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At least 1,783 records · Page 99

A simplified HTc rf SQUID to analyze the human cardiac magnetic field

We have developed a four-channel high temperature radio-frequency superconducting quantum interference device (HT{sub c} rf SQUID) in a simple magnetically shielded room (MSR) that can be used to analyze the cardiac magnetic field. It is more robust and compact than existing systems. To achieve the high-quality magnetocardiographic signal, we explored new adaptive software gradiometry technology constructed by the first-order axial gradiometer with a baseline of 80mm, which can adjust its performance timely with the surrounding conditions. The magnetic field sensitivity of each channel was less than 100fT/√Hz in the white noise region. Especially, in the analysis of MCG signal data, we proposed the total transient mapping (TTM) technique to visualize current density map (CDM), then we focused to observe the time-varying behavior of excitation propagation and estimated the underlying currents at T wave. According to the clear 3D imaging, isomagnetic field and CDM, the position and distribution of a current source in the heart can be visualized. It is believed that our four-channel HT{sub c} rf SQUID magnetometer based on biomagnetic system is available to detect MCG signals with sufficient signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. In addition, the CDM showed the macroscopic current activation pattern, in a way, it has established strong underpinnings for researching the cardiac microscopic movement mechanism and opening the way for its use in clinical diagnosis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Note: An improved driver section for a diaphragmless shock tube

Improvements to equipment lifetime and measurement reproducibility have been made by modifying the actuating mechanism of a diaphragmless shock tube that is used for high temperature gas kinetic studies. We report the modifications have two major benefits while retaining the simplicity of the original apparatus. First, the reproducibility of shock wave generation has been greatly improved and is demonstrated with 50 nearly identical experiments on the dissociation of cyclohexene at T 2 = 1765 ± 13 K and P 2 = 120 ± 1 Torr, demonstrating the capability for signal averaging over many experiments. Second, the lifetime of the bellows which forms the heart of the actuator is considerably improved, significantly increasing the time between replacements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ion dynamics in an E × B Hall plasma accelerator

We show the time evolution of the ion velocity distribution function in a Hall plasma accelerator during a 20 kHz natural, quasi-periodic plasma oscillation. We apply a time-synchronized laser induced fluorescence technique at different locations along the channel midline, obtaining time- and spatially resolved ion velocity measurements. Strong velocity and density fluctuations and multiple ion populations are observed throughout the so-called “breathing mode” ionization instability, opening an experimental window into the detailed ion dynamics and physical processes at the heart of such devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Perspective: Vibrational-induced steric effects in bimolecular reactions

The concept of preferred collision geometry in a bimolecular reaction is at the heart of reaction dynamics. Exemplified by a series of crossed molecular beam studies on the reactions of a C–H stretch-excited CHD{sub 3}(v{sub 1} = 1) with F, Cl, and O({sup 3}P) atoms, two types of steric control of chemical reactivity will be highlighted. A passive control is governed in a reaction with strong anisotropic entry valley that can significantly steer the incoming trajectories. This disorientation effect is illustrated by the F and O({sup 3}P) + CHD{sub 3}(v{sub 1} = 1) reactions. In the former case, the long-range anisotropic interaction acts like an optical “negative” lens by deflecting the trajectories away from the favored transition-state geometry, and thus inhibiting the bond rupture of the stretch-excited CHD{sub 3}. On the contrary, the interaction between O({sup 3}P) and CHD{sub 3}(v{sub 1} = 1) behaves as a “positive” lens by funneling the large impact-parameter collisions into the cone of acceptance, and thereby enhances the reactivity. As for reactions with relatively weak anisotropic interactions in the entry valley, an active control can be performed by exploiting the polarization property of the infrared excitation laser to polarize the reactants in space, as demonstrated in the reaction of Cl with a pre-aligned CHD{sub 3}(v{sub 1} = 1) reactant. A simpler case, the end-on versus side-on collisions, will be elucidated for demonstrating a means to disentangle the impact-parameter averaging. A few general remarks about some closely related issues, such as mode-, bond-selectivity, and Polanyi’s rules, are made.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A comparative study of concurrence and negativity of general three-level quantum systems of two particles

