Sign Changes of Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect in Semiconductors and Simple Metals: First-Principles Calculations

First-principles calculations are applied to study spin Hall effect in semiconductors and simple metals. We found that intrinsic spin Hall conductivity (ISHC) in realistic materials shows rich sign changes, which may be used to distinguish the effect from the extrinsic one. The calculated ISHC in n-doped GaAs can be well compared with experiment, and it differs from the sign obtained from the extrinsic effect. On the other hand, the ISHC in W and Au, which shows opposite sign respectively, is robust and not sensitive to the disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Robust H∞ filter design with variance constraints and parabolic pole assignment

Copyright [2006] IEEE. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Such permission of the IEEE does not in any way imply IEEE endorsement of any of Brunel University's products or services. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by writing to [email protected]. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.In this letter, we consider a multiobjective filtering problem for uncertain linear continuous time-invariant systems subject to error variance constraints. A linear filter is used to estimate a linear combination of the system states. The problem addressed is the design of a filter such that, for all admissible parameter uncertainties, the following three objectives are simultaneously achieved: 1) the filtering process is P-stable, i.e., the poles of the filtering matrix are located inside a parabolic region; 2) the steady-state variance of the estimation error of each state is not more than the individual prespecified value; and 3) the transfer function from exogenous noise inputs to error state outputs meets the prespecified H∞ norm upper-bound constraint. An effective algebraic matrix inequality approach is developed to derive both the existence conditions and the explicit expression of the desired filters. An illustrative example is used to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed design approach

Abundance of moderate-redshift clusters in the Cold + Hot dark matter model

Using a set of \pppm simulation which accurately treats the density evolution of two components of dark matter, we study the evolution of clusters in the Cold + Hot dark matter (CHDM) model. The mass function, the velocity dispersion function and the temperature function of clusters are calculated for four different epochs of $z\le 0.5$. We also use the simulation data to test the Press-Schechter expression of the halo abundance as a function of the velocity dispersion $\sigma_v$. The model predictions are in good agreement with the observational data of local cluster abundances ($z=0$). We also tentatively compare the model with the Gunn and his collaborators' observation of rich clusters at $z\approx 0.8$ and with the x-ray luminous clusters at $z\approx 0.5$ of the {\it Einstein} Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey. The important feature of the model is the rapid formation of clusters in the near past: the abundances of clusters of \sigma_v\ge 700\kms and of \sigma_v\ge 1200 \kms at $z=0.5$ are only 1/4 and 1/10 respectively of the present values ($z=0$). Ongoing ROSAT and AXAF surveys of distant clusters will provide sensitive tests to the model. The abundance of clusters at $z\approx 0.5$ would also be a good discriminator between the CHDM model and a low-density flat CDM model both of which show very similar clustering properties at $z=0$.Comment: 21 pages + 6 figures (uuencoded version of the PS files), Steward Preprints No. 118

Diamond turning of soft semiconductors to obtain nanometric mirror surfaces

Diamond cutting is a viable alternative to grinding and polishing in the fabrication of high-quality soft semiconductors. Investigation of indentation provides useful information for understanding the practical diamond cutting process of brittle materials. Cutting forces and temperatures were analysed using a Kistler dynamometer and an infrared technique. A zero rake angle cutting tool was found to be most efficient, partly because the effective rake is really a strong negative rake brought about by the peculiar configuration of very low feeds and depths of cut. This is explained by means of the comparison of the force distribution between conventional turning and ultraprecision machining. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the surfaces. Zinc sulfide gave subnanometric surfaces (0.88 m) and zinc selenide gave Ra values of 2.91 nm

Field study on adaptive thermal comfort in typical air conditioned classrooms

This study investigates adaptive thermal comfort in air conditioned classrooms in Hong Kong. A field survey was conducted in several typical classrooms at the City University of Hong Kong. This survey covered objective measurement of thermal environment parameters and subjective human thermal responses. A total of 982 student volunteers participated in the investigation. The results indicate that students in light clothing (0.42 clo) have adapted to the cooler classroom environments. The neutral temperature is very close to the preferred temperature of approximately 24 °C. Based on the MTSV ranging between −0.5 and + 0.5, the comfort range is between 21.56 °C and 26.75 °C. The lower limit is below that of the ASHRAE standard. Of the predicted mean vote (PMV) and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) model, the UCB model predictions agree better with the mean thermal sensation vote (MTSV). Also, the respective fit regression models of the MTSV versus each of the following: operative temperature (Top), PMV, and UCB were obtained. This study provides a better understanding of acceptable classroom temperatures