Multichannel transceiver dual-tuned RF coil for proton/sodium MR imaging of knee cartilage at 3 T

Sodium magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a promising technique for detecting changes of proteoglycan (PG) content in cartilage associated with knee osteoarthritis. Despite its potential clinical benefit, sodium MR imaging in vivo is challenging because of intrinsically low sodium concentration and low MR signal sensitivity. Some of the challenges in sodium MR imaging may be eliminated by the use of a high-sensitivity radiofrequency (RF) coil, specifically, a dual-tuned (DT) proton/sodium RF coil which facilitates the co-registration of sodium and proton MR images and the evaluation of both physiochemical and structural properties of knee cartilage. Nevertheless, implementation of a DT proton/sodium RF coil is technically difficult because of the coupling effect between the coil elements (particularly at high field) and the required compact design with improved coil sensitivity. In this study, we applied a multitransceiver RF coil design to develop a DT proton/sodium coil for knee cartilage imaging at 3 T. With the new design, the size of the coil was minimized, and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was achieved. DT coil exhibited high levels of reflection S11 (～-21 dB) and transmission coefficient S12 (～-19 dB) for both the proton and sodium coils. High SNR (range 27-38) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) (range 15-21) were achieved in sodium MR imaging of knee cartilage in vivo at 3-mm(3) isotropic resolution. This DT coil performance was comparable to that measured using a sodium-only birdcage coil (SNR of 28 and CNR of 20). Clinical evaluation of the DT coil on four normal subjects demonstrated a consistent acquisition of high-resolution proton images and measurement of relative sodium concentrations of knee cartilages without repositioning of the subjects during the same MR scanning session.     

Transparent p‐NiO/n‐ZnO diodes used in circuit rectifiers

We report on the fabrication of a transparent photostable cell circuit composed of drive and resistor diodes which are face‐to‐face connected to each other with different device area. The diodes consisted of e‐beam evaporated p‐NiO on sputter‐deposited n‐ZnO for p/n diode formation on indium‐tin‐oxide glass. Our transparent diodes show photostable rectifying behavior, about 10³ on/off current ratio and even dynamic rectification at a maximum frequency of 100 Hz AC input signal in ambient light. The noticeable photo‐responsivity of the circuit was obtained only under ultraviolet (UV) light. We conclude that our transparent diode circuit is promising in enriching the field of transparent device electronics. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Native oxide buried InAlAs ridge waveguide laser diode

InAlAs wet thermal oxidation process was adopted to fabricate ridge waveguide laser diodes. First, applying the oxidation process on the whole etched surface of an InAlAs upper cladding layer, we formed a current blocking and optical confining layer of ridge waveguide laser diode. This is a self-aligned structure, which makes the laser diode fabrication steps much simpler and etching-depth control less important. Assessment of the fabricated laser diode revealed that current-voltage characteristics and slope efficiency did not worsen, and threshold current was reduced by the oxidation process. PACS 85.35.Be; 42.55.Px     

Ultrawidely tunable single-mode fiber acousto-optic filter

A single-mode fiber (SMF) acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) with a tuning range of more than 300 nm is demonstrated. The SMF used in the experiment has a ring of symmetric holes within the cladding, which causes a larger mode-index difference between the first and the second higher-order antisymmetric modes than those of a conventional SMF. As a result, the difference in beatlengths between the core mode and the higher-order modes is highly increased, which makes it possible for the SMF AOTF to exhibit a single resonance peak in the transmission spectrum over the wavelength range of 1.3-1.6 μm for given acoustic frequencies of 3.1-3.8 MHz.     

Experimental realization of an approximate partial transpose for photonic two-qubit systems

We report the first experimental realization of an approximate partial transpose for photonic two-qubit systems. The proposed scheme is based on the local operation on single copies of quantum states and classical communication, and therefore can be easily applied for other quantum information tasks within current technologies. Direct detection of entanglement, i.e., without performing quantum state tomography, using the partial transpose operation, is also demonstrated.     

Influence of SiNx:H film properties according to gas mixture ratios for crystalline silicon solar cells

The Hydrogenated silicon nitride (SiN_x:H) using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is widely used in photovoltaic industry as an antireflection coating and passivation layer. In the high temperature firing process, the SiN_x:H film should not change the properties for its use as high quality surface layer in crystalline silicon solar cells. For optimizing surface layer in crystalline silicon solar cells, by varying gas mixture ratios (SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂, SiH₄ + NH₃, SiH₄ + N₂), the hydrogenated silicon nitride films were analyzed for its antireflection and surface passivation (electrical and chemical) properties. The film deposited with the gas mixture of SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂ showed the best properties in before and after firing process conditions.The single crystalline silicon solar cells fabricated according to optimized gas mixture condition (SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂) on large area substrate of size 156 mm × 156 mm (Pseudo square) was found to have the conversion efficiency as high as 17.2%. The reason for the high efficiency using SiH₄ + NH₃ + N₂ is because of the good optical transmittance and passivation properties. Optimized hydrogenated silicon nitride surface layer and high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells fabrication sequence has also been explained in this study.     

Contrasting friction and diffusion in molecularly thin confined films

We study, using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, translational diffusion in molecularly thin liquids confined within a surface forces apparatus. The diffusion coefficient decreases exponentially from the edges towards the center of the Hertzian contact and further suggests the presence of a small number of distinct diffusion processes. This holds alike a crystallizable fluid (OMCTS) and a glass-former (1,2-propane diol), both of which displayed static friction. We conclude that friction, the average of an ensemble of molecules, masked massively heterogeneous molecular mobility.     

Low-lying (K π = 0+) states of gadolinium isotopes

The sd-interacting boson approximation (sd-IBA) and the df-interacting boson approximation (df-IBA) can be related to each other and the states of the interacting boson approximation model can be identified with the fully symmetric states in the sdf interacting boson approximation model. A systematic study of the sdf-IBA model showed that the constructed Hamiltonian can successfully describe the strong octupole correlations in the deformed nuclei. We showed that the interacting boson approximation may account for many of these K ^π ?=?0⁺ states. It was found that the calculated energy spectra of the gadolinium isotopes agree quite well with the experimental data. The observed B(E2) values were also calculated and compared with the experimental data.