8,825 research outputs found
Observed Tightening of Tropical Ascent in Recent Decades and Linkage to Regional Precipitation Changes
Climate models predict that the tropical ascending region should tighten under global warming, but observational quantification of the tightening rate is limited. Here we show that the observed spatial extent of the relatively moist, rainy and cloudy regions in the tropics associated with large‐scale ascent has been decreasing at a rate of −1%/decade (−5%/K) from 1979 to 2016, resulting from combined effects of interdecadal variability and anthropogenic forcings, with the former contributing more than the latter. The tightening of tropical ascent is associated with an increase in the occurrence frequency of extremely strong ascent, leading to an increase in the average precipitation rate in the top 1% of monthly rainfall in the tropics. At the margins of the convective zones such as the Southeast Amazonia region, the contraction of large‐scale ascent is related to a long‐term drying trend about −3.2%/decade in the past 38 years
Ground-state properties and superfluidity of two- and quasi two-dimensional solid 4He
In a recent study we have reported a new type of trial wave function
symmetric under the exchange of particles and which is able to describe a
supersolid phase. In this work, we use the diffusion Monte Carlo method and
this model wave function to study the properties of solid 4He in two- and quasi
two-dimensional geometries. In the purely two-dimensional case, we obtain
results for the total ground-state energy and freezing and melting densities
which are in good agreement with previous exact Monte Carlo calculations
performed with a slightly different interatomic potential model. We calculate
the value of the zero-temperature superfluid fraction \rho_{s} / \rho of 2D
solid 4He and find that it is negligible in all the considered cases, similarly
to what is obtained in the perfect (free of defects) three-dimensional crystal
using the same computational approach. Interestingly, by allowing the atoms to
move locally in the perpendicular direction to the plane where they are
confined to zero-point oscillations (quasi two-dimensional crystal) we observe
the emergence of a finite superfluid density that coexists with the periodicity
of the system.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure
An improved continuous compositional-spread technique based on pulsed-laser deposition and applicable to large substrate areas
A new method for continuous compositional-spread (CCS) thin-film fabrication
based on pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) is introduced. This approach is based on
a translation of the substrate heater and the synchronized firing of the
excimer laser, with the deposition occurring through a slit-shaped aperture.
Alloying is achieved during film growth (possible at elevated temperature) by
the repeated sequential deposition of sub-monolayer amounts. Our approach
overcomes serious shortcomings in previous in-situ implementations of CCS based
on sputtering or PLD, in particular the variations of thickness across the
compositional spread and the differing deposition energetics as function of
position. While moving-shutter techniques are appropriate for PLD-approaches
yielding complete spreads on small substrates (i.e. small as compared to
distances over which the deposition parameters in PLD vary, typically about 1
cm), our method can be used to fabricate samples that are large enough for
individual compositions to be analyzed by conventional techniques, including
temperature-dependent measurements of resistivity and dielectric and magnetic
and properties (i.e. SQUID magnetometry). Initial results are shown for spreads
of (Sr,Ca)RuO.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Rev. Sci. Instru
Two-dimensional molecular para-hydrogen and ortho-deuterium at zero temperature
We study molecular para-hydrogen (p-) and ortho-deuterium
(o-) in two dimensions and in the limit of zero temperature by
means of the diffusion Monte Carlo method. We report energetic and structural
properties of both systems like the total and kinetic energy per particle,
radial pair distribution function, and Lindemann's ratio in the low pressure
regime. By comparing the total energy per particle as a function of the density
in liquid and solid p-, we show that molecular para-hydrogen, and
also ortho-deuterium, remain solid at zero temperature. Interestingly, we
assess the quality of three different symmetrized trial wave functions, based
on the Nosanow-Jastrow model, in the p- solid film at the
variational level. In particular, we analyze a new type of symmetrized trial
wave function which has been used very recently to describe solid He and
found that also characterizes hydrogen satisfactorily. With this wave function,
we show that the one-body density matrix of solid p- possesses off-diagonal long range order, with a condensate fraction
that increases sizably in the negative pressure regime.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Effective Vortex Pinning in MgB2 thin films
We discuss pinning properties of MgB2 thin films grown by pulsed-laser
deposition (PLD) and by electron-beam (EB) evaporation. Two mechanisms are
identified that contribute most effectively to the pinning of vortices in
randomly oriented films. The EB process produces low defected crystallites with
small grain size providing enhanced pinning at grain boundaries without
degradation of Tc. The PLD process produces films with structural disorder on a
scale less that the coherence length that further improves pinning, but also
depresses Tc
Suppressed Magnetization at the Surfaces and Interfaces of Ferromagnetic Metallic Manganites
What happens to ferromagnetism at the surfaces and interfaces of manganites?
