Minimizing electrostatic interactions from piezoresponse force microscopy via capacitive excitation

Piezoresponse force microscopy(PFM) has emerged as one of the most powerful techniques to probe ferroelectric materials at the nanoscale, yet it has been increasingly recognized that piezoresponse measured by PFM is often influenced by electrostatic interactions. In this letter, we report a capacitive excitation PFM(ce-PFM) to minimize the electrostatic interactions. The effectiveness of ce-PFM in minimizing electrostatic interactions is demonstrated by comparing the piezoresponse and the effective piezoelectric coefficient measured by ce-PFM and conventional PFM. The effectiveness is further confirmed through the ferroelectric domain pattern imaged via ce-PFM and conventional PFM in vertical modes, with the corresponding domain contrast obtained by ce-PFM is sharper than conventional PFM. These results demonstrate ce-PFM as an effective tool to minimize the interference from electrostatic interactions and to image ferroelectric domain pattern, and it can be easily implemented in conventional atomic force microscope(AFM)setup to probe true piezoelectricity at the nanoscale.     

相位可控的核四极矩共振激励脉冲发生器设计

在核四极矩共振（NQR）领域，射频激励脉冲信号的优劣对NQR响应信号有重要影响.针对常规方法中射频激励脉冲参数不可控的问题，本文基于32位闪存微型控制器STM32和直接数字频率合成（DDS）芯片AD9910设计了一种相位可控激励脉冲发生器.采用STM32控制AD9910产生波形参数（脉冲宽度、脉冲间隔、脉冲个数和共振频率等）可控的射频激励脉冲，利用LabVIEW软件平台设计脉冲参数设置界面，并建立计算机与微控制器通信，实现波形参数的精确优化控制.实验结果表明，该方法实现了相位可控的NQR激励脉冲序列，可为后续NQR信号检测提供有效激励源.     

端部激励相位差下斜拉索的非线性振动

斜拉桥中拉索承受着多种端部激励，可激发大幅空间振动．以斜拉索为对象，探究不同端部激励间相位差对其非线性振动的影响．首先，推导斜拉索无量纲离散控制方程，引入考虑相位的三向端部激励得到一般化模型；然后，针对拉索下端存在的纵桥向、竖向和横桥向激励的两两组合，受大幅或小幅激励，及其在主共振区或主参数共振区几组因素，共计12种工况，采用数值分析法分别研究了各工况下不同激励相位差时的斜拉索稳态响应．研究发现：激励相位差能加剧与激励频率相近的面内、外模态振动；在任意端部激励组合下，激励相位差不仅可使斜拉索非线性振动出现定量变化，还可改变内共振的表现形式．面内、外激励组合下，相位差对拉索响应幅值的影响以π为周期变化，且当相位差趋于π/2 + kπ (k = 0, 1, 2…)时影响最为突出；而面内激励组合下，以2π为变化周期，当相位差为π + 2kπ (k = 0, 1, 2, …)时其对稳态幅值的影响最显著．其原因是：面外激励关于拉索所在的竖直面对称，故其本质上以π为周期；而面内激励无此对称性，仍以2π为周期．因此，有无面外激励参与决定了激励间相位差对斜拉索响应的影响规律．     

The stabilization of partially-premixed jet flames in the presence of high potential electric fields

Numerous research efforts have focused on flame stabilization and emissions. Based on initial experiments, specific mechanisms resulting from DC electric fields were chosen to be investigated, namely the chemical, thermal, and ionization mechanisms. Numerical simulations were performed on premixed propane-ozone-air flames to characterize ozone effects on flame speed resulting from the formation of ozone in high potential electric fields. These results were compared against partially premixed flame experiments to observe the dominant influences within leading edge stabilization within high potential electric fields. It was found that the electromagnetic or ionization influences, serve as the dominant effect on the combustion zone.     

Propagating surface plasmon polaritons for remote excitation surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy

To illustrate the attractive potentials of remote-excitation surface enhanced Raman scattering (RE-SERS), we review the fundamental concepts and typical applications of propagating surface plasmon polaritons (PSPPs). Based on the RE-SERS technic, the adsorbed molecules are protected from being directly illuminated, while the merits of SERS still remained. However, the critical limitations of applying RE-SERS hinder its rapid development. Hence, drawing an overview about the PSPPs would be beneficial for further promoting the significance of RE-SERS in biological application and investigating the mechanism of surface catalytic reactions.     

Broadband excitation pulses for high‐field solid‐state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

In nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, experimental limits due to the radiofrequency transmitter and/or coil means that conventional radiofrequency pulses (“hard pulses”) are sometimes not sufficiently powerful to excite magnetization uniformly over a desired range of frequencies. Effects due to nonuniform excitation are most frequently encountered at high magnetic fields for nuclei with a large range of chemical shifts. Using optimal control theory, we have designed broadband excitation pulses that are suitable for solid‐state samples under magic‐angle‐spinning conditions. These pulses are easy to implement, robust to spinning frequency variations, and radiofrequency inhomogeneities, and only four times as long as a corresponding hard pulse. The utility of these pulses for uniformly exciting ¹³C nuclei is demonstrated on a 900 MHz (21.1 T) spectrometer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dark lump excitations in superfluid Fermi gases

We study the linear and nonlinear properties of two-dimensional matter-wave pulses in disk-shaped superfluid Fermi gases.A Kadomtsev-Petviashvili I(KPI) solitary wave has been realized for superfluid Fermi gases in the limited cases of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer(BCS) regime,Bose-Einstein condensate(BEC) regime,and unitarity regime.Onelump solution as well as one-line soliton solutions for the KPI equation are obtained,and two-line soliton solutions with the same amplitude are also studied in the limited cases.The dependence of the lump propagating velocity and the sound speed of two-dimensional superfluid Fermi gases on the interaction parameter are investigated for the limited cases of BEC and unitarity.     

Crystal Structure and Mass-, Electronic-, Infrared Spectral Studies on Hexaaqua Ni(II) Bis(O-Tolylazo-Citrazinate) Hexahydrate Complex

A new crystalline octahedral hexaaqua Ni(II) bis(o-tolylazo-citrazinate)hexahydrate complex was synthesized. The analytical data proved the formation of 1:2 stoichiometry. An X-ray structure investigation has been carried out. The triclinic space group is p and the unit cell parameters are a = 585.5 pm, b = 993 pm, c = 1139.4 pm, α = 101.6°, β = 97.4°, γ = 102.4°. Evaluation of intensity data revealed the structure with an R-value of 0.03 (2316 observed independent reflections). The compound consists of hexaaqua nickel(2+) ions, univalent anions of the carboxylic acid and six additional water molecules per