Low-loss subwavelength metal C-aperture waveguide

We present a design of a linear optical waveguide that utilizes a C-shaped metallic nano-aperture that efficiently transports light while maintaining a spot size of lambda/10. The performance of a C-aperture waveguide is superior to both a regular ridge waveguide and other surface plasmon based metal nano-optical waveguides. The energy transport mechanisms are explained by the coupling of an aperture surface resonance and the thickness resonances inside the guide channel. Finite-difference time-domain simulations of gold C-aperture waveguides are performed for a 1.5 microm wavelength incident plane wave. The 1/e decay length in power transmission is predicted to be approximately 2.5 microm. The total power throughput is 1.66 for the 2.55 microm long guide, with an intensity 6 times that of the incident wave at a distance 120 nm from the exit plane, having a spot size of 150 nm.     

Progress of nanoscience in China

Fast evolving nanoseienees and nanotechnology in China has made it one of the front countries of nanotechnology development. Ill this review, we summarize some most recent progresses in nanoseienee research and nanotechnology development in China. The topics we selected in this article include llano-fabrication, nanocatalysis, bioinspired nanoteehnology, green printing nanotechnology, nanoplasmonics, nanomedicine, nanomaterials and their applications, energy and environmental nanoteehnology, nano EHS （nanosafety）, etc. Most of them have great potentials in applications or application-related key issues in future.     

A novel block cryptosystem based on the coupled chaotic map lattice

In this paper, the authors propose a novel block cryptographic scheme based on the coupled chaotic map lattice. A pseudorandom number generator is constructed with the coupled spatiotemporal chaotic map lattice, which depends on the plaintext. The plaintext block is then encrypted by the classical chaotic masking technique. The pseudorandom sequences produced by the generator have excellent statistical properties; therefore, they are suitable for encrypting messages. Moreover, it can be easily implemented in parallel by hardware. Both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation prove the block cryptographic scheme secure and practical.     

P3HT与CdTe纳米枝晶p-n异质结敏化ZnO纳米管阵列的光电化学研究

采用电化学方法首先在ITO导电玻璃上制备了一维有序ZnO纳米管阵列,然后在ZnO纳米管阵列上采用电化学方法沉积纳米枝状CdTe,形成了纳米枝状CdTe包覆ZnO纳米管的CdTe@ZnO壳核式复合结构,最后在上述复合结构中旋涂一层P3HT薄膜形成P3HT包覆的P3HT@CdTe@ZnO复合薄膜. 以此复合薄膜为光活性层组装成半导体敏化太阳电池,研究了该类电池的光电转换性能,对该电池的工作原理进行初步研究,所得太阳电池能量转换效率最高达到1.38%.     

Structures of Pt clusters on graphene doped with nitrogen, boron, and silicon: a theoretical study

The structures of Pt clusters on nitrogen-,boron-,silicon-doped graphenes are theoretically studied using densityfunctional theory.These dopants(nitrogen,boron and silicon) each do not induce a local curvature in the graphene and the doped graphenes all retain their planar form.The formation energy of the silicon-graphene system is lower than those of the nitrogen-,boron-doped graphenes,indicating that the silicon atom is easier to incorporate into the graphene.All the substitutional impurities enhance the interaction between the Pt atom and the graphene.The adsorption energy of a Pt adsorbed on the silicon-doped graphene is much higher than those on the nitrogen-and boron-doped graphenes.The doped silicon atom can provide more charges to enhance the Pt-graphene interaction and the formation of Pt clusters each with a large size.The stable structures of Pt clusters on the doped-graphenes are dimeric,triangle and tetrahedron with the increase of the Pt coverage.Of all the studied structures,the tetrahedron is the most stable cluster which has the least influence on the planar surface of doped-graphene.     

High volumetric hydrogen density phases of magnesium borohydride at high-pressure: A first-principles study

The previously proposed theoretical and experimental structures,bond characterization,and compressibility of Mg(BH 4) 2 in a pressure range from 0 to 10 GPa are studied by ab initio density-functional calculations.It is found that the ambient pressure phases of meta-stable I4 1 /amd and unstable P-3m1 proposed recently are extra stable and cannot decompose under high pressure.Enthalpy calculation indicates that the ground state of F 222 structure proposed by Zhou et al.[2009 Phys.Rev.B 79 212102] will transfer to I4 1 /amd at 0.7 GPa,and then to a P-3m1 structure at 6.3 GPa.The experimental P 6 1 22 structure(α-phase) transfers to I4 1 /amd at 1.2 GPa.Furthermore,both I4 1 /amd and P-3m1 can exist as high volumetric hydrogen density phases at low pressure.Their theoretical volumetric hydrogen densities reach 146.351 g H 2 /L and 134.028 g H 2 /L at ambient pressure,respectively.The calculated phonon dispersion curve shows that the I4 1 /amd phase is dynamically stable in a pressure range from 0 to 4 GPa and the P-3m1 phase is stable at pressures higher than 1 GPa.So the I4 1 /amd phase may be synthesized under high pressure and retained to ambient pressure.Energy band structures show that they are both always ionic crystalline and insulating with a band-gap of about 5 eV in this pressure range.In addition,they each have an anisotropic compressibility.The c axis of these structures is easy to compress.Especially,the c axis and volume of P-3m1 phase are extraordinarily compressible,showing that compression along the c axis can increase the volumetric hydrogen content for both I4 1 /amd and P-3m1 structures.     

