A wide band gap metal-semiconductor-metal nanostructure made entirely from graphene

A blueprint for producing scalable digital graphene electronics has remained elusive. Current methods to produce semiconducting-metallic graphene networks all suffer from either stringent lithographic demands that prevent reproducibility, process-induced disorder in the graphene, or scalability issues. Using angle resolved photoemission, we have discovered a unique one dimensional metallic-semiconducting-metallic junction made entirely from graphene, and produced without chemical functionalization or finite size patterning. The junction is produced by taking advantage of the inherent, atomically ordered, substrate-graphene interaction when it is grown on SiC, in this case when graphene is forced to grow over patterned SiC steps. This scalable bottomup approach allows us to produce a semiconducting graphene strip whose width is precisely defined within a few graphene lattice constants, a level of precision entirely outside modern lithographic limits. The architecture demonstrated in this work is so robust that variations in the average electronic band structure of thousands of these patterned ribbons have little variation over length scales tens of microns long. The semiconducting graphene has a topologically defined few nanometer wide region with an energy gap greater than 0.5 eV in an otherwise continuous metallic graphene sheet. This work demonstrates how the graphene-substrate interaction can be used as a powerful tool to scalably modify graphene's electronic structure and opens a new direction in graphene electronics research.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Evaluación del dispositivo Pavement Quality Indicator (PQI) en la determinación de la densidad in situ de mezclas fabricadas con emulsión bituminosa

The Pavement Quality Indicator (PQI) is a non-nuclear gauge used for the on-site density measurement of asphalt pavements without the need to extract core samples. Previous studies of hot asphalt mixes found that PQI density readings were very similar to laboratory density measurements of pavement cores. This paper describes the first stage of a research project whose objective is to analyze PQI density measurements of mixes manufactured with an asphalt emulsion binder. The PQI density variability for such mixes was verified and compared with the results obtained with other on-site methods for measuring pavement density.El equipo Pavement Quality Indicator es un dispositivo para la determinación de densidad in situ en pavimentos asfálticos sin extracción de testigos. Las experiencias con este equipo en mezclas bituminosas en caliente, recogidas en diferentes fuentes bibliográficas, muestran que las densidades medidas in situ con el PQI son muy similares a las obtenidas mediante la extracción de testigos. En este artículo se expone la primera etapa de un proyecto de investigación que tiene por objeto analizar los resultados de mediciones efectuadas con PQI en mezclas bituminosas donde se utiliza emulsión asfáltica como ligante. Se comprueba la variabilidad de la densidad obtenida con el equipo para este tipo de mezclas, y se comparan los resultados con otros métodos de medida de densidad in situ

Symmetry breaking in commensurate graphene rotational stacking; a comparison of theory and experiment

Graphene stacked in a Bernal configuration (60 degrees relative rotations between sheets) differs electronically from isolated graphene due to the broken symmetry introduced by interlayer bonds forming between only one of the two graphene unit cell atoms. A variety of experiments have shown that non-Bernal rotations restore this broken symmetry; consequently, these stacking varieties have been the subject of intensive theoretical interest. Most theories predict substantial changes in the band structure ranging from the development of a Van Hove singularity and an angle dependent electron localization that causes the Fermi velocity to go to zero as the relative rotation angle between sheets goes to zero. In this work we show by direct measurement that non-Bernal rotations preserve the graphene symmetry with only a small perturbation due to weak effective interlayer coupling. We detect neither a Van Hove singularity nor any significant change in the Fermi velocity. These results suggest significant problems in our current theoretical understanding of the origins of the band structure of this material.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

Mixing Effects in the Crystallization of Supercooled Quantum Binary Liquids

By means of Raman spectroscopy of liquid microjets we have investigated the crystallization process of supercooled quantum liquid mixtures composed of parahydrogen (pH$_2$) diluted with small amounts of up to 5\% of either neon or orthodeuterium (oD$_2$), and of oD$_2$ diluted with either Ne or pH$_2$. We show that the introduction of Ne impurities affects the crystallization kinetics in both the pH$_2$-Ne and oD$_2$-Ne mixtures in terms of a significant reduction of the crystal growth rate, similarly to what found in our previous work on supercooled pH$_2$-oD$_2$ liquid mixtures [M. K\"uhnel et {\it al.}, Phys. Rev. B \textbf{89}, 180506(R) (2014)]. Our experimental results, in combination with path-integral simulations of the supercooled liquid mixtures, suggest in particular a correlation between the measured growth rates and the ratio of the effective particle sizes originating from quantum delocalization effects. We further show that the crystalline structure of the mixture is also affected to a large extent by the presence of the Ne impurities, which likely initiate the freezing process through the formation of Ne crystallites.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy

Solidification of small para-H2 clusters at zero temperature

We have determined the ground-state energies of para-H$_2$ clusters at zero temperature using the diffusion Monte Carlo method. The liquid or solid character of each cluster is investigated by restricting the phase through the use of proper importance sampling. Our results show inhomogeneous crystallization of clusters, with alternating behavior between liquid and solid phases up to N=55. From there on, all clusters are solid. The ground-state energies in the range N=13--75 are established and the stable phase of each cluster is determined. In spite of the small differences observed between the energy of liquid and solid clusters, the corresponding density profiles are significantly different, feature that can help to solve ambiguities in the determination of the specific phase of H$_2$ clusters.Comment: 17 pages, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Chem.

