Realization of an ultra-flat silica surface with angstrom-scale average roughness using nonadiabatic optical near-field etching

We propose a new method of optical near-field etching where a nonadiabatic process is applied to a synthetic silica substrate using a continuum wave laser (λ=532 nm) with a Cl₂ gas source. Because the absorption band edge energy of Cl₂ is higher than the photon energy of the light source, we preclude the conventional adiabatic photochemical reaction. An optical near field, generated on the nanometrically rough substrate, induces the nonadiabatic chemical reaction to the Cl₂ molecules and thereby selectively etches away the roughness, leaving an ultra-flat synthetic silica surface with a minimum average surface roughness R _a of 1.37 Å.     

Si<Subscript>1−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ge<Subscript>x</Subscript>/Si(001) relaxed buffer layers grown by chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure

Relaxed step-graded buffer layers of Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) heterostructures with a low density of threading dislocations are grown through chemical vapor deposition at atmospheric pressure. The surface of the Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) (x ～ 25%) buffer layers is subjected to chemical mechanical polishing. As a result, the surface roughness of the layers is decreased to values comparable to the surface roughness of the Si(001) initial substrates. It is demonstrated that Si_1?xGe_x/Si(001) buffer layers with a low density of threading dislocations and a small surface roughness can be used as artificial substrates for growing SiGe/Si heterostructures of different types through molecular-beam epitaxy.     

Evolution of surface morphology during the growth of amorphous and polycrystalline silicon films

The evolution of the surface morphology of LPCVD poly-Si films (deposition temperature 620°C), a-Si films (deposition temperature 550°C) and poly-Si films, obtained by the crystallization of a-Si is investigated in the thickness range 40–500 nm. It is found that upon an increase in the thickness from 40 to 500 nm, the surface roughness (parameters S _q , S _z , S _v ) is increased for poly-Si, while in the case of a-Si and poly-Si obtained by crystallization a-Si, on the contrary, decreases. The correlation length (S _al ) increases for all three types of silicon films. Poly-Si films, obtained by the crystallization of a-Si, as compared to LPCVD poly-Si films have a significantly lower surface roughness, respectively, S _q two times less at a thickness of 40 nm and sixteen times less at 500 nm. In contrast to thick films, thin a-Si films (at thicknesses of less than 40 nm) have a granular structure, which is especially pronounced at an average thickness of about 20 nm and there is a maximum on the dependence of the roughness S _q on the thickness.     

Influence of the probe sizes on the parameters of the surface morphology of hemispherical-grain polysilicon films: Estimation via atomic-force microscopy

The influence of probe sizes on the basic surface-morphology parameters of hemispherical-grain polysilicon films which possess substantial surface roughness and non-Gaussian height distribution functions with appreciable negative skewness is studied. The dependences between the basic surface morphology parameters S _dr , S _q , S _al , S _z , S _v , S _p , and S _sk defined by the ISO 25178-2:2012 standard and the probe width-to-tip height (W/L) ratio are determined. It is ascertained that the relative increase S _dr in the surface area is most sensitive to the “degree of sharpness” (W/L ratio) and, on the contrary, the autocorrelation length S _al is least sensitive. Hemispherical-grain silicon films with considerable parameter S _dr can be employed as test samples in estimating the degree of sharpness of a probe.     

Quantifying Correlations via the Wigner-Yanase-Dyson Skew Information

In this paper, based on a discussion about the Wigner-Yanase-Dyson (WYD) skew information, the measure F_a,α(ρ_ab) for correlations in terms of the WYD skew information is introduced and discussed. The following conclusions are obtained. For a classical-quantum state ρ_ab, F_a,α(ρ_ab)=0 if and only if ρ_ab is a product state; F_a,α(ρ_ab) is locally unitary invariant and convex on the set of states with the fixed marginal ρ_a; F_a,α(ρ_ab) decreases under local random unitary operation on H_b; For a quantum-classical state ρ_ab, F_a,α(ρ_ab) decreases under local operation on H_b; Lastly, F_a,α(ρ_ab) is computed for the pure states and the Bell-diagonal states, respectively.     

