Correlation of fluctuation field and temperature coefficient of coercivity in a CoCrPtB thin film

The effect of the ratio of fluctuation field (H_f) to coercivity (H_c) on the temperature coefficient of coercivity [α(H_c)] was investigated for Co₅₅Cr_15.5Pt₂₈B_1.5/Co₆₃Cr₃₇/Cr, Co₆₉Cr₁₉Pt₉Ta₃/Cr, and Co₈₆Cr₁₀Ta₄/Cr thin films (longitudinal recording media) with very small average grain volume (V_phy). α(H_c) increases markedly with increase in temperature between near 250 and 350 K for Co₅₅Cr_15.5Pt₂₈B_1.5/Co₆₃Cr₃₇/Cr thin films. α(H_c) is approximately proportional to the ratio H_f/H_c for all thin films, as in the case of advanced data backup tapes prepared from ultrafine particles. α(H_c) and the ratio H_f/H_c increase as V_phy decreases. Smaller H_f/H_c values are necessary for small α(H_c) values, which is very important for the thermal stability of high-density recording media with very small V_phy.     

Shapes of lipid monolayer domains: Solutions using elliptic functions

Solid lipid monolayer domains surrounded by a fluid phase at an air-water interface exhibit complex shapes. These intriguing shapes can be understood in terms of a competition between line tension and long-range dipole-dipole interaction. The dipolar energy has recently been relevant to a negative line tension and a positive curvature energy at the boundary, and a corresponding shape equation was derived by the variation of the approximated domain energy (Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 206101 (2004)). Here we further incorporate surface pressure into the shape equation and show that the equation can be analytically solved: the curvature of the domain boundary is exactly obtained as an elliptic function of arc-length. We find that a circular domain can grow into bean-and peach-like domains with pressure, i.e., dipping and cuspidal transitions of circle by compression. The comparison with the experimental observation shows nice agreement.     

Adjacency Effect in the Atmospheric Correction of Satellite Remote Sensing Data: Evaluation of the Influence of Aerosol Extinction Profiles

In the atmospheric correction of satellite data in the visible and near-infrared bands, it is necessary to remove the adjacency effect due to the reflection from contiguous pixels. Evaluation of the influence of aerosol vertical distributions on the adjacency effect is done by calculating the single-scattering light intensity which, after the reflection at the ground surface, reaches the satellite sensor via a single scattering with a molecule or an aerosol particle. In the simulation, we assume aerosol vertical profiles similar to those used in the MODTRAN radiation transfer code, and those having a mixed layer with a uniform value of the aerosol extinction coefficient. We assume for the ground surface a simple model representing a border of land/sea surfaces. In spite of the single scattering approximation, it is confirmed that even if the optical thickness is the same, we have a larger adjacency effect when the extinction coefficient is large at higher altitudes. We also discuss the dependence of the adjacency effect on the aerosol optical thickness and that on the difference in the reflectances of the land and sea surfaces along the border.     

Optical conductivity spectral anomalies in the off-center rattling system β-Ba8Ga16Sn30

We present optical conductivity studies of the type-I clathrate Ba8Ga16Sn30, using a terahertz time-domain spectrometer (0.3-3.0?THz). The lowest-lying spectral peak at 0.72?THz due to the Ba(2) ion's off-center vibration in the oversized cage shows a drastic and anomalous temperature dependence. Below about 100?K, the single broad peak splits into two subpeaks, and with further lowering of the temperature, the spectral shape of this so-called rattling phonon shows non-Boltzmann broadening to the point that the linewidth becomes comparable to the peak frequency. Whereas the initial splitting can be understood by assuming a multiwell anharmonic potential, the strong linewidth broadening toward low temperature cannot, since the Boltzmann factor generally sharpens the low-temperature spectra. The observed behavior suggests strong interaction between the local anharmonic phonons and other excitations.     

