Impact Excitation by Hot Carriers in Carbon Nanotubes

We investigate theoretically the efficiency of intra-molecular hot carrier induced impact ionization and excitation processes in carbon nanotubes. The electron confinement and reduced screening lead to drastically enhanced excitation efficiencies over those in bulk materials. Strong excitonic coupling favors neutral excitations over ionization, while the impact mechanism populates a different set of states than that produced by photoexcitation. The excitation rate is strongly affected by optical phonon excitation and a simple scaling of the rate with the field strength and optical phonon temperature is obtained.Comment: 5 pages 4 figure

Exciton-phonon effects in carbon nanotube optical absorption

We find that the optical properties of carbon nanotubes reflect remarkably strong effects of exciton-phonon coupling. Tight-binding calculations show that a significant fraction of the spectral weight of the absorption peak is transferred to a distinct exciton+phonon sideband, which is peaked at around 200 meV above the main absorption peak. This sideband provides a distinctive signature of the excitonic character of the optical transition. The exciton-phonon coupling is reflected in a dynamical structural distortion, which contributes a binding energy of up to 100 meV. The distortion is surprisingly long-ranged, and is strongly dependent on chirality.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Scaling of excitons in carbon nanotubes

Light emission from carbon nanotubes is expected to be dominated by excitonic recombination. Here we calculate the properties of excitons in nanotubes embedded in a dielectric, for a wide range of tube radii and dielectric environments. We find that simple scaling relationships give a good description of the binding energy, exciton size, and oscillator strength.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Atomoxetine reduces hyperactive/impulsive behaviours in neurokinin-1 receptor 'knockout' mice.

Mice with functional ablation of the neurokinin-1 receptor gene (NK1R(-/-)) display behavioural abnormalities which resemble the hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity seen in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Here, we investigated whether the established ADHD treatment, atomoxetine, alleviates these abnormalities when tested in the light/dark exploration box (LDEB) and 5-Choice Serial Reaction-Time Task (5-CSRTT)

Optical trapping with "on-demand" two-photon luminescence using Cr:LiSAF laser with optically addressed saturable Bragg reflector

We demonstrate a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser with controllable and reliable fast switching between its continuous-wave and mode-locked states of operation using an optically-addressed semiconductor Bragg reflector, permitting dyed microspheres to be continuously trapped and monitored using a standard microscope imaging and on-demand two-photon-excited luminescence techniques

Reactivity of Sodium Pentaphospholide Na[cyclo-P5] towards C≡E (E=C, N, P) Triple Bonds

A diglyme solution of Na[cyclo-P5] (1) reacts with alkynes and isolobal nitriles and phosphaalkynes to afford the otherwise elusive (aza)phospholide anions 2 a–c, 4 a,b, and 6. The reaction of Na[cyclo-P5] with alkynes and nitriles was studied by means of DFT methods, which suggested a concerted mechanism for the formation of 2 a and 4 b. The anions 2 a–c, 4 a,b, and 6 coordinate in an η5-fashion towards FeII to give the sandwich (aza)phosphametallocenes 3 a–c, 5 a,b and 7 in moderate to good yields. The new compounds were characterized by means of multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and cyclic voltammetry

Electronically highly cubic conditions for Ru in alpha-RuCl3

We studied the local Ru 4d electronic structure of alpha-RuCl3 by means of polarization dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ru-L2,3 edges. We observed a vanishingly small linear dichroism indicating that electronically the Ru 4d local symmetry is highly cubic. Using full multiplet cluster calculations we were able to reproduce the spectra excellently and to extract that the trigonal splitting of the t2g orbitals is -12 $\pm10$ meV, i.e. negligible as compared to the Ru 4d spin-orbit coupling constant. Consistent with our magnetic circular dichroism measurements, we found that the ratio of the orbital and spin moments is 2.0, the value expected for a Jeff = 1/2 ground state. We have thus shown that as far as the Ru 4d local properties are concerned, alpha-RuCl3 is an ideal candidate for the realization of Kitaev physics

Electron-phonon effects and transport in carbon nanotubes

We calculate the electron-phonon scattering and binding in semiconducting carbon nanotubes, within a tight binding model. The mobility is derived using a multi-band Boltzmann treatment. At high fields, the dominant scattering is inter-band scattering by LO phonons corresponding to the corners K of the graphene Brillouin zone. The drift velocity saturates at approximately half the graphene Fermi velocity. The calculated mobility as a function of temperature, electric field, and nanotube chirality are well reproduced by a simple interpolation formula. Polaronic binding give a band-gap renormalization of ~70 meV, an order of magnitude larger than expected. Coherence lengths can be quite long but are strongly energy dependent.Comment: 5 pages and 4 figure

Spin re-orientation induced anisotropic magnetoresistance switching in LaCo0.5_{0.5}Ni0.5_{0.5}O3−δ_{3-\delta} thin films

Realization of novel functionalities by tuning magnetic interactions in rare earth perovskite oxide thin films opens up exciting technological prospects. Strain-induced tuning of magnetic interactions in rare earth cobaltates and nickelates is of central importance due to their versatility in electronic transport properties. Here we reported the spin re-orientation induced switching of anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) and its tunability with strain in epitaxial LaCo$_{0.5}$Ni$_{0.5}$O$_{3-\delta}$ thin films across the ferromagnetic transition. Moreover, with strain tuning, we could observe a two-fold to four-fold symmetry crossover in AMR across the magnetic transition temperature. The magnetization measurements revealed an onset of ferromagnetic transition around 50 K, and a further reduction in temperature showed a subtle change in the magnetization dynamics, which reduced the ferromagnetic long-range ordering and introduced glassiness in the system. X-ray absorption and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy measurements over Co and Ni L edges revealed the Co spin state transition below the magnetic transition temperature leading to the AMR switching and also the presence of Ni$^{2+}$ and Co$^{4+}$ ions evidencing the charge transfer from Ni to Co ions. Our work demonstrated the tunability of magnetic interactions mediated electronic transport in cobaltate-nickelate thin films, which is relevant in understanding Ni-Co interactions in oxides for their technological applications such as in AMR sensors