10,759 research outputs found
Tunneling induced electron transfer between separated protons
We study electron transfer between two separated nuclei using local control
theory. By conditioning the algorithm in a symmetric system formed by two
protons, one can favored slow transfer processes, where tunneling is the main
mechanism, achieving transfer efficiencies close to unity assuming fixed
nuclei. The solution can be parametrized using sequences of pump and dump pi
pulses, where the pump pulse is used to excite the electron to a highly excited
state where the time for tunneling to the target nuclei is on the order of
femtoseconds. The time delay must be chosen to allow for full population
transfer via tunneling, and the dump pulse is chosen to remove energy from the
state to avoid tunneling back to the original proton. Finally, we study the
effect of the nuclear kinetic energy on the transfer efficiency. Even in the
absence of relative motion between the protons, the spreading of the nuclear
wave function is enough to reduce the yield of electronic transfer to less than
one half.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Detrital zircon from a late Paleozoic accretionary complex of SW Iberia (Variscan Belt): History of crustal growth and recycling at the Rheic convergent margin
In this study we present new U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from
greywackes and quartzites of the Pulo do Lobo Anticline (PLA) that have
been interpreted to represent a Late Paleozoic accretionary complex in SW
Iberia. The PLA separates the Ossa Morena Zone, which has a North-
Gondwana affinity throughout Late Ediacaran and Early Paleozoic times,
from the South Portuguese Zone, which is considered to be underlain by
Laurussia basement. The PLA stratigraphy most likely represents a
synorogenic basin that records the closure of the Late Paleozoic Rheic
Ocean and the amalgamation of Pangaea. The youngest formations of the
PLA contain upper Devonian microfossils.The results obtained indicate that the detrital zircons from the PLA
represent a wide range of Precambrian and Paleozoic crystallization ages.
Recycling of older sedimentary units of the Late Ediacaran active margin
(Cadomian/Pan-African orogenies) as well as of the Early Paleozoic rifting
and passive margin (Rheic Ocean) stages, accounts for the older
populations with North-Gondwana affinity (Cambrian, Neoproterozoic,
Paleoproterozoic and Archean, with a gap of Mesoproterozoic-age).
However, the Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon ages found in the
greywackes of the Pulo do Lobo Formation (< 7%) that do not correspond
to any substantial source within North-Gondwana, could come from
recycled sedimentary deposits or from denudation of Grenville-age
basement (Laurussia?). The more recent formations present in the northern
limb (Ferreira-Ficalho Group) of the PLA show a significant age cluster in
the upper Devonian (c. 378 Ma), whereas on the southern limb (Chança
Group), samples have from base to top of the stratigraphic sequence: a
minor age cluster in the middle Devonian (c. 390 Ma), a significant age
cluster in upper Devonian (c. 380 Ma) and very significant age cluster in
the upper Devonian (c. 372 Ma). The presence of middle-upper Devonian
detrital zircons in combination with very low abundances of
Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon suggests that the PLA sedimentary rocks
were not derived from exotic sources but rather have a North-Gondwanan
origin. The zircon population in the interval c. 390-380 Ma has no
identified corresponding magmatic or stratigraphic source in SW Iberia.
Considering that, during the development of the upper Devonian basins of
SW Iberia, Laurussia basement was not exposed and that there was no
magmatic arc on the North-Gondwana margin, we suggest that the c. 390-
380 Ma detrital zircons are most probably derived from denudation of a
(intra-oceanic) magmatic arc related to the closure of the Rheic Ocean
High-repetition-rate femtosecond laser processing of acrylic intra-ocular lenses
The study of laser processing of acrylic intra-ocular lenses (IOL) by using femtosecond laser pulses delivered at high-repetition rate is presented in this work. An ultra-compact air-cooled femtosecond diode laser (HighQ2-SHG, Spectra-Physics) delivering 250 fs laser pulses at the fixed wavelength of 520 nm with a repetition rate of 63 MHz was used to process the samples. Laser inscription of linear periodic patterns on the surface and inside the acrylic substrates was studied as a function of the processing parameters as well as the optical absorption characteristics of the sample. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), and micro-Raman Spectroscopy were used to evaluate the compositional and microstructural changes induced by the laser radiation in the processed areas. Diractive characterization was used to assess 1st-order efficiency and the refractive index change
Control of bulk superconductivity in a BCS superconductor by surface charge doping via electrochemical gating
The electrochemical gating technique is a powerful tool to tune the surface conduction properties
of various materials by means of pure charge doping, but its efficiency is thought to be hampered in
materials with a good electronic screening. We show that, if applied to a metallic superconductor
(NbN thin films), this approach allows observing reversible enhancements or suppressions of the bulk
superconducting transition temperature, which vary with the thickness of the films. These results
are interpreted in terms of proximity effect, and indicate that the effective screening length depends
on the induced charge density, becoming much larger than that predicted by standard screening
theory at very high electric fields
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