Abstract: investigate non-equilibrium states created by a laser beam incident on a superconducting NbTiN filament subject to an electrical pulse at 4 K. In absence of the laser excitation, when the amplitude of the current pulse applied to the filament exceeds the critical current value, we monitored the delay time td that marks the collapse of the superconducting phase which is then followed by a voltage rise. We linked the delay time to the applied current using the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) theory, which enabled us to deduce the cooling (or heat-removal) time from the fit to the experimental data. Subsequently, we exposed the filament biased with a current pulse close to its critical value to a focused laser beam, inducing a normal state in the impact region of the laser beam. We showed that the energy of the incident beam and the incurred delay time are related to each other by a simple expression, that enables direct measurement of incident beam energy by temporal monitoring of the transport response. This method can be extended for usage in single-photon detection regime, and be used for accurate calibration of an arbitrary light source.

Abstract: We investigate a promising tunnel FET configuration having a gate on the source only, which is simultaneously exhibiting a steeper subthreshold slope and a higher ON-current than the lateral tunneling configuration with a gate on the channel. Our analysis is performed based on a recently developed 2-D quantum-mechanical simulator calculating band-to-band tunneling and including quantum confinement (QC). It is shown that the two disadvantages of the structure, namely, the sensitivity to gate alignment and the physical oxide thickness, are mitigated by placing a counter-doped parallel pocket underneath the gate-source overlap. The pocket also significantly reduces the field-induced QC. The findings are illustrated with all-Si and all-Ge gate-on-source-only tunnel field-effect transistor simulations.

Abstract: Electrocatalysts play a pivotal role in advancing the application of water splitting for hydrogen production. This research unveils the potential of defective biphenylenes as high-efficiency catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Using first-principles simulations, we systematically investigated the structure, stability, and catalytic performance of defective biphenylenes. Our findings unveil that defect engineering significantly enhances the electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution. Specifically, biphenylene with a double-vacancy defect exhibits an outstanding Gibbs free energy of -0.08 eV, surpassing that of Pt, accompanied by a remarkable exchange current density of -3.08 A cm(-2), also surpassing that of Pt. Furthermore, we find the preference for the Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism in the hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low energy barrier of 0.80 eV. This research provides a promising avenue for developing novel metal-free electrocatalysts for water splitting with earth-abundant carbon elements, making a significant step toward sustainable hydrogen production.

Abstract: We theoretically investigate the effect of intercalation of third row transition metals (Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ti and V) in the layers of WSe2. Using density functional theory (DFT), we investigate the structural stability. We also compute the DFT energies of various magnetic spin configurations. Using these energies, we construct a Heisenberg Hamiltonian and perform a Monte Carlo study on each WSe2 + intercalant system to estimate the Curie or Neel temperature. We find ferromagnetic ground states for Ti and Cr intercalation, with Curie temperatures of 31K and 225K, respectively. In Fe-intercalated WSe2, we predict that antiferromagnetic ordering is present up to 564K. For V intercalation, we find that the system exhibits a double phase transition.

Abstract: We present a computational model to model the magnetic structure of two-dimensional (2D) dilute-magnetic-semiconductors (DMS) both the monolayers and multilayers using first-principles density functional theory (DFT), as well as their magnetic phase transition as a function of temperature using Monte-Carlo simulations. Using our method, we model the magnetic structure of bulk, bilayer, and monolayer MoS2 substitutionally doped with Fe atoms. We find that the out-of-plane interaction in bilayer MoS2 is weakly ferromagnetic, whereas in bulk MoS2 it is strongly anti-ferromagnetic. Finally, we show that the magnetic order is more robust in bilayer Fe-doped MoS2 compared to the monolayer and results in a room-temperature FM at an atomic substitution of 14-16%.

Abstract: Chimera state is a recently discovered dynamical phenomenon in arrays of nonlocally coupled oscillators, that displays a self-organized spatial pattern of coexisting coherence and incoherence. We discuss the appearance of the chimera states in networks of phase oscillators with attractive and with repulsive interactions, i.e. when the coupling respectively favors synchronization or works against it. By systematically analyzing the dependence of the spatiotemporal dynamics on the level of coupling attractivity/repulsivity and the range of coupling, we uncover that different types of chimera states exist in wide domains of the parameter space as cascades of the states with increasing number of intervals of irregularity, so-called chimera's heads. We report three scenarios for the chimera birth: (1) via saddle-node bifurcation on a resonant invariant circle, also known as SNIC or SNIPER, (2) via blue-sky catastrophe, when two periodic orbits, stable and saddle, approach each other creating a saddle-node periodic orbit, and (3) via homoclinic transition with complex multistable dynamics including an “eight-like” limit cycle resulting eventually in a chimera state.

