1,346 research outputs found
Normal metal - insulator - superconductor interferometer
Hybrid normal metal - insulator - superconductor microstructures suitable for
studying an interference of electrons were fabricated. The structures consist
of a superconducting loop connected to a normal metal electrode through a
tunnel barrier . An optical interferometer with a beam splitter can be
considered as a classical analogue for this system. All measurements were
performed at temperatures well below 1 K. The interference can be observed as
periodic oscillations of the tunnel current (voltage) through the junction at
fixed bias voltage (current) as a function of a perpendicular magnetic field.
The magnitude of the oscillations depends on the bias point. It reaches a
maximum at energy which is close to the superconducting gap and decreases
with an increase of temperature. Surprisingly, the period of the oscillations
in units of magnetic flux is equal neither to nor to
, but significantly exceeds these values for larger loop circumferences.
The origin of the phenomena is not clear.Comment: 11 pages and 8 figure
Actinic keratoses - a systemic review
Mainly elderly people with pale skin are affected by actinic keratoses (AK). Due to the demographic change, the prevalence of AK increased over the last years. An established risk factor is chronic UV-exposure (outdoor workers) inducing mutations of the tumor suppressor gene TP53 and the oncogene H-Ras. This leads to an intraepidermal proliferation of atypical keratinocytes. The term “field cancerization” characterises the presentation of multiple AK in UV-exposed areas. AK are also termed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ. The risk for AK turning into a SCC is 6-10%. In order to avoid invasive growth, an early treatment is recommended. During the last years multiple therapeutic options have been established. Depending on the clinical extent, lesion- or field-directed therapies with excellent clinical response and cosmetic results are available
Sub-gap spectroscopy of thermally excited quasiparticles in a Nb contacted carbon nanotube quantum dot
We present electronic transport measurements of a single wall carbon nanotube
quantum dot coupled to Nb superconducting contacts. For temperatures comparable
to the superconducting gap peculiar transport features are observed inside the
Coulomb blockade and superconducting energy gap regions. The observed
temperature dependence can be explained in terms of sequential tunneling
processes involving thermally excited quasiparticles. In particular, these new
channels give rise to two unusual conductance peaks at zero bias in the
vicinity of the charge degeneracy point and allow to determine the degeneracy
of the ground states involved in transport. The measurements are in good
agreement with model calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Thermally induced subgap features in the cotunneling spectroscopy of a carbon nanotube
We report on nonlinear cotunneling spectroscopy of a carbon nanotube quantum
dot coupled to Nb superconducting contacts. Our measurements show rich subgap
features in the stability diagram which become more pronounced as the
temperature is increased. Applying a transport theory based on the
Liouville-von Neumann equation for the density matrix, we show that the
transport properties can be attributed to processes involving sequential as
well as elastic and inelastic cotunneling of quasiparticles thermally excited
across the gap. In particular, we predict thermal replicas of the elastic and
inelastic cotunneling peaks, in agreement with our experimental results.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physic
Quantum Metallicity on the High-Field Side of the Superconductor-Insulator Transition
We investigate ultrathin superconducting TiN films, which are very close to
the localization threshold. Perpendicular magnetic field drives the films from
the superconducting to an insulating state, with very high resistance. Further
increase of the magnetic field leads to an exponential decay of the resistance
towards a finite value. In the limit of low temperatures, the saturation value
can be very accurately extrapolated to the universal quantum resistance h/e^2.
Our analysis suggests that at high magnetic fields a new ground state, distinct
from the normal metallic state occurring above the superconducting transition
temperature, is formed. A comparison with other studies on different materials
indicates that the quantum metallic phase following the magnetic-field-induced
insulating phase is a generic property of systems close to the disorder-driven
superconductor-insulator transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, published versio
Look Who’s Talking: Host and pathogen drivers of staphylococcus epidermidis virulence in neonatal sepsis
Preterm infants are at increased risk for invasive neonatal bacterial infections. S. epidermidis, a ubiquitous skin commensal, is a major cause of late-onset neonatal sepsis, particularly in high-resource settings. The vulnerability of preterm infants to serious bacterial infections is commonly attributed to their distinct and developing immune system. While developmentally immature immune defences play a large role in facilitating bacterial invasion, this fails to explain why only a subset of infants develop infections with low-virulence organisms when exposed to similar risk factors in the neonatal ICU. Experimental research has explored potential virulence mechanisms contributing to the pathogenic shift of commensal S. epidermidis strains. Furthermore, comparative genomics studies have yielded insights into the emergence and spread of nosocomial S. epidermidis strains, and their genetic and functional characteristics implicated in invasive disease in neonates. These studies have highlighted the multifactorial nature of S. epidermidis traits relating to pathogenicity and commensalism. In this review, we discuss the known host and pathogen drivers of S. epidermidis virulence in neonatal sepsis and provide future perspectives to close the gap in our understanding of S. epidermidis as a cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality
Co-sputtered MoRe thin films for carbon nanotube growth-compatible superconducting coplanar resonators
Molybdenum rhenium alloy thin films can exhibit superconductivity up to
critical temperatures of . At the same time, the films are
highly stable in the high-temperature methane / hydrogen atmosphere typically
required to grow single wall carbon nanotubes. We characterize molybdenum
rhenium alloy films deposited via simultaneous sputtering from two sources,
with respect to their composition as function of sputter parameters and their
electronic dc as well as GHz properties at low temperature. Specific emphasis
is placed on the effect of the carbon nanotube growth conditions on the film.
Superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators are defined lithographically; we
demonstrate that the resonators remain functional when undergoing nanotube
growth conditions, and characterize their properties as function of
temperature. This paves the way for ultra-clean nanotube devices grown in situ
onto superconducting coplanar waveguide circuit elements.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
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