Metallic and insulating oxide interfaces controlled by electronic correlations

The formation of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at complex oxide interfaces is directly influenced by the oxide electronic properties. We investigated how local electron correlations control the 2DEG by inserting a single atomic layer of a rare-earth oxide (RO) [(R is lanthanum (La), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), or yttrium (Y)] into an epitaxial strontium titanate oxide (SrTiO(3)) matrix using pulsed-laser deposition with atomic layer control. We find that structures with La, Pr, and Nd ions result in conducting 2DEGs at the inserted layer, whereas the structures with Sm or Y ions are insulating. Our local spectroscopic and theoretical results indicate that the interfacial conductivity is dependent on electronic correlations that decay spatially into the SrTiO(3) matrix. Such correlation effects can lead to new functionalities in designed heterostructures.     

Controlling the charge state of individual gold adatoms

The nature and control of individual metal atoms on insulators are of great importance in emerging atomic-scale technologies. Individual gold atoms on an ultrathin insulating sodium chloride film supported by a copper surface exhibit two different charge states, which are stabilized by the large ionic polarizability of the film. The charge state and associated physical and chemical properties such as diffusion can be controlled by adding or removing a single electron to or from the adatom with a scanning tunneling microscope tip. The simple physical mechanism behind the charge bistability in this case suggests that this is a common phenomenon for adsorbates on polar insulating films.     

Quantum spin hall insulator state in HgTe quantum wells

Recent theory predicted that the quantum spin Hall effect, a fundamentally new quantum state of matter that exists at zero external magnetic field, may be realized in HgTe/(Hg,Cd)Te quantum wells. We fabricated such sample structures with low density and high mobility in which we could tune, through an external gate voltage, the carrier conduction from n-type to p-type, passing through an insulating regime. For thin quantum wells with well width d < 6.3 nanometers, the insulating regime showed the conventional behavior of vanishingly small conductance at low temperature. However, for thicker quantum wells (d > 6.3 nanometers), the nominally insulating regime showed a plateau of residual conductance close to 2e(2)/h, where e is the electron charge and h is Planck's constant. The residual conductance was independent of the sample width, indicating that it is caused by edge states. Furthermore, the residual conductance was destroyed by a small external magnetic field. The quantum phase transition at the critical thickness, d = 6.3 nanometers, was also independently determined from the magnetic field-induced insulator-to-metal transition. These observations provide experimental evidence of the quantum spin Hall effect.     

绝缘接头或绝缘法兰绝缘性的讨论

绝缘接头或绝缘法兰是管道阴极保护中必不可少的重要管件，但在现场安装时都曾出现过绝缘性达不到替代洒求值的问题。对此现象进行了剖析，指出影响电绝缘性的主要原因是绝缘连接头的绝缘材料制造，装配等方面的质量问题。     

Band gap of forsterite

Optical absorption and reflectivity measurements on synthetic forsterite show that this silicate has a wide band gap of the order of 8.4 electron volts; thus it resembles other pure insulating oxides such as MgO. For natural olivines, in which divalent cations, mainly Fe(2+), can replace Mg(2+), all the optical absorption bands between the lattice overtones in the infrared and the first excitonic transition at 8.4 electron volts are due to the presence of iron.     

Observation of skyrmions in a multiferroic material

A magnetic skyrmion is a topologically stable particle-like object that appears as a vortex-like spin texture at the nanometer scale in a chiral-lattice magnet. Skyrmions have been observed in metallic materials, where they are controllable by electric currents. Here, we report the experimental discovery of magnetoelectric skyrmions in an insulating chiral-lattice magnet Cu(2)OSeO(3) through Lorentz transmission electron microscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. We find that the skyrmion can magnetically induce electric polarization. The observed magnetoelectric coupling may potentially enable the manipulation of the skyrmion by an external electric field without losses due to joule heating.     

气体介电常数的微观表达式

本文用经典电子论和统计力学方法对无极分子的位移极化和有极分子的取向极化机理进行了较全面的讨论，从而推出了气体相对介电常数的微观表达式。     

Superconducting interfaces between insulating oxides

At interfaces between complex oxides, electronic systems with unusual electronic properties can be generated. We report on superconductivity in the electron gas formed at the interface between two insulating dielectric perovskite oxides, LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. The behavior of the electron gas is that of a two-dimensional superconductor, confined to a thin sheet at the interface. The superconducting transition temperature of congruent with 200 millikelvin provides a strict upper limit to the thickness of the superconducting layer of congruent with 10 nanometers.     

The Resonating Valence Bond State in La2CuO4 and Superconductivity

The oxide superconductors, particularly those recently discovered that are based on La(2)CuO(4), have a set of peculiarities that suggest a common, unique mechanism: they tend in every case to occur near a metal-insulator transition into an odd-electron insulator with peculiar magnetic properties. This insulating phase is proposed to be the long-sought "resonating-valence-bond" state or "quantum spin liquid" hypothesized in 1973. This insulating magnetic phase is favored by low spin, low dimensionality, and magnetic frustration. The preexisting magnetic singlet pairs of the insulating state become charged superconducting pairs when the insulator is doped sufficiently strongly. The mechanism for superconductivity is hence predominantly electronic and magnetic, although weak phonon interactions may favor the state. Many unusual properties are predicted, especially of the insulating state.     