Abstract: Introduction: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is a well-established treatment for acute-on-chronic respiratory failure in hypercapnic COPD patients. Less is known about the effects of a long-term treatment with NIV in hypercapnic COPD patients and about the factors that may predict response in terms of improved oxygenation and lowered CO2 retention.Methods: In this study, we randomized 15 patients to a routine pharmacological treatment (n = 5, age 66 [standard deviation ± 6] years, FEV1 30.5 [±5.1] %pred, PaO2 65 [±6] mmHg, PaCO2 52.4 [±6.0] mmHg) or to a routine treatment and NIV (using the Synchrony BiPAP device [Respironics, Inc, Murrsville, PA]) (n = 10, age 65 [±7] years, FEV1 29.5 [±9.0] %pred, PaO2 59 [±13] mmHg, PaCO2 55.4 [±7.7] mmHg) for 6 months. We looked at arterial blood gasses, lung function parameters and performed a low-dose computed tomography of the thorax, which was later used for segmentation (providing lobe and airway volumes, iVlobe and iVaw) and post-processing with computer methods (providing airway resistance, iRaw) giving overall a functional image of the separate airways and lobes.Results: In both groups there was a nonsignificant change in FEV1 (NIV group 29.5 [9.0] to 38.5 [14.6] %pred, control group 30.5 [5.1] to 36.8 [8.7] mmHg). PaCO2 dropped significantly only in the NIV group (NIV: 55.4 [7.7] → 44.5 [4.70], P = 0.0076; control: 52.4 [6.0] → 47.6 [8.2], NS). Patients actively treated with NIV developed a more inhomogeneous redistribution of mass flow than control patients. Subsequent analysis indicated that in NIV-treated patients that improve their blood gases, mass flow was also redistributed towards areas with higher vessel density and less emphysema, indicating that flow was redistributed towards areas with better perfusion. There was a highly significant correlation between the % increase in mass flow towards lobes with a blood vessel density of >9% and the increase in PaO2. Improved ventilation–perfusion match and recruitment of previously occluded small airways can explain the improvement in blood gases.Conclusion: We can conclude that in hypercapnic COPD patients treated with long-term NIV over 6 months, a mass flow redistribution occurs, providing a better ventilation–perfusion match and hence better blood gases and lung function. Control patients improve homogeneously in iVaw and iRaw, without improvement in gas exchange since there is no improved ventilation/perfusion ratio or increased alveolar ventilation. These differences in response can be detected through functional imaging, which gives a more detailed report on regional lung volumes and resistances than classical lung function tests do. Possibly only patients with localized small airway disease are good candidates for long-term NIV treatment. To confirm this and to see if better arterial blood gases also lead to better health related quality of life and longer survival, we have to study a larger population.

Abstract: Small numbers N < 5 of two-dimensional Coulomb-interacting electrons trapped in a parabolic potential placed in a perpendicular magnetic field are investigated. The reduced wave function of this system, which is obtained by fixing the positions of N-1 electrons, exhibits strong correlations between the electrons and the zeros. These zeros axe often called vortices. An exact-diagonalization scheme is used to obtain the wave functions and the results are compared with results obtained from the recently proposed rotating electron molecule (REM) theory. We find that the vortices gather around the fixed electrons and repel each other, which is to a much lesser extend so for the REM results.

Abstract: The giant isotope effect on the ferro- and antiferroelectric transition temperature upon deuteration of hydrogen-bonded systems is well known experimentally since various decades. Yet, theoretically only recently a microscopic understanding of this effect has been achieved which, specifically, took into account the geometry of the O ... H ... O bond. The implications of this modeling are multiple as numerous hydrogen-bonded organic systems show the same effects as ferro- and antiferroelectrics, i.e., cooperative proton tunneling at a well-defined temperature.

Abstract: We present a general description of the formalism of symmetry-adapted rotator functions (SARFs) for molecules in cylindrical confinement. Molecules are considered as clusters of interaction centers (ICs), can have any symmetry, and can display different types of ICs. Cylindrical confinement can be realized by encapsulation in a carbon nanotube (CNT). The potential energy of a molecule surrounded by a CNT can be calculated by evaluating a limited number of terms of an expansion into SARFs, which offers a significant reduction of the computation time. Optimal molecular orientations can be deduced from the resulting potential energy landscape. Examples, including the case of a molecule with cubic symmetry inside a CNT, are discussed.