White electroluminescence from a single polyfluorene containing bis‐DCM units

A series of fluorene‐based copolymers composed of blue‐ and orange‐light‐emitting comonomers were synthesized through palladium‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reactions. 9,9‐Dihexylfluorene and 2‐(2,6‐bis‐{2‐[1‐(9,9‐dihexyl‐9H‐fluoren‐2‐yl)‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinolin‐6‐yl]‐vinyl}‐pyran‐4‐ylidene)‐malononitrile (DCMF) were used as the blue‐ and orange‐light‐emitting chromophores, respectively. The resulting single polymers exhibited simultaneous blue (423/450 nm) and orange (580–600 nm) emissions from these two chromophores. By adjusting the fluorene and DCMF contents, white light emission could be obtained from a single polymer; a device with an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Ca/Al configuration was found to exhibit pure white electroluminescence with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.31), a maximum brightness of 1180 cd/m², and a current efficiency of 0.60 cd/A. Furthermore, the white light emission of this device was found to be very stable with respect to variation of the driving voltage. The CIE coordinates of the device were (0.32, 0.29), (0.32, 0.29), and (0.33, 0.31) for driving voltages of 7, 8, and 10 V, respectively. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3380–3390, 2007     

Crystallinity and morphology dependent luminescence of Li-doped Y2−xGdxO3:Eu thin film phosphors

The influence of lithium doping on the crystallization, the surface morphology, and the luminescent properties of pulsed laser deposited Y_2−xGd_xO₃:Eu³⁺ thin film phosphors was investigated. The crystallinity, the surface morphology, and the photoluminescence (PL) of films depended highly on the Li-doping and the Gd content. The relationship between the crystalline and morphological structures and the luminescent properties was studied, and Li⁺ doping was found to effectively enhance not only the crystallinity but also the luminescent brightness of Y_2−xGd_xO₃:Eu³⁺ thin films. In particular, the incorporation of Li and Gd into the Y₂O₃ lattice could induce remarkable increase in the PL. The highest emission intensity was observed Li-doped Y_1.35Gd_0.6O₃:Eu³⁺ thin films whose brightness was increased by a factor of 4.6 in comparison with that of Li-doped Y₂O₃:Eu³⁺ thin films.     

Visualization of concentration field in a vortex ring using acetone PLIF

To improve the understanding of flame propagation through a nonpremixed vortex ring, the characteristics of fuel concentration in a vortex ring have been investigated experimentally. The vortex ring was generated by the ejection of propane with a single stroke motion of a speaker. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique was adopted by seeding acetone as a tracer to fuel stream, in which the PLIF signal intensity is directly proportional to the concentration of acetone. This technique provides non-intrusive and instantaneous measurement of concentration field. Results showed that fuel concentration and its gradient decreased with the evolution of a vortex ring. When a nonpremixed flame propagated through a vortex ring, the flame location coincides with the inner most spiral mixing layer of fuel and air in a vortex ring.     

Application of nondestructive testing methods to electronic industry using computer-aided optical metrology

A novel application of NDT to the electronic industry using computer-aided optical metrology that includes Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometer (ESPI), Electronic Shearing Speckle Pattern Interferometer (ESSPI) and Digital Speckle Correlation Method (DSCM) was described. The theoretical analysis based on interferometry and the deformation theory was presented and the relationship between fringe-distribution and defect-geometry was given. An important technique—computer-controlled polarization phase shifting—was developed for improving the fringe quality and the sensitivity of ESPI and ESSPI. In order to improve the sensitivity for NDT of small object like electronic elements, a new NDT method using DSCM was first introduced. Two key techniques, the cross-search algorithm and double-lens optical arrangement, were developed to provide the possibility of high processing speed and small object measurement. These new techniques will make DSCM the most powerful NDT tool in electronic engineering.Several applications are presented as examples in this paper; they include the electrosound elements, miniaturized multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLC), compact disk (CD) and optical fibers. The findings have demonstrated that computer-aided optical metrology is a powerful tool for NDT applications in electronic engineering.     

Cone-shaped structures of GeO2 fabricated by a thermal evaporation process

We have synthesized cone-like GeO₂ structures via thermal heating of Ge powders. We have investigated the effects of substrate temperature on the sample morphology, revealing that cone-shaped structures are preferentially obtained at higher temperature. The cone-shaped structures, which gradually become thinner to form a sharp tip, appear to be a single-crystalline, hexagonal structure of GeO₂. Room-temperature photoluminescence measurement revealed two emission peaks, at about 2.78 and 3.04 eV.     

The particle size-dependent photoluminescence of nanodiamonds

The intrinsic defects- and impurities-originated photoluminescence from nanodiamond particles of various sizes (5-500 nm) were observed. Luminescence spanning from 500 nm to 800 nm can be excited with 488 nm and 532 nm wavelengths lasers without any high-energy treatment to create the defects/impurities. The luminescence is found to be particle-size and laser-wavelength dependent, suggesting different kinds of defects/impurities predominantly sustain the luminescence from nanodiamonds of different sizes.     

Co/C-catalyzed tandem carbocyclization reaction of 1,6-diynes

Cobalt on charcoal (Co/C) can be used as a catalyst in the tandem carbocycloaddition reaction of 1,6-diyne and carbon monoxide. The reaction product is dependent upon the reaction temperature, the position of the functional group, and the substrate itself.     

Heterocyclic benzoxazole-based liquid crystals

The synthesis, characterization, and mesomorphic properties of a new type of heteronuclear compounds 1a-c and a Pd complex 1d derived from benzoxazole as the core group are reported. These compounds were prepared by the ring closure reaction of 4-alkoxybenzoic acid 4-[(4-alkoxy-2-hydroxyphenylimino)methyl]phenyl esters 6 in the presence of lead(IV) acetate. All the compounds were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopies and elemental analysis. The phase behaviour of these mesogenic compounds was characterized and studied by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy. All the compounds 1a exhibited nematic (N) and/or smectic C (SmC) phases, as expected for rod-like molecules; however, the compounds 1b and 1c exhibited crystal phases. For those compounds 1a having shorter carbon chains (n = 1, 3, 4) nematic phases were observed, whereas for compounds having longer carbon chains (n = 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14) smectic C behaviour was also observed at lower temperatures. The greater aspect ratio (l/d) of compounds 1a compared with 1b and 1c was found to be required for the observation of liquid crystallinity. The fluorescent properties of these compounds were also examined. All λ_max peaks of the absorption and photoluminescence spectra of compounds 1a-1c occurred at c. 316-322 nm and 371-382 nm, respectively. The quantum yields of some compounds were relatively low, and also slightly solvent-dependent.     

A fast Godunov method for the water‐hammer problem

An efficient Godunov‐type numerical method with second‐order accuracy was developed to simulate the water‐hammer problem in piping. The exact solutions of the Riemann problem were analysed and illustrated on the intriguing solution diagram by properly introducing dimensionless variables within reasonably practical ranges. Based on the solution diagram, an efficient fast Riemann solver was also developed. Moreover, small perturbation analysis was performed to demonstrate the relations between the primitive variables, velocity and pressure, for the Riemann problem. The typical shock‐tube problem and the water‐hammer problem were implemented as sample ones to test the numerical method. It was shown that the present numerical method incorporated with Van Leer's flux limiter is a promising one to simulate fluid transient problem for piping in the present study. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.