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Chen, Xi

Publications and source records attributed to Chen, Xi.

At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Chemical reaction at ferromagnet/oxide interface and its influence on anomalous Hall effect

Chemical reactions at the ferromagnet/oxide interface in [Pt/Fe]{sub 3}/MgO and [Pt/Fe]{sub 3}/SiO{sub 2} multilayers before and after annealing were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that Fe atoms at the Fe/MgO interface were completely oxidized in the as-grown state and significantly deoxidized after vacuum annealing. However, only some of the Fe atoms at the Fe/SiO{sub 2} interface were oxidized and rarely deoxidized after annealing. The anomalous Hall effect was modified by this interfacial chemical reaction. The saturation anomalous Hall resistance (R{sub xy}) was greatly increased in the [Pt/Fe]{sub 3}/MgO multilayers after annealing and was 350% higher than that in the as-deposited film, while R{sub xy} of the [Pt/Fe]{sub 3}/SiO{sub 2} multilayer only increased 10% after annealing.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interfacial electronic structure-modulated magnetic anisotropy in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/Ta multilayers

We have observed several unexpected phenomena when a trace amount of Fe atoms is deposited onto the CoFeB/MgO interface in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/Ta multilayers. With the nominal thickness of the introduced Fe atoms (t{sub Fe}) varying from 0 to 0.1 Å, the effective magnetic anisotropy energy (K{sub eff}) of annealed multilayers is remarkably enhanced from 1.28 × 10{sup 6 }erg/cm{sup 3} to 2.14 × 10{sup 6 }erg/cm{sup 3}. As t{sub Fe} further increasing, the K{sub eff} decreases and even becomes negative when t{sub Fe} > 1 Å, indicating the change from perpendicular magnetic anisotropy to in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectrometer reveals that the Fe atoms at annealed CoFeB/MgO interface show different electronic structures as t{sub Fe} increasing, which combine with O atoms to form FeO{sub x} (x < 1), Fe{sub 2}O{sub 3}, and Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}, respectively, leading to modulation of Fe 3d-O 2p orbital hybridization and thus the K{sub eff}. On the other hand, we find that the introduction of Fe atoms also helps to reduce the multilayers' magnetic damping.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Confinement degradation by Alfvén-eigenmode induced fast-ion transport in steady-state scenario discharges

Here, analysis of neutron and fast-ion D α data from the DIII-D tokamak shows that Alfvén eigenmode activity degrades fast-ion confinement in many high β N , high q min , steady-state scenario discharges. (β N is the normalized plasma pressure and q min is the minimum value of the plasma safety factor.) Fast-ion diagnostics that are sensitive to the co-passing population exhibit the largest reduction relative to classical predictions. The increased fast-ion transport in discharges with strong AE activity accounts for the previously observed reduction in global confinement with increasing q min ; however, not all high q min discharges show appreciable degradation. Two relatively simple empirical quantities provide convenient monitors of these effects: (1) an 'AE amplitude' signal based on interferometer measurements and (2) the ratio of the neutron rate to a zero-dimensional classical prediction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

DETECTION OF 36 GHz CLASS I METHANOL MASER EMISSION TOWARD NGC 253

We have used the Australia Telescope Compact Array to search for emission from the 4{sub –1} → 3{sub 0} E transition of methanol (36.2 GHz) toward the center of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253. Two regions of emission were detected, offset from the nucleus along the same position angle as the inner spiral arms. The emission is largely unresolved on a scale of 5'', has a FWHM line width of <30 km s{sup –1}, and an isotropic luminosity orders of a magnitude larger than that observed in any Galactic star formation region. These characteristics suggest that the 36.2 GHz methanol emission is most likely a maser, although observations with higher angular and spectral resolution are required to confirm this. If it is a maser, this represents the first detection of a class I methanol maser outside the Milky Way. The 36.2 GHz methanol emission in NGC 253 has more than an order of magnitude higher isotropic luminosity than the widespread emission recently detected toward the center of the Milky Way. If emission from this transition scales with the nuclear star formation rate, then it may be detectable in the central regions of many starburst galaxies. Detection of methanol emission in ultra-luminous infrared galaxies would open up a new tool for testing for variations in fundamental constants (particularly the proton-to-electron mass ratio) on cosmological scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Trehalase Regulates Neuroepithelial Stem Cell Maintenance and Differentiation in the Drosophila Optic Lobe

