishes at zero temperature in
accordance with the Nernst heat theorem. The physical reasons why the Drude
dielectric function, when substituted in the Lifshitz formula, is inconsistent
with electrodynamics are elucidated. The proposed approach is the single one
consistent with all measurements of the Casimir force performed up to date. The
application of this approach to metal-type semiconductors is considered.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Proceedings of QFEXT07, to appear in J. Phys.
Optical properties of carbon nanofiber photonic crystals
Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are used as components of planar photonic crystals.
Square and rectangular lattices and random patterns of vertically aligned CNF
were fabricated and their properties studied using ellipsometry. We show that
detailed information such as symmetry directions and the band structure of
these novel materials can be extracted from considerations of the polarization
state in the specular beam. The refractive index of the individual nanofibers
was found to be n_CNF = 4.1.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Thermal Casimir Force between Magnetic Materials
We investigate the Casimir pressure between two parallel plates made of
magnetic materials at nonzero temperature. It is shown that for real
magnetodielectric materials only the magnetic properties of ferromagnets can
influence the Casimir pressure. This influence is accomplished through the
contribution of the zero-frequency term of the Lifshitz formula. The
possibility of the Casimir repulsion through the vacuum gap is analyzed
depending on the model used for the description of the dielectric properties of
the metal plates.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of QFEXT09,
Norman, OK, September 21-25, 200
Quantum reflection of ultracold atoms from thin films, graphene, and semiconductor heterostructures
We show that thin dielectric films can be used to enhance the performance of
passive atomic mirrors by enabling quantum reflection probabilities of over 90%
for atoms incident at velocities ~1 mm/s, achieved in recent experiments. This
enhancement is brought about by weakening the Casimir-Polder attraction between
the atom and the surface, which induces the quantum reflection. We show that
suspended graphene membranes also produce higher quantum reflection
probabilities than bulk matter. Temporal changes in the electrical resistance
of such membranes, produced as atoms stick to the surface, can be used to
monitor the reflection process, non-invasively and in real time. The resistance
change allows the reflection probability to be determined purely from
electrical measurements without needing to image the reflected atom cloud
optically. Finally, we show how perfect atom mirrors may be manufactured from
semiconductor heterostructures, which employ an embedded two-dimensional
electron gas to tailor the atom-surface interaction and so enhance the
reflection by classical means.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
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