Long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides operating at telecommunication wavelengths

We report on the realization of long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides (LR-DLSPPWs) consisting of straight and bent subwavelength dielectric ridges deposited on thin and narrow metal stripes supported by a dielectric buffer layer covering a low-index substrate. Using imaging with a near-field optical microscope and end-fire coupling with a tapered fiber connected to a tunable laser at telecommunication wavelengths (1425-1545?nm), we demonstrate low-loss (propagation length ～500?μm) and well-confined (mode width ～1?μm) LR-DLSPPW mode guiding and determine the propagation and bend loss.     

Influence of anodization parameters on the morphology of TiO2 nanotube arrays

TiO₂ nanotube arrays can be fabricated by electrochemical anodization in organic and inorganic electrolytes. Morphology of these nanotube arrays changes when anodization parameters such as applied voltage, type of electrolyte, time and temperature are varied. Nanotube arrays fabricated by anodization of commercial titanium in electrolytes containing NH₄F solution and either sulfuric or phosphoric acid were studied at room temperature; time of anodization was kept constant. Applied voltage, fluoride ion concentration, and acid concentrations were varied and their influences on TiO₂ nanotubes were investigated. The current density of anodizing was recorded by computer controlled digital multimeter. The surface morphology (top-view) of nanotube arrays were observed by SEM. The nanotube arrays in this study have inner diameters in range of 40-80 nm.     

TM scattering by a perfect electromagnetic conducting strip

Analytic solution to the problem of scattering by an infinitely long perfect electromagnetic conducting (PEMC) strip is obtained using the method of separation of variables. The scattering widths can be enhanced/reduced by choosing appropriate values of PEMC admittance.     

1-Methylimidazole-catalyzed reaction between tosylmethyl isocyanide and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates:An efficient synthesis of functionalized pyrroles

An efficient 1-methylimidazole-catalyzed synthesis of dialkyl 2-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-1H-pyrrole-3,4-dicarboxylates is described.The reactive 1:1 zwitterionic intermediate formed by the addition of 1-methylimidazole to dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates is trapped by tosylmethyl isocyanide(TOSMIC) to afford the title compounds in excellent yields.     

Ionic strength effects on silicic acid (H4SiO4) sorption and oligomerization on an iron oxide surface: an interesting interplay between electrostatic and chemical forces

The effect of ionic strength on reactions at aqueous interfaces can provide insights into the nature of the chemistry involved. The adsorption of H(4)SiO(4) on iron oxides at low surface silicate concentration (Γ(Si)) forms monomeric silicate complexes with Fe-O-Si linkages, but as Γ(Si) increases silicate oligomers with Si-O-Si linkages become increasingly prevalent. In this paper, the effect of ionic strength (I) on both Γ(Si) and the extent of silicate oligomerization on the ferrihydrite surface is determined at pH 4, 7, and 10, where the surface is, respectively, positive, nearly neutral, and negatively charged. At pH 4, an increase in ionic strength causes Γ(Si) to decrease at a given H(4)SiO(4) solution concentration, while the proportion of oligomers on the surface at a given Γ(Si) increases. At pH 10, the opposite is observed; Γ(Si) increases as I increases, while the proportion of surface oligomers at a given Γ(Si) decreases. Ionic strength has only a small effect on the surface chemistry of H(4)SiO(4) at pH 7, but at low Γ(Si) this effect is in the direction observed at pH 4 while at high Γ(Si) the effect is in the direction observed at pH 10. The pH where the surface has zero charge decreases from ≈8 to 6 as Γ(Si) increases so that the surface potential (Ψ) is positive at pH 4 for all Γ(Si) and at pH 7 with low Γ(Si). Likewise, Ψ < 0 at pH 10 for all Γ(Si) and at pH 7 with high Γ(Si). The diffuse layer model is used to unravel the complex and subtle interactions between surface potential (Ψ) and chemical parameters that influence interfacial silicate chemistry. This analysis reveals that the decrease in the absolute value of Ψ as I increases causes Γ(Si) to decrease or increase where Ψ is, respectively, positive or negative. Therefore, at a given Γ(Si), the solution H(4)SiO(4) concentration changes with I, and because oligomerization has a higher H(4)SiO(4) stoichiometry coefficient than monomer adsorption, this results in the observed dependence of the extent of silicate oligomerization on I.     

