1,083 research outputs found
Imaging the homogeneous nucleation during the melting of superheated colloidal crystals
The nucleation process is crucial to many phase transitions, but its kinetics are difficult to predict and measure. We superheated and melted the interior of thermal-sensitive colloidal crystals and investigated by means of video microscopy the homogeneous melting at single-particle resolution. The observed nucleation precursor was local particle-exchange loops surrounded by particles with large displacement amplitudes rather than any defects. The critical size, incubation time, and shape and size evolutions of the nucleus were measured. They deviate from the classical nucleation theory under strong superheating, mainly because of the coalescence of nuclei. The superheat limit agrees with the measured Born and Lindemann instabilities
Ultra-low carrier concentration and surface dominant transport in Sb-doped Bi2Se3 topological insulator nanoribbons
A topological insulator is a new state of matter, possessing gapless
spin-locking surface states across the bulk band gap which has created new
opportunities from novel electronics to energy conversion. However, the large
concentration of bulk residual carriers has been a major challenge for
revealing the property of the topological surface state via electron transport
measurement. Here we report surface state dominated transport in Sb-doped
Bi2Se3 nanoribbons with very low bulk electron concentrations. In the
nanoribbons with sub-10nm thickness protected by a ZnO layer, we demonstrate
complete control of their top and bottom surfaces near the Dirac point,
achieving the lowest carrier concentration of 2x10^11/cm2 reported in
three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators. The Sb-doped Bi2Se3
nanostructures provide an attractive materials platform to study fundamental
physics in topological insulators, as well as future applications.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Ambipolar Field Effect in Topological Insulator Nanoplates of (BixSb1-x)2Te3
Topological insulators represent a new state of quantum matter attractive to
both fundamental physics and technological applications such as spintronics and
quantum information processing. In a topological insulator, the bulk energy gap
is traversed by spin-momentum locked surface states forming an odd number of
surface bands that possesses unique electronic properties. However, transport
measurements have often been dominated by residual bulk carriers from crystal
defects or environmental doping which mask the topological surface
contribution. Here we demonstrate (BixSb1-x)2Te3 as a tunable topological
insulator system to manipulate bulk conductivity by varying the Bi/Sb
composition ratio. (BixSb1-x)2Te3 ternary compounds are confirmed as
topological insulators for the entire composition range by angle resolved
photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements and ab initio calculations.
Additionally, we observe a clear ambipolar gating effect similar to that
observed in graphene using nanoplates of (BixSb1-x)2Te3 in
field-effect-transistor (FET) devices. The manipulation of carrier type and
concentration in topological insulator nanostructures demonstrated in this
study paves the way for implementation of topological insulators in
nanoelectronics and spintronics.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Band structure engineering in (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 ternary topological insulators
Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators (TI) are novel quantum
materials with insulating bulk and topologically protected metallic surfaces
with Dirac-like band structure. The spin-helical Dirac surface states are
expected to host exotic topological quantum effects and find applications in
spintronics and quantum computation. The experimental realization of these
ideas requires fabrication of versatile devices based on bulk-insulating TIs
with tunable surface states. The main challenge facing the current TI materials
exemplified by Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3 is the significant bulk conduction, which
remains unsolved despite extensive efforts involving nanostructuring, chemical
doping and electrical gating. Here we report a novel approach for engineering
the band structure of TIs by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of
(Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 ternary compounds. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
(ARPES) and transport measurements show that the topological surface states
exist over the entire composition range of (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 (x = 0 to 1),
indicating the robustness of bulk Z2 topology. Most remarkably, the systematic
band engineering leads to ideal TIs with truly insulating bulk and tunable
surface state across the Dirac point that behave like one quarter of graphene.
This work demonstrates a new route to achieving intrinsic quantum transport of
the topological surface states and designing conceptually new TI devices with
well-established semiconductor technology.Comment: Minor changes in title, text and figures. Supplementary information
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Aharonov-Bohm interference in topological insulator nanoribbons
Topological insulators represent novel phases of quantum matter with an
insulating bulk gap and gapless edges or surface states. The two-dimensional
topological insulator phase was predicted in HgTe quantum wells and confirmed
by transport measurements. Recently, Bi2Se3 and related materials have been
proposed as three-dimensional topological insulators with a single Dirac cone
on the surface and verified by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
experiments. Here, we show unambiguous transport evidence of topological
surface states through periodic quantum interference effects in layered
single-crystalline Bi2Se3 nanoribbons. Pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in
the magnetoresistance clearly demonstrate the coverage of two-dimensional
electrons on the entire surface, as expected from the topological nature of the
surface states. The dominance of the primary h/e oscillation and its
temperature dependence demonstrate the robustness of these electronic states.
Our results suggest that topological insulator nanoribbons afford novel
promising materials for future spintronic devices at room temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, RevTex forma
l-Arginine stimulates proliferation and prevents endotoxin-induced death of intestinal cells
This study tested the hypothesis that l-arginine (Arg) may stimulate cell proliferation and prevent lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced death of intestinal cells. Intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-1) were cultured for 4 days in Arg-free Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s-F12 Ham medium (DMEM-F12) containing 10, 100 or 350 μM Arg and 0 or 20 ng/ml LPS. Cell numbers, protein concentrations, protein synthesis and degradation, as well as mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathways were determined. Without LPS, IPEC-1 cells exhibited time- and Arg-dependent growth curves. LPS treatment increased cell death and reduced protein concentrations in IPEC-1 cells. Addition of 100 and 350 μM Arg to culture medium dose-dependently attenuated LPS-induced cell death and reduction of protein concentrations, in comparison with the basal medium containing 10 μM Arg. Furthermore, supplementation of 100 and 350 μM Arg increased protein synthesis and reduced protein degradation in both control and LPS-treated IPEC-1 cells. Consistent with the data on cell growth and protein turnover, addition of 100 or 350 μM Arg to culture medium increased relative protein levels for phosphorylated mTOR and phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 kinase-1, while reducing the relative levels of TLR4 and phosphorylated levels of nuclear factor-κB in LPS-treated IPEC-1 cells. These results demonstrate a protective effect of Arg against LPS-induced enterocyte damage through mechanisms involving mTOR and TLR4 signaling pathways, as well as intracellular protein turnover
Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set
We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s
using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays
in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at
production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton
collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment
at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity.
We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the
B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2,
-1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in
agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model
value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +-
0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by
other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012
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