Flexible CMOS electronics based on p-type Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ and n-type InGaZnO₄ semiconductors

Ultra-thin p-type chalcogenide glass Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) semiconductor layers are employed to form flexible thin-film transistors (TFTs). For the first time, TFTs based on GST show saturating output characteristics and an ON/OFF ratio up to 388, exceeding present reports by a factor of ~20. The channel current modulation is greatly enhanced by using ultra-thin 5 nm thick amorphous GST layers and 20 nm thick high-k Al2O3 gate dielectrics. Flexible CMOS circuits are realized in combination with the n-type oxide semiconductor InGaZnO4 (IGZO). The CMOS inverters show voltage gain of up to 69. Furthermore, flexible NAND gates are presented. The bending stability is shown for a tensile radius of 6 mm

CFHTLenS and RCSLenS cross-correlation with Planck lensing detected in fourier and configuration space

We measure the cross-correlation signature between the Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing map and the weak lensing observations from both the Red-sequence Cluster Lensing Survey and the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey. In addition to a Fourier analysis, we include the first configuration-space detection, based on the estimators 〈κCMBκgal〉 and 〈κCMBγt〉. Combining 747.2 deg2 from both surveys, we find a detection significance that exceeds 4.2σ in both Fourier- and configuration-space analyses. Scaling the predictions by a free parameter A, we obtain APlanck CFHT = 0.68 ± 0.31 and APlanck RCS = 1.31 ± 0.33. In preparation for the next generation of measurements similar to these, we quantify the impact of different analysis choices on these results. First, since none of these estimators probes the exact same dynamical range, we improve our detection by combining them. Secondly, we carry out a detailed investigation on the effect of apodization, zero-padding and mask multiplication, validated on a suite of high-resolution simulations, and find that the latter produces the largest systematic bias in the cosmological interpretation. Finally, we show that residual contamination from intrinsic alignment and the effect of photometric redshift error are both largely degenerate with the characteristic signal from massive neutrinos, however the signature of baryon feedback might be easier to distinguish. The three lensing data sets are publicly available

Renewable energy, oil prices, and economic activity: A Granger-causality in quantiles analysis

[eng] This paper analyzes the causal relationship between renewable energy consumption, oil prices, and economic activity in the United States from July 1989 to July 2016, considering all quantiles of the distribution. Although the concept of Granger-causality is defined for the conditional distribution, the majority of papers have tested Granger-causality using conditional mean regression models in which the causal relations are linear. We apply a Granger-causality in quantiles analysis that evaluates causal relations in each quantile of the distribution. Under this approach, we can discriminate between causality affecting the median and the tails of the conditional distribution. We find evidence of bi-directional causality between changes in renewable energy consumption and economic growth at the lowest tail of the distribution; besides, changes in renewable energy consumption lead economic growth at the highest tail of the distribution. Our results also support unidirectional causality from fluctuations in oil prices to economic growth at the extreme quantiles of the distribution. Finally, we find evidence of lower-tail dependence from changes in oil prices to changes in renewable energy consumption. Our findings call for government policies aimed at developing renewable energy markets, to increase energy efficiency in the U.S

Investigation of the influence of process parameters on productivity in the LPBF process for the material Inconel 718

The nickel-based alloy Inconel 718, which is used in aerospace technology, poses a great challenge to conventional machining due to its high strain hardening and toughness. Here, the laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF) offers an alternative with potential savings if sufficiently high productivity can be achieved. Based on the parameter study carried out, starting from the SLM Solutions standard parameters for the manufacturing of components, exposure parameters could be developed to realize manufacturing with 120 μm and 150 μm layer thickness, with almost the same geometric accuracy. For this purpose, the process parameters of laser power, focus diameter, hatch distance and scan speed were varied. The negative defocusing of the laser showed a positive effect on the density of the parts, realizing densities ≥ 99.94 %, with high dimensional stability and good mechanical properties. Considering the reduced manufacturing time of up to 61 %, a significant increase in productivity was achieved.Mechanical Engineerin

