News & Announcements from
Journal of Applied Physics

New Special Topic Section

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new special topic section, Selected Papers from the Piezoresponse Force Microscopy Workshop Series: Montreal, Beijing, and Prague, 2010, in the 1 September issue of the journal. This special topic section of the Journal contains the selected papers from the 7th International PFM workshop in Montreal, Canada, the 8th International Workshop and Satellite Conference on Piezoresponse Force Microscopy and Nanoscale Phenomena in Polar Materials held in Beijing, China, and the 9th Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic. The workshops comprise the set of tutorials on fundamentals of PFM operation, relevant instrumental details, and image and hysteresis interpretation, as well as present the ongoing experimental work in the ferroelectric laboratories worldwide equipped with modern PFM setups.

Read the Preface by Guest Editors Sergei V. Kalinin and Andrei L. Kholkin.

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J. Appl. Phys. 110, 031301

Research Highlights

Symmetry reduction in multiband Hamiltonians for semiconductor quantum dots: The role of interfaces and higher energy bands
Stanko Tomić and Nenad Vukmirović

The term in the multiband k·p Hamiltonian that captures the effect of interface band mixing was derived starting from the microscopic theory. It was shown, analytically and numerically, that, with such a term included, the right symmetry of the QD system can be captured. These results prove that the multiband k·p Hamiltonians are fully capable of describing the correct symmetry of a QD.

J. Appl. Phys. 110, 053710 (2011)

Characterization of the electrical contact between a conductive atomic force microscope cantilever and a carbon nanotube
Tarek K. Ghanem, Ellen D. Williams, and Michael S. Fuhrer

The dependence of current through the contact on loading force, geometric parameters, bias conditions, and time is studied in a two-terminal configuration, where a gold coated AFM cantilever serves as a movable electrode. We find that for an optimized placement of the cantilever relative to the CNT, the current through the contact becomes independent of the loading force beyond a certain limit, and this behavior is also independent of bias conditions.

J. Appl. Phys. 110, 054305 (2011)

Extraordinary acoustic shielding by a monolayer of periodical polymethyl methacrylate cylinders immersed in water
Shasha Peng, Chunyin Qiu, Zhaojian He, Yangtao Ye, Shengjun Xu, Kun Tang, Manzhu Ke, and Zhengyou Liu

The authors present experimental and numerical results of acoustic transmission measurments through a monolayer of periodical polymethyl methacrylate cylinders immersed in water. Nearly-total reflection is observed for the system. Such local modes are rooted in the complicated coupling between the longitudinal and transverse waves and are unique in acoustic systems.