389 research outputs found
Raman spectroscopy study of the interface structure in (CaCuO2)n/(SrTiO3)m superlattices
Raman spectra of CaCuO2/SrTiO3 superlattices show clear spectroscopic marker
of two structures formed in CaCuO2 at the interface with SrTiO3. For
non-superconducting superlattices, grown in low oxidizing atmosphere, the 425
cm-1 frequency of oxygen vibration in CuO2 planes is the same as for CCO films
with infinite layer structure (planar Cu-O coordination). For superconducting
superlattices grown in highly oxidizing atmosphere, a 60 cm-1 frequency shift
to lower energy occurs. This is ascribed to a change from planar to pyramidal
Cu-O coordination because of oxygen incorporation at the interface. Raman
spectroscopy proves to be a powerful tool for interface structure
investigation
Optical study of the vibrational and dielectric properties of BiMnO3
BiMnO3 (BMO), ferromagnetic (FM) below Tc = 100 K, was believed to be also
ferroelectric (FE) due to a non-centro-symmetric C2 structure, until
diffraction data indicated that its space group is the centro-symmetric C2/c.
Here we present infrared phonon spectra of BMO, taken on a mosaic of single
crystals, which are consistent with C2/c at any T > 10 K, as well as
room-temperature Raman data which strongly support this conclusion. We also
find that the infrared intensity of several phonons increases steadily for
decreasing T, causing the relative permittivity of BMO to vary from 18.5 at 300
K to 45 at 10 K. At variance with FE materials of displacive type, no
appreciable softening has been found in the infrared phonons. Both their
frequencies and intensities, moreover, appear insensitive to the FM transition
at Tc
Effect of Al doping on the optical phonon spectrum in Mg(1-x)Al(x)B(2)
Raman and infrared absorption spectra of Mg(1-x)Al(x)B(2) have been collected
for 0<x<0.5 in the spectral range of optical phonons. The x-dependence of the
peak frequency, the width and the intensity of the observed Raman lines has
been carefully analized. A peculiar x-dependence of the optical modes is
pointed out for two different Al doping ranges. In particular the onset of the
high-doping structural phase previously observed in diffraction measurements is
marked by the appearence of new spectral components at high frequencies. A
connection between the whole of our results and the observed suppression of
superconductivity in the high doping region is established
Brain oscillations differentially encode noxious stimulus intensity and pain intensity
Noxious stimuli induce physiological processes which commonly translate into pain. However, under certain conditions, pain intensity can substantially dissociate from stimulus intensity, e.g. during longer-lasting pain in chronic pain syndromes. How stimulus intensity and pain intensity are differentially represented in the human brain is, however, not yet fully understood. We therefore used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the cerebral representation of noxious stimulus intensity and pain intensity during 10 min of painful heat stimulation in 39 healthy human participants. Time courses of objective stimulus intensity and subjective pain ratings indicated a dissociation of both measures. EEG data showed that stimulus intensity was encoded by decreases of neuronal oscillations at alpha and beta frequencies in sensorimotor areas. In contrast, pain intensity was encoded by gamma oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex. Contrasting right versus left hand stimulation revealed that the encoding of stimulus intensity in contralateral sensorimotor areas depended on the stimulation side. In contrast, a conjunction analysis of right and left hand stimulation revealed that the encoding of pain in the medial prefrontal cortex was independent of the side of stimulation. Thus, the translation of noxious stimulus intensity into pain is associated with a change from a spatially specific representation of stimulus intensity by alpha and beta oscillations in sensorimotor areas to a spatially independent representation of pain by gamma oscillations in brain areas related to cognitive and affective-motivational processes. These findings extend the understanding of the brain mechanisms of nociception and pain and their dissociations during longer-lasting pain as a key symptom of chronic pain syndromes
Prefrontal gamma oscillations encode tonic pain in humans
