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Profuse dendritic-synaptic interconnections among neurons in the neocortex embed intricate logic structures enabling sophisticated decision-making that vastly outperforms any artificial electronic analogues1–3. The physical complexity is far beyond existing circuit fabrication technologies: moreover, the network in a brain is dynamically reconfigurable, which provides flexibility and adaptability to changing environments4–6. In contrast, state-of-the-art semiconductor logic circuits are based on threshold switches that are hard-wired to perform predefined logic functions. To advance the performance of logic circuits, we are re-imagining fundamental electronic circuit elements by expressing complex logic in nanometre-scale material properties. Here we use voltage-driven conditional logic interconnectivity among five distinct molecular redox states of a metal–organic complex to embed a ‘thicket’ of decision trees (composed of multiple if-then-else conditional statements) having 71 nodes within a single memristor. The resultant current–voltage characteristic of this molecular memristor (a 'memory resistor', a globally passive resistive-switch circuit element that axiomatically complements the set of capacitor, inductor and resistor) exhibits eight recurrent and history-dependent non-volatile switching transitions between two conductance levels in a single sweep cycle. The identity of each molecular redox state was determined with in situ Raman spectroscopy and confirmed by quantum chemical calculations, revealing the electron transport mechanism. Using simple circuits of only these elements, we experimentally demonstrate dynamically reconfigurable, commutative and non-commutative stateful logic in multivariable decision trees that execute in a single time step and can, for example, be applied as local intelligence in edge computing7–9.Multiple redox transitions in a molecular memristor can be harnessed as ‘decision trees’ to undertake complex and reconfigurable logic operations in a single time step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, is a polyphagous pest capable of feeding over 80 plant species and was indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Within a span of 4 years, FAW has established itself throughout most of the regions in Africa and Asia causing significant losses in maize production. Owing to its revamped distribution range, it would be prudent to analyze the ensuing genetic changes and study the emerging phylogeographic patterns across the world. In this regard, we would like to provide a current snapshot of genetic diversity of FAW in India 2 years after the initial introduction and compare it with the worldwide diversity in order to trace the origins and evolutionary trajectories of FAW in India. We have investigated around 190 FAW samples from different regions in India for strain identity and polymorphism analysis on the basis of partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene sequences. Apart from the ancestral rice and corn strain haplotype, our study demonstrates the presence of 14 more haplotypes unique to India at a haplotype diversity of 0.356. We were also able to record inter-strain hybrid haplotypes of rice and corn strains in India. Regional heterogeneity within Indian populations seems to be quite low representative of extensive migration of FAW within India. Distribution analysis of pairwise differences and rejection of neutrality tests suggest that the FAW population in India might be undergoing expansion. Our data is consistent with the findings suggesting a recent and common origin for invasive FAW populations in Asia and Africa, and does not indicate multiple introductions to India. This study reports the highest genetic diversity for Indian FAW populations to date and will be useful to track the subsequent evolution of FAW in India. The findings would have important ramifications for FAW behavior and composition throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the quest for post-CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) technologies, driven by the need for improved efficiency and performance, topologically protected ferromagnetic ‘whirls’ such as skyrmions1–8 and their anti-particles have shown great promise as solitonic information carriers in racetrack memory-in-logic or neuromorphic devices1,9–11. However, the presence of dipolar fields in ferromagnets, which restricts the formation of ultrasmall topological textures3,6,8,9,12, and the deleterious skyrmion Hall effect, when skyrmions are driven by spin torques9,10,12, have thus far inhibited their practical implementation. Antiferromagnetic analogues, which are predicted to demonstrate relativistic dynamics, fast deflection-free motion and size scaling, have recently become the subject of intense focus9,13–19, but they have yet to be experimentally demonstrated in natural antiferromagnetic systems. Here we realize a family of topological antiferromagnetic spin textures in α-Fe2O3—an Earth-abundant oxide insulator—capped with a platinum overlayer. By exploiting a first-order analogue of the Kibble–Zurek mechanism20,21, we stabilize exotic merons and antimerons (half-skyrmions)8 and their pairs (bimerons)16,22, which can be erased by magnetic fields and regenerated by temperature cycling. These structures have characteristic sizes of the order of 100 nanometres and can be chemically controlled via precise tuning of the exchange and anisotropy, with pathways through which further scaling may be achieved. Driven by current-based spin torques from the heavy-metal overlayer, some of these antiferromagnetic textures could emerge as prime candidates for low-energy antiferromagnetic spintronics at room temperature1,9–11,23.A family of topological antiferromagnetic spin textures is