Aalto University

About: Aalto University is a education organization based out in Espoo, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Carbon nanotube. The organization has 9969 authors who have published 32648 publications receiving 829626 citations. The organization is also known as: TKK & Aalto-korkeakoulu.

Flat bands in topological media

Abstract: Topological media are systems whose properties are protected by topology and thus are robust to deformations of the system. In topological insulators and superconductors the bulk-surface and bulk-vortex correspondence gives rise to the gapless Weyl, Dirac or Majorana fermions on the surface of the system and inside vortex cores. Here we show that in gapless topological media, the bulk-surface and bulk-vortex correspondence is more effective: it produces topologically protected gapless fermions without dispersion—the fiat band. Fermion zero modes forming the flat band are localized on the surface of topological media with protected nodal lines [A. P. Schnyder and S. Ryu, Phys. Rev. B 84, 060504(R) (2011); T. T. Heikkil G. E. Volovik, JETP Lett. 93, 59 (2011)] and in the vortex core in systems with topologically protected Fermi points (Weyl points) [G. E. Volovik, JETP Lett. 93, 66 (2011)]. Flat band has an extremely singular density of states, and we show that this property may give rise in particular to surface superconductivity which could exist even at room temperature.

Organic and inorganic-organic thin film structures by molecular layer deposition: A review.

Abstract: The possibility to deposit purely organic and hybrid inorganic–organic materials in a way parallel to the state-of-the-art gas-phase deposition method of inorganic thin films, i.e., atomic layer deposition (ALD), is currently experiencing a strongly growing interest. Like ALD in case of the inorganics, the emerging molecular layer deposition (MLD) technique for organic constituents can be employed to fabricate high-quality thin films and coatings with thickness and composition control on the molecular scale, even on complex three-dimensional structures. Moreover, by combining the two techniques, ALD and MLD, fundamentally new types of inorganic–organic hybrid materials can be produced. In this review article, we first describe the basic concepts regarding the MLD and ALD/MLD processes, followed by a comprehensive review of the various precursors and precursor pairs so far employed in these processes. Finally, we discuss the first proof-of-concept experiments in which the newly developed MLD and ALD/MLD processes are exploited to fabricate novel multilayer and nanostructure architectures by combining different inorganic, organic and hybrid material layers into on-demand designed mixtures, superlattices and nanolaminates, and employing new innovative nanotemplates or post-deposition treatments to, e.g., selectively decompose parts of the structure. Such layer-engineered and/or nanostructured hybrid materials with exciting combinations of functional properties hold great promise for high-end technological applications.

Observation of Dirac monopoles in a synthetic magnetic field

Abstract: Magnetic monopoles--particles that behave as isolated north or south magnetic poles--have been the subject of speculation since the first detailed observations of magnetism several hundred years ago. Numerous theoretical investigations and hitherto unsuccessful experimental searches have followed Dirac's 1931 development of a theory of monopoles consistent with both quantum mechanics and the gauge invariance of the electromagnetic field. The existence of even a single Dirac magnetic monopole would have far-reaching physical consequences, most famously explaining the quantization of electric charge. Although analogues of magnetic monopoles have been found in exotic spin ices and other systems, there has been no direct experimental observation of Dirac monopoles within a medium described by a quantum field, such as superfluid helium-3 (refs 10-13). Here we demonstrate the controlled creation of Dirac monopoles in the synthetic magnetic field produced by a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. Monopoles are identified, in both experiments and matching numerical simulations, at the termini of vortex lines within the condensate. By directly imaging such a vortex line, the presence of a monopole may be discerned from the experimental data alone. These real-space images provide conclusive and long-awaited experimental evidence of the existence of Dirac monopoles. Our result provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe and manipulate these quantum mechanical entities in a controlled environment.

Insights into the high-energy γ-ray emission of Markarian 501 from extensive multifrequency observations in the Fermi era

Abstract: We report on the gamma-ray activity of the blazar Mrk 501 during the first 480 days of Fermi operation. We find that the average LAT gamma-ray spectrum of Mrk 501 can be well described by a single power-law function with a photon index of 1.78 +/- 0.03. While we observe relatively mild flux variations with the Fermi-LAT (within less than a factor of 2), we detect remarkable spectral variability where the hardest observed spectral index within the LAT energy range is 1.52 +/- 0.14, and the softest one is 2.51 +/- 0.20. These unexpected spectral changes do not correlate with the measured flux variations above 0.3GeV. In this paper, we also present the first results from the 4.5-month-long multifrequency campaign (2009 March 15 - August 1) on Mrk 501, which included the VLBA, Swift, RXTE, MAGIC and VERITAS, the F-GAMMA, GASP-WEBT, and other collaborations and instruments which provided excellent temporal and energy coverage of the source throughout the entire campaign. The average spectral energy distribution of Mrk 501 is well described by the standard one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model. In the framework of this model, we find that the dominant emission region is characterized by a size <~ 0.1 pc (comparable within a factor of few to the size of the partially-resolved VLBA core at 15-43 GHz), and that the total jet power (~10^{44} erg s^{-1}) constitutes only a small fraction (~10^{-3}) of the Eddington luminosity. The energy distribution of the freshly-accelerated radiating electrons required to fit the time-averaged data has a broken power-law form in the energy range 0.3GeV-10TeV, with spectral indices 2.2 and 2.7 below and above the break energy of 20GeV. We argue that such a form is consistent with a scenario in which the bulk of the energy dissipation within the dominant emission zone of Mrk 501 is due to relativistic, proton-mediated shocks.