Interface steps in field effect devices

The charge doped into a semiconductor in a field effect transistor (FET) is generally confined to the interface of the semiconductor. A planar step at the interface causes a potential drop due to the strong electric field of the FET, which in turn is screened by the doped carriers. We analyze the dipolar electronic structure of a single step in the Thomas-Fermi approximation and find that the transmission coefficient through the step is exponentially suppressed by the electric field and the induced carrier density as well as by the step height. In addition, the field enhancement at the step edge can facilitate the electric breakthrough of the insulating layer. We suggest that these two effects may lead to severe problems when engineering FET devices with very high doping. On the other hand steps can give rise to interesting physics in superconducting FETs by forming weak links and potentially creating atomic size Josephson junctions.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Appl. Phy

Jahn-Teller effect versus Hund's rule coupling in C60N-

We propose variational states for the ground state and the low-energy collective rotator excitations in negatively charged C60N- ions (N=1...5). The approach includes the linear electron-phonon coupling and the Coulomb interaction on the same level. The electron-phonon coupling is treated within the effective mode approximation (EMA) which yields the linear t_{1u} x H_g Jahn-Teller problem whereas the Coulomb interaction gives rise to Hund's rule coupling for N=2,3,4. The Hamiltonian has accidental SO(3) symmetry which allows an elegant formulation in terms of angular momenta. Trial states are constructed from coherent states and using projection operators onto angular momentum subspaces which results in good variational states for the complete parameter range. The evaluation of the corresponding energies is to a large extent analytical. We use the approach for a detailed analysis of the competition between Jahn-Teller effect and Hund's rule coupling, which determines the spin state for N=2,3,4. We calculate the low-spin/high-spin gap for N=2,3,4 as a function of the Hund's rule coupling constant J. We find that the experimentally measured gaps suggest a coupling constant in the range J=60-80meV. Using a finite value for J, we recalculate the ground state energies of the C60N- ions and find that the Jahn-Teller energy gain is partly counterbalanced by the Hund's rule coupling. In particular, the ground state energies for N=2,3,4 are almost equal

Improving the establishment submodel of a forest patch model to assess the long-term protective effect of mountain forests

Simulation models such as forest patch models can be used to forecast the development of forest structural attributes over time. However, predictions of such models with respect to the impact of forest dynamics on the long-term protective effect of mountain forests may be of limited accuracy where tree regeneration is simulated with little detail. For this reason, we improved the establishment submodel of the ForClim forest patch model by implementing a more detailed representation of tree regeneration. Our refined submodel included canopy shading and ungulate browsing, two important constraints to sapling growth in mountain forests. To compare the old and the new establishment submodel of ForClim, we simulated the successional dynamics of the Stotzigwald protection forest in the Swiss Alps over a 60-year period. This forest provides protection for an important traffic route, but currently contains an alarmingly low density of tree regeneration. The comparison yielded a significantly longer regeneration period for the new model version, bringing the simulations into closer agreement with the known slow stand dynamics of mountain forests. In addition, the new model version was applied to forecast the future ability of the Stotzigwald forest to buffer the valley below from rockfall disturbance. Two scenarios were simulated: (1) canopy shading but no browsing impact, and (2) canopy shading and high browsing impact. The simulated stand structures were then compared to stand structure targets for rockfall protection, in order to assess their long-term protective effects. Under both scenarios, the initial sparse level of tree regeneration affected the long-term protective effect of the forest, which considerably declined during the first 40years. In the complete absence of browsing, the density of small trees increased slightly after 60years, raising hope for an eventual recovery of the protective effect. In the scenario that included browsing, however, the density of small trees remained at very low levels. With our improved establishment submodel, we provide an enhanced tool for studying the impacts of structural dynamics on the long-term protective effect of mountain forests. For certain purposes, it is important that predictive models of forest dynamics adequately represent critical processes for tree regeneration, such as sapling responses to low light levels and high browsing pressur

When it Pays to Rush: Interpreting Morphogen Gradients Prior to Steady-State

During development, morphogen gradients precisely determine the position of gene expression boundaries despite the inevitable presence of fluctuations. Recent experiments suggest that some morphogen gradients may be interpreted prior to reaching steady-state. Theoretical work has predicted that such systems will be more robust to embryo-to-embryo fluctuations. By analysing two experimentally motivated models of morphogen gradient formation, we investigate the positional precision of gene expression boundaries determined by pre-steady-state morphogen gradients in the presence of embryo-to-embryo fluctuations, internal biochemical noise and variations in the timing of morphogen measurement. Morphogens that are direct transcription factors are found to be particularly sensitive to internal noise when interpreted prior to steady-state, disadvantaging early measurement, even in the presence of large embryo-to-embryo fluctuations. Morphogens interpreted by cell-surface receptors can be measured prior to steady-state without significant decrease in positional precision provided fluctuations in the timing of measurement are small. Applying our results to experiment, we predict that Bicoid, a transcription factor morphogen in Drosophila, is unlikely to be interpreted prior to reaching steady-state. We also predict that Activin in Xenopus and Nodal in zebrafish, morphogens interpreted by cell-surface receptors, can be decoded in pre-steady-state.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure

Three-Dimensional Dirac Electrons at the Fermi Energy in Cubic Inverse Perovskites: Ca_3PbO and its Family

