Femtosecond x-ray absorption spectroscopy of spin and orbital angular momentum in photoexcited Ni films during ultrafast demagnetization

We follow for the first time the evolution of the spin and orbital angular momentum of a thin Ni film during ultrafast demagnetization, by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. Both components decrease with a 130 +/- 40 fs time constant upon excitation with a femtosecond laser pulse. Additional x-ray absorption measurements reveal an increase in the spin-orbit interaction by 6 +/- 2 % during this process. This is the experimental demonstration quantifying the importance of spin-orbit mediated processes during the demagnetization

Exploring Early College Credit Implications for Engineering

In the past decade, increasing numbers of students are taking college credit courses while still in high school, through programs such as Advanced Placement or through agreements with the local community colleges. Recognizing this trend, an Iowa State University task force researched the impact that this early college credit (ECC) was having on both the student experience and the university. The study methodology included both quantitative and qualitative analyses, using student academic records, student surveys and focus groups, faculty focus groups, and review of institutional materials. This paper disaggregates institutional findings to compare the experiences of engineering and non-engineering students. Similar to nonengineering students, engineering students with ECC had higher one-year retention rates, took fewer credits their first semester of enrollment, graduated after eight semesters of enrollment and graduated in fewer semesters overall than did engineering students without ECC. However, there were differences in the experiences between engineering students and non-engineering students. Engineering students did not see an increase in GPA or graduation rates; and, they were more likely to repeat courses taken as ECC and to have their ECC courses not count toward their degree programs. Strategies to increase the effectiveness of ECC for engineering students could include offering of key entry-level engineering courses to students in high school, a review of the engineering curriculum for sequencing and flexibility, increased attention on issues of mathematics curriculum alignment with feeder institutions, and improved communication with high school students, parents and counselors

Magnetization of small lead particles

The magnetization of an ensemble of isolated lead grains of sizes ranging from below 6 nm to 1000 nm is measured. A sharp disappearance of Meissner effect with lowering of the grain size is observed for the smaller grains. This is a direct observation by magnetization measurement of the occurrence of a critical particle size for superconductivity, which is consistent with Anderson's criterion.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to PR

Phenomenology for the decay of energy-containing eddies in homogeneous MHD turbulence

We evaluate a number of simple, one‐point phenomenological models for the decay of energy‐containing eddies in magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) and hydrodynamicturbulence. The MHDmodels include effects of cross helicity and Alfvénic couplings associated with a constant mean magnetic field, based on physical effects well‐described in the literature. The analytic structure of three separate MHDmodels is discussed. The single hydrodynamic model and several MHDmodels are compared against results from spectral‐method simulations. The hydrodynamic model phenomenology has been previously verified against experiments in wind tunnels, and certain experimentally determined parameters in the model are satisfactorily reproduced by the present simulation. This agreement supports the suitability of our numerical calculations for examining MHDturbulence, where practical difficulties make it more difficult to study physical examples. When the triple‐decorrelation time and effects of spectral anisotropy are properly taken into account, particular MHDmodels give decay rates that remain correct to within a factor of 2 for several energy‐halving times. A simple model of this type is likely to be useful in a number of applications in space physics, astrophysics, and laboratory plasma physics where the approximate effects of turbulence need to be included

Hot electron driven enhancement of spin-lattice coupling in 4f ferromagnets observed by femtosecond x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Femtosecond x-ray magnetic circular dichroism was used to study the time-dependent magnetic moment of 4 fs electrons in the ferromagnets Gd and Tb, which are known for their different spin-lattice coupling. We observe a two-step demagnetization with an ultrafast demagnetization time of 750 fs identical for both systems and slower times which differ sizeably with 40 ps for Gd and 8 ps for Tb. We conclude that spin-lattice coupling in the electronically excited state is enhanced up to orders of magnitude compared to equilibrium.Comment: added reference 24, clarified the meaning of photo-induced, emphasized that XMCD probes the magnetic moment localized at 4f electron

Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of optically excited electrons in Ni3-