As one of the major hydrolases in Drosophila, trehalase (Treh) catalyzes the hydrolysis of trehalose into glucose providing energy for flight muscle activity. Treh is highly conserved from bacteria to humans, but little is known about its function during animal development. Here, we analyze the function of Treh in Drosophila optic lobe development. In the optic lobe, neuroepithelial cells (NEs) first divide symmetrically to expand the stem cell pool and then differentiate into neuroblasts, which divide asymmetrically to generate medulla neurons. We find that the knockdown of Treh leads to a loss of the lamina and a smaller medulla. Analyses of Treh RNAi-expressing clones and loss-of-function mutants indicate that the lamina and medulla phenotypes result from neuroepithelial disintegration and premature differentiation into medulla neuroblasts. Although the principal role of Treh is to generate glucose, the Treh loss-of-function phenotype cannot be rescued by exogenous glucose. Thus, our results indicate that in addition to being a hydrolase, Treh plays a role in neuroepithelial stem cell maintenance and differentiation during Drosophila optic lobe development.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Non-dissipative energy capture of confined liquid in nanopores

In the past, energy absorption of protection/damping materials is mainly based on energy dissipation, which causes a fundamental conflict between the requirements of safety/comfort and efficiency. In the current study, a nanofluidic “energy capture” system is reported, which is based on nanoporous materials and nonwetting liquid. Both molecular dynamics simulations and experiments show that as the liquid overcomes the capillary effect and infiltrates into the nanopores, the mechanical energy of a stress wave could be temporarily stored by the confined liquid phase and isolated from the wave energy transmission path. Such a system can work under a relatively low pressure for mitigating high-pressure stress waves, not necessarily involved in any energy dissipation processes.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Delay time and Hartman effect in strain engineered graphene

Tunneling times, including group delay and dwell time, are studied for massless Dirac electrons transmitting through a one-dimensional barrier in strain-engineered graphene. The Hartman effect, the independence of group delay on barrier length, is induced by the strain effect, and associated with the transmission gap and the evanescent mode. The influence of barrier height/length and strain modulus/direction on the group delay is also discussed, which provides the flexibility to control the group delay with applications in graphene-based devices. The relationship between group delay and dwell time is finally derived to clarify the nature of the Hartman effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Experimental Observation of Dirac-like Surface States and Topological Phase Transition in Pb 1 - x Sn x Te ( 111 ) Films

The surface of a topological crystalline insulator (TCI) carries an even number of Dirac cones protected by crystalline symmetry. We epitaxially grew here high-quality ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1{-}x}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{x}\mathrm{Te}(111)$ films and investigated the TCI phase by in situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1{-}x}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{x}\mathrm{Te}(111)$ films undergo a topological phase transition from a trivial insulator to TCI via increasing the Sn/Pb ratio, accompanied by a crossover from $n$-type to $p$-type doping. In addition, a hybridization gap is opened in the surface states when the thickness of the film is reduced to the two-dimensional limit. The work demonstrates an approach to manipulating the topological properties of TCI, which is of importance for future fundamental research and applications based on TCI.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Topological crystalline insulator Pb{sub x}Sn{sub 1-x}Te thin films on SrTiO{sub 3} (001) with tunable Fermi levels

In this letter, we report a systematic study of topological crystalline insulator Pb{sub x}Sn{sub 1-x}Te (0 < x < 1) thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on SrTiO{sub 3}(001). Two domains of Pb{sub x}Sn{sub 1-x}Te thin films with intersecting angle of α ≈ 45° were confirmed by reflection high energy diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). ARPES study of Pb{sub x}Sn{sub 1-x}Te thin films demonstrated that the Fermi level of PbTe could be tuned by altering the temperature of substrate whereas SnTe cannot. An M-shaped valance band structure was observed only in SnTe but PbTe is in a topological trivial state with a large gap. In addition, co-evaporation of SnTe and PbTe results in an equivalent variation of Pb concentration as well as the Fermi level of Pb{sub x}Sn{sub 1-x}Te thin films.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

System and method for controlling power consumption in a computer system based on user satisfaction

Systems and methods for controlling power consumption in a computer system. For each of a plurality of interactive applications, the method changes a frequency at which a processor of the computer system runs, receives an indication of user satisfaction, determines a relationship between the changed frequency and the user satisfaction of the interactive application, and stores the determined relationship information. The determined relationship can distinguish between different users and different interactive applications. A frequency may be selected from the discrete frequencies at which the processor of the computer system runs based on the determined relationship information for a particular user and a particular interactive application running on the processor of the computer system. The processor may be adapted to run at the selected frequency.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preparation, characterization and catalytic properties of MCM-48 supported tungstophosphoric acid mesoporous materials for green synthesis of benzoic acid

