Effects of a magnetic field on a modulated phase

The effects of a magnetic field on a modulated phase are studied. A modulated phase is found to have two critical fields H₁ and H₂. For a large enough magnetic field, H₁ and H₂ can be approximated by a linear law. As a result, the minimum magnetic field needed to destroy a modulated phase is a constant. The minimum magnetic field also greatly depends on the order of a commensurate phase. A very high order commensurate phase and an incommensurate phase cannot survive a magnetic field. The behaviour of a magnetoelastic chain in a magnetic field can be described by a harmless devil's staircase. The inverse temperature is found to play a role similar to that of a special magnetic field. The deeper physics underlying these new phenomena is the breaking of the left-right symmetry of a phase diagram. As a result a controllable path to a modulated phase is found.     

Role of vacancies of a strongly strained crystal in the melting process

It has been shown that, apart from classical vacancies formed as a result of the thermal fluctuations, a crystal can contain so-called nonclassical vacancies of nonfluctuation nature. The latter vacancies appear when the temperature exceeds a critical value T _C . The factor responsible for their formation is a mechanical instability of an ideal crystal. The temperature T _C is a second-order phase transition point. The vacancies formed as a result of this phase transition are joined together into small clusters with sizes of the order of several atoms. The above transition makes a substantial contribution to the premelting process observed experimentally.     

Design and performance of a compact superconducting duplexer at VHF-band

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and performance of a compact high temperature superconducting duplexer at VHF-band. The duplexer consists of a T-junction and two four-pole filters with an ultra-narrow bandwidth of 400 kHz at 216 MHz and 220 MHz, respectively. By using gap-coupled feedlines in the filter design procedure, the duplexer is constructed by connecting the two filters using a T-junction with short-length branches. The two filters are fabricated on separate substrates and are carefully packaged to achieve a high isolation between the duplexer channels. The duplexer has a compact size of 41.6 mm × 28 mm. The measured results at 73 K show a high performance. The return loss is −17 dB, the insertion losses of both channels are less than 0.16 dB, and the out-of-band rejections are higher than 60 dB. The isolation between the two channels is better than 76 dB.     

Magnetic properties in Fe-doped NiO synthesized by co-precipitation

The magnetic properties of 1.5 at% Fe-doped NiO bulk samples were investigated. The samples were prepared by sintering the corresponding precursor in air at temperatures between 400 and 800 °C for 6 h. The synthesis was by a chemical co-precipitation and post-thermal decomposition method. In order to allow a comparison, a NiO/0.76 at% NiFe₂O₄ mixture was also prepared. The X-ray diffraction pattern shows that the samples that were sintered at 400 and 600 °C remain single phase. As the sintering temperature increased to 800 °C, however, the sample becomes a mixture of NiO and NiFe₂O₄ ferrite phases. The samples were investigated by measuring their magnetization as a function of magnetic field. The samples sintered between 400 and 800 °C and the one mixed directly with NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles show a coercivity value of H_c≈200, 325, 350 and 110 Oe, respectively. The magnetic properties of the samples depend strongly on the sintering temperature. Simultaneously, the field-cooling hysteresis loop shift also observed after cooling the sample sintered at 600 °C to low temperature suggests the possibility of the existence of a ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic exchange coupling.     

Microfabrication of stacks of acoustic matching layers for 15 MHz ultrasonic transducers

