Four-terminal magneto-transport in graphene p-n junctions created by spatially selective doping

In this paper we describe a graphene p-n junction created by chemical doping. We find that chemical doping does not reduce mobility in contrast to top-gating. The preparation technique has been developed from systematic studies about influences on the initial doping of freshly prepared graphene. We investigated the removal of adsorbates by vacuum treatment, annealing and compensation doping using NH3. Hysteretic behavior is observed in the electric field effect due to dipolar adsorbates like water and NH3. Finally we demonstrate spatially selective doping of graphene using patterned PMMA. 4-terminal transport measurements of the p-n devices reveal edge channel mixing in the quantum hall regime. Quantized resistances of h/e^2, h/3e^2 and h/15e^2 can be observed as expected from theory.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Three-Dimensional Au Microlattices as Positive Electrodes for Li–O_2 Batteries

We demonstrate the feasibility of using a 3-dimensional gold microlattice with a periodic porous structure and independently tunable surface composition as a Li–O_2 battery cathode. The structure provides a platform for studying electrochemical reactions in architected Li–O_2 electrodes with large (300 μm) pore sizes. The lack of carbon and chemical binders in these Au microlattices enabled the investigation of chemical and morphological processes that occur on the surfaces of the microlattice during cycling. Li–O_2 cells with Au microlattice cathodes were discharged in 0.5 M lithium-bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonamide (LiTFSI) in a 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) electrolyte, with lithium metal foil as the anode. SEM analysis of microlattice cathodes after first discharge revealed the presence of toroidal-shaped 500–700 nm particles covering the surface of the electrode, which disappeared upon subsequent charging. Raman and FTIR spectroscopy analysis determined these particulates to be Li_2O_2. The morphology of discharge products evolved with cycling into micrometer-sized clusters of arranged “platelets”, with a higher amount of side reaction products such as Li_2CO_3 and LiOH. This work shows that properly designed 3-dimensional architected materials may provide a useful foundation for investigating fundamental surface electrochemistry while simultaneously enabling mechanical robustness and enhancing the surface area over a factor of 30 compared with a thin film with the same foot print

Research with real photons at the MAMI 1.6 GeV electron accelerator

The A2-CB Collaboration at Mainz is studying the structure of hadrons by meson photoproduction using unpolarised, linearly polarised and circularly polarised photons with energies up to 1.6 GeV. Photons are energy-tagged using the Glasgow-Mainz tagged photon spectrometer and a new high-energy end-point tagger which allows η’ reactions to be studied. Reaction products are detected in a ~4π detector consisting of the Crystal Ball detector and TAPS forward wall. Transverse or longitudinally polarised proton targets are available and new techniques have been developed to measure the polarisation of recoiling protons. These facilities have allowed an extensive programme of double-polarisation meson-photoproduction experiments to be carried out to search for so-called “missing baryon resonances” on proton and deuteron targets. Searches have also been carried out to investigate narrow resonances in the η-photoproduction channel at invariant masses around 1680 MeV. Coherent π0 production measurements have been used to estimate the neutron skin thickness in 208Pb. This paper presents selected highlights from the A2-CB collaboration research programme at MAMI

Measurements of 12C(→γ,pp) photon asymmetries for Eγ= 200–450 MeV

The 12C (→γ ,pp) reaction has been studied in the photon energy range 200-450 MeV at the Mainz microtron MAMI-C, where linearly polarised photons were energy-tagged using the Glasgow-Mainz Tagged Photon Spectrometer and protons were detected in the Crystal Ball detector. The photon asymmetry Σ has been measured over a wider Eγ range than previous measurements. The strongest asymmetries were found at low missing energies where direct emission of nucleon pairs is expected. Cuts on the difference in azimuthal angles of the two ejected protons increased the magnitude of the observed asymmetries. At low missing energies the Σ data exhibit a strong angular dependence, similar to deuteron photodisintegration

Stable Cytotoxic T Cell Escape Mutation in Hepatitis C Virus Is Linked to Maintenance of Viral Fitness