Silicon intercalation into the graphene-SiC interface

In this work we use LEEM, XPEEM and XPS to study how the excess Si at the graphene-vacuum interface reorders itself at high temperatures. We show that silicon deposited at room temperature onto multilayer graphene films grown on the SiC(000[`1]) rapidly diffuses to the graphene-SiC interface when heated to temperatures above 1020. In a sequence of depositions, we have been able to intercalate ~ 6 ML of Si into the graphene-SiC interface.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PR

Vacuum Polarization and Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking: Phase Diagram of QED with Four-Fermion Contact Interaction

We study chiral symmetry breaking for fundamental charged fermions coupled electromagnetically to photons with the inclusion of four-fermion contact self-interaction term. We employ multiplicatively renormalizable models for the photon dressing function and the electron-photon vertex which minimally ensures mass anomalous dimension = 1. Vacuum polarization screens the interaction strength. Consequently, the pattern of dynamical mass generation for fermions is characterized by a critical number of massless fermion flavors above which chiral symmetry is restored. This effect is in diametrical opposition to the existence of criticality for the minimum interaction strength necessary to break chiral symmetry dynamically. The presence of virtual fermions dictates the nature of phase transition. Miransky scaling laws for the electromagnetic interaction strength and the four-fermion coupling, observed for quenched QED, are replaced by a mean-field power law behavior corresponding to a second order phase transition. These results are derived analytically by employing the bifurcation analysis, and are later confirmed numerically by solving the original non-linearized gap equation. A three dimensional critical surface is drawn to clearly depict the interplay of the relative strengths of interactions and number of flavors to separate the two phases. We also compute the beta-function and observe that it has ultraviolet fixed point. The power law part of the momentum dependence, describing the mass function, reproduces the quenched limit trivially. We also comment on the continuum limit and the triviality of QED.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Determinación de neofitadieno en grasa subcutánea de cerdo Ibérico con diferentes sistemas de alimentación

This study was carried out in order to determine the relationship between the content of a branched hydrocarbon (neophytadiene) in the subcutaneous fat and the feeding system of Iberian pigs during the fattening period previous to slaughter. Thirty-six batches of Iberian pigs, belonging to the four categories of feeding systems described in the Spanish legislation (Bellota, Recebo, Campo and Cebo) were studied. These categories differ in their degree of utilization of the natural resources (acorn and pasture) of the extensive rearing system or in their level of replacement by concentrated feed. SPE combined with GC-MS techniques were carried out to isolate and to identify hydrocarbons. Recebo and Bellota batches showed the highest levels of neophytadiene content, followed by Campo batches, and finally, batches of the Cebo category. The results showed a great variability between batches from the same feeding category, mainly from Bellota, Recebo and Campo categories, which makes the classification of the animals in these three categories difficult. However, the animals from the Cebo category were correctly classified when reared in intensive conditions.El objetivo del trabajo se centró en determinar el contenido de un hidrocarburo ramificado (neofitadieno) en la grasa subcutánea del cerdo ibérico, y su relación con el tipo de alimentación recibida durante la etapa de cebo previa al sacrificio (en la fase final de cebo). Para ello, se estudiaron treinta y seis lotes de cerdos Ibéricos, pertenecientes a las cuatro categorías de calidad en base a la alimentación de los animales establecidas en la Norma de Calidad (Bellota, Recebo, Campo y Cebo). Estas categorías se diferencian en el grado de aprovechamiento de los recursos naturales de la dehesa (bellotas y hierba) y en el nivel de sustitución de los mismos por piensos concentrados. Para el aislamiento e identificación de los hidrocarburos se utilizaron técnicas de SPE combinadas con GC-MS. Los lotes de Recebo y Bellota presentaron los mayores niveles de neofitadieno, seguidos por los lotes de Campo, y por último los lotes de Cebo. Se observó una gran variabilidad en los niveles de neofitadieno entre los lotes pertenecientes a una misma categoría de alimentación, sobre todo en los lotes de Bellota, Recebo y Campo, por lo que es difícil una correcta clasificación de los animales en las tres categorías en base al contenido en neofitadieno. Sin embargo, la clasificación dentro de la categoría de cebo se hace de forma correcta cuando los cerdos son producidos en condiciones intensivas