Photoconductance of a submicron oxidized line in surface conductive single crystalline diamond

We report on sub-bandgap optoelectronic phenomena of hydrogen-terminated diamond patterned with a submicron oxidized line. The line acts as an energy barrier for the two-dimensional hole gas located below the hydrogenated diamond surface. A photoconductive gain of the hole conductivity across the barrier is measured for sub-bandgap illumination. The findings are consistent with photogenerated electrons being trapped in defect levels within the barrier. We discuss the spatial and energetic characteristics of the optoelectronic phenomena, as well as possible photocurrent effects

Transport and recombination through weakly coupled localized spin pairs in semiconductors during coherent spin excitation

Semi-analytical predictions for the transients of spin-dependent transport and recombination rates through localized states in semiconductors during coherent electron spin excitation are made for the case of weakly spin-coupled charge carrier ensembles. The results show that the on-resonant Rabi frequency of electrically or optically detected spin-oscillation doubles abruptly as the strength of the resonant microwave field gamma B_1 exceeds the Larmor frequency separation within the pair of charge carrier states between which the transport or recombination transition takes place. For the case of a Larmor frequency separation of the order of gamma B_1 and arbitrary excitation frequencies, the charge carrier pairs exhibit four different nutation frequencies. From the calculations, a simple set of equations for the prediction of these frequencies is derived

Ab initio simulation of helium inside carbon nanotubes

In present work we consider the complex behaviour of quantum liquids like liquid He-4 inside carbon nanotubes. Interactions between helium atoms and carbon atoms of the short-length atomistic model and model with periodical boundary conditions of carbon nanotube were studied via ab initio quantum simulations. Effects of geometrical confinement of the tube on the He behaviour inside CNT (13,0) have been explored. Nanotubes with typical average diameter of 10 angstroms are under consideration

First measurements with a new β\beta-electron detector for spectral shape studies

The shape of the spectrum corresponding to the electrons emitted in $\beta$ decay carries a wealth of information about nuclear structure and fundamental physics. In spite of that, few dedicated measurements have been made of $\beta$-spectrum shapes. In this work we present a newly developed detector for $\beta$ electrons based on a telescope concept. A thick plastic scintillator is employed in coincidence with a thin silicon detector. First measurements employing this detector have been carried out with mono-energetic electrons from the high-energy resolution electron-beam spectrometer at Bordeaux. Here we report on the good reproduction of the experimental spectra of mono-energetic electrons using Monte Carlo simulations. This is a crucial step for future experiments, where a detailed Monte Carlo characterization of the detector is needed to determine the shape of the $\beta$-electron spectra by deconvolution of the measured spectra with the response function of the detector. A chamber to contain two telescope assemblies has been designed for future $\beta$-decay experiments at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility in Jyv\"askyl\"a, aimed at improving our understanding of reactor antineutrino spectra

High-Transconductance Graphene Solution-Gated Field Effect Transistors

In this work, we report on the electronic properties of solution-gated field effect transistors (SGFETs) fabricated using large-area graphene. Devices prepared both with epitaxially grown graphene on SiC as well as with chemical vapor deposition grown graphene on Cu exhibit high transconductances, which are a consequence of the high mobility of charge carriers in graphene and the large capacitance at the graphene/water interface. The performance of graphene SGFETs, in terms of gate sensitivity, is compared to other SGFET technologies and found to be clearly superior, confirming the potential of graphene SGFETs for sensing applications in electrolytic environments.Comment: The following article has been submitted to Applied Physics Letters. After it is published, it will be found at apl.aip.or

Long-range potential fluctuations and 1/f noise in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We present a microscopic theory of the low-frequency voltage noise (known as "1/f" noise) in micrometer-thick films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. This theory traces the noise back to the long-range fluctuations of the Coulomb potential produced by deep defects, thereby predicting the absolute noise intensity as a function of the distribution of defect activation energies. The predictions of this theory are in very good agreement with our own experiments in terms of both the absolute intensity and the temperature dependence of the noise spectra.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, several new parts and one new figure are added, but no conceptual revision

Effect of hydrogen on ground state structures of small silicon clusters

We present results for ground state structures of small Si$_{n}$H (2 \leq \emph{n} \leq 10) clusters using the Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. In particular, we focus on how the addition of a hydrogen atom affects the ground state geometry, total energy and the first excited electronic level gap of an Si$_{n}$ cluster. We discuss the nature of bonding of hydrogen in these clusters. We find that hydrogen bonds with two silicon atoms only in Si$_{2}$H, Si$_{3}$H and Si$_{5}$H clusters, while in other clusters (i.e. Si$_{4}$H, Si$_{6}$H, Si$_{7}$H, Si$_{8}$H, Si$_{9}$H and Si$_{10}$H) hydrogen is bonded to only one silicon atom. Also in the case of a compact and closed silicon cluster hydrogen bonds to the cluster from outside. We find that the first excited electronic level gap of Si$_{n}$ and Si$_{n}$H fluctuates as a function of size and this may provide a first principles basis for the short-range potential fluctuations in hydrogenated amorphous silicon. Our results show that the addition of a single hydrogen can cause large changes in the electronic structure of a silicon cluster, though the geometry is not much affected. Our calculation of the lowest energy fragmentation products of Si$_{n}$H clusters shows that hydrogen is easily removed from Si$_{n}$H clusters.Comment: one latex file named script.tex including table and figure caption. Six postscript figure files. figure_1a.ps and figure_1b.ps are files representing Fig. 1 in the main tex