The band structure of cubic inverse perovskites, Ca_3PbO and its family, are investigated with the first-principles method. A close observation of the band structure reveals that six equivalent Dirac electrons with a very small mass exist on the line connecting the Gamma- and X-points, and at the symmetrically equivalent points in the Brillouin zone. The discovered Dirac electrons are three-dimensional and remarkably located exactly at the Fermi energy. A tight-binding model describing the low-energy band structure is also constructed and used to discuss the origin of the Dirac electrons in this material. Materials related to Ca_3PbO are also studied, and some design principles for the Dirac electrons in this series of materials are proposed.Comment: 4.2 pages, refined versio

Low-Energy Effective Hamiltonian and the Surface States of Ca_3PbO

The band structure of Ca_3PbO, which possesses a three-dimensional massive Dirac electron at the Fermi energy, is investigated in detail. Analysis of the orbital weight distributions on the bands obtained in the first-principles calculation reveals that the bands crossing the Fermi energy originate from the three Pb-p orbitals and three Ca-dx2y2 orbitals. Taking these Pb-p and Ca-dx2y2 orbitals as basis wave functions, a tight-binding model is constructed. With the appropriate choice of the hopping integrals and the strength of the spin-orbit coupling, the constructed model sucessfully captures important features of the band structure around the Fermi energy obtained in the first-principles calculation. By applying the suitable basis transformation and expanding the matrix elements in the series of the momentum measured from a Dirac point, the low-energy effective Hamiltonian of this model is explicitely derived and proved to be a Dirac Hamiltonain. The origin of the mass term is also discussed. It is shown that the spin-orbit coupling and the orbitals other than Pb-p and Ca-dx2y2 orbitals play important roles in making the mass term finite. Finally, the surface band structures of Ca_3PbO for several types of surfaces are investigated using the constructed tight-binding model. We find that there appear nontrivial surface states that cannot be explained as the bulk bands projected on the surface Brillouin zone. The relation to the topological insulator is also discussed.Comment: 11 page

The possible explanation of electric-field-doped C60 phenomenology in the framework of Eliashberg theory

In a recent paper (J.H. Schon, Ch. Kloc, R.C. Haddon and B. Batlogg, Nature 408 (2000) 549) a large increase in the superconducting critical temperature was observed in C60 doped with holes by application of a high electric field. We demonstrate that the measured Tc versus doping curves can be explained by solving the (four) s-wave Eliashberg equations in the case of a finite, non-half-filled energy band. In order to reproduce the experimental data, we assume a Coulomb pseudopotential depending on the filling in a very simple and plausible way. Reasonable values of the physical parameters involved are obtained. The application of the same approach to new experimental data (J.H. Schon, Ch. Kloc and B. Batlogg, Science 293 (2001) 2432) on electric field-doped, lattice-expanded C60 single crystals (Tc=117 K in the hole-doped case) gives equally good results and sets a theoretical limit to the linear increase of Tc at the increase of the lattice spacing.Comment: latex2e, 6 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, revised versio

Electronic charge and orbital reconstruction at cuprate-titanate interfaces

In complex transition metal oxide heterostructures of physically dissimilar perovskite compounds, interface phenomena can lead to novel physical properties not observed in either of their constituents. This remarkable feature opens new prospects for technological applications in oxide electronic devices based on nm-thin oxide films. Here we report on a significant electronic charge and orbital reconstruction at interfaces between YBa2Cu3O6 and SrTiO3 studied using local spin density approximation (LSDA) with intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion (LSDA+U). We show that the interface polarity results in the metallicity of cuprate-titanate superlattices with the hole carriers concentrated predominantly in the CuO2 and BaO layers and in the first interface TiO2 and SrO planes. We also find that the interface structural relaxation causes a strong change of orbital occupation of Cu 3d orbitals in the CuO2 layers. The concomitant change of Cu valency from +2 to +3 is related to the partial occupation of the Cu $3d_{3z^2-r^2}$ orbitals at the interface with SrO planes terminating SrTiO3. Interface-induced predoping and orbital reconstruction in CuO2 layers are key mechanisms which control the superconducting properties of field-effect devices developed on the basis of cuprate-titanate heterostructures.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the "Proceedings of Third Joint HLRB and KONWIHR Result and Reviewing Workshop", Springer 200

Computationally-Optimized Bone Mechanical Modeling from High-Resolution Structural Images

Image-based mechanical modeling of the complex micro-structure of human bone has shown promise as a non-invasive method for characterizing bone strength and fracture risk in vivo. In particular, elastic moduli obtained from image-derived micro-finite element (μFE) simulations have been shown to correlate well with results obtained by mechanical testing of cadaveric bone. However, most existing large-scale finite-element simulation programs require significant computing resources, which hamper their use in common laboratory and clinical environments. In this work, we theoretically derive and computationally evaluate the resources needed to perform such simulations (in terms of computer memory and computation time), which are dependent on the number of finite elements in the image-derived bone model. A detailed description of our approach is provided, which is specifically optimized for μFE modeling of the complex three-dimensional architecture of trabecular bone. Our implementation includes domain decomposition for parallel computing, a novel stopping criterion, and a system for speeding up convergence by pre-iterating on coarser grids. The performance of the system is demonstrated on a dual quad-core Xeon 3.16 GHz CPUs equipped with 40 GB of RAM. Models of distal tibia derived from 3D in-vivo MR images in a patient comprising 200,000 elements required less than 30 seconds to converge (and 40 MB RAM). To illustrate the system's potential for large-scale μFE simulations, axial stiffness was estimated from high-resolution micro-CT images of a voxel array of 90 million elements comprising the human proximal femur in seven hours CPU time. In conclusion, the system described should enable image-based finite-element bone simulations in practical computation times on high-end desktop computers with applications to laboratory studies and clinical imaging

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE