Enhancement of field emission of SnO2 nanowires film by exposure of hydrogen gas

The effect of hydrogen (H₂) gas exposure on the field emission properties of tin oxide (SnO₂) nanowires films synthesized by the carbon thermal reduction vapor transport method was investigated. The exposure of H₂ gas results in the reduction of the turn-on voltage for driving a current of 10 nA from 7.6 V/μm to 5.5 V/μm and the increase of the field current based on 10 V/μm from 0.47 μA to 2.1 μA. The Fowler–Nordheim plot obtained from the current–voltage data supports that the field emission enhancement of SNW film is attributed to the reduction of the work function by the H₂ exposure.     

Enhanced field emission from PbTiO3 nanodots prepared by phase separation approach

Uniformly distributed PbTiO₃ nanodots were successfully prepared by phase separation approach. A precursor sol film was first spin-coated on Si wafer and then spontaneously separated into two distinct phases owing to the Marangoni instability. PT nanodots with tailorable size and density were obtained after further heat treatment. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that these nanodots showed a perovskite structure. An excellent room temperature field emission property of PbTiO₃ nanodots was observed: the minimum turn-on voltage was about 5.3 V/μm; while the emission current density reached about 270 μA cm⁻² at an applied field of about 9.25 V/μm.     

Families of commuting transfer matrices and integrable models with disorder

A family of commuting transfer matrices is shown to be associated to each symmetry transformation of a given Yang-Baxter algebra. This applies in lattices models and field theory.The Yang-Baxter algebra remains unchanged when an arbitrary parameter μ_l is associated to each lattice site. We generate in this way integrable one-dimensional hamiltonians with long-range couplings and disorder given by the <{;μ₁<};. These operators are lattice versions of the non-local charges in sigma models. As a simple example we get a Dzialozhinski-Moriya interaction with an arbitrary coupling per site from the six-vertex model. A similar model with a disordered magnetic field follows too. Their exact solution by an algebraic Bethe ansatz is presented. We derive the excitations spectrum in terms of the density of parameters (μ).As another application, the total spin S² is computed for a XXZ Heisenberg chain (μ_l ≡ 0) as a function of the anisotropy Δ (− ∞ < Δ < + ∞).     

Weak-field magnetoresistance anomaly and Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in Sn-doped InSb thin films on GaAs (100) substrates

Distinctive magnetoresistance (MR) effects in weak magnetic fields before the appearance of Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations at low temperatures in Sn-doped (7×10¹⁶ cm⁻³) InSb films grown on GaAs(100) substrates by MBE have been investigated with decreasing film thickness d from 1 μm. The negative MR found in weak magnetic fields for d0.5 μm can be broadly divided into two regimes: T-sensitive negative MR below B_c observed with anisotropy between parallel and perpendicular magnetic field and a T-insensitive parabolic one above B_c observable only under in-plane magnetic fields. The latter is ascribable to the skipping orbit effect due to surface boundary scattering. In vanishing magnetic fields far below B_c, the negative MR reduces with decreasing d and the different positive MR overlaps with it below 0.5 μm, eventually dominating the positive MR at d0.2 μm. These results have been analyzed using a two-layer model for the films, where the composition of the upper layer under the surface and the lower one adjacent to the InSb/GaAs interface is assumed. The MR data in the extremely weak magnetic fields below 100 G for each layer have been successfully fitted to the two-dimensional (2D) weak localization (WL) theory. These results explain that the crossover from the 2D WL to the weak anti-localization (WAL) occurs when the interface is approached with the increase of SO interaction in the layers caused by the increased influence of the asymmetric potential at the hetero interface (Rashba term) and the SO rate in the intrinsic InSb film due to the crystal field of the zinc-blende structure (Dresselhaus term) is as small as τ_so⁻¹3×10⁸ s⁻¹.     

