Method for targetless tracking subpixel in-plane movements

We present a targetless motion tracking method for detecting planar movements with subpixel accuracy. This method is based on the computation and tracking of the intersection of two nonparallel straight-line segments in the image of a moving object in a scene. The method is simple and easy to implement because no complex structures have to be detected. It has been tested and validated using a lab experiment consisting of a vibrating object that was recorded with a high-speed camera working at 1000 fps. We managed to track displacements with an accuracy of hundredths of pixel or even of thousandths of pixel in the case of tracking harmonic vibrations. The method is widely applicable because it can be used for distance measuring amplitude and frequency of vibrations with a vision system.

Anisotropic intrinsic spin relaxation in graphene due to flexural distortions

We propose an intrinsic spin scattering mechanism in graphene originated by the interplay of atomic spin-orbit interaction and the local curvature induced by flexural distortions of the atomic lattice. Starting from a multiorbital tight-binding Hamiltonian with spin-orbit coupling considered nonperturbatively, we derive an effective Hamiltonian for the spin scattering of the Dirac electrons due to flexural distortions. We compute the spin lifetime due to both flexural phonons and ripples and we find values in the microsecond range at room temperature. Interestingly, this mechanism is anisotropic on two counts. First, the relaxation rate is different for off-plane and in-plane spin quantization axis. Second, the spin relaxation rate depends on the angle formed by the crystal momentum with the carbon-carbon bond. In addition, the spin lifetime is also valley dependent. The proposed mechanism sets an upper limit for spin lifetimes in graphene and will be relevant when samples of high quality can be fabricated free of extrinsic sources of spin relaxation.

Majorana Zero Modes in Graphene

A clear demonstration of topological superconductivity (TS) and Majorana zero modes remains one of the major pending goals in the field of topological materials. One common strategy to generate TS is through the coupling of an s-wave superconductor to a helical half-metallic system. Numerous proposals for the latter have been put forward in the literature, most of them based on semiconductors or topological insulators with strong spin-orbit coupling. Here, we demonstrate an alternative approach for the creation of TS in graphene-superconductor junctions without the need for spin-orbit coupling. Our prediction stems from the helicity of graphene’s zero-Landau-level edge states in the presence of interactions and from the possibility, experimentally demonstrated, of tuning their magnetic properties with in-plane magnetic fields. We show how canted antiferromagnetic ordering in the graphene bulk close to neutrality induces TS along the junction and gives rise to isolated, topologically protected Majorana bound states at either end. We also discuss possible strategies to detect their presence in graphene Josephson junctions through Fraunhofer pattern anomalies and Andreev spectroscopy. The latter, in particular, exhibits strong unambiguous signatures of the presence of the Majorana states in the form of universal zero-bias anomalies. Remarkable progress has recently been reported in the fabrication of the proposed type of junctions, which offers a promising outlook for Majorana physics in graphene systems.

Magnetic Edge Anisotropy in Graphenelike Honeycomb Crystals

The independent predictions of edge ferromagnetism and the quantum spin Hall phase in graphene have inspired the quest of other two-dimensional honeycomb systems, such as silicene, germanene, stanene, iridates, and organometallic lattices, as well as artificial superlattices, all of them with electronic properties analogous to those of graphene, but a larger spin-orbit coupling. Here, we study the interplay of ferromagnetic order and spin-orbit interactions at the zigzag edges of these graphenelike systems. We find an in-plane magnetic anisotropy that opens a gap in the otherwise conducting edge channels that should result in large changes of electronic properties upon rotation of the magnetization.

Light capsules shaped by curvilinear meta-surfaces

We propose a simple yet efficient method for generating in-plane hollow beams with a nearly full circular light shell without the contribution of backward propagating waves. The method relies on modulating the phase in the near field of a centrosymmetric optical wave front, such as that from a high-numerical-aperture focused wave field. We illustrate how beam acceleration may be carried out by using an ultranarrow non-flat meta-surface formed by engineered plasmonic nanoslits. A mirror-symmetric, with respect to the optical axis, circular caustic surface is numerically demonstrated that can be used as an optical bottle.

A multi-method study of the transformation of the carbonaceous skeleton of a polymer-based nanoporous carbon along the activation pathway

The change in the carbonaceous skeleton of nanoporous carbons during their activation has received limited attention, unlike its counterpart process in the presence of an inert atmosphere. Here we adopt a multi-method approach to elucidate this change in a poly(furfuryl alcohol)-derived carbon activated using cyclic application of oxygen saturation at 250 °C before its removal (with carbon) at 800 °C in argon. The methods used include helium pycnometry, synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction (XRD) and associated radial distribution function (RDF) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and, uniquely, electron energy-loss spectroscopy spectrum-imaging (EELS-SI), electron nanodiffraction and fluctuation electron microscopy (FEM). Helium pycnometry indicates the solid skeleton of the carbon densifies during activation from 78% to 93% of graphite. RDF analysis, EELS-SI, and FEM all suggest this densification comes through an in-plane growth of sp2 carbon out to the medium range without commensurate increase in order normal to the plane. This process could be termed ‘graphenization’. The exact way in which this process occurs is not clear, but TEM images of the carbon before and after activation suggest it may come through removal of the more reactive carbon, breaking constraining cross-links and creating space that allows the remaining carbon material to migrate in an annealing-like process.

Raman spectroscopy study of the transformation of the carbonaceous skeleton of a polymer-based nanoporous carbon along the thermal annealing pathway

We report a multi-wavelength Raman spectroscopy study of the structural changes along the thermal annealing pathway of a poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA) derived nanoporous carbon (NPC). The Raman spectra were deconvoluted utilizing G, D, D′, A and TPA bands. The appropriateness of these deconvolutions was confirmed via recovery of the correct dispersive behaviours of these bands. It is proposed that the ID/IG ratio is composed of two parts: one associated with the extent of graphitic crystallites (the Tuinstra–Koenig relationship), and a second related to the inter-defect distance. This model was used to successfully determine the variation of the in-plane size and intra-plane defect density along the annealing pathway. It is proposed that the NPC skeleton evolves along the annealing pathway in two stages: below 1600 °C it was dominated by a reduction of in-plane defects with a minor crystallite growth, and above this temperature growth of the crystallites accelerates as the in-plane defect density approaches zero. A significant amount of transpolyacetylene (TPA)-like structures was found to be remaining even at 2400 °C. These may be responsible for resistance to further graphitization of the PFA-based carbon at higher temperatures.