Dominant mobility modulation by the electric field effect at the LaAlO_3 / SrTiO_3 interface

Caviglia et al. [Nature (London) 456, 624 (2008)] have found that the superconducting LaAlO_3 / SrTiO_3 interface can be gate modulated. A central issue is to determine the principal effect of the applied electric field. Using magnetotransport studies of a gated structure, we find that the mobility variation is almost five times as large as the sheet carrier density. Furthermore, superconductivity can be suppressed at both positive and negative gate bias. These results indicate that the relative disorder strength strongly increases across the superconductor-insulator transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The effects of surface finish and grain size on the strength of sintered silicon carbide

The effects of surface treatment and microstructure, especially abnormal grain growth, on the strength of sintered SiC were studied. The surfaces of sintered SiC were treated with 400, 800 and 1200 grit diamond wheels. Grain growth was induced by increasing the sintering times at 2050 C. The beta to alpha transformation occurred during the sintering of beta-phase starting materials and was often accompanied by abnormal grain growth. The overall strength distributions were established using Weibull statistics. The strength of the sintered SiC is limited by extrinsic surface flaws in normal-sintered specimens. The finer the surface finish and grain size, the higher the strength. But the strength of abnormal sintering specimens is limited by the abnormally grown large tabular grains. The Weibull modulus increases with decreasing grain size and decreasing grit size for grinding

Recent Neutrino Data and Type III Seesaw with Discrete Symmetry

In light of the recent neutrino experiment results from Daya Bay and RENO Collaborations, we study phenomenology of neutrino mixing angles in the Type III seesaw model with an discrete $A_4 \times Z_2$ symmetry, whose spontaneously breaking scale is much higher than the electroweak scale. At tree level, the tri-bimaximal (TBM) form of the lepton mixing matrix can be obtained from leptonic Yukawa interactions in a natural way. We introduce all possible effective dimension-5 operators, invariant under the Standard Model gauge group and $A_4 \times Z_2$, and explicitly show that they induce a deviation of the lepton mixing from the TBM mixing matrix, which can explain a large mixing angle $\theta_{13}$ together with small deviations of the solar and atmospheric mixing angles from the TBM. Two possible scenarios are investigated, by taking into account either negligible or sizable contributions from the light charged lepton sector to the lepton mixing matrix. Especially it is found in the latter scenario that all the neutrino experimental data, including the recent best-fit value of $\theta_{13} = 8.68^{\circ}$, can be accommodated. The leptonic CP violation characterized by the Jarlskog invariant $J_{CP}$ has a non-vanishing value, indicating a signal of maximal CP violation.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures and references are adde

Electron Transport in Disordered Graphene Nanoribbons

We report an electron transport study of lithographically fabricated graphene nanoribbons of various widths and lengths at different temperatures. At the charge neutrality point, a length-independent transport gap forms whose size is inversely proportional to the width. In this gap, electron is localized, and charge transport exhibits a transition between simple thermally activated behavior at higher temperatures and a variable range hopping at lower temperatures. By varying the geometric capacitance through the addition of top gates, we find that charging effects constitute a significant portion of the activation energy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure