181 research outputs found
Electronic and magnetic structure of epitaxial NiO/FeO(001) heterostructures grown on MgO(001) and Nb-doped SrTiO(001)
We study the underlying chemical, electronic and magnetic properties of a
number of magnetite based thin films. The main focus is placed onto
NiO/FeO(001) bilayers grown on MgO(001) and Nb-SrTiO(001)
substrates. We compare the results with those obtained on pure FeO(001)
thin films. It is found that the magnetite layers are oxidized and Fe
dominates at the surfaces due to maghemite (-FeO) formation,
which decreases with increasing magnetite layer thickness. From a layer
thickness of around 20 nm on the cationic distribution is close to that of
stoichiometric FeO. At the interface between NiO and FeO we
find the Ni to be in a divalent valence state, with unambiguous spectral
features in the Ni 2p core level x-ray photoelectron spectra typical for NiO.
The formation of a significant NiFeO interlayer can be excluded by
means of XMCD. Magneto optical Kerr effect measurements reveal significant
higher coercive fields compared to magnetite thin films grown on MgO(001), and
a 45 rotated magnetic easy axis. We discuss the spin magnetic moments
of the magnetite layers and find that the moment increases with increasing thin
film thickness. At low thickness the NiO/FeO films grown on
Nb-SrTiO exhibits a significantly decreased spin magnetic moments. A
thickness of 20 nm or above leads to spin magnetic moments close to that of
bulk magnetite
From Fe3O4/NiO bilayers to NiFe2O4-like thin films through Ni interdiffusion
Ferrites with (inverse) spinel structure display a large variety of electronic and magnetic properties, making some of them interesting for potential applications in spintronics. We investigate the thermally induced interdiffusion of Ni ions out of NiO into FeO ultrathin films, resulting in off-stoichiometric nickel ferrite–like thin layers. We synthesized epitaxial FeO bilayers on Nb-doped SrTiO(001) substrates by means of reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Subsequently, we performed an annealing cycle comprising three steps at temperatures of 400C, 600C, and 800C under an oxygen background atmosphere. We studied the changes of the chemical and electronic properties as result of each annealing step with help of hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and found a rather homogeneous distribution of Ni and Fe cations throughout the entire film after the overall annealing cycle. For one sample we observed a cationic distribution close to that of the spinel ferrite NiFeO. Further evidence comes from low-energy electron diffraction patterns indicating a spinel-type structure at the surface after annealing. Site- and element-specific hysteresis loops performed by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism uncovered the antiferrimagnetic alignment between the octahedral coordinated Ni and Fe ions and the Fe ion in tetrahedral coordination. We find a quite low coercive field of 0.02 T, indicating a rather low defect concentration within the thin ferrite films
Imaging Molecular Structure through Femtosecond Photoelectron Diffraction on Aligned and Oriented Gas-Phase Molecules
This paper gives an account of our progress towards performing femtosecond
time-resolved photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules in a pump-probe
setup combining optical lasers and an X-ray Free-Electron Laser. We present
results of two experiments aimed at measuring photoelectron angular
distributions of laser-aligned 1-ethynyl-4-fluorobenzene (C8H5F) and
dissociating, laseraligned 1,4-dibromobenzene (C6H4Br2) molecules and discuss
them in the larger context of photoelectron diffraction on gas-phase molecules.
