Sharif Digital Repository

A protocol for quantum secret sharing based on reusable entangled state was presented. In this protocol, a sequence of bits was transmitted to two parties so that they can recover half of the bits independently. The security of the protocol against eavesdropping and against cheating by one of the receivers was also discussed  

We synthesize TiO2@SnO2 core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) by a facile two-step aqueous sol-gel method and their photocatalytic activity is compared with the pure TiO2 and SnO2 NPs for degradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation. The chemical property, crystal structure and morphology of the synthesized samples are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. The mechanisms of electron–hole recombination and separation of charge carriers are studied by photoluminescence (PL) and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Furthermore, the kinetics... 

The temperature and voltage dependence of spin transport is theoretically investigated in a new type of magnetic tunnel junction, which consists of two ferromagnetic outer electrodes separated by a ferromagnetic barrier and a nonmagnetic (NM) metallic spacer. The effect of spin fluctuation in magnetic barrier, which plays an important role at finite temperature, is included by taking the mean-field approximation. It is found that, the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) and the electron-spin polarization depend strongly on the temperature and the applied voltage. The TMR and spin polarization at different temperatures show an oscillatory behavior as a function of the NM spacer thickness. Also,... 

Polycrystalline (Pr1-x Bax)Ba2Cu 3O7-δ samples (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) is prepared by the standard solid state reaction technique. X-ray measurements confirm the formation of the 123 phase for x ≤ 0.3, but for 0.4 ≤ x ≤ 0.6, due to the solubility limit, the 123 phase is not a dominant phase. Resistivity measurements show the increasing of resistivity with the increase of Ba-doping up to about x=0.08, and then decreases in the 123 phase up to x = 0.3. There is no observation of superconducting state in our samples, but we observe the sharp decrease of resistivity for x>0.1, which is related to possible superconductivity in Pr123 system by Ba-doping. It is concluded that the Pr/Ba disorder has... 

The normal state resistivity of single phase polycrystalline Gd(Ba 2-xPrx)Cu3O7+δ samples with 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.50 have been investigated. The two-dimensional variable range hopping is dominant in the normal state resistivity of the samples. The conduction shows that Pr-doping strongly localizes the carriers in normal state, and finally causes the suppression of superconductivity. Based on the resistivity measurements, the effect of Pr substitution in 123 structure of HTSC at Gd or Ba site is to increase the pseudogap temperature Ts, although, Pr at Ba site has a stronger effect on the suppression of T s and superconductivity. Pr-doping not only reduces the carrier density and induces pseudogap,... 

The electronic structure of high temperature superconductor YBCO is calculated by pseudopotential density functional theory using VASP code for different values of ZO(4). Comparison of the results of equilibrium ZO(4) with other calculation techniques indicates the capability of pseudopotential VASP code in energy band structure calculations for HTSCs. Both charge distribution and band structure calculations indicate the transfer of hole carriers from the CuO chains to the CuU2 planes with the increase of ZO(4). It is resulted that the increase of Cu(1)-0(4) bond lengths causes the creation of holes in the CuO2 planes. The redistribution of charge density confirms the charge transfer... 

In the preceding Comment [Jian-Zhong Du, Su-Juan Qin, Qiao-Yan Wen, and Fu-Chen Zhu, Phys. Rev. A 74, 016301 (2006)], it has been shown that in a quantum secret sharing protocol proposed in [S. Bagherinezhad and V. Karimipour, Phys. Rev. A 67, 044302 (2003)], one of the receivers can cheat by splitting the entanglement of the carrier and intercepting the secret, without being detected. In this reply we show that a simple modification of the protocol prevents the receivers from this kind of cheating. © 2006 The American Physical Society  

In spite of the vast amount of experimental and theoretical knowledge accumulated in HTSC, the nature of the interaction driving charge carriers to form Cooper pairs below Tc is still unknown. To elucidate the controversial insulating/SC Pr123, the substitution of Pr at Ba site (Pr@Ba) with Ba at Pr site (Ba@Pr) in R123 is compared and reviewed. This might shed some light on the microscopic origin of HTSC. © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim  

The solar to electric power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has recently reached 22.7%, exceeding that of competing thin film photovoltaics and the market leader polycrystalline silicon. Further augmentation of the PCE toward the Shockley-Queisser limit of 33.5% warrants suppression of radiationless carrier recombination by judicious engineering of the interface between the light harvesting perovskite and the charge carrier extraction layers. Here, we introduce a mesoscopic oxide double layer as electron selective contact consisting of a scaffold of TiO2 nanoparticles covered by a thin film of SnO2, either in amorphous (a-SnO2), crystalline (c-SnO2), or... 

Analytical studies on the effect of charge and magnetic impurities in a spin-polarized electron gas (SPEG) are carried out using a Thomas-Fermi semiclassical approximation (TFSA). The susceptibility matrix of an SPEG is calculated within the TFSA framework. Charge, spin and mixed charge-spin screening lengths are defined and calculated for the bulk metals (Fe, Co and Ni). It is found that these screening lengths do not strongly depend on temperature in metallic samples. Based on the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) model, the magnetic response function is then used to calculate the dependence of the exchange coupling between two ferromagnetic layers. It is seen that the exchange... 