Classical in-plane negative magnetoresistance and quantum positive magnetoresistance in undoped InSb thin films on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates

Magnetoresistance (MR) effects have been investigated in perpendicular and parallel magnetic fields at 300, 80 K and liquid He temperatures for undoped InSb thin films 0.1–2.3 μm thick grown on GaAs(1 0 0) substrates by MBE. At high temperatures, the intrinsic carriers show the parabolic negative MR observable only in magnetic fields parallel to the film. The skipping-orbit effect due to surface boundary scattering in the classical orbits in the plane vertical to the film has been argued to be responsible for the negative MR. At low temperatures (T=80 K), the transport is dominated by the two-dimensional (2D) electrons in the accumulation layers at the InSb/GaAs(1 0 0) hetero interface; MR is positive and shows a logarithmic increase with anisotropy between parallel and perpendicular field orientation, arising from the 2D weak anti-localization (WAL) that reflects the interplay between the spin-Zeeman effect and strong spin–orbit interaction caused by the asymmetric potential at the interface (Rashba term). The zero-field spin splitting energy of Δ₀13 meV, the electron effective mass of m^*0.10m₀ seven times of the band edge mass in bulk InSb and the effective g-factor of |g^*|15 in the accumulation layer have been inferred from fits of MR for the 0.1 μm thick film to the 2D WL theory.     

Al and Cu NMR study in UCu5Al

We have studied the microscopic properties of the tetragonal UCu₅Al Kondo compound by ²⁷Al and ^63,65Cu NMR in the paramagnetic state. NMR and susceptibility measurements performed on the powdered sample, but oriented along the applied field, showed χ>χ. Plots of K(T) against χ(T) at temperatures T≥100 K yield the transferred hyperfine fields of +5.9 kOe/μ_B for ²⁷Al nuclei, and +5.3 and −7.0 kOe/μ_B for ⁶⁵Cu nuclei in crystallographically inequivalent Cu(2) and Cu(1) sites, respectively. The Knight shift vs. susceptibility plots for T<100 K exhibit a deviation from the linear behaviour (absolute values of shifts become smaller than expected). We attribute this finding to the crystalline electric field effect in similar way as it was reported for several Ce-based compounds. The random distribution of the Al and Cu(2) atoms in the crystal lattice we consider as a reason of an unusual broadening of the NMR spectra, particularly at low temperatures.     

Dynamical mechanism for varying light velocity as a solution to cosmological problems

A dynamical model for varying light velocity in cosmology is developed, based on the idea that there are two metrics in spacetime. One metric g_μν describes the standard gravitational vacuum, and the other describes the geometry through which matter fields propagate. Matter propagating causally with respect to can provide acausal contributions to the matter stress-energy tensor in the field equations for g_μν, which, as we explicitly demonstrate with perfect fluid and scalar field matter models, provides a mechanism for the solution of the horizon, flatness and magnetic monopole problems in an FRW universe. The field equations also provide a ‘graceful exit' to the inflationary epoch since below an energy scale (related to the mass of ψ_μ) we recover exactly the standard FRW field equations.     

Synthesis, characterization and low field emission of CNx nanotubes

Aligned CN_x nanotubes were fabricated by pyrolyzing ethylenediamine on p-type Si(1 1 1) substrates using iron as the catalyst. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the CN_x nanotubes. The CN_x nanotubes with the average length of 20 μm and diameters in the range of 50–100 nm have the “bamboo-like” structure and worse crystalline order. The low-field emission measurements of the CN_x nanotubes indicated that 20 μA/cm² current densities were observed at an electric field of 1.4 V/μm and 1.280 mA/cm² were obtained at 2.54 V/μm. The CN_x nanotubes exhibit better field emission properties than the carbon nanotubes and the BCN nanotubes. The emission mechanism of CN_x nanotubes is also discussed.     

Echo-Planar Imaging of Porous Media with Spatial Resolution below 100 μm

A modified version of the echo-planar imaging technique incorporating a Carr–Purcell train of 180° rf pulses (PEPI) has been implemented on a standard spectrometer. It is demonstrated that artifacts in the image due to cumulative errors in the rf field can be reduced by replacing each 180° pulse by a composite sequence of three rf pulses. Artifact-free 3D images at 94 μm voxel resolution are obtained within 15 min. This technique has been applied to study the drying process in an initially water-saturated model porous medium with characteristicT^*₂of order 700 μs.     

On the Casimir energy for a massive quantum scalar field and the cosmological constant

We present a rigorous, regularization-independent local quantum field theoretic treatment of the Casimir effect for a quantum scalar field of mass μ≠0 which yields closed form expressions for the energy density and pressure. As an application we show that there exist special states of the quantum field in which the expectation value of the renormalized energy–momentum tensor is, for any fixed time, independent of the space coordinate and of the perfect fluid form g_μ,νρ with ρ>0, thus providing a concrete quantum field theoretic model of the cosmological constant. This ρ represents the energy density associated to a state consisting of the vacuum and a certain number of excitations of zero momentum, i.e., the constituents correspond to lowest energy and pressure p0.     

