3,068 research outputs found
Synthesis of atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride films on nickel foils by molecular beam epitaxy
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a layered two-dimensional material with
properties that make it promising as a dielectric in various applications. We
report the growth of h-BN films on Ni foils from elemental B and N using
molecular beam epitaxy. The presence of crystalline h-BN over the entire
substrate is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Atomic force microscopy is used
to examine the morphology and continuity of the synthesized films. A scanning
electron microscopy study of films obtained using shorter depositions offers
insight into the nucleation and growth behavior of h-BN on the Ni substrate.
The morphology of h-BN was found to evolve from dendritic, star-shaped islands
to larger, smooth triangular ones with increasing growth temperature
Spatial band-pass filtering aids decoding musical genres from auditory cortex 7T fMRI
Spatial filtering strategies, combined with multivariate decoding analysis of BOLD images, have been used to investigate the nature of the neural signal underlying the discriminability of brain activity patterns evoked by sensory stimulation – primarily in the visual cortex. Previous research indicates that such signals are spatially broadband in nature, and are not primarily comprised of fine-grained activation patterns. However, it is unclear whether this is a general property of the BOLD signal, or whether it is specific to the details of employed analyses and stimuli. Here we applied an analysis strategy from a previous study on decoding visual orientation from V1 to publicly available, high-resolution 7T fMRI on the response BOLD response to musical genres in primary auditory cortex. The results show that the pattern of decoding accuracies with respect to different types and levels of spatial filtering is comparable to that obtained from V1, despite considerable differences in the respective cortical circuitry
Linac4 Beam Characterization before Injection into the CERN PS Booster
Construction work for the new CERN linear accelerator, Linac4, started in October 2008. Linac4 will replace the existing Linac2 and provide an H− beam at 160 MeV (as opposed to the present 50 MeV proton beam) for injection into the CERN PS Booster (PSB). The charge-exchange H− injection combined with the higher beam energy will allow for an increase in beam brightness required for reaching the ultimate LHC luminosity. Commissioning of Linac4 and of the transfer line to the PSB is planned for the last quarter of 2012. Appropriate beam instrumentation is foreseen to provide transverse and longitudinal beam characterization at the exit of Linac4 and in two dedicated measurement lines located before injection into the PSB. A detailed description of the diagnostics set, especially of spectrometer and emittance meter, and the upgrade of the measurement lines for Linac4 commissioning and operation is presented
Shot noise of a quantum dot with non-Fermi liquid correlations
The shot noise of a one-dimensional wire interrupted by two barriers shows
interesting features related to the interplay between Coulomb blockade effects,
Luttinger correlations and discrete excitations. At small bias the Fano factor
reaches the lowest attainable value, 1/2, irrespective of the ratio of the two
junction resistances. At larger voltages this asymmetry is power-law
renormalized by the interaction strength. We discuss how the measurement of
current and these features of the noise allow to extract the Luttinger liquid
parameter.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures,to be published in Phys. Rev. B. For high
resolution image of Fig.1 see http://server1.fisica.unige.it/~braggio/doc.ht
Full Counting Statistics of Charge Transfer in Coulomb Blockade Systems
Full counting statistics (FCS) of charge transfer in mesoscopic systems has
recently become a subject of significant interest, since it proves to reveal an
important information about the system which can be hardly assessed by other
means. While the previous research mostly addressed the FCS of non- interacting
systems, the present paper deals with the FCS in the limit of strong
interaction. In this Coulomb blockade limit the electron dynamics is known to
be governed by a master equation. We develop a general scheme to evaluate the
FCS in such case, this being the main result of the work presented. We
illustrate the scheme, by applying it to concrete systems. For generic case of
a single resonant level we establish the equivalence of scattering and master
equation approach to FCS. Further we study a single Coulomb blockade island
with two and three leads attached and compare the FCS in this case with our
recent results concerning an open dot either with two and three terminals. We
demonstrate that Coulomb interaction suppresses the relative probabilities of
large current fluctuations.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figure
Influence of Hybridization on the Properties of the Spinless Falicov-Kimball Model
Without a hybridization between the localized f- and the conduction (c-)
electron states the spinless Falicov-Kimball model (FKM) is exactly solvable in
the limit of high spatial dimension, as first shown by Brandt and Mielsch. Here
I show that at least for sufficiently small c-f-interaction this exact
inhomogeneous ground state is also obtained in Hartree-Fock approximation. With
hybridization the model is no longer exactly solvable, but the approximation
yields that the inhomogeneous charge-density wave (CDW) ground state remains
stable also for finite hybridization V smaller than a critical hybridization
V_c, above which no inhomogeneous CDW solution but only a homogeneous solution
is obtained. The spinless FKM does not allow for a ''ferroelectric'' ground
state with a spontaneous polarization, i.e. there is no nonvanishing
-expectation value in the limit of vanishing hybridization.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Scanning X-ray diffraction microscopy of a 6 GHz surface acoustic wave
Surface acoustic waves at frequencies beyond a few GHz are promising
components for quantum technology applications. Applying scanning X-ray
diffraction microcopy we directly map the locally resolved components of the
three-dimensional strain field generated by a standing surface acoustic wave on
GaAs with wavelength nm corresponding to frequencies near 6
GHz. We find that the lattice distortions perpendicular to the surface are
phase-shifted compared to those in propagation direction. Model calculations
based on Rayleigh waves confirm our measurements. Our results represent a break
through in providing a full characterization of a radio frequency surface
acoustic wave beyond plain imaging.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Shot noise for resonant Cooper pair tunneling
We study intrinsic noise of current in a superconducting single-electron
transistor, taking into account both coherence effects and Coulomb interaction
near a Cooper-pair resonance. Due to this interplay, the statistics of
tunneling events deviates from the Poisson distribution and, more important, it
shows even-odd asymmetry in the transmitted charge. The zero-frequency noise is
suppressed significantly when the quasiparticle tunneling rates are comparable
to the coherent oscillation frequency of Cooper pairs.Comment: A few minor changes; To appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Charge and current fluctuations in a superconducting single electron transistor near a Cooper pair resonance
We analyze charge tunneling statistics and current noise in a superconducting
single-electron transistor in a regime where the Josephson-quasiparticle cycle
is the dominant mechanism of transport. Due to the interplay between Coulomb
blockade and Josephson coherence, the probability distribution for tunneling
events strongly deviates from a Poissonian and displays a pronounced even--odd
asymmetry in the number of transmitted charges. The interplay between charging
and coherence is reflected also in the zero-frequency current noise which is
significantly quenched when the quasi-particle tunneling rates are comparable
to the coherent Cooper-pair oscillation frequency. Furthermore the finite
frequency spectrum shows a strong enhancement near the resonant transition
frequency for Josephson tunneling.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
Recommended from our members
Structural properties of Co2TiSi films on GaAs(001)
Co2TiSi films were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs(001) and analyzed using reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and electron microscopy. In addition, X-ray diffraction was combined with lattice parameter calculations by density functional theory comparing the L21 and B2 structures and considering the influence of non-stoichiometry. Columnar growth is found and attributed to inhomogeneous epitaxial strain from non-random alloying. In films with thicknesses up to 13 nm, these columns may be the origin of perpendicular magnetization with the easy axis perpendicular to the sample surface. We found L21 and B2 ordered regions, however the [Co]/[Ti]-ratio is changing in dependence of the position in the film. The resulting columnar structure is leading to anisotropic B2-ordering with the best order parallel to the axes of the columns
- …