2,141 research outputs found
Symmetry analysis of magneto-optical effects: The case of x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption at the transition metal L23 edge
A general symmetry analysis of the optical conductivity or scattering tensor
is used to rewrite the conductivity tensor as a sum of fundamental spectra
multiplied by simple functions depending on the local magnetization direction.
Using this formalism, we present several numerical examples at the transition
metal L23 edge. From these numerical calculations we can conclude that large
deviations from the magneto-optical effects in spherical symmetry are found.
These findings are in particular important for resonant x-ray diffraction
experiments where the polarization dependence and azimuthal dependence of the
scattered Bragg intensity is used to determine the local ordered magnetization
direction
Synchrotron radiation from a runaway electron distribution in tokamaks
The synchrotron radiation emitted by runaway electrons in a fusion plasma
provides information regarding the particle momenta and pitch-angles of the
runaway electron population through the strong dependence of the synchrotron
spectrum on these parameters. Information about the runaway density and its
spatial distribution, as well as the time evolution of the above quantities,
can also be deduced. In this paper we present the synchrotron radiation spectra
for typical avalanching runaway electron distributions. Spectra obtained for a
distribution of electrons are compared to the emission of mono-energetic
electrons with a prescribed pitch-angle. We also examine the effects of
magnetic field curvature and analyse the sensitivity of the resulting spectrum
to perturbations to the runaway distribution. The implications for the deduced
runaway electron parameters are discussed. We compare our calculations to
experimental data from DIII-D and estimate the maximum observed runaway energy.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures; updated author affiliations, fixed typos, added
a sentence at the end of section I
Effects of NR1 splicing on NR1/NR3B-type excitatory glycine receptors
BACKGROUND: N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are the most complex of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). Subunits of this subfamily assemble into heteromers, which – depending on the subunit combination – may display very different pharmacological and electrophysiological properties. The least studied members of the NMDAR family, the NR3 subunits, have been reported to assemble with NR1 to form excitatory glycine receptors in heterologous expression systems. The heterogeneity of NMDARs in vivo is in part conferred to the receptors by splicing of the NR1 subunit, especially with regard to proton sensitivity. RESULTS: Here, we have investigated whether the NR3B subunit is capable of assembly with each of the eight functional NR1 splice variants, and whether the resulting receptors share the unique functional properties described for NR1-1a/NR3. We provide evidence that functional excitatory glycine receptors formed regardless of the NR1 isoform, and their pharmacological profile matched the one reported for NR1-1a/NR3: glycine alone fully activated the receptors, which were insensitive to glutamate and block by Mg(2+). Surprisingly, amplitudes of agonist-induced currents showed little dependency on the C-terminally spliced NR1 variants in NR1/NR3B diheteromers. Even more strikingly, NR3B conferred proton sensitivity also to receptors containing NR1b variants – possibly via disturbing the "proton shield" of NR1b splice variants. CONCLUSION: While functional assembly could be demonstrated for all combinations, not all of the specific interactions seen for NR1 isoforms with coexpressed NR2 subunits could be corroborated for NR1 assembly with NR3. Rather, NR3 abates trafficking effects mediated by the NR1 C terminus as well as the N-terminally mediated proton insensitivity. Thus, this study establishes that NR3B overrides important NR1 splice variant-specific receptor properties in NR1/NR3B excitatory glycine receptors
Electronic and magnetic properties of the kagome systems YBaCo4O7 and YBaCo3MO7 (M=Al, Fe)
We present a combined experimental and theoretical x-ray absorption
spectroscopy (XAS) study of the new class of cobaltates YBaCo4O7 and YBaCo3MO7
(M= Al, Fe). The focus is on the local electronic and magnetic properties of
the transition metal ions in these geometrically frustrated kagome compounds.
For the mixed valence cobaltate YBaCo4O7, both the Co2+ and Co3+ are found to
be in the high spin state. The stability of these high spin states in
tetrahedral coordination is compared with those in the more studied case of
octahedral coordination. For the new compound YBaCo3FeO7, we find exclusively
Co2+ and Fe3+ as charge states
Correlation effects in CaCu3Ru4O12
We have investigated the electronic structure of CaCu3Ru4O12 and LaCu3Ru4O12
using soft x-ray photoelectron and absorption spectroscopy together with band
structure and cluster configuration interaction calculations. We found the Cu
to be in a robust divalent ionic state while the Ru is more itinerant in
character and stabilizes the metallic state. Substitution of Ca by La
predominantly affects the Ru states. We observed strong correlation effects in
the Cu 3d states affecting the valence band line shape considerably. Using
resonant photoelectron spectroscopy at the Cu L3 edge we were able to unveil
the position of the Zhang-Rice singlet states in the one-electron removal
spectrum of the Cu with respect to the Ru-derived metallic bands in the
vicinity of the chemical potential
Laser scanning microscopy of guided vortex flow in microstructured high-Tc films
We report the visualization of guidance of vortices by artificial microholes (antidots) in superconducting thin films using a low-temperature laser scanning microscope. Previously, guided motion of vortices via tilted rows of antidots in YBa2Cu3O7 films was detected indirectly by using resistive Hall-type measurements. Here we prove that vortices are steered between antidots into a priori chosen direction by imaging of resistive photoresponse with a spatial resolution down to about 1 mu m. We observe predominant paths for vortex motion. Vortices are nucleated and annihilated at antidots, i.e., antidots define starting and ending points of predominant vortex paths. Depending on the misorientation angle between rows of antidots and the current-driven direction of vortex motion, different channels dominate in antidot-guided vortex motion. Our experimental results can be explained by the n-channel model. Finally, we present direct measurements of the local critical currents. This technique can be used as a quantitative method for the analysis of vortex motion in micropatterned thin films. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics
A model for ultrasound modulated light in a turbid medium
The ability to focus light in most tissue degrades quickly with depth due to high optical scattering. Researchers have investigated using both ultrasound (US) and light synergistically to overcome this difficulty. Ultrasound has been utilized to modulated light within tissue to create a diffusive wave at that is modulated at the US frequency. Recently, there has been interest in the modulated sidebands which reside at optical frequency plus or minus the US frequency. This paper will discuss a model for US-light interactions in a scattering medium. We will use this model to relate the radiance in the probe beam to the radiance in the diffusive wave. We will then employ the P-1 approximation to the radiative transport equation to find the fluence and flux of the modulated wave. We will use these parameters to write a diffusion equation for the modulated wave that can be described in terms of the incoming optical power, and the US intensity and geometry
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