The photoacoustic spectroscopic investigations of the surface preparation of ZnSe crystals with the use of the optimization methods

This paper shows results of the photoacoustic (PA) spectral studies, with the microphone detection, of a series of ZnSe crystals with differently prepared surfaces. All samples exhibited the surface absorption connected with defects states located on their surfaces. The quality of the surface preparation is expressed by the surface absorption coefficient spectra of the samples times the thickness of a damaged layer. In this paper both theoretical and experimental photoacoustic amplitude and phase spectra as also the corresponding computed surface and volume optical absorption coefficient spectra of the samples with differently prepared surfaces are presented and discussed. The procedure of computations of the volume and surface absorption spectra with the use of the optimization method is presented in the paper too.     

On the enhancement of the figure of merit in bulk nanocomposites

In this paper we make a detailed comparison of the thermoelectric properties of quantum dot superlattices with those of equivalently doped bulk material and show that a major contribution to the enhancement of the figure of merit comes from the increase of the thermoelectric power over that of bulk, in addition to the lattice thermal conductivity reduction in quantum dot superlattices. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Enhancement of the far-field output power and the properties of the very-small-aperture lasers

We report on a VSAL structure fabricated by a 650 nm edge emitting laser diode with an Au-coated facet and an aperture size of 250 × 500 nm. The far field output power can maintain at 1 mW and the power density is 7.5 mW/μm². Some properties of the VSAL including the threshold current change, the red-shift of the spectral position, and the strong relative-intensity-noise are presented. The physical mechanisms responsible for these phenomena are also discussed, which may contribute to the understanding and application of the potential device for near-field optics.     

On the Doppler distortion of the sea-wave spectra

Discussions on a form of a frequency spectrum of wind-driven sea waves just above the spectral maximum have continued for the last three decades. In 1958 Phillips made a conjecture that wave breaking is the main mechanism responsible for the spectrum formation [O.M. Phillips, J. Fluid Mech. 4 (1958) 426]. That leads to the spectrum decay ∼ω⁻⁵, where ω is the frequency of waves. There is a contradiction between the numerous experimental data and this spectrum. Experiments frequently show decay ∼ω⁻⁴ [Y. Toba, J. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan 29 (1973) 209; M.A. Donelan, J. Hamilton, W.H. Hui, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London A315 (1985) 509; P.A. Hwang, et al., J. Phys. Oceanogr. 30 (1999) 2753]. There are several ways of the explanation of this phenomenon. One of them (proposed by Banner [M.L. Banner, J. Phys. Oceanogr. 20 (1990) 966]) takes into account the Doppler effect due to surface circular currents generated by underlying waves in the Phillips model.In this article the influence of the Doppler effect on an arbitrary averaged spectrum is considered using both analytic and numerical approaches. Although we mostly concentrated on the very important case of Phillips model, the developed technique and general formula can be used for the analysis of other spectra.For the particular case of Phillips spectra we got analytic asymptotics in the vicinity of spectral maximum and for high frequencies. Results were obtained for two most important angular dependences of the spectra: isotropic and strongly anisotropic. Together with the analytic investigation we performed numerical calculations in a wide range of frequencies. Both high and low frequency asymptotics are in very good agreement with the numerical results.It was shown that at least at low frequencies, the correction to the spectrum due to the Doppler shift is negligible. At high frequencies there is an asymptotic with tail ∼ω⁻³.     

Numerical computation of the asymptotic size of the rotation domain for the Arnold family

We consider the Arnold Tongue of the Arnold family of circle maps associated to a fixed Diophantine rotation number θ. The corresponding maps of the family are analytically conjugate to a rigid rotation. This conjugation is defined on a (maximal) complex strip of the circle and, after a suitable scaling, the size of this strip is given by an analytic function of the perturbative parameter.The main purpose of this paper is to perform a numerical accurate computation of this function and of its Taylor expansion. This allows us to verify previous theoretical results. The rotation numbers we select are quadratic irrationals, mainly the Golden Mean.By introducing a nonstandard extrapolation process, especially suited for the problem, we compute all the quantities required (rotation numbers, Arnold Tongues, Fourier and Taylor coefficients) with high precision.     

