Cross-frequency network analysis of functional brain connectivity in temporal lobe epilepsy

In this study, we investigate the cross-frequency coupling and functional brain networks in the subjects with temporal lobe epilepsy(TLE) using interictal EEG signals. The phase to phase synchronization within and across frequency bands is calculated and a significant difference between the epilepsy and control groups is observed. Compared with the controls,the epilepsy patients exhibit a stronger within-frequency coupling(WFC) within theta and beta bands, and shows a stronger cross-frequency coupling(CFC) in the delta–alpha and theta–alpha band pairs, but a weakened CFC in alpha–beta band pairs. The weakened coupling between alpha and high frequency band reflects a suppression of phase modulation between the brain regions related to epilepsy. Moreover, WFC and CFC are positively correlated, which is higher in the patients relative to controls. We further reconstruct functional brain connectivity and find that both WFC and CFC networks show small-world properties. For the epilepsy, the small-world efficiency is enhanced in the CFC networks in delta–alpha and theta–alpha band pairs, whereas weakened between alpha and beta bands, which suggests a shift away from the optimal operating point in the epileptic brain with a new balance between WFC and CFC. Our results may help us to understand the important role of information communication across different frequency bands and shed new light on the study of pathology of epilepsy.     

Electrical controllable spin valves in a zigzag silicene nanoribbon ferromagnetic junction

We propose two possible spin valves based on a zigzag silicene nanoribbon(ZSR) ferromagnetic junction. By using the Landauer–B u¨tikker formula, we calculate the spin-resolved conductance spectrum of the system and find that the spin transport is crucially dependent on the band structure of the ZSR tuned by a perpendicular electric field. When the ZSR is in the topological insulator phase under a zero electric field, the low-energy spin transport and its ON and OFF states in the tunneling junction mainly rely on the valley valve effect and the edge state of the energy band, which can be electrically modulated by the Fermi level, the spin–orbit coupling, and the local magnetization. When a nonzero perpendicular electric field is applied, the ZSR is a band insulator with a finite energy gap, the spin switch phenomenon is still preserved in the device and it does not come from the valley valve effect, but from the energy gap opened by the perpendicular electric field. The proposed device might be designed as electrical tunable spin valves to manipulate the spin degree of freedom of electrons in silicene.     

Global phase diagram of a spin–orbit-coupled Kondo lattice model on the honeycomb lattice

Motivated by the growing interest in the novel quantum phases in materials with strong electron correlations and spin–orbit coupling, we study the interplay among the spin–orbit coupling, Kondo interaction, and magnetic frustration of a Kondo lattice model on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.We calculate the renormalized electronic structure and correlation functions at the saddle point based on a fermionic representation of the spin operators.We find a global phase diagram of the model at half-filling, which contains a variety of phases due to the competing interactions.In addition to a Kondo insulator, there is a topological insulator with valence bond solid correlations in the spin sector, and two antiferromagnetic phases.Due to the competition between the spin–orbit coupling and Kondo interaction, the direction of the magnetic moments in the antiferromagnetic phases can be either within or perpendicular to the lattice plane.The latter antiferromagnetic state is topologically nontrivial for moderate and strong spin–orbit couplings.     

The influence of the Dresselhaus spin--orbit coupling on the tunnelling magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/ insulator /semiconductor/ insulator /ferromagnet tunnel junctions

This paper investigates the effect of Dresselhaus spin--orbit coupling on the spin-transport properties of ferromagnet/insulator/semiconductor/insulator/ferromagnet double-barrier structures. The influence of the thickness of the insulator between the ferromagnet and the semiconductor on the polarization is also considered. The obtained results indicate that (i) the polarization can be enhanced by reducing the insulator layers at zero temperature, and (ii) the tunnelling magnetoresistance inversion can be illustrated by the influence of the Dresselhaus spin--orbit coupling effect in the double-barrier structure. Due to the Dresselhaus spin--orbit coupling effect, the tunnelling magnetoresistance inversion occurs when the energy of a localized state in the barrier matches the Fermi energy E_F of the ferromagnetic electrodes.     

