A possible origin of room temperature ferromagnetism in Indium-Tin oxide thin film: Surface spin polarization and ferromagnetism

Room temperature ferromagnetism in both transition-metals doped and undoped semiconductor thin films and nanostructures challenges our understanding of the magnetism in solids. In this report, we performed the magnetic measurement and Andreev reflection spectroscopy study on undoped Indium-Tin oxide (ITO) thin films and bulk samples. The magnetic measurement results of thin films show that the total magnetization/cm² is thickness independent. Prominent ferromagnetism signal was also discovered in bulk samples. Spin polarized electron transports were probed on ITO thin film/superconductor interface and bulk samples surface/superconductor interface. Based on the magnetic measurement results and spin polarization measurement data, we propose that the ferromagnetism in this material originates from the surface spin polarization and this surface polarization may also explain the room temperature ferromagnetism discovered in other undoped oxide semiconductor thin films and nanostructures.     

Phase change associated with resonant surface plasmon polariton-assisted transmission in nanohole arrays

We report FDTD simulation results demonstrating that the optical phase change of surface plasmon polariton-assisted transmission through nanohole arrays in a metal film undergoes a sharp change under resonant conditions. The phenomenon can be explained by various resonant modes between the nanoholes. We further explore the possibility of using this effect for phase-sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensing applications.     

Surface redox induced bipolar switching of transition metal oxide films examined by scanning probe microscopy

The bipolar resistive switching mechanisms of a p-type NiO film and n-type TiO₂ film were examined using local probe-based measurements. Scanning probe-based current–voltage (I–V) sweeps and surface potential/current maps obtained after the application of dc bias suggested that resistive switching is caused mainly by the surface redox reactions involving oxygen ions at the tip/oxide interface. This explanation can be applied generally to both p-type and n-type conducting resistive switching films. The contribution of oxygen migration to resistive switching was also observed indirectly, but only in the cases where the tip was in (quasi-) Ohmic contact with the oxide.     

Particle-laden viscous thin-film flows on an incline: Experiments compared with a theory based on shear-induced migration and particle settling

Particle settling in driven viscous films is a complex physical process involving different physical effects. A recent analysis by Cook (2008) [10] has identified a balance between hindered settling and shear-induced migration as the dominant large scale physics for particle/liquid separation. However, experimental data for this has been lacking. This paper presents new data including the role of particle size and liquid viscosity showing clear agreement with the theory. We discuss the role of timescales in the dynamics of the experiment and present results from a dynamic model.     

Structural and mechanical properties of multi-element (TiVCrZrHf)N coatings by reactive magnetron sputtering

In this study, (TiVCrZrHf)N multi-component coatings with quinary metallic elements were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering system. The composition, structure, and mechanical properties of the coatings deposited at different N₂ flow rates were investigated. The (TiVCrZrHf)N coatings deposited at N₂ flow rates of 0, 1, and 2 SCCM showed an amorphous structure, whereas those deposited at N₂ flow rates of 4 and 6 SCCM showed a simple face-centered cubic solid solution structure. A saturated nitride coating was obtained for N₂ flow of 4 SCCM and higher. By increasing N₂ flow to 4 SCCM, the hardness and modulus reached a maximum value of 23.8 ± 0.8 and 267.3 ± 4.0 GPa, respectively.     

On connected dominating sets of restricted diameter

A connected dominating set (CDS) is commonly used to model a virtual backbone of a wireless network. To bound the distance that information must travel through the network, we explicitly restrict the diameter of a CDS to be no more than s leading to the concept of a dominating s-club. We prove that for any fixed positive integer s it is NP-complete to determine if a graph has a dominating s  -club, even when the graph has diameter s+1$s+1$. As a special case it is NP-complete to determine if a graph of diameter two has a dominating clique. We then propose a compact integer programming formulation for the related minimization problem, enhance the approach with variable fixing rules and valid inequalities, and present computational results.     

Joint Hyponormality of Toeplitz Pairs with Rational Symbols

In this note we consider joint hyponormality of pairs of Toeplitz operators acting on the Hardy space ${H^2(\mathbb T)}$ of the unit circle ${\mathbb T}$ . We give answers on some questions which arise from joint hyponormality of Toeplitz pairs with rational symbols.     

Psi‐series method for equality of random trees and quadratic convolution recurrences

An unusual and surprising expansion of the form as , is derived for the probability p_n that two randomly chosen binary search trees are identical (in shape, hence in labels of all corresponding nodes). A quantity arising in the analysis of phylogenetic trees is also proved to have a similar asymptotic expansion. Our method of proof is new in the literature of discrete probability and the analysis of algorithms, and it is based on the logarithmic psi‐series expansions for nonlinear differential equations. Such an approach is very general and applicable to many other problems involving nonlinear differential equations; many examples are discussed in this article and several attractive phenomena are discovered.Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 44, 67–108, 2014     

An integrated inventory model with quality improvement and two-part credit policy

Trade credit financing plays a vital role in current business operations. Vendors extend payment dates to encourage sales, and buyers are not required to pay immediately after receiving products. This is equivalent to receiving a price reduction. Besides, buyers reduce their need for capital from bank loans. In addition, a number of defective products are produced during the production process. The number of defective items influences the on-hand inventory levels of buyers, service levels, and frequency of orders. To ensure that the analysis incorporates a realistic production environment, we developed an integrated inventory model with a two-part trade credit and considered an imperfect production process that can be improved by capital investment. The objective was to determine the optimal ordering, shipping, and quality improvement policies to maximize joint total profit. An iterative algorithm was established to determine the optimal strategy. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effects of changing parameter values on the optimal solution.     

A sharp lower bound for the log canonical threshold

In this note, we prove a sharp lower bound for the log canonical threshold of a plurisubharmonic function ${\varphi}$ with an isolated singularity at 0 in an open subset of ${\mathbb{C}^n}$ . This threshold is defined as the supremum of constants c > 0 such that ${e^{-2c\varphi}}$ is integrable on a neighborhood of 0. We relate ${c(\varphi)}$ to the intermediate multiplicity numbers ${e_j(\varphi)}$ , defined as the Lelong numbers of ${(dd^c\varphi)^j}$ at 0 (so that in particular ${e_0(\varphi)=1}$ ). Our main result is that ${c(\varphi)\geqslant\sum_{j=0}^{n-1} e_j(\varphi)/e_{j+1}(\varphi)}$ . This inequality is shown to be sharp; it simultaneously improves the classical result ${c(\varphi)\geqslant 1/e_1(\varphi)}$ due to Skoda, as well as the lower estimate ${c(\varphi)\geqslant n/e_n(\varphi)^{1/n}}$ which has received crucial applications to birational geometry in recent years. The proof consists in a reduction to the toric case, i.e. singularities arising from monomial ideals.