Numbers,scale and symbols: the public understanding of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will be an increasing part of the everyday lives of most people in the world. There is a general recognition that few people understand the implications of the technology, the technology itself or even the definition of the word. This lack of understanding stems from a lack of knowledge about science in general but more specifically difficulty in grasping the size scale and symbolism of nanotechnology. A potential key to informing the general public is establishing the ability to comprehend the scale of nanotechnology. Transitioning from the macro to the nanoscale seems to require an ability to comprehend scales of one-billion. Scaling is a skill not common in most individuals and tests of their ability to extrapolate size based upon scaling a common object demonstrates that most individuals cannot scale to the extent needed to make the transition to nanoscale. Symbolism is another important vehicle to providing the general public with a basis to understand the concepts of nanotechnology. With increasing age, individuals are able to draw representations of atomic scale objects, but these tend to be iconic and the different representations not easily translated. Ball and stick models are most recognized by the public, which provides an opportunity to present not only useful symbolism but also a reference point for the atomic scale.     

浅谈光电实验室的教学管理改革

实验教学是帮助学生将理论知识转化为实践技能的重要途径。因此在重视理论教学的同时,必须加强实验环节。针对光电实验室的现状,有必要进行教学方法和管理制度的改革。强化实验室仪器管理,创造好的硬件条件为实验教学服务;改革创新教学方法,使实验效果在传统实验教学的基础上更上一层楼;因材施教,满足各层次学生的不同需求;全方位展开改革实践,建立适合科技发展的教学新体系,培养理论知识扎实,实践技能过硬的复合型人才,以适应社会的发展。     

Ohmic Contacts to ZnSe-Based Materials

The formation of ohmic contacts to n- and p-type ZnSe is reviewed. The mechanisms for forming reasonable low-resistance ohmic contacts to n-ZnSe are well understood. This results from the fact that the Fermi energy level of ZnSe is unpinned and metals with sufficiently large work functions can make contact to n-type material. However, the situation is reversed for p-ZnSe where a large band gap and large electron affinity make it impossible to find metals with sufficiently large work functions to create an ohmic contact. Instead, the use of HgSe to form low barrier height Schottky contacts and of ZnSe/ZnTe multiple quantum wells (MQWs) to form ohmic contacts is reviewed. Although the MQWs can be used to form ohmic contacts to p-ZnSe, they degrade at high temperatures and high current densities. This is reviewed and shown to be a serious problem for applications to laser diodes.     

Lattice-Boltzmann simulations of dynamic interfacial tension due to soluble amphiphilic surfactant

An amphiphilic Lattice-Boltzmann approach is adopted to model dynamic interfacial tension due to non-ionic surfactant. In the current system, the surfactant adsorption kinetics is diffusion dominated and the interface separates two immiscible fluids. A rotational relaxation time and a diffusive/viscous relaxation time are associated with the surfactant. The model results are compared with experimental data for the dynamic interfacial tension of a pendant oil droplet in water, with oil soluble surfactant. We demonstrate how to adapt and calibrate the model to capture the adsorption timescale of the surfactant and the magnitude of interfacial tension reduction due to surfactant. A scheme to overcome numerical instabilities due to the relatively low surfactant concentration, is devised. We are able to qualitatively match the Frumkin equation of state for the interfacial tension.     

AEGIS-K code for linear kinetic analysis of toroidally axisymmetric plasma stability

A linear kinetic stability code for tokamak plasmas: AEGIS-K (Adaptive EiGenfunction Independent Solutions-Kinetic), is described. The AEGIS-K code is based on the newly developed gyrokinetic theory [L.J. Zheng, M.T. Kotschenreuther, J.W. Van Dam, Phys. Plasmas 14 (2007) 072505]. The success in recovering the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) from this newly developed gyrokinetic theory in the proper limit leads the AEGIS-K code to be featured by being fully kinetic in essence but hybrid in appearance. The radial adaptive shooting scheme based on the method of the independent solution decomposition in the MHD AEGIS code [L.J. Zheng, M.T. Kotschenreuther, J. Comp. Phys. 211 (2006) 748] is extended to the kinetic calculation. A numerical method is developed to solve the gyrokinetic equation of lowest order for the response to the independent solutions of the electromagnetic perturbations, with the quasineutrality condition taken into account. A transform method is implemented to allow the pre-computed Z-function (i.e., the plasma dispersion function) to be used to reduce the integration dimension in the moment calculation and to assure the numerical accuracy in determining the wave–particle resonance effects. Periodic boundary condition along the whole banana orbit is introduced to treat the trapped particles, in contrast to the usual reflection symmetry conditions at the banana tips. Due to the adaptive feature, the AEGIS-K code is able to resolve the coupling between the kinetic resonances and the shear Alfvén continuum damping. Application of the AEGIS-K code to compute the resistive wall modes in ITER is discussed.     

