Josephson (001) tilt grain boundary junctions of high temperature superconductors

We calculate the critical current $I_c$ across in-plane (001) tilt grain boundary junctions of high temperature superconductors. We solve for the electronic states corresponding to the electron-doped cuprates, two slightly different hole-doped cuprates, and an extremely underdoped hole-doped cuprate in each half-space, and weakly connect the two half-spaces by either specular or random quasiparticle tunneling. We treat symmetric, straight, and fully asymmetric junctions with s-, extended-s-, or d$_{x^2-y^2}$-wave order parameters. For symmetric junctions with random grain boundary tunneling, our results are generally in agreement with the Sigrist-Rice form for ideal junctions that has been used to interpret ``phase-sensitive'' experiments consisting of such in-plane grain boundary junctions. For specular grain boundary tunneling across symmetric juncitons, our results depend upon the Fermi surface topology, but are usually rather consistent with the random facet model of Tsuei {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 73}, 593 (1994)]. Our results for asymmetric junctions of electron-doped cuparates are in agreement with the Sigrist-Rice form. However, ou resutls for asymmetric junctions of hole-doped cuprates show that the details of the Fermi surface topology and of the tunneling processes are both very important, so that the ``phase-sensitive'' experiments based upon the in-plane Josephson junctions are less definitive than has generally been thought.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, resubmitted to PR

Isotropic and Anisotropic Regimes of the Field-Dependent Spin Dynamics in Sr2IrO4: Raman Scattering Studies

A major focus of experimental interest in Sr2IrO4 has been to clarify how the magnetic excitations of this strongly spin-orbit coupled system differ from the predictions of anisotropic 2D spin-1/2 Heisenberg model and to explore the extent to which strong spin-orbit coupling affects the magnetic properties of iridates. Here, we present a high-resolution inelastic light (Raman) scattering study of the low energy magnetic excitation spectrum of Sr2IrO4 and doped Eu-doped Sr2IrO4 as functions of both temperature and applied magnetic field. We show that the high-field (H>1.5 T) in-plane spin dynamics of Sr2IrO4 are isotropic and governed by the interplay between the applied field and the small in-plane ferromagnetic spin components induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. However, the spin dynamics of Sr2IrO4 at lower fields (H<1.5 T) exhibit important effects associated with interlayer coupling and in-plane anisotropy, including a spin-flop transition at Hc in Sr2IrO4 that occurs either discontinuously or via a continuous rotation of the spins, depending upon the in-plane orientation of the applied field. These results show that in-plane anisotropy and interlayer coupling effects play important roles in the low-field magnetic and dynamical properties of Sr2IrO4.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitte

Structural contributions to the pressure-tuned charge-density-wave to superconductor transition in ZrTe3: Raman scattering studies

Superconductivity evolves as functions of pressure or doping from charge-ordered phases in a variety of strongly correlated systems, suggesting that there may be universal characteristics associated with the competition between superconductivity and charge order in these materials. We present an inelastic light (Raman) scattering study of the structural changes that precede the pressure-tuned charge-density-wave (CDW) to superconductor transition in one such system, ZrTe3. In certain phonon bands, we observe dramatic linewidth reductions that accompany CDW formation, indicating that these phonons couple strongly to the electronic degrees of freedom associated with the CDW. The same phonon bands, which represent internal vibrations of ZrTe3 prismatic chains, are suppressed at pressures above ~10 kbar, indicating a loss of long-range order within the chains, specifically amongst intrachain Zr-Te bonds. These results suggest a distinct structural mechanism for the observed pressure-induced suppression of CDW formation and provide insights into the origin of pressure-induced superconductivity in ZrTe3.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Isotropic and Anisotropic Regimes of the Field-Dependent Spin Dynamics in Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e: Raman Scattering Studies