MCM-48 and tungstophosphoric acid (HPW) were prepared and applied for the synthesis of HPW/MCM-48 mesoporous materials. The characterization results showed that HPW/MCM-48 obtained retained the typical mesopore structure of MCM-48, and the textural parameters decreased with the increase loading of HPW. The catalytic oxidation results of benzyl alcohol and benzaldehyde with 30% H{sub 2}O{sub 2} indicated that HPW/MCM-48 was an efficient catalyst for the green synthesis of benzoic acid. Furthermore, 35 wt% HPW/MCM-48 sample showed the highest activity under the reaction conditions. Highlights: • 5–45 wt% HPW/MCM-48 mesoporous catalysts were prepared and characterized. • Their catalytic activities for the green synthesis of benzoic acid were investigated. • HPW/MCM-48 was approved to be an efficient catalyst. • 5 wt% HPW/MCM-48 exhibited the highest catalytic activity.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Interfacial oxygen migration and its effect on the magnetic anisotropy in Pt/Co/MgO/Pt films

This paper reports the interfacial oxygen migration effect and its induced magnetic anisotropy evolution in Pt/Co/MgO/Pt films. During depositing the MgO layer, oxygen atoms from the MgO combine with the neighboring Co atoms, leading to the formation of CoO at the Co/MgO interface. Meanwhile, the films show in-plane magnetic anisotropy (IMA). After annealing, most of the oxygen atoms in CoO migrate back to the MgO layer, resulting in obvious improvement of Co/MgO interface and the enhancement of effective Co-O orbital hybridization. These favor the evolution of magnetic anisotropy from IMA to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). The oxygen migration effect is achieved by the redox reaction at the Co/MgO interface. On the contrary, the transfer from IMA to PMA cannot be observed in Pt/Co/Pt films due to the lack of interfacial oxygen migration.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

An optics-based variable-temperature assay system for characterizing thermodynamics of biomolecular reactions on solid support

A biological state is equilibrium of multiple concurrent biomolecular reactions. The relative importance of these reactions depends on physiological temperature typically between 10 °C and 50 °C. Experimentally the temperature dependence of binding reaction constants reveals thermodynamics and thus details of these biomolecular processes. We developed a variable-temperature opto-fluidic system for real-time measurement of multiple (400–10 000) biomolecular binding reactions on solid supports from 10 °C to 60 °C within ±0.1 °C. We illustrate the performance of this system with investigation of binding reactions of plant lectins (carbohydrate-binding proteins) with 24 synthetic glycans (i.e., carbohydrates). We found that the lectin-glycan reactions in general can be enthalpy-driven, entropy-driven, or both, and water molecules play critical roles in the thermodynamics of these reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Algorithmic scatter correction in dual-energy digital mammography

Purpose: Small calcifications are often the earliest and the main indicator of breast cancer. Dual-energy digital mammography (DEDM) has been considered as a promising technique to improve the detectability of calcifications since it can be used to suppress the contrast between adipose and glandular tissues of the breast. X-ray scatter leads to erroneous calculations of the DEDM image. Although the pinhole-array interpolation method can estimate scattered radiations, it requires extra exposures to measure the scatter and apply the correction. The purpose of this work is to design an algorithmic method for scatter correction in DEDM without extra exposures.Methods: In this paper, a scatter correction method for DEDM was developed based on the knowledge that scattered radiation has small spatial variation and that the majority of pixels in a mammogram are noncalcification pixels. The scatter fraction was estimated in the DEDM calculation and the measured scatter fraction was used to remove scatter from the image. The scatter correction method was implemented on a commercial full-field digital mammography system with breast tissue equivalent phantom and calcification phantom. The authors also implemented the pinhole-array interpolation scatter correction method on the system. Phantom results for both methods are presented and discussed. The authors compared the background DE calcification signals and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of calcifications in the three DE calcification images: image without scatter correction, image with scatter correction using pinhole-array interpolation method, and image with scatter correction using the authors' algorithmic method.Results: The authors' results show that the resultant background DE calcification signal can be reduced. The root-mean-square of background DE calcification signal of 1962 μm with scatter-uncorrected data was reduced to 194 μm after scatter correction using the authors' algorithmic method. The range of background DE calcification signals using scatter-uncorrected data was reduced by 58% with scatter-corrected data by algorithmic method. With the scatter-correction algorithm and denoising, the minimum visible calcification size can be reduced from 380 to 280 μm.Conclusions: When applying the proposed algorithmic scatter correction to images, the resultant background DE calcification signals can be reduced and the CNR of calcifications can be improved. This method has similar or even better performance than pinhole-array interpolation method in scatter correction for DEDM; moreover, this method is convenient and requires no extra exposure to the patient. Although the proposed scatter correction method is effective, it is validated by a 5-cm-thick phantom with calcifications and homogeneous background. The method should be tested on structured backgrounds to more accurately gauge effectiveness.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Effects of (Al,Ge) double doping on the thermoelectric properties of higher manganese silicides

