Calculation of the IR Spectrum and the Molecular Structure of β-Carotene

Using the B3LYP/6-31G(d) method, calculations of the structure and the IR spectra of all-trans-β-carotene and its 15,15′-cis-isomer have been performed. The effective harmonic force fields have been obtained and the observed IR bands have been interpreted. Vibrations of the β-ionic ring have been singled out. On the basis of the analogy between the molecular structure of stable radicals and carotenoids of natural origin we set up the hypothesis that the methyl groups of the β-carotene molecule stabilizing the biradical excited triplet state that arises in the process of triplet-triplet energy transfer play a protective, screening role.__________Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 157–164, March–April, 2005.     

First-principles identification of two- and four-membered-ring hybrid structures of silica nanorings

We performed first-principles calculations to study the energetics, IR spectra, and electronic structures of silica nanorings (NR) consisting of two- and four-membered ring (2-4MR) units. A comparison study of other silica clusters, such as nanochains (NC) and nanorings formed by two-membered rings (2MRs) was made. The results show that for small-size (SiO₂)_n clusters with n<24, the nanochains composed of 2-4MRs (2-4MR-NCs) are more stable than other kinds of NRs and NCs. When n>24 the 2-4MR-NRs structures become energetically favorable. 2-4MR-NRs have the narrowest HOMO–LUMO gaps which increase with increasing cluster size, distinctive IR spectra characterized by several peaks at the 1000–1150 cm⁻¹ region.     

Infrared and Raman spectroscopies of InP/II–VI core-shell nanoparticles

We use infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies to investigate the optically active phonon modes in InP nanoparticles and InP/II–VI core-shell nanoparticles fabricated by similar colloidal chemistry methods. The IR transmission spectra of several InP nanoparticle samples exhibit a common absorption feature, which we assign to the Fröhlich mode. The Raman results for the same samples show transverse and longitudinal optical phonon peaks, and scattering strength in between due to surface optical (SO) modes. Infrared spectra of the InP/ZnSe core-shell nanoparticles () exhibit three absorption features, one due to the InP core, and the others associated with the ZnSe shell layer. Raman measurements (12–292 K) also show three phonon-related peaks, whose intensities vary sharply with temperature. The frequencies of the IR and Raman lines are in approximate accord with dielectric continuum theory.     

Anharmonic resonances in the vibrational spectra of pyrazine

The quartic force field of pyrazine has been calculated in the B3LYP/6-31G(d) hybrid density-functional approximation. Based on the results of this calculation, the total IR (250–3800 cm^–1) and Raman (400–3200 cm^–1) spectra of pyrazine have been interpreted with consideration for the Fermi and Darling-Dennison resonances and their spectral manifestations. A precision method is proposed for anharmonic analysis of the vibrational states of polyatomic molecules on the basis of consideration of their theoretical anharmonicity constants in combination with the corresponding experimental frequencies. The method of linear scaling of frequencies has been theoretically substantiated.__________Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 13–22, January–February, 2005.     

IR-poled second-harmonic generation in glass

Infrared (IR)-induced second-harmonic generation in the chalcogenide glasses is observed. A phenomenological approach of IR picosecond non-linear optical (NLO) response in glass is developed for the middle IR spectral range (5–15 μm). The observed effect is explained within the framework of fifth-order NLO susceptibilities. A model that reproduces the basic characteristics of the experimental data, in which the optical non-linearities caused by photoinduced electron–phonon anharmonic interactions, is proposed. The role of the IR-induced phase matching conditions in the observed phenomenon is discussed.     

Interaction of Low-Intensity Laser Radiation with Blood and Its Components

The response of the blood of rabbits to the intravenous irradiation by a He-Ne laser radiation (λ = 632.8 nm) has been investigated by the UV-visible and IR absorption spectra of the whole blood, plasma, and erythrocyte mass. It has been established that hemoglobin is a primary photoacceptor absorbing low-intensity He-Ne-laser radiation. The exposure of blood to this radiation causes clearly defined changes in the IR and visible absorption spectra of the blood and erythrocytes. These spectral changes arise as a result of partial photodissociation of hemoglobin-ligand complexes in the process of absorption of laser radiation. It is suggested that photodissociation is a primary reaction that arises in blood exposed to a low-intensity laser radiation.__________Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp. 230–235, March–April, 2005.     

IR Reflection of Thin Bi4Ge3O12 Films

The spectra of IR reflection of the systems thin Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ film–substrate made of molten -SiO₂ quartz in the region 10–1600 cm^–1 at 295 K are investigatedterpretation of fundamental vibrations in the region 10–800 cm^–1 and two phonon processes in the region 800–1600 cm^–1 are considered.     

