Hierarchical Self-Assembled Photo-Responsive Tubisomes from a Cyclic Peptide-Bridged Amphiphilic Block Copolymer

Typically, the morphologies of the self-assembled nanostructures from block copolymers are limited to spherical micelles, wormlike micelles and vesicles. Now, a new generation of materials with unique shape and structures, cylindrical soft matter particles (tubisomes), are obtained from the hierarchical self-assembly of cyclic peptide-bridged amphiphilic diblock copolymers. The capacity of obtained photo-responsive tubisomes as potential drug carriers is evaluated. The supramolecular tubisomes pave an alternative way for fabricating polymeric tubular structures, and will expand the toolbox for the rational design of functional hierarchical nanostructures.     

Evidence of multiple pathways capable of emitting peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence using a charge coupled device spectrometer

Peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (PO-CL) spectra obtained simultaneously and continuously using a CCD spectrometer provide evidence of the complexity of PO-CL reactions.     

Raman scattering studies of (GaP)n/(InP)n (n = 1, 1.7, 2) short‐period superlattice structures

We report Raman scattering from (GaP)_n/(InP)_n (n = 1, 1.7, 2) short‐period superlattice (SPS) structures to study the effect of lateral composition modulation (LCM) on the behavior of optical phonons. Cross‐sectional transmission electron microscope images revealed that LCM was formed with complex pattern in the n = 1.7 and n = 2 samples grown at 490 °C. Interestingly, both the InP‐ and the GaP‐like longitudinal optical (LO) phonon energies increased systematically as the number of monolayers was increased from n = 1 to n = 2. A significant broadening of the phonon line shapes was also observed for the n = 1.7 and n = 2 samples. In contrast, for samples grown at 425 °C, both the increase of the LO phonon energies and the broadening of the phonon line shapes were observed only when n = 1.7. Our results demonstrate that the optical phonons in the (GaP)_n/(InP)_n SPS structures are significantly affected in the occurrence of LCM related to the growth temperature and the number of monolayers.Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Blue and infrared cathodoluminescence induced by carbon-irradiation in SrTiO3 single crystal

We show that blue-CL can be induced in SrTiO₃ single crystal at room temperature by irradiating it with 60 KeV carbon ion (C⁻) beam. An infrared CL-emission is induced simultaneously. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement exhibits an 200 nm thick surface layer formed by the C⁻ irradiation. We show that the emitting region can be patterned into any desired shape by fabricating the STO surface using Pt-based micro-lithography technique.     

High-efficiency mid-infrared ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillator directly pumped by a lamp-pumped, Q-switched CrTmHo:YAG laser

We report a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) based on a ZnGeP(2) crystal directly pumped by a lamp-pumped Q-switched CrTmHo:YAG laser. The IR was tunable from 4.7 to 7.8 microm via crystal angle tuning. A maximum optical to optical efficiency of 56% was obtained from the pump (2.09 microm) to total IR at a pump energy of 6.5 mJ. The corresponding idler energy was 1.45 mJ. The SRO was measured to have a slope efficiency of 64% and a threshold of 1 mJ. The spatial beam quality of the idler, characterized by the M(2) parameter, was 1.38 when the SRO was pumped at 2.5 times threshold. These results show that ZnGeP(2) optical parametric oscillators directly pumped by a CrTmHo:YAG laser can be operated efficiently, while maintaining good IR beam quality.     

Polymer waveguide with integrated reflector mirrors for an inter-chip link system

A polymer waveguide with integrated reflector mirrors is presented for an inter-chip link system. The cost-effective and repeatable technology for the integration of a polymer multimode waveguide and out-of-plane 45° reflector mirrors was developed for optical coupling between the light-sources and the light-detectors. This method enabled us to fabricate the waveguides and 45° reflector mirrors using a one-shot embossing process for inexpensive mass production. The optical inter-chip link system consisted of a metal optical bench, a module printed circuit board (PCB), a driver/receiver IC, a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)/photo-detector (PD) array, and an optical waveguide composed of integrated reflector mirrors. The presented data transfer measurements of the optical inter-chip link system are shown to be successful at a data rate of 5 Gb/s.     

Relaxation properties of some segmented polyurethane-CaCO3 composites. A Dielectric study

Dielectric relaxation in three segmented polyurethane-CaCO₃ composites was investigated between ?70°C and +150°C in the 300 Hz to 100 kHz frequency range. Two of the polymers contained a polyacetal-polyether soft segment, whereas the soft component of the third polymer was polypropylene oxide. The hard segments consisted of 4,4′-diphenyl methane diisocyanate in two cases and toluene-2,4-diisocyanate in the third case. In parallel studies two calorimetric relaxations, designated α and α′, were observed for each sample and were determined to be glass transitions of the soft and hard segments, respectively. In general, the transition temperatures decrease with increasing filler content. High frequency, low temperature permittivities increase while low frequency, high temperature AC conductivities generally decrease with increasing filler content. The shift in the transition temperatures can be explained using the adsorption theory of filler-polymer interactions and the densities of the samples. The interfacial polarization mechanism becomes important only above the α′ transition temperature and below 1 kHz.     

Kaon cloud and baryon magnetic moments

The kaon cloud correction to the magnetic moments of the octet baryons that arises when chiral SU(2) × SU(2) symmetry is enlarged to SU(3) × SU(3) is calculated in the chiral bag model. The effect is considerably smaller than the pion cloud effect provided the bag radius is R ? 1 fm. We discuss the implications of this result on our ongoing attempt to incorporate chiral symmetry into the bag model of the nucleon and on the scale sizes associated with (nearly) massless quarks and massive quarks.     

Nucleation of calcium carbonate in presence of citric acid, DTPA, EDTA and pyromellitic acid

The influence of four calcium complexing additives, i.e., citric acid (CIT), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and pyromellitic acid (PMA), and their concentration on the induction time of calcium carbonate nucleation has been studied. The experiments were performed by rapidly mixing a sodium carbonate solution and a calcium chloride solution of various concentrations. The induction time was obtained by recording the white light absorption of the solution. Chemical speciation was used to estimate the initial thermodynamic driving force of each experiment. The induction time was found to increase with additive concentration. The effect varies from one additive to another. CIT causes the greatest increase in induction time and PMA the least. Using classical nucleation theory the experimental data were evaluated in terms of the interfacial energy. In pure water a value of 37.8 mJ m(-2) was obtained, showing good agreement with other works. CIT, DTPA and EDTA caused a notable increase of the interfacial energy at a concentration of 0.5 mmol l(-1). PMA does not appear to have any effect at all on the interfacial energy. Different mechanisms for the influence of the additives on the measured induction time and on the estimated interfacial energy are discussed.