Measuring many-body effects in carbon nanotubes with a scanning tunneling microscope

Electron-electron interactions and excitons in carbon nanotubes are locally measured by combining Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and optical absorption in bundles of nanotubes. The largest gap deduced from measurements at the top of the bundle is found to be related to the intrinsic quasi-particle gap. From the difference with optical transitions, we deduced exciton binding energies of 0.4 eV for the gap and 0.7 eV for the second Van Hove singularity. This provides the first experimental evidence of substrate-induced gap renormalization on SWNTs

Symmetry-selected spin-split hybrid states in C60_{60}/ferromagnetic interfaces

The understanding of orbital hybridization and spin-polarization at the organic-ferromagnetic interface is essential in the search for efficient hybrid spintronic devices. Here, using first-principles calculations, we report a systematic study of spin-split hybrid states of C$_{60}$ deposited on various ferromagnetic surfaces: bcc-Cr(001), bcc-Fe(001), bcc-Co(001), fcc-Co(001) and hcp-Co(0001). We show that the adsorption geometry of the molecule with respect to the surface crystallographic orientation of the magnetic substrate as well as the strength of the interaction play an intricate role in the spin-polarization of the hybrid orbitals. We find that a large spin-polarization in vacuum above the buckyball can only be achieved if the molecule is adsorbed upon a bcc-(001) surface by its pentagonal ring. Therefore bcc-Cr(001), bcc-Fe(001) and bcc-Co(001) are the optimal candidates. Spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements on single C$_{60}$ adsorbed on Cr(001) and Co/Pt(111) also confirm that both the symmetry of the substrate and of the molecular conformation have a strong influence on the induced spin polarization. Our finding may give valuable insights for further engineering of spin filtering devices through single molecular orbitals.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Paysage de l\u27édition scientifique, pratiques des scientifiques et coûts associés DDOR Direction des données ouvertes de la recherche

Cette étude bibliométrique porte sur l\u27année 2017 et s\u27appuie sur la production scientifique des unités CNRS. Elle a été menée en 2019 à partir des données de la base bibliométrique du Web of Science (WoS)

Effet d’un programme d’activité physique intermittent de haute intensité sur la perte de masse grasse abdominale chez la femme DT2 ménopausée

Contexte : A la ménopause, la diminution des taux d’estrogènes favorise un dépôt de masse grasse (MG) abdominal (sous-cutané et viscéral). La MG viscérale est corrélée aux maladies cardio-vasculaires (MCV). Ce risque est accentué chez les sujets présentant un diabète de type 2 (DT2).Objectif : Comparer deux modalités d’entraînement, continu de moyenne intensité (SSE) vs. intermittent de haute intensité (HIIE), sur la perte de MG abdominale (dont viscérale) chez des femmes DT2 ménopausées.Matériels et méthode : Seize femmes DT2 ménopausées (69±1ans; IMC : 31±1 kg/m²) ont été réparties aléatoirement en deux groupes. Pendant quatre mois, deux fois par semaine, 8 d’entre elles ont réalisé un entraînement SSE (40 min de pédalage à 50% de la FCmax de réserve), et 8 ont réalisé un entraînement HIIE (8s de sprint suivies de 12s de récupération active, pendant 20 min). Pré (T0) et post entraînement (T4), la composition corporelle et la MG abdominale totale ont été mesurées par DXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry). La MG viscérale a été estimée à partir de la méthode de Martin et Jensen1. A T0 et T4, les apports énergétiques et le niveau d’activité physique ont été déterminés (questionnaires et accéléromètrie validée2 intégrée sur smartphone).Résultats : Après 16 semaines d’intervention, sans modification des apports énergétiques et du niveau d’activité physique total, une perte de MG totale et un gain de masse maigre est observé (effet temps, p<0.05). La diminution de MG abdominale est supérieure dans le groupe HIIE (0.32% ± 2.07 vs 8.32 % ± 2.19, p<0.05) et la perte de MG viscérale n’est observée que dans le groupe HIIE (p<0.05).Conclusion : L’entraînement de type HIIE apparait comme un programme alternatif intéressant chez la femme DT2 ménopausée en diminuant significativement la MG abdominale totale et viscérale

Elastic displacements and step interactions on metallic surfaces: GIXD and ab initio study of Au(332)

