The slings and arrows of communication on nanotechnology

According to numerous surveys the perceived risk of nanotechnology is low and most people feel that the benefits outweigh the risks. This article provides greater insight into risk perception and concludes that the positive attitude to nanotechnology is based not on knowledge but on hope and fascination. The perceived risk is low because of a lack of vivid and frightening images of possible hazards. If news flashes were to link nanotechnology to concrete hazards or actual harm to people, attitudes might suddenly change. Risk communication faces the problem of dealing with a public at large that has little or no knowledge about the technology. As it takes time and extensive additional research to develop appropriate communication strategies and disseminate them to the relevant institutions, this exercise should be started immediately.     

氧化物半导体柔性电子学研究进展

柔性电子学器件在未来消费电子领域有巨大的应用前景,更是消费升级和社会进步的必然需求,在可穿戴传感、柔性显示、电子皮肤和可植入医疗等领域有着广泛的应用前景。柔性透明高压二极管器件在构建一体化光伏系统和自供电可穿戴设备的能源管理电路中有着巨大的应用潜力。文章首先设计并制作了一种新颖的柔性透明ZnO场效应二极管,其整流比可高达10⁸,漏电流低至10^-15 A/μm,且制备工艺和普通TFT完全兼容。通过引入特定尺寸的错排(offset)区域,进一步制备了击穿电压最高可达150 V的柔性透明高压二极管;利用4个单元器件组合成柔性高压全波整流电路,成功地将摩擦纳米发电机产生的高压交流电整流为直流电,存储到超级电容器中。柔性光电探测器因具有轻便耐用、柔软便携、可与非平面组织贴合等独特优势,逐渐成为光电探测技术发展的一个新方向。通过微量调控生长过程中的氧流量,系统研究了柔性非晶Ga₂O₃日盲紫外探测器和X射线探测器的性能与材料制备过程中氧分压的对应关系,实现了对器件响应度和响应速度的调控,并给出了相应的物理模型;通过器件结构的设计与材料物性的调控,器件的性能得到了大幅提升,并显示出良好的耐高压、耐辐照和弯曲特性。     

空间光通信APT探测技术中位置敏感器件（PSD）的研究

鉴于空间光通信系统中分辨率在很大程度上影响着整个通信系统的性能，而PSD(position sensitive detector)作为APT(acquisition, pointing and tracking)子系统常用的探测器件，具有分辨率高，无盲区，响应速度较快的优点，分析了PSD的基本结构和定位原理，研究了使用PSD作为空间光通信APT子系统粗跟踪技术的位置分辨率，并指出了提高PSD分辨率的着手点。用实验方案对PSD的分辨率进行了具体的实验分析。通过对实验数据分析可知，PSD的平均位置分辨率达到12.6μm，该值与理论分辨率吻合得较好。这说明PSD作为APT子系统精跟踪探测器的可行性。     

Fabrication of tunnel junction-based molecular electronics and spintronics devices

Tunnel junction-based molecular devices (TJMDs) are highly promising for realizing futuristic electronics and spintronics devices for advanced logic and memory operations. Under this approach, ~2.5?nm molecular device elements bridge across the ~2-nm thick insulator of a tunnel junction along the exposed side edge(s). This paper details the efforts and insights for producing a variety of TJMDs by resolving multiple device fabrication and characterization issues. This study specifically discusses (i) compatibility between tunnel junction test bed and molecular solutions, (ii) optimization of the exposed side edge profile and insulator thickness for enhancing the probability of molecular bridging, (iii) effect of fabrication process-induced mechanical stresses, and (iv) minimizing electrical bias-induced instability after the device fabrication. This research will benefit other researchers interested in producing TJMDs efficiently. TJMD approach offers an open platform to test virtually any combination of magnetic and nonmagnetic electrodes, and promising molecules such as single molecular magnets, porphyrin, DNA, and molecular complexes.     