开放光程FTIR光谱的葡萄品质劣变监测方法

前期的研究报道了红外光谱能够监测水果变质产生的挥发物质,其方法是将挥发物收集在气室中,利用多次反射的结构来增强光信号。实验中,我们使用开放光程傅里叶变换红外光谱法监测葡萄变质挥发物,尝试了主动和被动两种测量模式。根据红外光谱特征对葡萄品劣变过程中产生的挥发物进行了定性分析,并在研究中测量了葡萄储藏期间挥发物质的红外光谱特征的强度变化,并且根据这种变化规律建立了不同变质阶段的分类方法。此外,还尝试直接从原始光谱中分析挥发物质,证明了挥发物在原始光谱上仍然具有明显的光谱特征。这一研究证实了现场开放式傅里叶变换红外光谱法监测水果变质的可行性。开放光程傅里叶变换红外光谱法所具有的灵活使用性和非接触式在线测量的优点,使其有可能应用于大面积监测储藏中的水果变质问题,并具有进一步定位劣变源的潜力。     

Controlling Surface Interactions with Grafted Polymers

The interactions between surfaces modified with grafted polymers is studied theoretically. The aim of this work is to find polymer surface modifications that will result in localized attractive interactions between the surfaces. The practical motivation of the work is to find means to control the distance between bilayers and solid supports in supported membranes. Two theoretical approaches are used, the analytical treatment of Alexander and a molecular theory. It is found that grafting each end of the polymer to each surface results in an interaction with a well defined minimum. The location of the minima is found to be very close to the thickness of the polymer layer when the chains are grafted to only one of the surfaces. The predictions of the analytical theory are in excellent agreement with the molecular approach in this case. It is found that increasing the surface coverage increases the strength of the interaction. However, increasing the polymer chain length at fixed surface coverage results in a decrease of the free energy cost associated with separating the surfaces from their optimal distance. For the cases in which grafting to both surfaces is not possible, the molecular theory is used to study the effect of functionalizing segments of the chain to achieve an attractive well. It is found that by functionalizing the free end-groups of the polymers with segments attracted to the membrane, the range of the attractive interaction is significantly larger than the thickness of the unperturbed layer. Functionlizing the middle segments of the chains results in a shorter range attraction but of the same strength as in the end-functionalized layers. The optimal polymer modification is found to be such that the functionlized groups are attracted to the bare surface but are not attracted to the grafting surface. The relevance of the results to the design of experimental surface modifiers is discussed.     

Exploitation of the Fiber Capacity in Optical Networks Using Time, Frequency, and Space Division Multiple Accesses

In this work we investigate how to obtain very high capacity transmissions in optical networks taking into account the limitations due to the physical channel. We consider both the case in which all the users are connected by a star coupler and the case in which the users are directly connected by the network topology. As a reference, we consider a ring network and a Shuffle Multihop Network (SMN). The use of optical systems to implement high-capacity networks is numerically investi gated by means of numerical simulations taking into consideration the channel limitations due to the chromatic dispersion, the Kerr effect, and the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise of the optical amplifiers. In our model, we consider that the signal, during the routing process that is performed at the user position, undergoes only an attenuation. We suppose the use of intensity modulated signals and receivers with direct detection. Packet switching and digital transmission are assumed with soliton and conventional nonreturn to zero signals. Both wave length and time division multiple accesses are considered. The results show that, in the case of the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique, the use of a star coupler to connect the users reduces the capacity of a network with respect to the case in which a direct connection of the users is used. This is due to the strong power fluctuations that are present during the signal propagation and to the large quantity of accumulated ASE noise. On the other hand, the use of a star coupler shows the advantage to being easily reconfigurable. The Wavelength Divison Multiple Access (WDMA) technique permits us to achieve higher capacities with respect to the TDMA. This is due to the fact that in the propagation conditions, due to the presence of a star coupler, high bit rate signals are strongly degraded. On the other hand, several low bit rate signals operating at different wavelengths can propagate with a low power level, avoiding strong degradation due to the Four Wave Mixing (FWM) effect. Among the topologies considered in this work, the SMN is the one that generally permits us to reach the highest throughput because in the SMN the signal hops in a limited number of Network Interface Units (NIUs) before reaching the final destination.     

Review of LDA and PIV applied to the measurement of sound and acoustic streaming

A review of laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) with their application to the measurement of sound is presented. The fundamental principles behind LDA and PIV are discussed and extended to the application of sound measurement. Special attention is paid to analysis of LDA signals including the Hilbert transform, which enables amplitude information to be obtained about various frequency components of a signal and wavelet analysis, which allows non-stationary signals to be accurately analysed. The influence of the refractive index variations in a medium due to a sound wave on the laser beams of an LDA signal is discussed. Attention is also paid to acoustic streaming which arises due to high-intensity sound, and PIV results are presented to demonstrate the effect.     

