Energy gaps in "metallic" single-walled carbon nanotubes

Metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes have been proposed to be good one-dimensional conductors. However, the finite curvature of the graphene sheet that forms the nanotubes and the broken symmetry due to the local environment may modify their electronic properties. We used low-temperature atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy to investigate zigzag and armchair nanotubes, both thought to be metallic. "Metallic" zigzag nanotubes were found to have energy gaps with magnitudes that depend inversely on the square of the tube radius, whereas isolated armchair tubes do not have energy gaps. Additionally, armchair nanotubes packed in bundles have pseudogaps, which exhibit an inverse dependence on tube radius. These observed energy gaps suggest that most "metallic" single-walled nanotubes are not true metals, and they have implications for our understanding of the electronic properties and potential applications of carbon nanotubes.     

Energy loss mechanisms of superconductors used in alternating-current power transmission systems

The intrinsic hysteretic loss of superconductors carrying alternating current has been derived from simple models and verified experimentally. In practical cable designs the losses are increased by surface roughness, conductor configuration, and added metallic components. When possible applications by electric utility companies are being considered, such losses are only one of many factors that must be adjusted in an optimization that produces the lowest cost(including both capital and operating expenses) during the lifetime of the system.     

Mobility gaps: a mechanism for band gaps in melanins

The semiconductor behavior of melanins is reviewed and compared with quantum mechanical models of conduction in amorphous solids. The available data are consistent with extensions of Mott's basic model for amorphous semiconductors, whereas they are inconsistent with crystalline semiconductor models. An investigation of the specific conduction mechanisms operative in melanins in terms of the amorphous model should reveal important aspects of the band structure.     

Predicting new solids and superconductors

It is now possible to start with a simple model of a solid composed of atomic cores and itinerant valence electrons and compute the total energy for a given structural arrangement of atoms with enough precision to predict the existence of new solids and their properties. The application of the model based on the pseudopotential method is described with silicon chosen as a prototype material. With only information about the constituent atoms, the electronic, structural, vibrational, and even superconducting properties of solids can be calculated from first principles. The successful predictions of superconductivity in highly condensed hexagonal silicon and the existence of new high-pressure semiconductor phases are highlighted. A discussion is presented of the use of the method to discover new stable or metastable solids at high pressures.     

Interlayer tunneling and gap anisotropy in high-temperature superconductors

A quantitative analysis of a recent model of high-temperature superconductors based on an interlayer tunneling mechanism is presented. This model can account well for the observed magnitudes of the high transition temperatures in these materials and implies a gap that does not change sign, can be substantially anisotropic, and has the same symmetry as the crystal. The experimental consequences explored so far are consistent with the observations.     

Orbital-independent superconducting gaps in iron pnictides

The origin of superconductivity in the iron pnictides has been attributed to antiferromagnetic spin ordering that occurs in close combination with a structural transition, but there are also proposals that link superconductivity to orbital ordering. We used bulk-sensitive laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on BaFe(2)(As(0.65)P(0.35))(2) and Ba(0.6)K(0.4)Fe(2)As(2) to elucidate the role of orbital degrees of freedom on the electron-pairing mechanism. In strong contrast to previous studies, an orbital-independent superconducting gap magnitude was found for the hole Fermi surfaces. Our result is not expected from the superconductivity associated with spin fluctuations and nesting, but it could be better explained invoking magnetism-induced interorbital pairing, orbital fluctuations, or a combination of orbital and spin fluctuations. Regardless of the interpretation, our results impose severe constraints on theories of iron pnictides.     

Spin susceptibility scaling in high-temperature superconductors

The spin response of a nested Fermi surface represented by a tight binding energy band is found to exhibit scaling in frequency divided by temperature within a restricted regime close to half-filling of the band. Computations of the spin susceptibility reveal a surprising momentum variation at various temperatures and frequencies. Neutron scattering data on the high-temperature superconductor YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6+x) are analyzed for scaling near a momentum vector that spans nested regions of the orbit. Changes in the Fermi energy remove the scaling properties and reduce the susceptibility to the conventional Fermi liquid behavior of ordinary metals. These results imply that pairing mechanisms of superconductivity need to cope with competing spin density wave and charge density wave instabilities.     

Morphologies and origin of elemental carbon in the environment

Carbon particles extracted from sediments collected by box coring from southeastern Lake Michigan were compared with carbon particles extracted from oil, coal, and wood fly ash. Sediments deposited after 1900 contained coal, oil, and wood carbons; older sediments contained only wood carbon.     

人工针叶林林冠空隙土壤的研究

作者研究了北京西山地区人工针叶林林冠空隙和林冠下的土壤及植被状况.结果表明:①林隙中乔木物种丰富度指数与林下一致,但灌木和草本的物种丰富度指数比林下高.②林隙土壤的枯枝落叶层比林下薄,其组分主要是草本和根系盘结物且呈半分解状态;林隙土壤的剖面形态特征,除A层的颜色、根系含量有别外,与林下土壤无明显区别.③油松林林隙土壤中A层的土壤有机质、全氮、有效磷和速效钾分别比林冠下土壤高10.7%,345%,25 .8%和35.7%.④油松侧柏混交林中林隙土壤A层的土壤有机质、全氮、有效磷和速效钾分别比林冠下土壤高4.7%,12.5%,9.4%和31.1%.⑤林隙土壤的pH、过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶没有明显的变化规律.⑥建议对林隙土壤水分的时空动态变化进行研究.     

High-Tc superconductors in the two-dimensional limit:

The free modulation of interlayer distance in a layered high-transition temperature (high-Tc) superconductor is of crucial importance not only for the study of the superconducting mechanism but also for the practical application of high-Tc superconducting materials. Two-dimensional (2D) superconductors were achieved by intercalating a long-chain organic compound into bismuth-based high-Tc cuprates. Although the intercalation of the organic chain increased the interlayer distance remarkably, to tens of angstroms, the superconducting transition temperature of the intercalate was nearly the same as that of the pristine material, suggesting the 2D nature of the high-Tc superconductivity.     

Oxygen isotope effect in high-temperature oxide superconductors

The effect of oxygen isotope substitution on the superconducting transition temperature, T(c), has been measured for BaBi(0.25)Pb(0.75)O(3) (T(c), approximately 11 K) and Lal(1.85) Ca(0.15)CuO(4) (T(c) approximately 20 K), and is compared to the shifts observed for La(1.85)Sr(0.15)CuO(4) (T(c) approximately 37 K) and YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) (T(c) approximately 92 K). For all four materials, the transition temperature is shifted to lower temperature upon substitution of oxygen-18 for oxygen-16. The observed shifts demonstrate that phonons are involved in the electron-pairing mechanism in these oxide superconductors.     

Magnetic flux-line lattices and vortices in the copper oxide superconductors

A variety of recent experiments on both the static and the dynamic properties of vortices and flux-line lattices in the mixed state of the copper oxide superconductors are discussed. The experiments are of two basic types: (i) experiments that image the magnetic flux patterns either with magnetic decoration or neutrons and give information about static structures, and (ii) experiments that explore the dynamics of vortices either through the resistivity or other electrodynamic responses of the material. Results of these experiments argue in favor of the existence of a true phase transition in the high-field vortex state from a low-temperature superconducting vortex glass phase into a disordered high-temperature vortex fluid phase. The vortex glass phase transition model does a good job of explaining high-precision measurements of the dynamics at the transition. At low fields and temperatures, very long range hexatic order in the flux-line lattice is observed.