realized at room temperature in α-Fe2O3, and their reversible and field-free stabilization using a Kibble–Zurek-like temperature cycling is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) materials1–5 offer a unique platform from which to explore the physics of topology and many-body phenomena. New properties can be generated by filling the van der Waals gap of 2D materials with intercalants6,7; however, post-growth intercalation has usually been limited to alkali metals8–10. Here we show that the self-intercalation of native atoms11,12 into bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides during growth generates a class of ultrathin, covalently bonded materials, which we name ic-2D. The stoichiometry of these materials is defined by periodic occupancy patterns of the octahedral vacancy sites in the van der Waals gap, and their properties can be tuned by varying the coverage and the spatial arrangement of the filled sites7,13. By performing growth under high metal chemical potential14,15 we can access a range of tantalum-intercalated TaS(Se)y, including 25% Ta-intercalated Ta9S16, 33.3% Ta-intercalated Ta7S12, 50% Ta-intercalated Ta10S16, 66.7% Ta-intercalated Ta8Se12 (which forms a Kagome lattice) and 100% Ta-intercalated Ta9Se12. Ferromagnetic order was detected in some of these intercalated phases. We also demonstrate that self-intercalated V11S16, In11Se16 and FexTey can be grown under metal-rich conditions. Our work establishes self-intercalation as an approach through which to grow a new class of 2D materials with stoichiometry- or composition-dependent properties. The intercalation of native atoms into bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides during growth generates ultrathin, covalently bonded materials into which ferromagnetic ordering can be introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a class of set cover problems that satisfy a special property which we call the small neighborhood cover property. This class encompasses several well-studied problems including vertex cover, interval cover, bag interval cover and tree cover. We design unified sequential, parallel and distributed algorithms that can handle any set cover problem falling under the above framework and yield constant factor approximations. The algorithms run in NC in the parallel setting and can be executed in polylogarithmic communication rounds in the distributed setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the essential execution of a wireless sensor network is observing hardware. Wireless Sensor Network are capable for taken a toll effective checking over gigantic geo location. Development of keen network depends on the Internet of Things (IoT). Nowadays the fault current levels are increased because of the increasing power demand. Fault Current Limiter(FCL) is used as a protective device to reduce the fault current in distribution system. This paper presents Solid State Fault Current Limiter (SSFCL) and Hybrid Fault Current Limiter (HFCL) to limit the fault current levels for different fault conditions. Also this paper presents the comparison between these two devices with fault current limiting ratio. The performance of the two devices is carried over in IEEE 6-bus system. The simulation and experimental results validate the performance of these two devices to reduce the fault current. The proposed model is executed with SSFCL and HFCL for 60 W three-phase load under various fault conditions. All the fault conditions are observed and controlled through IoT cloud framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the problem of scheduling a set of jobs on a system that offers certain resource, wherein the amount of resource offered varies over time. For each job, the input specifies a set of possible scheduling instances, where each instance is given by starting time, ending time, profit and resource requirement. A feasible solution selects a subset of job instances such that at any timeslot, the total requirement by the chosen instances does not exceed the resource available at that timeslot, and at most one instance is chosen for each job. The above problem falls under the well-studied framework of unsplittable flow problem on line. The generalized notion of scheduling possibilities captures the standard setting concerned with release times and deadlines. We present improved algorithms based on the primal-dual paradigm, where the improvements are in terms of approximation ratio, running time and simplicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fuzzy logic controller to vary the voltage transfer ratio of Quasi Z Source Indirect Matrix Converter (QZSIMC) for application in induction motor drive during unbalanced input voltage and variable drive speed. A fuzzy logic controller achieves the variation of the voltage transfer ratio from 0.866 to 5 by modifying the shoot through duty ratio of the quasi z source network. Modification in the shoot through duty ratio of the rectifier results in the improvement of the voltage boost factor of the quasi network which in turn varies the voltage transfer ratio. The fuzzy controller varies the shoot through duty ratio with input voltage error and set speed error. The proposed fuzzy-based QZSIMC can attain variable boost as well as buck function with variable shoot through duty ratio. Thus, this proposed method overcomes the limitation of constant boost. The proposed fuzzy-based QZSIMC widens the operating range of the induction motor during all the input voltage sag conditions and reduces the stress on the switches. The simulation results validate the quality performance of the proposed induction motor drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metamaterials open up various exotic means to control electromagnetic waves and among them polarization manipulations with metamaterials