27,370 research outputs found
Evidence for defect-mediated tunneling in hexagonal boron nitride-based junctions
We investigate tunneling in metal-insulator-metal junctions employing few
atomic layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as the insulating barrier. While
the low-bias tunnel resistance increases nearly exponentially with barrier
thickness, subtle features are seen in the current-voltage curves, indicating
marked influence of the intrinsic defects present in the hBN insulator on the
tunneling transport. In particular, single electron charging events are
observed, which are more evident in thicker-barrier devices where direct
tunneling is substantially low. Furthermore, we find that annealing the devices
modifies the defect states and hence the tunneling signatures.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Roles of Critical Valence Fluctuations in Ce- and Yb-Based Heavy Fermion Metals
The roles of critical valence fluctuations of Ce and Yb are discussed as a
key origin of several anomalies observed in Ce- and Yb-based heavy fermion
systems. Recent development of the theory has revealed that a magnetic field is
an efficient control parameter to induce the critical end point of the
first-order valence transition. Metamagnetism and non-Fermi liquid behavior
caused by this mechanism are discussed by comparing favorably with CeIrIn5,
YbAgCu4, and YbIr2Zn20. The interplay of the magnetic order and valence
fluctuations offers a key concept for understanding Ce- and Yb-based systems.
It is shown that suppression of the magnetic order by enhanced valence
fluctuations gives rise to the coincidence of the magnetic-transition point and
valence-crossover point at absolute zero as a function of pressure or magnetic
field. The interplay is shown to resolve the outstanding puzzle in CeRhIn5 in a
unified way. The broader applicability of this newly clarified mechanism is
discussed by surveying promising materials such as YbAuCu4, beta-YbAlB4, and
YbRh2Si2.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, invited paper in special issue on strongly
correlated electron system
How Rare Are Extraterrestrial Civilizations and When Did They Emerge?
It is shown that, contrary to an existing claim, the near equality between
the lifetime of the sun and the timescale of biological evolution on earth does
not necessarily imply that extraterrestrial civilizations are exceedingly rare.
Furthermore, on the basis of simple assumptions it is demonstrated that a near
equality between these two timescales may be the most probable relation. A
calculation of the cosmic history of carbon production which is based on the
recently determined history of the star formation rate suggests that the most
likely time for intelligent civilizations to emerge in the universe, was when
the universe was already older then about 10 billion years (for an assumed
current age of about 13 billion years).Comment: 11 pages (including 2 figures), accepted for publication in
Astrophys. Journa
Contact-less characterizations of encapsulated graphene p-n junctions
Accessing intrinsic properties of a graphene device can be hindered by the
influence of contact electrodes. Here, we capacitively couple graphene devices
to superconducting resonant circuits and observe clear changes in the
resonance- frequency and -widths originating from the internal charge dynamics
of graphene. This allows us to extract the density of states and charge
relaxation resistance in graphene p-n junctions without the need of electrical
contacts. The presented characterizations pave a fast, sensitive and
non-invasive measurement of graphene nanocircuits.Comment: 4 figures, supplementary information on reques
Constraints on Association of Single-pulse Gamma-ray Bursts and Supernovae
We explore the hypothesis, similar to one recently suggested by Bloom and
colleagues, that some nearby supernovae are associated with smooth,
single-pulse gamma-ray bursts, possibly having no emission above ~ 300 keV. We
examine BATSE bursts with durations longer than 2 s, fitting those which can be
visually characterized as single-pulse events with a lognormal pulse model. The
fraction of events that can be reliably ascertained to be temporally and
spectrally similar to the exemplar, GRB 980425 - possibly associated with SN
1998bw - is 4/1573 or 0.25%. This fraction could be as high as 8/1573 (0.5%) if
the dimmest bursts are included. Approximately 2% of bursts are morphologically
similar to GRB 980425 but have emission above ~ 300 keV. A search of supernova
catalogs containing 630 detections during BATSE's lifetime reveals only one
burst (GRB 980425) within a 3-month time window and within the total 3-sigma
BATSE error radius that could be associated with a type Ib/c supernova. There
is no tendency for any subset of single-pulse GRBs to fall near the
Supergalactic Plane, whereas SNe of type Ib/c do show this tendency. Economy of
hypotheses leads us to conclude that nearby supernovae generally are not
related to smooth, single-pulse gamma-ray bursts.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
Superconducting Gap Function in Antiferromagnetic Heavy-Fermion UPd_2Al_3 Probed by Angle Resolved Magnetothermal Transport Measurements
The superconducting gap structure of heavy fermion UPd_2Al_3, in which
unconventional superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetic (AF) order
with atomic size local moments, was investigated by the thermal conductivity
measurements in a magnetic field rotating in various directions relative to the
crystal axes. The results provide strong evidence that the gap function
\Delta(k) has a single line node orthogonal to the c-axis located at the AF
Brillouin zone boundary, while \Delta(k) is isotropic within the basal plane.
