Search results for "conductivity"

Single molecules probe local density of modes (LDOS) around photonic nanostructures

2008

International audience; According to Fermi's golden rule, the fluorescence decay rate is directly proportional to the projected local density of photonic modes (LDOS) at the molecule location. The relevant LDOS depends on the molecule orientation. In this paper, the direct measurement of the fluorescence lifetime near gold dot photonic structures is investigated and compared to calculated LDOS. Detailed analysis of the decay channels is presented on the basis of numerical simulations.

Il miglioramento energetico nel recupero degli edifici storici. Applicazione al patrimonio architettonico palermitano

L'architettura storica può assumere un ruolo rilevante nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi europei di efficienza energetica per il settore edile, obiettivi che, tuttavia, devono essere compatibili con la conservazione del patrimonio storico e del suo valore culturale. A tal fine è necessario far riferimento ai caratteri specifici dell'architettura storica e alla sua dimensione locale. La presente tesi, sulla base di tale assunto, esamina le prestazioni energetiche degli edifici storici e il loro potenziale miglioramento, concentrandosi sul patrimonio architettonico di Palermo, caso di studio significativo per l'area mediterranea. La ricerca, condotta con riferimento sia alla scala urbana sia…

Maximizing phonon thermal conductance for ballistic membranes

2007

At low temperatures, phonon scattering can become so weak that phonon transport becomes ballistic. We calculate the ballistic phonon conductance G for membranes using elasticity theory, considering the transition from three to two dimensions. We discuss the temperature and thickness dependence and especially concentrate on the issue of material parameters. For all membrane thicknesses, the best conductors have, counter-intuitively, the lowest speed of sound.

Influence of impurity scattering on Drude response in heavy-fermion UPd2Al3

2010

The frequency-dependent conductivity of heavy-fermion metals can often be described within the picture of the Drude response: the transport relaxation rate is the only relevant frequency scale and, furthermore, reduced by orders of magnitude compared to normal metals. While the relaxation-time enhancement corresponds to the effective-mass enhancement in these materials, i.e. a fundamental material characteristic, the absolute value of the relaxation time depends on the details of the relevant scattering processes. Here we discuss the influence of impurity scattering on the Drude response of the heavy fermions in UPd2Al3 by comparing different thin film samples.

Magnetization relaxation in YBCO films with improved supercurrent transport properties

2010

The relaxation of the irreversible magnetization in optimally doped YBCO films with natural and artificial pinning centres was measured in zero-field cooling conditions using SQUID magnetometry. The external magnetic field H was oriented along the c axis. An appropriate method for the determination of the characteristic vortex pinning energy from the normalized vortex-creep activation energy is discussed. This is based on the existence of a crossover elastic (collective) vortex creep at low temperatures T – plastic vortex creep at high T, caused by the T dependent macroscopic currents induced in the sample during magnetization measurements.

Normal metal - insulator - superconductor thermometers and coolers with titanium-gold bilayer as the normal metal

2018

We have fabricated superconductor - insulator - normal metal - insulator - superconductor (SINIS) tunnel junctions in which Al acts as the superconductor, AlOx is the insulator, and the normal metal consists of a thin Ti layer (5 nm) covered with a thicker Au layer (40 nm). We have characterized the junctions by measuring their current-voltage curves between 60 mK and 750 mK. For comparison, the same measurements have been performed for a SINIS junction pair whose normal metal is Cu. The Ti-Au bilayer decreases the SINIS tunneling resistance by an order of magnitude compared to junctions where Cu is used as normal metal, made with the same oxidation parameters. The Ti-Au devices are much mo…

Film-substrate lattice-engineering of HTS thin films

2008

Materials may show anisotropic properties on different crystal directions and this is also the case of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS). To take advantage of the materials anisotropy one concept of interest is 'orientation engineering' in thin films. This can be realized through the control of the film-substrate lattice relationship. Some examples in this regard are presented in this work and through comparative analysis we try to evaluate the viability of this approach and of he entcountered problems. It is expected that in the future this approach will generate new nano composite materials with new properties and effects leading to development of new devices with new or improved fun…

Acoustic properties of nanoscale oxide heterostructures probed by UV Raman spectroscopy

2007

We study high quality molecular-beam epitaxy grown BaTiO3/SrTiO3 superlat-tices using ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy. In the low energy spectral region, acoustic phonon doublets are observed. These are due to the artificial superlattice periodicity and consequent folding of the acoustic phonon dispersion. From the study of samples with different BaTiO3/SrTiO3 layer thicknesses the effective sound velocities within each of the layers are obtained.

Low-temperature microwave response of heavy-fermion compounds

2009

The electrodynamic properties of heavy fermions are distinct from those of normal metals due to the reduced transport relaxation rate that goes hand in hand with the enhanced mass. Using broadband microwave spectroscopy on thin-film samples of the heavy-fermion materials UPd2Al3 and UNi2Al3, we find that the frequency-dependent conductivity of these compounds at low temperatures follows a simple Drude prediction. The observed relaxation rates in the GHz frequency range are extremely low for a metal.

Size Dependent Breakdown of Superconductivity in Ultranarrow Nanowires

2005

Below a certain temperature Tc (typically cryogenic), some materials lose their electric resistance R entering a superconducting state. Folowing the general trend toward a large scale integration of a greater number of electronic components, it is desirable to use superconducting elements in order to minimize heat dissipation. It is expected that the basic property of a superconductor, i.e. dissipationless electric current, will be preserved at reduced scales required by modern nanoelectronics. Unfortunately, there are indications that for a certain critical size limit of the order of 10 nm, below which a "superconducting" wire is no longer a superconductor in a sense that it acquires a fin…