11,543 research outputs found
Kinetically-controlled thin-film growth of layered - and NaCoO cobaltate
We report growth characteristics of epitaxial -NaCoO and
-NaCoO thin films on (001) sapphire substrates grown by
pulsed-laser deposition. Reduction of deposition rate could change structure of
NaCoO thin film from -phase with island growth mode to
-phase with layer-by-layer growth mode. The
-NaCoO thin film exhibits spiral surface growth with
multiterraced islands and highly crystallized texture compared to that of the
-NaCoO thin film. This heterogeneous epitaxial film growth
can give opportunity of strain effect of physical properties and growth
dynamics of NaCoO as well as subtle nature of structural change.Comment: accepted for publication in Applied Physics Letter
Structural origins of the properties of rare earth nickelate superlattices
NiO6 octahedral tilts in the LaNiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices are quantified using
position averaged convergent beam electron diffraction in scanning transmission
electron microscopy. It is shown that maintaining oxygen octahedra connectivity
across the interface controls the octahedral tilts in the LaNiO3 layers, their
lattice parameters and their transport properties. Unlike films and layers that
are connected on one side to the substrate, subsequent LaNiO3 layers in the
superlattice exhibit a relaxation of octahedral tilts towards bulk values. This
relaxation is facilitated by correlated tilts in SrTiO3 layers and is
correlated with the conductivity enhancement of the LaNiO3 layers in the
superlattices relative to individual films.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review B (Rapid Communication
A variant transfer matrix method suitable for transport through multi-probe systems
We have developed a variant transfer matrix method that is suitable for
transport through multi-probe systems. Using this method, we have numerically
studied the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) on 2D graphene with both intrinsic
(Vso) and Rashba (Vr) spin-orbit (SO) couplings. The integer QSHE arises in the
presence of intrinsic SO interaction and is gradually destroyed by the Rashba
SO interaction and disorder fluctuation. We have numerically determined the
phase boundaries separating integer QSHE and spin Hall liquid. We have found
that when Vso> 0.2t with t the hopping constant the energy gap needed for the
integer QSHE is the largest satisfying |E|<t. For smaller Vso the energy gap
decreases linearly. In the presence of Rashba SO interaction or disorders, the
energy gap diminishes. With Rashba SO interaction the integer QSHE is robust at
the largest energy within the energy gap while at the smallest energy within
the energy gap the integer QSHE is insensitive to the disorder
Development of an Integrated DBH Estimation Model Based on Stand and Climatic Conditions
Using Korean National Forest Inventory (NFI) data, our study developed a model to estimate stand mean diameter at breast height (DBH) reflecting the influence of site and climate factors on forest growth for the major tree species in South Korea. A DBH estimation model was developed using stand-level variables (stand age, site index and number of trees per hectare) as independent factors. The spatial autocorrelation of residuals of the model was identified using semi-variogram analysis for each tree species. Further, a residual model, in which residuals were estimated by climatic factors (mean temperature, sum temperature in the growing season and precipitation), was developed assuming that the spatial autocorrelation of residuals reflects the differences in regional climatic conditions. Linear regression analysis showed that residuals of all tree species were significantly correlated with temperature and precipitation. The DBH and residual models were integrated to estimate the current DBH under different climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) and stand-level variables. This model had high reliability (R2 = 0.74–0.79), and no obvious dependencies or patterns in residuals were noted. Our results indicated that temperature increases caused by climate change would negatively affect the DBH estimate of coniferous trees, but not of oak species
Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Partially-Open Carbon Nanotubes
On the basis of the spin-polarized density functional theory calculations, we
demonstrate that partially-open carbon nanotubes (CNTs) observed in recent
experiments have rich electronic and magnetic properties which depend on the
degree of the opening. A partially-open armchair CNT is converted from a metal
to a semiconductor, and then to a spin-polarized semiconductor by increasing
the length of the opening on the wall. Spin-polarized states become
increasingly more stable than nonmagnetic states as the length of the opening
is further increased. In addition, external electric fields or chemical