Quantum entanglement is at the heart of quantum information processing. Ordering the quantum systems due to their entanglement is a popular problem of the field. For two level (qubit) systems of two particles, state ordering has been studied with respect to well-known entanglement measures such as Concurrence, Negativity and Relative Entropy of Entanglement (REE) [1-5]. In this work, we study the state ordering of the three-level quantum systems of two particles with respect to Concurrence and Negativity. In particular, constructing 10K random states and calculating their Concurrences and Negativities, we obtain the orderings of the states and present our results which are interesting when compared to that of two-level systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Non-linear Alfvén wave interaction leading to resonant excitation of an acoustic mode in the laboratory

The nonlinear three-wave interaction process at the heart of the parametric decay process is studied by launching counter-propagating Alfvén waves from antennas placed at either end of the Large Plasma Device [W. Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)]. A resonance in the beat wave response produced by the two launched Alfvén waves is observed and is identified as a damped ion acoustic mode based on the measured dispersion relation. Other properties of the interaction including the spatial profile of the beat mode and response amplitude are also consistent with theoretical predictions for a three-wave interaction driven by a nonlinear ponderomotive force. A simple damped, driven oscillator model making use of the MHD equations well-predicts most of the observations, but the width of the resonance curve is still under investigation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Multidimensional dynamic piezoresponse measurements. Unraveling local relaxation behavior in relaxor-ferroelectrics via big data

Compositional and charge disorder in ferroelectric relaxors lies at the heart of the unusual properties of these systems, such as aging and non-ergodicity, polarization rotations, and a host of temperature and field-driven phase transitions. However, much information about the field-dynamics of the polarization in the prototypical ferroelectric relaxor (1-x)Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3-x PbTiO 3 (PMN-xPT) remains unprobed at the mesoscopic level. We use a piezoresponse force microscopy-based dynamic multimodal relaxation spectroscopy technique, enabling the study of ferroelectric switching and polarization relaxation at mesoscopic length scales, and carry out measurements on a PMN-0.28PT sample with minimal polishing. Results indicate that beyond a threshold DC bias the average relaxation increases as the system attempts to relax to the previous state. Phenomenological fitting reveals the presence of mesoscale heterogeneity in relaxation amplitudes and clearly suggests the presence of two distinct amplitudes. Independent component analysis reveals the presence of a disorder component of the relaxation, which is found to be strongly anti-correlated with the maximum piezoresponse at that location, suggesting smaller disorder effects where the polarization reversal is large and vice versa. The disorder in the relaxation amplitudes is postulated to arise from rhombohedral and field-induced tetragonal phase in the crystal, with each phase associated with its own relaxation amplitude. As a result, these studies highlight the crucial importance of the mixture of ferroelectric phases in the compositions in proximity of the morphotropic phase boundary in governing the local response and further highlight the ability of PFM voltage and time spectroscopies, in conjunction with big-data multivariate analyses, to locally map disorder and correlate it with parameters governing the dynamic behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Neurohumoral indicators of efficacy radiofrequency cardiac denervation

In this study, we compared pre- and postoperative parameters of the cardiac sympathetic innervation. The aim of the study was to examine the approaches to evaluating the quality of radiofrequency (RF)-induced cardiac denervation by using non-invasive and laboratory methods. The study included 32 people with long-lasting persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the objectives of the study: group 1 (main) - 21 patients with mitral valve diseases, which simultaneously with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) AF carried out on the effects of the paraganglionic nervous plexuses by C. Pappone (2004) and N. Doll (2008) schemes. The second group (control) contained 11 patients with heart diseases in sinus rhythm (the RF denervation not been performed). All patients, who underwent surgical treatment, were received examination of cardiac sympathetic tone by using {sup 123}I-MIBG. All of them made blood analysis from ascending aorta and coronary sinus to determine the level of norepinephrine and its metabolites before and after cardiac denervation. Data of radionuclide examination are correlating with laboratory data.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

