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At least 379 records · Page 21

Dependencies of Simulated Convective Cell and System Growth Biases on Atmospheric Instability and Model Resolution

Abstract This study evaluates convective cell properties and their relationships with convective and stratiform rainfall within a season‐long convection‐permitting weather research and forecasting simulation over central Argentina using radar, satellite, and radiosonde measurements from the RELAMPAGO‐CACTI field campaign. The simulation slightly underestimates radar‐estimated rainfall over the ∼3.5‐month evaluation period but underestimates stratiform rainfall by 46% and overestimates convective rainfall by 43%. As convective available potential energy (CAPE) increases, the convective rainfall overestimation decreases, but the stratiform rainfall underestimation increases such that the contribution of convective to total rainfall remains constantly high biased by ∼26%. Overestimated convective rainfall arises from the simulation generating 2.6 times more precipitating convective cells (14,299) than observed by radar (5,662) despite similar observed and simulated cell growth processes, with relatively wide cells contributing mostly to excessive convective rainfall. Relatively shallow cells, typically reaching heights of 4–7 km, contribute most to the cell number bias. This cell number bias increases as CAPE decreases, potentially because cells and their updrafts become narrower and more under‐resolved as CAPE decreases. The gross overproduction of precipitating shallow cells leads to overly efficient precipitation and inadequate detrainment of ice aloft, thereby diminishing the formation of robust stratiform rainfall regions. Decreasing model horizontal grid spacing from 3 to 1 or 0.333 km for low (<300 J kg −1 ) and high CAPE (>1,000 J kg −1 ) cases results in minimal change to cell number, depth, and convective‐to‐stratiform partitioning biases. This suggests that improving prediction of these convective properties depends on factors beyond solely increasing model resolution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Machine Learning Eliminates Reanalysis Warm Bias and Reveals Weaker Winter Surface Cooling Over Arctic Sea Ice

The surface energy budget governs Arctic sea-ice growth/melt, yet observations are sparse, and reanalysis data sets suffer from systematic biases. Here, we train a neural network with observational data to bias-correct hourly ERA5 fluxes over Arctic ice-covered regions (≥70°N; sea-ice concentration >80%) for 1994–2024. Training data cover two full seasonal cycles and different sea-ice regimes. The neural network reduces RMSE for net shortwave radiation by ∼40%, downward longwave radiation by ∼16% and the total surface energy budget by ∼55%, eliminating the wintertime warm bias of ∼4 K in ERA5. Wintertime surface cooling is reduced by ∼50%, yielding thermodynamic ice-growth estimates of ∼80–120 cm, consistent with SMOS–CryoSat satellite thickness increases and in contrast to the 150–200 cm growth implied by ERA5. Our bias-corrected data capture the observed clear/cloudy states of the winter boundary layer and can be used to study Arctic climatology, evaluate climate models and drive sea-ice-ocean models.

Hossain, Akil [Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar ↗

Root Dynamics Mitigate Warm and Dry Biases over the Central United States

The central United States frequently exhibits warm and dry biases in simulations of summertime conditions, a persistent feature that remains unresolved. While previous studies linked these biases to misrepresented surface energy exchanges, the role of belowground processes remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that inadequate representation of root water uptake in land surface models contributes to this bias. Using both offline Noah-MP and coupled WRF-Noah-MP simulations with static and dynamic root water uptake schemes, we show that the inclusion of dynamic root processes reduces 2-m air temperature biases and enhances precipitation, primarily by increasing the rain rate of convective systems. Offline and coupled simulations further reveal that the cooling effects and precipitation increases are amplified through positive land-atmosphere feedback, active only in the coupled model. These findings highlight an important role of root in modulating land-atmosphere interactions and underscore the need to refine root-zone processes to improve regional atmospheric simulations.

