5,017 research outputs found
Halving the Casimir force with conductive oxides
The possibility to modify the strength of the Casimir effect by tailoring the
dielectric functions of the interacting surfaces is regarded as a unique
opportunity in the development of Micro- and NanoElectroMechanical Systems. In
air, however, one expects that, unless noble metals are used, the electrostatic
force arising from trapped charges overcomes the Casimir attraction, leaving no
room for exploitation of Casimir force engineering at ambient conditions. Here
we show that, in the presence of a conductive oxide, the Casimir force can be
the dominant interaction even in air, and that the use of conductive oxides
allows one to reduce the Casimir force up to a factor of 2 when compared to
noble metals.Comment: modified version, accepted for publication in Phys Rev Let
No anomalous scaling in electrostatic calibrations for Casimir force measurements
In a recent paper (Phys.Rev.A78, 020101(R) (2008)), Kim at al. have reported
a large anomaly in the scaling law of the electrostatic interaction between a
sphere and a plate, which was observed during the calibration of their Casimir
force set-up. Here we experimentally demonstrate that in proper electrostatic
calibrations the scaling law follows the behavior expected from elementary
electrostatic arguments, even when the electrostatic voltage that one must
apply to minimize the force (typically ascribed to contact potentials) depends
on the separation between the surfaces.Comment: Final versio
Fiber-top atomic force microscope
We present the implementation of an atomic force microscope (AFM) based on fiber-top design. Our results demonstrate that the performances of fiber-top AFMs in contact mode are comparable to those of similar commercially available instruments. Our device thus represents an interesting\ud
alternative to existing AFMs, particularly for applications outside specialized research laboratories, where a compact, user-friendly, and versatile tool might often be preferred
Interplay between antiferromagnetic order and spin polarization in ferromagnetic metal/electron-doped cuprate superconductor junctions
Recently we proposed a theory of point-contact spectroscopy and argued that
the splitting of zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in electron-doped cuprate
superconductor point-contact spectroscopy is due to the coexistence of
antiferromagnetic (AF) and d-wave superconducting orders [Phys. Rev. B {\bf
76}, 220504(R) (2007)]. Here we extend the theory to study the tunneling in the
ferromagnetic metal/electron-doped cuprate superconductor (FM/EDSC) junctions.
In addition to the AF order, the effects of spin polarization, Fermi-wave
vector mismatch (FWM) between the FM and EDSC regions, and effective barrier
are investigated. It is shown that there exits midgap surface state (MSS)
contribution to the conductance to which Andreev reflections are largely
modified due to the interplay between the exchange field of ferromagnetic metal
and the AF order in EDSC. Low-energy anomalous conductance enhancement can
occur which could further test the existence of AF order in EDSC. Finally, we
propose a more accurate formula in determining the spin polarization value in
combination with the point-contact conductance data.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Re-assessment of the new geological map of Belgium: earliest Oligocene dinoflagellate cyst-based ages in the Leuven area (sheet 24 Aarschot)
The dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblages of two samples from a temporary outcrop in the vicinity of Haacht (Leuven) have been analysed. The co-occurrence of Areosphaeridium diktyoplokum, Cerebrocysta bartonensis, Glaphyrocysta semitecta, Rombodinium perforatum and Thalassiphora reticulata allows correlation with the North Sea Oligocene-1 zone. As a consequence, the considered unit has a latest Eocene to earliest Oligocene age, equivalent to the age of the marine Tongrian. Comparison of the studied area with the recent 1:50 000 geological map (sheet 24 Aarschot) shows that the current lithostratigraphic interpretation of the analysed section, i.e. the Middle Eocene Maldegem Formation, can no longer be uphold
High-Q nested resonator in an actively stabilized optomechanical cavity
Experiments involving micro- and nanomechanical resonators need to be
carefully designed to reduce mechanical environmental noise. A small scale
on-chip approach is to add an additional resonator to the system as a
mechanical low-pass filter. Unfortunately, the inherent low frequency of the
low-pass filter causes the system to be easily excited mechanically. Fixating
the additional resonator ensures that the resonator itself can not be excited
by the environment. This, however, negates the purpose of the low-pass filter.
We solve this apparent paradox by applying active feedback to the resonator,
thereby minimizing the motion with respect the front mirror of an
optomechanical cavity. Not only does this method actively stabilize the cavity
length, but it also retains the on-chip vibration isolation.Comment: Minor adjustments mad
Development of a high-sensitivity torsion balance to investigate the thermal Casimir force
We report development of a high-sensitivity torsion balance to measure the
thermal Casimir force. Special emphasis is placed on experimental
investigations of a possible surface electric force originating from surface
patch potentials that have been recently noticed by several experimental
groups. By gaining a proper understanding of the actual contribution of the
surface electric force in real materials, we aim to undertake precision force
measurements to resolve the Casimir force at finite temperature in real metals,
as well as in other semiconducting materials, such as graphene.Comment: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference "Quantum Field
Theory Under the Influence of External Conditions"; 11 pages and 4 figure
Continuous flushing of the bladder in rodents reduces artifacts and improves quantification in molecular imaging
In this study, we evaluated the partial volume effect (PVE) of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG) tracer accumulation in the bladder on the positron emission tomographic (PET) image quantification in mice and rats suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. To improve the accuracy, we implemented continuous bladder flushing procedures. Female mice and rats were scanned using microPET/computed tomography (CT) at baseline and after induction of acute colitis by injecting 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) intrarectally. During the scans, the bladder was continuously flushed in one group, whereas in the other group, no bladder flushing was performed. As a means of in vivo and ex vivo validation of the inflammation, animals also underwent colonoscopy and were sacrificed for gamma counting (subpopulation) and to score the colonic damage both micro- and macroscopically as well as biochemically. At baseline, the microPET signal in the colon of both mice and rats was significantly higher in the nonflushed group compared to the flushed group, caused by the PVE of tracer activity in the bladder. Hence, the colonoscopy and postmortem analyses showed no significant differences at baseline between the flushed and nonflushed animals. TNBS induced significant colonic inflammation, as revealed by colonoscopic and postmortem scores, which was not detected by microPET in the mice without bladder flushing, again because of spillover of bladder activity in the colonic area. MicroPET in bladder-flushed animals did reveal a significant increase in 18F-FDG uptake. Correlations between microPET and colonoscopy, macroscopy, microscopy, and myeloperoxidase yielded higher Spearman rho values in mice with continuously flushed bladders during imaging. Comparable, although somewhat less pronounced, results were shown in the rat. Continuous bladder flushing reduced image artifacts and is mandatory for accurate image quantification in the pelvic region for both mice and rats. We designed and validated experimental protocols to facilitate such.Steven Deleye, Marthe Heylen, Annemie Deiteren, Joris De Man, Sigrid Stroobants, Benedicte De Winter, and Steven Staelen
- …