Browsing by Author "Xu, X"

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    AMS radiocarbon dating of pollen concentrates in a karstic lake system
    (Elsevier, 2017-04) Fletcher, WJ; Zielhofer, C; Mischke, S; Bryant, C; Xu, X; Fink, D
    In lake sediments where terrestrial macrofossils are rare or absent, AMS radiocarbon dating of pollen concentrates may represent an important alternative solution for developing a robust and high resolution chronology suitable for Bayesian modelling of age-depth relationships. Here we report an application of the heavy liquid density separation approach (Vandergoes and Prior, Radiocarbon 45:479–492, 2003) to Holocene lake sediments from karstic Lake Sidi Ali, Morocco. In common with many karstic lakes, a significant lake 14C reservoir effect of 450–900 yr is apparent, evidenced by paired dates on terrestrial macrofossils and either aquatic (ostracod) or bulk sediment samples. AMS dating of 23 pollen concentrates alongside laboratory standards (bituminous coal, anthracite, IAEA C5 wood) was undertaken. Concentrates were prepared using a series of sodium polytungstate (SPT) solutions of progressively decreasing density (1.9–1.15 g/cm3) accompanied by microscopic analysis of the resulting residues to allow quantification of the terrestrial pollen content. The best fractions (typically precipitating at 1.4–1.2 g/cm3) yielded dateable samples of 0.5–5 mg (from sediment samples of ∼15 g), with C content typically ∼50% by weight. Terrestrial pollen purity ranges from 29% to 88% (μ = 67%), reflecting the challenge of isolating pollen grains from common aquatic algae, e.g. Pediastrum and Botryococcus. A Poisson-process Bayesian depositional model incorporating radiocarbon (pollen and macrofossil) and 210Pb/137Cs data is employed. As all pollen samples incorporate some non-terrestrial organic matter, we assume an exponential outlier distribution treating each pollen concentrate datum as an old outlier and terminus post quem. This approach yields strong data-model agreement, and differences between the prior and posterior age distributions are furthermore consistent with theoretical offsets anticipated for the known reservoir ages and sample-specific terrestrial content. This application of the pollen concentrate dating approach reinforces the importance of microscopic inspection of the residues during the separation and sieving stages. Sample specific differences mean that the pollen concentrate preparation cannot be reduced to a simplistic “black box” protocol, and dating and subsequent age-model development must be supported by detailed analysis of the microfossil content of the sediments. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
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    Graphene doping to enhance the flux pinning and supercurrent carrying ability of a magnesium diboride superconductor
    (Institute of Physics, 2010-08) Xu, X; Dou, SX; Wang, XL; Kim, JH; Stride, JA; Choucair, M; Yeoh, WK; Zheng, RK; Ringer, SP
    The effect of graphene doping on the electromagnetic properties of MgB2 has been examined, in comparison with the case for undoped MgB2. It was found that graphene doping is more efficient than other forms of carbon doping for effecting improvement in the critical current density–field performance (Jc(B)), with little change in the transition temperature of MgB2. An optimal enhancement of Jc(B) was achieved for 3.7 at.% graphene doped MgB2, by a factor of 30 at 5 K and 10 T, as compared to undoped MgB2. It is found that spatial fluctuation in Tc is responsible for the flux pinning mechanism of graphene doped MgB2. © 2010, Institute of Physics
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    Stability and scaling behavior of the spin cycloid in BiFeO3 thin films
    (Australian Institute of Physics, 2018-01-30) Burns, SR; Sando, D; Bertinshaw, J; Russell, L; Xu, X; Maran, R; Callori, SJ; Ramash, V; Cheung, J; Danilkin, SA; Deng, G; Lee, WT; Hu, S; Bellaiche, L; Seidel, J; Valanoor, N; Ulrich, C
    Multiferroic materials demonstrate excellent potential for next-generation multifunctional devices, as they exhibit coexisting ferroelectric and magnetic orders. Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) is a rare exemption where both order parameters exist far beyond room temperature, making it the ideal candidate for technological applications. To realize magnonic devices, a robust longrange spin cycloid with well-known direction is desired, since it is a prerequisite for the magnetoelectric coupling. Despite extensive investigation, the stabilization of a large-scale uniform spin cycloid in nanoscale (<300 nm) thin BiFeO3 films has not been accomplished. Using neutron diffraction we were able to demonstrate cycloidal spin order in 100 nm BiFeO3 thin films which became stable through the careful choice of crystallographic orientation and control of the electrostatic and strain boundary conditions during growth [1]. Furthermore, Co-doping, which has demonstrated to further stabilize the spin cycloid, did allow us to obtain spin cycloid order in films of just 50 nm thickness, i.e. films thinner than the cycloidal length of about 64 nm. Interestingly, in thin films the propagation direction of the spin cycloid has changed and shows a peculiar scaling behavior for thinnest films. We were able to support these observations by Monte Carlo theory based on a first-principles effective Hamiltonian method. Our results therefore offer new avenues for fundamental research and technical applications that exploit the spin cycloid in spintronic or magnonic devices.