Mesoscopic resistance fluctuations in cobalt nanoparticles

We present measurements of mesoscopic resistance fluctuations in cobalt nanoparticles and study how the fluctuations with bias voltage, bias fingerprints, respond to magnetization-reversal processes. Bias fingerprints rearrange when domains are nucleated or annihilated. The domain wall causes an electron wave function-phase shift of approximately equal to 5pi. The phase shift is not caused by the Aharonov-Bohm effect; we explain how it arises from the mistracking effect, where electron spins lag in orientation with respect to the moments inside the domain wall. Dephasing time in Co at 0.03 K is short, tau phi approximately 1 ps, which we attribute to the strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy.     

On critical phenomena in interacting growth systems. Part II: Bounded growth

This paper completes the classification of some infinite and finite growth systems which was started in Part I. Components whose states are integer numbers interact in a local deterministic way, in addition to which every component's state grows by a positive integerk with a probability ^k (1-) at every moment of the discrete time. Proposition 1 says that in the infinite system which starts from the state all zeros, percentages of elements whose states exceed a given valuek0 never exceed (C) ^k , whereC=const. Proposition 2 refers to finite systems. It states that the same inequalities hold during a time which depends exponentially on the system size.     

On critical phenomena in interacting growth systems. Part I: General

Components which are placed in a finite or infinite space have integer numbers as possible states. They interact in a discrete time in a local deterministic way, in addition to which all the components' states are incremented at every time step by independent identically distributed random variables. We assume that the deterministic interaction function is translation-invariant and monotonic and that its values are between the minimum and the maximum of its arguments. Theorems 1 and 2 (based on propositions which we give in a separate Part II), give sufficient conditions for a system to have an invariant distribution or a bounded mean. Other statements, proved herein, provide background for them by giving conditions when a system has no invariant distribution or the mean of its components' states tends to infinity. All our main results use one and the same geometrical criterion.     

Nonregular phenomena in systems of quantum wells in the presence of tunneling processes

The effect of tunneling on inelastic processes in atomic collision physics has been studied using two examples: head-on collision between hydrogen atoms and protons and hydrogen-atom reflection from an impenetrable wall. These phenomena are analyzed using the numerical solution of the nonstationary Schr?dinger equation.     

Primary nucleation processes in binary oxide growth: The case of MgO

The smallest forms of stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric MgO clusters appearing on the MgO(0 0 1) surface during the growth under atomic and/or molecular deposition are investigated from first-principles and empiric potentials. The basic entities (MgO molecule and (MgO)₂ cluster) result from a very exoenergetic and spontaneous redox reaction that involves directly the deposited species (Mg and O atoms, O₂ molecule). The stoichiometric clusters, resulting from the agglomeration of MgO molecules, are very stable under non-polar forms. Their formation energy is modelized, down to very small sizes, within an independent defect model. We point out the specificity of such clusters in the framework of the classical nucleation theory. The high-energy polar isomers are associated to destabilizing macroscopic electric fields and dipoles. These forms may nevertheless be strongly stabilized by incorporating extra Mg adatoms that give part of their valence shell to the cluster and decrease the total dipole in this way, illustrating the delicate coupling between chemistry and electrostatics in growth processes of oxides. Based on these considerations, we propose a scenario describing MgO growth both in the step-flow and in the nucleation regime.     

Mesoscopic relaxation in homoepitaxial metal growth

We demonstrate that a size-dependent mesoscopic mismatch exists in homoepitaxy, which has a strong impact on the morphology of the islands and the substrate. Atomic scale calculations for double layer Cu islands on Cu(111) reveal that mesoscopic strain relaxations in both islands and the substrate strongly influence the shape of islands and can effect the details of atomic motion near the island.     

Mesoscopic stoner instability in metallic nanoparticles revealed by shot noise

We study sequential tunneling through a metallic nanoparticle close to the Stoner instability coupled to parallel magnetized electrodes. Increasing the bias voltage successively opens transport channels associated with excitations of the nanoparticle's total spin. For the current this leads just to a steplike increase. The Fano factor, in contrast, shows oscillations between large super-Poissonian and sub-Poissonian values as a function of bias voltage. We explain the enhanced Fano factor in terms of generalized random-telegraph noise and propose the shot noise as a convenient tool to probe the mesoscopic Stoner instability.     

