Structures and stability of Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>C and Al<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">7</Emphasis></Subscript>N clusters

We report results of the atomic and electronic structures of Al₇C cluster using ab initio molecular dynamics with ultrasoft pseudopotentials and generalized gradient approximation. The lowest energy structure is found to be the one in which carbon atom occupies an interstitial position in Al₇ cluster. The electronic structure shows that the recent observation [Chem. Phys. Lett. 316, 31 (2000)] of magic behavior of Al₇C^- cluster is due to a large highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap which makes Al₇C^- chemically inert. These results have further led us to the finding of a new neutral magic cluster Al₇N which has the same number of valence electrons as in Al₇C^- and a large HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.99 eV. Further, calculations have been carried out on (Al₇N)₂ to study interaction between magic clusters. Received 28 July 2001     

Fabrication of Al nanoparticles and their electrical properties studied by capacitance-voltage measurements

Nanometer-scale Al particles are fabricated and are embedded in a GaAs matrix using molecular beam epitaxial technique. The Al particle is self-assembled on GaAs by supplying an Al molecular beam. The average particle size is found to be 25 nm. The density is 7 × 10¹⁰ cm⁻² when Al of 6.2 × 10¹⁵ atoms/cm² is supplied on (1 0 0)GaAs at a substrate temperature of 300 °C. Clear hysteresis and plateaus in capacitance-voltage (C-V) curves are found in an Al-embedded sample, whereas monotonic increase of capacitance is obtained in a reference sample having an AlAs layer instead of Al. This difference results from trapping of electrons by the Al particles, suggesting that the particles have metallic character.     

Application of Electron-Shelving Detection via 423 nm Transition in Calcium-Beam Optical Frequency Standard

A new scheme of small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam with application of 423 nm shelving detection and sharp-angle velocity selection detection is proposed. Combining these presented techniques, we conclude that a small compact optical frequency standard based on thermal calcium beam will outperform the commercial caesium-beam microwave dock, like the 5071 Cs clock （from Hp to Agilent, now Symmetricom company）, both in accuracy and stability.     

A comparative study on the interaction between tin(II) porphyrin and selected group 8B metals for potential application as reduction catalysts

We study the interaction between tin(II) porphyrin (SnPor) with platinum and non-precious Group 8B metals (iron, cobalt and nickel) by density functional theory and discuss the electronic properties of the resulting products. We also model the interaction of the resulting compounds with water where applicable. Our studies indicate that, SnPor-Ni possesses electronic properties similar to SnPor-Pt, suggesting that it may possess similar photocatalytic properties for reduction reactions, such as converting water to hydrogen gas.     

Metastable phase in the quantum Hall ferromagnet

Time-dependent capacitance measurements reveal an unstable phase of electrons in gallium arsenide quantum well that occurs when two Landau levels with opposite-spin are brought close to degeneracy by applying a gate voltage. This phase emerges below a critical temperature and displays a peculiar non-equilibrium dynamical evolution. The relaxation dynamics is found to follow a stretched-exponential behaviour and correlates with hysteresis loops observed by sweeping the magnetic field. These experiments indicate that metastable randomly distributed magnetic domains with peculiar excitations are involved in the relaxation process in a way that is equivalently tunable by a change in gate voltage or temperature.     

Laser action below threshold inversion due to coherent population trapping

The possibility of lasing without inversion on the 1079.8 nm line of a HeNe laser is investigated. It is shown that a modified double- scheme can be realized by use of the 877.9 nm line for introducing Zeeman coherence. It is shown experimentally that Zeeman coherence can enforce laser action, even if the inversion is below threshold. A different choice of the polarization of the driving beam can result in suppression of laser action above threshold. The underlying mechanisms are examined. On the 611.8 nm line, laser action below threshold inversion is obtained with the driving beam tuned to 824.9 nm (up-conversion).     

Virtual photon scattering at subwavelength sized tips

Silicon AFM tips can profitably be used as optical sensors for near field optical microscopy. In particular they are able to convert evanescent waves (also called virtual photons) into propagating ones which are conveniently guided in the tip and transferred to the air at the back of the cantilever. In this paper it is shown that virtual photons scattered at the tip end are also converted into real ones which are observed in the far field. Contrary to the previous observations of similar conversion at STM metal tips the scattered emission at dielectric silicon tips does not have a dependence with distance of a full exponential decay but rather follows the more complex dependence of the dielectric capture. This observation is consistent with Mie's theory of scattering of real photons by small particles. Experiments are performed with boths andp polarizations showing a regular dependence of the scattered intensity with the incidence angle. The same experiment is also performed with metallized silicon tips showing a metal scattering behaviour. This results can help to achieve a better control of the tip position in the close range of distances in a Photon Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (PSTM) experiment.     

Study of a carbon dioxide ring laser gyroscope

We have experimentally investigated a basic ring laser gyroscope (RLG) with carbon dioxide gain, and studied the prospects of developing a practical CO₂ RLG. Rotation sensing was demonstrated on a number of transitions in the 9.4 m and 10.4 m vibration-rotation bands. Gyro response is discussed with regard to lock-in, bias, homogeneous broadening effects, and high power operation. We show that such a system may offer important advantages over standard helium-neon RLGs, including reduced quantum limit and backscattering. The prospects and possible approaches for developing a practical high power CO₂ RLG are discussed, and a method of eliminating cross-saturation at high pressure is proposed and analyzed.     

Synthesis, Structure and Photoluminescence of a New Cd(Ⅱ)Coordination Polymer Based on 4-(Carboxymethoxy)-benzoic Acid and 1,10-Phenanthroline Derivative

A new 1D coordination polymer, [Cd2(L1)2(L2)2]·H2O (1, H2L1 = 4-(carboxy-methoxy)benzoic acid and L2 = 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline), has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes in triclinic, space group Pī with a = 9.985(5), b = 10.768(5), c = 12.512(5), α = 68.959(5), β = 80.354(5), γ = 79.663(5)°, V = 1227.4(10) 3, Z = 1, C56H36Cd2F2N8O11, Mr = 1259.73, Dc = 1.704 g/cm3, F(000) = 630, μ(MoKa) = 0.949 mm-1, R = 0.0261 and wR = 0.0655. The L1 anions link the neighboring Cd(II) atoms to form a 1D double chain structure. The L2 ligands are alternately located on both sides of the double chains. More interestingly, the lateral L2 ligands from adjacent double chains are paired to furnish strong π-π interactions, yielding a 2D supramolecular layer. N-H···O, O-H···N and O-H···O hydrogen bonds further stabilize the structure of 1. The luminescent property of 1 was studied in solid state at room temperature.     

以对苯二甲酸及咪唑并[4,5-f][1,10]邻菲咯啉为配体的镉(Ⅱ)、锌(Ⅱ)配合物的构筑及晶体结构

在水热条件下,以对苯二甲酸(H2bdc)和咪唑并[4,5-f][1,10]邻菲咯啉(Imphen)为配体构筑了两种配合物[Cd(bdc)(Imphen)(H2O)]n·nH2O(1)和[Zn(bdc)(Imphen)(H2O)]n·nH2O(2),并利用元素分析和X-射线单晶衍射对其结构进行了表征。结构分析表明:bdc2-在2个配合物中展示了不同的配位模式,配合物1和2都具有一维链状结构,并且都通过分子间氢键和π-π相互作用形成三维网状结构。此外,对配合物的热稳定性和发光性质也进行了研究。