Quantum dot photonic devices for lightwave communication

For InAs-GaAs based quantum dot lasers emitting at 1300 nm digital modulation showing an open eye pattern up to 12 Gb/s at room temperature is demonstrated, at 10 Gb/s the bit error rate is below 10^-12 at -2 dBm receiver power. Cut-off frequencies up to 20 GHz are realised for lasers emitting at 1.1 m. Passively mode-locked QD lasers generate optical pulses with repetition frequencies between 5 and 50 GHz, with a minimum Fourier limited pulse length of 3 ps. The uncorrelated jitter is below 1 ps. We use here deeply etched narrow ridge waveguide structures which show excellent performance similar to shallow mesa structures, but a circular far field at a ridge width of 1 m, improving coupling efficiency into fibers. No beam filamentation of the fundamental mode, low -factors and strongly reduced sensitivity to optical feedback is observed. QD lasers are thus superior to QW lasers for any system or network.Quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers (QD SOAs) demonstrate gain recovery times of 120–140 fs, 4–7 times faster than bulk/QW SOAs, and a net gain larger than 0.4 dB/(mm*QD layer) providing us with novel types of booster amplifiers and Mach–Zehnder interferometers.These breakthroughs became possible due to systematic development of self-organized growth technologies. PACS 81.07.Ta; 81.16.Dn; 42.55.Px; 42.60.-v     

Hierarchical Monte Carlo methods for fractal random fields

Two hierarchical Monte Carlo methods for the generation of self-similar fractal random fields are compared and contrasted. The first technique, successive random addition (SRA), is currently popular in the physics community. Despite the intuitive appeal of SRA, rigorous mathematical reasoning reveals that SRA cannot be consistent with any stationary power-law Gaussian random field for any Hurst exponent; furthermore, there is an inherent ratio of largest to smallest putative scaling constant necessarily exceeding a factor of 2 for a wide range of Hurst exponentsH, with 0.30<H<0.85. Thus, SRA is inconsistent with a stationary power-law fractal random field and would not be useful for problems that do not utilize additional spatial averaging of the velocity field. The second hierarchical method for fractal random fields has recently been introduced by two of the authors and relies on a suitable explicit multiwavelet expansion (MWE) with high-moment cancellation. This method is described briefly, including a demonstration that, unlike SRA, MWE is consistent with a stationary power-law random field over many decades of scaling and has low variance.     

Comparison of fractal and profilometric methods for surface topography characterization

In this study microstructural and roughness characterization of surface of aluminium foils used in lithographic printing process was performed by contact and non-contact profilometric methods and fractal analysis. Significant differences in roughness parameters values inferred from stylus method in respect to those inferred from the non-contact measurements were observed. The investigation of correlation between various fractal dimensions obtained from gray-scale SEM micrographs and binary images resulting from median filtering of the original SEM micrographs as well as selected relevant roughness parameters shows that there is a strong correlation between certain roughness parameters and particular fractal dimensions. This correlations permit better physical understanding of fractal characteristics and interpretation of the dynamics of surface roughness change through processing. Generally these correlations are more suitable for parameters obtained by stylus method than those inferred from the laser-based measurements.     

Design principles for elementary gene circuits: Elements,methods, and examples

The control of gene expression involves complex circuits that exhibit enormous variation in design. For years the most convenient explanation for these variations was historical accident. According to this view, evolution is a haphazard process in which many different designs are generated by chance; there are many ways to accomplish the same thing, and so no further meaning can be attached to such different but equivalent designs. In recent years a more satisfying explanation based on design principles has been found for at least certain aspects of gene circuitry. By design principle we mean a rule that characterizes some biological feature exhibited by a class of systems such that discovery of the rule allows one not only to understand known instances but also to predict new instances within the class. The central importance of gene regulation in modern molecular biology provides strong motivation to search for more of these underlying design principles. The search is in its infancy and there are undoubtedly many design principles that remain to be discovered. The focus of this three-part review will be the class of elementary gene circuits in bacteria. The first part reviews several elements of design that enter into the characterization of elementary gene circuits in prokaryotic organisms. Each of these elements exhibits a variety of realizations whose meaning is generally unclear. The second part reviews mathematical methods used to represent, analyze, and compare alternative designs. Emphasis is placed on particular methods that have been used successfully to identify design principles for elementary gene circuits. The third part reviews four design principles that make specific predictions regarding (1) two alternative modes of gene control, (2) three patterns of coupling gene expression in elementary circuits, (3) two types of switches in inducible gene circuits, and (4) the realizability of alternative gene circuits and their response to phased environmental cues. In each case, the predictions are supported by experimental evidence. These results are important for understanding the function, design, and evolution of elementary gene circuits. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

RFID technology for human implant devices

This article presents an overview on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for human implants and investigates the technological feasibility of such implants for locating and tracking persons or for remotely controlling human biological functions. Published results on the miniaturization of implantable passive RFID devices are reported as well as a discussion on the choice of the transmission frequency in wireless communication between a passive RFID device implanted inside human body and an off-body interrogator. The two techniques (i.e., inductive coupling and electromagnetic coupling) currently used for wirelessly supplying power to and read data from a passive implantable RFID device are described and some documented biomedical and therapeutic applications of human RFID-implant devices are finally reported.     