Experiments and analysis have been carried out to investigate the effects of Al and (Al,Ge) doping on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline higher manganese silicide (HMS) samples, which were prepared by solid-state reaction, ball milling, and followed by spark plasma sintering. It has been found that Al doping effectively increases the hole concentration, which leads to an increase in the electrical conductivity and power factor. By introducing the second dopant Ge into Al-doped HMS, the electrical conductivity is increased, and the Seebeck coefficient is decreased as a result of further increased hole concentration. The peak power factor is found to occur at a hole concentration between 1.8 × 10{sup 21} and 2.2 × 10{sup 21} cm{sup −3} measured at room temperature. The (Al,Ge)-doped HMS samples show lower power factors owing to their higher hole concentrations. The mobility of Mn(Al{sub 0.0035}Ge{sub y}Si{sub 0.9965-y}){sub 1.8} with y = 0.035 varies approximately as T{sup −3/2} above 200 K, suggesting acoustic phonon scattering is the dominant scattering mechanism. The thermal conductivity of HMS does not change appreciably by Al or (Al,Ge) doping. The maximum ZT of (Al,Ge)-doped HMS is 0.57 at 823 K, which is similar to the highest value found in the Al-doped HMS samples. The ZT values were reduced in the Mn(Al{sub 0.0035}Ge{sub y}Si{sub 0.9965-y}){sub 1.8} samples with high Ge concentration of y = 0.025 and 0.035, because of reduced power factor. In addition, a two-band model was employed to show that the hole contribution to the thermal conductivity dominates the bipolar and electron contributions for all samples from 300 to 823 K and accounts for about 12% of the total thermal conductivity at about 800 K.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2013

First Evaluation of the Climatological Calibration Algorithm in the Real-time TMPA Precipitation Estimates over Two Basins at High and Low Latitudes

The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) system underwent a crucial upgrade in early 2009 to include a climatological calibration algorithm (CCA) to its realtime product 3B42RT, and this algorithm will continue to be applied in the future Global Precipitation Measurement era constellation precipitation products. In this study, efforts are focused on the comparison and validation of the Version 6 3B42RT estimates before and after the climatological calibration is applied. The evaluation is accomplished using independent rain gauge networks located within the high-latitude Laohahe basin and the low-latitude Mishui basin, both in China. The analyses indicate the CCA can effectively reduce the systematic errors over the low-latitude Mishui basin but misrepresent the intensity distribution pattern of medium-high rain rates. This behavior could adversely affect TMPA's hydrological applications, especially for extreme events (e.g., floods and landslides). Results also show that the CCA tends to perform slightly worse, in particular, during summer and winter, over the high-latitude Laohahe basin. This is possibly due to the simplified calibration-processing scheme in the CCA that directly applies the climatological calibrators developed within 40 degrees latitude to the latitude belts of 40 degrees N-50 degrees N. Caution should therefore be exercised when using the calibrated 3B42RT for heavy rainfall-related flood forecasting (or landslide warning) over high-latitude regions, as the employment of the smooth-fill scheme in the CCA bias correction could homogenize the varying rainstorm characteristics. Finally, this study highlights that accurate detection and estimation of snow at high latitudes is still a challenging task for the future development of satellite precipitation retrievals.

TMPA-RT Precipitation Estimates↗
DOE OSTI2013

NEWLY IDENTIFIED EXTENDED GREEN OBJECTS (EGOs) FROM THE SPITZER GLIMPSE II SURVEY. I. CATALOG

We have produced a catalog containing 98 newly identified massive young stellar object (MYSO) candidates associated with ongoing outflows (known as extended green objects, or EGOs). These have been identified from the Spitzer Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire (GLIMPSE) II data set and our new identifications increase the number of known EGOs to {approx}400 in our Galaxy, adding to the {approx}300 previously identified EGOs reported by Cyganowski et al. from the GLIMPSE I survey. The high detection rate ({approx}70%) of 95 GHz class I methanol masers achieved in a survey toward 57 of these new EGOs with the Mopra 22 m radio telescope demonstrates that the new EGOs are associated with outflows. Investigations of the mid-infrared properties and physical associations with other star formation tracers (e.g., infrared dark clouds, class I and II methanol masers, and millimeter Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey sources) reveal that the newly identified EGOs are very similar in nature to those in the sample of Cyganowski et al. All of the observational evidence supports the hypothesis that EGOs correspond to MYSOs at the earliest evolutionary stage, with ongoing outflow activity, and active rapid accretion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