Study on the Fermi surface and the spin-dependent momentum space density of ferromagnetic Gd by positron annihilation experiments

The Fermi surface (FS) and spin-dependent momentum space density distribution of ferromagnetic Gd was studied via longitudinally polarised positrons. The measurements were performed using a 2D angular correlation of the annihilation radiation experiments with the reversal magnetic field direction parallel and anti-parallel to the polarisation direction of the positron. It was found that the minority-spin states were concentrated in the basal plane and majority-spin states were concentrated around the A, L and H points. The analysis confirmed that the main contributions to the FS of Gd were influenced by the mixing of both the 5d–6s and the 4f–5d hybrid bands. The general layout of this FS was observed as two hole-like surfaces running along the [ΓA] axis and one electron-like surface running along the [MK] direction. In general, the experimental results showed good agreement with earlier investigations.     

Application of maximum likelihood multivariate curve resolution to noisy data sets

In this work, two different maximum likelihood approaches for multivariate curve resolution based on maximum likelihood principal component analysis (MLPCA) and on weighted alternating least squares (WALS) are compared with the standard multivariate curve resolution alternating least squares (MCR‐ALS) method. To illustrate this comparison, three different experimental data sets are used: the first one is an environmental aerosol source apportionment; the second is a time‐course DNA microarray, and the third one is an ultrafast absorption spectroscopy. Error structures of the first two data sets were heteroscedastic and uncorrelated, and the difference between them was in the existence of missing values in the second case. In the third data set about ultrafast spectroscopy, error correlation between the values at different wavelengths is present. The obtained results confirmed that the resolved component profiles obtained by MLPCA‐MCR‐ALS are practically identical to those obtained by MCR‐WALS and that they can differ from those resolved by ordinary MCR‐ALS, especially in the case of high noise. It is shown that methods that incorporate uncertainty estimations (such as MLPCA‐ALS and MCR‐WALS) can provide more reliable results and better estimated parameters than unweighted approaches (such as MCR‐ALS) in the case of the presence of high amounts of noise. The possible advantage of using MLPCA‐MCR‐ALS over MCR‐WALS is then that the former does not require changing the traditional MCR‐ALS algorithm because MLPCA is only used as a preliminary data pretreatment before MCR analysis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical bistability and multi-stability in a four-level atomic scheme

We investigate the optical bistability (OB) and optical multi-stability (OM) in a four-level Y-type atomic system. It is found that the optical bistability can strongly be affected by intensity and frequency detuning of coupling and probe fields. The effect of spontaneously generated coherence on phase control of the OB and OM is then discussed. It has also been shown that the optical bistability can be switched to optical multi-stability just by the quantum interference mechanism and relative phase of applied fields.     

Nonlinear modeling and performance analysis of a closed-loop supply chain in the presence of stochastic noise

ABSTRACT

We study four-echelon supply chains consisting of manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and customer with recovery center as hybrid recycling channels. In order to gain a larger market share, the retailer often takes the sales as a decision-making variable. For this purpose, in this supply chain, the retailer limits the forecast of market demand in future periods with expected logic. It also manages demand by leveraging prices and choosing market. In this paper, first, we investigate the state-space model of this supply chain system and examine the effect of complex dynamic and stochastic noise on the bullwhip effect. We analytically prove that this factor leads to the bullwhip effect. So, first, we filtered the information between nodes with extended Kalman filter after which we regulated the destructive effects of the bullwhip phenomenon by designing a non-linear quadratic Gaussian optimal controller. Eventually, the simulation results indicate the efficiency of the proposed method.