Ionic and Electronic Conductivity of Nanostructured, Samaria-Doped Ceria

The ionic and electronic conductivities of samaria doped ceria electrolytes, Ce_(0.85)Sm_(0.15)O_(1.925−δ), with nanometric grain size have been evaluated. Nanostructured bulk specimens were obtained using a combination of high specific-surface-area starting materials and suitable sintering profiles under conventional, pressureless conditions. Bulk specimens with relatively high density (≥92% of theoretical density) and low medium grain size (as small as 33 nm) were achieved. Electrical A.C. impedance spectra were recorded over wide temperature (150 to 650°C) and oxygen partial pressure ranges (0.21 to 10^(−31) atm). Under all measurement conditions the total conductivity decreased monotonically with decreasing grain size. In both the electrolytic and mixed conducting regimes this behavior is attributed to the high number density of high resistance grain boundaries. The results suggest a possible variation in effective grain boundary width with grain size, as well as a possible variation in specific grain boundary resistance with decreasing oxygen partial pressure. No evidence appears for either enhanced reducibility or enhanced electronic conductivity upon nanostructuring

Dimensionality effects in the LDOS of ferromagnetic hosts probed via STM: spin-polarized quantum beats and spin filtering

We theoretically investigate the local density of states (LDOS) probed by a STM tip of ferromagnetic metals hosting a single adatom and a subsurface impurity. We model the system via the two-impurity Anderson Hamiltonian. By using the equation of motion with the relevant Green functions, we derive analytical expressions for the LDOS of two host types: a surface and a quantum wire. The LDOS reveals Friedel-like oscillations and Fano interference as a function of the STM tip position. These oscillations strongly depend on the host dimension. Interestingly, we find that the spin-dependent Fermi wave numbers of the hosts give rise to spin-polarized quantum beats in the LDOS. While the LDOS for the metallic surface shows a damped beating pattern, it exhibits an opposite behavior in the quantum wire. Due to this absence of damping, the wire operates as a spatially resolved spin filter with a high efficiency.Comment: revised tex

Scanning Tunneling Microscope Operating as a Spin-diode

We theoretically investigate spin-polarized transport in a system composed of a ferromagnetic Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) tip coupled to an adsorbed atom (adatom) on a host surface. Electrons can tunnel directly from the tip to the surface or via the adatom. Since the tip is ferromagnetic and the host surface (metal or semiconductor) is non-magnetic we obtain a spin-diode effect when the adatom is in the regime of single occupancy. This effect leads to an unpolarized current for direct bias (V > 0) and polarized current for reverse (V < 0) bias voltages, if the tip is nearby the adatom. Within the nonequilibrium Keldysh technique we analyze the interplay between the lateral displacement of the tip and the intra adatom Coulomb interaction on the spindiode effect. As the tip moves away from the adatom the spin-diode effect vanishes and the currents become polarized for both V > 0 and V < 0. We also find an imbalance between the up and down spin populations in the adatom, which can be tuned by the tip position and the bias. Finally, due to the presence of the adsorbate on the surface, we observe spin-resolved Friedel oscillations in the current, which reflects the oscillations in the calculated LDOS of the subsystem surface+adatom.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Submitte

Signature of the interaction between dark energy and dark matter in observations

We investigate the effect of an interaction between dark energy and dark matter upon the dynamics of galaxy clusters. This effect is computed through the Layser-Irvine equation, which describes how an astrophysical system reaches virial equilibrium and was modified to include the dark interactions. Using observational data from almost 100 purportedly relaxed galaxy clusters we put constraints on the strength of the couplings in the dark sector. We compare our results with those from other observations and find that a positive (in the sense of energy flow from dark energy to dark matter) non vanishing interaction is consistent with the data within several standard deviations.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures; matches PRD published versio

Nuclear multifragmentation within the framework of different statistical ensembles

The sensitivity of the Statistical Multifragmentation Model to the underlying statistical assumptions is investigated. We concentrate on its micro-canonical, canonical, and isobaric formulations. As far as average values are concerned, our results reveal that all the ensembles make very similar predictions, as long as the relevant macroscopic variables (such as temperature, excitation energy and breakup volume) are the same in all statistical ensembles. It also turns out that the multiplicity dependence of the breakup volume in the micro-canonical version of the model mimics a system at (approximately) constant pressure, at least in the plateau region of the caloric curve. However, in contrast to average values, our results suggest that the distributions of physical observables are quite sensitive to the statistical assumptions. This finding may help deciding which hypothesis corresponds to the best picture for the freeze-out stageComment: 20 pages, 7 figure