Electrical resistivity and magnetotransport properties of La<Subscript>0.67</Subscript>Ba<Subscript>0.33</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> epitaxial films biaxially compressed by the substrate

The structure, electrical resistivity, and magnetoresistance of La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃(20 nm) films grown coherently on an La_0.3Sr_0.7Al_0.65Ta_0.35O₃(001) substrate with a lattice misfit of about 1% were studied. The rigid connection of the manganite layer with the bulk substrate brought about the unit cell distortion of the substrate (a _⊥/a _‖ = 1.02) and a decrease in the unit cell volume as compared to that of the corresponding bulk crystals (a _‖ and a _⊥ are the unit cell parameters measured in the substrate plane and along the surface normal, respectively). The temperature T _M ≈ 295 K, at which the electrical resistivity ρ of the (20 nm)La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ films reached a maximum, was 40–45 K lower than that for the corresponding bulk crystals. The negative magnetoresistance (MR ≈ ?0.25 for μ₀ H = 1 T) attained a peak value at T _MR ≈ 270 K. The response of ρ to a magnetic field depended substantially on the angle between the current flow in the film and the direction of the magnetic field.     

Magnetic structure of Er<Subscript>5</Subscript>Ge<Subscript>3</Subscript> at 4.2 K

A symmetry analysis of the possible magnetic structures of Er₅Ge₃ in the ground state is performed using the results of measurements of elastic magnetic neutron scattering at 4.2 K. It is shown that the minimum discrepancy factor R _m ≈9.5% corresponds to a modulated collinear magnetic structure in which the magnetic moments of erbium atoms are oriented along the a ₃ axis of the unit cell of the crystal structure and induce an antiferromagnetic longitudinal spin wave (AFLSW). The magnetic structure is characterized by the wave vector k=2π(0, 0, μ /a ₃) (where μ≈0.293) and the modulation period λ≈3.413a ₃. The magnetic ordering temperature T _N ≈38 K is determined from the temperature dependence of the intensity of magnetic reflections. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 45, No. 9, 2003, pp. 1653–1659. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2003 by Vokhmyanin, Dorofeev.     

Visualization of a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Topological Phase Transition in a Josephson Medium: Detection of an Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Magnetoresistance of YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7–δ</Subscript> Granular High-Temperature Superconductors

The density of states of the valence band of a p-GaAs layer formed on an n-GaAs surface owing to the bombardment by 2500-eV Ar⁺ ions has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy. A number of peaks have been detected in the spectrum of the edge of the valence band in the binding energy range E_V < 1.2eV. Their number and energy positions correspond to the quantum confinement levels calculated for a hole quantum well on the surface with the width about the ion penetration depth R_p = 3.6nm. Electronic transitions from these levels to the bottom of the conduction band have been revealed in the spectrum of characteristic energy losses of electrons reflected from the surface. Thus, it has been shown that the action of the argon ion beam on n-GaAs results in the formation of a quantum well on the surface.     

Probable Decay Modes at Limits of Nuclear Stability of the Superheavy Nuclei

The modes of decay for the even–even isotopes of superheavy nuclei of Z = 118 and 120 with neutron number 160 ≤ N ≤ 204 are investigated in the framework of the axially deformed relativistic mean field model. The asymmetry parameter η and the relative neutron–proton asymmetry of the surface to the center (R _η ) are estimated from the ground state density distributions of the nucleus. We analyze the resulting asymmetry parameter η and the relative neutron–proton asymmetry R _η of the density play a crucial role in the mode(s) of decay and its half-life. Moreover, the excess neutron richness on the surface, facets a superheavy nucleus for β^? decays.     

One-phonon Raman spectra of carbon in composite films prepared by modification of amorphous hydrogenated carbon by copper and cobalt

One-phonon visible-range Raman spectra of a-C: H〈Cu〉 and a-C: H〈Co〉 composite films with comparable metal and carbon contents were studied in the frequency region 1200–1700 cm^?1 including the carbon sp²-bond vibrations. Broad bands G and D characteristic of unmodified a-C: H films, as well as some additional features, are observed experimentally in the spectra. By unfolding the spectra into Gaussian components, it was possible to follow the variation of Raman shifts and of contributions of individual components to the spectrum as a function of metal content and thermal annealing. The data obtained, complemented by available information on carbon sp²-coordinated systems, show that incorporation of Cu or Co favors growth and ordering of graphite-like nanoclusters in a-C: H, the effect being substantially stronger in the case of Co. It is shown that the process of metal-stimulated graphitization includes carbon bond breaking with the formation of short chainlike fragments and their linkage with the formation of aromatic-ring nanoclusters. A qualitatively similar sp²-structure rearrangement takes place under thermal annealing. For the Cu and Co concentrations studied, the linear dimensions L _a of graphite-like clusters are estimated to vary from ～0.8 nm in unannealed a-C: H to ～1.0 and ～1.2 nm in annealed a-C: H〈Cu〉 and a-C: H〈Co〉, respectively. The number of aromatic rings in these clusters is approximately estimated to increase from 12 to 16 (for Cu) and 20 (for Co).     