The determined nodal structure is compatible with the resonance peak in the
dynamical susceptibility observed in neutron inelastic scattering experiments.
Based on these results, we conclude that the superconducting pairing function
of UPd_2Al_3 is most likely to be d-wave with a form \Delta(k)=\Delta_0
cos(k_zc)Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Determination of S17(0) from published data
The experimental landscape for the 7Be+p radiative capture reaction is
rapidly changing as new high precision data become available. We present an
evaluation of existing data, detailing the treatment of systematic errors and
discrepancies, and show how they constrain the astrophysical S factor (S17),
independent of any nuclear structure model. With theoretical models robustly
determining the behavior of the sub-threshold pole, the extrapolation error can
be reduced and a constraint placed on the slope of S17. Using only radiative
capture data, we find S17(0) = 20.7 +/- 0.6 (stat) +/- 1.0 (syst) eV b if data
sets are completely independent, while if data sets are completely correlated
we find S17(0) = 21.4 +/- 0.5 (stat) +/- 1.4 (syst) eV b. The truth likely lies
somewhere in between these two limits. Although we employ a formalism capable
of treating discrepant data, we note that the central value of the S factor is
dominated by the recent high precision data of Junghans et al., which imply a
substantially higher value than other radiative capture and indirect
measurements. Therefore we conclude that further progress will require new high
precision data with a detailed error budget.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure published versio
Phase Diagram of Spinless Fermions on an Anisotropic Triangular Lattice at Half-filling
The strong coupling phase diagram of the spinless fermions on the anisotropic
triangular lattice at half-filling is presented. The geometry of inter-site
Coulomb interactions rules the phase diagram. Unconventional charge ordered
phases are detected which are the recently reported pinball liquid and the
striped chains. Both are induced by the quantum dynamics out of classical
disordered states and afford extremely correlated metallic states and the
particular domain wall-type of excitations, respectively. The disorder once
killed by the quantum effect revives at the finite temperature, which is
discussed in the terms of the organic -ET.Comment: 4pages 6figure
Origin of the excitonic recombinations in hexagonal boron nitride by spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy
The excitonic recombinations in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are
investigated with spatially resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy in the UV
range. Cathodoluminescence images of an individual hBN crystallite reveals that
the 215 nm free excitonic line is quite homogeneously emitted along the
crystallite whereas the 220 nm and 227 nm excitonic emissions are located in
specific regions of the crystallite. Transmission electron microscopy images
show that these regions contain a high density of crystalline defects. This
suggests that both the 220 nm and 227 nm emissions are produced by the
recombination of excitons bound to structural defects
Microscopic Study of Slablike and Rodlike Nuclei: Quantum Molecular Dynamics Approach
Structure of cold dense matter at subnuclear densities is investigated by
quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. We succeeded in showing that the
phases with slab-like and rod-like nuclei etc. can be formed dynamically from
hot uniform nuclear matter without any assumptions on nuclear shape. We also
observe intermediate phases, which has complicated nuclear shapes. Geometrical
structures of matter are analyzed with Minkowski functionals, and it is found
out that intermediate phases can be characterized as ones with negative Euler
characteristic. Our result suggests the existence of these kinds of phases in
addition to the simple ``pasta'' phases in neutron star crusts.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, RevTex4; to be published in Phys. Rev. C Rapid
Communication (accepted version
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