7,668 research outputs found
Airborne lidar observations of Arctic polar stratospheric clouds
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSC's) have been detected repeatedly during Arctic and Antarctic winters since 1978/1979 by the SAM II (Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II) instrument aboard the NIMBUS-7 satellite. PSC's are believed to form when supercooled sulfuric acid droplets freeze, and subsequently grow by deposition of ambient water vapor as the local stratospheric temperature falls below the frost point. In order to study the characteristics of PSC's at higher spatial and temporal resolution than that possible from the satellite observations, aircraft missions were conducted within the Arctic polar night vortex in Jan. 1984 and Jan. 1986 using the NASA Langley Research Center airborne dual polarization ruby lidar system. A synopsis of the 1984 and 1986 PSC observations is presented illustrating short range spatial changes in cloud structure, the variation of backscatter ratio with temperature, and the depolarization characterics of cloud layers. Implications are noted with regard to PSC particle characteristics and the physical process by which the clouds are thougth to form
Few-electron quantum dots in III-V ternary alloys: role of fluctuations
We study experimentally the electron transport properties of gated quantum
dots formed in InGaAs/InP and InAsP/InP quantum well structures grown by
chemical-beam epitaxy. For the case of the InGaAs quantum well, quantum dots
form directly underneath narrow gate electrodes due to potential fluctuations.
We measure the Coulomb-blockade diamonds in the few-electron regime of a single
quantum dot and observe photon-assisted tunneling peaks under microwave
irradiation. A singlet-triplet transition at high magnetic field and
Coulomb-blockade effects in the quantum Hall regime are also observed. For the
InAsP quantum well, an incidental triple quantum dot forms also due to
potential fluctuations within a single dot layout. Tunable quadruple points are
observed via transport measurements.Comment: 3.3 pages, 3 figures. Added two new subfigures, new references, and
improved the tex
Electron spin resonance on a 2-dimensional electron gas in a single AlAs quantum well
Direct electron spin resonance (ESR) on a high mobility two dimensional
electron gas in a single AlAs quantum well reveals an electronic -factor of
1.991 at 9.35 GHz and 1.989 at 34 GHz with a minimum linewidth of 7 Gauss. The
ESR amplitude and its temperature dependence suggest that the signal originates
from the effective magnetic field caused by the spin orbit-interaction and a
modulation of the electron wavevector caused by the microwave electric field.
This contrasts markedly to conventional ESR that detects through the microwave
magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Reducing Polarization Mode Dispersion With Controlled Polarization Rotations
One of the fundamental limitations to high bit rate, long distance,
telecommunication in optical fibers is Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD). Here
we introduce a conceptually new method to reduce PMD in optical fibers by
carrying out controlled rotations of polarization at predetermined locations
along the fiber. The distance between these controlled polarization rotations
must be less than both the beat length and the mode coupling length of the
fiber. This method can also be combined with the method in which the fiber is
spun while it drawn. The incidence of imperfections on the efficiency of the
method is analysed.Comment: 4 page
Nonlinear c-axis transport in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_(8+d) from two-barrier tunneling
Motivated by the peculiar features observed through intrinsic tunneling
spectroscopy of BiSrCaCuO mesas in the normal state,
we have extended the normal state two-barrier model for the c-axis transport
[M. Giura et al., Phys. Rev. B {\bf 68}, 134505 (2003)] to the analysis of
curves. We have found that the purely normal-state model reproduces all
the following experimental features: (a) the parabolic -dependence of
in the high- region (above the conventional pseudogap temperature),
(b) the emergence and the nearly voltage-independent position of the "humps"
from this parabolic behavior lowering the temperature, and (c) the crossing of
the absolute curves at a characteristic voltage . Our
findings indicate that conventional tunneling can be at the origin of most of
the uncommon features of the c axis transport in
BiSrCaCuO. We have compared our calculations to
experimental data taken in severely underdoped and slightly underdoped
BiSrCaCuO small mesas. We have found good agreement
between the data and the calculations, without any shift of the calculated
dI/dV on the vertical scale. In particular, in the normal state (above
) simple tunneling reproduces the experimental dI/dV quantitatively.
Below quantitative discrepancies are limited to a simple rescaling of
the voltage in the theoretical curves by a factor 2. The need for such
modifications remains an open question, that might be connected to a change of
the charge of a fraction of the carriers across the pseudogap opening.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Spectral statistics of the quenched normal modes of a network-forming molecular liquid
We evaluate the density of states of the quenched normal modes of ST2 water,
and their statistical fluctuations, for a range of densities spanning three
regimes of behavior of a hydrogen bonded liquid: a lower-density regime of
random tetrahedral network formation; in the vicinity of a liquid-liquid
critical point; and in a higher-density regime of fragile glass-forming
behavior. For all cases we find that the fluctuations around the mean spectral
densities obey the predictions of the Gaussian orthogonal ensemble of random
matrix theory. We also measure the participation ratio of the normal modes
across the entire frequency range, and find behavior consistent with the
majority of modes being of an extended nature, rather than localized.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Journal of Chemical Physic
The 16-day variation in tidal amplitudes at Grahamstown (33.3° S, 26.5° E)
International audienceMeteor wind data at Grahamstown (33.3° S, 26.5° E) have been used to study the short-term (planetary scale) variations of the diurnal and semidiurnal tidal amplitudes at ~ 90 km altitude. Wavelet multi-resolution and spectral techniques reveal that planetary periodicities of ~ 10 and ~ 16 days dominate the wave spectrum in the ~ 2?20-day period range. The quasi-16-day oscillation is thought to be related to similar oscillations in the lower atmosphere. Also, there seems to be a link between the winter/equinox 16-day oscillation in the mean flow and that in the semidiurnal tidal amplitudes. It is thought that this is probably due to either the coupling between the normal mode-mean flow interactions and the gravity wave-tidal interactions, or to direct nonlinear interactions between planetary waves and the tide. On the other hand, a comparison of the mean flow and the diurnal tide does not show evidence of correlation. Possible reasons for this disparity are discussed briefly
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