have attracted intense attention. As of today, static responses of resonators in metamaterials lead to a narrow-band and single-function operation. Extension of the working frequency relies on multilayer metamaterials or different unit cells, which hinder the development of ultra-compact optical systems. In this work, we demonstrate a switchable ultrathin terahertz quarter-wave plate by hybridizing a phase change material, vanadium dioxide (VO2), with a metasurface. Before the phase transition, VO2 behaves as a semiconductor and the metasurface operates as a quarter-wave plate at 0.468 THz. After the transition to metal phase, the quarter-wave plate operates at 0.502 THz. At the corresponding operating frequencies, the metasurface converts a linearly polarized light into a circularly polarized light. This work reveals the feasibility to realize tunable/active and extremely low-profile polarization manipulation devices in the terahertz regime through the incorporation of such phase-change metasurfaces, enabling novel applications of ultrathin terahertz meta-devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-k dielectric oxides are supposedly ideal gate-materials for ultra-high doping in graphene and other 2D-crystals. Here, we report a temperature-dependent electronic transport study on chemical vapor deposited-graphene gated with SrTiO3 (STO) thin film substrate. At carrier densities away from charge neutrality point the temperature-dependent resistivity of our graphene samples on both STO and SiO2/Si substrates show metallic behavior with contributions from Coulomb scattering and flexural phonons attributable to the presence of characteristic quasi-periodic nano-ripple arrays. Significantly, for graphene samples on STO substrates we observe an anomalous 'slope-break' in the temperature-dependent resistivity for T=50 to 100 K accompanied by a decrease in mobility above 30 K. Furthermore, we observe an unusual decrease in the gate-induced doping-rate at low temperatures, despite an increase in dielectric constant of the substrate. We believe that a complex mechanism is at play as a consequence of the structural phase transition of the underlying substrate showing an anomalous transport behavior in graphene on STO. The anomalies are discussed in the context of Coulomb as well as phonon scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of ZnO nanowires has been studied under supersaturation of Zn metal species with and without a ZnO thin-film buffer layer on α-Al2O3 deposited by the pulsed laser ablation technique. The nanowires had diameters in the range of 30 nm to 50 nm and lengths in the range of 5 μm to 10 μm with clear hexagonal shape and $$ [000\bar{1}] $$, $$ [10\bar{1}1] $$, and $$ [10\bar{1}0] $$ facets. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements indicated crystalline properties for the ZnO nanostructures grown on pulsed laser deposition (PLD) ZnO nucleation layers. The optical properties were analyzed by photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. The ZnO nanowires were found to emit strong ultraviolet (UV) light at 386 nm and weak green emission as observed by PL measurements. The stoichiometry of Zn and O was found to be close to 1 by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. The process-dependent growth properties of ZnO nanostructures can be harnessed for future development of nanoelectronic components including optically pumped lasers, optical modulators, detectors, electron emitters, and gas sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films were deposited by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method on SiC substrates. The bandgap of HfO2 thin films was observed to be 5.8 eV. The chemical nature and stoichiometry of the films were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structures with Ni as a top electrode and TiN as a bottom electrode were fabricated to study the leakage current properties. The devices exhibited leakage current density of 50 nA/cm². The dielectric constant of these films is estimated to be in the range 17-24 from capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The frequency dependence of the interface trapped charges is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nisan showed that any randomized logarithmic space algorithm (running in polynomial time and with two-sided error) can be simulated by a deterministic algorithm that runs simultaneously in polynomial time and Θ(log2 n) space. Subsequently Saks and Zhou improved the space complexity and showed that a deterministic simulation can be carried out in space Θ(log1.5n). However, their simulation runs in time nΘ(log^{0.5}n). We prove a time--space tradeoff that interpolates these two simulations. Specifically, we prove that, for any 0 ≤ α ≤ 0.5, any randomized logarithmic space algorithm (running in polynomial time and with two-sided error) can be simulated deterministically in time nO(log^{0.5-α}n) and space O(log^{1.5+α}n). That is, we prove that BPL ⊆ DTISP[nO(log^{0.5-α}n), O(log1.5+αn)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport across a CrC2/Ag/YBCO interface was studied using a flip-chip configuration. The results were interpreted in the Andreev reflection scenario. It is shown that the surface spinpolarization of CrO2 film, even after exposing to air, remained close to 100% to the T c of YBa2Cu3O7− x , a temperature limited by this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of ferromagnetism above room temperature in low-temperature-processed MnO2–ZnO has generated significant interest. Using suitably designed bulk and thin-film studies, we demonstrate that the ferromagnetism in this system originates in a metastable phase rather than by carrier-induced interaction between separated Mn atoms in ZnO. The ferromagnetism persists up to ∼980 K, and further