Slow and monoenergetic (3Heμ−)+ beam production and novel applications

Based upon the recent discovery at UT MSL/KEK, a new idea is proposed for producing a slow and monoenergetic (3.2 keV) (³He^–)⁺ ion beam by using particle decay of the (d³He) muon molecule formed during the (d) to³He transfer reaction. The proposed intense (³He) beam as well as the less intense (⁴He) beam will open up way to various new types of important CF experiments.     

Imaging and focusing of an atomic beam with a large period standing light wave

A novel atomic lens scheme is reported. A cylindrical lens potential was created by a large period ( 45 m) standing light wave perpendicular to a beam of metastable He atoms. The lens aperture (25 m) was centered in one antinode of the standing wave; the laser frequency was nearly resonant with the atomic transition 2³ S ₁–2³ P ₂ (=1.083 m) and the interaction time was significantly shorter than the spontaneous lifetime (100 ns) of the excited state. The thickness of the lens was given by the laser beam waist (40 m) in the direction of the atomic beam. Preliminary results are presented, where an atomic beam is focused down to a spot size of 4 m. Also, a microfabricated grating with a period of 8 m was imaged. We discuss the principle limitations of the spatial resolution of the lens given by spherical and chromatic aberrations as well as by diffraction. The fact that this lens is very thin offers new perspectives for deep focusing into the nm range.     

A μSR study of spin density wave condensation in Cr85Mo15

Zero field SR spectra from Cr₈₅Mo₁₅ are well described by the sum of a lightly damped (0.02s^–1<₁<0.2s^–1) and a heavily damped (2s^–1<₂<15s^–1) exponential. The temperature dependence of these components is discussed in relation to the condensation of the incommensurate spin density wave and the onset of the antiferromagnetic state in this Cr-like alloy below T_N=120K. Evidence is presented for the nucleation of the spin density wave at temperatures greater than 1.5T_N.     

Fabrication and characteristics of double-fused vertical-cavity lasers

We discuss the fabrication process and characteristics of three consecutive runs of double-fused 1.5-m vertical-cavity lasers. We have measured light-current characteristics of over three hundred lasers with ten different diameters between 6 and 60 m and observe a yield of over 95%. The process and design improvements resulted in a low pulsed threshold current of 3 mA on a number of 6- and 8-m-diameter devices and threshold current density of 2 kA cm^–2 on 60-m-diameter devices at room temperature.     

An Approach to Linear Scalable DH-PHEMT Model for Millimeterwave Application

This paper describes a scalable small-signal equivalent circuit for 0.25 m gatelength Double Heterojunction delta-doped PHEMTs. The scaling rules for all elements except the pad capacitances and bondwire inductances have been determined. Good agreement is obtained between simulation results and measured results for 2 times 20 m , 2 times 40 m, 2 times 60 m, 2 times 100 m gate width (number of gate fingers times unit gate width) DH PHEMT.     

Sub-micrometre dielectric and metallic yablonovite structures fabricated from resist templates

This paper reports the optical characterisation and numerical simulations of sub-micrometre yablonovite templates fabricated in poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) resist along with the pattern transfer to metals and other dielectrics. The fabrication is based on three consecutive exposures to an X-ray beam through a triangular lattice of holes. Up to seven (111) crystal periods are repeatedly obtained in thick PMMA layers. Optical characterisations of 1.3 m period templates show well-defined stop-bands in the mid-infrared, in good agreement with the numerical simulations. Two simple and low-cost methods are used to replicate the yablonovite structures in other materials. The pattern transfers to a metal (copper) and a high-refractive-index dielectric (titanium dioxide) are obtained by electrodeposition and a sol–gel technique, respectively. Very regular yablonovite-type metallic structures of 2 m lattice constant and 4.3 m height are fabricated with metallic wires of 500 nm diameter over a surface of 150 × 150 m².     

Focussing of submillimeter radiation guided by a dielectric sheet

Guided submillimeter radiation (=118.8 m) has been focussed by inserting a cylinder lens into the freely propagating beam in front of the incoupling prism. The beam profile at the focal spot has been determined experimentally, the results agree with theoretical predictions. The optical quality of the focus is good.     