Yang, Zhao (ORCID:0000000288027130)↗

Statistically bias-corrected and downscaled climate models underestimate the adverse effects of extreme heat on U.S. maize yields

Abstract Efforts to understand and quantify how a changing climate can impact agriculture often rely on bias-corrected and downscaled climate information, making it important to quantify potential biases of this approach. Here, we use a multi-model ensemble of statistically bias-corrected and downscaled climate models, as well as the corresponding parent models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), to drive a statistical panel model of U.S. maize yields that incorporates season-wide measures of temperature and precipitation. We analyze uncertainty in annual yield hindcasts, finding that the CMIP5 models considerably overestimate historical yield variability while the bias-corrected and downscaled versions underestimate the largest weather-induced yield declines. We also find large differences in projected yields and other decision-relevant metrics throughout this century, leaving stakeholders with modeling choices that require navigating trade-offs in resolution, historical accuracy, and projection confidence.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Heteroepitaxial growth of Pt and Au thin films on MgO single crystals by bias-assisted sputtering

The crystallographic orientation of a metal affects its surface energy and structure, and has profound implications for surface chemical reactions and interface engineering, which are important in areas ranging from optoelectronic device fabrication to catalysis. However, it can be very difficult and expensive to manufacture, orient, and cut single crystal metals along different crystallographic orientations, especially in the case of precious metals. One approach is to grow thin metal films epitaxially on dielectric substrates. In this work, we report on growth of Pt and Au films on MgO single crystal substrates of (100) and (110) surface orientation for use as epitaxial templates for thin film photovoltaic devices. We develop bias-assisted sputtering for deposition of oriented Pt and Au films with sub-nanometer roughness. We show that biasing the substrate decreases the substrate temperature necessary to achieve epitaxial orientation, with temperature reduction from 600 to 350 °C for Au, and from 750 to 550 °C for Pt, without use of transition metal seed layers. Additionally, this temperature can be further reduced by reducing the growth rate. Biased deposition with varying substrate bias power and working pressure also enables control of the film morphology and surface roughness.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Distinctive exchange bias and unusual memory effects in magnetically compensated Pr 0.75 Gd 0.25 ScGe

Tuning the chemistry of materials often leads to discoveries of interesting phenomena that expand basic science and support practical applications. Here we show how different spin–orbit coupling in light and heavy lanthanides can be exploited to create complex magnetic ground states and thereby unusual spontaneous exchange bias (SEB), conventional exchange bias (CEB), and magnetic memory effects in almost ideally magnetically compensated Pr 0.75 Gd 0.25 ScGe, which is a representative of the PrScGe–GdScGe solid solution. We report the synthesis and detailed characterization of Pr 0.75 Gd 0.25 ScGe by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and magnetization measurements in magnetic fields up to 140 kOe. Partial substitution of a light lanthanide, Pr, with a heavy lanthanide, Gd, results in a complex magnetic ground state, which includes large spontaneous and conventional exchange biases reaching magnitudes of ~1.7 kOe and ~3.5 kOe, respectively, at T = 2 K, as well as shape dependent magnetic compensation and bias phenomena occurring in small external fields.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Redshifting galaxies from DESI to JWST CEERS: Correction of biases and uncertainties in quantifying morphology

Observations of high-redshift galaxies with unprecedented detail have now been rendered possible with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). However, accurately quantifying their morphology remains uncertain due to potential biases and uncertainties. To address this issue, we used a sample of 1816 nearby DESI galaxies, with a stellar mass range of 10 9.75 - 11.25 M ⊙ , to compute artificial images of galaxies of the same mass located at 0.75 ≤ z ≤ 3 and observed at rest-frame optical wavelength in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. We analyzed the effects of cosmological redshift on the measurements of Petrosian radius (R p ), half-light radius (R 50 ), asymmetry (A), concentration (C), axis ratio (q), and Sérsic index (n). Our results show that R p and R 50 , calculated using non-parametric methods, are slightly overestimated due to PSF smoothing, while R 50 , q, and n obtained through fitting a Sérsic model does not exhibit significant biases. By incorporating a more accurate noise effect removal procedure, we improve the computation of A over existing methods, which often overestimate, underestimate, or lead to significant scatter of noise contributions. Due to PSF asymmetry, there is a minor overestimation of A for intrinsically symmetric galaxies. However, for intrinsically asymmetric galaxies, PSF smoothing dominates and results in an underestimation of A, an effect that becomes more significant with higher intrinsic A or at lower resolutions. Moreover, PSF smoothing also leads to an underestimation of C, which is notably more pronounced in galaxies with higher intrinsic C or at lower resolutions. We developed functions based on resolution level, defined as R p /FWHM, for correcting these biases and the associated statistical uncertainties. Applying these corrections, we measured the bias-corrected morphology for the simulated CEERS images and we find that the derived quantities are in good agreement with their intrinsic values – except for A, which is robust only for angularly large galaxies where R p /FWHM ≥ 5. Our correction functions can be applied to other surveys, offering valuable tools for future studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Operating conditions for the generation of stable anode spot plasma in front of a positively biased electrode