This paper presents a novel method used to manufacture stacks of multiple matching layers for 15 MHz piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers, using fabrication technology derived from the MEMS industry. The acoustic matching layers were made on a silicon wafer substrate using micromachining techniques, i.e., lithography and etch, to design silicon and polymer layers with the desired acoustic properties. Two matching layer configurations were tested: a double layer structure consisting of a silicon–polymer composite and polymer and a triple layer structure consisting of silicon, composite, and polymer. The composite is a biphase material of silicon and polymer in 2-2 connectivity. The matching layers were manufactured by anisotropic wet etch of a (1 1 0)-oriented Silicon-on-Insulator wafer. The wafer was etched by KOH 40 wt%, to form 83 μm deep and 4.5 mm long trenches that were subsequently filled with Spurr’s epoxy, which has acoustic impedance 2.4 MRayl. This resulted in a stack of three layers: The silicon substrate, a silicon–polymer composite intermediate layer, and a polymer layer on the top. The stacks were bonded to PZT disks to form acoustic transducers and the acoustic performance of the fabricated transducers was tested in a pulse-echo setup, where center frequency, −6 dB relative bandwidth and insertion loss were measured. The transducer with two matching layers was measured to have a relative bandwidth of 70%, two-way insertion loss 18.4 dB and pulse length 196 ns. The transducers with three matching layers had fractional bandwidths from 90% to 93%, two-way insertion loss ranging from 18.3 to 25.4 dB, and pulse lengths 326 and 446 ns. The long pulse lengths of the transducers with three matching layers were attributed to ripple in the passband.     

Fedosov Deformation Quantization as a BRST Theory

The relationship is established between the Fedosov deformation quantization of a general symplectic manifold and the BFV-BRST quantization of constrained dynamical systems. The original symplectic manifold ℳ is presented as a second class constrained surface in the fibre bundle ?^* _ρℳ which is a certain modification of a usual cotangent bundle equipped with a natural symplectic structure. The second class system is converted into the first class one by continuation of the constraints into the extended manifold, being a direct sum of ?^* _ρℳ and the tangent bundle Tℳ. This extended manifold is equipped with a nontrivial Poisson bracket which naturally involves two basic ingredients of Fedosov geometry: the symplectic structure and the symplectic connection. The constructed first class constrained theory, being equivalent to the original symplectic manifold, is quantized through the BFV-BRST procedure. The existence theorem is proven for the quantum BRST charge and the quantum BRST invariant observables. The adjoint action of the quantum BRST charge is identified with the Abelian Fedosov connection while any observable, being proven to be a unique BRST invariant continuation for the values defined in the original symplectic manifold, is identified with the Fedosov flat section of the Weyl bundle. The Fedosov fibrewise star multiplication is thus recognized as a conventional product of the quantum BRST invariant observables. Received: 28 April 2000 / Accepted: 6 December 2000     

Study of the x-ray photoelectron spectrum of tungsten—tungsten oxide as a function of thickness of the surface oxide layer

The photoelectron spectrum of tungsten metal using Al K_α X-rays has been studied as a function of a tungsten oxide layer on the surface. The photoelectron lines arising from the 4f shell of tungsten metal are clearly separated in energy from those coming from WO₃. The ratio of the intensities of these two sets of lines were measured for a series of metal samples which were anodized to a determined level of tungsten oxide. The data were shown to be consistent with a uniform deposition of oxide film. The escape depth, or thickness from which half the photoelectron intensity is derived, was found for a 1450 eV photoelectron to be 8.9 Å and 18.3 Å for W and WO₃, respectively.     

The influence of radiation-induced vacancy on the formation of thin-film of compound layer during a reactive diffusion process

A theoretical approach is developed that describes the formation of a thin-film of AB-compound layer under the influence of radiation-induced vacancy. The AB-compound layer is formed as a result of a chemical reaction between the atomic species of A and B immiscible layers. The two layers are irradiated with a beam of energetic particles and this process leads to several vacant lattice sites creation in both layers due to the displacement of lattice atoms by irradiating particles. A- and B-atoms diffuse via these lattice sites by means of a vacancy mechanism in considerable amount to reaction interfaces A/AB and AB/B. The reaction interfaces increase in thickness as a result of chemical transformation between the diffusing species and surface atoms (near both layers). The compound layer formation occurs in two stages. The first stage begins as an interfacial reaction controlled process, and the second as a diffusion controlled process. The critical thickness and time are determined at a transition point between the two stages. The influence of radiation-induced vacancy on layer thickness, speed of growth, and reaction rate is investigated under irradiation within the framework of the model presented here. The result obtained shows that the layer thickness, speed of growth, and reaction rate increase strongly as the defect generation rate rises in the irradiated layers. It also shows the feasibility of producing a compound layer (especially in near-noble metal silicide considered in this study) at a temperature below their normal formation temperature under the influence of radiation.     