Uniaxial strain-modulated electronic structures of CdX (X = S,Se, Te) from first-principles calculations:A comparison between bulk and nanowires

Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we systematically study the structural deformation and electronic properties of wurtzite CdX(X = S, Se, Te) bulk and nanowires(NWs) under uniaxial [0001] strain. Due to the intrinsic shrinking strain induced by surface contraction, large NWs with {10ˉ10} facets have heavy hole(HH)-like valence band maximum(VBM) states, while NWs with {11ˉ20} facets have crystal hole(CH)-like VBM states. The external uniaxial strain induces an HH–CH band crossing at a critical strain for both bulk and NWs, resulting in nonlinear variations in band gap and hole effective mass at VBM. Unlike the bulk phase, the critical strain of NWs highly depends on the character of the VBM state in the unstrained case, which is closely related to the size and facet of NWs. The critical strain of bulk is at compressive range, while the critical strain of NWs with HH-like and CH-like VBM appears at compressive and tensile strain, respectively. Due to the HH–CH band crossing, the charge distribution of the VBM state in NWs can also be tuned by the external uniaxial strain. Despite the complication of the VBM state, the electron effective mass at conduction band minimum(CBM) of NWs shows a linear relation with the CBM–HH energy difference, the same as the bulk material.     

Effect of O–O bonds on p-type conductivity in Ag-doped ZnO twin grain boundaries

Based on density functional theory, first-principles calculation is applied to study the electronic properties of undoped and Ag-doped Zn O-Σ7(12ˉ30) twin grain boundaries(GBs). The calculated result indicates that the twin GBs can facilitate the formation and aggregation of Ag substitution at Zn sites(AgZn) due to the strain release. Meanwhile, some twin GBs can also lower the ionization energy of AgZn. The density of state shows that the O–O bonds in GBs play a key role in the formation of a shallow acceptor energy level. When AgZnbonds with one O atom in the O–O bond, the antibonding state of the O–O bond becomes partially occupied. As a result, a weak spin splitting occurs in the antibonding state, which causes a shallow empty energy level above the valence band maximum. Further, the model can be applied to explain the origin of p-type conductivity in Ag-doped Zn O.     

Electronic structure and magnetic properties of rare-earth perovskite gallates from first principles

The density functional calculation is performed for centrosymmetric(La–Pm) GaO_3 rare earth gallates, using a full potential linear augmented plane wave method with the LSDA and LSDA+U exchange correlation to treat highly correlated electrons due to the very localized 4f orbitals of rare earth elements, and explore the influence of U = 0.478 Ry on the magnetic phase stability and the densities of states. LSDA+U calculation shows that the ferromagnetic(FM) state of RGaO_3 is energetically more favorable than the anti-ferromagnetic(AFM) one, except for LaGaO_3 where the NM state is the lowest in energy. The energy band gaps of RGaO_3 are found to be in the range of 3.8–4.0 eV, indicating the semiconductor character with a large gap.     

Pressure induced magnetic and semiconductor–metal phase transitions in Cr_2MoO_6

We investigate magnetic ordering and electronic structures of Cr_2MoO_6under hydrostatic pressure. To overcome the band gap problem, the modified Becke and Johnson exchange potential is used to investigate the electronic structures of Cr_2MoO_6. The insulating nature at the experimental crystal structure is produced, with a band gap of 1.04 eV, and the magnetic moment of the Cr atom is 2.50 μB, compared to an experimental value of about 2.47 μB. The calculated results show that an antiferromagnetic inter-bilayer coupling–ferromagnetic intra-bilayer coupling to a ferromagnetic inter-bilayer coupling–antiferromagnetic intra-bilayer coupling phase transition is produced with the pressure increasing. The magnetic phase transition is simultaneously accompanied by a semiconductor–metal phase transition. The magnetic phase transition can be explained by the Mo–O hybridization strength, and ferromagnetic coupling between two Cr atoms can be understood by empty Mo-d bands perturbing the nearest O-p orbital.     

Band gap anomaly and topological properties in lead chalcogenides

Band gap anomaly is a well-known issue in lead chalcogenides Pb X(X = S, Se, Te, Po). Combining ab initio calculations and tight-binding(TB) method, we have studied the band evolution in Pb X, and found that the band gap anomaly in Pb Te is mainly related to the high on-site energy of Te 5s orbital and the large s–p hopping originated from the irregular extended distribution of Te 5s electrons. Furthermore, our calculations show that Pb Po is an indirect band gap(6.5 me V) semiconductor with band inversion at L point, which clearly indicates that Pb Po is a topological crystalline insulator(TCI). The calculated mirror Chern number and surface states double confirm this conclusion.     