Stability of an anode spot plasma, which is an additional high density plasma generated in front of a positively biased electrode immersed in ambient plasma, is a critical issue for its utilization to various types of ion sources. In this study, operating conditions for the generation of stable anode spot plasmas are experimentally investigated. Diagnostics of the bias current flowing into the positively biased electrode and the properties of ambient plasma reveal that unstable nature of the anode spot is deeply associated with the reduction of double layer potential between the anode spot plasma and the ambient plasma. It is found that stability of the anode spot plasma can be improved with increasing the ionization rate in ambient plasma so as to compensate the loss of electrons across the double layer or with enlarging the area of the biased electrode to prevent electron accumulation inside the anode spot. The results obtained from the present study give the guideline for operating conditions of anode spot plasmas as an ion source with high brightness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Exchange bias beyond the superparamagnetic blocking temperature of the antiferromagnet in a Ni-NiO nanoparticulate system

We report magnetic and exchange bias studies on Ni-NiO nanoparticulate systems synthesized by a two-step process, namely, chemical reduction of a Ni salt followed by air annealing of the dried precipitate in the temperature range 400–550 °C. Size of Ni and NiO crystallites as estimated from X–ray diffraction line broadening ranges between 10.5–13.5 nm and 2.3–4 nm, respectively. The magneto-thermal plots (M-T) of these bi-magnetic samples show a well developed peak in the vicinity of 130 K. This has been identified as the superparamagnetic blocking temperature “T{sub B}” of NiO. Interestingly, all samples exhibit exchange bias even above their respective NiO blocking temperatures, right up to 300 K, the maximum temperature of measurement. This is in contrast to previous reports since exchange bias requires the antiferromagnetic NiO to have a stable direction of its moment in order to pin the ferromagnet (Ni) magnetization, whereas such stability is unlikely above T{sub B} since the NiO is superparamagnetic, its moment flipping under thermal activation. Our observation is elucidated by taking into account the core-shell morphology of the Ni-NiO nanoparticles whereby clustering of some of these nanoparticles connects their NiO shells to form extended continuous regions of NiO, which because of their large size remain blocked at T > T{sub B}, with thermally stable spins capable of pinning the Ni cores and giving rise to exchange bias. The investigated samples may thus be envisaged as being constituted of both isolated core-shell Ni-NiO nanoparticles as well as clustered ones, with T{sub B} denoting the blocking temperature of the NiO shell of the isolated particles.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Trapping in GaN-based metal-insulator-semiconductor transistors: Role of high drain bias and hot electrons

This paper describes an extensive analysis of the role of off-state and semi-on state bias in inducing the trapping in GaN-based power High Electron Mobility Transistors. The study is based on combined pulsed characterization and on-resistance transient measurements. We demonstrate that—by changing the quiescent bias point from the off-state to the semi-on state—it is possible to separately analyze two relevant trapping mechanisms: (i) the trapping of electrons in the gate-drain access region, activated by the exposure to high drain bias in the off-state; (ii) the trapping of hot-electrons within the AlGaN barrier or the gate insulator, which occurs when the devices are operated in the semi-on state. The dependence of these two mechanisms on the bias conditions and on temperature, and the properties (activation energy and cross section) of the related traps are described in the text.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Tuning the ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic interfaces of granular Co-CoO exchange bias systems by annealing

