Multicomponent QM study on the reaction of HOSO + NO2 with H2O: Nuclear quantum effect on structure and reaction energy profile

The hydrogen transfer reaction in the reaction of HOSO + NO₂ with and without H₂O have been investigated using multicomponent quantum-mechanics method, which can directly take nuclear quantum effect (NQE) of light nuclei into account. For the case of the reaction without H₂O, our calculation reveals that the reaction leading to trans-HONO is preferred. For the reaction with H₂O, water-non-mediated and water-mediated (hydrogen-relay) hydrogen transfer mechanism are investigated. The NQE of hydrogen nucleus lowers the relative energy of the stationary point structures and reduces the activation barrier of the reactions. The largest stabilization is found in the transition state structure of the hydrogen-relay type reaction. H/D isotope effects for the reactions are also analyzed. In particular, H/D isotope effect on the activation barrier is analyzed in detail with the aid of the active strain model.     

Development of non-destructive isotopic analysis methods using muon beams and their application to the analysis of lead

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Elemental isotopic ratios are measured in various research fields and provide useful information regarding age, origin, geological and biological...     

Antenna Performance of a Directly Dug Corrugated Feedhorn for the 150-GHz Band

We have developed a 150 GHz band corrugated feed horn. These corrugated feed horns have been established by a new machining method, which involves digging corrugations through a metal material. We were able to realize E plane and H plane symmetry, low side lobe level, and low cross-polarization level. Measured co-polarization beam patterns above − 35 dB were consistent with the simulated patterns within a designed frequency range. The peak levels of cross-polarization beam patterns were less than − 30 dB. And, the performances were uniform in several horns. In the present paper, we describe the corrugated horn produced by this methods.     

Mechanistic Study of the Solvent-Dependent Formation of Extended and Stacked Supramolecular Polymers Composed of Bis(imidazolylporphyrinatozinc) Molecules

Bis(imidazolylporphyrinatozinc) molecules linked through a 1,3-butadiynylene moiety respond to the solvents they are dissolved in to afford exclusively extended (E) or stacked (S) supramolecular polymers. This system is expected to be a solvation/desolvation indicator. However, the principles underlying the solvent-dependent formation of the two types of polymers and the mechanism of the transformation between them are unclear. The formation of the polymers is considered to depend on the two types of complementary coordination bonds that can be formed and the π–π interactions between the porphyrins. In this study, the contributions and solvent dependence of both the coordination bonds and the π–π interactions have been investigated. The results clearly indicate that the coordination bonds are weakly or little solvent-dependent, and that the π–π interactions function effectively only in the inner porphyrins of the S-polymer and are strongly solvent-dependent. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the formation of the E- or S-polymer in solution is determined by the total energies and the type of solvent used. The transformation of the E- to S-polymer was investigated by gel permeation chromatography. The kinetics of the transformation were also determined. The role of the terminal imidazolylporphyrinatozinc moieties was also investigated: The results indicate that the transformation from the E- to S-polymer occurs by an exchange mechanism between the polymers, induced by attack of terminal free imidazolyl groups on a polymer to zinc porphyrins on other polymers.     

Structural-Deformation-Energy-Modulation Strategy in a Soft Porous Coordination Polymer with an Interpenetrated Framework

To achieve unique molecular-recognition patterns, a rational control of the flexibility of porous coordination polymers (PCPs) is highly sought, but it remains elusive. From a thermodynamic perspective, the competitive relationship between the structural deformation energy (E_def) of soft PCPs and the guest interaction is key for selective a guest-triggered structural-transformation behavior. Therefore, it is vital to investigate and control E_def to regulate this competition for flexibility control. Driven by these theoretical insights, we demonstrate an E_def-modulation strategy via encoding inter-framework hydrogen bonds into a soft PCP with an interpenetrated structure. As a proof of this concept, the enhanced E_def of PCP enables a selective gate-opening behavior toward CHCl₃ over CH₂Cl₂ by changing the adsorption-energy landscape of the compounds. This study provides a new direction for the design of functional soft porous materials.     

Selectively embedded growth by chemical beam epitaxy for the fabrication of InGaAs/InP double-heterostructure lasers

In order to fabricate InGaAs/InP double-heterostructure (DH) lasers, a novel selectively embedded one-step growth by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) was adopted. Before the selective CBE growth, 6–8 μm wide channels on an n-InP substrate were undercut by wet chemical etching through a 170 nm thick SiO₂ film mask. A 6 μm wide stripe-geometry DH laser structure with an active layer of 0.14 μm thickness was grown selectively with good planarity into the channels and operated by a pulse.     

High efficiency GaAs thin film solar cells by peeled film technology

p-GaAs/n-GaAs thin film concentrator solar cells were fabricated by Peeled Film Technology. This is the first paper that reports the concentration characteristics of thin film solar cells. The energy conversion efficiency of thin film solar cells at a concentration ratio of 109 is 9.4% and the output power density is 0.82 W/cm² · n-Ga_1?xAlxAs/p-GaAs heterojunction thin film solar cells were also fabricated. The initial heterojunction thin film solar cell with a Al mole fraction of 0.5 showed an efficiency of up to 13.5% (AM 1.5). It is proposed that Multi-Peeled Film Technology will give numerous GaAs thin films by selective etching of (GaAl)As/GaAs multi-layered structures.     

Structural effect of synthetic zwitterionic cosolutes on the stability of DNA duplexes

The molecular design of useful cosolutes for polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is one of the most important techniques in molecular biology, plays a significant role in amplification of highly stable genome sequences because during PCR, strand dissociation sometimes fails due to high melting temperature. Here, we designed and synthesized eight new zwitterionic cosolutes derived from glycine betaine, a destabilizing reagent for GC-rich DNA duplexes, and systematically compared their ability to destabilize DNA duplexes and to amplify genome DNA by PCR. We found that introduction of n-butyl groups rather than methyl groups into the ammonium group reduced the melting temperature of DNA duplexes 11-fold more than what was observed for the scaffold cosolute, glycine betaine, and furthermore, the cosolute can amplify the stable genome sequence by PCR.