Annealing effect on the structural and optical properties of a Cd1−xZnxS thin film for photovoltaic applications

Herein is a report of a study on a Cd_1−xZn_xS thin film grown on an ITO substrate using a chemical bath deposition technique. The as-deposited films were annealed in air at 400 °C for 30 min. The composition, surface morphology and structural properties of the as-deposited and annealed Cd_1−xZn_xS thin films were studied using EDX, SEM and X-ray diffraction techniques. The annealed films have been observed to possess a crystalline nature with a hexagonal structure. The optical absorption spectra were recorded within the range of 350-800 nm. The band gap of the as-deposited thin films varied from 2.46 to 2.62 eV, whereas in the annealed film these varied from 2.42 to 2.59 eV. The decreased band gap of the films after annealing was due to the improved crystalline nature of the material.     

Regeneration of surface roughness by the Langevin equation using stochastic analysis on AFM image of a carbon fiber

A new method was developed using AFM images of a fiber surface to regenerate the surface roughness in 3D geometry, such as the cylindrical shape of a “model” fiber. The Langevin equation was used to derive the fluctuations of a carbon fiber surface image. The equation contains two quantities, D⁽¹⁾ (h) and D⁽²⁾ (h) which in physics represent drift and diffusion coefficients. Knowing this coefficient and adding a proper noise function, a similar surface of larger dimension with the same statistical properties of the initial data was created. The generated surface was mapped into cylindrical coordinates, then a mesh generated. The resulting reconstructed surface, input over the geometry of a cylindrical shape, can be implemented for finite element analysis of a single fiber surrounded by matrix and generalized to a many fiber model.     

Design of a planar,high-gain,substrate-integrated Fabry–Perot cavity antenna at terahertz frequency

This paper presents an optimum design of a substrate-integrated cavity-type antenna for use in the terahertz frequency range. The antenna was designed with a frequency-selective surface (FSS) and a planar feeding structure that are both patterned on a high-permittivity gallium-arsenide substrate. The FSS, printed on the bottom side of the substrate, is made of a circular hole array that acts as a partially reflecting mirror. Meanwhile, the planar feeding structure, printed on the top side of the substrate, is a center-fed, open-ended slotline whose ground plane acts as a perfect reflective mirror; thus, it forms a Fabry–Perot resonator. The optimized antenna produced a maximum boresight gain of 14.3 dBi, a radiation efficiency of 62%, and side-lobe levels of −15.1 dB and −15.0 dB for the E- and H-planes, respectively, at a resonance frequency of 320 GHz. The proposed design exhibits compactness, planarity, and light weight compared with the substrate lens-coupled antenna design.     

The structural properties of RbMnX<Subscript>3</Subscript> (X = F,Cl, Br) halides

The results of nonempirical calculation of energies of three polytypes (cubic, two-layer hexagonal, and six-layer hexagonal) are given for RbMnX₃ (X = F, Cl, Br) crystals. The calculation is performed using an ionic crystal model with regard for the deformability and the dipole and quadrupole polarizabilities of ions. The behavior of these crystals under the action of hydrostatic pressure is studied. It is demonstrated that, at normal pressure, the RbMnCl₃ and RbMnBr₃ crystals have a six-layer hexagonal structure. At pressures above 11 kbar, RbMnCl₃ passes to a phase with a cubic structure; RbMnBr₃ at pressures above 90 kbar passes to a phase with a two-layer hexagonal structure. The RbMnF₃ crystal under normal conditions has a cubic structure and experiences no phase transformations under the effect of pressure. The obtained results are in satisfactory agreement with the known experimental data.     

Boundary conditions for distribution functions at interfaces between crystalline grains

The paper concerns a derivation of boundary conditions at a planar interface between two crystalline grains for distribution functions of quasiparticles of a given kind. The derivation is performed under the assumption that the equi-energy surfaces (in thek-space) which, in general, need not be the same in both the grains, are convex. The boundary conditions take into account a jump of the (electro) chemical potential and temperature induced when a current of the quasiparticles passes through the interface. The Bezák-Krempaský boundary conditions that were originally formulated for longitudinal currents are thus generalized to the case when the currents may have a transversal component.The author thanks Dr. V.Bezák for many helpful comments.     