JINR CICC in computational chemistry and nanotechnology problems: DL_POLY performance for different communication architectures

This report compares the performance of the DL_POLY general-purpose molecular dynamics simulation package on the LIT JINR computing cluster CICC with various communication systems. The comparison involved two cluster architectures: Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand technologies, respectively. The code performance tests include some comparison of the CICC cluster with the special-purpose computer MDGRAPE-3 developed at RIKEN for a high-speed acceleration of the MD (molecular dynamics) without a fixed cutoff. The DL_POLY benchmark covers a set of typical MD system simulations detailed below. The article is published in the original.     

Electro-optic polymer based devices and technology for optical telecommunication

Electro-optic polymer waveguide devices are very attractive for optical communication systems, because of their potentially simple and low-cost fabrication procedure. High bandwidth devices are enabled by the low dielectric constant of polymers with negligible dispersion from DC to optical frequencies. We first detail the modelization steps relating to the optical and electrical aspects of devices. We then outline the different steps of the fabrication process of electro-optic polymer based devices. By way of illustrating these considerations, we present some original realizations namely polarization insensitive modulators, switching devices using an asymetric X coupler and optic to RF converters based on difference frequency mixing. To cite this article: P. Labbé et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 543–554.     

Design of data communication and management system for ground test and verification devices of space laser communication

Verification of a space laser communication system's parts or of component-level, terminal-level, and system-level performance using ground test and verification devices on the ground before launch is vital. In this paper, a data communication and management system is proposed, which is an important part of the ground test and verification devices system and manages the test process and impacts on the measurement results directly. We improved the existing hardware buses to make up the hardware part, and also designed the software part. Several typical tests were performed, and the results show that the maximum time delay is less than 50 ms. The developed data communication and management system is demonstrated to be a high-performance system which can meet the requirements in our project.     

Trends for nanotechnology development in China, Russia, and India

China, Russia, and India are playing an increasingly important role in global nanotechnology research and development (R&D). This paper comparatively inspects the paper and patent publications by these three countries in the Thomson Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) database and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database (1976–2007). Bibliographic, content map, and citation network analyses are used to evaluate country productivity, dominant research topics, and knowledge diffusion patterns. Significant and consistent growth in nanotechnology papers are noted in the three countries. Between 2000 and 2007, the average annual growth rate was 31.43% in China, 11.88% in Russia, and 33.51% in India. During the same time, the growth patterns were less consistent in patent publications: the corresponding average rates are 31.13, 10.41, and 5.96%. The three countries’ paper impact measured by the average number of citations has been lower than the world average. However, from 2000 to 2007, it experienced rapid increases of about 12.8 times in China, 8 times in India, and 1.6 times in Russia. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were the most productive institutions in paper publication, with 12,334, 6,773, and 1,831 papers, respectively. The three countries emphasized some common research topics such as “Quantum dots,” “Carbon nanotubes,” “Atomic force microscopy,” and “Scanning electron microscopy,” while Russia and India reported more research on nano-devices as compared with China. CAS, RAS, and IIT played key roles in the respective domestic knowledge diffusion.     

Introduction to graphene electronics – a new era of digital transistors and devices

The speed of silicon-based transistors has reached an impasse in the recent decade, primarily due to scaling techniques and the short-channel effect. Conversely, graphene (a revolutionary new material possessing an atomic thickness) has been shown to exhibit a promising value for electrical conductivity. Graphene would thus appear to alleviate some of the drawbacks associated with silicon-based transistors. It is for this reason why such a material is considered one of the most prominent candidates to replace silicon within nano-scale transistors. The major crux here, is that graphene is intrinsically gapless, and yet, transistors require a band-gap pertaining to a well-defined ON/OFF logical state. Therefore, exactly as to how one would create this band-gap in graphene allotropes is an intensive area of growing research. Existing methods include nanoribbons, bilayer and multi-layer structures, carbon nanotubes, as well as the usage of the graphene substrates. Graphene transistors can generally be classified according to two working principles. The first is that a single graphene layer, nanoribbon or carbon nanotube can act as a transistor channel, with current being transported along the horizontal axis. The second mechanism is regarded as tunnelling, whether this be band-to-band on a single graphene layer, or vertically between adjacent graphene layers. The high-frequency graphene amplifier is another talking point in recent research, since it does not require a clear ON/OFF state, as with logical electronics. This paper reviews both the physical properties and manufacturing methodologies of graphene, as well as graphene-based electronic devices, transistors, and high-frequency amplifiers from past to present studies. Finally, we provide possible perspectives with regards to future developments.     

