Strong Local Effects Research Articles

Mechanical properties of low density polymeric foams obtained from full-field measurements

This exploratory paper presents some preliminary results on the use of fullfield deformation measurements on low density polymeric foams to identify the evolution of Poisson’s ratio with compressive strain. Two types of foams were tested: a standard low density polyurethane foam and an auxetic foam manufactured from a similar precursor. 2D digital image correlation was used to measure the strain field at the specimens surfaces. Then, Poisson’s ratios were identified using a dedicated inverse method called the Virtual Fields Method (VFM) and the results compared with the standard approaches. The results illustrate the advantages of the VFM compared to the standard procedure. It was also found that for the standard foam, very strong localization effects resulted in biased Poisson’s ratio evaluation. It was shown that this could be corrected by taking into account these localization effects thanks to the full-field information.

Nanoscale Conducting Channels at the Surface of Organic Semiconductors Formed by Decoration of Molecular Steps with Self‐Assembled Molecules

AbstractUnder certain conditions, self‐assembling molecules preferentially bind to molecular steps at the surface of crystalline organic semiconductors, inducing a strong local doping effect. This creates macroscopically long conducting paths of nanoscale width (a single crystalline analogue of organic nanowires) that can span distances of up to 1 cm between electrical contacts. The observed effect of molecular step decoration opens intriguing possibilities for visualization, passivation, and selective doping of surface and interfacial defects in organic electronic devices and provides a novel system for research on nanoscale charge transport in organic semiconductors. In addition, this effect sheds light on the microscopic origin of nucleation and growth of self‐assembled monolayers at organic surfaces. It can also have implications in electronic patterning, nanoscale chemical sensors, integrated interconnects and charge‐transfer interfaces in organic transistors and solar cells.

From weak to strong localization in a ferromagnetic high mobility 2DHG

Manganese modulation-doped two-dimensional hole systems confined in strained InAs/InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructures were investigated by low-temperature magnetotransport experiments. The study demonstrates quantized transport phenomena in the high field region, weak anti-localization in the low-field region and ferromagnetic ordering in the separated and insulating manganese-doped layer. A significant amount of manganese in the channel of inverted modulation-doped structures causes a strong localization effect with hysteretic-like abrupt resistance changes over several orders of magnitude at very low temperatures.

Low-temperature transport anomaly in the self doped manganite, [formula omitted] ( [formula omitted], Fe, and Co)

The low temperature ( T) transport properties are investigated in polycrystalline compounds, La 0.9 Mn 0.98 M 0.02 O 3 with M = 0 , Fe and Co. The analysis of the low- T resistivity is tested by the phenomenological models which indicates that interplay among the contributions ascribed to the electron–electron, Kondo, electron–phonon, and electron–magnon scattering leads to the minimum in the temperature dependence of resistivity. The parameters involved with the different scattering processes strongly depend on the applied low magnetic field as well as minimal substitution by Fe and Co. The stronger localization effect is observed at low- T for the Fe substitution than that of the Co substitution where additional scattering due to the magnetic impurity or minor spin-glass phase is suggested to interpret the considerable localization effect for the Fe substitution.

Conductance of disordered semiconducting nanowires and carbon nanotubes: a chain of quantum dots

A comparative study of the low temperature conductivity of an ensemble of multiwall carbon nanotubes and semiconductor nanowires is presented. The quasi one-dimensional samples are made in nanoporous templates by electrodeposition and CVD growth. Three different structures are studied in parallel: multiwall carbon nanotubes, tellurium nanowires, and silicon nanowires. It is shown that the Coulomb blockade regime dominates the electronic transport below 50 K, together with weak and strong localization effects. In the Coulomb blockade regime, a scaling law of the conductance measured as a function of the temperature and the voltage is systematically observed. This allows a single scaling parameter α to be defined. This parameter accounts for the specific realization of the “disorder”, and plays the role of a fingerprint for each sample. Correlations between α and the conductance measured as a function of temperature and voltage, as a function of the perpendicular magnetic field, and as a function of the temperature and voltage in the localized regime below 1 K have been performed. Three universal laws are reported. They relate the coefficient α (1) to the normalized Coulomb blockade conductance , (2) to the phase coherence length , and (3) to the activation energy . These observations suggest a description of the wires and tubes in terms of a chain of quantum dots; the wires and tubes break into a series of islands. The quantum dots are defined by conducting islands with a typical length on the order of the phase coherence length separated by poorly conducting regions (low density of carriers or potential barriers due to defects). A corresponding model is developed in order to put the three universal laws in a common frame.

Safety, efficacy and patient acceptability of the contraceptive and non-contraceptive uses of the LNG-IUS.

Intrauterine devices (IUDs) provide highly effective, long-term, safe, reversible contraception, and are the most widely used reversible contraceptive method worldwide. The levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) is a T-shaped IUD with a steroid reservoir containing 52 mg of levonorgestrel that is released at an initial rate of 20 μg daily. It is highly effective, with a typical-use first year pregnancy rate of 0.1% - similar to surgical tubal occlusion. It is approved for 5 years of contraceptive use, and there is evidence that it can be effective for up to 7 years of continuous use. After removal, there is rapid return to fertility, with 1-year life-table pregnancy rates of 89 per 100 for women less than 30 years of age. Most users experience a dramatic reduction in menstrual bleeding, and about 15% to 20% of women become amenorrheic 1 year after insertion. The device's strong local effects on the endometrium benefit women with various benign gynecological conditions such as menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, leiomyomata, adenomyosis, and endometriosis. There is also evidence to support its role in endometrial protection during postmenopausal estrogen replacement therapy, and in the treatment of endometrial hyperplasia.

Rapid range expansion of a wing-dimorphic bush-cricket after the 2003 climatic anomaly

During recent decades, many species have responded to global warming by poleward range expansions. We require a better mechanistic understanding of the nature and extent of such processes to assess how climate change might affect biodiversity. Wing-dimorphic bush-crickets are excellent objects to study dispersal and colonization processes at the range margin because the long-winged morphs (macropters) represent dispersal units of otherwise flightless species. Moreover, these insects produce noisy songs and can easily be mapped. The present study comprised a detailed investigation of the population dynamics and genetics at the edge of the range of Roesel’s bush-cricket, Metrioptera roeselii. We mapped the distribution of this insect in a previously unoccupied area of 185 km 2 and examined the genetic structure at the range margin using four polymorphic microsatellite loci. The results obtained demonstrate that the European heat wave in 2003 induced a strong immigration of macropters in the area stemming from multiple sources, whereas only few immigrants were recorded in the two subsequent years. Macropters were genotyped in a distance of up to 19.1 km from their origin, considerably exceeding the known dispersal distances for this species. Moreover, the data show that strong local founder effects are equalized on a large scale by the high number of immigrants from multiple sources. The present study demonstrates that macropters are of high significance for the range expansion of wing-dimorphic insects because a single-year climatic anomaly can induce strong dispersal processes. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 118‐127.

Simulations of beam-beam and beam-wire interactions in RHIC

The beam-beam interaction is one of the dominant sources of emittance growth and luminosity lifetime deterioration. A current-carrying wire has been proposed to compensate long-range beam-beam effects in the LHC and strong localized long-range beam-beam effects are experimentally investigated in the RHIC collider. Tune shift, beam transfer function, and beam loss rate are measured in dedicated experiments. In this paper, we report on simulations to study the effect of beam-wire interactions based on diffusive apertures, beam loss rates, and beam transfer function using a parallelized weak-strong beam simulation code (bbsimc). The simulation results are compared with measurements performed in RHIC during 2007 and 2008.

Tri-, tetra- and octa-metallic vanadium(III) clusters from new, simple starting materials: interplay of exchange and anisotropy effects

The crystal structure of the monomeric vanadium(III) species mer-[V(bipy)Cl(3)(MeCN)] (1; bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine) is reported. The solvothermal reaction of [V(bipy)Cl(3)(MeCN)]with Na(O(2)CPh) yields the T-shaped cluster [V(3)(O)Cl(3)(O(2)CPh)(2)(bipy)(2)(OEt)(2)], magnetic studies of which show strong intramolecular antiferromagnetic coupling giving a well isolated S = 1 ground state. Solvothermal treatment of 1 with triols yields a series of polymetallic clusters [V(4)Cl(6)(thme)(2)(bipy)(3)], [V(3)Cl(4)(Hcht)(2)(bipy)(2)]Cl and [V(8)(OH)(2)Cl(4)(cht)(4)(O(2)CPh)(6)(bipy)(2)], structurally related to previously reported {M(4)} centred triangles. Magnetic studies of this series reveal very weak intramolecular antiferromagnetic exchange and very strong local zero-field splitting effects.

Large-eddy simulation of equilibrium plasma-assisted combustion in supersonic flow

A large-eddy simulation (LES) model with a new localized dynamic subgrid closure for the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations is used to investigate plasma-assisted combustion in supersonic flow. A 16-species and 74-reactions kinetics model is used to simulate hydrogen-air combustion and high-temperature air dissociation. The numerical model is validated with experimental data for non-reacting and reacting supersonic flow over a rearward-facing step. The creation of a plasma source near the step corner is shown to have a strong localized effect with the high temperature region resulting in an increase of the radical species concentration in the mixing region. This has the potential for enhancing combustion. In addition, downstream fuel–air mixing is improved, primarily by the creation of a strong baroclinic torque effect in the near field of the plasma source. Furthermore, by adding an uniform external magnetic field, the Lorentz force effect helps to further enhance mixing by lifting the shear layer and increasing fuel penetration by approximately 20%.