Determination of Ubiquinone in Blood by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Post-Column Fluorescence Derivatization Using 2-Cyanoacetamide

It was shown that ubiquinone (CoQ₁₀) and ubiquinol (CoQ₁₀H₂) produce fluorescence products under alkaline conditions when reacted with 2-cyanoacetamide. The reaction mixture from CoQ₁₀ gave fluorescence with excitation and emission maximum wavelengths at 442 nm and 549 nm, respectively. This reaction was considered to proceed via Craven’s reaction. Moreover, 2-cyanoacetamide was shown to be a useful reagent for high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with post-column fluorescence derivatization of CoQ₁₀ and CoQ₁₀H₂ in blood. CoQ₁₀ showed a linear response in the range of 0.32–1276 ng, and the detection limit (S/N = 3) was 0.16 ng. Moreover, the sample pretreatment by deproteinization and extraction of CoQ₁₀ and CoQ₁₀H₂ from plasma using 1-propanol with potassium formate was effective for excellent separation of CoQ₁₀ and CoQ₁₀H₂ from other fluorescent substances in the blood. This simple and rapid pretreatment was considered to minimize the oxidation of CoQ₁₀H₂. On the other hand, CoQ₁₀ and CoQ₁₀H₂ in plasma samples obtained by finger prick were detected, as in venous blood obtained by venipuncture. Our method involving the simple and rapid collection of plasma by finger prick and sample pretreatment is thought to be applicable for the determination of CoQ₁₀H₂/total CoQ₁₀ ratio as a biomarker of oxidative stress.     

A Semiconductor Waveguide-Type Optical Frequency Shifter

A waveguide-type optical frequency shifter based on a rotating half-wave plate is proposed. The underlying principle can be used to realize a bit-rate-free and modulation-code-free optical frequency shifter. The waveguide was formed along the ≪1 1 1> direction on a GaAs (1 1 0) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and reactive ion beam etching (RIBE). A 10-MHz optical frequency shift with 16 V_p-p applied voltage and 22.5% shift efficiency is demonstrated.     

A first-order system approach for diffusion equation. II: Unification of advection and diffusion

In this paper, we unify advection and diffusion into a single hyperbolic system by extending the first-order system approach introduced for the diffusion equation [J. Comput. Phys., 227 (2007) 315–352] to the advection–diffusion equation. Specifically, we construct a unified hyperbolic advection–diffusion system by expressing the diffusion term as a first-order hyperbolic system and simply adding the advection term to it. Naturally then, we develop upwind schemes for this entire   system; there is thus no need to develop two different schemes, i.e., advection and diffusion schemes. We show that numerical schemes constructed in this way can be automatically uniformly accurate, allow O(h)$O(h)$ time step, and compute the solution gradients (viscous stresses/heat fluxes for the Navier–Stokes equations) simultaneously to the same order of accuracy as the main variable, for all Reynolds numbers. We present numerical results for boundary-layer type problems on non-uniform grids in one dimension and irregular triangular grids in two dimensions to demonstrate various remarkable advantages of the proposed approach. In particular, we show that the schemes solving the first-order advection–diffusion system give a tremendous speed-up in CPU time over traditional scalar schemes despite the additional cost of carrying extra variables and solving equations for them. We conclude the paper with discussions on further developments to come.     

A new effect of ultrasonication on the formation of BaTiO3 nanoparticles

A new effect of ultrasonic irradiation on the formation of BaTiO₃ particles was identified. Ultrasonication caused the aggregation of the original 5–10 nm BaTiO₃ particles in the same crystal axis and accelerated the formation of BaTiO₃ particles significantly. Furthermore, narrow size distribution was obtained for the aggregated particles under ultrasonic irradiation.     

Development of zeolite-derived novel aluminosilicate phosphors

In this research, zeolite-derived aluminosilicate phosphors were synthesized through the ion exchange route. Red light-emitting property of Eu³⁺-doped aluminosilicate phosphors were discussed from a view point of the Eu content, heat-treatment condition and the oxidation state of Eu ions. The crystalline phase of the host aluminosilicates could be successfully controlled as designed based on the published NaAlO₂–SiO₂ binary phase diagram. Orange-red emission peaks derived from the ⁵D₀→⁷F_j (j=0, 1, 2, 3, 4) transition of Eu³⁺ were observed around 590–700 nm, and 4f⁶5d→4f⁷ transition of Eu²⁺ was observed at around 400–500 nm. The relative intensity I(⁵D₀→⁷F₂) of the dominant emission peak at 612 nm increased consistently with the Eu content. The results of the XANES spectroscopy analysis revealed that Eu²⁺ ion in the 1400 °C as heat-treated host aluminosilicate were successfully converted to Eu³⁺ by the additional annealing at 1100 °C. The Eu contents and heat-treatment conditions were determined to exhibit the best performance as a red phosphor, which were 10 wt% and 1500 °C, respectively