A major focus of experimental interest in Sr2IrO4 has been to clarify how the magnetic excitations of this strongly spin-orbit coupled system differ from the predictions of an isotropic 2D spin-1/2 Heisenberg model and to explore the extent to which strong spin-orbit coupling affects the magnetic properties of iridates. Here, we present a high-resolution inelastic light (Raman) scattering study of the low-energy magnetic excitation spectrum of Sr2IrO4 and Eu-doped Sr2IrO4 as functions of both temperature and applied magnetic field. We show that the high-field (H \u3e 1.5 T) in-plane spin dynamics of Sr2IrO4 are isotropic and governed by the interplay between the applied field and the small in-plane ferromagnetic spin components induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. However, the spin dynamics of Sr2IrO4 at lower fields (H \u3c 1.5 T) exhibit important effects associated with interlayer coupling and in-plane anisotropy, including a spin-flop transition at Hc in Sr2IrO4 that occurs either discontinuously or via a continuous rotation of the spins, depending on the in-plane orientation of the applied field. These results show that in-plane anisotropy and interlayer coupling effects play important roles in the low-field magnetic and dynamical properties of Sr2IrO4

Gaussian Tunneling Model of c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions

We calculate the critical current density $J^J_c$ for c-axis Josephson tunneling between identical high temperature superconductors twisted an angle $\phi_0$ about the c-axis. We model the tunneling matrix element squared as a Gaussian in the change of wavevector q parallel to the junction, $<|t({\bf q})|^2>\propto\exp(-{\bf q}^2a^2/2\pi^2\sigma^2)$. The $J^J_c(\phi_0)/J^J_c(0)$ obtained for the s- and extended-s-wave order parameters (OP's) are consistent with the Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ data of Li {\it et al.}, but only for strongly incoherent tunneling, $\sigma^2\ge0.25$. A $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave OP is always inconsistent with the data. In addition, we show that the apparent conventional sum rule violation observed by Basov et al. might be understandable in terms of incoherent c-axis tunneling, provided that the OP is not $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC

The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix

Spintronics: Fundamentals and applications

Spintronics, or spin electronics, involves the study of active control and manipulation of spin degrees of freedom in solid-state systems. This article reviews the current status of this subject, including both recent advances and well-established results. The primary focus is on the basic physical principles underlying the generation of carrier spin polarization, spin dynamics, and spin-polarized transport in semiconductors and metals. Spin transport differs from charge transport in that spin is a nonconserved quantity in solids due to spin-orbit and hyperfine coupling. The authors discuss in detail spin decoherence mechanisms in metals and semiconductors. Various theories of spin injection and spin-polarized transport are applied to hybrid structures relevant to spin-based devices and fundamental studies of materials properties. Experimental work is reviewed with the emphasis on projected applications, in which external electric and magnetic fields and illumination by light will be used to control spin and charge dynamics to create new functionalities not feasible or ineffective with conventional electronics.Comment: invited review, 36 figures, 900+ references; minor stylistic changes from the published versio

Satellite Data-Based Phenological Evaluation of the Nationwide Reforestation of South Korea

Through the past 60 years, forests, now of various age classes, have been established in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula through nationwide efforts to reestablish forests since the Korean War (1950-53), during which more than 65% of the nation&apos;s forest was destroyed. Careful evaluation of long-term changes in vegetation growth after reforestation is one of the essential steps to ensuring sustainable forest management. This study investigated nationwide variations in vegetation phenology using satellite-based growing season estimates for 1982-2008. The start of the growing season calculated from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) agrees reasonably with the ground-observed first flowering date both temporally (correlation coefficient, r = 0.54) and spatially (r = 0.64) at the 95% confidence level. Over the entire 27-year period, South Korea, on average, experienced a lengthening of the growing season of 4.5 days decade(-1), perhaps due to recent global warming. The lengthening of the growing season is attributed mostly to delays in the end of the growing season. The retrieved nationwide growing season data were used to compare the spatial variations in forest biomass carbon density with the time-averaged growing season length for 61 forests. Relatively higher forest biomass carbon density was observed over the regions having a longer growing season, especially for the regions dominated by young (&lt;30 year) forests. These results imply that a lengthening of the growing season related to the ongoing global warming may have positive impacts on carbon sequestration, an important aspect of large-scale forest management for sustainable development.open2