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence from bicrystalline ZnS (core/shell) nanocables

The experimental study of the temperature-dependent photoluminescence properties of bicrystalline ZnS core/shell nanocables under 10 K to 300 K was reported. The results show that there are two distinct peaks situated at the UV (about 372.6 nm) and green (about 500 nm) regions, respectively, and one blue-shoulder band (about 465 nm) superimposed between them for all spectra. The UV peak shows an obvious redshift with increasing temperature. The analyses of Gaussian-fitted the blue-shoulder band and the green bands from 10 K to 300 K reveal that all spectra can be well fitted by three Gaussian peaks: blue peak (B, about 2.67 eV), two green peaks (G1, about 2.47 eV and G2, about 2.42 eV). With increasing temperature, the blue band shows blueshift. The green bands show anomalous transition: green band G1 shows blueshift–redshift transition and green band G2 shows redshift–blueshift. The origins of these bands and their temperature-dependent shifts are explained based on defect levels and strong carrier localization effect at the defect levels in addition to band-gap shrinkage.

Optical bistability and multistability in one-dimensional periodic metal-dielectric photonic crystal

The optical bistability and multistability in one-dimensional photonic crystal with the periodic metal-dielectric structure is investigated theoretically. In linear transmission, a structure with N periods will support N−1 resonant modes which correspond to the transmission peaks. Strong localized effect in these resonant modes is obtained. Optical bistability and multistability can be achieved when the incident wavelength is close to a resonance, which can be seen as an effect of the dynamic shifting of the wavelength of the resonant modes. It is found that the threshold for optical bistability in the periodic resonant structure is lower than the nonresonant metal-dielectric structure.

2D numerical simulations of earthquake ground motion: examples from the Marche Region, Italy

A detailed numerical simulation of the ground motion and a site response analysis for two towns in the Marche Region (Treia and Cagli) is carried out on the basis of structural models deduced from available geological and geophysical data. In both cases, the reference event is an M = 5.7 earthquake associated with a normal fault located beneath each town. The ground motion is computed using the 2D spectral element method (SPEM 2D). The method solves the propagation of the seismic field through complex geological structures and enables an estimate of the effects of deep crustal structure, superficial geology, and topography on ground motion. Numerical simulations of the seismic field are performed along 2D vertical planes containing the seismic source. Strong ground motion has not been yet recorded in the two towns; therefore, the numerical simulation of ground motion represents a way to overcome the lack of instrumental data. The simulations carried out for Treia show that ground motion is influenced by both source mechanism and effects due to propagation through the geological structure, while ground motion in Cagli features strong local effects, caused by the presence of alluvial deposits under a large area of the town.

Ultrahigh photocurrent gain in m-axial GaN nanowires

An ultrahigh photocurrent gain has been found in the ultraviolet-absorbed GaN nanowires with m-directional long axis grown by chemical vapor deposition. The quantitative results have shown the gain values at 5.0×104–1.9×105 of the GaN nanowires with diameters from 40to135nm are near three orders of magnitude higher than the values of 5.2×101–1.6×102 estimated from the thin film counterparts. The intensity-dependent gain study has shown that the gain value is very sensitive to the excitation intensity following an inverse power law and no gain saturation observed in this investigated intensity range from 0.75to250W∕m2. This behavior has strongly suggested a surface-dominant rather than trap-dominant high gain mechanism in this one-dimensional nanostructure. The strong carrier localization effect induced by the surface electric field in the GaN nanowires is also discussed.

Strong localization effect in temperature dependence of violet-blue emission from ZnO nanoshells

Violet-blue photoluminescence of Zn/ZnO core/shell nanoparticles, induced by laser ablation in liquid, was observed. The emission band shows an abnormal red first and then blueshift with temperature increasing from 8 to 300 K and abnormal narrowing at the temperature range from 30 to 130 K. Such temperature-dependent behaviors can be well described by localization model on interstitial zinc defect on both peak energy and peak width evolutions, reflecting the strong localization effect from the special microstructure. This work will be beneficial to understanding of the physical origins of the violet-blue emission in nanostructured ZnO, and extending its optical and electronic applications.

