Aluminum Oxide Layers as Possible Components for Layered Tunnel Barriers

We have studied transport properties of Nb/Al/AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions with ultrathin aluminum oxide layers formed by (i) thermal oxidation and (ii) plasma oxidation, before and after rapid thermal post-annealing of the completed structures at temperatures up to 550 deg C. Post-annealing at temperatures above 300 deg C results in a significant decrease of the tunneling conductance of thermally-grown barriers, while plasma-grown barriers start to change only at annealing temperatures above 450 deg C. Fitting the experimental I-V curves of the junctions using the results of the microscopic theory of direct tunneling shows that the annealing of thermally-grown oxides at temperatures above 300 deg C results in a substantial increase of their average tunnel barriers height, from ~1.8 eV to ~2.45 eV, versus the practically unchanged height of ~2.0 eV for plasma-grown layers. This difference, together with high endurance of annealed barriers under electric stress (breakdown field above 10 MV/cm) may enable all-AlOx and SiO2/AlOx layered "crested" barriers for advanced floating-gate memory applications.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Constraints on Spin-Independent Nucleus Scattering with sub-GeV Weakly Interacting Massive Particle Dark Matter from the CDEX-1B Experiment at the China Jin-Ping Laboratory

We report results on the searches of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with sub-GeV masses ($m_{\chi}$) via WIMP-nucleus spin-independent scattering with Migdal effect incorporated. Analysis on time-integrated (TI) and annual modulation (AM) effects on CDEX-1B data are performed, with 737.1 kg$\cdot$day exposure and 160 eVee threshold for TI analysis, and 1107.5 kg$\cdot$day exposure and 250 eVee threshold for AM analysis. The sensitive windows in $m_{\chi}$ are expanded by an order of magnitude to lower DM masses with Migdal effect incorporated. New limits on $\sigma_{\chi N}^{\rm SI}$ at 90\% confidence level are derived as $2\times$10$^{-32}\sim7\times$10$^{-35}$ $\rm cm^2$ for TI analysis at $m_{\chi}\sim$ 50$-$180 MeV/$c^2$, and $3\times$10$^{-32}\sim9\times$10$^{-38}$ $\rm cm^2$ for AM analysis at $m_{\chi}\sim$75 MeV/$c^2-$3.0 GeV/$c^2$.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

An Intersecting Loop Model as a Solvable Super Spin Chain

In this paper we investigate an integrable loop model and its connection with a supersymmetric spin chain. The Bethe Ansatz solution allows us to study some properties of the ground state. When the loop fugacity $q$ lies in the physical regime, we conjecture that the central charge is $c=q-1$ for $q$ integer $< 2$. Low-lying excitations are examined, supporting a superdiffusive behavior for $q=1$. We argue that these systems are interesting examples of integrable lattice models realizing $c \leq 0$ conformal field theories.Comment: latex file, 7 page

Three-dimensional parton distribution functions g1Tg_{1T} and h1L⊥h_{1L}^\perp in the polarized proton-antiproton Drell-Yan process

We present predictions of the unweighted and weighted double spin asymmetries related to the transversal helicity distribution $g_{1T}$ and the longitudinal transversity distribution $h_{1L}^\perp$, two of eight leading-twist transverse momentum dependent parton distributions (TMDs) or three-dimensional parton distribution functions (3dPDFs), in the polarized proton-antiproton Drell-Yan process at typical kinematics on the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR). We conclude that FAIR is ideal to access the new 3dPDFs towards a detailed picture of the nucleon structure.Comment: 6 latex pages, 5 figures, version for publication in EPJ

Left-right asymmetry for pion and kaon production in the semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process

We analyze the left-right asymmetry in the semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) process without introducing any weighting functions. With the current theoretical understanding, we find that the Sivers effect plays a key role in our analysis. We use the latest parametrization of the Sivers and fragmentation functions to reanalyze the $\pi^\pm$ production process and find that the results are sensitive to the parametrization. We also extend our calculation on the $K^{\pm}$ production, which can help us know more about the Sivers distribution of the sea quarks and the unfavored fragmentation processes. HERMES kinematics with a proton target, COMPASS kinematics with a proton, deuteron, and neutron target (the information on the neutron target can be effectively extracted from the $^3$He target), and JLab kinematics (both 6 GeV and 12 GeV) with a proton and neutron target are considered in our paper.Comment: 7 latex pages, 11 figures, final version for publication, with references update

CVM studies on the atomic ordering in complex perovskite alloys

The atomic ordering in complex perovskite alloys is investigated by the cluster variation method (CVM). For the 1/3\{111\}-type ordered structure, the order-disorder phase transition is the first order, and the order parameter of the 1:2 complex perovskite reaches its maximum near x=0.25. For the 1/2\{111\}-type ordered structure, the ordering transition is the second order. Phase diagrams for both ordered structures are obtained. The order-disorder line obeys the linear law.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Flower pollination algorithm: a novel approach for multiobjective optimization

Multiobjective design optimization problems require multiobjective optimization techniques to solve, and it is often very challenging to obtain high-quality Pareto fronts accurately. In this article, the recently developed flower pollination algorithm (FPA) is extended to solve multiobjective optimization problems. The proposed method is used to solve a set of multiobjective test functions and two bi-objective design benchmarks, and a comparison of the proposed algorithm with other algorithms has been made, which shows that the FPA is efficient with a good convergence rate. Finally, the importance for further parametric studies and theoretical analysis is highlighted and discussed

Understanding the proton's spin structure

We discuss the tremendous progress that has been towards an understanding of how the spin of the proton is distributed on its quark and gluon constituents. This is a problem that began in earnest twenty years ago with the discovery of the proton ``spin crisis'' by the European Muon Collaboration. The discoveries prompted by that original work have given us unprecedented insight into the amount of spin carried by polarized gluons and the orbital angular momentum of the quarks.Comment: Review article for J. Phys. G, 1 figure, 22 page