Under physiological conditions, momentary pain serves vital protective functions. Ongoing pain in chronic pain states, on the other hand, is a pathological condition that causes widespread suffering and whose treatment remains unsatisfactory. The brain mechanisms of ongoing pain are largely unknown. In this study, we applied tonic painful heat stimuli of varying degree to healthy human subjects, obtained continuous pain ratings, and recorded electroencephalograms to relate ongoing pain to brain activity. Our results reveal that the subjective perception of tonic pain is selectively encoded by gamma oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex. We further observed that the encoding of subjective pain intensity experienced by the participants differs fundamentally from that of objective stimulus intensity and from that of brief pain stimuli. These observations point to a role for gamma oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex in ongoing, tonic pain and thereby extend current concepts of the brain mechanisms of pain to the clinically relevant state of ongoing pain. Furthermore, our approach might help to identify a brain marker of ongoing pain, which may prove useful for the diagnosis and therapy of chronic pain
Coexistence of pressure-induced structural phases in bulk black phosphorus: a combined x-ray diffraction and Raman study up to 18 GPa
We report a study of the structural phase transitions induced by pressure in
bulk black phosphorus by using both synchrotron x-ray diffraction for pressures
up to 12.2 GPa and Raman spectroscopy up to 18.2 GPa. Very recently black
phosphorus attracted large attention because of the unique properties of
fewlayers samples (phosphorene), but some basic questions are still open in the
case of the bulk system. As concerning the presence of a Raman spectrum above
10 GPa, which should not be observed in an elemental simple cubic system, we
propose a new explanation by attributing a key role to the non-hydrostatic
conditions occurring in Raman experiments. Finally, a combined analysis of
Raman and XRD data allowed us to obtain quantitative information on presence
and extent of coexistences between different structural phases from ~5 up to
~15 GPa. This information can have an important role in theoretical studies on
pressure-induced structural and electronic phase transitions in black
phosphorus
Evidence of a pressure-induced metallization process in monoclinic VO
Raman and combined trasmission and reflectivity mid infrared measurements
have been carried out on monoclinic VO at room temperature over the 0-19
GPa and 0-14 GPa pressure ranges, respectively. The pressure dependence
obtained for both lattice dynamics and optical gap shows a remarkable stability
of the system up to P*10 GPa. Evidence of subtle modifications of V ion
arrangements within the monoclinic lattice together with the onset of a
metallization process via band gap filling are observed for PP*. Differently
from ambient pressure, where the VO metal phase is found only in
conjunction with the rutile structure above 340 K, a new room temperature
metallic phase coupled to a monoclinic structure appears accessible in the high
pressure regime, thus opening to new important queries on the physics of
VO.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Electrodynamics near the Metal-to-Insulator Transition in V3O5
The electrodynamics near the metal-to-insulator transitions (MIT) induced, in
V3O5 single crystals, by both temperature (T) and pressure (P) has been studied
by infrared spectroscopy. The T- and P-dependence of the optical conductivity
may be explained within a polaronic scenario. The insulating phase at ambient T
and P corresponds to strongly localized small polarons. Meanwhile the T-induced
metallic phase at ambient pressure is related to a liquid of polarons showing
incoherent dc transport, in the P-induced metallic phase at room T strongly
localized polarons coexist with partially delocalized ones. The electronic
spectral weight is almost recovered, in both the T and P induced metallization
processes, on an energy scale of 1 eV, thus supporting the key-role of
electron-lattice interaction in the V3O5 metal-to-insulator transition.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
High-Pressure Phase Diagram in the Manganites: a Two-site Model Study
The pressure dependence of the Curie temperature in manganites,
recently studied over a wide pressure range, is not quantitatively accounted
for by the quenching of Jahn-Teller distortions, and suggests the occurrence of
a new pressure-activated localizing processes. We present a theoretical
calculation of based on a two-site double-exchange model with
electron-phonon coupling interaction and direct superexchange between the core spins. We calculate the pressure dependence of and compare
it with the experimental phase diagram. Our results describe the experimental
behavior quite well if a pressure-activated enhancement of the
antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction is assumed
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