Potential for micromachined actuation of ultra-wide continuously tunable optoelectronic devices

Tailored scaling represents a principle of success that, both in nature and in technology, allows the effectiveness of physical effects to be enhanced. Mutation and selection in nature are imitated in technology, e.g. by model calculation and design. Proper scaling of dimensions in natural photonic crystals and our fabricated artificial 1D photonic crystals (DBRs, distributed Bragg reflectors) enable efficient diffractive interaction in a specific spectral range. For our optical microsystems we illustrate that tailored miniaturization may also increase the mechanical stability and the effectiveness of spectral tuning by thermal and electrostatic actuation, since the relative significance of the fundamental physical forces involved considerably changes with scaling. These basic physical principles are rigorously applied in micromachined 1.55-μm vertical-resonator-based devices. We modeled, implemented and characterized 1.55-μm micromachined optical filters and vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser devices capable of wide, monotonic and kink-free tuning by a single control parameter. Tuning is achieved by mechanical actuation of one or several air-gaps that are part of the vertical resonator including two ultra-highly reflective DBR mirrors of strong refractive index contrast: (i) Δn=2.17 for InP/air-gap DBRs (3.5 periods) using GaInAs sacrificial layers and (ii) Δn=0.5 for Si₃N₄/SiO₂ DBRs (12 periods) with a polymer sacrificial layer to implement the air-cavity. In semiconductor multiple air-gap filters, a continuous tuning of >8% of the absolute wavelength is obtained. Varying the reverse voltage (U=0–5 V) between the membranes (electrostatic actuation), a tuning range of >110 nm was obtained for a large number of devices. The correlation of the wavelength and the applied voltage is accurately reproducible without any hysteresis. In two filters, tuning of 127 and 130 nm was observed for about ΔU=7 V. The extremely wide tuning range and the very small voltage required are record values to the best of our knowledge. For thermally actuated dielectric filters based on polymer sacrificial layers, Δλ/ΔU=-7 nm/V is found. Received: 10 May 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Element Pools and Numeric Coprocessors for Linear Programming on Personal Computers

This note discusses the need to use various data-compaction schemes in the implementation of sophisticated large-scale linear programming codes on modest personal computers. It demonstrates a method whereby the overhead of using these schemes is significantly reduced on Intel 80 x 86 processors.     

Expert Rule Versus Majority Rule Under Partial Information, II

The main purpose of this paper is clarifying the connection between some characteristics of a deciding body and the probability of its making correct decisions. In our model a group of decision makers is required to select one of two alternatives. We assume the probabilities of the decision makers being correct are independent random variables distributed according to the same given distribution rule. This distribution belongs to a general family, containing the uniform distribution as a particular case. We investigate the behavior of the probability of the expert rule being optimal, as well as that of the majority rule, both as functions of the distribution parameter and the group size. The main result is that for any value of the distribution parameter the expert rule is far more likely to be optimal than the majority rule, especially as the deciding body becomes larger.     

Positive and Nontrivial Solutions for the Urysohn Integral Equation

We establish new criteria for the existence of either positive or nonzero solutions of the Urysohn integral equation. We also discuss the existence of an interval of positive eigenvalues and sufficient conditions for the existence of at least a positive eigenvalue with a nonzero or positive eigenfunction for the Urysohn integral operator. Among others, we employ techniques based on fixed point index theory for compact maps, which are new for this type of equation.     

Estimates for transition probabilities on a compact manifold

The purpose of this note is to describe a procedure for transferring familiar estimates for transition probabilities on RN to transition probabilities on compact manifolds.     

A power-law distribution for tenure lengths of sports managers

We show that the tenure lengths for managers of sport teams follow a power law distribution with an exponent between 2 and 3. We develop a simple theoretical model which replicates this result. The model demonstrates that the empirical phenomenon can be understood as the macroscopic outcome of pairwise interactions among managers in a league, threshold effects in managerial performance evaluation, competitive market forces, and luck at the microscopic level.     

Bimodal fission in binary and ternary spontaneous fission of 252Cf

The hot bimodal fission of ²⁵²Cf is reexamined with new high-statistics data. We constructed a γ-γ-γ coincidence cube for binary fission and LCP-gated γ-γ matrix for ternary fission. By identifying the secondary fission fragments from their γ-ray transitions, we measured the yields for various fission splits. The normal neutron yield distribution is found to be Gaussian for Xe-Ru. However, the binary fission split of Ba-Mo is found to exhibit a bimodal neutron distribution with the “hot mode” corresponding to ≈3.1% of the total yield. In α ternary fission, the first measurements of yields for specific fission splits are presented. The Te-α-Ru and Xe-α-Mo neutron yields fit well with a single mode, but the Ba-α-Zr split shows evidence for an enhanced hot mode with an intensity of ≈13.8% of the normal mode. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

CMS: Hadronic calorimetry,jets, and $\rlap{\,/}E_T$ performance

The European Physical Journal C - The CMS experiment&;nbsp;[1] uses a general purpose detector designed for detecting the diverse signatures associated with Higgs production and new physics...     

Uniqueness for Cesàro summable double Walsh series

We prove a Tauberian theorem for Walsh series of two variables, and use it to obtain several results about uniqueness of Cesàro summable double Walsh series. Namely, we show that up to sets of measure zero, Cesàro summability of double Walsh series is the same as convergence of the square dyadic partial sums and, under a suitable growth condition, that uniqueness holds for Cesàro summable double Walsh series.     

Segregation in the Asymmetric Hubbard Model

We study the “asymmetric” Hubbard model, where hoppings of electrons depend on their spin. For strong interactions and sufficiently asymmetric hoppings, it is proved that the ground state displays phase separation away from half-filling. This extends a recent result obtained with Freericks and Lieb for the Falicov–Kimball model. It is based on estimates for the sum of lowest eigenvalues of the discrete Laplacian in arbitrary domains.