MDPI - Publisher of Open Access Journals

13 pages, 3543 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Search for Strange Quark Matter and Nuclearites on Board the International Space Station (SQM-ISS): A Future Detector to Search for Massive, Non-Relativistic Objects in Space

by Massimo Bianchi, Francesca Bisconti, Carl Blaksley, Valerio Bocci, Marco Casolino, Francesco Di Clemente, Alessandro Drago, Christer Fuglesang, Francesco Iacoangeli, Massimiliano Lattanzi, Alessandro Marcelli, Laura Marcelli, Paolo Natoli, Etienne Parizot, Piergiorgio Picozza, Lech Wiktor Piotrowski, Zbigniew Plebaniak, Enzo Reali, Marco Ricci, Alessandro Rizzo, Gabriele Rizzo and Jacek Szabelski Show full author list Hide full author list

Sensors 2024, 24(16), 5090; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165090 - 6 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1480

Abstract

SQM-ISS is a detector that will search from the International Space Station for massive particles possibly present among the cosmic rays. Among them, we mention strange quark matter, Q-Balls, lumps of fermionic exotic compact stars, Primordial Black Holes, mirror matter, Fermi balls, etc. These compact, dense objects would be much heavier than normal nuclei, have velocities of galaxy-bound systems, and would be deeply penetrating. The detector is based on a stack of scintillator and piezoelectric elements which can provide information on both the charge state and mass, with the additional timing information allowing to determine the speed of the particle, searching for particles with velocities of the order of galactic rotation speed (v ≲ 250 km/s). In this work, we describe the apparatus and its observational capabilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Physical Sensors)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 6005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Feasible Parameters of Ohmic Areas of YBaCuO Thin Films Switched via Moving Unstable Border between Superconducting and Normal States

by Linas Ardaravičius and Oleg Kiprijanovič

Coatings 2024, 14(3), 266; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14030266 - 22 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1365

Abstract

A system of two equations based on one of the classical electricity laws was used to determine the sizes and temperatures of ohmic areas formed under action of overcritical nanosecond electrical pulses. Calculations were performed at five points for three experimentally obtained voltage–current (V-I) dependences for samples with the same geometry but different critical current density values. The system included two additional conditions to satisfy the known descriptive model of transition from superconducting (SC) to a normal (N) state—S-N switching—and to obtain physically acceptable solutions over the entire current range of V-I dependence. The solution for each point takes the form of a function, since the initial temperature increase of the primary channel across the film is entered as a parameter. Two modes of concentrated energy release in the channel were disclosed. Their random appearance leads to an unexpected degradation of the sample. As such, the obtained results correspond to the situations occurring during the experiments. The validity of applying additional conditions to the system is discussed. In the discussion, it is also explained at which moments the moving S-N border acquires the velocity of the order of ~10⁶ m/s, comparable to the Fermi velocity. Consideration to describe the moving unstable S-N border as being constantly in a state of Richtmyer–Meshkov instability is presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin-Film Synthesis, Characterization and Properties)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 8464 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

RPA Plasmons in Graphene Nanoribbons: Influence of a VO₂ Substrate

by Mousa Bahrami and Panagiotis Vasilopoulos

Nanomaterials 2022, 12(16), 2861; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12162861 - 19 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2474

Abstract

We study the effect of the phase-change material VO

_{2}

on plasmons in metallic arm-chair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) within the random-phase approximation (RPA) for intra- and inter-band transitions. We assess the influence of temperature as a knob for the transition from the insulating [...] Read more.

We study the effect of the phase-change material VO

_{2}

_{2}

on localized and propagating plasmon modes. We show that AGNRs support localized and propagating plasmon modes and contrast them in the presence and absence of VO

_{2}

for intra-band (SB) transitions while neglecting the influence of a substrate-induced band gap. The presence of this gap results in propagating plasmon modes in two-band (TB) transitions. In addition, there is a critical band gap below and above which propagating modes have a linear negative or positive velocity. Increasing the band gap shifts the propagating and localized modes to higher frequencies. In addition, we show how the normalized Fermi velocity increases plasmon modes frequency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photoemission and Excitation Properties of Nanomaterials by Computational Methods)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Search Results (3)

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI

Saved Queries

Search Filter Reset All

Years

Feature Papers

Subjects

Journals

Article Types

Countries / Regions

Search Results (3)

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI