Single Crystal Growth of Skutterudite CoP3 under High Pressure

A new method to grow single crystals of skutterudite compounds is examined. Using a wedge-type, cubic-anvil, high-pressure apparatus, single crystals of CoP3 were grown from stoichiometric melts under a pressure of 3.5 GPa. Powder x-ray diffraction and electron probe microanalysis measurements indicate that the as-grown boules are a single phase of CoP3. The results suggest that CoP3 is a congruent melting compound under high pressure.Comment: 6pages,5 figures, J. Crystal Growth (in press

Longitudinal magnetic excitation in KCuCl3 studied by Raman scattering under hydrostatic pressures

We measure Raman scattering in an interacting spin-dimer system KCuCl3 under hydrostatic pressures up to 5 GPa mediated by He gas. In the pressure-induced quantum phase, we observe a one-magnon Raman peak, which originates from the longitudinal magnetic excitationand is observable through the second-order exchange interaction Raman process. We report the pressure dependence of the frequency, halfwidth and Raman intensity of this mode.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, inpress in JPCS as a proceeding of LT2

Multiple noncommutative tori and Hopf algebras

We derive the Kac-Paljutkin finite-dimensional Hopf algebras as finite fibrations of the quantum double torus and generalize the construction for quantum multiple tori.Comment: 18 pages; AMSLaTeX (major revision, the construction of dual rewritten using approach of multiplier Hopf algebras, references added

31P-NMR and muSR Studies of Filled Skutterudite Compound SmFe4P12: Evidence for Heavy Fermion Behavior with Ferromagnetic Ground State

The 31P-NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) and muSR (muon spin relaxation) measurements on the filled skutterudite system SmFe4P12 have been carried out. The temperature T dependence of the 31P-NMR spectra indicates the existence of the crystalline electric field effect splitting of the Sm3+$ (J = 5/2) multiplet into a ground state and an excited state of about 70 K. The spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 shows the typical behavior of the Kondo system, i.e., 1/T1 is nearly T independent above 30 K, and varies in proportion to T (the Korringa behavior, 1/T1 \propto T) between 7.5 K and 30 K. The T dependence deviated from the Korringa behavior below 7 K, which is independent of T in the applied magnetic field of 1 kOe, and suppressed strongly in higher fields. The behavior is explained as 1/T1is determined by ferromagnetic fluctuations of the uncovered Sm3+ magnetic moments by conduction electrons. The muSR measurements in zero field show the appearance of a static internal field associated with the ferromagnetic order below 1.6 K.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 75 (2006

Two Sizes of Superconducting Gaps on an Under-doped Bi2.1Sr1.9Ca2Cu3O10+δ with TC ∼ 101K by Tunneling Spectroscopy

AbstractWe measured tunneling conductances on an under-doped trilayer cuprate Bi2.1Sr1.9Ca2Cu3O10+≏ (Bi2223) with TC ∼ 101K by a point contact method, which has three CuO2 planes in a unit cell. The tunneling conductances on Bi2223 exhibited two sizes of gaps originated from outer and inner CuO2 plane (OP and IP). The estimated size of superconducting gap from OP ΔOP is 34 ± 6 meV, and the ΔIP from IP is 51 ± 5 meV, respectively. We also observed tunneling conductances which simultaneously displayed two superconducting peaks of OP and IP. Moreover, we propose the model of two superconductor-insulator-normal metal junctions which exhibit two sizes gaps of OP and IP

Pressure-temperature phase diagram of the heavy-electron superconductor URu2Si2

The pressure-temperature phase diagram of the heavy-electron superconductor URu2Si2 has been reinvestigated by ac-susceptibility and elastic neutron-scattering (NS) measurements performed on a small single-crystalline rod (2 mm in diameter, 6 mm in length) in a Cu-Be clamp-type high-pressure cell (P < 1.1 GPa). At ambient pressure, this sample shows the weakest antiferromagnetic (AF) Bragg reflections reported so far, corresponding to the volume-averaged staggered moment of mord ~ 0.011 mB/U. Under applied pressure, the AF scattering intensity exhibits a sharp increase at P ~ 0.7 GPa at low temperatures. The saturation value of the AF scattering intensity above 0.7 GPa corresponds to mord ~ 0.41 mB/U, which is in good agreement with that (~ 0.39 mB/U) observed above 1.5 GPa in our previous NS measurements. The superconductivity is dramatically suppressed by the evolution of AF phase, indicating that the superconducting state coexists only with the hidden order phase. The presence of parasitic ferro- and/or antiferromagnetic phases with transition temperatures T1star =120(5) K, T2star = 36(3) K and T3star = 16.5(5) K and their relationship to the low-T ordered phases are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Magn. Magn. Mater. (ICM2006

