arXiv subjects

Gabriele De Luca

Publications and source records attributed to Gabriele De Luca.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Engineering the Magnetic Transition Temperatures and the Rare Earth Exchange Interaction in Oxide Heterostructures

The properties of functional oxide heterostructures are strongly influenced by the physics governing their interfaces. Modern deposition techniques allow us to accurately engineer the interface physics through the growth of atomically precise heterostructures. This enables minute control over the electronic, magnetic, and structural characteristics. Here, we investigate the magnetic properties of tailor-made superlattices employing the ferromagnetic and insulating double perovskites RE$_2$NiMnO$_6$ (RE = La, Nd), featuring distinct Curie temperatures. Adjusting the superlattice periodicity at the unit cell level allows us to engineer their magnetic phase diagram. Large periodicity superlattices conserve the individual para- to ferromagnetic transitions of the La$_2$NiMnO$_6$ and Nd$_2$NiMnO$_6$ parent compounds. As the superlattice periodicity is reduced, the Curie temperatures of the superlattice constituents converge and, finally, collapse into one single transition for the lowest period samples. This is a consequence of the magnetic order parameter propagating across the superlattice interfaces, as supported by a minimal Landau theory model. Further, we find that the Nd-Ni/Mn exchange interaction can be enhanced by the superlattice interfaces. This leads to a field-induced reversal of the Nd magnetic moments, as confirmed by synchrotron X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements and supported by first-principles calculations. Our work demonstrates how superlattice engineering can be employed to fine-tune the magnetic properties in oxide heterostructures and broadens our understanding of magnetic interfacial effects.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

How Many Equations of Motion Describe a Moving Human?

A human is a thing that moves in space. Like all things that move in space, we can in principle use differential equations to describe their motion as a set of functions that maps time to position (and velocity, acceleration, and so on). With inanimate objects, we can reliably predict their trajectories by using differential equations that account for up to the second-order time derivative of their position, as is commonly done in analytical mechanics. With animate objects, though, and with humans, in particular, we do not know the cardinality of the set of equations that define their trajectory. We may be tempted to think, for example, that by reason of their complexity in cognition or behaviour as compared to, say, a rock, then the motion of humans requires a more complex description than the one generally used to describe the motion of physical systems. In this paper, we examine a real-world dataset on human mobility and consider the information that is added by each (computed, but denoised) additional time derivative, and find the maximum order of derivatives of the position that, for that particular dataset, cannot be expressed as a linear transformation of the previous. In this manner, we identify the dimensionality of a minimal model that correctly describes the observed trajectories. We find that every higher-order derivative after the acceleration is linearly dependent upon one of the previous time-derivatives. This measure is robust against noise and the choice for differentiation techniques that we use to compute the time-derivatives numerically as a function of the measured position. This result imposes empirical constraints on the possible sets of differential equations that can be used to describe the kinematics of a moving human.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2022

An Edge-Cloud based Reference Architecture to support cognitive solutions in the Process Industry

Process Industry (PI e.g. Steel, Metals, Chemicals, Cement, Asphalt, Ceramics) is one of the leading sectors of the world economy, characterized however by intense environmental impact, and very high energy consumption. In spite of a traditional low innovation pace in PI, in the recent years a strong push at worldwide level towards the dual objective of improving the efficiency of plants and the quality of products, significantly reducing the consumption of electricity and CO2 emissions has taken momentum. Digital Technologies (namely Smart Embedded Systems, IoT, Data, AI and Edge-to-Cloud Technologies) are enabling drivers for a Twin Digital-Green Transition, as well as foundations for human centric, safe, comfortable and inclusive work places. Currently, digital sensors in plants produce a large amount of data which in most cases constitutes just a potential and not a real value for Process Industry, often locked-in in close proprietary systems and seldomly exploited. Digital technologies, with process modelling-simulation via digital twins, can build a bridge between the physical and the virtual worlds, bringing innovation with great efficiency and drastic reduction of waste. In accordance with the guidelines of Industrie 4.0, the H2020 funded CAPRI project aims to innovate the process industry, with a modular and scalable Reference Architecture, based on open source software, which can be implemented both in brownfield and greenfield scenarios. The ability to distribute processing between the edge, where the data is created, and the cloud, where the greatest computational resources are available, facilitates the development of integrated digital solutions with cognitive capabilities. The reference architecture is being validated in the asphalt, steel & pharma pilot plants, allowing the development of integrated planning solutions, with scheduling and control of the plants.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2017

Domain wall architecture in tetragonal ferroelectric thin films

Domain walls in ferroelectrics exhibit a plethora of phases and functionalities not found in the bulk. The interplay of electrostatic, chemical, topological, and distortive inhomogeneities at the walls can be so complex, however, that this obstructs their technological performance. In tetragonal ferroelectrics like PbZrxTi1-xO3, for example, the desired functional 180° domain walls within out-of-plane-polarized c-domains are interspersed by in-plane-polarized a-domains and the associated network of domain walls remains challenging to analyze. Here we use a combination of STEM and optical second harmonic generation (SHG) to determine the relation between strain, film thickness, local electric fields and the resulting domain and domain-wall structures across the entire thickness of a set of PZT films. We quantify the distribution of a-domains in the c-domain matrix of the films. Using locally applied electric fields we control the a/c distribution and induce the technologically preferable 180° domain walls. We find that these voltage induced walls are tilted and exhibit a mixed Ising-Néel type transverse rotation of polarization across the wall with a specific nonlinear optical response.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