Comparison of fractal analyses methods and fractal dimension for pre-treated stainless steel surfaces and the correlation to adhesive joint strength

The fractal dimensions of six differently mechanically pre-treated stainless steel samples were investigated using five fractal algorithms. The surfaces were analyzed using a profiler, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy (LM), and thereafter adhesively bonded and tested in single-overlap joints to test their tensile strength. All samples showed different fractal behavior, depending on the microscopic methods and fractal algorithms. However, the overall relation between fractal dimension and tensile strength is qualitatively the same, except for the SEM images. This verifies that tensile strength is correlated to fractal dimension, although only within the length-scale of the profiler and the light microscope (≈0.5–100 μm). The AFM method was excluded in this comparison, since the limitation in the z-direction for the AFM scanner made it difficult to scan the rougher parts of the blasted samples. The magnitude of the surfaces is a parameter not often considered in fractal analysis. It is shown that the magnitude, for the Fourier method, is correlated to the arithmetic average difference, R_a, but only weakly to the fractal dimension. Hence, traditional parameters, such as R_a, tell us very little about the spatial distribution of the elevation data. Received: 22 December 1999 / Accepted: 9 October 2000 / Published online: 9 February 2001     

Scanning probe microscopies, nanoscience and nanotechnology

The symbiotic relationship between nanoscience and nanotechnology and the scanning probe microscopies is analyzed in terms of relating non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) technology to applications requiring detection, manipulation and fabrication on the molecular scale. The features of NC-AFM in this connection, which facilitate its unique relationship with nanoscale science and technology, are discussed. Specific typical examples are presented of applications where a NC-AFM measurement of a specific physical or chemical property is correlated with position, orientation or location on the atomic scale.     

能源效率、热电效应和纳米技术

文章介绍了能源效率、热电效应以及纳米技术这三者之间的关系。文章首先讨论了能源效率的重要性以及余热浪费对能源效率的影响,然后介绍了材料的热电效应以及利用热电效应使余热发电的可能性和实际应用中的主要障碍。最后阐明了近年来纳米技术的发展使得这一技术有可能取得突破性进展的主要原因。     

能源效率、热电效应和纳米技术

文章介绍了能源效率、热电效应以及纳米技术这三者之间的关系。文章首先讨论了能源效率的重要性以及余热浪费对能源效率的影响,然后介绍了材料的热电效应以及利用热电效应使余热发电的可能性和实际应用中的主要障碍。最后阐明了近年来纳米技术的发展使得这一技术有可能取得突破性进展的主要原因。     

Hierarchic oscillations and averaging methods in nonlinear problems of relativistic electronics

The ways and peculiarities of the application of the hierarchic theory of nonlinear oscillations and methods of averaging in problems of relativistic electrodynamics are given. By using the motion of charged particles and beams in periodic electromagnetic fields as an basis example the theory of the nonlinear hierarchic oscillations are formulated. Effectivity and possibilities of the described approaches are illuatrated by the examples of single particle and selfconsistance theories of the parametrical and superheterodyne free-electron laser, the theory of the EH-accelerators. The material of the article is presented in a form of general theory of relativistic electronic devices with protracted interaction, which some methodical peculiarities are illustrated by concrete partial examples.     

International nanotechnology development in 2003: Country,institution, and technology field analysis based on USPTO patent database

Nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) have seen rapid growth and expansion in new areas in recent years. This paper provides an international patent analysis using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data searched by keywords of the entire text: title, abstract, claims, and specifications. A fraction of these patents fully satisfy the National Nanotechnology Initiative definition of nanotechnology (which requires exploiting specific phenomena and direct manipulation at the nanoscale), while others only make use of NSE tools and methods of investigation. In previous work we proposed an integrated patent analysis and visualization framework of patent content mapping for the NSE field and of knowledge flow pattern identification until 2002. In this paper, the results are updated for 2003, and the new trends are presented.