We also show how the strong nanosecond laser pulse used for adiabatically
laser-aligning the molecules influences the measured electron and ion spectra
and angular distributions, and discuss how this may affect the outcome of
future time-resolved photoelectron diffraction experiments.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, Faraday Discussions 17
TDP-43 loss of function inhibits endosomal trafficking and alters trophic signaling in neurons
Nuclear clearance of TDP-43 into cytoplasmic aggregates is a key driver of neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), but the mechanisms are unclear. Here, we show that TDP-43 knockdown specifically reduces the number and motility of RAB11-positive recycling endosomes in dendrites, while TDP-43 overexpression has the opposite effect. This is associated with delayed transferrin recycling in TDP-43-knockdown neurons and decreased 2-transferrin levels in patient CSF. Whole proteome quantification identified the upregulation of the ESCRT component VPS4B upon TDP-43 knockdown in neurons. Luciferase reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation suggest that TDP-43 represses VPS4B transcription. Preventing VPS4B upregulation or expression of its functional antagonist ALIX restores trafficking of recycling endosomes. Proteomic analysis revealed the broad reduction in surface expression of key receptors upon TDP-43 knockdown, including ErbB4, the neuregulin 1 receptor. TDP-43 knockdown delays the surface delivery of ErbB4. ErbB4 overexpression, but not neuregulin 1 stimulation, prevents dendrite loss upon TDP-43 knockdown. Thus, impaired recycling of ErbB4 and other receptors to the cell surface may contribute to TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration by blocking trophic signaling
Ferromagnetism and suppression of metallic clusters in Fe implanted ZnO - a phenomenon related to defects?
We investigated ZnO(0001) single crystals annealed in high vacuum with
respect to their magnetic properties and cluster formation tendency after
implant-doping with Fe. While metallic Fe cluster formation is suppressed, no
evidence for the relevance of the Fe magnetic moment for the observed
ferromagnetism was found. The latter along with the cluster suppression is
discussed with respect to defects in the ZnO host matrix, since the crystalline
quality of the substrates was lowered due to the preparation as observed by
x-ray diffraction.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figure
Electrical resistivity, magnetism and electronic structure of the intermetallic 3d/4f Laves phase compounds ErNi2Mnx
The non-stoichiometric intermetallic compounds RENi2Mnx (RE = rare earth) with
the cubic MgCu2-type structure display a large variety of magnetic properties which
is due to a complex interplay between the degrees of freedom of the 3d and
4f electrons and their interactions. We performed a comprehensive study of the
electrical resistivity, magnetic properties and the electronic structure of ErNi2Mnx
(x =0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25) compounds by employing a suitable set of complementary
experimental approaches. We find an increase in electrical resistance compared
to ErNi2 upon Mn doping, the residual resistivity ratio decreases with increasing
manganese content. The Curie temperature exhibits a sharp increase to around 50 K
for Mn concentrations x 0.5, whereas the saturation magnetization decreases
with growing Mn content x 0.5. Valence band X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
reveals an increasing intensity of Mn 3d states near Fermi energy in dependence
of Mn concentration and Curie temperature. Resonant photoelectron spectroscopy
of ErNi2Mn0.75 reveals that the photoemission decay channels dominate the valence
band spectra across the Er N5 and Mn L3 X-ray absorption maxima, whereas the
L3VV Auger dictates the resonant valence band spectra close to and at the Ni L3
X-ray absorption edge
3D diffractive imaging of nanoparticle ensembles using an X-ray laser
We report the 3D structure determination of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by X-ray single particle imaging (SPI). Around 10 million diffraction patterns from gold nanoparticles were measured in less than 100 hours of beam time, more than 100 times the amount of data in any single prior SPI experiment, using the new capabilities of the European X-ray free electron laser which allow measurements of 1500 frames per second. A classification and structural sorting method was developed to disentangle the heterogeneity of the particles and to obtain a resolution of better than 3 nm. With these new experimental and analytical developments, we have entered a new era for the SPI method and the path towards close-to-atomic resolution imaging of biomolecules is apparent
Mental health research priorities for Europe
Mental and brain disorders represent the greatest health burden to Europe—not only for directly affected individuals, but also for their caregivers and the wider society. They incur substantial economic costs through direct (and indirect) health-care and welfare spending, and via productivity losses, all of which substantially affect European development. Funding for research to mitigate these effects lags far behind the cost of mental and brain disorders to society. Here, we describe a comprehensive, coordinated mental health research agenda for Europe and worldwide. This agenda was based on systematic reviews of published work and consensus decision making by multidisciplinary scientific experts and affected stakeholders (more than 1000 in total): individuals with mental health problems and their families, health-care workers, policy makers, and funders. We generated six priorities that will, over the next 5–10 years, help to close the biggest gaps in mental health research in Europe, and in turn overcome the substantial challenges caused by mental disorders
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