Mössbauer Spectrometry Study of Thermally-Activated Electronic Processes in Li_xFePO_4

The solid solution phase of Li_xFePO_4 with different Li concentrations, x, was investigated by Mössbauer spectrometry at temperatures between 25 and 210 °C. The Mössbauer spectra show a temperature dependence of their isomer shifts (E_(IS)) and electric quadrupole splittings (E_Q), typical of thermally activated, electronic relaxation processes involving ^(57)Fe ions. The activation energies for the fluctuations of E_Q and E_(IS) for Fe^(3+) are nearly the same, 570 ± 9 meV, suggesting that both originate from charge hopping. For the Fe^(2+) components of the spectra, the fluctuations of E_Q occurred at lower temperatures than the fluctuations of E_(IS), with an activation energy of 512 ± 12 meV for E_Q and one of 551 ± 7 meV for E_(IS). The more facile fluctuations of E_Q for Fe^(2+) are evidence for local motions of neighboring Li^+ ions. It appears that the electron hopping frequency is lower than that of Li^+ ions. The activation energies of relaxation did not have a measurable dependence on the concentration of lithium, x

Experimental investigation on thermal comfort model between local thermal sensation and overall thermal sensation

To study the human local and overall thermal sensations, a series of experiments under various conditions were carried out in a climate control chamber. The adopted analysis method considered the effect of the weight coefficient of local average skin temperature and density of the cold receptors’ distribution in different local body areas. The results demonstrated that the thermal sensation of head, chest, back and hands is warmer than overall thermal sensation. The mean thermal sensation votes of those local areas were more densely distributed. In addition, the thermal sensation of arms, tight and calf was colder than the overall thermal sensation, which pronounced that thermal sensation votes were more dispersed. The thermal sensation of chest and back had a strong linear correlation with overall thermal sensation. Considering the actual scope of air-conditioning regulation, the human body was classified into three local parts: a) head, b) upper part of body and c) lower part of body. The prediction model of both the three-part thermal sensation and overall thermal sensation was developed. Weight coefficients were 0.21, 0.60 and 0.19 respectively. The model provides scientist basis for guiding the sage installation place of the personal ventilation system to achieve efficient energy use

Non-equilibrium spatial distribution of Rashba spin torque in ferromagnetic metal layer

We study the spatial distribution of spin torque induced by a strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) in a ferromagnetic (FM) metal layer, using the Keldysh non-equilibrium Green's function method. In the presence of the s-d interaction between the non-equilibrium conduction electrons and the local magnetic moments, the RSOC effect induces a torque on the moments, which we term as the Rashba spin torque. A correlation between the Rashba spin torque and the spatial spin current is presented in this work, clearly mapping the spatial distribution of Rashba Spin torque in a nano-sized ferromagnetic device. When local magnetism is turned on, the out-of-plane (Sz) Spin Hall effect (SHE) is disrupted, but rather unexpectedly an in-plane (Sy) SHE is detected. We also study the effect of Rashba strength (\alpha_R) and splitting exchange (\Delta) on the non-equilibrium Rashba spin torque averaged over the device. Rashba spin torque allows an efficient transfer of spin momentum such that a typical switching field of 20 mT can be attained with a low current density of less than 10^6 A/cm^2

Carrier and polarization dynamics in monolayer MoS2

In monolayer MoS2 optical transitions across the direct bandgap are governed by chiral selection rules, allowing optical valley initialization. In time resolved photoluminescence (PL) experiments we find that both the polarization and emission dynamics do not change from 4K to 300K within our time resolution. We measure a high polarization and show that under pulsed excitation the emission polarization significantly decreases with increasing laser power. We find a fast exciton emission decay time on the order of 4ps. The absence of a clear PL polarization decay within our time resolution suggests that the initially injected polarization dominates the steady state PL polarization. The observed decrease of the initial polarization with increasing pump photon energy hints at a possible ultrafast intervalley relaxation beyond the experimental ps time resolution. By compensating the temperature induced change in bandgap energy with the excitation laser energy an emission polarization of 40% is recovered at 300K, close to the maximum emission polarization for this sample at 4K.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures including supplementary materia

Effects of light and soil flooding on the growth and photosynthesis of ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) seedlings in Malaysia

We studied the ecophysiology of ramin (Gonystylus bancanus) seedlings in an experimental set up at the Forest Research Centre in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Ramin seedlings were grown on flooded and drained peat soil under 100, 76, 46 and 23% sunlight, thus simulating effects of different light conditions (canopy gap size) and drainage that occur in natural ramin populations. Seedling growth was highest in partial sunlight (76%) and reduced with reducing light levels. Aboveground productivity and fine root development were significantly higher in seedlings grown on flooded soil compared with those on drained soil. In contrast, investment in coarse root biomass was significantly higher in seedlings grown on drained soil. It appeared that the aboveground growth benefits in flooded conditions were the result of more advantageous conditions for allocation of carbon to leaves, thus enhancing overall relative growth rates through higher light interception rates despite lower photosynthetic capacity. The results of this experiment suggested that drainage of peat swamp forests would seriously hamper natural regeneration of ramin by limiting the growth of seedlings. It is also suggested that selective logging operations which produce medium-size canopy gaps improve ramin regeneration in hydrologically undisturbed mixed swamp forest