Experimental Prospects of the B_c Studies of the LHCb Experiment

The experimental prospects of the Bc studies of the LHCb experiment are discussed. Production rates of Bc mesons at different center-of-mass energies are estimated with the dedicated generator BCVEGPY. Theoretical estimates and experimental measurements of the Bc± inclusive production cross section at /s =1.96 TeV are compared. The possibilities of studying Bc production, Bc spectroscopy, Bc decays and CP violation in Bc decays in the LHCb experiment are evaluated.     

On the geometrical representation of the Jacobian in the path integral reduction problem

By using the formula for the scalar curvature of the manifold with the Kaluza-Klein metric we obtain the geometrical representation of the Jacobian resulted from the path integral reduction problem in Wiener path integrals for a scalar particle on a smooth compact Riemannian manifold with the given free isometric action of the compact semisimple Lie group.     

Influence of the viscosity and the substrate on the surface hydrophobicity of polyurethane coatings

Tailor-made polyurethane (PU) dispersions were synthesized as coatings for paperboard for dry food packaging. For this purpose a low moisture-vapor transmission rate and a high surface hydrophobicity are desirable characteristics, which are both met by PU. However, it was found that the surface hydrophobicity of water-borne PU dispersions depends strongly on the viscosity of the dispersion. This dependency was studied by static contact angle measurements (SCA) as well as a novel technique using digital pulsed-force mode atomic force microscopy (DPFM-AFM). Comparison of the results validated that DPFM-AFM is a valuable tool to characterize the surface hydrophilicity. Both techniques confirmed that the surface hydrophobicity varies with the viscosity and that an optimum viscosity for the PU coating with a maximum surface hydrophobicity can consequently be determined. It was found that both lower as well as higher viscosities led to a less hydrophobic surface.     

Progress in the understanding of the normal state of the cuprates

Over the last years there has been increasing evidence that the normal state of the cuprates can not be described adequately with individual quasiparticles within Fermi-liquid theory. While the low-lying excitations in the superconducting state are nevertheless possibly of quasiparticle character, this character vanishes with the loss of superconducting phase coherence when going to the normal conducting state. Generally, this normal state is characterized by strong heterogeneity. In real space this manifests in charge and spin ordering, either static or dynamical, the so-called ‘stripes’. The spectral signatures of various models describing this unusual metallic normal state together with less exotic non-Fermi-liquid models, like the marginal Fermi liquid, will be compared to photoemission spectra with high angular and energy resolution and to results obtained by other methods. Received: 19 March 2002 / Accepted: 2 October 2002 / Published online: 5 February 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-30/2093-7729, E-mail: christoph.janowitz@physik.hu-berlin.de     

Simultaneous determination of the ultrasound velocity and the thickness of solid plates from the analysis of thickness resonances using air-coupled ultrasound

A method that combines transmission of air-coupled ultrasound pulses through solid plates and amplitude and phase spectral analysis is presented. In particular, the method analyzes the first thickness resonance of the plates. The purpose is to determine, simultaneously, velocity and attenuation coefficient of the ultrasounds in the material and the thickness of the plate. This is especially useful when thickness can not be measured independently. The method is successfully applied to soft membranes, biological samples and FRP composites.     

Comparison of the energetic properties and the dynamical stability in a mathematical model of the stretch reflex

The previous studies on finite-time thermodynamic engines have shown that some of the parameters affecting their thermodynamic performance also affect their stability. Moreover, such parameters have to be tuned to reach an optimal trade-off between these two generic properties. In the present work we carry out a similar analysis on a mathematical model of the stretch reflex regulatory pathway, which is a simplified version of a previously published model. We show that the model has a unique stable fixed point in the absence of time delays. However, when the system inherent time delays are considered, they can destabilize the fixed point and engender a stable limit cycle. We further explore the parameter space to analyse the sensitivity of the system stability to variations in the parameter values. Particular attention is paid to the parameter here denoted as α, which has been shown to determine the muscle thermodynamic properties during steady-state contractions: larger values of α mean more powerful and less efficient muscles. Our results indicate that the stretch reflex pathway is less stable in the more powerful and less efficient muscles. We finally compare these observations with those obtained on thermal engines.     