A novel CO2 gas analyzer based on IR absorption

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas analyzer can be widely used in many fields. A novel CO₂ gas analyzer based on infrared ray (IR) absorption is presented sufficiently in this paper. Applying Lambert–Beer Law, a novel space-double-beam optical structure is established successfully. The optical structure includes an IR source, a gas cell, a bandpass filter with a transmission wavelength at 4.26 μm, another bandpass filter with a transmission wavelength at 3.9 μm, and two IR detectors. Based on Redial Basic Function (RBF) artificial neural network, the measuring model of IR CO₂ analyzer is established with a high accuracy. A dynamic compensation filter is effectively designed to improve the dynamic characteristic of the IR CO₂ analyzer without gas pump. The IR CO₂ analyzer possesses the advantages of high accuracy and mechanical reliability with small volume, lightweight, and low-power consumption. Therefore, it can be used in such relevant fields as environmental protection, processing control, chemical analysis, medical diagnosis, and space environmental and control systems.     

Optical Properties of [(CH3)2NH2]5Cd3Cl11 Crystals in the Region of their Phase Transitions

A sequence of phase transitions in the [(CH₃)₂NH₂]₅Cd₃Cl₁₁ (DMACC) crystal has been verified based on the study of temperature dependences of the optical birefringence and the data of piezooptical investigations. Absorption spectra in the visible and near-UV regions and IR reflection spectra in the 200–2000-cm^–1 region have been obtained. Phase transitions at temperatures of 179.5, 151, and 120 K have been detected. For all the phases of the DMACC crystal, the optical absorption edge obeys Urbach's empirical rule. It is shown that the phonons corresponding to the internal vibrations of the (Cd₃Cl₁₁)^5– polyhedron participate in the edge formation.     

IR detection by depletion of trapped charge in localized impurity states of an extrinsic semiconductor

Recently we have described a new mode of IR detection which utilizes charge storage in localized levels of an extrinsic semiconductor at low temperatures. This method is based on field-assisted impurity photoionization. IR photoionization depletes the population of stored charge in localized impurity states. The integration takes place inside the bulk of the semiconductor. A large negative going pulse causes rapid field ionization of the remaining charge after an IR exposure. Readout is accomplished by measuring this ejected charge. Using a cryogenically cooled monochromator, we have studied the spectral response and its field dependence. Extremely low dark currents (<3×10^–18 A) permit IR integration times of up to 12 hours or more. For the first time, significant photoresponse is obtained from a cryogenic Si:P detector at wavelengths up to 43 m, well beyond the nominal long wavelength cutoff of 27 m.This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant #ECS-8202473.     

Investigation of the Fiban K-1 Sulfocationite by the IR Spectroscopy Method

Using the IR spectroscopy method, we have studied the state of water, sulfogroups, and adsorbed methanol in a Fiban K-1 fibrous cationite under different conditions of preparation of a sample. It is shown that on an air-dried cationite protonation of methanol is performed by the ionic pair [(H_2n+1O _n )⁺·SO₃ ^–] after vacuum treatment at 20°C and by the ionic pair [H⁺·SO₃ ^–] after vacuum treatment at 90°C.     

InGaAsSb negative luminescent devices with built-in cavities emitting at 3.9 μm

An As₂S₃ fiber coupled to an InGaAsSb photodiode was used to record the radiation distribution over the emitting surface in InGaAsSb episide-down-bonded negative luminescence devices (λ=3.9 μm). Emission spectra were recorded under forward and reverse bias and both were modulated by a Fabry–Perot resonator formed by the anode contact and emitting InAs surface in 45-μm thick diodes. The results show that the current/emission distribution crowds in the vicinity of the contact under forward bias, while a uniform current/emission distribution over the emitting surface is seen under reverse bias.     

Novel mid-IR laser based on hybrid AlGaAsSb/InAs/CdMgSe heterostructure

We report on the development of a novel design of a mid-IR laser combining III–V and II–VI compounds in a “hybrid” double heterostructure. It possesses large (1.5 eV) potential barriers both for injected electrons and holes, suppressing their leakage from the active region, and provides strong optical confinement. An AlGaAsSb/InAs/CdMgSe laser diode with a III–V/II–VI heterovalent interface at the 0.6 μm-InAs active region has been grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an InAs substrate. Despite a far from optimal defect density at the CdMgSe/InAs interface and high losses inherent for bulk active region of the laser, the structure demonstrates lasing at 2.8 μm (up to 100 K) in the pulsed regime with a threshold current density of 3–4 kA/cm². Type II InSb monolayer insertions into an InAs layer show bright photoluminescence at 3.8 μm (77 K), confirming the great potential of the InAs-based nanostructure active region for longer wavelength applications.     

Role of Intermolecular Interactions in Forming the Vibrational Spectra of Carbohydrate Nitrate Crystals in the Region 1600–1700 cm−1

To elucidate the role of intermolecular interactions in forming the vibrational spectra of the crystals of carbohydrate nitrates in the region 1600–1700 cm^–1, theoretical calculations are performed (in the approximation of an additive model of interatomic interactions with the use of the Green's functions) for the density of vibrational states and the intensity of absorption bands in the IR spectrum of a methyl--D-glucopyranoside tetranitrate molecule in a crystal. It is shown that the splitting of absorption bands in the IR spectral region under consideration relates to the crystal effect.     

