785 research outputs found
Supercurrent through grain boundaries in the presence of strong correlations
Strong correlations are known to severely reduce the mobility of charge
carriers near half-filling and thus have an important influence on the current
carrying properties of grain boundaries in the high- cuprates. In this
work we present an extension of the Gutzwiller projection approach to treat
electronic correlations below as well as above half-filling consistently. We
apply this method to investigate the critical current through grain boundaries
with a wide range of misalignment angles for electron- and hole-doped systems.
For the latter excellent agreement with experimental data is found. We further
provide a detailed comparison to an analogous weak-coupling evaluation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Dopants adsorbed as single atoms prevent degradation of catalysts
The design of catalysts with desired chemical and thermal properties is
viewed as a grand challenge for scientists and engineers. For operation at high
temperatures, stability against structural transformations is a key
requirement. Although doping has been found to impede degradation, the lack of
atomistic understanding of the pertinent mechanism has hindered optimization.
For example, porous gamma-Al2O3, a widely used catalyst and catalytic support,
transforms to non-porous alpha-Al2O3 at ~1,100C. Doping with La raises the
transformation temperature to ~1,250C, but it has not been possible to
establish if La atoms enter the bulk, adsorb on surfaces as single atoms or
clusters, or form surface compounds. Here, we use direct imaging by
aberration-corrected Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy
coupled with extended X-ray absorption fine structure and first-principles
calculations to demonstrate that, contrary to expectations, stabilization is
achieved by isolated La atoms adsorbed on the surface. Strong binding and
mutual repulsion of La atoms effectively pin the surface and inhibit both
sintering and the transformation to alpha-Al2O3. The results provide the first
guidelines for the choice of dopants to prevent thermal degradation of
catalysts and other porous materials.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, 4 JPEG figures, published in Nature Material
Direct Observation of an Interface Dipole between Two Metallic Oxides Caused by Localized Oxygen Vacancies
Oxygen vacancies are increasingly recognized to play a role in phenomena
observed at transition-metal oxide interfaces. Here we report a study of
SrRuO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (SRO/LSMO) interfaces using a combination of quantitative
aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron energy
loss spectroscopy, and density-functional calculations. Cation displacements
are observed at the interface, indicative of a dipole-like electric field even
though both materials are nominally metallic. The observed displacements are
reproduced by theory if O vacancies are present in the near-interface LSMO
layers. The results suggest that atomic-scale structural mapping can serve as a
quantitative indicator of the presence of O vacancies at interfaces
Issues of ideology in English language education worldwide: an overview
The relatively limited consideration of ideology in mainstream theory and research of teaching the English language to speakers of other languages has arguably prevented the problematization of many taken-for-granted perceptions and practices of the field. In this article I attempt to bring part of this marginalized body of scholarship on issues of ideology in the area of English language teaching (ELT) to highlight its potential insights for the field. The article sets out from a view of ideology as the most fundamental beliefs in any social practice, which may provide a less-formidable conception of the term and lessen the divergence among the minority of ELT researchers and professionals that do concern themselves with ideology. Then, after a brief sketch of the notion of ideology of language (education), I present an overview of aspects of this marginal but vibrant stream of thought on issues of ideology in ELT worldwide. Overall, the discussion is aimed to act as a call for the further understanding and embracement of sociopolitically-sensitive and ideologically-informed approaches to ELT theory, research, and practice
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