Quantum size effects of Pb overlayers at high coverages

We have studied Pb thin films as a function of the thickness up to 60 monolayers (MLs) using ab initio first principles and model calculations. Magic heights corresponding to a modulated oscillatory pattern of the energy of Pb(1 1 1) films have been measured up to about 30 MLs. We demonstrate that this behaviour continues even for higher thickness due to an extra second modulation pattern in the energetics of the metal film as a function of the number of atomic layers. The origin of this second modulation is the nesting of two close values of the Fermi wavelength in the (1 1 1) direction.     

Elaboration of self-organized magnetic nanoparticles by selective cobalt silicidation

Self-organized magnetic nanoparticles are obtained through selective silicidation of cobalt using a silicon substrate pre-structured with tri-dimensional gold islands as template. On the step bunches array of a vicinal Si(1 1 1) surface, gold deposition results in the formation of nanodroplets aligned along the step bunches. A subsequent cobalt deposition is performed onto this gold islands-covered Si surface, with two silicidation processes investigated: reactive deposition (RD) and solid phase reaction (SPR). The cobalt is converted into a non-magnetic silicide film except where the surface is locally masked by the gold islands, giving rise to cobalt nanomagnets which can be capped by a gold layer. A scanning tunneling microscopy comparative study of RD and SPR processes demonstrates that the former induces strong surface morphology changes while the latter preserves the pristine islands. Magnetic measurements performed with alternating gradient force magnetometry at room temperature are used to demonstrate the presence of ferromagnetic cobalt nanoparticles on SPR-processed samples. These nanomagnets show a clear in-plane anisotropy behavior.     

Temperature dependent photoluminescence down to 4.2 K in EuTFC

The temperature dependence of photoluminescence in Europium tris[3-(trifluoro-methylhydroxymethylene)-(+)-camphorate] (EuTFC) embedded in polymer films has been examined from 40 K down to 4.2 K with the goal of preparing sensor films for low-temperature thermal imaging. The behavior of EuTFC showed significant difference when based on polystyrene compared to poly(n-alkyl methacrylate)s. In poly(n-alkyl methacrylate)s prepared by standard methods for imaging applications, the photoluminescence is fully saturated below 30 K, whereas in polystyrene films there is a strong temperature dependence even down to 4.2 K. By optimizing the preparation procedure for films made of poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) and poly(methyl methacrylate), also these polymers became very sensitive down to liquid helium temperature. The maximum temperature sensitivity of EuTFC in PBMA is found to be 1.0%/K at 4.2 K. The problem of delamination and cracking of the polymer film at cryogenic temperature is also avoided by the special preparation method.     

Analytical results of the generalized mean-field theory for diluted magnetic semiconductors with RKKY interaction

Analytical results have been obtained in the framework of the generalized mean-field theory for diluted semiconductors with RKKY interaction. That theory accounts for the non-equivalency of different lattice sites by introducing the distribution function of local effective magnetic fields for non-regular (random) systems with magnetic interaction. The procedure is described that permits to deduce the analytical expression for that function. Corresponding improvement of the traditional mean-field theory could be observed by comparing results of such a generalized analytical model with exact results known for some simple cases, with numerical results of different authors considering the disorder of magnetic impurities’ arrangement, and with experimental data, as well.     

Structural modifications of diamond like carbon films induced by MeV nitrogen ion irradiation

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on Si(1 0 0) substrates using plasma deposition technique. The deposited films were irradiated using 2 MeV N⁺ ions at fluences of 1×10¹⁴, 1×10¹⁵ and 5×10¹⁵ ions/cm². Samples have been characterized by using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Analysis of Raman spectra shows a gradual shift of both D and G band peaks towards higher frequencies along with an increase of the intensity ratio, I(D)/I(G), with increasing ion fluence in irradiation. These results are consistent with an increase of sp² bonding. XPS results also show a monotonic increase of sp²/sp³ hybridization ratio with increasing ion fluence. Plan view TEM images show the formation of clusters in the irradiated DLC films. HRTEM micrographs from the samples irradiated at a fluence of 5×10¹⁵ ions/cm² show the lattice image with an average interplanar spacing of 0.34 nm, revealing that the clusters are graphite clusters. The crystallographic planes in these clusters are somewhat distorted compared to the perfect graphite structure.     