Photon-induced ultrafast energy dissipation in small isolated Ni-3(-) has been studied by two-color pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy. The time-resolved photoelectron spectra clearly trace the path from a single-electron excitation to a thermalized cluster via both inelastic electron-electron scattering and electron-vibrational coupling. The relatively short electron-electron-scattering time of 215 fs results from the narrow energy spread of the partially filled d levels in this transition-metal cluster. The relaxation dynamics is discussed in view of the cluster size and in comparison to the totally different relaxation behavior of s/p-metal clusters

Laser pump X ray probe experiments with electrons ejected from a Cu 111 target space charge acceleration

A comprehensive investigation of the emission characteristics for electrons induced by X rays of a few hundred eV at grazing incidence angles on an atomically clean Cu 111 sample during laser excitation is presented. Electron energy spectra due to intense infrared laser irradiation are investigated at the BESSY II slicing facility. Furthermore, the influence of the corresponding high degree of target excitation high peak current of photoemission on the properties of Auger and photoelectrons liberated by a probe X ray beam is investigated in time resolved pump and probe measurements. Strong electron energy shifts have been found and assigned to space charge acceleration. The variation of the shift with laser power and electron energy is investigated and discussed on the basis of experimental as well as new theoretical result

Modeling the Enceladus plume--plasma interaction

We investigate the chemical interaction between Saturn's corotating plasma and Enceladus' volcanic plumes. We evolve plasma as it passes through a prescribed H2O plume using a physical chemistry model adapted for water-group reactions. The flow field is assumed to be that of a plasma around an electrically-conducting obstacle centered on Enceladus and aligned with Saturn's magnetic field, consistent with Cassini magnetometer data. We explore the effects on the physical chemistry due to: (1) a small population of hot electrons; (2) a plasma flow decelerated in response to the pickup of fresh ions; (3) the source rate of neutral H2O. The model confirms that charge exchange dominates the local chemistry and that H3O+ dominates the water-group composition downstream of the Enceladus plumes. We also find that the amount of fresh pickup ions depends heavily on both the neutral source strength and on the presence of a persistent population of hot electrons.Comment: 10 pages, 1 table, 2 figure

A Molecular Phylogeny of Living Primates

Comparative genomic analyses of primates offer considerable potential to define and understand the processes that mold, shape, and transform the human genome. However, primate taxonomy is both complex and controversial, with marginal unifying consensus of the evolutionary hierarchy of extant primate species. Here we provide new genomic sequence (~8 Mb) from 186 primates representing 61 (~90%) of the described genera, and we include outgroup species from Dermoptera, Scandentia, and Lagomorpha. The resultant phylogeny is exceptionally robust and illuminates events in primate evolution from ancient to recent, clarifying numerous taxonomic controversies and providing new data on human evolution. Ongoing speciation, reticulate evolution, ancient relic lineages, unequal rates of evolution, and disparate distributions of insertions/deletions among the reconstructed primate lineages are uncovered. Our resolution of the primate phylogeny provides an essential evolutionary framework with far-reaching applications including: human selection and adaptation, global emergence of zoonotic diseases, mammalian comparative genomics, primate taxonomy, and conservation of endangered species

Ultrafast and Distinct Spin Dynamics in Magnetic Alloys

Controlling magnetic order on ultrashort timescales is crucial for engineering the next-generation magnetic devices that combine ultrafast data processing with ultrahigh-density data storage. An appealing scenario in this context is the use of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses as an ultrafast, external stimulus to fully set the orientation and the magnetization magnitude of a spin ensemble. Achieving such control on ultrashort timescales, e.g., comparable to the excitation event itself, remains however a challenge due to the lack of understanding the dynamical behavior of the key parameters governing magnetism: The elemental magnetic moments and the exchange interaction. Here, we investigate the fs laser-induced spin dynamics in a variety of multi-component alloys and reveal a dissimilar dynamics of the constituent magnetic moments on ultrashort timescales. Moreover, we show that such distinct dynamics is a general phenomenon that can be exploited to engineer new magnetic media with tailor-made, optimized dynamic properties. Using phenomenological considerations, atomistic modeling and time-resolved X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD), we demonstrate demagnetization of the constituent sub-lattices on significantly different timescales that depend on their magnetic moments and the sign of the exchange interaction. These results can be used as a “recipe” for manipulation and control of magnetization dynamics in a large class of magnetic materials