The Electric Dipole Moment of the CO2–CO van der Waals Complex

Radiofrequency transitions withinK= 2 asymmetry doublets have been observed for the CO₂–CO van der Waals complex. A Stark effect measurement on theJ= 2,K= 2 transition provides an electric dipole moment of μ = 0.2493(1) D. Combining this result with the permanent moment of CO, μ_CO= 0.1098 D, gives a change of moment on complex formation of Δμ = 0.140 D. The sign of Δμ is such that the CO end of the complex is more positive than CO₂. The origin of Δμ should not be attributed to any single mechanism, and several different contributions to Δμ are discussed.     

Short single-mode CO2 laser pulse generation by pulsed Q-switching

A simple method for the generation of short, single-mode CO₂ laser pulses produced by applying two voltage gates (of amplitude 3U_λ/4 and U_λ/4) to an electro-optic Q-switch placed in a three-mirror cavity is proposed. Single, single-mode, well-synchronizable pulses of 3 ns duration and of 3 mJ energy have been experimentally achieved from a TEA CO₂ laser with an intracavity Pockels cell with 3 ns switching time. Using a numerical simulation it is shown that with shorter switching time (≈1 ns) the method enables one to obtain, from such a laser, a single, megawatt pulse of 1 ns duration.     

KARMEN: Neutrino oscillation limits and new results with the upgrade

The neutrino experiment KARMEN is situated at the beam stop neutrino source ISIS which provides ν_μ's, ν_e's and from the π⁺−μ⁺-decay at rest. The oscillation channels ν_{μ → νe} and are investigated with a 56 t liquid scintillation calorimeter. No evidence for oscillations could be found with KARMEN, resulting in 90% CL exclusion limits of sin²(2Θ) < 8.5 · 10⁻³ ( ) and sin²(2Θ) < 4.0 · 10⁻² (ν_μ → ν_e) for Δm² > 100 eV². In 1996, the experiment has been upgraded by an additional veto counting system with a total coverage of 300 m². The new system allows the identification of cosmic muons in the vicinity of the detector. Vetoing these muons suppresses energetic neutrons from deep inelastic scattering of muons as well as from μ-capture by a factor of 40. Up to 1996, these neutrons represented the main background for oscillation search. The experimental sensitivity for will be significantly enhanced towards sin²(2Θ) 1.0 · 10⁻³ after a further measuring period of 2–3 years.     

Development of surface-textured hydrogenated ZnO:Al thin-films for μc-Si solar cells

This study addresses the optimization of rf magnetron-sputtered hydrogenated ZnO:Al (HAZO) films as front contacts in microcrystalline silicon solar cells. The front contact of a solar cell has to be highly conductive and highly transparent to visible and infrared radiation. Furthermore, it has to scatter the incident light efficiently in order for the light to be effectively trapped in the underlying silicon layers. In this research, HAZO films were rf-magnetron-sputtered on glass substrates from a ceramic (98 wt% ZnO, 2 wt% Al₂O₃) target. Various compositions of AZO films on glass substrates were prepared by changing the H₂/(Ar + H₂) ratio of the sputtering gas. The resulting smooth films exhibited high transparencies (T  85% for visible light including all reflection losses) and excellent electrical properties (ρ = 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ Ω · cm). Depending on their structural properties, these films developed different surface textures upon post-deposition etching using diluted hydrochloric acid. The light-scattering properties of these films could be controlled simply by varying the etching time. Moreover, the electrical properties of the films were not affected by the etching process. Therefore, within certain limits, it is possible to optimize the electro-optical and light-scattering properties separately. The microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H)-based p–i–n solar cells prepared using these new texture-etched AZO:H substrates showed high quantum efficiencies in the long wavelength range, thereby demonstrating effective light trapping. Using the optimum AZO:H thin-film textured surface, we achieved a p–i–n μc-Si solar cell efficiency of 7.78%.     

