1,355 research outputs found
Magnetoresistance in Co-hBN-NiFe tunnel junctions enhanced by resonant tunneling through single defects in ultrathin hBN barriers
Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a prototypical high-quality two-dimensional
insulator and an ideal material to study tunneling phenomena, as it can be
easily integrated in vertical van der Waals devices. For spintronic devices,
its potential has been demonstrated both for efficient spin injection in
lateral spin valves and as a barrier in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here
we reveal the effect of point defects inevitably present in mechanically
exfoliated hBN on the tunnel magnetoresistance of Co-hBN-NiFe MTJs. We observe
a clear enhancement of both the conductance and magnetoresistance of the
junction at well-defined bias voltages, indicating resonant tunneling through
magnetic (spin-polarized) defect states. The spin polarization of the defect
states is attributed to exchange coupling of a paramagnetic impurity in the
few-atomic-layer thick hBN to the ferromagnetic electrodes. This is confirmed
by excellent agreement with theoretical modelling. Our findings should be taken
into account in analyzing tunneling processes in hBN-based magnetic devices.
More generally, our study shows the potential of using atomically thin hBN
barriers with defects to engineer the magnetoresistance of MTJs and to achieve
spin filtering, opening the door towards exploiting the spin degree of freedom
in current studies of point defects as quantum emitters
Dusty star forming galaxies at high redshift
The global star formation rate in high redshift galaxies, based on optical
surveys, shows a strong peak at a redshift of z=1.5, which implies that we have
already seen most of the formation. High redshift galaxies may, however, emit
most of their energy at submillimeter wavelengths if they contain substantial
amounts of dust. The dust would absorb the starlight and reradiate it as
far-infrared light, which would be redshifted to the submillimeter range. Here
we report a deep survey of two blank regions of sky performed at submillimeter
wavelengths (450 and 850-micron). If the sources we detect in the 850-micron
band are powered by star formation, then each must be converting more than 100
solar masses of gas per year into stars, which is larger than the maximum star
formation rates inferred for most optically-selected galaxies. The total amount
of high redshift star formation is essentially fixed by the level of background
light, but where the peak occurs in redshift for the submillimeter is not yet
established. However, the background light contribution from only the sources
detected at 850-micron is already comparable to that from the
optically-selected sources. Establishing the main epoch of star formation will
therefore require a combination of optical and submillimeter studies.Comment: 10 pages + 2 Postscript figures, under embargo at Natur
Atomistic defect states as quantum emitters in monolayer MoS
Quantum light sources in solid-state systems are of major interest as a basic
ingredient for integrated quantum device technologies. The ability to tailor
quantum emission through deterministic defect engineering is of growing
importance for realizing scalable quantum architectures. However, a major
difficulty is that defects need to be positioned site-selectively within the
solid. Here, we overcome this challenge by controllably irradiating
single-layer MoS using a sub-nm focused helium ion beam to
deterministically create defects. Subsequent encapsulation of the ion bombarded
MoS flake with high-quality hBN reveals spectrally narrow emission lines
that produce photons at optical wavelengths in an energy window of one to two
hundred meV below the neutral 2D exciton of MoS. Based on ab-initio
calculations we interpret these emission lines as stemming from the
recombination of highly localized electron-hole complexes at defect states
generated by the helium ion bombardment. Our approach to deterministically
write optically active defect states in a single transition metal
dichalcogenide layer provides a platform for realizing exotic many-body
systems, including coupled single-photon sources and exotic Hubbard systems.Comment: Main: 9 pages, 3 figures + SI: 19 pages, 10 figure
Extended High-Ionization Nuclear Emission-Line Region in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4051
We present an optical spectroscopic analysis of the well-known Seyfert galaxy
NGC 4051. The high-ionization nuclear emission-line region (HINER) traced by
[Fe X]6374 is found to be spatially extended to a radius of 3a rcseconds (150
pc) west and southwest from the nucleus; NGC 4051 is the third example which
has an extended HINER.
The nuclear spectrum shows that the flux of [Fe X]6374 is stronger than that
of [Fe VII] 6087 in our observation. This property cannot be interpreted in
terms of a simple one-zone photoionization model.
In order to understand what happens in the nuclear region in NGC 4051, we
investigate the physical condition of the nuclear emission-line region in
detail using new photoionization models in which the following three
emission-line components are taken into account; (1) optically thick,
ionization-bounded clouds; (2) optically thin, matter-bounded clouds; and (3) a
contamination component which emits H and H lines. Here the
observed extended HINER is considered to be associated with the low-density,
matter-bounded clouds. Candidates of the contamination component are either the
broad-line region (BLR) or nuclear star forming regions or both. The complexity
of the excitation condition found in NGC 4051 can be consistently understood if
we take account of these contamination components.Comment: 16 pages, including figures. To Appear in the Astronomical Journal
February 2000 Issu
Conductance and density of states as the Kramers-Kronig dispersion relation
By applying the Kramers-Kronig dispersion relation to the transmission
amplitude a direct connection of the conductance with the density of states is
given in quantum scattering systems connected to two one-channel leads.
Using this method we show that in the Fano resonance the peak position of the
density of states is generally different from the position of the corresponding
conductance peak, whereas in the Breit-Wigner resonance those peak positions
coincide.
The lineshapes of the density of states are well described by a Lorentz type
in the both resonances.
These results are verified by another approach using a specific form of the
scattering matrix to describe scattering resonances.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Magnetotunneling spectroscopy of mesoscopic correlations in two-dimensional electron systems
An approach to experimentally exploring electronic correlation functions in
mesoscopic regimes is proposed. The idea is to monitor the mesoscopic
fluctuations of a tunneling current flowing between the two layers of a
semiconductor double-quantum-well structure. From the dependence of these
fluctuations on external parameters, such as in-plane or perpendicular magnetic
fields, external bias voltages, etc., the temporal and spatial dependence of
various prominent correlation functions of mesoscopic physics can be
determined. Due to the absence of spatially localized external probes, the
method provides a way to explore the interplay of interaction and localization
effects in two-dimensional systems within a relatively unperturbed environment.
We describe the theoretical background of the approach and quantitatively
discuss the behavior of the current fluctuations in diffusive and ergodic
regimes. The influence of both various interaction mechanisms and localization
effects on the current is discussed. Finally a proposal is made on how, at
least in principle, the method may be used to experimentally determine the
relevant critical exponents of localization-delocalization transitions.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures include
Disorder Effect on the Vortex Pinning by the Cooling Process Control in the Organic Superconductor -(BEDT-TTF)Cu[N(CN)]Br
We investigate the influence of disorders in terminal ethylene groups of
BEDT-TTF molecules (ethylene-disorders) on the vortex pinning of the organic
superconductor -(BEDT-TTF)Cu[N(CN)]Br. Magnetization
measurements are performed under different cooling-processes. The second peak
in the magnetization hysteresis curve is observed for all samples studied, and
the hysteresis width of the magnetization becomes narrower by cooling faster.
In contradiction to the simple pinning effect of disorder, this result shows
the suppression of the vortex pinning force by introducing more
ethylene-disorders. The ethylene-disorder domain model is proposed for
explaining the observed result. In the case of the system containing a moderate
number of the ethylene-disorders, the disordered molecules form a domain
structure and it works as an effective pinning site. On the contrary, an excess
number of the ethylene-disorders may weaken the effect of the domain structure,
which results in the less effective pinning force on the vortices.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Exceptionally large migration length of carbon and topographically-facilitated self-limiting molecular beam epitaxial growth of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Available online 18 December 2016We demonstrate growth of single-layer graphene (SLG) on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) by
molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), only limited in area by the finite size of the h-BN flakes. Using
atomic force microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy, we show that for growth over a wide range
of temperatures (500◦C – 1000◦C) the deposited carbon atoms spill off the edge of the h-BN flakes.
We attribute this spillage to the very high mobility of the carbon atoms on the BN basal plane,
consistent with van der Waals MBE. The h-BN flakes vary in size from 30 µm to 100 µm, thus
demonstrating that the migration length of carbon atoms on h-BN is greater than 100 µm. When
sufficient carbon is supplied to compensate for this loss, which is largely due to this fast migration of
the carbon atoms to and off the edges of the h-BN flake, we find that the best growth temperature
for MBE SLG on h-BN is ∼950◦C. Self-limiting graphene growth appears to be facilitated by
topographic h-BN surface features: We have thereby grown MBE self-limited SLG on an h-BN
ridge. This opens up future avenues for precisely tailored fabrication of nano- and hetero-structures
on pre-patterned h-BN surfaces for device applications.This work is supported by ONR (N000140610138 and Graphene MURI), AFOSR (FA9550-11-1-0010), EFRC Center for Re-Defining Photovoltaic Efficiency through Molecule Scale Control (award DE-SC0001085), NSF (CHE-0641523), NYSTAR and Spanish Government (AIC-B-2011-0806, MAT2014-54231, MAT2015-67021-R). S.W. and A.P. were supported by the US Department of Energy Office of Science, Division of Materials Science and Engineering (award DE-SC0010695)
Onsager-Machlup theory and work fluctuation theorem for a harmonically driven Brownian particle
We extend Tooru-Cohen analysis for nonequilirium steady state(NSS) of a
Brownian particle to nonequilibrium oscillatory state (NOS) of Brownian
particle by considering time dependent external drive protocol. We consider an
unbounded charged Brownian particle in the presence of an oscillating electric
field and prove work fluctuation theorem, which is valid for any initial
distribution and at all times. For harmonically bounded and constantly dragged
Brownian particle considered by Tooru and Cohen, work fluctuation theorem is
valid for any initial condition(also NSS), but only in large time limit. We use
Onsager-Machlup Lagrangian with a constraint to obtain frequency dependent work
distribution function, and describe entropy production rate and properties of
dissipation functions for the present system using Onsager-Machlup functional.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Statistical Properties of Level Widths and Conductance Peaks in a Quantum Dot
We study the statistics of level widths of a quantum dot with extended
contacts in the absence of time-reversal symmetry. The widths are determined by
the amplitude of the wavefunction averaged over the contact area. The
distribution function of level widths for a two-point contact is evaluated
exactly. The distribution resembles closely the result obtained when the
wavefunction fluctuates independently at each point, but differs from the
one-point case. Analytical calculations and numerical simulations show that the
distribution for many-point contacts has a power-law behavior at small level
widths. The exponent is given by the number of points in the lead and diverges
in the continuous limit. The distribution of level widths is used to determine
the distribution of conductance peaks in the resonance regime. At intermediate
temperatures, we find that the distribution tends to normal and fluctuations in
the height of the peaks are suppressed as the lead size is increased.Comment: 13 pages, RevTeX 3, six uuencoded postscript figures, CMT-ERM-940
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