Dynamics of the anisotropic two-dimensional XY model

In this paper we study the dynamics of the two-dimensional XY model with single-ion anisotropy, and spin S = 1, in the large D phase, and low temperatures, using the bond operator formalism. The in-plane structure factor is a delta function. The out of plane shows a three peak structure, which merges in a single peak at the Brillouin zone boundary. We analyze also spin currents generated by a magnetic field gradient. The spin conductivity is calculated, at finite temperature, using the Kubo formula. The model shows unconventional ballistic spin transport at finite temperature. The computed spin conductivity exhibits a nonzero Drude weight at finite temperature. For ω< 2m, where m is the energy gap, the spin conductivity is described solely by the Drude weight. There is a regular contribution to the spin conductivity for ω> 2m, which persist in the zero temperature limit. The conductivity at the critical point, and for small frequencies, is (gμ_B)²/ħ times a universal scaling function of ħω/k_B T.     

Compact ellipse shaped patch with ground slotted broadband monopole patch antenna for head imaging applications

This paper represents an ellipse-shaped patch with a ground slotted broadband patch antenna for microwave head imaging systems. The proposed antenna constructs with a simple ellipse shaped square patch and modified slotted plane. The proposed design is very simple to fabricate and is enclosed in a microwave imaging system. The slotted patch, and the partial ground plane improves the antenna's efficiency, operating frequency range, and gain. The size of the proposed antenna is 70 × 60 × 1.5 mm³ with the electrical dimension being 0.277λ × 0.238λ × 0.006λ at a lower frequency of 1.19 GHz and connected to a 50Ω microstrip feeding line. This antenna is printed onto a low-cost FR-4 substrate whose relative permittivity is 4.4, and whose thickness is 1.5 mm. CST and HFSS software have been used for simulation and thereafter successful completion of the measurements and the fabrication. The comprehensive simulation exhibits that this design provides a bandwidth of 2.37 GHz (1.19 – 3.56 GHz) and 100% of the fractional bandwidths (% BW) with the reflection coefficient of <-10 dB. This antenna on FR-4 can produce an average gain of around 3.63 dBi with 5.95 dBi peak gain at whole operation frequencies. The prototype has a peak radiation efficiency of approximately 97% across the active frequency spectrum with 93% of average. The antenna does have an improved fidelity-factor (> 90 %) with a shorter group-delay. Several design modifications have been performed to get perfect, effective, and suitable results for microwave imaging applications. A 3D-realist Hugo head model is fitted with a single antenna and a 9-antenna array component to verify the performance of both the single antenna, and the configured array antenna. The antenna penetrates the brain human tissues satisfactorily. Across the operational range, the specific absorption rate (SAR) attains a limit of <1 W/kg. The analysis of both numeric and experimental evidence clearly indicates that the suggested antenna is ideal for microwave head-imaging implementations.     

Effects of signal modulation and coloured cross-correlation of coloured noises on the diffusion of a harmonic oscillator

The diffusion in a harmonic oscillator driven by coloured noises $\xi(t)$ and $\eta(t)$ with coloured cross-correlation in which one of the noises is modulated by a biased periodic signal is investigated. The exact expression of diffusion coefficient d as a function of noise parameter, signal parameter, and oscillator frequency is derived. The findings in this paper are as follows. 1) The curves of d versus noise intensity D and d versus noises cross-correlation time $\tau_3$ exist as two different phases. The transition between the two phases arises from the change of the cross-correlation coefficient $\lambda$ of the two Ornstein--Uhlenbeck (O-U) noises. 2) Changing the value of $\tau_3$, the curves of d versus Q, the intensity of colored noise that is modulated by the signal, can transform from a phase having a minimum to a monotonic phase. 3) Changing the value of signal amplitude A, d versus Q curves can transform from a phase having a minimum to a monotonic phase. The above-mentioned results demonstrate that a like noise-induced transition appears in the model.     