Condition for adiabatic passage in the earth’s-field NMR technique

The equation of motion dM/dt=γ M×B(t) is solved for the case B(t)=jB_p(t)+kB_e. The field B_e is a small static field, typically the earth’s field. The field B_p(t) decays exponentially toward zero with time constant T. This decay is produced by an overdamped switching transient that occurs near the end of the rapid cutoff of the coil current used to polarize the sample. It is assumed that B_p is initially large compared to B_e, and that magnetization M is initially along the resultant field B. Exact solutions are obtained numerically for several decay time constants of B_p, and the motion of M is depicted graphically. It is found that for adiabatic passage, the final cone angle β of the precession in field B_e is related to the decay time constant of B_p by β=2e^{−(π/2)ω_eT}. This is confirmed by measurements of the amplitudes of the ensuing free-precession signals for various decay rates of B_p. Near-perfect adiabatic passage (magnetization aligned within 2° of the earth’s field) can be achieved for time constants T2.6/ω_e. For the case of sudden passage, an approximate analytic solution is developed by linearizing the equation of motion in the laboratory frame of reference. For the adiabatic case, an approximate analytic solution is obtained by linearizing the equation of motion in a rotating frame of reference that follows the resultant field B=B_p+B_e.     

Quantitative assessment of solid oxide electrochemical doping

Quantitative analysis of metal cation doping by solid oxide electrochemical doping (SOED) has been performed under galvanostatic doping conditions. A M–β″-Al₂O₃ (M=Ag, Na) microelectrode (contact radius: about 10 μm) was used as cation source to attain a homogeneous solid–solid contact between the β″-Al₂O₃ and doping target. In Ag doping into alkali borate glass, the measured dopant amount closely matched the theoretical value. High Faraday efficiencies of above 90% were obtained. This suggests that the dopant amount can be precisely controlled on a micromole scale by the electric charge during electrolysis. On the other hand, current efficiencies of Na doping into Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_y (BSCCO) ceramics depended on the applied constant current. Efficiencies of above 80% were achieved at a constant current of 10 μA (1.6 A cm⁻²). The relatively low efficiencies were explained by the saturation of BSCCO grain boundaries with Na. By contrast, excess Na was detected on the anodic surface of ceramics at a constant current of 100 μA (16 A cm⁻²). In the present study, we demonstrate that SOED enables micromole-scale control over dopant amount.     

Hole burning spectroscopy of InAs self-assembled quantum dots for memory application

We report on the two spectral holes in the photocurrent of InAs self-assembled quantum dots (SAQDs) embedded in a pin diode irradiated by two different lasers. The estimated homogeneous broadening (Γ_h) of 25 μeV for InAs SAQDs implies the possibility of high-density multiple wavelength-domain optical memory with the ratio of inhomogeneous broadening to Γ_h larger than 3300. The dependence of writing power, electric field, and temperature on the Γ_h was also investigated using hole burning spectroscopy. The Γ_h broadened not only as the writing power increased over a few W/cm² but also as the applied field increased. The Γ_h showed linear dependence on temperature, and the spectral hole was observed up to 80 K.     

Bose-Einstein condensation in dense quark matter

We consider the problem of Bose condensation of charged pions in QCD at finite isospin chemical potential μ_I using the O(4)-symmetric linear sigma model as an effective field theory for two-flavor QCD. Using the 2PI 1/N-expansion, we determine the quasiparticle masses as well as the pion and chiral condensates as a function of the temperature and isospin chemical potential in the chiral limit and at the physical point. The calculations show that there is a competition between the condensates. At T=0, Bose condensation takes place for chemical potentials larger than μ_π. In the chiral limit, the chiral condensate vanishes for any finite value of μ_I.     

Ultra-fast nonlinear response around 1.5 μm in 2D AlGaAs/AlOx photonic crystal

We report the fast switching capabilities of a two-dimensional Al_0.3Ga_0.7As photonic crystal slab around 1.5 μm. The slab is supported by an AlOx low-index thick layer that plays the role of an efficient heat sink. By pumping at 0.8 μm in the absorption of the Al_0.3Ga_0.7As quantum wells, the optical response is modified in the transparency region: a 200% change in the reflectivity is obtained with a total response time of 8ps.     

Characterization of the polyurea polymeric waveguides fabricated using the chemical vapor deposition process

Aromatic polyurea-based waveguides were fabricated by the evaporation and deposition of a diamino monomer and a diisocyanate monomer onto an indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrate in a vacuum chamber. The nonlinear I–V behaviors of the polyurea film were characterized in situ during poling. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the heterodyne Mach–Zehnder interference (HMZI) technique were applied to explore the electro-optic performance of the polyurea polymeric waveguide induced by an applied electric field. The Pockels coefficients were measured by a heterodyne Mach–Zehnder interference (HMZI) system to be γ₁₃=7.1 and γ₃₃=21.9 pm/V, for the TE and TM polarizations, respectively.