UNDERSTANDING FOR THE KONDO INSULATOR

A theoretical concerning about the Kondo insulator is proposed in the half filled valence fluctuation model. It is shown that the energy band may be splitted into three subband, i.e. the bonding-band, antibonding-band and non-bonding band. For strong enough hybridization, the system will show semiconductor behavior at low temperatures. This behavior can be also understood in the Hubbard-Mott picture.     

Antiferromagnetic and topological states in silicene:A mean field study

It has been widely accepted that silicene is a topological insulator, and its gap closes first and then opens again with increasing electric field, which indicates a topological phase transition from the quantum spin Hall state to the band insulator state. However, due to the relatively large atomic spacing of silicene, which reduces the bandwidth, the electron–electron interaction in this system is considerably strong and cannot be ignored. The Hubbard interaction, intrinsic spin orbital coupling(SOC), and electric field are taken into consideration in our tight-binding model, with which the phase diagram of silicene is carefully investigated on the mean field level. We have found that when the magnitudes of the two mass terms produced by the Hubbard interaction and electric potential are close to each other, the intrinsic SOC flips the sign of the mass term at either K or K for one spin and leads to the emergence of the spin-polarized quantum anomalous Hall state.     

Design and experimental verification of a dual-band metamaterial filter

In this paper, we present the design, simulation, and experimental verification of a dual-band free-standing metamaterial filter operating in a frequency range of 1 THz–30 THz. The proposed structure consists of periodically arranged composite air holes, and exhibits two broad and flat transmission bands. To clarify the effects of the structural parameters on both resonant transmission bands, three sets of experiments are performed. The first resonant transmission band shows a shift towards higher frequency when the side width w_1 of the main air hole is increased. In contrast, the second resonant transmission band displays a shift towards lower frequency when the side width w_2 of the sub-holes is increased, while the first resonant transmission band is unchanged. The measured results indicate that these resonant bands can be modulated individually by simply optimizing the relevant structural parameters(w_1 or w_2) for the required band. In addition, these resonant bands merge into a single resonant band with a bandwidth of 7.7 THz when w_1 and w_2 are optimized simultaneously. The structure proposed in this paper adopts different resonant mechanisms for transmission at different frequencies and thus offers a method to achieve a dual-band and low-loss filter.     

Observation of Two-Dimensional Mott Insulator and π-Superfluid Quantum Phase Transition in Shaking Optical Lattice

The Mott insulator and superfluid phase transition is one of the most prominent phenomena in ultracold atoms. We report the observation of a novel 2D quantum phase transition between the Mott insulator and πsuperfluid in a shaking optical lattice. In the deep optical lattice regime, the lowest S band can be tuned to Mott phase, while the higher Px,y bands are itinerant for having larger bandwidth. Through a shaking technique coupling the s-orbital to px,y-orbital states, we experimentally observ...     

Waveguide-resonator coupling structure design in the lithium niobate on insulator for χ((2)) nonlinear applications

The microring resonator based on lithium niobate on insulator(LNOI) is a promising platform for broadband nonlinearity process because of its strong second-order nonlinear coefficients, the capability of dispersion engineering, etc. It is important to control the energy transmitted into the resonator at different wavelengths, as this becomes difficult for two bands across an octave. In this Letter, we study the effect of different pulley bus-resonator configurations on phase mismatching and mode...     

Valence band variation in Si (110) nanowire induced by a covered insulator

In this work, we investigate strain effects induced by the deposition of gate dielectrics on the valence band structures in Si (110) nanowire via the simulation of strain distribution and the calculation of a generalized 6 × 6k$\cdot$p strained valence band. The nanowire is surrounded by the gate dielectric. Our simulation indicates that the strain of the amorphous SiO₂ insulator is negligible without considering temperature factors. On the other hand, the thermal residual strain in a nanowire with amorphous SiO₂ insulator which has negligible lattice misfit strain pushes the valence subbands upwards by chemical vapour deposition and downwards by thermal oxidation treatment. In contrast with the strain of the amorphous SiO₂ insulator, the strain of the HfO₂ gate insulator in Si (110) nanowire pushes the valence subbands upwards remarkably. The thermal residual strain by HfO₂ insulator contributes to the up-shifting tendency. Our simulation results for valence band shifting and warping in Si nanowires can provide useful guidance for further nanowire device design.     

