Magneto-Optics of Exciton Rydberg States in a Monolayer Semiconductor

We report 65 tesla magneto-absorption spectroscopy of exciton Rydberg states in the archetypal monolayer semiconductor WSe$_2$. The strongly field-dependent and distinct energy shifts of the 2s, 3s, and 4s excited neutral excitons permits their unambiguous identification and allows for quantitative comparison with leading theoretical models. Both the sizes (via low-field diamagnetic shifts) and the energies of the $ns$ exciton states agree remarkably well with detailed numerical simulations using the non-hydrogenic screened Keldysh potential for 2D semiconductors. Moreover, at the highest magnetic fields the nearly-linear diamagnetic shifts of the weakly-bound 3s and 4s excitons provide a direct experimental measure of the exciton's reduced mass, $m_r = 0.20 \pm 0.01~m_0$.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. Updated version (25 jan 2018) now includes detailed supplemental discussion of Landau levels, Rydberg exciton energies, exciton mass, Dirac Hamiltonian, nonparabolicity, and dielectric effect

Magneto-reflection spectroscopy of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide semiconductors in pulsed magnetic fields

We describe recent experimental efforts to perform polarization-resolved optical spectroscopy of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenide semiconductors in very large pulsed magnetic fields to 65 tesla. The experimental setup and technical challenges are discussed in detail, and temperature-dependent magneto-reflection spectra from atomically thin tungsten disulphide (WS$_2$) are presented. The data clearly reveal not only the valley Zeeman effect in these 2D semiconductors, but also the small quadratic exciton diamagnetic shift from which the very small exciton size can be directly inferred. Finally, we present model calculations that demonstrate how the measured diamagnetic shifts can be used to constrain estimates of the exciton binding energy in this new family of monolayer semiconductors.Comment: PCSI-43 conference (Jan. 2016; Palm Springs, CA

Beak colour dynamically signals changes in fasting status and parasite loads in king penguins

This research was funded by the French Polar Institute (IPEV–Research Program 119) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-INEE). Field logistic support was provided by Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises. Q.S. was funded by a doctoral fellowship from the Ministère Français de l’Education Supérieur et de la Recherche. We thank all over-wintering assistants: Benoit Gineste, Sylvia Pardonnet, Laureline Durand, Emilie Lefol and Hédi Saadaoui for field work and Emilio Rojas for helpful discussion on the analyses. We apologize to our stick insect (Carausius morosus) for bearing with VAV’s inquisitive curiosity during our debates on color ornaments in king penguins. We sincerely thank the editor and 2 anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on a previous version of the paper.Peer reviewedPostprin

Terahertz dynamics of a topologically protected state: quantum Hall effect plateaus near cyclotron resonance in a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction

We measure the Hall conductivity of a two-dimensional electron gas formed at a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction in the terahertz regime close to the cyclotron resonance frequency by employing a highly sensitive Faraday rotation method coupled with electrical gating of the sample to change the electron density. We observe clear plateau-and step-like features in the Faraday rotation angle vs. electron density and magnetic field (Landau-level filling factor), which are the high frequency manifestation of quantum Hall plateaus - a signature of topologically protected edge states. The results are compared to a recent dynamical scaling theory.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

Correlation in telomere lengths between feathers and blood cells in pied flycatchers

We are grateful to Toni Laaksonen, Pauliina Teerikorpi, Ville Ojala, Wiebke Schuett, Corinna Adrian and Marie Hardenbicker for their help in the field, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript. This research was financially supported by the Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine (grant to AS) and Societas Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, The Kuopio Naturalists’ Society, and Finnish Cultural Foundation Varsinais-Suomi regional fund (grants to TK). The authors declare to have no conflict of interests. Dataset used in this study will be publicly accessible on Figshare https://figshare.com/s/dffa03e1e91c2e57dc13).Peer reviewedPostprin

Hole-LO phonon interaction in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigate the valence intraband transitions in p-doped self-assembled InAs quantum dots using far-infrared magneto-optical technique with polarized radiation. We show that a purely electronic model is unable to account for the experimental data. We calculate the coupling between the mixed hole LO-phonon states using the Fr\"ohlich Hamiltonian, from which we determine the polaron states as well as the energies and oscillator strengths of the valence intraband transitions. The good agreement between the experiments and calculations provides strong evidence for the existence of hole-polarons and demonstrates that the intraband magneto-optical transitions occur between polaron states

The oxidative debt of fasting : evidence for short to medium-term costs of advanced fasting in adult king penguins

This research was funded by the French Polar Institute (IPEV–Research Program 119) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-INEE). We are especially grateful to Dominic L. Cram and one anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on the paper. Field logistic support was provided by Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises. QS was funded by a doctoral fellowship from the Ministère Français de l’Education Supérieur et de la Recherche.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

High speed development of new chemical synthesis and materials at molecular-level: Methods and approaches

Recent success of advanced computational chemistry, in example for the prediction of chemical reactivity and materials properties, reflects its reputation as a valuable and widely accepted means to tackle problems in academia. The development of new simulation methods and new computer architectures enables an enormous improvement of the productivity of research and development of new chemical synthesisand materials. These advances can be achieved in terms of less time, material, and staff compared to traditional lab experiments. Especially, approaches like virtual high throughput screenings (vHTS) are highly scalable and allow fast and deep insights into new promising system modifications. Consequently, the time to market and risk of new product development can be decreased significantly. These characteristicspaved the way for the successful application in industry nowadays