Redox driven conductance changes for resistive memory

The relationship between bias-induced redox reactions and resistance switching is considered for memory devices containing TiO₂ or a conducting polymer in “molecular heterojunctions” consisting of thin (2–25 nm) films of covalently bonded molecules, polymers, and oxides. Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor changes in the oxidation state of polythiophene in Au/P3HT/SiO₂/Au devices, and it was possible to directly determine the formation and stability of the conducting polaron state of P3HT by applied bias pulses [P3HT = poly(3-hexyl thiophene)]. Polaron formation was strongly dependent on junction composition, particularly on the interfaces between the polymer, oxide, and electrodes. In all cases, trace water was required for polaron formation, leading to the proposal that water reduction acts as a redox counter-reaction to polymer oxidation. Polaron stability was longest for the case of a direct contact between Au and SiO₂, implying that catalytic water reduction at the Au surface generated hydroxide ions which stabilized the cationic polaron. The spectroscopic information about the dependence of polaron stability on device composition will be useful for designing and monitoring resistive switching memory based on conducting polymers, with or without TiO₂ present.     

David James Foulis

This paper is in honour of Dave Foulis’s 80th birthday. A brief account of some of his outstanding academic contributions to the fields of Ordered Structures, Orthostructures, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Foundations of Statistics and Operator Theory is present here.     

Coordinatively Unsaturated Amidotitanocene Cations with Inverted σ and π Bond Strengths: Controlled Release of Aminyl Radicals and Hydrogenation/Dehydrogenation Catalysis

Cationic amidotitanocene complexes [Cp₂Ti(NPhAr)][B(C₆F₅)₄] (Cp=η⁵-C₅H₅; Ar=phenyl ( 1 a ), p-tolyl ( 1 b ), p-anisyl ( 1 c )) were isolated. The bonding situation was studied by DFT (Density Functional Theory) using EDA-NOCV (Energy Decomposition Analysis with Natural Orbitals for Chemical Valence). The polar Ti−N bond in 1 a–c features an unusual inversion of σ and π bond strengths responsible for the balance between stability and reactivity in these coordinatively unsaturated species. In solution, 1 a–c undergo photolytic Ti−N cleavage to release Ti(III) species and aminyl radicals ⋅ NPhAr. Reaction of 1 b with H₃BNHMe₂ results in fast homolytic Ti−N cleavage to give [Cp₂Ti(H₃BNHMe₂)][B(C₆F₅)₄] ( 3 ). 1 a–c are highly active precatalysts in olefin hydrogenation and silanes/amines cross-dehydrogenative coupling, whilst 3 efficiently catalyzes amine-borane dehydrogenation. The mechanism of olefin hydrogenation was studied by DFT and the cooperative H₂ activation key step was disclosed using the Activation Strain Model (ASM).     

Arithmetic Brownian motion and real options

We treat real option value when the underlying process is arithmetic Brownian motion (ABM). In contrast to the more common assumption of geometric Brownian motion (GBM) and multiplicative diffusion, with ABM the underlying project value is expressed as an additive process. Its variance remains constant over time rather than rising or falling along with the project’s value, even admitting the possibility of negative values. This is a more compelling paradigm for projects that are managed as a component of overall firm value. After outlining the case for ABM, we derive analytical formulas for European calls and puts on dividend-paying assets as well as a numerical algorithm for American-style and other more complex options based on ABM. We also provide examples of their use.     

On the Adams–Riemann–Roch theorem in positive characteristic

Let p > 0 be a prime number. We give a short proof of the Adams–Riemann–Roch theorem for the p-th Adams operation, when the involved schemes live in characteristic p. We also answer a question of B. Köck.     

An experimental study about the effect of arrangement on the fire behaviors of lithium-ion batteries

The gadolinium ferrochromite (GdFe_1?xCr_xO₃) was used as a case study of influence of chromium substitution on the perovskite structure in the entire composition range. By exploiting thermal analysis techniques (dilatometry, differential thermal analysis) the influence of chromium was investigated in the context of thermal stability of the canted antiferromagnetic ordering. It was found that the higher the chromium concentration was, the more the Néel temperature decreased, e.g., substitution of 26 % of iron atoms corresponded to a depression of about 60 K with respect to undoped gadolinium ferrite. For higher chromium concentrations the mixed gadolinium ferrochromite was paramagnetic at room temperature. Additional information on the crystal structure and, qualitatively, on the magnetic ordering as well was derived from the results of X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements. For chromium content higher than 10 % the gadolinium ferrochromite may be regarded as a solid solution. For lower concentrations, however, a possible formation of clusters with different Fe/Cr ratio occurs as suggested by Mössbauer spectra.     

On Classification of Modular Tensor Categories

We classify all unitary modular tensor categories (UMTCs) of rank ≤ 4. There are a total of 35 UMTCs of rank ≤ 4 up to ribbon tensor equivalence. Since the distinction between the modular S-matrix S and −S has both topological and physical significance, so in our convention there are a total of 70 UMTCs of rank ≤ 4. In particular, there are two trivial UMTCs with S = (±1). Each such UMTC can be obtained from 10 non-trivial prime UMTCs by direct product, and some symmetry operations. Explicit data of the 10 non-trivial prime UMTCs are given in Sect. 5. Relevance of UMTCs to topological quantum computation and various conjectures are given in Sect. 6.