The design and preparation of a Fabry–Pérot polarizing filter

A novel single-cavity narrowband Fabry–Pe′rot(FP) polarizing filter at normal incidence,constructed from a sandwich structure with sculptured anisotropic space layer and symmetric isotropic HR mirrors,is designed and prepared.The optical performances of transmittance,phase shift,central wavelength,and bandwidth for two polarized states are analyzed with the characteristic matrix.The numerical studies accord reasonably well with the experimental results.It is demonstrated that the polarization state of the electromagnetic wave and phase shift can be modulated by employing an anisotropic space layer in the polarizing beam splitter system.The birefringence of the anisotropic space layer provides a sophisticated phase modulation by varying the incidence angles over a broad range to have a wide-angle phase shift.     

Emergent reversible giant electroresistance in spacially confined La_(0.325)Pr_(0.3)Ca_(0.375)MnO_3 wires

Micro-patterning is considered to be a promising way to analyze phase-separated manganites. We investigate resistance in micro-patterned La0.325Pr0.3Ca0.375MnO3 wires with width of 10 μm, which is comparable to the phase separation scale in this material. A reentrant of insulating state at the metal–insulator temperature Tp is observed and a giant resistance change of over 90% driven by electric field is achieved by suppression of this insulating state. This resistance change is mostly reversible. The I–V characteristics are measured in order to analyze the origin of the giant electroresistance and two possible explanations are proposed.     

A study on strain affecting electronic structures and optical properties of wurtzite Mg0.25 Zn0.75O by first-principles

We have made a first principles study to investigate density of states, band structure, the dielectric function and absorption spectra of wurtzite Mg 0.25 Zn 0.75 O. The calculation is carried out in a-axis and c-axis strain changing in the range from 0.3 to -0.2 in intervals of 0.1. The results calculated from density of states show that the bottom of conduction band is always dominated by Zn 4s and the top of valence band is always dominated by O 2p in a-axis and c-axis strain. Zn 4s will shift to higher energy range when a-axis strain changes in the range from 0.3 to 0, and then shift to lower energy range when a-axis strain changes in the range from 0 to -0.2. But Zn 4s will always shift to higher energy range when c-axis strain changes in the range from 0.3 to -0.2. The variations of band gap calculated from band structure and absorption spectra are also investigated, which are consistent with the results obtained from density of states. In addition, we analyse and discuss the imaginary part of the dielectric function ε 2 .     

Photoluminescence of ZnSe—ZnS Single Quantum Wells Grown by Vapour Phase Epitaxy

We study the photoluminescence (PL) of ultra thin layer ZnSe quantum Wells in ZnS barriers.Samples with different well widths are grown by vapour phase epitaxy and the PL spectra of these samples are measured by the excitation of a 500W Hg lamp.The peak positions of the bands coming from the excitonic luminescence show a larger blueschift with respect to the energy of free excitons in the ZnSe bulk material.The observed variation of the full width at half maximum and peak position of the bands in the spectra with the well width are interpreted to the formation of the ZnSxSe1-x alloy layer due to the interdiffusion in the interfaces between ZnSe and ZnS.According to the behaviour of the excitons in the smaller conduction band offset,the exciton binding energy is estimated from the dependence of the PL intensity on the temperature.from this result,excitons seem to show nearly three-dimensional characteristics.     

First-principle study of the structural,electronic,and optical properties of SiC nanowires

We preform first-principle calculations for the geometric, electronic structures and optical properties of SiC nanowires(NWs). The dielectric functions dominated by electronic interband transitions are investigated in terms of the calculated optical response functions. The calculated results reveal that the SiC NW is an indirect band-gap semiconductor material except at a minimum SiC NW(n = 12) diameter, showing that the NW(n = 12) is metallic. Charge density indicates that the Si–C bond of SiC NW has mixed ionic and covalent characteristics: the covalent character is stronger than the ionic character, and shows strong s–p hybrid orbit characteristics. Moreover, the band gap increases as the SiC NW diameter increases. This shows a significant quantum size and surface effect. The optical properties indicate that the obvious dielectric absorption peaks shift towards the high energy, and that there is a blue shift phenomenon in the ultraviolet region. These results show that SiC NW is a promising optoelectronic material for the potential applications in ultraviolet photoelectron devices.