30 research outputs found
Magnon transport and spin current switching through quantum dots
We study the nonequilibrium spin current through a quantum dot consisting of
two localized spin-1/2 coupled to two ferromagnetic insulators. The influence
of an intra-dot magnetic field and exchange coupling, different dot-reservoir
coupling configurations, and the influence of magnon chemical potential
differences vs. magnetic field gradients onto the spin current are examined. We
discuss various spin switching mechanisms and find that, in contrast to
electronic transport, the spin current is very sensitive to the specific
coupling configuration and band edges. In particular, we identify 1- and
2-magnon transport processes which can lead to resonances and antiresonances
for the spin current.Comment: 10 pages, 15 figure
Fine-structure processing, frequency selectivity and speech perception in hearing-impaired listeners
Effects of slow- and fast-acting compression on hearing impaired listenersâ consonant-vowel identification in interrupted noise
There is conflicting evidence about the relative benefit of slow- and fast-acting compression for speech intelligibility. It has been hypothesized that fast-acting compression improves audibility at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) but may distort the speech envelope at higher SNRs. The present study investigated the effects of compression with a nearly instantaneous attack time but either fast (10âms) or slow (500âms) release times on consonant identification in hearing-impaired listeners. Consonantâvowel speech tokens were presented at a range of presentation levels in two conditions: in the presence of interrupted noise and in quiet (with the compressor âshadow-controlledâ by the corresponding mixture of speech and noise). These conditions were chosen to disentangle the effects of consonant audibility and noise-induced forward masking on speech intelligibility. A small but systematic intelligibility benefit of fast-acting compression was found in both the quiet and the noisy conditions for the lower speech levels. No detrimental effects of fast-acting compression were observed when the speech level exceeded the level of the noise. These findings suggest that fast-acting compression provides an audibility benefit in fluctuating interferers when compared with slow-acting compression while not substantially affecting the perception of consonants at higher SNRs