8,400 research outputs found
Ultrasensitive and Wide-Bandwidth Thermal Measurements of Graphene at Low Temperatures
Graphene is a material with remarkable electronic properties[1] and exceptional thermal transport
properties near room temperature, which have been well examined and understood[2, 3].
However at very low temperatures the thermodynamic and thermal transport properties are much
less well explored[4, 5] and somewhat surprisingly, is expected to exhibit extreme thermal isolation.
Here we demonstrate an ultra-sensitive, wide-bandwidth measurement scheme to probe the
thermal transport and thermodynamic properties of the electron gas of graphene. We employ
Johnson noise thermometry at microwave frequency to sensitively measure the temperature of the
electron gas with resolution of 4mK/√Hz and a bandwidth of 80 MHz. We have measured the
electron-phonon coupling from 2-30 K at a charge density of 2 •10^(11)cm^(-2). Utilizing bolometric
mixing, we have sensed temperature oscillations with period of 430 ps and have determined the
heat capacity of the electron gas to be 2 • 10^(-21)J/(K •µm^2) at 5 K which is consistent with that
of a two dimensional, Dirac electron gas. These measurements suggest that graphene-based devices
together with wide bandwidth noise thermometry can generate substantial advances in the
areas of ultra-sensitive bolometry[6], calorimetry[7], microwave and terahertz photo-detection[8],
and bolometric mixing for applications in areas such as observational astronomy[9] and quantum
information and measurement[10]
Leptogenesis from Soft Supersymmetry Breaking (Soft Leptogenesis)
Soft leptogenesis is a scenario in which the cosmic baryon asymmetry is
produced from a lepton asymmetry generated in the decays of heavy sneutrinos
(the partners of the singlet neutrinos of the seesaw) and where the relevant
sources of CP violation are the complex phases of soft supersymmetry-breaking
terms. We explain the motivations for soft leptogenesis, and review its basic
ingredients: the different CP-violating contributions, the crucial role played
by thermal corrections, and the enhancement of the efficiency from lepton
flavour effects. We also discuss the high temperature regime GeV in
which the cosmic baryon asymmetry originates from an initial asymmetry of an
anomalous -charge, and soft leptogenesis reembodies in -genesis.Comment: References updated. Some minor corrections to match the published
versio
Observation of Pure Spin Transport in a Diamond Spin Wire
Spin transport electronics - spintronics - focuses on utilizing electron spin
as a state variable for quantum and classical information processing and
storage. Some insulating materials, such as diamond, offer defect centers whose
associated spins are well-isolated from their environment giving them long
coherence times; however, spin interactions are important for transport,
entanglement, and read-out. Here, we report direct measurement of pure spin
transport - free of any charge motion - within a nanoscale quasi 1D 'spin
wire', and find a spin diffusion length ~ 700 nm. We exploit the statistical
fluctuations of a small number of spins ( < 100 net spins) which are
in thermal equilibrium and have no imposed polarization gradient. The spin
transport proceeds by means of magnetic dipole interactions that induce
flip-flop transitions, a mechanism that can enable highly efficient, even
reversible, pure spin currents. To further study the dynamics within the spin
wire, we implement a magnetic resonance protocol that improves spatial
resolution and provides nanoscale spectroscopic information which confirms the
observed spin transport. This spectroscopic tool opens a potential route for
spatially encoding spin information in long-lived nuclear spin states. Our
measurements probe intrinsic spin dynamics at the nanometre scale, providing
detailed insight needed for practical devices which seek to control spin.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, under consideration at Nature Nanotechnolog
Radar systems for the water resources mission. Volume 4: Appendices E-I
The use of a scanning antenna beam for a synthetic aperture system was examined. When the resolution required was modest, the radar did not use all the time the beam was passing a given point on the ground to build a synthetic aperture, so time was available to scan the beam to other positions and build several images at different ranges. The scanning synthetic-aperture radar (SCANSAR) could achieve swathwidths of well over 100 km with modest antenna size. Design considerations for a SCANSAR for hydrologic parameter observation are presented. Because of the high sensitivity to soil moisture at angles of incidence near vertical, a 7 to 22 deg swath was considered for that application. For snow and ice monitoring, a 22 to 37 deg scan was used. Frequencies from X-band to L-band were used in the design studies, but the proposed system operated in C-band at 4.75 GHz. It achieved an azimuth resolution of about 50 meters at all angles, with a range resolution varying from 150 meters at 7 deg to 31 meters at 37 deg. The antenna required an aperture of 3 x 4.16 meters, and the average transmitter power was under 2 watts
Radar systems for the water resources mission, volume 1
The state of the art determination was made for radar measurement of: soil moisture, snow, standing and flowing water, lake and river ice, determination of required spacecraft radar parameters, study of synthetic-aperture radar systems to meet these parametric requirements, and study of techniques for on-board processing of the radar data. Significant new concepts developed include the following: scanning synthetic-aperture radar to achieve wide-swath coverage; single-sideband radar; and comb-filter range-sequential, range-offset SAR processing. The state of the art in radar measurement of water resources parameters is outlined. The feasibility for immediate development of a spacecraft water resources SAR was established. Numerous candidates for the on-board processor were examined
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