Modelling capsizing icebergs in the open ocean

At near-grounded glacier termini, calving can lead to the capsize of kilometre-scale (i.e. gigatons) unstable icebergs. The transient contact force applied by the capsizing iceberg on the glacier front generates seismic waves that propagate over teleseismic distances. The inversion of this seismic signal is of great interest to get insight into actual and past capsize dynamics. However, the iceberg size, which is of interest for geophysical and climatic studies, cannot be recovered from the seismic amplitude alone. This is because the capsize is a complex process involving interactions between the iceberg, the glacier and the surrounding water. This paper presents a first step towards the construction of a complete model, and is focused on the capsize in the open ocean without glacier front nor ice-mélange. The capsize dynamics of an iceberg in the open ocean is captured by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, which allows assessing the complexity of the fluid motion around a capsizing iceberg and how far the ocean is affected by iceberg rotation. Expressing the results in terms of appropriate dimensionless variables, we show that laboratory scale and field scale capsizes can be directly compared. The capsize dynamics is found to be highly sensitive to the iceberg aspect ratio and to the water and ice densities. However, dealing at the same time with the fluid dynamics and the contact between the iceberg and the deformable glacier front requires highly complex coupling that often goes beyond actual capabilities of fluid-structure interaction softwares. Therefore, we developed a semi-analytical simplified fluid-structure model (SAFIM) that can be implemented in solid mechanics computations dealing with contact dynamics of deformable solids. This model accounts for hydrodynamic forces through calibrated drag and added-mass effects, and is calibrated against the reference CFD simulations. We show that SAFIM significantly improves the accuracy of the iceberg motion compared with existing simplified models. Various types of drag forces are discussed. The one that provides the best results is an integrated pressure-drag proportional to the square of the normal local velocity at the iceberg’s surface, with the drag coefficient depending linearly on the iceberg’s aspect ratio. A new formulation based on simplified added-masses or computed added-mass proposed in the literature, is also discussed. We study in particular the change of hydrodynamic-induced forces and moments acting on the capsizing iceberg. The error of the simulated horizontal force ranges between 5 and 25 per cent for different aspect ratios. The added-masses affect the initiation period of the capsize, the duration of the whole capsize being better simulated when added-masses are accounted for. The drag force mainly affects the amplitude of the fluid forces and this amplitude is best predicted without added-masses.he authors acknowledge funding from ANR (contract ANR-11- BS01-0016 LANDQUAKES), ERC (contract ERC-CG-2013-PE10-617472 SLIDEQUAKES), DGA-MRIS and IPGP - Univer-sit´e de Paris ED560 (STEP’UP), which has made this work possible. The authors acknowledge Justin Burton for providing us with the data from laboratory experiments. The authors are also very grateful to Franc¸ois Charru, Emmanuel de Langre and Evgeniy A. Podolskiy for fruitful discussions, and the reviewers (Jason M. Amundson and Bradley P. Lipovsky) for helpful comments

Exciton bimolecular annihilation dynamics in supramolecular nanostructures of conjugated oligomers

We present femtosecond transient absorption measurements on $\pi$-conjugated supramolecular assemblies in a high pump fluence regime. Oligo(\emph{p}-phenylenevinylene) monofunctionalized with ureido-\emph{s}-triazine (MOPV) self-assembles into chiral stacks in dodecane solution below 75$^{\circ}$C at a concentration of $4\times 10^{-4}$ M. We observe exciton bimolecular annihilation in MOPV stacks at high excitation fluence, indicated by the fluence-dependent decay of $1^1$B$_{u}$-exciton spectral signatures, and by the sub-linear fluence dependence of time- and wavelength-integrated photoluminescence (PL) intensity. These two characteristics are much less pronounced in MOPV solution where the phase equilibrium is shifted significantly away from supramolecular assembly, slightly below the transition temperature. A mesoscopic rate-equation model is applied to extract the bimolecular annihilation rate constant from the excitation fluence dependence of transient absorption and PL signals. The results demonstrate that the bimolecular annihilation rate is very high with a square-root dependence in time. The exciton annihilation results from a combination of fast exciton diffusion and resonance energy transfer. The supramolecular nanostructures studied here have electronic properties that are intermediate between molecular aggregates and polymeric semiconductors