Optical Conductivity and Electronic Structure of CeRu4Sb12 under High Pressure

Optical conductivity [s(w)] of Ce-filled skutterudite CeRu4Sb12 has been measured at high pressure to 8 GPa and at low temperature, to probe the pressure evolution of its electronic structures. At ambient pressure, a mid-infrared peak at 0.1 eV was formed in s(w) at low temperature, and the spectral weight below 0.1 eV was strongly suppressed, due to a hybridization of the f electron and conduction electron states. With increasing external pressure, the mid-infrared peak shifts to higher energy, and the spectral weight below the peak was further depleted. The obtained spectral data are analyzed in comparison with band calculation result and other reported physical properties. It is shown that the electronic structure of CeRu4Sb12 becomes similar to that of a narrow-gap semiconductor under external pressure.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

The Role of Facets of Job Satisfaction in the National and Socioeconomic Differences in Overall Job Satisfaction: A Comparison Between Studies of Civil Servants in Great Britain and Japan

OBJECTIVE: To explore national and socioeconomic differences in overall job satisfaction, we examined whether those differences can be explained by what job-related factors. METHODS: Our datasets for this study are from the Whitehall II study and the Japan Civil Servant Study. Of the participants who were 5540 cases, with 3250 people from Great Britain and 2290 from Japan. RESULTS: The odds ratio for job dissatisfaction was more than double in Japan compared with Britain. However, after adjusting the related factors-especially the facets of job satisfaction variables-the difference was reversed. Also, regarding the occupational differences, lower occupational grades had lower risks of overall job dissatisfaction, after adjusting for related factors. CONCLUSIONS: The national and socioeconomic differences in overall job satisfaction were strongly related to facets of job satisfaction rather than job stress factors

Scattering-assisted electric current in semiconductor superlattices in the Wannier-Stark regime

We have used the Monte Carlo technique to investigate the mechanism of scattering-assisted charge transport in semiconductor superlattices under a strong applied electric field in the Wannier-Stark (WS) regime. The distribution function of quasi-two-dimensional carriers localized in each WS level is calculated, and the contributions of different scattering mechanisms to the total scattering probability are analyzed. Based on these results, the drift velocity is derived as a function of the applied electric field. Due to the LO-phonon-induced resonant transfer of electrons between different spatially localized WS states, our calculated I-V characteristics oscillates with clear negative differential velocity behavior. At the electric field strength such that the Bloch oscillation energy is equal to an integer multiple of the LO phonon energy, a peak appears in the I-V curve. Our theoretical result agrees with the experimental data which was obtained from analyzing the terahertz response of superlattices to picosecond optical pulse excitation

Paradoxical Sensitivity to an Integrated Stress Response Blocking Mutation in Vanishing White Matter Cells

The eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2B promotes mRNA translation as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2). Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated activation of the kinase PERK and the resultant phosphorylation of eIF2's alpha subunit (eIF2α) attenuates eIF2B GEF activity thereby inducing an integrated stress response (ISR) that defends against protein misfolding in the ER. Mutations in all five subunits of human eIF2B cause an inherited leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter (VWM), but the role of the ISR in its pathogenesis remains unclear. Using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing we introduced the most severe known VWM mutation, EIF2B4$^{A391D}$, into CHO cells. Compared to isogenic wildtype cells, GEF activity of cells with the VWM mutation was impaired and the mutant cells experienced modest enhancement of the ISR. However, despite their enhanced ISR, imposed by the intrinsic defect in eIF2B, disrupting the inhibitory effect of phosphorylated eIF2α on GEF by a contravening EIF2S1/eIF2α$^{S51A}$ mutation that functions upstream of eIF2B, selectively enfeebled both EIF2B4$^{A391D }$ and the related severe VWM EIF2B4$^{R483W}$ cells. The basis for paradoxical dependence of cells with the VWM mutations on an intact eIF2α genotype remains unclear, as both translation rates and survival from stressors that normally activate the ISR were not reproducibly affected by the VWM mutations. Nonetheless, our findings support an additional layer of complexity in the development of VWM, beyond a hyperactive ISR.Supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust (Wellcome 200848/Z/16/Z) and the European Commission (EU FP7 Beta-Bat No: 277713) and, a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for core facilities to the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (Wellcome 100140). YS is a Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow for Research Abroad. NAW is a Medical Research Council supported PhD student. DR is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow