2,927 research outputs found
Anti-Coarsening and Complex Dynamics of Step Bunches on Vicinal Surfaces during Sublimation
A sublimating vicinal crystal surface can undergo a step bunching instability
when the attachment-detachment kinetics is asymmetric, in the sense of a normal
Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect. Here we investigate this instability in a model that
takes into account the subtle interplay between sublimation and step-step
interactions, which breaks the volume-conserving character of the dynamics
assumed in previous work. On the basis of a systematically derived continuum
equation for the surface profile, we argue that the non-conservative terms pose
a limitation on the size of emerging step bunches. This conclusion is supported
by extensive simulations of the discrete step dynamics, which show breakup of
large bunches into smaller ones as well as arrested coarsening and periodic
oscillations between states with different numbers of bunches.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure
Equilibrium of anchored interfaces with quenched disordered growth
The roughening behavior of a one-dimensional interface fluctuating under
quenched disorder growth is examined while keeping an anchored boundary. The
latter introduces detailed balance conditions which allows for a thorough
analysis of equilibrium aspects at both macroscopic and microscopic scales. It
is found that the interface roughens linearly with the substrate size only in
the vicinity of special disorder realizations. Otherwise, it remains stiff and
tilted.Comment: 6 pages, 3 postscript figure
Drift causes anomalous exponents in growth processes
The effect of a drift term in the presence of fixed boundaries is studied for
the one-dimensional Edwards-Wilkinson equation, to reveal a general mechanism
that causes a change of exponents for a very broad class of growth processes.
This mechanism represents a relevant perturbation and therefore is important
for the interpretation of experimental and numerical results. In effect, the
mechanism leads to the roughness exponent assuming the same value as the growth
exponent. In the case of the Edwards-Wilkinson equation this implies exponents
deviating from those expected by dimensional analysis.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, REVTeX; accepted for publication in PRL; added
note and reference
Symmetry analysis of magneto-optical effects: The case of x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption at the transition metal L23 edge
A general symmetry analysis of the optical conductivity or scattering tensor
is used to rewrite the conductivity tensor as a sum of fundamental spectra
multiplied by simple functions depending on the local magnetization direction.
Using this formalism, we present several numerical examples at the transition
metal L23 edge. From these numerical calculations we can conclude that large
deviations from the magneto-optical effects in spherical symmetry are found.
These findings are in particular important for resonant x-ray diffraction
experiments where the polarization dependence and azimuthal dependence of the
scattered Bragg intensity is used to determine the local ordered magnetization
direction
Linear theory of unstable growth on rough surfaces
Unstable homoepitaxy on rough substrates is treated within a linear continuum
theory. The time dependence of the surface width is governed by three
length scales: The characteristic scale of the substrate roughness, the
terrace size and the Ehrlich-Schwoebel length . If (weak step edge barriers) and ,
then displays a minimum at a coverage , where the initial surface width is reduced by a factor
. The r\^{o}le of deposition and diffusion noise is analyzed. The
results are applied to recent experiments on the growth of InAs buffer layers
[M.F. Gyure {\em et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 81}, 4931 (1998)]. The overall
features of the observed roughness evolution are captured by the linear theory,
but the detailed time dependence shows distinct deviations which suggest a
significant influence of nonlinearities
Nonmonotonic roughness evolution in unstable growth
The roughness of vapor-deposited thin films can display a nonmonotonic
dependence on film thickness, if the smoothening of the small-scale features of
the substrate dominates over growth-induced roughening in the early stage of
evolution. We present a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the framework
of the continuum theory of unstable homoepitaxy. Using the spherical
approximation of phase ordering kinetics, the effect of nonlinearities and
noise can be treated explicitly. The substrate roughness is characterized by
the dimensionless parameter , where denotes the
roughness amplitude, is the small scale cutoff wavenumber of the
roughness spectrum, and is the lattice constant. Depending on , the
diffusion length and the Ehrlich-Schwoebel length , five regimes
are identified in which the position of the roughness minimum is determined by
different physical mechanisms. The analytic estimates are compared by numerical
simulations of the full nonlinear evolution equation.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, to appear on Phys. Rev.
Possible canted antiferromagnetism in UCuSn
We report on the new compound UCuSn which crystallizes in the
tetragonal structure \emph{I}4/\emph{mcm} with lattice parameters and . This compound is isotyp to the
ferromagnetic systems RECuSn (RE = Ce, Pr, Nd) with Curie
temperatures = 5.5 K, 10.5 K and 15 K, respectively.
UCuSn exhibits an uncommon magnetic behavior resulting in three
different electronic phase transitions. Below 105 K the sample undergoes a
valence transition accompanied by an entropy change of 0.5 Rln2. At 32 K a
small hump in the specific heat and a flattening out in the susceptibility
curve probably indicate the onset of helical spin order. To lower temperatures
a second transition to antiferromagnetic ordering occurs which develops a small
ferromagnetic contribution on lowering the temperature further. These results
are strongly hinting for canted antiferromagnetism in UCuSn.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, SCES0
Magnetic coupling in highly-ordered NiO/Fe3O4(110): Ultrasharp magnetic interfaces vs. long-range magnetoelastic interactions
We present a laterally resolved X-ray magnetic dichroism study of the
magnetic proximity effect in a highly ordered oxide system, i.e. NiO films on
Fe3O4(110). We found that the magnetic interface shows an ultrasharp
electronic, magnetic and structural transition from the ferrimagnet to the
antiferromagnet. The monolayer which forms the interface reconstructs to
NiFe2O4 and exhibits an enhanced Fe and Ni orbital moment, possibly caused by
bonding anisotropy or electronic interaction between Fe and Ni cations. The
absence of spin-flop coupling for this crystallographic orientation can be
explained by a structurally uncompensated interface and additional
magnetoelastic effects
Load test set-up for the Airmass Sunburst Ultra-Light Aircraft
The purpose of this project was to set up, instrument, and test a Sunburst Ultra-Light aircraft. The intentions of the project were that the aircraft would need to be suspended from the test stand, leveled in the stand, the strain gauges tested and wired to the test equipment, and finally, the aircraft would be destroyed to obtain the failing loads. All jobs were completed, except for the destruction of the aircraft. This notebook shows the group's progress as these tasks were completed, and the following section attempts to explain the photographs in the notebook
Self-Organized Ordering of Nanostructures Produced by Ion-Beam Sputtering
We study the self-organized ordering of nanostructures produced by ion-beam
sputtering (IBS) of targets amorphizing under irradiation. By introducing a
model akin to models of pattern formation in aeolian sand dunes, we extend
consistently the current continuum theory of erosion by IBS. We obtain new
non-linear effects responsible for the in-plane ordering of the structures,
whose strength correlates with the degree of ordering found in experiments. Our
results highlight the importance of redeposition and surface viscous flow to
this nanopattern formation process.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
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