Rare earth doped cobalt ferrite thin films deposited by PLD

CoFe₂O₄ thin films with preferential texture structure, small grain size, and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy can be obtained by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. In this work, we studied the influence of the Fe³⁺ ions substitution by three elements from lanthanide group (Dy, La, and Gd) on the structural properties of the thin films. The samples were deposited by Nd:YAG laser (λ=532 nm, 10 ns) ablation of CoFe_1.8RE_0.2O₄, (RE=Dy, La, Gd) targets at various substrate temperatures ranging from room temperature to 600 °C. The microstructure and chemical composition of the thin films were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, XRD, SEM-EDS, and ToF-SIMS. The XRD patterns and Raman spectra of the thin films indicated the formation of a single spinel structure. Thus, the desired substitution of the iron ions in the spinel lattice with the RE elements was achieved in the thin films, although in the bulk material, their presence determined the formation of a residual phase with a perovskite-type structure.     

Exact partition functions and correlation functions of multiple Hamiltonian walks on the Manhattan lattice

This is a general and exact study of multiple Hamiltonian walks (HAW) filling the two-dimensional (2D) Manhattan lattice. We generalize the original exact solution for a single HAW by Kasteleyn to a system ofmultiple closed walks, aimed at modeling a polymer melt. In 2D, two basic nonequivalent topological situations are distinguished. (1) the Hamiltonian loops are allrooted andcontractible to a point:adjacent one to another, and, on a torus,homotopic to zero. (2) the loops can encircle one another and, on a torus, canwind around it. Forcase 1, the grand canonical partition function and multiple correlation functions are calculated exactly as those of multiple rooted spanningtrees or of a massive 2Dfree field, critical at zero mass (zero fugacity). The conformally invariant continuum limit on a Manhattantorus is studied in detail. The melt entropy is calculated exactly. We also consider the relevant effect of free boundary conditions. The number of single HAWs on Manhattan lattices with other perimeter shapes (rectangular, Kagomé, triangular, and arbitrary) is studied and related to the spectral theory of the Dirichlet Laplacian. This allows the calculation of exact shape-dependent configuration exponents y. An exact surface critical exponent is obtained. Forcase 2, nested and winding Hamiltonian circuits are allowed. An exact equivalence to thecritical Q-state Potts model exists, whereQ ^1/2 is the walk fugacity. The Hamiltonian system is then always critical (forQ<-4). The exact critical exponents, in infinite numbers, are universal and identical to those of theO(n=Q ^1/2) model in its low-temperature phase, i.e. are those of dense polymers. The exact critical partition functions on the torus are given from conformai invariance theory. These models 1 and 2 yield the two first exactly solved models of polymer melts.     

Quantitative simulation of photoacoustic signals using finite element modelling software

This paper aims to demonstrate the quantitative simulation of photoacoustic signals using finite element modelling software. The software Comsol Multiphysics is used to calculate the response of a differential Helmholtz resonator cell previously modeled using an electrical analogy. Quality factors and resonance frequencies are compared with experimental ones. Moreover, for the first time, the absorption coefficient of the gas sample and the laser intensity are also used to quantitatively predict photoacoustic signal that can be obtained in such a configuration.     

Theory of spin hall conductivity in n-doped GaAs

We develop a theory of extrinsic spin currents in semiconductors, resulting from spin-orbit coupling at charged scatterers, which leads to skew-scattering and side-jump contributions to the spin-Hall conductivity. Applying the theory to bulk n-GaAs, without any free parameters, we find spin currents that are in reasonable agreement with experiments by Kato et al. [Science 306, 1910 (2004)].     

A Hilbert-Vlasov code for the study of high-frequency plasmabeatwave accelerator

High-frequency beatwave simulations relevant to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) experiment with relativistic eulerian hybrid Vlasov code are presented. These Hilbert-Masov simulations revealed a rich variety of phenomena associated with the fast particle dynamics induced by beatwave experiment for a high ratio of driver frequency to plasma frequency ω_pump/ω_plasma ≈33. The present model allows us to extend detailed modeling to frequency ratios greater than the current practical maximum of 10 or so, for Vlasov or particle-in-cell (PIC) codes, by replacing the Maxwell equations by mode equations for the electromagnetic Vlasov code. Numerical results, including beat frequency chirping (i.e., pump frequency linearly decreasing with time), show that the amplitude limit due to relativistic detuning can be enhanced with accelerated particles up to the ultrarelativistic energies with a high-acceleration gradient of more than 25 GeV/m     

DESIRS: a state‐of‐the‐art VUV beamline featuring high resolution and variable polarization for spectroscopy and dichroism at SOLEIL

DESIRS is a new undulator‐based VUV beamline on the 2.75 GeV storage ring SOLEIL (France) optimized for gas‐phase studies of molecular and electronic structures, reactivity and polarization‐dependent photodynamics on model or actual systems encountered in the universe, atmosphere and biosphere. It is equipped with two dedicated endstations: a VUV Fourier‐transform spectrometer (FTS) for ultra‐high‐resolution absorption spectroscopy (resolving power up to 10⁶) and an electron/ion imaging coincidence spectrometer. The photon characteristics necessary to fulfill its scientific mission are: high flux in the 5–40 eV range, high spectral purity, high resolution, and variable and well calibrated polarizations. The photon source is a 10 m‐long pure electromagnetic variable‐polarization undulator producing light from the very near UV up to 40 eV on the fundamental emission with tailored elliptical polarization allowing fully calibrated quasi‐perfect horizontal, vertical and circular polarizations, as measured with an in situ VUV polarimeter with absolute polarization rates close to unity, to be obtained at the sample location. The optical design includes a beam waist allowing the implementation of a gas filter to suppress the undulator high harmonics. This harmonic‐free radiation can be steered toward the FTS for absorption experiments, or go through a highly efficient pre‐focusing optical system, based on a toroidal mirror and a reflective corrector plate similar to a Schmidt plate. The synchrotron radiation then enters a 6.65 m Eagle off‐plane normal‐incidence monochromator equipped with four gratings with different groove densities, from 200 to 4300 lines mm^?1, allowing the flux‐to‐resolution trade‐off to be smoothly adjusted. The measured ultimate instrumental resolving powers are 124000 (174 µeV) around 21 eV and 250000 (54 µeV) around 13 eV, while the typical measured flux is in the 10¹⁰–10¹¹ photons s^?1 range in a 1/50000 bandwidth, and 10¹²–10¹³ photons s^?1 in a 1/1000 bandwidth, which is very satisfactory although slightly below optical simulations. All of these features make DESIRS a state‐of‐the‐art VUV beamline for spectroscopy and dichroism open to a broad scientific community.     

Long-range critical wetting: observation of a critical end point

Alkanes deposited on aqueous substrates exhibit two different types of wetting behavior: alternatively to the usual first-order wetting transition, a sequential-wetting scenario of a long-range critical wetting transition preceded by a first-order thin-thick transition may be observed. Here, we present the first successful experimental attempt to locate the transition point between the standard first-order wetting and the long-range critical wetting: a critical end point, observed in a mixture of pentane and hexane which is deposited on an aqueous solution of glucose. Furthermore, we present the first direct measurement of the contact angle in the intermediate wetting state (frustrated-complete wetting) in the sequential-wetting scenario of hexane on brine and compare to theoretical predictions.     

Critical behavior of a two-species reaction-diffusion problem in 2D

In this work we study the critical behavior of a model that simulates the propagation of an epidemic process over a population. We simulate the model on two-dimensional finite lattices to determine the critical density of the diffusive population. A finite size scaling analysis is employed to determine the order parameter and correlation length critical exponents.