Recently, aluminum titanate (Al2TiO5)-based nanostructures have been proved to serve as an efficient photocatalytic material with satisfactory photodegradation capacity. In this study, the citrate sol–gel method was used to synthesize these nanostructures and inspect the significant impacts of nitrogen-doping-originated crystalline defects on their photocatalytic performance in some details for the first time. The results indicated that the penetration of nitrogen atoms into AT crystal lattice, depending on the nitriding time and temperature, can induce a great deal of the residual stress and result in propagating the existing cracks and breaking down the particles. The XPS and FTIR results... 

Abstract: A novel simple synthetic procedure for improving cell efficiency and reducing the production cost of TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by modification and optimization of homemade formulated paste is reported. This is achieved in terms of morphological manipulation of deposited monolayer TiO2 films by controlling three processing parameters of paste formulation. These parameters are tailored to obtain a paste with proper viscosity suitable for spin-coating technique and to achieve uniform, homogeneous, and crack-free films with good connections between TiO2 grains and porous structure. Photovoltaic measurements show that TiO2... 

Interfacial engineering between the perovskite and hole transport layers has emerged as an effective way to improve perovskite solar cell (PSC) performance. A variety of organic halide salts are developed to passivate the traps and enhance the charge carrier transport. Here, the use of guanidinium iodide (GuaI) for interfacial modification of mixed-cation (Cs)x(FA)1−xPbI3 perovskite films, which results in the formation of a low-dimensional δ-FAPbI3-like phase on the 3D perovskite surface, is reported. The presence of this thin layer facilitates charge transfer at interfaces and reduces charge carrier recombination pathways as evidenced by enhanced carrier lifetimes and favorable interfacial... 

Hematite is recognized as a promising photoanode for photoelectrochemical water oxidation to produce solar hydrogen due to its favorable properties. However, the high charge carrier recombination rate due to low electrical conductivity and sluggish oxygen reduction kinetics of pure hematite hinder its photocatalytic activity. This work proposed a new hematite-based heterostructure of Ti-Fe2O3/Fe2TiO5/FeOOH, synthesized through a hydrothermal method. The photoanode morphology was branched nanorods that expanded their surface area and improved charge transfer at the photoanode/electrolyte interface. In a novel and complement modification approach, a thin pseudobrookite interlayer was applied... 

ZnO was grown on mordenite zeolite, activated carbon and alumina substrates by a liquid deposition method. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesised samples was elucidated using the photodegradation of Acid Blue 92 (AB92) dyes as a test pollutant under UV light irradiation. Supports play a key role in AB92 photodegradation and significantly improve the photocatalytic activity of ZnO. Different supports form additional transport channels and provide an effective pathway for the charge carriers. The supports effectively construct porous structures with more active sites. Hence, the higher photocatalytic activity of supported catalysts is attributed to the large surface area and charge... 

Effective masses are calculated for a large variety of perovskites of the form ABX3 differing in chemical composition (A= Na, Li, Cs; B = Pb, Sn; X= Cl, Br, I) and crystal structure. In addition, the effects of some defects and dopants are assessed. We show that the effective masses are highly correlated with the energies of the valence-band maximum, conduction-band minimum, and band gap. Using the k·p theory for the bottom of the conduction band and a tight-binding model for the top of the valence band, this trend can be rationalized in terms of the orbital overlap between halide and metal (B cation). Most of the compounds studied in this work are good charge-carrier transporters, where the... 

Effective masses are calculated for a large variety of perovskites of the form ABX3 differing in chemical composition (A= Na, Li, Cs; B = Pb, Sn; X= Cl, Br, I) and crystal structure. In addition, the effects of some defects and dopants are assessed. We show that the effective masses are highly correlated with the energies of the valence-band maximum, conduction-band minimum, and band gap. Using the k·p theory for the bottom of the conduction band and a tight-binding model for the top of the valence band, this trend can be rationalized in terms of the orbital overlap between halide and metal (B cation). Most of the compounds studied in this work are good charge-carrier transporters, where the... 

A novel binary BiOI/ZnFe2O4 (BZ) with p-n heterojunction based on the different metal-organic framework (MOF) MIL-88B(Fe) and graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as substrates has been designed. As-prepared ternary nanocomposites have been first obtained via a simple hydrothermal system and subsequently deposited onto the MOF and g-C3N4 substrates. The photoactivity of the ternary nanocomposites was evaluated by organic pollutants degradation under LED light. These characterization results indicated that BiOI as a p-type semiconductor was well deposited on the surface of ZnFe2O4 (n-type semiconductors). The p-n heterojunction photocatalyst (BZ) improved the valence band potential of ZnFe2O4 and... 

The thin-film of hierarchical rutile/anatase TiO2 nanorod/nanoleafs on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass was prepared via a facile method. For this purpose, the hydrothermal method was used for the synthesis of rutile-phase nanorods on the TiO2 seeded FTO, and aqueous chemistry was applied for growing anatase-phase nanoleafs on the nanorods. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of coating characterized, and the thin-film utilized as the photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cell. The energy conversion efficiency of the newly developed nanostructure was higher than that of TiO2 nanorod thin-film by 40%. This increase could be ascribed to: (1) superior specific surface area...