Intense laser effects on donor impurity in a cylindrical single and vertically coupled quantum dots under combined effects of hydrostatic pressure and applied electric field

Using the effective mass and parabolic band approximations and a variational procedure we have calculated the combined effects of intense laser radiation, hydrostatic pressure, and applied electric field on shallow-donor impurity confined in cylindrical-shaped single and double GaAs-Ga_1−xAl_xAs QD. Several impurity positions and inputs of the heterostructure dimensions, hydrostatic pressure, and applied electric field have been considered. The laser effects have been introduced by a perturbative scheme in which the Coulomb and the barrier potentials are modified to obtain dressed potentials. Our findings suggest that (1) for on-center impurities in single QD the binding energy is a decreasing function of the dressing parameter and for small dot dimensions of the structures (lengths and radius) the binding energy is more sensitive to the dressing parameter, (2) the binding energy is an increasing/decreasing function of the hydrostatic pressure/applied electric field, (3) the effects of the intense laser field and applied electric field on the binding energy are dominant over the hydrostatic pressure effects, (4) in vertically coupled QD the binding energy for donor impurity located in the barrier region is smaller than for impurities in the well regions and can be strongly modified by the laser radiation, and finally (5) in asymmetrical double QD heterostructures the binding energy as a function of the impurity positions follows a similar behavior to the observed for the amplitude of probability of the noncorrelated electron wave function.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy on Au nanoparticles assembled using lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT)

In this report, we demonstrate scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy on thin films of lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT) protected gold nanoparticles. We show that the zero current in the I-V curves (measure of Coulomb blockade (CB) of the nanoparticles) depends on the properties of the spacer molecule. In both the cases the gap voltage and the tunneling current at which the images are obtained are quite different which is further confirmed from the fitting performed based on the orthodox theory. The values for the capacitance and charging energy obtained from the fitting for ODT capped particles are comparable to the values obtained using spherical capacitor model. In contrast, values of these parameters were found to differ for LAM capped nanoparticles. While imaging, ODT capped nanoparticles were observed to drag along the scan direction leading to ordering of particles. Images of LAM capped gold nanoparticles show local ordering in self-assembly of particles although no evidence of large scale ordering in spatial Fourier transform was seen. These observations suggest that nanoparticles with larger CB would be imaged nonevasively in contrast to small CB systems for which tip induced effects will be dominant. In both the systems the current was found to rise faster than theoretical curves based on the orthodox theory suggesting that mechanism of charge transfer in this case may involve field emission rather than tunneling through a rectangular barrier. An attempt has been made to explain charge transfer based on Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) plots of the I-V curves.     

Fe monolayers on InAs(0 0 1): An in situ study of surface, interface and volume magnetic anisotropy

The magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial Fe films with thicknesses in the range of 2-142 monolayers (ML) grown on {4×2} reconstructed InAs(0 0 1) was investigated by in situ ferromagnetic resonance. The easy magnetization direction was found to be parallel to the -direction for Fe films below 4 ML, while it rotates by 45^° toward the -direction. It is observed that both surface-interface and volume contribution to the perpendicular anisotropy favor an easy axis perpendicular to the film plane. The cubic surface-interface anisotropy is relatively large with easy axes along -directions in contrast to the volume contribution which favors easy axes along the -directions. The volume contribution is found to be larger than the Fe bulk cubic anisotropy. A thickness independent uniaxial anisotropy has been found in films with a thickness of 2 up to 142 ML.     

Built-in electric field effect on hydrogenic impurity in wurtzite GaN/AlGaN quantum dot

The binding energy of a hydrogenic donor impurity in a wurtzite (WZ) GaN/AlGaN quantum dot (QD) is investigated, including the strong built-in electric field effect due to the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarizations. Numerical results show that the strong built-in electric field induces an asymmetrical distribution of the donor binding energy with respect to the center of the QD. The donor binding energy is insensitive to dot height when the impurity is located at the right boundary of the QD with large dot height.     

Modal and coupling characteristics of low-order modes in thermally diffused expanded core fibers

In this paper, the Galerkin's numerical method is applied in order to calculate propagation constants, optical intensity distributions and far-field-patterns of low-order LP-modes in thermally diffused expanded core (TEC) fibers. The problem of efficient coupling between Gaussian laser beams and single-mode TEC-fibers is also considered. It is demonstrated that TEC fibers are good candidates for Laser source-to-fiber optical coupling scheme with long working distance. The numerical results are compared with the corresponding ones obtained by a one-parameter variational method utilizing Laguerre-Gauss functions. Galerkin's method is generally stable and more accurate when the mode is away from the cut-off region. On the other hand, the variational method provides an explicit form of the modal fields if the variational parameter is accurately determined.     

