Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si were investigated by ellipsometric technique in the region 1-5 eV. Samples were produced by sol-gel method. Precursors were prepared by mixing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) solution in ethanol and water with aqueous solution of Fe-chloride or Fe-acetate. The coating solution was deposited on Si substrates by spin on technique. The size of Fe-containing nanometric-sized particles depended on technology and varied from 20 to 100 nm. Optical response of complex hybrid samples SiO₂:Fe/Si was interpreted in a multi-layer model. In the inverse problem, the Maxwell equations were solved by transfer matrix technique. Dielectric function of Fe-doped silica layers was calculated in the model of effective media. Analysis of optical data has shown that various Fe-oxides formed. Experimental data for films obtained from precursors with Fe-acetate and annealed in hydrogen were well described by the model calculations taking into account a small contribution 1-5% of metal Fe imbedded in silica. The Fe/Fe-O contribution to optical response increased for samples grown from FeCl₃-precursor. Ellipsometric data for Fe-doped silica films on Si were interpreted taking into account the structural AFM studies as well as the results of magnetic measurements.     

Preparation of MgB<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Fe superconductor wire by electrical self-heating

MgB₂/Fe wires were prepared by electrical self-heating of in situ powder-in-tube wires for the first time at ambient conditions. Characterization of the wires processed at 750 °C, 800 °C and 850 °C for 15 min by XRD, SEM, ϱ–T, susceptibility and J_C measurements shows that the MgB₂ formed is of high quality particularly with respect to phase purity and transport J_C. The method considerably reduces the overall energy consumption vis-à-vis the production cost, simplifies the complexity of the fabrication procedure and is promising for manufacture of high-quality MgB₂ superconducting wires. PACS 74.70.Ad; 74.62.Bf; 74.25.Fy; 74.25.Ha; 81.20.Hy     

Derivatization of 1-phenyl substituted 4-amino-2-benzazepin-3-ones: evaluation of Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions

Several Pd-catalyzed reactions were explored to further functionalize the bromo-substituted 4-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-2-benzazepin-3-one scaffold (Aba). We report in this paper suitable reaction conditions for Suzuki, Buchwald-Hartwig, and Heck reactions. The substitution pattern of the starting aminobenzazepinone turned out to be crucial for the success of these transition metal-catalyzed reactions, which often required modifications of standard literature procedures. The Pd-catalyzed methods provide access to novel substitution patterns of the Aba scaffold.     

Harmonic Calculus on Fractals - A Measure Geometric Approach I

Differentiation of functions w.r.t. finite atomless measures with compact support on the real line is introduced. The related harmonic calculus is similar to that of the classical Lebesgue case. As an application we obtain the Weyl exponent for the spectral asymptotics of the Laplacians w.r.t. linear Cantor-type measures with arbitrary weights.     

A note on a polynomial time solvable case of the quadratic assignment problem

We identify a class of instances of the Koopmans–Beckmann form of the Quadratic Assignment Problem that are solvable in polynomial time. This class is characterized by a path structure in the flow data and a grid structure in the distance data. Chr18b, one of the test problems in the QAPLIB, is in this class even though this feature of it has not been noticed until now.     

Artificial time integration

Many recent algorithmic approaches involve the construction of a differential equation model for computational purposes, typically by introducing an artificial time variable. The actual computational model involves a discretization of the now time-dependent differential system, usually employing forward Euler. The resulting dynamics of such an algorithm is then a discrete dynamics, and it is expected to be “close enough” to the dynamics of the continuous system (which is typically easier to analyze) provided that small – hence many – time steps, or iterations, are taken. Indeed, recent papers in inverse problems and image processing routinely report results requiring thousands of iterations to converge. This makes one wonder if and how the computational modeling process can be improved to better reflect the actual properties sought. In this article we elaborate on several problem instances that illustrate the above observations. Algorithms may often lend themselves to a dual interpretation, in terms of a simply discretized differential equation with artificial time and in terms of a simple optimization algorithm; such a dual interpretation can be advantageous. We show how a broader computational modeling approach may possibly lead to algorithms with improved efficiency. AMS subject classification (2000)  65L05, 65M32, 65N21, 65N22, 65D18     

Magnetic anisotropy of textured CrO2 thin films investigated by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Highly a-axis-textured CrO₂ films have been deposited on Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates by chemical vapor deposition. CrO₂ has been found to have highly a-axis (010)-oriented columnar growth on a Cr₂O₃ (0001) initial layer. The six-fold surface symmetry of the Cr₂O₃ initial layer leads to three equivalent in-plane orientations of the a-axis-oriented CrO₂ unit cell. We report Cr L_2,3 X-ray magnetic circular dichroism data along the surface normal and at 60° off-normal sample orientation. For a 60° sample alignment, a strong increase of the projected orbital moment could be observed for unoccupied majority t_2g states using moment analysis. Therefore, the c axis is identified as the intrinsic magnetic easy axis of CrO₂. In addition, a small spin moment and a very strong magnetic dipole term T_z have been found. Received: 8 January 2002 / Accepted: 8 January 2002     

Ultrashort-pulse dual-wavelength source for digital holographic two-wavelength contouring

Digital holographic shape measurements using femtosecond laser pulses are reported. For contouring of very fast moving objects, the simultaneous generation of at least two spectrally separated ultrashort pulses is required. To deliver this particular spectral signature at high pulse energies, a chirped-pulse Ti:sapphire laser amplifier was modified to emit two spectrally separated pulses with energies above 1 μJ each. The wavelength separation of these pulses was adjustable within the 50 nm gain bandwidth, cutting out two distinct wavelength peaks by a variable double-slit assembly in a prism sequence. A Michelson-type interferometer was employed to perform the two-wavelength contouring. The phases of the holograms and the phase differences are calculated numerically, which allow us to deduce the contour lines of the topology of the object. The suitability of the light source for digital holography is demonstrated with contouring of stationary objects and the potential for high-speed applications is indicated. PACS 42.40.-i; 42.60.By