The synergistic effect of nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide/mercaptobenzoic acid/silver nanocomplexes for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We synthesized titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and nitrogen-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles (N-TiO₂ NPs) via a sol-hydrothermal method using ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) as the nitrogen (N) source. Furthermore, an N-TiO₂/4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4-MBA)/silver (Ag) nanocomplex served as an active substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and was prepared by self-assembly. During SERS, the Raman signals of 4-MBA of the N-TiO₂/MBA/Ag nanocomplexes exhibited higher intensity and sensitivity than pure TiO₂/MBA/Ag, with 1% N doping in N-TiO₂, producing the strongest Raman signals. We characterized the N-TiO₂ hybrid materials by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra. N doping did not influence the phase of the TiO₂ crystal. The doped N entered into the crystal lattice of the TiO₂, replacing some oxygen (O) to form Ti-O-N or Ti-N-O linkage. The results indicated that an appropriate amount of N doping could enhance the SERS performance of the TiO₂ SERS substrate via N substitution doping. These doping forms were beneficial to the molecular charge transfer (CT), and this resulted in improved SERS performance for N-doped TiO₂ NPs. We attributed this improvement to the formation of N-doping energy levels that were beneficial to the process of TiO₂ to MBA molecule CT. This work not only enriched the nonmetal-doped CT mechanism in SERS but also provided several reference values for practical applications.

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Graphical abstract N-doped TiO₂ nanoparticles were synthesized. Whereafter, N-TiO₂/MBA/Ag nanocomplexes were prepared and served as a SERS-active substrate. An appropriate amount of N doping can enhance the SERS properties of TiO₂ SERS-active substrate by nitrogen substitution doping. The nonmetal doping TiO₂-to-molecule CT mechanism and the synergistic effect in N-TiO₂/MBA/Ag charge transfer systems have been studied.

     

Numerical analyses and breadboard experiments of twin attractors in two-neuron-based non-autonomous Hopfield neural network

This paper investigates twin attractors in a two-neuron-based non-autonomous Hopfield neural network (HNN) through numerical analyses and hardware experiments. Stability analysis of the DC equilibrium point is executed and an unstable saddle-focus is found in the parameter region of interest. The stimulus-associated dynamical behaviors are numerically explored by bifurcation diagrams and dynamical map in two-dimensional parameter-space, from which coexisting twin attractors behavior can be observed with the variations of two stimulus-associated parameters. Moreover, breadboard experiment investigations are carried out, which effectively verify the numerical simulations.     

Enhanced interface interaction between modified carbon nanotubes and magnesium matrix

Carbon nanotube (CNT)/metal interface interaction is critical to the mechanical properties of CNT-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs). In this paper, in order to realize the chemical modification of the interface interaction between CNTs and Mg matrix, different types of defects (monovacancy, carbon and oxygen adatoms, as well as p-type boron and n-type nitrogen substitution) are introduced in CNTs to investigate the effect of the defects on the interface interaction (E_ib) between CNT and Mg (0 0 0 1) surface. Moreover, two models (adsorption model and interface model) are compared and validated to investigate the interface interaction. It is revealed that the CNT with the carbon adatom has the highest E_ib with the Mg (0 0 0 1), and the effect of boron doping on E_ib is superior to the intermediate oxygen which has already been proved experimentally in the enhancement of the interface interaction in MMCs. In terms of the electronic structure analysis, we reveal the micro-mechanism of the increase of E_ib under the action of different types of defects, and propose that the presence of holes (boron dopant) and the unsaturated electrons in CNTs can generate the chemical interaction between CNT and Mg matrix effectively. Our results are of great scientific importance to the realization of robust interfacial bonding between CNTs and Mg matrix via the reinforcement modification, so as to enhance the mechanical properties of CNTs reinforced Mg matrix composites.     

Ab initio exploration of d<Superscript>0</Superscript> digital magnetic heterostructures: the case of MgO and CaO <Emphasis Type="Italic">δ</Emphasis>-doped with potassium

Previous studies of digital magnetic heterostructures have mainly focused on 3d transition metal δ-doped semiconductors. In this work, sp-electron digital magnetic heterostructures without magnetic ions are proposed. Based on a theoretical density functional investigation, electronic structures and magnetic properties of MgO and CaO δ-doped with K were reported. The results show that these heterostructures are half-metallic ferromagnetic materials having semiconducting up spins and metallic down spins, with an exchange interaction much stronger than that of a random alloy with similar K concentration. Our first-principles calculations show that the carriers at the Fermi level are strongly confined within a few monolayers around the KO plane. This strong confinement is responsible for the large exchange coupling and the two-dimensional half-metallic behavior. The thickness of the host semiconducting spacer does not significantly change the global electric and magnetic features.