International audienceWe have studied the energetics, relaxation and interactions of steps on the Au(332) vicinal surface, using a combination of grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD), anisotropic linear elasticity (ALE) theory, and ab initio density functional theory (DFT). We find that the initial force distribution on a bulk-truncated surface, as well as the resulting pattern of atomic relaxations, can be reproduced excellently by a buried dipole elastic model. The close agreement obtained between experimental and calculated X-ray diffraction profiles allows us to precisely determine the value of the elastic dipole density at the steps. We also use these results to obtain an experimental estimate of the surface stress on an unreconstructed Au(111) facet, 2.3+/-0.4 Nm-1, and the value of the step-step elastic interaction energy: 950 +/- 150 meV.Å

Localized state and charge transfer in nitrogen-doped graphene

Nitrogen-doped epitaxial graphene grown on SiC(000?1) was prepared by exposing the surface to an atomic nitrogen flux. Using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Spectroscopy (STS), supported by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, the simple substitution of carbon by nitrogen atoms has been identified as the most common doping configuration. High-resolution images reveal a reduction of local charge density on top of the nitrogen atoms, indicating a charge transfer to the neighboring carbon atoms. For the first time, local STS spectra clearly evidenced the energy levels associated with the chemical doping by nitrogen, localized in the conduction band. Various other nitrogen-related defects have been observed. The bias dependence of their topographic signatures demonstrates the presence of structural configurations more complex than substitution as well as hole-doping.Comment: 5 pages, accepted in PR

Change of cobalt magnetic anisotropy and spin polarization with alkanethiolates self-assembled monolayers

International audience; We demonstrate that the deposition of a self-assembled monolayer of alkanethiolates on a 1 nm thick cobalt ultrathin film grown on Au(111) induces a spin reorientation transition from in-plane to out-of-plane magnetization. Using ab initio calculations, we show that a methanethiolate layer changes slightly both the magnetocrystalline and shape anisotropy, both effects almost cancelling each other out for a 1 nm Co film. Finally, the change in hysteresis cycles upon alkanethiolate adsorption could be assigned to a molecular-induced roughening of the Co layer, as shown by STM. In addition, we calculate how a methanethiolate layer modifies the spin density of states of the Co layer and we show that the spin polarization at the Fermi level through the organic layer is reversed as compared to the uncovered Co. These results give new theoretical and experimental insights for the use of thiol-based self-assembled monolayers in spintronic devices

Selective control of molecule charge state on graphene using tip-induced electric field and nitrogen doping

The combination of graphene with molecules offers promising opportunities to achieve new functionalities. In these hybrid structures, interfacial charge transfer plays a key role in the electronic properties and thus has to be understood and mastered. Using scanning tunneling microscopy and ab initio density functional theory calculations, we show that combining nitrogen doping of graphene with an electric field allows for a selective control of the charge state in a molecular layer on graphene. On pristine graphene, the local gating applied by the tip induces a shift of the molecular levels of adsorbed molecules and can be used to control their charge state. Ab initio calculations show that under the application of an electric field, the hybrid molecule/graphene system behaves like an electrostatic dipole with opposite charges in the molecule and graphene sub-units that are found to be proportional to the electric field amplitude, which thereby controls the charge transfer. When local gating is combined with nitrogen doping of graphene, the charging voltage of molecules on nitrogen is greatly lowered. Consequently, applying the proper electric field allows one to obtain a molecular layer with a mixed charge state, where a selective reduction is performed on single molecules at nitrogen sites. The local gating applied by a tip induces a shift of the energy levels of molecules adsorbed on graphene. A team led by Jerome Lagoute at Universite Paris Diderot investigated the interplay between the charge state of molecules on pristine and doped-graphene, and the tip-induced electric fields in scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. The tip-induced electric field was found to shift the molecular levels of tetracyanoquinodimethane molecules on graphene, leading to a change of charge state at negative bias. Ab initio calculations indicated that the molecule-on-graphene hybrid structure can be regarded as an electrostatic dipole, hence the charge transfer and associated electronic charge in the molecule and graphene could be tuned by the electric field. Furthermore, inserting nitrogen atom dopants allowed shifting the energy levels of single molecules absorbed directly on the electron-donating point defects