Mesoscopic systems with fixed number of electrons

In this paper, we study the physics of mesoscopic systems with noninteracting electrons of fixed number. From a technical point of view, this means a discussion of the differences between the canonical and the grand canonical ensemble (fixed versus fluctuating number of particles). Such a discussion is not trivial since the grand canonical ensemble is the most convenient basis for the statistics of identical particles and one has to spend labour in order to retrieve the canonical ensemble. Specifically, we are considering ensembles of mesoscopic systems with disorder, either by atomic defects or by fluctuations in their geometric definitions and we discuss various forms of disorder averages.     

Optodynamic phenomena in aggregates of polydisperse plasmonic nanoparticles

We propose an optodynamical model of interaction of pulsed laser radiation with aggregates of spherical metallic nanoparticles embedded into host media. The model takes into account polydispersity of particles, pair interactions between the particles, dissipation of absorbed energy, heating and melting of the metallic core of particles and of their polymer adsorption layers, and heat exchange between electron and ion components of the particle material as well as heat exchange with the interparticle medium. Temperature dependence of the electron relaxation constant of the particle material and the effect of this dependence on interaction of nanoparticles with laser radiation are first taken into consideration. We study in detail light-induced processes in the simplest resonant domains of multiparticle aggregates consisting of two particles of an arbitrary size in aqueous medium. Optical interparticle forces are realized due to the light-induced dipole interaction. The dipole moment of each particle is calculated by the coupled dipole method (with correction for the effect of higher multipoles). We determined the role of various interrelated factors leading to photomodification of resonant domains and found an essential difference in the photomodification mechanisms between polydisperse and monodisperse nanostructures.     

生物系统中的非线性现象

文章通过用非线性科学的基本概念与系统方法分析了芽殖酵母细胞周期网络的动力学行为，说明非线性科学在定量研究生命过程所可能起到的重要作用，同时说明非线性科学现有的分析手段在研究生命系统中的局限性．这样利用非线性动力学研究生物系统的动力学问题，不但可以为系统生物学的研究提供强大的数学工具，同时也可以推动非线性科学本身的发展．这项研究从另一个角度显示了交叉学科的生命力．     

Adsorption phenomena in amphiphilic systems

The wetting behavior of a ternary mixture of oil, water, and amphiphile in the presence of a surface is studied. An interface model carefully derived from an underlying Ginzburg-Landau theory is introduced, which contains position dependent rigidity and stiffness coefficients. Using this model we predict a rich surface phase diagram containing thin-thick, first-order, and continuous wetting transitions. Application of the model to other interface behavior in these mixtures is also addressed.     

Precursor phenomena in frustrated systems

To understand the origin of the dynamical transition, between high-temperature exponential relaxation and low-temperature nonexponential relaxation, that occurs well above the static transition in glassy systems, a frustrated spin model, with and without disorder, is considered. The model has two phase transitions, the lower being a standard spin glass transition (in the presence of disorder) or fully frustrated Ising (in the absence of disorder), and the higher being a Potts transition. Monte Carlo results clarify that in the model with (or without) disorder the precursor phenomena are related to the Griffiths (or Potts) transition. The Griffiths transition is a vanishing transition which occurs above the Potts transition and is present only when disorder is present, while the Potts transition which signals the effect due to frustration is always present. These results suggest that precursor phenomena in frustrated systems are due either to disorder and/or to frustration, giving a consistent interpretation also for the limiting cases of Ising spin glass and of Ising fully frustrated model, where also the Potts transition is vanishing. This interpretation could play a relevant role in glassy systems beyond the spin systems case.     

生物系统中的非线性现象

文章通过用非线性科学的基本概念与系统方法分析了芽殖酵母细胞周期网络的动力学行为,说明非线性科学在定量研究生命过程所可能起到的重要作用,同时说明非线性科学现有的分析手段在研究生命系统中的局限性.这样利用非线性动力学研究生物系统的动力学问题,不但可以为系统生物学的研究提供强大的数学工具,同时也可以推动非线性科学本身的发展.这项研究从另一个角度显示了交叉学科的生命力.