Schur Polynomials and The Yang-Baxter Equation

We describe a parametrized Yang-Baxter equation with nonabelian parameter group. That is, we show that there is an injective map \({g \mapsto R (g)}\) from \({ \rm{GL}(2, \mathbb{C}) \times \rm{GL}(1, \mathbb{C})}\) to End \({(V \otimes V)}\) , where V is a two-dimensional vector space such that if \({g, h \in G}\) then R ₁₂(g)R ₁₃(gh) R ₂₃(h) = R ₂₃(h) R ₁₃(gh)R ₁₂(g). Here R _{i j} denotes R applied to the i, j components of \({V \otimes V \otimes V}\) . The image of this map consists of matrices whose nonzero coefficients a ₁, a ₂, b ₁, b ₂, c ₁, c ₂ are the Boltzmann weights for the non-field-free six-vertex model, constrained to satisfy a ₁ a ₂ + b ₁ b ₂ ? c ₁ c ₂ = 0. This is the exact center of the disordered regime, and is contained within the free fermionic eight-vertex models of Fan and Wu. As an application, we show that with boundary conditions corresponding to integer partitions λ, the six-vertex model is exactly solvable and equal to a Schur polynomial s _λ times a deformation of the Weyl denominator. This generalizes and gives a new proof of results of Tokuyama and Hamel and King.     

Charge transfer over localized states in a TlS single crystal

It is revealed that TlS single crystals exhibit a variable range hopping conduction along a normal to their natural layers at temperatures T ≤ 230 K in a dc electric field and a nonactivated hopping conduction at low temperatures in strong electric fields. Estimates are made for the density of states near the Fermi level (N _F = 2.8 × 10²⁰ eV^?1 cm^?3 and their energy spread (ΔW = 0.02 eV), the localization radius (a = 33 Å), the average jump distance in the region of activated (R _av(T) = 40 Å) and nonactivated (R _av(F) = 78 Å) hopping conduction, and also the drop in the charge carrier potential energy along the jump distance in an electric field F: eFR = 0.006 and 0.009 eV at F = 7.50 × 10³ and 1.25 × 10⁴ V/cm, respectively.     

A new look at the KLOE data on the decay <Emphasis Type="Italic">φ</Emphasis>→<Emphasis Type="Italic">ηπ</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>

We present an analysis of recent high-statistical KLOE data on φ → ηπ⁰γ decay. This decay mainly goes through the a₀γ intermediate state, which makes it possible to investigate properties of the a₀. It is shown that KLOE data prefer a higher a0 mass and a considerably larger a0 coupling to the K\(\bar K\) than those obtained in the analysis of the KLOE group.     

Propagation of Airy-Gaussian beams in a quadratic-index medium

The propagation properties of the Airy-Gaussian beams are introduced in a quadratic-indexmedium analytically and numerically. The linear momentum, the beam width, the beam centerof the Airy-Gaussian beam are analyzed. The Airy-Gaussian beam shape and curvature repeatsitself at intervals proportional to \hbox{$1/\sqrt{az_{R}}$}1/azRdue to the potential barrier. The bend (the transversely acceleration) and the periodicityof the Airy-Gaussian beam depend on the parameters χ ₀ anda z _R .     

Magnetoresistance hysteresis in granular HTSCs as a manifestation of the magnetic flux trapped by superconducting grains in YBCO + CuO composites

Hysterestic behavior of the magnetoresistance of granular HTSCs and its interaction with the magnetic hysteresis are studied by measuring magnetoresistance R(H) and critical current I _c(H) of composites formed by HTSC Y_0.75Lu_0.25Ba₂Cu₃O₇ and CuO. A network of Josephson junctions is formed in such composites, in which the nonsuperconducting component plays the role of barriers between HTSC grains. Hysteretic dependences R(H) of magnetoresistance are studied in a wide range of transport current density j and are analyzed in the framework of the two-level model of a granular superconductor, in which dissipation takes place in the Josephson medium and the magnetic flux can be pinned both in grains and in the Josephson medium. The interrelation between the hysteresis of critical current I _c(H) and the evolution of the hysterestic dependence R(H) of the magnetoresistance upon transport current variation is demonstrated experimentally. The effect of the magnetic past history on the hysteretic behavior of R(H) and the emergence of a segment with a negative magnetoresistance are analyzed. It is shown for the first time that the R(H) dependences are characterized by a parameter that is independent of the transport current, viz., the width of the R(H) hysteresis loop.     

