Low-temperature thermal conductivity of superconductors with gap nodes

We report a detailed analytic and numerical study of electronic thermal conductivity in d-wave superconductors. We compare theory of the crossover at low temperatures from T dependence to T(3) dependence for increasing temperature with recent experiments on YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) in zero magnetic field for T approximately [0.04 K,0.4 K] by Hill et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 027001 (2004)]. Transport theory, including impurity scattering and inelastic scattering within strong-coupling superconductivity, can consistently fit the temperature dependence of the data in the lower half of the temperature regime. We discuss the conditions under which we expect power-law dependences over wide temperature intervals.     

Dependence of photoemission efficiency on the pulsed laser cleaning of Tungsten photocathodes, part 1: Experimental

3+ :YAG laser with 5^th harmonic generator, generating 16 ps duration pulses at 213 nm, with energies up to 0.5 mJ. Experimental results concerning the action of laser pulses, as well as the effects of residual pressure on the cleanliness of the photocathodes surface are presented and discussed. Influence of laser pulses and residual pressure on the work function of the metal are also investigated. Received: 15 April 1996/Accepted: 5 November 1996     

Critical Hardy–Lieb–Thirring Inequalities for Fourth-Order Operators in Low Dimensions

This paper considers Hardy–Lieb–Thirring inequalities for higher order differential operators. A result for general fourth-order operators on the half-line is developed, and the trace inequality

Recent Progress with the SMILETRAP Penning Mass Spectrometer

The Penning trap mass spectrometer SMILETRAP has been considerably improved during the last two years. The helium pressure has been carefully stabilized and is now independent of irregular air pressure. The temperature of the hyperboloidal precision trap is stabilized to ±0.03°C. Remaining temperature instabilities are compensated by changes in the current of a warm coil surrounding the precision trap. The frequency synthesizer is now locked to GPS. This means that it is much easier to accurately measure resonances during several days. The improvements have demonstrated that in mass doublet measurements with an excitation time of 1 s it is possible to determine the mass of ions with q/A=1/2 at an uncertainty to a few times of 0.1 ppb, using selected rather than cooled ions. In routine measurements lasting for one day it is possible to reach a mass uncertainty of 1 ppb. The masses of the following particles and atoms have been measured with uncertainties in the region 0.3–2 ppb: p, ³H, ³He, ⁴He, ²²Ne, ²⁸Si, ³⁶Ar, ⁷⁶Ge, ⁷⁶Se, ⁸⁶Kr and ¹³³Cs. It has also been shown that though we are using a warm bore the trap pressure is sufficiently low to prevent electron capture from the rest gas for excitation times of 3 s and for ion charges as high as 50+. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A new diquark model for deep inelastic structure functions

The bulk of data from deep inelasticep, eD, μp, μN, νp and νN scattering is fitted with a new diquark model of nucleons. The proton is found to be mostly in au(ud) ₀ state, where the (ud)₀ diquark has spin and isospin zero. There is hence no trace ofSU(6) symmetry among diquarks in nucleons.     

Electronic structure and electron dynamics at the GaSb(0 0 1) surface studied by femtosecond pump-and-probe pulsed laser photoemission spectroscopy

Transiently excited electron states at the GaSb(0 0 1) surface have been studied by means of time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy based on a femtosecond laser system. A normally unpopulated surface electron state has been found at ∼250 meV above the valence band maximum with a strong confinement at the center of the surface Brillouin zone. The lifetime of transiently excited carriers at the intergap surface states has been found to be ∼11 ps, associated with rapid carrier diffusion.     

Hydrogen-bond topology and the ice VII/VIII and ice Ih/XI proton-ordering phase transitions

The existence of an ice Ih/XI proton-ordering transition to a low-temperature ferroelectric phase has sparked considerable debate in the literature. Electronic density functional theory calculations, extended using graph invariants, confirm that a transition to a low-temperature ferroelectric phase should occur. The predicted transition at 98 K is in qualitative agreement with the observed transition at 72 K, and the low-temperature phase is the ferroelectric phase determined in diffraction experiments. The theoretical methods used to predict the phase transition are validated by comparing their prediction to the well-characterized ice VII/VIII proton-ordering transition.     

Thin SiC<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> layers prepared by hybrid laser–magnetron deposition

Thin SiC _x films were fabricated by hybrid laser–magnetron deposition system. KrF excimer laser was used for deposition of carbon and magnetron at the same time for sputtering of Si species. Films were fabricated in argon/hydrogen ambient with and without additional RF discharge. The substrate temperature was changed up to 700°C. Films topology, crystallinity, composition, chemical bonds and optical emission spectra were studied. Films were smooth and amorphous. Films of thickness 400–1000 nm were fabricated. Adhesion moved from 8 to 14 N, depending on deposition conditions.     

Self-phase-locked degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator

We demonstrated a stable degenerate synchronously pumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) as a divide-by-2 subharmonic generator. The SPOPO exhibited passive all-optical self-phase-locking between the pump and signal/idler and thus required no external electronic feedback to produce the phase-locked subharmonic. We employed a type I phase-matched, 1-mm-long, periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal as the nonlinear gain element and an 80 MHz mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser with 180 fs pulses tuned at 775 nm as the pump. The SPOPO generated transform-limited 70 fs phase-locked output pulses centered at 1550 nm. The self-phase-locking operation was confirmed by separate beat-note measurement techniques with respect to the pump laser and with respect to an external cw laser.     

Submillimeter ESR spectra of Fe<Superscript>2+</Superscript> ions in synthetic and natural beryl crystals

Electron spin resonance spectra of non-Kramers bivalent iron (Fe²⁺) ions have been detected in synthetic and natural beryl crystals with an iron impurity. The observed ESR spectra have been attributed to resonance transitions of Fe²⁺ ions from the ground (singlet) state to excited (doublet) levels with the splitting Δ = 12.7 cm^–1 between the levels. The experimental angular and frequency dependences of the resonance field of the ESR signal have been described by the spin Hamiltonian with the effective spin S = 1. The analysis of the ESR data and optical absorption spectra indicates that the Fe²⁺ ions are situated in tetrahedral positions and substitute Be²⁺ cations in the beryl structure.