heating transforms the metastable phase and kills the ferromagnetism. By studying the interface diffusion and reaction between thin-film bilayers of Mn and Zn oxides, we show that a uniform solution of Mn in ZnO does not form under low-temperature processing. Instead, a metastable ferromagnetic phase develops by Zn diffusion into the Mn oxide. Direct low-temperature film growth of Zn-incorporated Mn oxide by pulsed laser deposition shows ferromagnetism at low Zn concentration for an optimum oxygen growth pressure. Our results strongly suggest that the observed ferromagnetic phase is oxygen-vacancy-stabilized Mn2−xZnxO3−δ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All-oxide devices consisting of Niobium-doped Strontium Titanate (Nb:STO)/Strontium Titanate (STO)/Lanthanum Strontium Cuprous Oxide (LSCO) heterostructures were fabricated and characterized electrically for their interface properties through capacitance-voltage ( C-V) and current-voltage ( I-V) techniques, in the context of electric field effect studies. The C-V studies establish the occurrence of charge modulation in the LSCO channel. Absence of hysteresis in the C-V characteristic when the voltage is retraced suggests the absence of mobile ions in the gate oxide and slow interface traps. This is further corroborated by the absence of drift in the C-V characteristic and shift in the flat band voltage ( VFB) when the device is subjected to temperature-bias aging. The interface state density obtained from VFB is ∼1012/cm2. The uncompensated hole concentration in the LSCO channel calculated from the measured room temperature C-V data is ∼1020/cm3 and is in good agreement with the expected hole concentration in LSCO. Current-time and current-voltage plots are invariant with respect to the polarity of the applied voltage up to ∼5 V. This, in a structure with asymmetric interfaces, indicates that the electrical contacts to STO are non-blocking and the conduction through STO is bulk-limited in this voltage regime. Thickness dependent current and capacitance studies also corroborate the bulk-limited nature of conduction through the device in this voltage regime. However, I-V characteristic shows a rectifying nature beyond ∼8 V indicating that the mechanism in this voltage regime could be interface limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining points-to sets is an important static-analysis problem. Most of the classic static analyses (used e.g., by compilers or in programming environments) rely on knowing which variables might be used or defined by each expression in a program. In the presence of pointers, the use/def set of an expression like *p = *q can only be determined given (safe) points-to sets for p and q.Previous work has shown that both precise flow-sensitive and precise flow-insensitive pointer analysis is NP-Hard, even when restricted to single-procedure programs with no dynamic memory allocation. In this paper, we show that it is not even possible to compute good approximations to the precise solutions (i.e., to compute points-to sets whose sizes are within a constant factor of the sizes of the precise points-to sets) unless P=NP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aseries of single energy Al, B, and Ga ion implants were performed in the energy range 50 keV to 4 MeV into 6H-SiC to characterize the implant depth profiles using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). From the implant depth profiles empirical formulae were developed to model the range statistics as functions of ion energy. Multiple energy implants were performed into 6H- and 4H-SiC and annealed with both AlN and graphite encapsulants to determine the ability of the encapsulants to protect the implants from out-diffusion and redistribution. Al and Ga were thermally stable, but B out-diffused even with AlN or graphite encapsulation. Electrical activation was determined by Hall and capacitance-voltage measurements. An acceptor substitutional concentration of 7×1016 cm−3 was achieved for 1×1017 cm−3 Al implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AlN films deposited on SiC or sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition were annealed at 1200°C, 1400°C, and 1600°C for 30 min in an inert atmosphere to examine how their structure, surface morphology, and substrate-film interface are altered during high temperature thermal processing. Shifts in the x-ray rocking curve peaks suggest that annealing increases the film density or relaxes the films and reduces the c-axis Poisson compression. Scanning electron micrographs show that the AlN begins to noticeably evaporate at 1600°C, and the evaporation rate is higher for the films grown on sapphire because the as-deposited film contained more pinholes. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy shows that the interface between the film and substrate improves with annealing temperature for SiC substrates, but the interface quality for the 1600°C anneal is poorer than it is for the 1400°C anneal when the substrate is sapphire. Transmission electron micrographs show that the as-deposited films on SiC contain many stacking faults, while those annealed at 1600°C have a columnar structure with slightly misoriented grains. The as-deposited films on sapphire have an incoherent interface, and voids are formed at the interface when the samples are annealed at 1600°C. Auger electron spectroscopy shows that virtually no intermixing occurs across the interface, and that the annealed films contain less oxygen than the as-grown films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the possibility of enhancing the room temperature magnetoresistance at low applied magnetic fields in single layer La0.7 Ba0.3 MnO3 thin films. The influence of lattice mismatch strain, as well as the effect of different frequency regimes, on the