Geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of Be-doped gold clusters: a density functional theory study

We have systematically investigated the geometrical structures, relative stabilities and electronic properties of small bimetallic AunBe (n = 1, 2, . . . , 8) clusters using a density functional method at BP86 level. The optimized geometries reveal that the impurity beryllium atom dramatically affects the structures of the Aun clusters. The averaged binding energies, fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps and chemical hardness are investigated. All of them exhibit a pronounced odd-even alternation, manifesting that the clusters with even number of gold atoms possess relatively higher stabilities. Especially, the linear Au2Be cluster is magic cluster with the most stable chemical stability. According to the natural population analysis, it is found that charge-transferring direction between Au atom and Be atom changes at the size of n = 4.     

Orientation dependence of structural transition in fcc Al driven under uniaxial compression by atomistic simulations

By molecular dynamics simulations employing an embedded atom method potential,we have investigated structural transformations in single crystal Al caused by uniaxial strain loading along the [001],[011] and [111] directions. We find that the structural transition is strongly dependent on the crystal orientations. The entire structure phase transition only occurs when loading along the [001] direction,and the increased amplitude of temperature for [001] loading is evidently lower than that for other orientations. The morphology evolutions of the structural transition for [011] and [111] loadings are analysed in detail. The results indicate that only 20% of atoms transit to the hcp phase for [011] and [111] loadings,and the appearance of the hcp phase is due to the partial dislocation moving forward on {111} fcc family. For [011] loading,the hcp phase grows to form laminar morphology in four planes,which belong to the {111} fcc family; while for [111] loading,the hcp phase grows into a laminar structure in three planes,which belong to the {111} fcc family except for the (111) plane. In addition,the phase transition is evaluated by using the radial distribution functions.     

Influence of annealing process on conductive properties of Nb-doped TiO2 polycrystalline films prepared by sol-gel method

Nb-doped TiO₂ (TNO) thin films were prepared by sol-gel dip-coating method with Nb content in a wide range of 0-20 at.%. The prepared films were preheated at 400 °C and then undertaken by two different post-annealing processes: (a) three times vacuum annealing and (b) multi-round annealing. The designed multi-round annealing was shown to be an effective way to improve the conductive properties of the films, compared to the traditional vacuum annealing process. The minimum resistivity reached approximately 0.5 Ω cm with Nb doping concentration around 12 at.%, and the carrier density increased with Nb-doping concentration until the critical point of 12 at.%, which might be the optimal doping content for our TNO films prepared by sol-gel method.     

Exact solutions for a type of electron pairing model with spin-orbit interactions and Zeeman coupling

A type of electron pairing model with spin-orbit interactions or Zeeman coupling is solved exactly in the framework of the Richardson ansatz. Based on the exact solutions for the case with spin-orbit interactions, it is shown rigorously that the pairing symmetry is of the p + ip wave and the ground state possesses time-reversal symmetry, regardless of the strength of the pairing interaction. Intriguingly, how Majorana fermions can emerge in the system is also elaborated. Exact results are illustrated for two systems, respectively, with spin-orbit interactions and Zeeman coupling.     

Abatement of thermal noise due to internal damping in 2D oscillators with rapidly rotating test masses

Mechanical oscillators can be sensitive to very small forces. Low frequency effects are up-converted to higher frequency by rotating the oscillator. We show that for 2-dimensional oscillators rotating at frequency much higher than the signal the thermal noise force due to internal losses and competing with it is abated as the square root of the rotation frequency. We also show that rotation at frequency much higher than the natural one is possible if the oscillator has 2 degrees of freedom, and describe how this property applies also to torsion balances. In addition, in the 2D oscillator the signal is up-converted above resonance without being attenuated as in the 1D case, thus relaxing requirements on the read out. This work indicates that proof masses weakly coupled in 2D and rapidly rotating can play a major role in very small force physics experiments.     

A Silicon Nanowire‐Based Electrochemical Sensor with High Sensitivity and Electrocatalytic Activity

A new kind of silicon nanowire (SiNWs)‐based nanoelectrode assembly, a gold‐nanoparticle‐decorated silicon nanowire array (AuNPs@SiNWsAr), is employed for the construction of high‐performance electrochemical sensors. Significantly, the electrochemical nanosensors are capable of sensitive detection of various electroactive molecules (e.g., dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and glucose). Further, DA molecules loaded on the surface of AuNPs@SiNWsAr preserve stable high electroactivity overnight without special protection, while free DA molecules may lose their biological activity due to severe oxidization in ambient environment. These findings may offer new opportunities for the design of high‐performance electrochemical nanosensors with high sensitivity and robust stability.     