KiDS+VIKING-450 and DES-Y1 combined:Cosmology with cosmic shear

We present a combined tomographic weak gravitational lensing analysis of the Kilo Degree Survey (KV450) and the Dark Energy Survey (DES-Y1). We homogenize the analysis of these two public cosmic shear datasets by adopting consistent priors and modeling of nonlinear scales, and determine new redshift distributions for DES-Y1 based on deep public spectroscopic surveys. Adopting these revised redshifts results in a $0.8\sigma$ reduction in the DES-inferred value for $S_8$, which decreases to a $0.5\sigma$ reduction when including a systematic redshift calibration error model from mock DES data based on the MICE2 simulation. The combined KV450 + DES-Y1 constraint on $S_8 = 0.762^{+0.025}_{-0.024}$ is in tension with the Planck 2018 constraint from the cosmic microwave background at the level of $2.5\sigma$. This result highlights the importance of developing methods to provide accurate redshift calibration for current and future weak lensing surveys.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, new appendix added including a simulated analysis, version accepted for publication by A&A Letters, chains can be found at https://github.com/sjoudaki/kidsde

6 7 2 pt: Forecasting gains from joint weak lensing and galaxy clustering analyses with spectroscopic-photometric galaxy cross-correlations

\ua9 The Authors 2025.Accurate knowledge of galaxy redshift distributions is crucial in the inference of cosmological parameters from large-scale structure data. We explore the potential for enhanced self-calibration of photometric galaxy redshift distributions, n(z), through the joint analysis of up to six two-point functions. Our 3 7 2 pt configuration comprises photometric shear, spectroscopic galaxy clustering, and spectroscopic-photometric galaxy-galaxy lensing (GGL). We expand this to include spectroscopic-photometric cross-clustering, photometric GGL, and photometric auto-clustering, using the photometric shear sample as an additional density tracer. We performed simulated likelihood forecasts of the cosmological and nuisance parameter constraints for stage-III- and stage-IV-like surveys. For the stage-III-like survey, we employed realistic redshift distributions with perturbations across the full shape of the n(z), and distinguished between \u27coherent\u27 shifting of the bulk distribution in one direction, versus more internal scattering and full-shape n(z) errors. For perfectly known n(z), a 6 7 2 pt analysis gains ∼40% in figure of merit (FoM) on the S8 ≈ σ8√Ωm/0.3 and Ωm plane relative to the 3 7 2 pt analysis. If untreated, coherent and incoherent redshift errors lead to inaccurate inferences of S8 and Ωm, respectively, and contaminate inferences of the amplitude of intrinsic galaxy alignments. Employing bin-wise scalar shifts, δzi, in the tomographic mean redshifts reduces cosmological parameter biases, with a 6 7 2 pt analysis constraining the δzi parameters with 2-4 times the precision of a photometric 3ph 7 2 pt analysis. For the stage-IV-like survey, a 6 7 2 pt analysis doubles the FoM (σ8-Ωm) compared to the 3 7 2 pt or 3ph 7 2 pt analyses, and is only 8% less constraining than if the n(z) were perfectly known. A Gaussian mixture model for the n(z) is able to reduce mean-redshift errors whilst preserving the n(z) shape, and thereby yields the most accurate and precise cosmological constraints for any given N 7 2 pt configuration in the presence of n(z) biases

The fifth data release of the Kilo Degree Survey: Multi-epoch optical/NIR imaging covering wide and legacy-calibration fields

\ua9 The Authors 2024.We present the final data release of the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-DR5), a public European Southern Observatory (ESO) wide-field imaging survey optimised for weak gravitational lensing studies. We combined matched-depth multi-wavelength observations from the VLT Survey Telescope and the VISTA Kilo-degree INfrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey to create a nine-band optical-to-near-infrared survey spanning 1347 deg2. The median r-band 5σlimiting magnitude is 24.8 with median seeing 0.7″. The main survey footprint includes 4 deg2 of overlap with existing deep spectroscopic surveys. We complemented these data in DR5 with a targeted campaign to secure an additional 23 deg2 of KiDS- and VIKING-like imaging over a range of additional deep spectroscopic survey fields. From these fields, we extracted a catalogue of 126 085 sources with both spectroscopic and photometric redshift information, which enables the robust calibration of photometric redshifts across the full survey footprint. In comparison to previous releases, DR5 represents a 34% areal extension and includes an i-band re-observation of the full footprint, thereby increasing the effective i-band depth by 0.4 magnitudes and enabling multi-epoch science. Our processed nine-band imaging, single- and multi-band catalogues with masks, and homogenised photometry and photometric redshifts can be accessed through the ESO Archive Science Portal