Light transmission properties of double-overlapped annular apertures

We investigate the light transmission properties of double-overlapped annular apertures in a silver film with the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. It has been found that the transmission peaks are attributed to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of nanocavities and the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of the nanoparticles. The peaks of the LSPR are blueshifted when the overlapping distance is increased. Moreover, a Fano-type resonance appears in the transmitted spectral response with an appropriate overlapping distance, which is elucidated as the hybridization results of the SPPs of the nanoparticles. The number and position of the Fano resonance can be tuned through varying the overlapping distance and other geometric parameters.     

Efficient green-light generation by proton-exchanged periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 ridge waveguide

Efficient cw 532?nm green-light generation is demonstrated using a periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 ridge waveguide prepared by a process that combines annealed proton exchange and precise dicing. Performance of waveguides with different widths has been investigated. The 6-μm-wide, 1.6-cm-long uncoated ridge waveguide has achieved a green output power of 127?mW under a coupled fundamental light power of 250?mW. The highest conversion efficiency achieved is 53%.     

Progress in improving thermodynamics and kinetics of new hydrogen storage materials

Hydrogen storage material has been much developed recently because of its potential for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell applications. A successful solid-state reversible storage material should meet the requirements of high storage capacity, suitable thermodynamic properties, and fast adsorption and desorption kinetics. Complex hydrides, including boron hydride and alanate, ammonia borane, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), are remarkable hydrogen storage materials because of their advantages of high energy density and safety. This feature article focuses mainly on the thermodynamics and kinetics of these hydrogen storage materials in the past few years.     

Ti-doped nano-porous graphene: A material for hydrogen storage and sensor

Clustering of Ti on carbon nanostructures has proved to be an obstacle in their use as hydrogen storagematerials. Using density functional theory we show that Ti atoms will not cluster at moderate concentrations when doped into nanoporous graphene. Since each Ti atom can bind up to three hydrogen molecules with an average binding energy of 0.54 eV/H₂, this material can be ideal for storing hydrogen under ambient thermodynamic conditions. In addition, nanoporous graphene is magnetic with or without Ti doping, but when it is fully saturated with hydrogen, the magnetism disappears. This novel feature suggests that nanoporous graphene cannot only be used for storing hydrogen, but also as a hydrogen sensor.     

Asymmetric orbital-lattice interactions in ultrathin correlated oxide films

Using resonant x-ray spectroscopies combined with density functional calculations, we find an asymmetric biaxial strain-induced d-orbital response in ultrathin films of the correlated metal LaNiO3 which are not accessible in the bulk. The sign of the misfit strain governs the stability of an octahedral "breathing" distortion, which, in turn, produces an emergent charge-ordered ground state with an altered ligand-hole density and bond covalency. Control of this new mechanism opens a pathway to rational orbital engineering, providing a platform for artificially designed Mott materials.     

High-pressure crystal structure of elastically isotropic CaTiO3 perovskite under hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic conditions

The structural evolution of orthorhombic CaTiO3 perovskite has been studied using high-pressure single-crystal x-ray diffraction under hydrostatic conditions up to 8.1 GPa and under a non-hydrostatic stress field formed in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) up to 4.7 GPa. Under hydrostatic conditions, the TiO6 octahedra become more tilted and distorted with increasing pressure, similar to other 2:4 perovskites. Under non-hydrostatic conditions, the experiments do not show any apparent difference in the internal structural variation from hydrostatic conditions and no additional tilts and distortions in the TiO6 octahedra are observed, even though the lattice itself becomes distorted due to the non-hydrostatic stress. The similarity between the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic cases can be ascribed to the fact that CaTiO3 perovskite is nearly elastically isotropic and, as a consequence, its deviatoric unit-cell volume strain produced by the non-hydrostatic stress is very small; in other words, the additional octahedral tilts relevant to the extra unit-cell volume associated with the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain may be totally neglected. This study further addresses the role that three factors--the elastic properties, the crystal orientation and the pressure medium--have on the structural evolution of an orthorhombic perovskite loaded in a DAC under non-hydrostatic conditions. The influence of these factors can be clearly visualized by plotting the three-dimensional distribution of the deviatoric unit-cell volume strain in relation to the cylindrical axis of the DAC and indicates that, if the elasticity of a perovskite is nearly isotropic as it is for CaTiO3, the other two factors become relatively insignificant.     

Time-stretch oscilloscope with dual-channel differential detection front end for monitoring of 100 Gb/s return-to-zero differential quadrature phase-shift keying data

Optical performance monitoring of high-capacity networks is one of the enabling technologies of future reconfigurable optical switch networks. In such networks, rapid performance evaluation of data streams becomes challenging due to the use of advanced modulation formats and high data rates. The time-stretch enhanced recording oscilloscope offers a potential solution to monitoring high-rate data in a practical time scale. Here we demonstrate an architecture with a differential detection front end for simultaneous I/Q data monitoring of a 100 gigabits/s return-to-zero differential quadrature phase-shift keying signal. This demonstration shows the potential of this technology for rapid performance monitoring of high-rate optical data streams that employ advanced modulation formats.     

Miscibility and Isothermal Crystallization Behavior of Poly (Butylene Succinate-co-Adipate) (PBSA)/Poly (Trimethylene Carbonate) (PTMC) Blends

Poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA)/poly (trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) blend samples with different weight ratios were prepared by solution blending. The morphologies after isothermal crystallization and in the melt were observed by optical microscopy (OM). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize the isothermal crystallization kinetics and melting behaviors. According to the OM image before and after melting, it was found that the blends formed heterogenous morphologies. When the PTMC content was low (20%), PBSA formed the continuous phase, while when the PTMC contents was high (40%), PBSA formed the dispersed phase. The glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the blends were determined by DSC and the differences of the T_g values were smaller than the difference between those of pure PBSA and PTMC. In addition, the equilibrium melting points were depressed in the blends. According to these results, the PBSA/PTMC blends were determined as being partially miscible blends. The crystallization kinetics was investigated according to the Avrami equation. It was found that the incorporation of PTMC did not change the crystallization mechanism of PBSA. However, the crystallization rate decreased with the increase of PTMC contents. The change of crystallization kinetics is related with the existences of amorphous PTMC, the partial miscibility between PLLA and PTMC, and the changes of phase structures.     

Swelling Properties and Environmental Responsiveness of Superabsorbent Composite Based on Starch-G-Poly Acrylic Acid/Organo-Zeolite

Star-g-poly (acrylic acid)/organo-zeolite 4A (S-g-PAA/OZ) superabsorbent composite was prepared by grafting partially neutralized acrylic acid onto starch in the presence of organo-zeolite 4A (OZ) as an inorganic component. The morphology was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis revealed the fine distribution of OZ in superabsorbent composite. The swelling kinetics of the composites were characterized by means of a Schott's second-order model. The effect of OZ concentration in the composite on the water absorbency and swelling behavior were tested. The swelling properties of the composites were evaluated in various environments; pH, salinity, temperature, urea solution, and solvent-water mixtures. The activation energy (ΔE) for water during the swelling process was also determined through Arrhenius plots. The results showed that the proper amount of OZ was beneficial for improvement of the water absorbent capacity and the initial swelling rate in distilled water. The optimum prepared composite with 10 wt % OZ, possessed the maximum water absorption (511g/g) in distilled water and (521 g/g) in 0.1 wt % urea solution. The results inferred that S-g-PAA/OZ superabsorbent composite can be exploited for agriculture and medical applications.     

Large circular dichroism and optical rotation in titanium doped chiral silver nanorods

The circular dichroism of titanium‐doped silver chiral nanorod arrays grown using the glancing angle deposition (GLAD) method is investigated in the visible and near infrared ranges using transmission ellipsometry and spectroscopy. These films are found to have significant circular polarization effects across broad ranges of the visible to NIR spectrum, including large values for optical rotation. The characteristics of these circular polarization effects are strongly influenced by the morphology of the deposited arrays. Thus, the morphological control of the optical activity in these nanostructures demonstrates significant optimization capability of the GLAD technique for fabricating chiral plasmonic materials.