The low-temperature magnetic behavior of granular Co-CoO exchange bias systems, prepared by oxygen ion implantation in Co thin films and subsequent annealing, is addressed. The thermal activation effects lead to an O migration which results in virtually pure Co areas embedded in a structurally relaxed and nearly stoichiometric CoO phase. This yields decreased training and exchange bias shifts, while the blocking temperature significantly increases, coming close to the Néel temperature of bulk CoO for samples implanted to a fluence above 1 × 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2} (15% O). The dependence of the exchange bias shift on the pristine O-implanted content is analogous to that of the antiferromagnetic thickness in most ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic systems (i.e., an increase in the exchange bias shift up to a maximum followed by a decrease until a steady state is reached), suggesting that, after annealing, the enriched Co areas might be rather similar in size for samples implanted above 1 × 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2}, whereas the corresponding CoO counterparts become enlarged with pristine O content (i.e., effect of the antiferromagnet size). This study demonstrates that the magnetic properties of granular Co-CoO systems can be tailored by controllably modifying the local microstructure through annealing treatments.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Passivation effect on gate-bias stress instability of carbon nanotube thin film transistors

A prior requirement of any developed transistor for practical use is the stability test. Random network carbon nanotube-thin film transistor (CNT-TFT) was fabricated on SiO{sub 2}/Si. Gate bias stress stability was investigated with various passivation layers of HfO{sub 2} and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}. Compared to the threshold voltage shift without passivation layer, the measured values in the presence of passivation layers were reduced independent of gate bias polarity except HfO{sub 2} under positive gate bias stress (PGBS). Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} capping layer was found to be the best passivation layer to prevent ambient gas adsorption, while gas adsorption on HfO{sub 2} layer was unavoidable, inducing surface charges to increase threshold voltage shift in particular for PGBS. This high performance in the gate bias stress test of CNT-TFT even superior to that of amorphous silicon opens potential applications to active TFT industry for soft electronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Back bias induced dynamic and steep subthreshold swing in junctionless transistors

In this work, we analyze back bias induced steep and dynamic subthreshold swing in junctionless double gate transistors operated in the asymmetric mode. This impact ionization induced dynamic subthreshold swing is explained in terms of the ratio between minimum hole concentration and peak electron concentration, and the dynamic change in the location of the conduction channel with applied front gate voltage. The reason for the occurrence of impact ionization at sub-bandgap drain voltages in silicon junctionless transistors is also accounted for. The optimum junctionless transistor operating at a back gate bias of −0.9 V, achieves over 5 orders of change in drain current at a gate overdrive of 200 mV and drain bias of 1 V. These results for junctionless transistors are significantly better than those exhibited by silicon tunnel field effect transistors operating at the same drain bias.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Seeking to quantify the ferromagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic interface coupling resulting in exchange bias with various thin-film conformations

Ni{sub 3}Fe/(Ni, Fe)O thin films with bilayer and nanocrystallite dispersion morphologies are prepared with a dual ion beam deposition technique permitting precise control of nanocrystallite growth, composition, and admixtures. A bilayer morphology provides a Ni{sub 3}Fe-to-NiO interface, while the dispersion films have different mixtures of Ni{sub 3}Fe, NiO, and FeO nanocrystallites. Using detailed analyses of high resolution transmission electron microscopy images with Multislice simulations, the nanocrystallites' structures and phases are determined, and the intermixing between the Ni{sub 3}Fe, NiO, and FeO interfaces is quantified. From field-cooled hysteresis loops, the exchange bias loop shift from spin interactions at the interfaces are determined. With similar interfacial molar ratios of FM-to-AF, we find the exchange bias field essentially unchanged. However, when the interfacial ratio of FM to AF was FM rich, the exchange bias field increases. Since the FM/AF interface ‘contact’ areas in the nanocrystallite dispersion films are larger than that of the bilayer film, and the nanocrystallite dispersions exhibit larger FM-to-AF interfacial contributions to the magnetism, we attribute the changes in the exchange bias to be from increases in the interfacial segments that suffer defects (such as vacancies and bond distortions), that also affects the coercive fields.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Direct imaging of thermally-activated grain-boundary diffusion in Cu/Co/IrMn/Pt exchange-bias structures using atom-probe tomography