Mechanisms by which hepatitis C virus (HCV) evades cellular immunity to establish persistence in chronically infected individuals are not clear. Mutations in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted epitopes targeted by CD8+ T cells are associated with persistence, but the extent to which these mutations affect viral fitness is not fully understood. Previous work showed that the HCV quasispecies in a persistently infected chimpanzee accumulated multiple mutations in numerous class I epitopes over a period of 7 years. During the acute phase of infection, one representative epitope in the C-terminal region of the NS3/4A helicase, NS31629-1637, displayed multiple serial amino acid substitutions in major histocompatibility complex (MHC) anchor and T cell receptor (TCR) contact residues. Only one of these amino acid substitutions at position 9 (P9) of the epitope was stable in the quasispecies. We therefore assessed the effect of each mutation observed during in vivo infection on viral fitness and T cell responses using an HCV subgenomic replicon system and a recently developed in vitro infectious virus cell culture model. Mutation of a position 7 (P7) TCR-contact residue, I1635T, expectedly ablated the T cell response without affecting viral RNA replication or virion production. In contrast, two mutations at the P9 MHC-anchor residue abrogated antigen-specific T cell responses, but additionally decreased viral RNA replication and virion production. The first escape mutation, L1637P, detected in vivo only transiently at 3 mo after infection, decreased viral production, and reverted to the parental sequence in vitro. The second P9 variant, L1637S, which was stable in vivo through 7 years of follow-up, evaded the antigen-specific T cell response and did not revert in vitro despite being less optimal in virion production compared to the parental virus. These studies suggest that HCV escape mutants emerging early in infection are not necessarily stable, but are eventually replaced with variants that achieve a balance between immune evasion and fitness for replication

Photon asymmetry measurements of γ→ p→ π0p for Eγ= 320-650 MeV

High-statistics measurements of the photon asymmetry Σ for the γ→ p→ π0p reaction have been made in the center-of-mass energy range W= 1214 - 1450 MeV. The data were measured with the MAMI A2 real photon beam and Crystal Ball/TAPS detector systems in Mainz, Germany. The results significantly improve the existing world data and are shown to be in good agreement with previous measurements, and with the MAID, SAID, and Bonn-Gatchina predictions. We have also combined the photon asymmetry results with recent cross-section measurements from Mainz to calculate the profile functions, Σˇ (= σ0Σ) , and perform a moment analysis. Comparison with calculations from the Bonn-Gatchina model shows that the precision of the data is good enough to further constrain the higher partial waves, and there is an indication of interference between the very small F-waves and the N(1520) 3 / 2 - and N(1535) 1 / 2 - resonances

Elektronischer Transport in Graphen

In 2004 graphene, a monolayer of carbon atoms, has been isolated as the first real two-dimensional solid by the group of A. Geim at the University of Manchester. Graphene’s properties have been theoretically investigated since the 1950s. Until the successful preparation by Geim et al., graphene was suspected to be unstable under ambient conditions above 0 K (Mermin-Wagner theorem). Its two dimensionality and hexagonal lattice symmetry cause interesting novel properties and effects. At experimentally relevant energies, graphene has a linear band structure and charge carrier dynamics must be treated using Dirac’s equation. Therefore charge carriers in graphene are called “Dirac fermions”. Beside exotic effects like “Klein tunneling” an unconventional quantum Hall effect (QHE) can be observed with a Hall conductance quantized in units of 2e^2/h, 6e^2/h, 10e^2/h, 14e^2/h… . As a starting point for in-depth transport measurements the processing of graphene field effect transistors (GFETs) has been developed and optimized, based on the pioneering work by Novoselov et al.. The optimized process provides samples with carrier mobilities up to 16000 cm^2/Vs and a well defined Hall geometry. These samples are used to investigate external influences on the electronic properties of graphene. Among those influences molecular adsorbates are responsible for various effects of freshly prepared graphene samples e.g. an intrinsic p-doping, a mobility asymmetry of electrons and holes, the so called “minimal conductivity” and a field effect hysteresis at room temperature. In collaboration with the group of A. Yacoby (Harvard) density fluctuations in the vicinity of the Dirac point (“electron-hole puddles”) could be observed using a scanning single electron transistor (SSET). These fluctuations might be one reason for the “minimal conductivity” at vanishing average density. While molecular adsorbates are treated as long range Coulomb defects there are short range scatterers that localize Dirac fermions. They are created using electron beam irradiation and can be characterized by “weak localization”, “universal conductance fluctuations” and a metal-insulator transition. From the experiments regarding molecular adsorbates a process could be developed that allows the creation of graphene pn-junctions by chemical doping. These pn-junctions are investigated at high magnetic fields up to 12 T and low temperatures (QHE regime). Due to edge channel interaction at the p-n interface Hall resistances h/e^2, h/3e^2, h/15e^2 can be observed, which do not exist in pure graphene. In the final section the pn-junctions are further developed into ballistic pn-arrays which allow the analysis of tunnelling of charge carriers in graphene (“Klein tunneling”). For ballistic pn-arrays one observes a sqrt[4]-density dependence of the conductivity being characteristic for Dirac fermions