Graphitic carbon in the Allende meteorite: a microstructural study

High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, shows that carbon in the Allende carbonaceous chondrite meteorite is predominantly a poorly crystalline graphite. Such material is of interest as an important carrier of the isotopically anomalous noble gases found in carbonaceous chondrites.     

Isotopic composition of rare gases in lunar samples

Data from total melt and step-by-step heating experiments on the Apollo 11 lunar samples suggest a close affinity between lunar and meteoritic rare gases. Trapped neon-20/neon-22 ratios range from 11.5 to approximately 15, resembling those for the gas-rich meteorites. Trapped krypton and xenon in the lunar fines and in the carbonaceous chondrites are similar except for an interesting underabundance of the heavy isotopes in both lunar gases which suggests that the fission component found in carbonaceous chondrites is depleted in lunar material. Spallation gases are in most cases quite close to meteoritic spallation gases in isotopic composition.     

Magnetic superstructure in the two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet SrCu2(BO3)2

We report the observation of magnetic superstructure in a magnetization plateau state of SrCu2(BO3)2, a frustrated quasi-two-dimensional quantum spin system. The Cu and B nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra at 35 millikelvin indicate an apparently discontinuous phase transition from uniform magnetization to a modulated superstructure near 27 tesla, above which a magnetization plateau at 1/8 of the full saturation has been observed. Comparison of the Cu NMR spectrum and the theoretical analysis of a Heisenberg spin model demonstrates the crystallization of itinerant triplets in the plateau phase within a large rhomboid unit cell (16 spins per layer) showing oscillations of the spin polarization. Thus, we are now in possession of an interesting model system to study a localization transition of strongly interacting quantum particles.     

电位法判断绝缘法兰绝缘性能存在的问题

用电位法判断绝缘法兰的绝缘性能常出现错误，其原因是电位法未涉及绝缘法兰非保护端管／地电位的一个重要因素－绝缘法兰非保护端管道的接地电阻。     

Superconducting pair correlations in an amorphous insulating nanohoneycomb film

The Cooper pairing mechanism that binds single electrons to form pairs in metals allows electrons to circumvent the exclusion principle and condense into a single superconducting or zero-resistance state. We present results from an amorphous bismuth film system patterned with a nanohoneycomb array of holes, which undergoes a thickness-tuned insulator-superconductor transition. The insulating films exhibit activated resistances and magnetoresistance oscillations dictated by the superconducting flux quantum h/2e. This 2e period is direct evidence indicating that Cooper pairing is also responsible for electrically insulating behavior.     

保温油罐抗风圈腐蚀穿孔的修复及改造

保温油罐抗风圈及罐底板外根部因酸雨聚积形成电化学腐蚀。由于沿海地区空气温度大，盐分重及罐内的温度高，加快了设备的腐蚀。通过对1000立方米燃料油罐的腐蚀原因分析，提出了改造与预防措施。改造后的抗风圈结构能有效地排出进入保温层内的雨水，从而避免了的电化学腐蚀。     

Metal-insulator transition in disordered two-dimensional electron systems

We present a theory of the metal-insulator transition in a disordered two-dimensional electron gas. A quantum critical point, separating the metallic phase, which is stabilized by electronic interactions, from the insulating phase, where disorder prevails over the electronic interactions, has been identified. The existence of the quantum critical point leads to a divergence in the density of states of the underlying collective modes at the transition, causing the thermodynamic properties to behave critically as the transition is approached. We show that the interplay of electron-electron interactions and disorder can explain the observed transport properties and the anomalous enhancement of the spin susceptibility near the metal-insulator transition.     

Microscopic structure of the metal-insulator transition in two dimensions

A single electron transistor is used as a local electrostatic probe to study the underlying spatial structure of the metal-insulator transition in two dimensions. The measurements show that as we approach the transition from the metallic side, a new phase emerges that consists of weakly coupled fragments of the two-dimensional system. These fragments consist of localized charge that coexists with the surrounding metallic phase. As the density is lowered into the insulating phase, the number of fragments increases on account of the disappearing metallic phase. The measurements reveal that the metal-insulator transition is a result of the microscopic restructuring that occurs in the system.     

Spontaneous Bose coherence of excitons and polaritons

In the past decade, there has been an increasing number of experiments on spontaneous Bose coherence of excitons and polaritons. Four major areas of research are reviewed here: three-dimensional excitons in the bulk semiconductor Cu2O, two-dimensional excitons in coupled quantum wells, Coulomb drag experiments in coupled two-dimensional electron gases, and polaritons in semiconductor microcavities. The unifying theory of all these experiments is the effect of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition.     

Origin of magnetization decay in spin-dependent tunnel junctions

Spin-dependent tunnel junctions based on magnetically hard and soft ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin insulating barrier have emerged as prime candidates for information storage. However, the observed instability of the magnetically hard reference layer, leading to magnetization decay during field cycling of the adjacent soft layer, is a serious concern for future device applications. Using Lorentz electron microscopy and micromagnetic simulations, the hard-layer decay was found to result from large fringing fields surrounding magnetic domain walls in the magnetically soft layer. The formation and motion of these walls causes statistical flipping of magnetic moments in randomly oriented grains of the hard layer, with a progressive trend toward disorder and eventual demagnetization.