modifications are usable to control the electronic and magnetic properties of
the system. We show that half-metallicity may be achieved and the spin current
may be controlled by external electric fields or by asymmetric
functionalization of the edges of the opening. Our findings suggest that
partially-open CNTs may offer unique opportunities for the future development
of nanoscale electronics and spintronics.Comment: 6 figures, to appear in J. Am. Chem. So
Structural transitions and nonmonotonic relaxation processes in liquid metals
Structural transitions in melts as well as their dynamics are considered. It
is supposed that liquid represents the solution of relatively stable solid-like
locally favored structures (LFS) in the surrounding of disordered normal-liquid
structures. Within the framework of this approach the step changes of liquid Co
viscosity are considered as liquid-liquid transitions. It is supposed that this
sort of transitions represents the cooperative medium-range bond ordering, and
corresponds to the transition of the "Newtonian fluid" to the "structured
fluid". It is shown that relaxation processes with oscillating-like time
behavior (~) of viscosity are possibly close to
this point
Computational Study of Tunneling Transistor Based on Graphene Nanoribbon
Tunneling field-effect transistors (FETs) have been intensely explored
recently due to its potential to address power concerns in nanoelectronics. The
recently discovered graphene nanoribbon (GNR) is ideal for tunneling FETs due
to its symmetric bandstructure, light effective mass, and monolayer-thin body.
In this work, we examine the device physics of p-i-n GNR tunneling FETs using
atomistic quantum transport simulations. The important role of the edge bond
relaxation in the device characteristics is identified. The device, however,
has ambipolar I-V characteristics, which are not preferred for digital
electronics applications. We suggest that using either an asymmetric
source-drain doping or a properly designed gate underlap can effectively
suppress the ambipolar I-V. A subthreshold slope of 14mV/dec and a
significantly improved on-off ratio can be obtained by the p-i-n GNR tunneling
FETs
Nonequilibrium spin transport on Au(111) surfaces
The well-known experimentally observed \textit{sp}-derived Au(111) Shockley
surface states with Rashba spin splitting are perfectly fit by an effective
tight-binding model, considering a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice with
-orbital and nearest neighbor hopping only. The extracted realistic band
parameters are then imported to perform the Landauer-Keldysh formalism to
calculate nonequilibrium spin transport in a two-terminal setup sandwiching a
Au(111) surface channel. Obtained results show strong spin density on the
Au(111) surface and demonstrate (i) intrinsic spin-Hall effect, (ii)
current-induced spin polarization, and (iii) Rashba spin precession, all of
which have been experimentally observed in semiconductor heterostructures, but
not in metallic surface states. We therefore urge experiments in the latter for
these spin phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Fermi point in graphene as a monopole in momentum space
We consider the effective field theory of graphene monolayer with the Coulomb
interaction between fermions taken into account. The gauge field in momentum
space is introduced. The position of the Fermi point coincides with the
position of the corresponding monopole. The procedure of extracting such
monopoles during lattice simulations is suggested.Comment: Latex, 12 page
Half-Metallic Graphene Nanoribbons
Electrical current can be completely spin polarized in a class of materials
known as half-metals, as a result of the coexistence of metallic nature for
electrons with one spin orientation and insulating for electrons with the
other. Such asymmetric electronic states for the different spins have been
predicted for some ferromagnetic metals - for example, the Heusler compounds-
and were first observed in a manganese perovskite. In view of the potential for
use of this property in realizing spin-based electronics, substantial efforts
have been made to search for half-metallic materials. However, organic
materials have hardly been investigated in this context even though
carbon-based nanostructures hold significant promise for future electronic
device. Here we predict half-metallicity in nanometre-scale graphene ribbons by
using first-principles calculations. We show that this phenomenon is realizable
if in-plane homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped
edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and that their magnetic property can be
controlled by the external electric fields. The results are not only of
scientific interests in the interplay between electric fields and electronic
spin degree of freedom in solids but may also open a new path to explore
spintronics at nanometre scale, based on graphene
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