Gap-like feature observed in the non-magnetic topological insulators.

Non-magnetic gap at the Dirac point of topological insulators remains an open question in the field. Here, we present angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments performed on Cr-doped Bi2Se3 and showed that the Dirac point is progressively buried by the bulk bands and a low spectral weight region in the vicinity of the Dirac point appears. These two mechanisms lead to spectral weight suppression region being mistakenly identified as an energy gap in earlier studies. We further calculated the band structure and found that the original Dirac point splits into two nodes due to the impurity resonant states and the energy separation between the nodes is the low density of state region which appears to be like an energy gap in potoemission experiments. We supported our arguments by presenting photoemission experiments carried out with on- and off- resonant photon energies. Our observation resolves the widely debated questions of apparent energy gap opening at the Dirac point without long range ferromagnetic order in topological insulators.

Structural phase diagram for ultra-thin epitaxial Fe3O4 / MgO(0 0 1) films: thickness and oxygen pressure dependence.

A systematic investigation of the thickness and oxygen pressure dependence for the structural properties of ultra-thin epitaxial magnetite (Fe3O4) films has been carried out; for such films, the structural properties generally differ from those for the bulk when the thickness ⩽10 nm. Iron oxide ultra-thin films with thicknesses varying from 3 nm to 20 nm were grown on MgO (0 0 1) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy under different oxygen pressures ranging from 1 × 10(-7) torr to 1 × 10(-5) torr. The crystallographic and electronic structures of the films were characterized using low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The quality of the epitaxial Fe3O4 ultra-thin films was judged by magnetic measurements of the Verwey transition, along with complementary XPS spectra. It was observed that under the same growth conditions the stoichiometry of ultra-thin films under 10 nm transforms from the Fe3O4 phase to the FeO phase. In this work, a phase diagram based on thickness and oxygen pressure has been constructed to explain the structural phase transformation. It was found that high-quality magnetite films with thicknesses ⩽20 nm formed within a narrow range of oxygen pressure. An optimal and controlled growth process is a crucial requirement for the accurate study of the magnetic and electronic properties for ultra-thin Fe3O4 films. Furthermore, these results are significant because they may indicate a general trend in the growth of other oxide films, which has not been previously observed or considered.

Absence of a proximity effect for a thin-films of a Bi2Se3 topological insulator grown on top of a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) cuprate superconductor.

Proximity-induced superconductivity in a 3D topological insulator represents a new avenue for observing zero-energy Majorana fermions inside vortex cores. Relatively small gaps and low transition temperatures of conventional s-wave superconductors put hard constraints on these experiments. Significantly larger gaps and higher transition temperatures in cuprate superconductors might be an attractive alternative to considerably relax these constraints, but it is not clear whether the proximity effect would be effective in heterostructures involving cuprates and topological insulators. Here, we present angle-resolved photoemission studies of thin Bi(2)Se(3) films grown in situ on optimally doped Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+δ) substrates that show the absence of proximity-induced gaps on the surfaces of Bi(2)Se(3) films as thin as a 1.5 quintuple layer. These results suggest that the superconducting proximity effect between a cuprate superconductor and a topological insulator is strongly suppressed, likely due to a very short coherence length along the c axis, incompatible crystal and pairing symmetries at the interface, small size of the topological surface state's Fermi surface, and adverse effects of a strong spin-orbit coupling in the topological material.

Field cooling induced changes in the antiferromagnetic structure of NiO films.

The magnetic anisotropy in antiferromagnetic 500 A thick NiO films, before and after the establishment of an exchange bias field with Co84Fe16 ferromagnetic layers, was measured using magnetic linear dichroism in soft x-ray absorption. Both <111> textured NiO and untextured NiO films show exchange-bias induced in-plane magnetic anisotropy of nearly equal magnitude and with the Ni moment axis being nearly parallel to the exchange bias field direction. These results represent the first observation of the key step in the exchange biasing process, namely, repopulation of the antiferromagnetic domains whose magnetization axis is closest to the exchange bias field direction.

The pathogenesis of infectious avian encephalomyelitis. 1. The effect of the age of the chicken and the route of administration of the virus.

The age of the chicken at the time of infection with infectious avian encephalomyelitis virus (IAEV) and the route of the administration of the virus had a marked effect on the development of the clinical disease. Chickens given the virus by intramuscular, intraperitoneal and oral routes exhibited a decreased susceptibility to development of clinical disease with increasing age. Irrespective of age, chickens were consistently susceptible to intracerebral inoculation of IAEV. Chickens infected with the virus at 1-, 7- and 14-days of age developed lower neutralising antibody titres to IAEV than chickens infected at 21 and 28 days. A relationship between the ability to produce specific neutralising antibody to IAEV and susceptibility to the development of clinical disease is discussed.

The pathogenesis of infectious avian encephalomyelitis. 2. The effect of immunosuppression on the disease.

Normal chickens given infectious avian encephalomyelitis virus (IAEV) orally at 1, 7 or 14 days of age developed infectious avian encephalomyelitis (IAE), whereas those dosed with the virus at 21, 28 and 35 days of age did not. Chickens in all of these age groups that had been treated with cyclophosphamide or testosterone developed clinical IAE. Intraperitoneal inoculation of IAEV immunoglobulin at the time of dosing with the virus, or 48 hours later, protected normal and immunosuppressed chickens against the onset of clinical IAE. The titre of IAEV serum neutralising antibody was found to be lower in normal chickens given the virus at 1, 7 and 14 days of age in older chickens. These results suggest a significant role for the humoral immune system in the pathogenesis of IAE and in the development of immunity to the disease.