Effect of cross-linker density of P(NIPAM-co-AAc) microgels at solid surfaces on the swelling/shrinking behaviour and the Young��s modulus

The effect of the amount of cross-linker in poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) microgel particles on the swelling behaviour and their elasticity is studied. The distribution of the stiffness through the particle is also investigated. Therefore, the swelling ratio obtained from dynamic light scattering measurements in aqueous solutions is compared with the one after adsorption at polycation-coated silicon wafers. The studies of the swelling behaviour at the surface are carried out with scanning force microscopy (SFM) against liquid. The Young??s modulus is determined by indentation experiments with an SFM. With increasing amount of cross-linker, the ability to shrink as well as the shift in the lower critical solution temperature and in particle size (hysteresis) during the heating and cooling processes decreases. In addition, the particles at the surface preserve their height/width ratio at high amount of cross-linker, while at low amounts the shrinking and swelling mainly takes place with respect to changes in height. The particles show their highest Young??s modulus in the centre of the particles and become stiffer with increasing the amount of cross-linker and the temperature.     

Selective uptake of different proteins by annealed and quenched cationic spherical polyelectrolyte brushes

The selective uptake of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and β-glucosidase (β-G) by annealed and quenched cationic spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB) was systematically studied by combining turbidimetric titration, dynamic light scattering and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). These two kinds of SPB consist of a same polystyrene core and a dense shell of poly (2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride) (PAEMH) and poly [2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl] trimethylammonium chloride (PMAETA), respectively. Results reveal that the adsorption/desorption of proteins on SPB can be easily controlled by changing external conditions (pH and ionic strength). For a particular annealed or quenched SPB, there is a significant difference of the interaction pH regions between the brush and the two proteins, and this difference can be tuned by ionic strength. At low ionic strength, quenched brushes were more suitable for selective adsorption of BSA and β-G, while annealed brushes performed better at high ionic strength. SAXS analysis demonstrated that volume exclusion effect played a remarkable role in protein uptake by both SPB, and larger proteins were more likely to be adsorbed on the outer layer of the brush. The unique core-shell structure and controllable chain types make SPB an excellent candidate in selective adsorption/separation of proteins of different sizes.     

Contactless measurement of the conductivity of two-dimensional electrons in the regime of microwave-induced giant magnetoresistance oscillations

Magnetic-field dependences of the conductivity of a two-dimensional electron system obtained by contact and contactless measurements in the regime of microwave-induced giant magnetoresistance oscillations have been comparatively analyzed. The contactless technique for studying the conductivity of two-dimensional electrons is based on measuring the attenuation of the RF signal propagating along a coplanar waveguide manufactured using lithography on the sample surface. It has been found that Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations of conductivity are observed in both techniques, whereas the microwave-induced giant magnetoresistance oscillations appear only in the contact measurements. This contradiction indicates that the contact and/or boundary regions of the two-dimensional system with a strong potential gradient play an important role for the observation of the induced magnetoresistance oscillations.     

Surviving structure in colloidal suspensions squeezed from 3D to 2D

Combining colloidal-probe experiments and computer simulations, we analyze the solvation forces F of charged silica colloids confined in films of various thicknesses h. We show that the oscillations characterizing F(h), for sufficiently large h, are determined by the dominant wavelength of the bulk radial distribution function. As a consequence, both quantities display the same power-law density dependence. This is the first direct evidence, in a system treatable both by experiment and by simulation, that the structural wavelength in bulk and confinement coincide, in agreement with predictions from density functional theory. Moreover, theoretical and experimental data are in excellent quantitative agreement.     

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in p-type inversion layers on n-type silicon

Surface Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations have been measured in p-type channels of (110) silicon field effect transitors between 1.4 and 4.2 K in magnetic fields up to 10 Tesla. Two electric subbands were revealed and the effective masses of the holes in both bands could be determined. For one subband the dependence of the mass on the surface electric field was investigated. At low gate voltages the g-factor of the holes was measured from the spin splitting of the Landau-levels.     

Surface quantum oscillations in n-type (100) silicon inversion layers on sapphire

Measurements of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in (100) Si/($\text{1}$012)Al₂O₃ MOSFET's were performed in magnetic fields up to 10 Tesla for different tilt angles between the magnetic field direction and the surface normal. The experimental results show that the lowest electric subband in this system is twofold degenerate and is formed by the “heavy” cyclotron mass valleys. This can be explained by a large lateral stress present in the SOS (silicon on sapphire) system.     

New type of B-periodic magneto-oscillations in a two-dimensional electron system induced by microwave irradiation

We observe a new type of magneto-oscillations in the photovoltage and the longitudinal resistance of a two-dimensional electron system. The oscillations are induced by microwave radiation and are periodic in magnetic field. The period is determined by the microwave frequency, the electron density, and the distance between potential probes. The phenomenon is accounted for by interference of coherently excited edge magnetoplasmons in the contact regions and offers perspectives for developing new tunable microwave and terahertz detection schemes and spectroscopic techniques.     

Absence of odd-even parity behavior for Kondo resonances in quantum dots

Zero-bias anomalies in the conductance through quantum dots have recently been identified as Kondo resonances and explained in terms of the Anderson impurity model. The effect requires a degeneracy and it has been proposed that this should occur for odd electron numbers on the dot. In this paper we present data, obtained on a split-gate quantum dot with a small number of electrons, which are in disagreement with this expectation. The mapping of the Anderson model on the quantum dot is discussed in terms of an interacting N electron system demonstrating why this expectation can fail.     

Spontaneous emergence of angular momentum josephson oscillations in coupled annular bose-einstein condensates

We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of two coupled annular Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). For certain values of the coupling strength the nonrotating state with uniform density is unstable with respect to fluctuations in the higher angular momentum modes. The Bogoliubov spectrum possesses two branches, one of which exhibits distinct regions of instability enabling one to selectively occupy certain angular momentum modes. For sufficiently long evolution times, angular momentum Josephson oscillations spontaneously appear, breaking the initial chiral symmetry of the BECs.