magnetoresistance is explored. The effects of lattice mismatch strain are studied by measuring the magnetoresistance as a function of the La0.7 Ba0.3 MnO3 film thickness, oxygen annealing, and lattice matched buffer layers. We find that the release of the lattice mismatch strain improves the magnetoresistance at room temperature and at low magnetic fields. In fact, the highest magnetoresistance at room temperature (−1.7% at 500 Oe) has been found for the 1600 Å as-grown La0.7 Ba0.3 MnO3 film, whereas the largest magnetoresistance (−1.9% at 500 Oe) is found at 309 K for the 1000 Å La0.7 Ba0.3 MnO3 film annealed in flowing O2 for 1 h at 900°C. Finally, we find that the microwave magnetoresistance is the same as the dc magnetoresistance when the cavity corrections are applied. In the single layer La0.7 Ba0.3 MnO3 system, the low field magnetoresistance at room temperature is far from being technologically viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low resistance Pt and W ohmic metallizations to p-type 6H-SiC, using focused ion beam (FIB) surface-modification and in-situ direct-write metal deposition without annealing, are reported. FIB (Ga) surface-modification and in-situ deposition of Pt, and W showed minimum contact resistance values of 2.8 × 10−4 ohm-cm2 to 2.5 × 10−4 ohm-cm2, respectively. A comparison with ex-situ pulse laser deposited Pt on surface-modified areas showed comparable contact resistance values and similar behavior. Auger and secondary ion mass spectroscopy analysis showed a significant (∼4% a.c.) incorporation of Ga within a 15 nm distance from the SiC surface with surface-modification. Atomic force micros-copy studies showed that surface-modification process smooths out the SiC surface significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work describes the novel, relatively simple, and efficient technique of pulsed laser deposition for rapid prototyping of thin films and multi-layer heterostructures of wide band gap semiconductors and related materials. In this method, a KrF pulsed excimer laser is used for ablation of polycrystalline, stoichiometric targets of wide band gap materials. Upon laser absorption by the target surface, a strong plasm a plume is produced which then condenses onto the substrate, kept at a suitable distance from the target surface. We have optimized the processing parameters such as laser fluence, substrate temperature, background gas pressure, target to substrate distance, and pulse repetition rate for the growth of high quality crstalline thin films and heterostructures. The films have been characterized by x-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering and ion channeling spectrometry, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence, and electrical transport measurements. We show that high quality AlN and GaN thin films can be grown by pulsed laser deposition at relatively lower substrate temperatures (750–800°C) than those employed in metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), (1000–1100°C), an alternative growth method. The pulsed laser deposited GaN films (∼0.5 µm thick), grown on AlN buffered sapphire (0001), shows an x-ray diffraction rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 5–7 arc-min. The ion channeling minimum yield in the surface region for AlN and GaN is ∼3%, indicating a high degree of crystallinity. The optical band gap for AlN and GaN is found to be 6.2 and 3.4 eV, respectively. These epitaxial films are shiny, and the surface root mean square roughness is ∼5–15 nm. The electrical resistivity of the GaN films is in the range of 10−2–102 Θ-cm with a mobility in excess of 80 cm2V−1s−1 and a carrier concentration of 1017–1019 cm−3, depending upon the buffer layers and growth conditions. We have also demonstrated the application of the pulsed laser deposition technique for integration of technologically important materials with the III–V nitrides. The examples include pulsed laser deposition of ZnO/GaN heterostructures for UV-blue lasers and epitaxial growth of TiN on GaN and SiC for low resistance ohmic contact metallization. Employing the pulsed laser, we also demonstrate a dry etching process for GaN and AlN films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient photoimpedance response of epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films has been studied using 100 fs Ti:Sapphire laser pulse excitation. Both temperature and photon energy dependence of the fast optical response signal (whose temperature dependence can be explained by a kinetic inductance model involving Cooper pair breaking) were studied. The pair breaking rate is strongly photon energy-dependent, with a resonance around 1.5 eV with a width of only 100 meV, which is very surprising given the strong electron correlation in this metallic system and may be explained in terms of the stripe phase model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elemental and isotopic composition of noble gases in six samples from different depths of the Luna-24 drill core soil column, obtained by mass spectrometric analyses, are presented and the results are compared with those obtained by others for additional samples from the same drill core. The elemental ratios ofNe/Xe, seem to indicate a low degree of maturity for the majority of the samples in this soil column. A detailed study of the cosmogenic isotopes, particularlyNe, in samples from different depths suggests that the entire soil column could be divided into two zones. Most of the samples in the upper zone fit to a regolith deposition model where about a meter of material got rapidly deposited and was irradiated as a single slab for a period of about (500±100) m. y. The samples from the lower zone, however, show cosmogenicNe contribution due to predepositional irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]