Schrödinger equation in multiply connected spaces and phase optics

The magnetic vector potential\(\vec A\) in a field free spaceR ₀ cannot be removed by gauge transformations in general, ifR ₀ is multiply connected.Aharonov andBohm ¹ have noticed recently that\(\vec A\) therefore should have more physical meaning than only to give the magnetic field by differentiation. They could show that\(\vec A\) inR ₀ may influence the phase ofSchrödinger'sψ-function in an observable manner. We want to point out here that this influence can be expressed in a simple, general form: “A closed magnetic field line operates uponψ like ae Φ/?-phase-shifter placed on any area bounded by the field line.” Surface like phase shifters are familiar in phase optics. There exists a narrow relationship between electron scattering at magnetic fields and some special problems of phase optics. An electron phase contrast microscope is discussed.     

Multistage radiation-stimulated changes in the microhardness of silicon single crystals exposed to low-intensity β irradiation

Radiation-stimulated and postradiation changes in the microhardness of silicon single crystals exposed to irradiation with a low-intensity flux of β particles (I = 9 × 10⁵ cm^?2 s^?1, W = 0.20 + 0.93 MeV) are studied. It is established that the inversion of the radiation-induced plastic effect occurs at a characteristic irradiation time τ_c = 75 min; i.e., irradiation of silicon single crystals for a time τ < τ_c leads to nonmonotonic reversible hardening, whereas nonmonotonic reversible softening is observed under irradiation for a time τ > τ_c. It is demonstrated that there exists a correlation between the nonmonotonic dependences of the microhardness and the concentration of electrically active defects at acceptor levels with energies E _c ? 0.11 eV, E _c ? 0.13 eV, and E _c ? 0.18 eV on the irradiation time.     

Thermophysical studies of the phase transitions in (NH<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>NbOF<Subscript>6</Subscript> crystals

The thermophysical properties of oxyfluoride (NH₄)₃NbOF₆ were studied in detail over wide ranges of temperatures and pressures. At atmospheric pressure, a sequence of four structural phase transitions was established with the following changes in entropy: ΔS ₁ = Rln 2.7, δS ₂ = Rln38.3, ΔS ₃ = 0.08R, and ΔS ₄ = 0.17R. An external hydrostatic pressure was found to narrow the region of existence of the initial cubic phase. A triple point was detected in the p-T diagram; at a pressure above 0.07 GPa, the transition between the tetragonal and monoclinic phases occurs through a distorted high-pressure phase.     

Lagrangian structure functions in hydrodynamic turbulence

Based on a solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for the inertial range of fully developed turbulence, a statistical theory is developed to determine the Lagrangian structure functions K _n (τ). Over times τ shorter than the large-scale correlation time τ_c, they obey scaling relations of the form K _n (τ) ∞ \(\tau ^{\zeta _n } \). Analytical expressions are derived for ζ _n . A detailed comparison between the theory and the experimental results presented in [1] demonstrates complete quantitative agreement. A new concept is introduced in turbulence theory: the correlation R _n (τ) between tracer-particle positions on a Lagrangian trajectory. It is shown that the position correlation functions R _n exhibit universal scaling behavior for n > 3.     

Derivation of absorption coefficient and reduced scattering coefficient with edge-loss method and comparison with video reflectometry method

We derived the absorption coefficient (μ _a) and the reduced scattering coefficient (μ _s′) using the edge-loss method (ELM) and the video reflectometry method (VRM), and compared the results. In a previous study, we developed the ELM to easily evaluate the lateral spread in the skin; the VRM is a conventional method. The ELM measures the translucency index, which is correlated with μ _a and μ _s′. To obtain a precise estimation of these parameters, we improved the treatment of a white standard and the surface reflection. For both skin phantoms and actual skin, the values for μ _a and μ _s′ that we obtained using the ELM were similar to those obtained using the VRM, when μ _a/μ _s′ was less than or equal to 0.05 and the diffusion approximation was applicable. Under this condition, the spectral reflectivity is greater than 0.4. In this study, we considered wavelengths longer than 600 nm for Types III and IV of the Fitzpatrick scale. For skin, the repeatability errors of the parameters obtained with the ELM were smaller than those obtained with the VRM; this can be an advantage in field tests.