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Significant efforts towards understanding bi-magnetic core-shell nanoparticles are underway currently as they provide a pathway towards properties unavailable with single-phased systems. Recently, we have demonstrated that the magnetism of c-Fe2O3/CoO core-shell nanoparticles, in particular, at high temperatures, originates essentially from an interfacial doped iron-oxide layer that is formed by the migration of Co2+ from the CoO shell into the surface layers of the γ-Fe2O3 core [Skoropata et al., Phys. Rev. B 89, 024410 (2014)]. To examine directly the nature of the intermixed layer, we have used high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and first-principles calculations to examine the impact of the core-shell intermixing at the atomic level. By analyzing the HRTEM images and energy dispersive spectra, the level and nature of intermixing was confirmed, mainly as doping of Co into the octahedral site vacancies of γ-Fe2O3. The average Co doping depths for different processing temperatures (150 °C and 235 °C) were 0.56 nm and 0.78 nm (determined to within 5% through simulation), respectively, establishing that the amount of core-shell intermixing can be altered purposefully with an appropriate change in synthesis conditions. Through first-principles calculations, we find that the intermixing phase of γ-Fe2O3 with Co doping is ferromagnetic, with even higher magnetization as compared to that of pure γ-Fe2O3. In addition, we show that Co doping into different octahedral sites can cause different magnetizations. This was reflected in a change in overall nanoparticle magnetization, where we observed a 25% reduction in magnetization for the 235 °C versus the 150 °C sample, despite a thicker intermixed layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effects of defect scatterings on the electric transport properties of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene by measuring the carrier density dependence of the magneto-conductivity. To clarify the dominant scattering mechanism, we perform extensive measurements on large-area samples with different mobility to exclude the edge effect. We analyze our data with the major scattering mechanisms such as short-range static scatters, short-range screened Coulomb disorders, and weak-localization (WL). We establish that the charged impurities are the predominant scatters because there is a strong correlation between the mobility and the charge impurity density. Near the charge neutral point (CNP), the electron-hole puddles that are induced by the charged impurities enhance the inter-valley scattering, which is favorable for WL observations. Away from the CNP, the charged-impurity-induced scattering is weak because of the effective screening by the charge carriers. As a result, the local static structural defects govern the charge transport. Our findings provide compelling evidence for understanding the scattering mechanisms in graphene and pave the way for the improvement of fabrication techniques to achieve high-quality CVD graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electric transport properties of superconducting c-axis FeSe0.46Te0.54/Au (S/N) junctions, fabricated using pulsed laser deposition, have been investigated in the temperature range of 2 K to the superconducting transition temperature Tc (∼ 13.5 K) and in the presence of applied magnetic fields from 0 to 9 T. A large zero bias conductance peak has always been observed in every conductance spectrum of several batches of junctions. In addition, we have found several gap-like features. Using the extended BTK theory with the currently favored nodeless S±-wave symmetry, our conductance spectrum can be reproduced quite well in the low bias range with Δ1 = 4 meV and Δ2 = 6 meV at 2 K. However, the experimental conductance spectrum is substantially below the one calculated in the high bias range. Furthermore, there is a conductance minimum at approximately 20 meV, which may be the reason for the discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) technique was used to grow high TC superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) films on both virgin and ion-bombarded yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates. To pattern high TC films for device applications, the ion milling technique is often used to turn virgin YSZ substrates into ion-bombarded substrates. Multilayered processes require the growth of high TC films on these ion-bombarded substrates. The purpose of this work was to investigate the growing conditions for these two kinds of substrate surfaces. We found that high quality 0° in-plane orientation films can be grown on either substrate when the growth temperature is about 810 °C. The thin film grown at this temperature has TC of about 90.3 K and JC of about 4×106 A cm-2 at 77 K. On virgin substrates, the in-plane orientations of YBCO films grown within the temperature range of 790–730 °C exhibit a mixture of 0° and 45° domains. As the growth temperature decreases, the dominant orientation shifts gradually from 0° to 45°. On the other hand, on ion-bombarded YSZ substrates, the in-plane orientation of YBCO films grown within the same temperature range shows that the 45° domain is more prominent. Furthermore, 9° subpeaks appear around the 0° peak on ion-bombarded YSZ substrates. At a lower growth temperature of around 690 °C, only the 45° domain exists on the virgin substrate, while a small amount of 0° domain is present with the majority of 45° domain on the ion-bombarded substrate. The TC and JC of the films grown at around 690 °C on virgin substrates are as good as films grown at high temperatures, despite the difference in the in-plane orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses current-voltage curves of direct current superconducting quantum interference devices in the presence of radio frequency fields. Agreement among numerical simulations and experimental I-V curves; Experimental results; Physical interpretation and conclusion.

Discusses a study on the control of the in-plane epitaxy for bi-epitaxial grain boundary junctions using a new multilayer structure. Details of the experimental procedures; Density of the junctions made on the boundary; Current-voltage characteristics of the junctions.

Ni3Fe/(Ni,Fe)O thin films having a nanocrystallite dispersion morphology were prepared by a reactive ion beam-assisted deposition technique. The crystallite sizes of these dispersion-based films were observed to decrease from 8.4±0.3 nm to 3.4±0.3 nm as the deposition flow-rate increased from 2.78% to 7.89% O2/Ar. Thin film composition was determined using selective area electron diffraction images and Multislice simulations. Through a detailed analysis of high resolution transmission electron microscopy images, the nanocrystallites were determined to be Ni3Fe (a ferromagnet), NiO, and FeO (both antiferromagnets). It was determined that the interfacial molar Ni3Fe ratio in the nanocrystallite dispersions increased slightly at first, then decreased as the oxygen content was increased; at 7.89% O2/Ar, the interfacial molar ratio was essentially zero (only NiO and FeO remained). For nanocrystallite dispersion films grown with O2/Ar flow-rate greater than 7.89%, no interfacial (intermixed) Ni3Fe phase was detected, which resulted in no measurable exchange bias. Comparing the exchange bias field between the nanocrystallite dispersion films at 5 K, we observed a decrease in the magnitude of the exchange bias field as the nanocrystallite size decreased. The exchange bias coupling for all samples measured set in at essentially the same temperature (i.e., the exchange bias blocking temperature). Since the ferromagnetic/anti-ferromagnetic (FM/AFM) contact area in the nanocrystallite dispersion films increased as the nanocrystallite size decreased, the increase in the magnitude of the exchange bias could be attributed to larger regions of defects (vacancies and bond distortions) which occupied a significant portion of the FM/AFM interfaces in the nanocrystallite dispersion films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulsed terahertz (THz) radiation, generated through optical rectification (OR) by exciting <110> ZnTe crystal with ultrafast optical pulses, typically consists of only a few-cycles of electromagnetic field oscillations with a duration about a couple of picoseconds. However, it is possible, under appropriate conditions, to generate a long damped oscillation tail (LDOT) following the main cycles. The LDOT can last tens of picoseconds and its Fourier transform shows a higher and narrower frequency peak than that of the main pulse. We have demonstrated that the generation of the LDOT depends on both the duration of the optical pulse and its central wavelength. Furthermore, we have also performed theoretical calculations based upon the OR effect coupled with the phonon-polariton mode of ZnTe and obtained theoretical THz waveforms in good agreement with our experimental observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]