Investigation of the Li1+xV3O8 electrode–organic electrolyte interface by scanning photoelectron microscopy

To investigate the formation of a solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the Li_1+xV₃O₈ electrode surface in the thermodynamic stability range of the organic electrolyte, we applied scanning photoelectron microscopy (SPEM) to a pristine electrode and to an electrode after ten cycles. The F K-edge absorption spectrum of the cycled electrode showed that LiF forms on the electrode surface during the lithium insertion–extraction process in the Li_1+xV₃O₈/Li cell. The photoelectron spectrum for the cycled electrode showed intense spectral features corresponding to Li 1s, F 2s, F 2p, and P 2p electron signals, whereas these spectral features were of negligible intensity for the pristine electrode. The above results give strong support for the formation of an SEI that consists of LiF and compounds containing phosphorus during operation of the battery. The SPEM images also revealed that the fluorine distribution on the surface of the cycled electrode was inhomogeneous.     

Applying a Mode Selector to Improve the Pulse-Compression Performance of Asymmetric-Coupled-Waveguide-Based Dispersion Compensators

An InGaAsP slab-type asymmetric-coupled-waveguide-based dispersion compensator with a mode selector has been designed and fabricated. The mode selector is necessary to select either a symmetric [with a positive group-velocity dispersion (GVD)] or antisymmetric (with a negative GVD) supermode. These supermodes exist simultaneously in the dispersion-compensation region of the device. Pulse-compression experiments were used to test the dispersion compensator, evaluating the function of the mode selector. A theoretical study of the experimental results shows that the mode selector obtains a very strong selectivity (nearly 100%) for the antisymmetric supermode.     

Study of period number effect in the superlattice infrared photodetector

Superlattices have been demonstrated previously by our group in the design of the multicolor infrared photodetector. In general, the period number of the superlattice may be up to several dozens. In this paper, we have investigated the performance of the infrared photodetectors especially with 3, 5 and 15 periods. The detector structure contains a thick blocking barrier embedded between two superlattices with different period numbers but with the same well and barrier widths. This double-superlattice structure shows switchable spectral responses between two spectral regions by the voltage polarities. The photoresponse in each spectral region is also tunable by the magnitude of the applied voltage. The voltage-dependent behavior reveals the photoelectron relaxation and transport mechanism in the superlattice miniband. Superlattice with few periods has high electron group velocity, less relaxation effect and less collection efficiency. Therefore the superlattice with few periods may have better responsivity and narrower photoresponse range than the one with many periods. Based on the experimental results of our devices, it is observed that the superlattice with fewer periods has better detectivity, responsivity, wider range of the operational temperature, and more flexible miniband engineering than the conventional multiple quantum well infrared photodetector.     

Structural optimization design for large mirror

The system design must be started from the concept with low cost and high performance. In this point, the topological shape of the structure is very important in the view of the structural rigidities and light-weight design.In this paper, the optimization methodology is presented in the design stage of the large optical mirror. We obtain the optimal layout through the topology optimization and then design the details through the size or shape optimization for structural rigidity.     

Two-dimensional autocorrelation function analysis of smoked foil patterns

Digital image processing techniques have been applied to the analysis of cellular smoked foil patterns from gaseous detonations. In particular, the two-dimensional autocorrelation function is applied to digital cell pattern images and an orientational correlation parameter is calculated. Taking line profiles along the directions of highest correlation provides an unbiased method of determining the mean cell size in each of the two principal directions. By analyzing the width, amplitude and angular position of the orientational correlation plots, information can be extracted concerning the cellular pattern regularity, the relative angular correlation between two sets of transverse waves in two directions, and the mean shape or elongation of the cells within the pattern. The technique is applied to smoked foils from oxyacetylene mixtures with argon dilutions ranging from 0 to 75% to quantify the increase in regularity with argon dilution. This method provides a simple and useful way of analyzing cellular patterns and constitutes a promising technique for improving smoked foil diagnostics.     

Synthesis and adsorption properties of gold nanoparticles within pores of surface‐functional porous polymer microspheres

Mesoporous polymer microspheres with gold (Au) nanoparticles inside their pores were prepared considering their surface functionality and porosity. The Au/polymer composite microspheres prepared were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. The results showed that the adsorption of Au nanoparticles could be increased by imparting the pore structure and surface‐functional groups into the supporting polymer microspheres (in this study, poly (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate‐co‐acrylonitrile) and poly (EGDMA‐co‐AN) system). Above all, from this study, it was established that the porosity of the polymer microspheres is the most important factor that determines the distribution and adsorption amount of face‐centered cubic (fcc) Au nanoparticles in the final products. Our study showed that the continuous adsorption of Au nanoparticles with the aid of the large surface area and surface interaction sites formed more favorably the Au/polymer composite microspheres. The BET measurements of Au/poly(EGDMA‐co‐AN) composite microspheres reveals that the adsorption of Au nanoparticles into the pores kept the pore structure intact and made it more porous. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5627–5635, 2004     

20-relative neighborhood graphs are hamiltonian

For any two points p and q in the Euclidean plane, define LUN_pq = { v | v ∈ R², d_pv < d_pq and d_qv < d_pq}, where d_uv is the Euclidean distance between two points u and v . Given a set of points V in the plane, let LUN_pq(V) = V ∩ LUN_pq. Toussaint defined the relative neighborhood graph of V, denoted by RNG(V) or simply RNG, to be the undirected graph with vertices V such that for each pair p,q ∈ V, (p,q) is an edge of RNG(V) if and only if LUN_pq (V) = ?. The relative neighborhood graph has several applications in pattern recognition that have been studied by Toussaint. We shall generalize the idea of RNG to define the k-relative neighborhood graph of V, denoted by kRNG(V) or simply kRNG, to be the undirected graph with vertices V such that for each pair p,q ∈ V, (p,q) is an edge of kRNG(V) if and only if | LUN_pq(V) | < k, for some fixed positive number k. It can be shown that the number of edges of a kRNG is less than O(kn). Also, a kRNG can be constructed in O(kn₂) time. Let E_c = {e_pq| p ∈ V and q ∈ V}. Then G_c = (V,E_c) is a complete graph. For any subset F of E_c, define the maximum distance of F as max_epq∈Fd_pq. A Euclidean bottleneck Hamiltonian cycle is a Hamiltonian cycle in graph G_c whose maximum distance is the minimum among all Hamiltonian cycles in graph G_c. We shall prove that there exists a Euclidean bottleneck Hamiltonian cycle which is a subgraph of 20RNG(V). Hence, 20RNGs are Hamiltonian.     

Rankin-Cohen brackets on pseudodifferential operators

Pseudodifferential operators that are invariant under the action of a discrete subgroup Γ of SL(2,R) correspond to certain sequences of modular forms for Γ. Rankin-Cohen brackets are noncommutative products of modular forms expressed in terms of derivatives of modular forms. We introduce an analog of the heat operator on the space of pseudodifferential operators and use this to construct bilinear operators on that space which may be considered as Rankin-Cohen brackets. We also discuss generalized Rankin-Cohen brackets on modular forms and use these to construct certain types of modular forms.