Universality in bibliometrics

Many discussions have enlarged the literature in Bibliometrics since the Hirsch proposal, the so called h-index. Ranking papers according to their citations, this index quantifies a researcher only by its greatest possible number of papers that are cited at least h times. A closed formula for h-index distribution that can be applied for distinct databases is not yet known. In fact, to obtain such distribution, the knowledge of citation distribution of the authors and its specificities are required. Instead of dealing with researchers randomly chosen, here we address different groups based on distinct databases. The first group is composed of physicists and biologists, with data extracted from Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). The second group is composed of computer scientists, in which data were extracted from Google-Scholar system. In this paper, we obtain a general formula for the h-index probability density function (pdf) for groups of authors by using generalized exponentials in the context of escort probability. Our analysis includes the use of several statistical methods to estimate the necessary parameters. Also an exhaustive comparison among the possible candidate distributions are used to describe the way the citations are distributed among authors. The h-index pdf should be used to classify groups of researchers from a quantitative point of view, which is meaningfully interesting to eliminate obscure qualitative methods.     

Thickness and temperature dependence of the dynamic magnetic behavior in disordered FePt films

We present in this work an investigation of the magnetic behavior of FePt films as a function of film thickness and thermal treatment. The films have been sputter-deposited on oxidized Si (1 0 0) crystals and are ferromagnetic at room temperature. Using ferromagnetic resonance techniques at 9.5 GHz we have studied a series of four films with a thickness in the range . The resonance spectra of these films were measured at and also above room temperature. The high temperature measurements produce irreversible changes in the samples which depend on the maximum temperature reached during the experiment. For relatively low measuring temperatures () the magnetic properties are generally improved, probably due to the release of stress formed during film fabrication. For larger temperatures () the absorption linewidth gradually broadens and the line could be hardly observed at room temperature if the measuring temperature exceeded . This behavior is due to the partial transformation of the metastable FCC phase to the ordered L1₀ high anisotropy phase. These data are consistent with the results found in samples annealed outside the resonant cavity.     

Damping of the domain walls motion in Co-based amorphous ribbons with helical magnetic anisotropy: Part III

The damping of the motion of domain walls of a sandwich domain structure by the eddy currents magnetic fields, the stray fields and the hysteresis friction fields is investigated. The blocking of the motion of domain walls by the eddy currents magnetic fields is discovered.     

Anomalies of the phonon properties in multiferroic BiFeO3 thin films near the magnetic phase transition temperature

Size, substrate, doping and magnetic field effects on the phonon properties in multiferroic BiFeO₃ thin films are studied based on a microscopic model. We obtain an anomaly near the magnetic phase transition temperature TN which can be attributed to the magnetoelectric nature of BiFeO₃ and strong anharmonic spin-phonon interaction. It is shown that due to crystal lattice distortion for dopants with ionic radius smaller than that of the host ions the phonon energy decreases (for example Tb or Ti), whereas for the opposite case (larger radius of the doping ions, for example Co or Ni) it increases. The phonon damping is always enhanced compared to the undoped thin film.     

Thermal stability of atomically flat metal nanofilms on metallic substrates

By means of variable temperature scanning tunneling microscope we studied the morphology and electronic structure of Pb films grown on Cu(1 1 1). Due to the spatial confinement of electrons, the islands display quantized energy levels. At 300 K, Pb forms 3D nanostructures with magic heights, that correspond to islands having a quantum well state (QWS) far from the Fermi energy. Below 100 K Pb grows in a quasi-layer-by-layer fashion. The QWS that develop in the films determine their total energy and, accordingly, their thermal stability. Films of particularly magic thickness are stable upon heating to 300 K.     

Classical limit of the Casimir entropy for scalar massless field

We study the Casimir effect at finite temperature for a massless scalar field in the parallel plates geometry in N spatial dimensions, under various combinations of Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions on the plates. We show that in all these cases the entropy, in the limit where energy equipartitioning applies, is a geometrical factor whose sign determines the sign of the Casimir force.     

Metallic nanosieves formed by ultra-short-pulse laser ablation

The formation of free-standing gold nanosieves by ablation with ultra-short laser pulses is demonstrated. Macroscopic areas are generated fast and efficiently by the application of a parallel production technique. The technique is based on a lens array formed by self-assembling quartz microspheres on a thin metal foil. The evaporated foils have a final thickness of 400 nm, and the hole spacing is set by the diameter of the microspheres (∼7 m) while the pore size is ∼700 nm. The characteristic spacing of the generated hole structure is verified by an optical diffraction technique.     

Josephson current through a half metal at low temperatures

We study the Josephson effect in the superconductor/diffusive half metal/superconductor junctions by using the recursive Green function method. In the presence of spin-flip scatterings at the interface, odd-frequency spin-triplet Cooper pairs penetrate deeply into a half metal and carry Josephson current. The critical Josephson current increases with decreasing temperatures near the transition temperature. At low temperatures, however, the critical current decreases with decreasing temperatures. Such reentrant behavior is unusual in the case of s-wave superconductor junctions. The penetration of odd-frequency pairs modifies quasiparticle density of states in a half metal near the Fermi energy, which is responsible for the nonmonotonic temperature dependence of critical Josephson current.