Near Field Observation of a Refractive Index Grating and a Topographical Grating by an Optically-Trapped Gold Particle

We observed the near field for a refractive index grating fabricated on a planar light waveguide circuit (PLC) by scanning an optically-trapped 100 nm diameter gold particle. We demonstrate that stable trapping and scanning occur with a Gaussian laser beam at the scan velocity of 1.6 m/s and Nd:YAG laser power of 25mW. The scattered Ar laser light from the gold particle is strong at high refractive indexes of the grating with periods of 1.06 m and 0.53 m both by s and p polarized illumination. In addition, we observed the surface profile of the optical disk tracking groove with and without the gold particle. © 2004 The Optical Society of Japan     

Pulsed laser crystallization of hydrogen-free a-Si thin films for high-mobility poly-Si TFT fabrication

The possibility to fabricate high-mobility polysilicon TFTs by nanosecond pulsed laser crystallization of unhydrogenated amorphous Si thin films has been investigated. Two types of lasers have been used: a large area ( 1 cm²) single ArF excimer laser pulse and a small diameter ( 100 m) frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser beam, working in the scanning regime. Processed films have been characterized in detail by different optical and microscopic techniques. Device performances indicate that the best results are achieved with the excimer laser leading to high mobility values (up to 140 cm²/Vs) which are much larger than in polysilicon TFTs fabricated onto the same quartz substrates by low-temperature thermal (630° C) crystallization of amorphous Si films (_fe55 cm²/Vs).     

Trilinear generally covariant equations

Field equations for n-frames h ^a that are possible in the theory of absolute parallelism are considered. It is shown that in three cases the equations can, after the substitution h ^a =H^pH ^a (H=det H ^a , p is an n-dependent constant), be written in a trilinear form that contains only the matrix H _a and its derivatives and not H ^a . It is shown that the equations are still regular for degenerate but finite matrices H _a if rank H _a 2.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 22–27, February, 1991.     

The strength of Einstein's equations

The strength of Einstein's empty-space field equations is computed anew and shown to be equal to the amount of initial data required for a local solution of the equations. This same amount of initial data is shown to be precisely that required for a set of 16 unknown first-order differential equations containing 10 field variables and having six identities of second order. The 10 field variables must be functions of second order in the metric coefficients. The 16 field equationsC , = 0 whereC is Weyl's conformal tensor, are shown to have the same properties as those of the unknown equations, suggesting thatC = 0 is a satisfactory local first-order formulation of Einstein's second-order empty-space field equations.     

The refractivity of CO2 gas in the region of 10 μm

The refractivity of the CO₂ gas is measured with an experimental error of 2% in the 10-m region, using 10.4-m band CO₂ laser line. The frequency of the CO₂ laser is swept through the Doppler profile of the laser line. The experiment is achieved using a 0.63-m He–Ne/10.6-m CO₂-laser interferometer with a 2-m long vacuum cell. From the result, it is found that the Koch's formula also holds for the wavelengths in the 10-m region within an accuracy of 2%.     

Photorefractive measurements on electron-irradiated semi-insulating GaAs

We present photorefractive measurements at 1.06 m and 1.3 m performed in electron-irradiated GaAs. Irradiation with electrons of kinetic energies 1 MeV introduces intrinsic electrically active defects which modify the Fermi-level position and allow to modify the electron-hole competition mechanism of the photorefractive effect. Furthermore, it is shown that the optical absorption in the 1.3–1.5 m spectral range can be increased, which might allow to enlarge the useful spectral range of GaAs towards optical telecommunication windows. The native and irradiation-induced defects are assessed by electron paramagnetic resonance and optical absorption spectroscopy conducted at T=300 K and 77 K. The direct influence of an irradiation-induced mid-gap defect on the photorefractive effect is experimentally and theoretically demonstrated.     

Future μCF program with pulsed muons at UTMSL/KEK and RIKEN/RAL

The present paper summarizes new experimental proposals on muon catalyzed fusion (CF) research with a sharply pulsed negative muon beam now available at the UTMSL/KEK facility and soon to be available in a more extensive way at the RIKEN/RAL facility. Special emphasis is placed on (1) CF studies on ultra-pure D-T mixture, (2) slow ^– beam production via CF, and (3) some exotic CF phenomena.     

