Exploring the dark matter inelastic frontier with 79.6 days of PandaX-II data

We report here the results of searching for inelastic scattering of dark matter (initial and final state dark matter particles differ by a small mass splitting) with nucleon with the first 79.6-day of PandaX-II data (Run 9). We set the upper limits for the spin independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section up to a mass splitting of 300 keV/c$^2$ at two benchmark dark matter masses of 1 and 10 TeV/c$^2$.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Exfoliation and Spray Deposition of Graphene Nanoplatelets in Ethyl Acetate and Acetone: Implications for Additive Manufacturing of Low-Cost Electrodes and Heat Sinks

Nonaqueous dispersions of graphene nanoplatelets (GrNPs) can be used to prepare thin films and coatings free of surfactants, but typically involve polar organic solvents with high boiling points and low exposure limits. Here, we describe the mechanochemical exfoliation and dispersion of GrNPs in volatile aprotic solvents such as ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and acetone, which rank favorably in green solvent selection guides. GrNPs in powder form were exfoliated with a solvent on a horizontal ball mill for 48 h and then sonicated at moderate power to produce suspensions in excess of 300 μg/mL with minimum loss of dispersion stability over 7 weeks at room temperature. Atomic force microscopy of individual particles indicates a median thickness and lateral width of 8–10 layers and 180 nm, respectively. GrNP films can be deposited by conventional airbrush equipment with a dry time of seconds and applied as layers and coatings that enhance the reproducibility and performance of electronic devices. We demonstrate the utility of spray-coated GrNPs as contact layers for low-cost electrochemical sensing with improvements in intrabatch reproducibility and as conformal coatings on metal heat sinks with enhanced rates of heat dissipation

Dark Matter Results From 54-Ton-Day Exposure of PandaX-II Experiment

We report a new search of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) using the combined low background data sets in 2016 and 2017 from the PandaX-II experiment in China. The latest data set contains a new exposure of 77.1 live day, with the background reduced to a level of 0.8$\times10^{-3}$ evt/kg/day, improved by a factor of 2.5 in comparison to the previous run in 2016. No excess events were found above the expected background. With a total exposure of 5.4$\times10^4$ kg day, the most stringent upper limit on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section was set for a WIMP with mass larger than 100 GeV/c$^2$, with the lowest exclusion at 8.6$\times10^{-47}$ cm$^2$ at 40 GeV/c$^2$.Comment: Supplementary materials at https://pandax.sjtu.edu.cn/articles/2nd/supplemental.pdf version 2 as accepted by PR

Properties of Two-Mode Quadrature Squeezing from Four-wave Mixing in Rubidium Vapor

We present a study of homodyne measurements of two-mode, vacuum-seeded, quadrature-squeezed light generated by four-wave mixing in warm rubidium vapor. Our results reveal that the vacuum squeezing can extend down to measurement frequencies of less than 1 Hz, and the squeezing bandwidth, similar to the seeded intensity-difference squeezing measured in this system, reaches up to approximately 20 MHz for typical pump parameters. By dividing the squeezing bandwidth into smaller frequency bins, we show that different sideband frequencies represent independent sources of two-mode squeezing. Such frequency bins may provide useful qumodes for quantum information processing experiments. We also investigate the impact of group velocity delays on the correlations in the system

Numerical Extraction of the Equivalent Circuit for a Basic Magnetoelectric Dipole Antenna

Magnetoelectric dipoles have attracted global research attention due to its broadband, unidirectional, and high front-to-back ratio characteristics. This study implemented a co-simulation between a basic magnetoelectric dipole and its front feeding circuit through the step-by-step numerical extraction of its equivalent circuit model equipped with lumped and frequency-independent components. First, the series resonance subcircuit was derived from the series resonance point in the impedance of the magnetoelectric dipole. Second, the parallel resonance sub-circuit was achieved based on the parallel resonance point. By combining the series and parallel sub-circuits according to the sequence of their resonance frequency, the final form of the equivalent circuit for the basic magnetoelectric dipole was realized. Furthermore, to obtain the component values of the proposed circuit, a numerical fitting technique was adopted to accurately match the input impedance of the antenna and its equivalent circuit. A comparison of the circuit and antenna electromagnetic simulations showed that they agreed well with each other. Hence, the correctness and feasibility of the extraction process were verified. The overall results showed that the proposed circuit model can easily substitute for a basic magnetoelectric dipole in the implementation of antenna/circuit co-simulation in circuit simulators