Analysis of Transformer Oil Using IR Analyzers

Spectral characteristics of samples of transformer oil that differ in technical grade, service life, and content of an antioxidant additive and dissolved water are investigated. It is suggested to determine service deterioration of insulating oils from absorption in the region 1710 cm^–1 using IR filter analyzers.     

Technology aspects of GaN-based diodes for high-field operation

This work reports important aspects of technology development and characterization for GaN based diodes operating at high electric fields. The considered operation conditions result, in comparison to III–V semiconductor devices, from the higher values of threshold field for intervalley transfer of electrons. This lies above 150 kV/cm and requires correspondingly higher biasing voltages and currents through semiconducting layers of transferred electron devices, switches or NDR (negative differential resistance) diodes. Mesa-based vertical and lateral devices using GaN layers on sapphire substrate were considered for current–voltage characteristics under very high electric field conditions. A systematic investigation of MOCVD-grown diode structures with regular, tapered mesa designs and variable dimensions was carried out under pulsed-bias condition. The current–voltage characteristics showed threshold voltages for saturation corresponding to electric fields well above the critical value of 150 kV/cm in the active layer. Self-heating and electromigration effects have been addressed in relation with biasing and metallization conditions.     

Optical and Paramagnetic Properties of Synthetic Diamond Single Crystals with a Low Content of Nitrogen

Optical and paramagnetic properties of synthetic diamond single crystals grown by the temperature gradient method in the Fe-Co-C and Fe-Co-Al-C systems using split-sphere high-pressure apparatus have been investigated. For crystals with a high (>5·10¹⁷ cm^–3) nitrogen concentration a good agreement of the concentrations of single substitution nitrogen atoms obtained from EPR, IR, and UV measurements was observed. For crystals with a low ((0.5–5.0)·10¹⁷ cm^–3) nitrogen concentration, there was no correlation between the results of substituting nitrogen concentrations obtained by the methods mentioned. It is shown that this behavior is attributable to the transition of the substituting nitrogen atoms from the paramagnetic neutral to nonparamagnetic positive charge state due to compensation by the boron impurity.     

Electroluminescence study on electron hole plasma in strained SiGe epitaxial layers

The electroluminescence (EL) of thick fully strained SiGe layers is investigated in order to clarify the recombination mechanisms. In the investigated temperature range of 20–80 K and for SiGe thickness of 70–450 nm an electron–hole plasma (EHP) is observed even at low current densities of 1 Acm⁻². In SiGe-based quantum devices the EHP condition is expected to be attained at even lower injection levels. We used the band filling model for EHP to extract the renormalized gap of SiGe in dependence on the plasma density by performing a line shape analysis of EL spectra. The results were compared with the theoretical prediction. Based on this analysis as well as on measurements and modelling of the spectral photocurrent and the external quantum efficiency, we were able to evaluate parameters of recombination transitions for EHP in SiGe. Above 200 K there is an important contribution to EL from the silicon regions. For a better evaluation of the SiGe contribution, we compared EL of SiGe diodes with EL of pure silicon diodes.     

The partition function zeroes of quantum critical points

The Lee–Yang theorem for the zeroes of the partition function is not strictly applicable to quantum systems because the zeroes are defined in units of the fugacity e^hΔτ, and the Euclidean-time lattice spacing Δτ can be divergent in the infrared (IR). We recently presented analytic arguments describing how a new space-Euclidean time zeroes expansion can be defined, which reproduces Lee and Yang's scaling but avoids the unresolved branch points associated with the breaking of nonlocal symmetries such as Parity. We now present a first numerical analysis for this new zeroes approach for a quantum spin chain system. We use our scheme to quantify the renormalization group flow of the physical lattice couplings to the IR fixed point of this system. We argue that the generic Finite-Size Scaling (FSS) function of our scheme is identically the entanglement entropy of the lattice partition function and, therefore, that we are able to directly extract the central charge, c, of the quantum spin chain system using conformal predictions for the scaling of the entanglement entropy.     

Development of a tunable IR lidar system

A differential absorption lidar system (DIAL) based on a continuously tunable optical parametric amplifier (OPA) pumped by a Nd : YAG laser (200 mJ at λ=355 nm) operating at a maximum pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz has been developed. The system provides continuously tunable coherent radiation in the Visible–near IR range (0.4–2.5 μm), allowing to perform DIAL measurements in a spectral region where most of atmospheric constituents and pollutants display absorption lines. The spectral width of the OPA system is line-narrowed by using a master oscillator dye laser as seeder, achieving a linewidth of 0.04 cm⁻¹ (FWHM), a spectral purity larger than 99% and a frequency stability better than 1 pm h⁻¹, with an output energy in the IR of 1–10 mJ. The OPA system was used to perform DIAL measurements in the lower troposphere. Preliminary results in terms of water vapor content and aerosol backscattering profiles are presented and discussed.