A multi-pathway model for photosynthetic reaction center

Charge separation occurs in a pair of tightly coupled chlorophylls at the heart of photosynthetic reaction centers of both plants and bacteria. Recently it has been shown that quantum coherence can, in principle, enhance the efficiency of a solar cell, working like a quantum heat engine. Here, we propose a biological quantum heat engine (BQHE) motivated by Photosystem II reaction center (PSII RC) to describe the charge separation. Our model mainly considers two charge-separation pathways which is more than that typically considered in the published literature. We explore how these cross-couplings increase the current and power of the charge separation and discuss the effects of multiple pathways in terms of current and power. The robustness of the BQHE against the charge recombination in natural PSII RC and dephasing induced by environments is also explored, and extension from two pathways to multiple pathways is made. These results suggest that noise-induced quantum coherence helps to suppress the influence of acceptor-to-donor charge recombination, and besides, nature-mimicking architectures with engineered multiple pathways for charge separations might be better for artificial solar energy devices considering the influence of environments.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Highly sensitive simple homodyne phase detector for ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements

Progress in microelectronic technology has allowed us to design and develop a simple but, professional quality instrument for ultrasonic pulse-echo probing of the elastic properties of materials. The heart of this interfer- ometer lies in the AD8302 microchip, a gain and phase detector from Analog Devices, Inc. The interferometer was tested by measuring the temperature dependences of the ultrasound speed and attenuation in a ferro- electric KTa 0.92 Nb 0.08 O 3 (KTN) crystal at a frequency of about 40 MHz. These tests demonstrated that our instrument is capable of detecting the relative changes in the sound speed v on the level of Δv/v ~ 10 –7 . In addition, the ultrasound attenuation revealed new features in the development of the low-temperature structure of the ferroelectric KTN crystal.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Electric field control of the γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} interface conductivity at room temperature

Controlling interfaces using electric fields is at the heart of modern electronics. The discovery of the conducting interface between the two insulating oxides LaAlO{sub 3} (LAO) and SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) has led to a number of interesting electric field-dependent phenomena. Recently, it was shown that replacing LAO with a spinel γ-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (GAO) allows a good pseudo-epitaxial film growth and high electron mobility at low temperatures. Here, we show that the GAO/STO interface resistance, similar to LAO/STO, can be tuned by orders of magnitude at room temperature using the electric field of a backgate. The resistance change is non-volatile, bipolar, and can be tuned continuously rather than being a simple on/off switch. Exposure to light significantly changes the capabilities to tune the interface resistance. High- and low-resistive states are obtained by annihilation and creation, respectively, of free n-type carriers, and we speculate that electromigration of oxygen vacancies is the origin of the tunability.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A bifurcation giving birth to order in an impulsively driven complex system

Nonlinear oscillations lie at the heart of numerous complex systems. Impulsive forcing arises naturally in many scenarios, and we endeavour to study nonlinear oscillators subject to such forcing. We model these kicked oscillatory systems as a piecewise smooth dynamical system, whereby their dynamics can be investigated. We investigate the problem of pattern formation in a turbulent combustion system and apply this formalism with the aim of explaining the observed dynamics. We identify that the transition of this system from low amplitude chaotic oscillations to large amplitude periodic oscillations is the result of a discontinuity induced bifurcation. Further, we provide an explanation for the occurrence of intermittent oscillations in the system.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Measuring nanoscale thermal gradients in suspended MoS2 with STEM-EELS

Transition metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) may see service in the heart of next-generation nanoelectronic devices, where highly localized power dissipation can produce nontrivial temperature gradients over nanometer-scale distances. Here, we demonstrate that MoS2 is a promising target for plasmon energy expansion thermometry (PEET), a high-spatial resolution temperature mapping technique employed in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) equipped with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). We first use a calibrated, commercial MEMS-style TEM sample heater chip to measure the temperature dependence of the MoS2 bulk plasmon. We corroborate the chip's temperature calibration with Raman thermometry and determine the bulk thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of MoS2 in the temperature range of 300–1100 K. Applying this TEC value to PEET measurements on a suspended MoS2 flake, we map 70–90 K/μm temperature gradients with a submicrometer spatial resolution.