Completely automated computation of the heavy-fermion corrections to the three-loop matching coefficient of the vector current

We evaluate the corrections to the matching coefficient of the vector current between Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and Non-Relativistic QCD (NRQCD) to three-loop order containing a closed heavy-fermion loop. The result constitutes a building block both for the bottom- and top-quark system at threshold. Strong emphasis is put on our completely automated approach of the calculation including the generation of the Feynman diagrams, the identification of the topologies, the reduction to master integrals and the automated numerical computation of the latter.     

On the use of the photoacoustic technique for the measurement of the thermomechanical properties of semiconductor two-layer systems

The photoacoustic technique is used in semiconductor two-layer systems for the determination of thermal properties and thermal expansion coefficient. The two-layer systems studied were amorphous silicon-glass and Al_0.2Ga_0.8As---GaAs. Our results show that the proposed method is a reliable technique for the characterization of other semiconductor two-layers systems.     

Influence of the inhomogeneity of a multilayer structure on the depth of an implanted-junction rectifier

It has been shown, that inhomogeneity of a multilayer structure leads to decreasing of depth of a p-n-junction, which was produced in the multilayer structure. In the Letter we determined some conditions for decreasing depth of an implanted-junction rectifier.     

On the thermodynamic origin of the quantum potential

In a new thermodynamic interpretation, the quantum potential is shown to result from the presence of a subtle thermal vacuum energy distributed across the whole domain of an experimental setup. Explicitly, its form is demonstrated to be exactly identical to the heat distribution derived from the defining equation for classical diffusion wave fields. For a single free particle path, this thermal energy does not significantly affect particle motion. However, in between different paths, or at interfaces, the accumulation-depletion law for diffusion waves provides an immediate new understanding of the quantum potential’s main features.     

On the kinetics of the generation of point defects in the Si-SiO2 system

The results of studies of the point-defect generation kinetics in the Si-SiO₂ system by means of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and InfraRed (IR) absorption spectroscopy are presented. The influence of oxidation conditions (oxidation temperature and time, cooling rate) on the defect structure of the Si-SiO₂ interface has been studied. It is shown that this influence can be explained by the model of point-defect generation proposed by Tan and Gösele, and the structural properties of the Si-SiO₂ system can be improved by an appropriate choice of the oxidation conditions.     

Analytical results on the magnetization of the Hamiltonian Mean-Field model

The violent relaxation and the metastable states of the Hamiltonian Mean-Field model, a paradigmatic system of long-range interactions, is studied using a Hamiltonian formalism. Rigorous results are derived algebraically for the time evolution of selected macroscopic observables, e.g., the global magnetization. The high- and low-energy limits are investigated and the analytical predictions are compared with direct N-body simulations. The method we use enables us to re-interpret the out-of-equilibrium phase transition separating magnetized and (almost) unmagnetized regimes.     

Determination of the central density on the basis of its moments

The value of the central density is of key importance for annihilation processes. For the ground state we discuss its determination from the moments of the ground state density. We first review the way of reaching the moments from the spectrum. In particular we show how to get the lowest moments in D = 3, namely 〈r⁻²〉 and 〈r⁻¹〉 from the series expansion of the Laplace transform of the density. We then recall a method to obtain the central density based on the Stieltjes moment problem. If the number of known moments is finite, this technique yields a lower bound. We investigate the possibilities to estimate the accuracy of the bound and the corresponding asymptotic value. An application to the muonic ²⁰⁸Pb atom is presented.     

On the scarcity of solutions of the equations of magnetohydrodynamic equilibria with flow

While particular analytic solutions to the equations of axisymmetric MHD equilibria with flow are known, it is not clear what possible choosing of the free parameters of the equation of the magnetic flux will yield a solution. The most important of these is the poloidal stream function. We show that for a given flow to be able to yield an equilibrium, the flow itself must satisfy an analogous equation to the generalized Grad-Shafranov one. The problem therefore turns out to be how common are solutions to this type of equations. It is shown that in a natural space of functions, the set of these solutions is contained within a manifold of infinite codimension: extremely small by any criteria. Hence the class of flows for which an equilibrium, even defined only locally and irrespective of boundary conditions, may be found, is highly constrained.