The van der Waals limit for classical systems. I. A variational principle

We consider the thermodynamic pressurep(, ) of a classical system of particles with the two-body interaction potentialq(r)+ ^v K(r), where is the number of space dimensions, is a positive parameter, and is the chemical potential. The temperature is not shown in the notation. We prove rigorously, for hard-core potentialsq(r) and for a very general class of functionsK(s), that the limit 0 of the pressurep(, ) exists and is given by where the limit and the supremum can be interchanged. Here is a certain class of nonnegative, Riemann integrable functions,D is a cube of volume |D|, anda ⁰() is the free energy density of a system withK=0 and density . A similar result is proved for the free energy.     

Excited states of the molecular ion (H2μ)+

The rotation-vibration spectrum of (H₂ )⁺ is computed. Radiative lifetimes of the excited states are of order 10^–4 s or more. These times can be considered infinite compared to the lifetime of ⁺. For the ion in a crystal the lifetimes are significantly decreased by interaction with polarized molecules of the lattice. Transition rates to the ground state are calculated for (H₂ )⁺ in a hydrogen crystal. The results make it possible to interpret the experimental data from SR investigations of hydrogen, deuterium and hydrogen-deuterium mixtures.     

Observation of plastic deformation in TiAlCN/a -C ceramic nanocomposite coating

Extensive plastic deformation of titanium aluminum carbonitride/amorphous carbon nanocomposite coating at room temperature was observed in this study. Nanoindentation measurement showed that the coating hardness was 24.4 GPa with the plasticity of 57.6%. The critical load of 1.3 m coating in scratch test was beyond 100 N. The depth of the 100 N scratch track identified by microstylus profilometer was 6.7 m, while the thickness of the coating in the center of the scratch track observed by scanning electron microscopy was 0.4 m, which is only about one third of that for the as-deposited coating. The amorphous carbon with sp² hybrid and -bonding is proposed to account for this unique plasticity. PACS 81.15.Gh; 81.07.Bc     

Positivity of entropy production in the presence of a random thermostat

We study nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in the presence of a thermostat acting by random forces, and propose a formula for the rate of entropy productione() in a state . When is a natural nonequilibrium steady state we show thate()0, and sometimes we can provee()>0.     

Measurement of the refractive index and optical absorption spectra of epitaxial bismuth substituted yttrium iron garnet films at uv to near-ir wavelengths

Refractive-index and optical-absorption spectra of Bi-substituted yttrium iron garnet films, epitaxially grown by liquid-phase epitaxy, have been measured in the spectral regime 0.26 m1.9 m by thin-film interference for 0.52 m and by ellipsometry for0.52 m. The Y_3–x–y Bi _x Pb _y Fe_5–z Pt _z O₁₂ films contain bismuth in the range Ox 1.42, lead in the range 0.01 y0.08 and platinum in the range 0.005<=z0.03. There is satisfactory coincidence between the results from ellipsometry and thin-film interference in the overlapping wavelength region. The materials investigated are the same as reported earlier from this laboratory in ter mof their magnetic and magnetooptic properties.     

Ar ion laser assisted chemical etching of via holes in tungsten sheets in air

Ar ion laser assisted chemical etching of 150 m thick annealed tungsten sheets in air is reported. The material removal mechanism involves local heating by the laser to temperatures in the range of 1000–1500 °C that causes rapid oxidation of the W to WO₃ which volatilizes readily. Holes with straight walls and slightly enlarged entrances near the surface were drilled with etch rates as high as 11.5 m/s at 13.8 W, and a minimum hole diameter of 21 m at 8.1 W. The diameters of the holes and the etch rates were measured and found to increase as a function of the laser power. It was found that by increasing the laser power above 11–12 W, no change was observed in the hole diameters which remained constant at about 31 m, whereas the etch rates continued to increase even faster than at low powers. Distinct adjacent holes of 25 m diameter could be drilled with their centers separated by as little as 60 m. This is therefore also the etching resolution in the present study.