Shen, Lang (ORCID:0000000297554821)↗

Properties and device performance of BN thin films grown on GaN by pulsed laser deposition

Wide and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors lie at the heart of next-generation high-power, high-frequency electronics. Here, in this paper, we report the growth of ultrawide-bandgap boron nitride (BN) thin films on wide-bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) by pulsed laser deposition. Comprehensive spectroscopic (core level and valence band x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman) and microscopic (atomic force microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy) characterizations confirm the growth of BN thin films on GaN. Optically, we observed that the BN/GaN heterostructure is second-harmonic generation active. Moreover, we fabricated the BN/GaN heterostructure-based Schottky diode that demonstrates rectifying characteristics, lower turn-on voltage, and an improved breakdown capability (~234 V) as compared to GaN (~168 V), owing to the higher breakdown electrical field of BN. Our approach is an early step toward bridging the gap between wide and ultrawide-bandgap materials for potential optoelectronics as well as next-generation high-power electronics.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Scalable generalized screening for high-order terms in the many-body expansion: Algorithm, open-source implementation, and demonstration

The many-body expansion lies at the heart of numerous fragment-based methods that are intended to sidestep the nonlinear scaling of ab initio quantum chemistry, making electronic structure calculations feasible in large systems. In principle, inclusion of higher-order n-body terms ought to improve the accuracy in a controllable way, but unfavorable combinatorics often defeats this in practice and applications with n ≥ 4 are rare. Here, we outline an algorithm to overcome this combinatorial bottleneck, based on a bottom-up approach to energy-based screening. This is implemented within a new open-source software application (“Fragme∩t”), which is integrated with a lightweight semi-empirical method that is used to cull subsystems, attenuating the combinatorial growth of higher-order terms in the graph that is used to manage the calculations. This facilitates applications of unprecedented size, and we report four-body calculations in (H2O)64 clusters that afford relative energies within 0.1 kcal/mol/monomer of the supersystem result using less than 10% of the unique subsystems. We also report n-body calculations in (H2O)20 clusters up to n = 8, at which point the expansion terminates naturally due to screening. These are the largest n-body calculations reported to date using ab initio electronic structure theory, and they confirm that high-order n-body terms are mostly artifacts of basis-set superposition error.

Chemistry↗

Near-field imaging of optical resonances in silicon metasurfaces using photoelectron microscopy

Precise control of light–matter interactions at the nanoscale lies at the heart of nanophotonics. However, experimental examination at this length scale is challenging since the corresponding electromagnetic near-field is often confined within volumes below the resolution of conventional optical microscopy. In semiconductor nanophotonics, electromagnetic fields are further restricted within the confines of individual subwavelength resonators, limiting access to critical light–matter interactions in these structures. In this work, we demonstrate that photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) can be used for polarization-resolved near-field spectroscopy and imaging of electromagnetic resonances supported by broken-symmetry silicon metasurfaces. We find that the photoemission results, enabled through an in situ potassium surface layer, are consistent with full-wave simulations and far-field reflectance measurements across visible and near-infrared wavelengths. In addition, we uncover a polarization-dependent evolution of collective resonances near the metasurface array edge taking advantage of the far-field excitation and full-field imaging of PEEM. Here, we deduce that coupling between eight resonators or more establishes the collective excitations of this metasurface. All told, we demonstrate that the high-spatial resolution hyperspectral imaging and far-field illumination of PEEM can be leveraged for the metrology of collective, non-local, optical resonances in semiconductor nanophotonic structures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ultrafast photochemistry of gas-phase transition metal carbonyls

Organometallic photochemistry lies at the heart of photochemical energy conversions in applications such as photocatalysis, photovoltaic cells, and luminescent materials. Thus, understanding how metal and ligand interactions in organometallic complexes modify electronic excited-state properties and reactivity has been the subject of intense studies for decades. Transition metal carbonyls [M n (CO) m ] have long served as prototypical organometallic complexes for understanding metal–ligand bonding and photochemistry and have been studied extensively in solution, matrices, and the gas phase on time scales ranging from femtoseconds to microseconds and longer. This review chronicles the past two and a half decades of efforts in understanding the ultrafast (sub-nanosecond) dynamics of transition metal carbonyls in the gas phase, where complicating solvent influences are absent and multiple experimental probes and high-level electronic structure theory can come together to yield rich information on the intricate interplay of electronic and structural dynamics. This review first lays the groundwork by briefly describing the electronic structure of transition metal carbonyls and introducing the various ultrafast techniques that have been applied to study their unimolecular dynamics. We then provide a detailed historical account on the ultrafast photochemistry of iron pentacarbonyl, nickel tetracarbonyl, and transition metal hexacarbonyls and decacarbonyls, putting the more recent ultrafast studies in the context of prior investigations. In conclusion, we end this review with an outlook on open questions and future possibilities.

Core level spectroscopy↗