红外双波段卡塞格林光学系统设计

定性地论述了卡塞格林系统设计中焦距、场镜焦距和后工作距离大小的选择.并论述了在设计中主、次镜必须根据设计结果的分析,调整主、次镜的半径和间隔,从而使后工作距离,遮栏比都能满足设计要求,最终使系统能够获得最优的设计性能以满足设计需要,在系统的垂轴像差难以消除时,也需考虑变换系统的光栏位置.     

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EAST运行中的温度改变会导致磁体及冷屏产生形变和位移。为了测量此位移的变化,利用一个延长臂,把位移转移到较易测量的位置,然后采用直滑式电位器把位移变化转换成电压变化并测量出其值,最终转换成位移的变化值。该测量系统解决了EAST装置中磁体和冷屏位移测量的难题。     

Ultrahigh pressure equation of state of CaS to 1.5 Mbar

Abstract

Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction (EDXD) was performed at room temperature to gather structural data on CaS between approximately 1.7 GPa to nearly 150GPa. In these experiments, CaS retained the B1 structure up to approximately 40 GPa above which it began to transform to the B2 structure. The B2 structure remained stable to the highest pressure reached, 149 GPa, where the relative volume V/V₀ was 0.490. Previous studies on CaS extended only up to 52 GPa, which is barely 10 GPa after the B1 phase changes to the B2 structure. Thus it was not possible to accurately extrapolate the equation of state (EOS) for the B2 phase region to significantly higher pressures. In the present study EOS data for CaS was collected to 150 GPa and no other structural change was observed. EOS parameters for the B1 and B2 phase regions agree well with values reported in the literature.     

On the temperature independence of statistical model parameters for cleavage fracture in ferritic steels

The work relates to the effect of temperature on the model parameters in local approaches (LAs) to cleavage fracture. According to a recently developed LA model, the physical consensus of plastic deformation being a prerequisite to cleavage fracture enforces any LA model of cleavage fracture to observe initial yielding of a volume element as its threshold stress state to incur cleavage fracture in addition to the conventional practice of confining the fracture process zone within the plastic deformation zone. The physical consistency of the new LA model to the basic LA methodology and the differences between the new LA model and other existing models are interpreted. Then this new LA model is adopted to investigate the temperature dependence of LA model parameters using circumferentially notched round tensile specimens. With the published strength data as input, finite element (FE) calculation is conducted for elastic-perfectly plastic deformation and the realistic elastic-plastic hardening, respectively, to provide stress distributions for model calibration. The calibration results in temperature independent model parameters. This leads to the establishment of a ‘master curve’ characteristic to synchronise the correlation between the nominal strength and the corresponding cleavage fracture probability at different temperatures. This ‘master curve’ behaviour is verified by strength data from three different steels, providing a new path to calculate cleavage fracture probability with significantly reduced FE efforts.     

基于ARM+交换芯片的协议转换器的设计

针对目前同步串行协议通信速率低和可靠性差的现状,设计了一个基于ARM加交换芯片的协议转换器来完成同步串行协议到网络通信协议的转换。设计采用S3C2440为核心处理器,并通过服务器和客户端建立连接,以套接字的形式将SPI协议转换成TCP协议接入到以太网,采用网络调试助手和串口调试助手对客户端和服务器的协议转换通信进行测试和分析。实验结果表明服务器通过SPI总线发出的数据经过封包后构造成可以在网络上转发的报文,经过交换芯片的端口转发到达客户端完成SPI到TCP协议的转换。     

Adding Prior Information in FWI through Relative Entropy

Full waveform inversion is an advantageous technique for obtaining high-resolution subsurface information. In the petroleum industry, mainly in reservoir characterisation, it is common to use information from wells as previous information to decrease the ambiguity of the obtained results. For this, we propose adding a relative entropy term to the formalism of the full waveform inversion. In this context, entropy will be just a nomenclature for regularisation and will have the role of helping the converge to the global minimum. The application of entropy in inverse problems usually involves formulating the problem, so that it is possible to use statistical concepts. To avoid this step, we propose a deterministic application to the full waveform inversion. We will discuss some aspects of relative entropy and show three different ways of using them to add prior information through entropy in the inverse problem. We use a dynamic weighting scheme to add prior information through entropy. The idea is that the prior information can help to find the path of the global minimum at the beginning of the inversion process. In all cases, the prior information can be incorporated very quickly into the full waveform inversion and lead the inversion to the desired solution. When we include the logarithmic weighting that constitutes entropy to the inverse problem, we will suppress the low-intensity ripples and sharpen the point events. Thus, the addition of entropy relative to full waveform inversion can provide a result with better resolution. In regions where salt is present in the BP 2004 model, we obtained a significant improvement by adding prior information through the relative entropy for synthetic data. We will show that the prior information added through entropy in full-waveform inversion formalism will prove to be a way to avoid local minimums.     

