Spectral shift of a twisted electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model beam focused by a thin lens

Spectral changes of a twisted electromagnetic Gaussian Schell-model (EGSM) beam focused by a thin lens are investigated by using a tensor method. It is shown that the spectral shift is mainly determined by the degree of polarization, twist phase and correlation coefficients of the initial beam. Generically the blue shift occurs at on-axis points, while the red shift can occur at off-axis points.     

A Mössbauer effect study of the Fe2+x Mn1–x Al Heusler alloys

In this work the Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to study the magnetic properties of Fe_2?+?x Mn_1???x Al alloys with small deviations of composition from the stoichiometric 2:1:1. The Mössbauer parameters obtained for the L2₁ phase indicate H _hf fields of about 25 T and 30 T at 80 K for Fe atoms at X sites in the ordered X₂YZ structure of the L2₁ full Heusler alloys.     

Compositional and structural medium energy ion scattering study of the temperature mediated diffusion determination at the Co/V interface in Co/V/MgO(100)

The impact of annealing at 300 °C on the elemental composition and the atomic structure of the Co/V interface in the 2.5 Å Co/70 Å V/MgO (100) system has been investigated by medium energy ion scattering (MEIS) using 100 keV He⁺ ions. By combining the experimental MEIS results with simulations we show that, while the Co/V interface is abrupt for the system kept at room temperature, annealing at 300 °C induces a strong interdiffusion leading to a Co_0.5V_0.5 surface bcc alloy with a high degree of disorder. Additionally, the MEIS data suggest that the surface of the annealed system is slightly rumpled by ~ 0.2 Å.     

Optimal growth conditions for GdBa2Cu3O7 thin-film coated conductors characterized by polarized Raman scattering spectroscopy

High temperature superconducting GdBa₂Cu₃O₇ (GdBCO) thin films were grown by pulsed laser ablation. Textured MgO on metal substrates was used as a template for second generation wire applications. Growth conditions of GdBCO thin films were investigated for substrate temperature (T_s) and oxygen partial pressure (PO₂) during deposition. Superconducting critical currents of the films were obtained in the films grown at 790–810 °C of T_s and at 100–700 mTorr of PO₂. Scanning electron micrographs of the films revealed uniform and well-connected grains with some outgrown structures. X-ray θ–2θ scans of the films grown at 810 °C and 300–500 mTorr exhibited c-axis oriented texture. In-plane alignment and c-axis mosaic spread of the films were determined from X-ray Φ scans and rocking curves, respectively. Polarized Raman scattering spectroscopy was used to characterize optical phonon modes, oxygen content, cation disorder, and some possible second phases of the films. The Raman spectra of the films with large critical current density showed modes at 326–329 cm⁻¹, 444–447 cm⁻¹, 500–503 cm⁻¹ related to vibration of oxygen atoms. Origin of small peaks near 600 cm⁻¹ will be discussed as well. The information obtained from Raman scattering measurements will be useful for quality control of the conductors as well as optimization of the process conditions.     

Superconducting property of Zr–Co and Zr–Co–Al alloys fabricated by rapid solidification

The superconducting property of Zr_(1−x)Co_x (x = 10–50 at.%) alloys and a Zr₅₅Co₃₀Al₁₅ bulk metallic glass fabricated using techniques of rapid solidification was investigated. The Zr₅₅Co₃₀Al₁₅ alloy crystallized by heat treatment in a vacuum atmosphere exhibited superconductivity of T_c,on = 2.4 K. This was attributable to the superconducting property of a crystalline Zr–Co alloy precipitated in the Zr₅₅Co₃₀Al₁₅ alloy. The T_c,on of the crystalline Zr_(1−x)Co_x alloy was sensitive to the Co content. The increase of Co content for the Zr_(1−x)Co_x alloy led to the decrease of T_c,on. The Zr_(1−x)Co_x alloy exhibited superconductivity of a maximum T_c,on = 3.9 K for the Zr₈₀Co₂₀ alloy with superconducting nanocrystal particles embedded in the amorphous matrix.     

Quasi-particle excitations around a pair of half-quantum vortices in p- wave superconductors

Triplet superconductors such as Sr₂RuO₄ and Na_xCoO₂⋅yH₂O are now found to be p-wave (p_x ± ip_y) or f-wave ((p_x ± ip_y) cos cp_z) superconductors. It was phenomenologically suggested that in these p-wave or f-wave superconductors, a pair of half-quantum vortices (HQVs) becomes stable. Using the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, previously we have analyzed quasi-particle excitations around an HQV at one end of a d-soliton for simplicity. In next study, we will investigate the stability of the pair of HQV’s, which are connected by the d-soliton. For this purpose, we have developed a new numerical method to solve the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation for two vortices state, using Mathieu functions.     

Stop-like modification of the dental fricative /ð/: an acoustic analysis

This study concentrates on one of the commonly occurring phonetic variations in English: the stop-like modification of the dental fricative /e/. The variant exhibits a drastic change from the canonical /e/; the manner of articulation is changed from one that is fricative to one that is stop-like. Furthermore, the place of articulation of stop-like /e/ has been a point of uncertainty, leading to confusion between stop-like /e/ and /d/. In this study, acoustic and spectral moment measures were taken from 100 stop-like /e/ and 102 /d/ tokens produced by 59 male and 23 female speakers in the TIMIT corpus. Data analysis indicated that stop-like /e/ is significantly different from /d/ in burst amplitude, burst spectrum shape, burst peak frequency, second formant at following-vowel onset, and spectral moments. Moreover, the acoustic differences from /d/ are consistent with those expected for a dental stop-like /e/. Automatic classification experiments involving these acoustic measures suggested that they are salient in distinguishing stop-like /e/ from /d/.     

Enhancement of the critical temperature of HgBa₂CuO(4+δ) by applying uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure: implications for a universal trend in cuprate superconductors

It is well known that the superconducting transition temperature (T(c)) of cuprate superconductors can be enhanced by varying certain structural and electronic parameters, such as the flatness of the CuO? planes or their doping level. We determine the uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure derivatives of T(c) in the structurally simple tetragonal compound HgBa?CuO(4+δ) near optimal doping. Our results provide experimental evidence for two further methods to enhance T(c): (i) reducing the area of the CuO? planes, and (ii) increasing the separation of the CuO? planar groups. T(c) is found to couple much more strongly to the ratio c/a of the lattice constants than to the unit cell volume. A comparison with prior results for structurally more complicated cuprates reveals a general trend of uniaxial pressure derivatives with T(c).     

Chiral charge-density waves

We discovered the chirality of charge-density waves (CDW) in 1T-TiSe? by using STM and time-domain optical polarimetry. We found that the CDW intensity becomes Ia?∶Ia?∶Ia? = 1∶0.7 ± 0.1∶0.5 ± 0.1, where Ia(i) (i=1,2,3) is the amplitude of the tunneling current contributed by the CDWs. There were two states, in which the three intensity peaks of the CDW decrease clockwise and anticlockwise. The chirality in CDW results in the threefold symmetry breaking. Macroscopically, twofold symmetry was indeed observed in optical measurement. We propose the new generalized CDW chirality H(CDW) ≡ q?·(q?×q?), where q(i) are the CDW q vectors, which is independent of the symmetry of components. The nonzero H(CDW)-the triple-q vectors do not exist in an identical plane in the reciprocal space-should induce a real-space chirality in CDW system.