Formation of hydrophobic coating on PMMA surface using unipolar nanosecond-pulse DBD in atmospheric air

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) can modify the material surface and result in complicated physical and chemical reactions to improve the surface hydrophilicity, which is proved to be an effective method for surface modification. Compared with the traditional ac-excitation DBD, the DBD using unipolar pulses can avoid local overheat of microdischarges and can improve discharge efficiency under some conditions. In this paper, DBD excited by repetitive unipolar nanosecond generator was used to improve the hydrophobicity of Plexiglass (PMMA) surface by means of the interaction between air plasma and silicone oil. The output voltage had a rise time of 40 ns and a full width at half maximum of about 70 ns. The surface hydrophobicity of the PMMA, before and after the surface modification, was evaluated via the contact angle measurement under different experimental conditions. The values of the contact angle shown in this paper were the average of eight measured values, and the standard deviations were also calculated. The surface energy including polar and dispersion components was calculated using the measured average contact angles of distilled water and polyethyleneglycol. The results showed that, as the increase of the discharge voltage, the contact angle increased but the surface energy decreased. With the increase of treatment time, the water contact angle of the modified surface increased at the beginning, and it would reach to a maximum at 7.5 min treatment, and then decreased. The effect of pulse frequency on the modification results was different at various treatment times. In addition, the possible physical and chemical reaction among the DBD plasma, silicone oil and the PMMA surface was discussed.     

Simulation of Three-Spin Interaction in Coupled Cavities Chain

We generalize usual second-order effective Hamiltonian approximation into third-order. Employing the generalized method, we propose a scheme to generate three-spin interaction using coupled cavity chain. We show that the third order term not only improves two parties interaction but also induces direct three-spin interaction which has not been simulated before. By controlling the frequency of laser field, one can obtain next nearest neighbor interaction on the same order with the nearest neighbor’s or the three-spin interaction on the same order as next nearest neighbor’s.     

新型宽温区高热稳定性微波功率SiGe 异质结双极晶体管

宽温区大电流下的热不稳定性严重制约着功率SiGe 异质结双极晶体管 (HBT) 在射频和微波电路中的应用.为改善器件的热不稳定性, 本文利用SILVACO TCAD建立的多指功率SiGe HBT模型, 分析了器件纵向结构中基区Ge组分分布对微波功率SiGe HBT电学特性和热学特性的影响. 研究表明, 对于基区Ge组分为阶梯分布的HBT, 由于Ge组分缓变引入了少子加速电场, 使它与均匀基区Ge组分HBT相比, 具有更高的特征频率f_T, 且电流增益β和f_T随温度变化变弱, 这有利于防止器件在宽温区工作时电学特性的漂移.同时, 器件整体温度有所降低, 但器件各指温度分布均匀性较差.考虑多指HBT各发射极指散热能力存在差异, 在器件纵向结构设计为基区Ge组分阶梯分布的同时, 对其横向版图进行发射极指间距渐变结构设计, 用于改善器件各指温度分布的均匀性, 进而提高HBT的热稳定性.结果表明, 与基区Ge组分为均匀分布的等发射极指间距结构HBT相比, 新器件各指温度分布均匀性明显改善, f_T保持了较高的值, 且β和f_T 随温度变化不敏感, 热不稳定性得到显著改善, 显示了新器件在宽温区大电流下工作的优越性. 关键词： SiGe 异质结双极晶体管 Ge组分分布 发射极指间距渐变技术 热稳定性     

Calculation of the photoelectron spectra under a scaling transform

By solving the time-dependent Schro¨dinger equation, the dependence of photoelectron energy spectra on the binding energy of targets, wavelength and the intensity of laser pulse is exhibited and a scaling law of kinetic energy spectra of both the direct and the rescattered photoelectrons is concluded. The scaling law provides a convenient tool to determine the equivalent photoionization process of various atoms or molecules in various laser fields. The verification of the scaling law by independent methods provides incontestable support to the validity of the scaling law.