GeneralizedM-diffusion model of molecular rotations

The widely usedM-model of rotational diffusion of molecules in fluid phases is generalized. The ordinaryM-model assumes that intermolecular collisions causeinstantaneous changes in the orientation of an otherwise free rotor. The present scheme takes cognizance of the ubiquitous intermolecular torques which should make the molecular orientation a continuously variable random function of time. It is assumed here that the component of the angular velocity, which is conjugate to the angle specifying the orientation of the molecule, is a stationary Gaussian-Markov process. The ordinaryM-model emerges then as a special case of the more general treatment presented here. The results derived for the dipole correlation function of a linear rotor on the basis of the generalized scheme are applied to a series of infrared data. The observed agreement is highly satisfactory. The present analysis affords a justification for the Gordon scheme which generalizes theM-model by assigning to the mean rate of collision anad-hoc dependence on the angular speed of the rotor. It is argued also that the model treated here incorporates certain memory effects which are ignored in the ordinaryM-model, and may yield, in some cases, results which are similar to those based on certain memory function formalisms.     

GeneralizedM-diffusion model of molecular rotations

The widely usedM-model of rotational diffusion of molecules in fluid phases is generalized. The ordinaryM-model assumes that intermolecular collisions causeinstantaneous changes in the orientation of an otherwise free rotor. The present scheme takes cognizance of the ubiquitous intermolecular torques which should make the molecular orientation a continuously variable random function of time. It is assumed here that the component of the angular velocity, which is conjugate to the angle specifying the orientation of the molecule, is a stationary Gaussian-Markov process. The ordinaryM-model emerges then as a special case of the more general treatment presented here. The results derived for the dipole correlation function of a linear rotor on the basis of the generalized scheme are applied to a series of infrared data. The observed agreement is highly satisfactory. The present analysis affords a justification for the Gordon scheme which generalizes theM-model by assigning to the mean rate of collision anad-hoc dependence on the angular speed of the rotor. It is argued also that the model treated here incorporates certain memory effects which are ignored in the ordinaryM-model, and may yield, in some cases, results which are similar to those based on certain memory function formalisms.     

Electromagnetic wave absorption of polymeric nanocomposites based on ferrite with a spinel and hexagonal crystal structure

We have investigated composites designed for microwave absorption based on magnetic filler, composed of phases within the SrO-Fe₂O₃ system, embedded in a polyphenylene sulfide matrix with a concentration ratio of 80:20 by weight. The formation of the nanosized particles of SrFe₁₂O₁₉ and Fe₃O₄, as the principal magnetic phases was achieved via the co-precipitation of Sr²⁺/Fe³⁺ ions using different molar ratios. The various precursors obtained were calcined between 600 °C and 900 °C in air. The electromagnetic parameters of the composites were measured with a vector network analyzer at 400 MHz to 32 GHz. The results show that with a composite composed of a complex magnetic filler comprising the nanoparticles of two magnetically diverse phases, i.e., a spinel phase as the electromagnetic wave absorber in the lower GHz range and a hexagonal phase operating at a higher GHz range, above 32 GHz, a microwave absorber with an broad absorption range can be prepared.     

Anyons in an exactly solved model and beyond

A spin-1/2 system on a honeycomb lattice is studied. The interactions between nearest neighbors are of XX, YY or ZZ type, depending on the direction of the link; different types of interactions may differ in strength. The model is solved exactly by a reduction to free fermions in a static Z₂ gauge field. A phase diagram in the parameter space is obtained. One of the phases has an energy gap and carries excitations that are Abelian anyons. The other phase is gapless, but acquires a gap in the presence of magnetic field. In the latter case excitations are non-Abelian anyons whose braiding rules coincide with those of conformal blocks for the Ising model. We also consider a general theory of free fermions with a gapped spectrum, which is characterized by a spectral Chern number ν. The Abelian and non-Abelian phases of the original model correspond to ν = 0 and ν = ±1, respectively. The anyonic properties of excitation depend on ν mod 16, whereas ν itself governs edge thermal transport. The paper also provides mathematical background on anyons as well as an elementary theory of Chern number for quasidiagonal matrices.