Coherent phonon scattering effects on thermal transport in thin semiconductor nanowires

The thermal conductance by phonons of a quasi-one-dimensional solid with isotope or defect scattering is studied using the Landauer formalism for thermal transport. The conductance shows a crossover from localized to Ohmic behavior, just as for electrons, but the nature of this crossover is modified by delocalization of phonons at low frequency. A scalable numerical transfer-matrix technique is developed and applied to model quasi-one-dimensional systems in order to confirm simple analytic predictions. We argue that existing thermal conductivity data on semiconductor nanowires, showing an unexpected linear dependence, can be understood through a model that combines incoherent surface scattering for short-wavelength phonons with nearly ballistic long-wavelength phonons. It is also found that even when strong phonon localization effects would be observed if defects are distributed throughout the wire, localization effects are much weaker when defects are localized at the boundary, as in current experiments.

The relative roles of coastal and oceanic processes in determining physical and chemical characteristics of an intensively sampled nearshore system

We compared the extent to which offshore and remote‐sensing measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), upwelling, and chlorophyll a (Chl a) were concordant with in situ measurements of temperature, Chl a, and water nutrients at Tatoosh Island, Washington for the past 8 yr. Offshore SSTs were significantly correlated with water temperatures at Tatoosh, though consistently 2°C to 3°C warmer. Sea‐viewing wide field‐of‐view sensor Chl a estimates were poor predictors of Chl a at Tatoosh Island measured with an anchored fluorometer. Nitrate and phosphorus estimates at Tatoosh Island were positively correlated with an upwelling index and negatively correlated with SST, as would be expected from an upwelling source. In contrast, ammonium and nitrite were uncorrelated with the upwelling index or SST and showed elevated levels immediately adjacent to Tatoosh Island, suggesting strong local effects of marine invertebrates, birds, and mammals on nutrient dynamics and cycling in coastal ecosystems.

Inferred ground motions on Guadeloupe during the 2004 Les Saintes earthquake

Accurate estimates of the ground motions that occurred during damaging earthquakes are a vital part of many aspects of earthquake engineering, such as the study of the size and cause of the uncertainties within earthquake risk assessments. This article compares a number of methods to estimate the ground shaking that occurred on Guadeloupe (French Antilles) during the 21st November 2004 (M w 6.3) Les Saintes earthquake, with the aim of providing more accurate shaking estimates for the investigation of the sources of uncertainties within loss evaluations, based on damage data from this event. The various techniques make differing use of the available ground-motion recordings of this earthquake and by consequence the estimates obtained by the different approaches are associated with differing uncertainties. Ground motions on the French Antilles are affected by strong local site effects, which have been extensively investigated in previous studies. In this article, use is made of these studies in order to improve the shaking estimates. It is shown that the simple methods neglecting the spatial correlation of earthquake shaking lead to uncertainties similar to those predicted by empirical ground-motion models and that these are uniform across the whole of Guadeloupe. In contrast, methods (such as the ShakeMap approach) that take account of the spatial correlation in motions demonstrate that shaking within roughly 10 km of a recording station (covering a significant portion of the investigated area) can be defined with reasonable accuracy but that motions at more distant points are not well constrained.

2-D Terahertz Metallic Photonic Crystals in Parallel-Plate Waveguides

2-D metallic photonic crystals without defects, with point defects, and with a Fabry-Perot (F-P) defect are characterized by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The metal parallel-plate waveguide (PPWG) with single TEM-mode propagation is used as a tool to simulate 2-D photonic crystals in free space. The 2-D metallic photonic-crystal structures were fabricated by coating Au on an SU-8 polymer cylinder array. Wide terahertz bandgaps were observed in the photonic crystals within the PPWG. The experimental measurements have excellent agreement to 2-D photonic-crystal theory without defects. Defect modes are observed in the samples with defects and show the F-P defect has a strong localization effect

The Effects of Plants on the Mobilization of Cu and Zn in Soil Columns

Whereas metal effects on plants have been well studied, much less is known about plant effects on metal mobilization in soils. We investigated metal mobilization and speciation with a resolution of a few cm in soil columns planted with willows (Salix viminalis). In the presence of plants, the concentration profiles of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), major ions (e.g., Ca), Cu, and Zn exhibited more variation than in the absence of plants, and both smaller and larger concentrations were observed, indicative of strong local effects. The Cu concentration in the absence and presence of plants was controlled by DOC mobilization and could be described by the same relationship. Zn mobilization was controlled by DOC and Ca in the plant-free system and by pH and Ca in the presence of plants. Cu2+ and labile Zn were reasonably well predicted by the NICA-Donnan model and were influenced by the plant-induced changes of the soil solution composition. Plant uptake reduced the dissolved Zn concentration and transpiration reduced Cu and Zn leaching.