With the competition between charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom, it
is not surprising that the surface behavior may be profoundly different than
that of the bulk. Using a powerful combination of two surface probes, tunneling
and polarized x-ray interactions, this paper reviews our work on the nature of
the electronic and magnetic states at manganite surfaces and interfaces. The
general observation is that ferromagnetism is not the lowest energy state at
the surface or interface, which results in a suppression or even loss of
ferromagnetic order at the surface. Two cases will be discussed ranging from
the surface of the quasi-2D bilayer manganite
(LaSrMnO) to the 3D Perovskite
(LaSrMnO)/SrTiO interface. For the bilayer manganite,
that is, ferromagnetic and conducting in the bulk, these probes present clear
evidence for an intrinsic insulating non-ferromagnetic surface layer atop
adjacent subsurface layers that display the full bulk magnetization. This
abrupt intrinsic magnetic interface is attributed to the weak inter-bilayer
coupling native to these quasi-two-dimensional materials. This is in marked
contrast to the non-layered manganite system
(LaSrMnO/SrTiO), whose magnetization near the interface
is less than half the bulk value at low temperatures and decreases with
increasing temperature at a faster rate than the bulk.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
First-principles study on the effective masses of zinc-blend-derived Cu_2Zn-IV-VI_4 (IV = Sn, Ge, Si and VI = S, Se)
The electron and hole effective masses of kesterite (KS) and stannite (ST)
structured Cu_2Zn-IV-VI_4 (IV = Sn, Ge, Si and VI = S, Se) semiconductors are
systematically studied using first-principles calculations. We find that the
electron effective masses are almost isotropic, while strong anisotropy is
observed for the hole effective mass. The electron effective masses are
typically much smaller than the hole effective masses for all studied
compounds. The ordering of the topmost three valence bands and the
corresponding hole effective masses of the KS and ST structures are different
due to the different sign of the crystal-field splitting. The electron and hole
effective masses of Se-based compounds are significantly smaller compared to
the corresponding S-based compounds. They also decrease as the atomic number of
the group IV elements (Si, Ge, Sn) increases, but the decrease is less notable
than that caused by the substitution of S by Se.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Nanoscale Suppression of Magnetization at Atomically Assembled Manganite Interfaces
Using polarized X-rays, we compare the electronic and magnetic properties of
a La(2/3)Sr(1/3)MnO(3)(LSMO)/SrTiO(3)(STO) and a modified
LSMO/LaMnO(3)(LMO)/STO interface. Using the technique of X-ray resonant
magnetic scattering (XRMS), we can probe the interfaces of complicated layered
structures and quantitatively model depth-dependent magnetic profiles as a
function of distance from the interface. Comparisons of the average electronic
and magnetic properties at the interface are made independently using X-ray
absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The
XAS and the XMCD demonstrate that the electronic and magnetic structure of the
LMO layer at the modified interface is qualitatively equivalent to the
underlying LSMO film. From the temperature dependence of the XMCD, it is found
that the near surface magnetization for both interfaces falls off faster than
the bulk. For all temperatures in the range of 50K - 300K, the magnetic
profiles for both systems always show a ferromagnetic component at the
interface with a significantly suppressed magnetization that evolves to the
bulk value over a length scale of ~1.6 - 2.4 nm. The LSMO/LMO/STO interface
shows a larger ferromagnetic (FM) moment than the LSMO/STO interface, however
the difference is only substantial at low temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Identification of the relationship between Chinese Adiantum reniforme var. sinense and Canary Adiantum reniforme
© 2014 Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
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