Stokes integral of economic growth: Calculus and the Solow model

Economic growth depends on capital and labor and two-dimensional calculus has been applied to economic theory. This leads to Riemann and Stokes integrals and to the first and second laws of production and growth. The mathematical structure is the same as in thermodynamics, economic properties may be related to physical terms: capital to energy, production to physical work, GDP per capita to temperature, production function to entropy. This is called econophysics. Production, trade and banking may be compared to motors, heat pumps or refrigerators. The Carnot process of the first law creates two levels in each system: cold and hot in physics; buyer and seller, investor and saver, rich and poor in economics. The efficiency rises with the income difference of rich and poor. The results of econophysics are compared to neoclassical theory.     

应变Si1-xGex层中p型杂质电离常温和低温特性

本文采用解析的方法计算了应变Si1-xGex层中p型杂质电离度与Ge组分x、温度T以及掺杂浓度N的关系.发现常温时,在同一Ge组分下,随着掺杂浓度的升高,杂质的电离度的先变小,而后又迅速上升到1.在同一掺杂浓度下,轻掺杂时,杂质的电离度随Ge组分的增加先变大,而后几乎不变;重掺杂时,杂质电离能变为0后,杂质电离度为1.低温下,轻掺杂时,载流子低温冻析效应较为明显,杂质的电离度普遍较小,当掺杂浓度大于Mott转换点时,载流子冻析效应不再明显,电离率迅速上升到1.在同一Ge组分下,随着掺杂浓度的升高,杂质的电离度先变小,后变大,而后又迅速上升到1.在同一掺杂浓度下,轻掺杂时,杂质的电离度随Ge组分的增加变大;重掺杂时,杂质电离能变为0后,杂质电离度为1.     

The time-local view of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. II. Generalized Langevin equations

On a semiphenomenological level, generalized Langevin equations are usually obtained by adding a random force (RF) term to macroscopic deterministic equations assumed to be known. Here this procedure is made rigorous by conveniently redefining the RF, which is shown to be colored noise weakly correlated with the observables at earlier times due to the finite lifetime of microscopic events. Corresponding fluctuation-dissipation theorems are derived. Explicit expressions for the spectral density of the fluctuations are obtained in a particularly simple form, with the deviation of the line shape from the Lorentzian being related most explicitly to the spectral density of the RF. Well-known low-frequency expressions and the Einstein relation of (generalized) Brownian motion theory are modified so as to include lifetime effects. New sum rules are obtained relating dissipative quantities to contour integrals (in the complex frequency domain) over spectral densities or corresponding response functions. The Heisenberg dynamics of a complete set of macroobservables is shown to be equivalent to a generalized Orstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic process which is a non-Markovian process due to the lifetime effects.     

Multispectral laser imaging for advanced food analysis

A hardware–software apparatus for food inspection capable of realizing multispectral NIR laser imaging at four different wavelengths is herein discussed. The system was designed to operate in a through-transmission configuration to detect the presence of unwanted foreign bodies inside samples, whether packed or unpacked. A modified Lock-In technique was employed to counterbalance the significant signal intensity attenuation due to transmission across the sample and to extract the multispectral information more efficiently. The NIR laser wavelengths used to acquire the multispectral images can be varied to deal with different materials and to focus on specific aspects. In the present work the wavelengths were selected after a preliminary analysis to enhance the image contrast between foreign bodies and food in the sample, thus identifying the location and nature of the defects. Experimental results obtained from several specimens, with and without packaging, are presented and the multispectral image processing as well as the achievable spatial resolution of the system are discussed.     

Quasi-pyroelectricity in the TGS crystal

It has been shown that a side electrode perpendicular to the measurement ones can significantly enhance the transverse electric current in TGS. Such a current, measured in a zero external electric field, resembles the classic longitudinal one. However, the amplitude of the transverse current oscillation, observed while cooling and heating the sample, rises much more slowly with the time of the transverse electric field preliminary application. Such exposure to the transverse field is required prior to the measurements for the transverse current to be observed, in a similar way to a longitudinal field that is applied in order to achieve a single domain state before longitudinal pyroelectric current measurements. A huge difference in the time of reaction to the electric fields preliminarily applied in order to achieve the maximum amplitude of the current oscillations in both cases is the evidence that the transverse current cannot be considered to be originated just for geometrical reasons.