Magnetic devices are often subject to thermal processing steps, such as field cooling to set exchange bias and annealing to crystallize amorphous magnetic electrodes. These processing steps may result in interdiffusion and the subsequent deterioration of magnetic properties. In this study, we investigated thermally-activated diffusion in Cu/Co/IrMn/Pt exchange biased polycrystalline thin-film structures using atom probe tomography. Images taken after annealing at 400 °C for 60 min revealed Mn diffusion into Co grains at the Co/IrMn interface and along Pt grain boundaries for the IrMn/Pt stack, i.e., a Harrison type C regime. Annealing at 500 °C showed further Mn diffusion into Co grains. At the IrMn/Pt interface, annealing at 500 °C led to a type B behavior since Mn diffusion was detected both along Pt grain boundaries and also into Pt grains. The deterioration of the films' exchange bias properties upon annealing was correlated to the observed diffusion. In particular, the topmost Pt capping layer thickness turned out to be crucial since a faster deterioration of the exchange bias properties for thicker caps was observed. This is consistent with the idea that Pt acts as a getter for Mn, drawing Mn out of the IrMn layer.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Bias-selectable dual-band mid-/long-wavelength infrared photodetectors based on InAs/InAs{sub 1−x}Sb{sub x} type-II superlattices

A high performance bias-selectable mid-/long-wavelength infrared photodetector based on InAs/InAs{sub 1−x}Sb{sub x} type-II superlattices on GaSb substrate has been demonstrated. The mid- and long-wavelength channels' 50% cut-off wavelengths were ∼5.1 and ∼9.5 μm at 77 K. The mid-wavelength channel exhibited a quantum efficiency of 45% at 100 mV bias voltage under front-side illumination and without any anti-reflection coating. With a dark current density of 1 × 10{sup −7} A/cm{sup 2} under 100 mV applied bias, the mid-wavelength channel exhibited a specific detectivity of 8.2 × 10{sup 12 }cm·√(Hz)/W at 77 K. The long-wavelength channel exhibited a quantum efficiency of 40%, a dark current density of 5.7 × 10{sup −4} A/cm{sup 2} under −150 mV applied bias at 77 K, providing a specific detectivity value of 1.64 × 10{sup 11 }cm·√(Hz)/W.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Switching of perpendicular exchange bias in Pt/Co/Pt/α-Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Pt layered structure using magneto-electric effect

Switching of the perpendicular exchange bias polarity using a magneto-electric (ME) effect of α-Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3} was investigated. From the change in the exchange bias field with the electric field during the ME field cooling, i.e., the simultaneous application of both magnetic and electric fields during the cooling, we determined the threshold electric field to switch the perpendicular exchange bias polarity. It was found that the threshold electric field was inversely proportional to the magnetic field indicating that the EH product was constant. The high EH product was required to switch the exchange bias for the film possessing the high exchange anisotropy energy density, which suggests that the energy gain by the ME effect has to overcome the interfacial exchange coupling energy to reverse the interfacial antiferromagnetic spin.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Exchange bias mediated by interfacial nanoparticles (invited)

The objective of this study on the iconic exchange-bias bilayer Permalloy/CoO has been to identify those elements of the interfacial microstructure and accompanying magnetic properties that are responsible for the exchange-bias and hysteretic properties of this bilayer. Both epitaxial and polycrystalline samples were examined. X-ray and neutron reflectometry established that there existed an interfacial region, of width ∼1 nm, whose magnetic properties differed from those of Py or CoO. A model was developed for the interfacial microstructure that predicts all the relevant properties of this system; namely; the temperature and Permalloy thickness dependence of the exchange-bias, H{sub EX}, and coercivity, H{sub C}; the much smaller measured values of H{sub EX} from what was nominally expected; the different behavior of H{sub EX} and H{sub C} in epitaxial and polycrystalline bilayers. A surprising result is that the exchange-bias does not involve direct exchange-coupling between Permalloy and CoO, but rather is mediated by CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} nanoparticles in the interfacial region.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