Resolving overlapping peaks in ARXPS data: The effect of noise and fitting method

Peak-fitting of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data can be very sensitive to noise when the difference on the binding energy among the peaks is smaller than the width of the peaks. This sensitivity depends on the fitting algorithm. Angle-resolved XPS (ARXPS) analysis offers the opportunity of employing the combined information contained in the data at the various angles to reduce the sensitivity to noise. The assumption of shared peak parameters (center and width) among the spectra for the different angles, and how it is introduced into the analysis, plays a basic role. Sequential fitting is the usual practice in ARXPS data peak-fitting. It consist on first estimating the center and width of the peaks from the data acquired at one of the angles, and then using those parameters as a starting approximation for fitting the data for each of the rest of the angles. An improvement of this method consists of averaging the centers and widths of the peaks obtained at the different angles, and then employing these values to assess the areas of the peaks for each angle. Another strategy for using the combined information is by assessing the peak parameters from the sum of the experimental data. The complete use of the combined information contained in the data-set is optimized by the simultaneous fitting method. It consists of the assessment of the center and width of the peaks by fitting the data at all the angles simultaneously. Computer-generated data was employed to compare the sensitivity with respect to noise between the sequential, averaged-sequential, sum, and simultaneous fitting methods. It is shown that the latter is significantly more robust and could provide reliable results even for noisy data and small peak separation. The fundamentals for the robustness of the simultaneous method are discussed, as well as the possibility of fitting many parameters at the same time. As an added feature of ARXPS, it was found that the estimation of the error intervals on the peak parameters is done remarkably more precisely by employing XPS data at various angles.     

Generic two-phase coexistence in nonequilibrium systems

A beautifully simple model introduced a couple of decades ago, Tooms cellular automaton, revealed that non-equilibrium systems may exhibit generic bistability, i.e. two-phase coexistence over a finite area of the (two-dimensional) phase diagram, in violation of the equilibrium Gibbs phase rule. In this paper we analyse two interfacial models, describing more realistic situations, that share with Tooms model a phase diagram with a broad region of phase coexistence. An analysis of the interfacial models yields conditions for generic bistability in terms of physically relevant parameters that may be controlled experimentally.     

Nuclear-induced time evolution of entanglement of two-electron spins in anisotropically coupled quantum dot

We study the time evolution of entanglement of two spins in an anisotropically coupled quantum dot interacting with the unpolarised nuclear spins environment. We assume that the exchange coupling strength in the z direction J _z is different from the lateral one J _l . We observe that the entanglement decays as a result of the coupling to the nuclear environment and reaches a saturation value, which depends on the value of the exchange interaction difference J = ‖J _l ? J _z ‖ between the two spins and the strength of the applied external magnetic field. We find that the entanglement exhibits a critical behaviour controlled by the competition between the exchange interaction J and the external magnetic field. The entanglement shows a quasi-symmetric behaviour above and below a critical value of the exchange interaction. It becomes more symmetric as the external magnetic field increases. The entanglement reaches a large saturation value, close to unity, when the exchange interaction is far above or below its critical value and a small one as it closely approaches the critical value. Furthermore, we find that the decay rate profile of entanglement is linear when the exchange interaction is much higher or lower than the critical value but converts to a power law and finally to a Gaussian as the critical value is approached from both directions. The dynamics of entanglement is found to be independent of the exchange interaction for an isotropically coupled quantum dot.     

Contrast enhancement of optical coherence tomography images using least squares fitting and histogram matching

A method of contrast enhancement of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images based on least squares fitting and histogram matching is presented. Several different functions are adopted as the probability density functions of the gray levels to fit the normalized histogram of an OCT image and histogram matching is used to enhance the OCT image automatically. The effectiveness of the method is proved by the experimental results.     

The stability of Bose--Einstein condensates in a two-dimensional shallow trap

The stability of Bose--Einstein condensates (BECs) loaded into a two-dimensional shallow harmonic potential well is studied. By using the variational method, the ground state properties for interacting BECs in the shallow trap are discussed. It is shown that the possible stable bound state can exist. The depth of the shallow well plays an important role in stabilizing the BECs. The stability of BECs in the shallow trap with the periodic modulating of atom interaction by using the Feshbach resonance is also discussed. The results show that the collapse and diffusion of BECs in a shallow trap can be controlled by the temporal modulation of the scattering length.     

Unconditionally Stable Z-Transform ADI-PML Algorithm for Lorentzian Double Negative Meta-Materials

Unconditionally stable formulations of the anisotropic perfectly matched layer (APML) are presented for truncating double negative (DNG) meta-material finite difference time domain (FDTD) grids. In the proposed formulations, the Z-transform theory is employed in the alternating direction implicit FDTD (ADI-FDTD) scheme to obtain update equations for the field components in the DNG meta-material domains. Numerical examples carried out in one dimensional Lorentzian type DNG meta-material domains are included to show the validity of the proposed formulations.     

彩色多通道光栅投影轮廓术

研究了一种双通道光学相位测量轮廓术。利用彩色空间中红色与蓝色互相独立、互不干扰的特性,将两个相位相反的线性周期变化的光栅分别放在红以与蓝色通道,形成彩色双通道投影光栅。用彩色ＣＣＤ获取图像,并和图像采集卡将图像送入计算机。从彩色图像的红色与蓝色通道可分别获得两个互相反相位的线性周期光栅的调制图。在一次采样中即可获得两个通道的测量结果,因而特别适用于动态测量。     

Imaging spin-reorientation transitions in consecutive atomic Co layers on Ru(0001)

By means of spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy, we show that the magnetic easy axis of one to three atomic-layer thick cobalt films on Ru(0001) changes its orientation twice during deposition: One-monolayer and three-monolayer thick films are magnetized in plane, while two-monolayer films are magnetized out of plane. The Curie temperatures of films thicker than one monolayer are well above room temperature. Fully relativistic calculations based on the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method demonstrate that only for two-monolayer cobalt films does the interplay between strain, surface, and interface effects lead to perpendicular magnetization.     

Renal Clearable Luminescent WSe2 for Radioprotection of Nontargeted Tissues during Radiotherapy

High‐energy ionizing radiation is widely used in medical diagnosis and cancer radiation therapy. However, high‐energy radiation can also impose significant damages in healthy tissues during medical treatments via direct DNA damages and indirect damages from production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, it is urgent to develop highly effective radioprotectants with low toxicities that can meet the increasing needs for alleviating the adverse effects from cancer radiation therapy and nuclear emergency. In this work, strongly catalytic ultrasmall (sub‐5 nm) cysteine‐protected WSe₂ dots are employed to protect healthy tissues against radiation via diminishing radiation‐induced free radicals. The WSe₂ dots with high surface activities can recover radiation‐induced DNA damages and eliminate the excessive ROS generated from radiation. In vivo experiments confirm that the survival rate of mice treated with WSe₂ dots is significantly elevated with radiation damages postponed under exposure to high‐dose ionizing radiation. Furthermore, the free radicals in major organs and hematological system can be appreciably omitted, suggesting their unique role as free radical scavengers. These WSe₂ dots in ultrasmall size show rapid renal clearance of ≈74% injection dose via urine excretion in 24 h and do not cause any apparent toxicity in vivo for up to 30 d.