AC conductivity and dielectric studies of (C5H10N)2BiCl5 compound

The bis (3-dimethylammonium-1-propyne) pentachlorobismuthate (III) exhibits a structural phase transition at T₁?=?(337?±?2?K), which has been characterized by differential scanning calorimetric, X-ray powder analysis, AC conductivity and dielectric measurements. The dielectric dispersion yielded the real and imaginary parts of impedance of (C₅H₁₀N)₂BiCl₅ in the form of a semicircle in a complex plane. Besides, a Cole?CCole plot was observed at frequencies ranging from 209?Hz to 5?MHz, whose result was found to fit the theoretical resistor?Ccapacitor parallel circuit model. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity in the different phases follows the Arrhenius law. The frequency-dependent conductivity data were fitted in the modified power law: $ \sigma = {\sigma_{dc}} + {B_1}(T){\omega^{{s_1}}} + {B_2}(T){\omega^{{s_2}}} $ . The imaginary part of the permittivity constant is analyzed with the Cole?CCole formalism. With regard to the modulus plot, it can be characterized by full width at half height or in terms of a non-exponential decay function $ \phi (t) = \exp {\left( {\frac{{ - t}}{{{\tau_\sigma }}}} \right)^\beta } $ . Besides, the activation energy responsible for relaxation has been evaluated and found to be close the DC conductivity.     

Observation of large Zeeman splitting in GaGdN/AlGaN ferromagnetic semiconductor double quantum well superlattices

Symmetric GaGdN/AlGaN (Gd concentration: 2%) and GaN/AlGaN double quantum well superlattices (DQW-SLs) were grown by radio-frequency plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on GaN (0001) templates. Atomic steps were observed on all the sample surfaces by atomic force microscope. X-ray diffraction θ/2θ scan curves exhibited well-defined satellite structures. Room temperature ferromagnetism was confirmed for the GaGdN/AlGaN DQW-SL samples by using alternating gradient magnetometer. Strong photoluminescence was observed from both GaGdN and GaN QWs at higher energy side of GaN excitonic peak. Magneto-photoluminescence spectra for GaGdN/AlGaN DQW-SL samples showed a large magnetic field dependence of the excitonic energy by applying a magnetic field up to 7 T. The observed strong redshift of excitonic PL indicated an enhancement of Zeeman splitting of the free carrier energy levels in magnetic GaGdN/AlGaN DQW-SL. Enhanced g-factor was estimated to be about 60 for GaGdN/AlGaN DQW-SL sample with QW thickness of 1 nm.     

Effect of shape and interstice on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of molecules adsorbed on gold nanoparticles in the near‐dipole and quadrupole regions

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of adsorbed molecule on colloidal gold nanoparticles of different shapes, namely nanospheres (NSs), nanorods (NRs), and nanoprisms (NPs) as well as the three NPs arrays of different interstice prepared by NS lithography, are studied with incident wavenumbers in the near‐dipole and near‐quadrpole regions of the nanoparticles. In the colloidal gold nanoparticles, the SERS enhancement is the largest for the sharp tip followed by the truncated tip NPs, then the NRs and least enhancement for the NSs. This decreasing order of enhancement occurs although the incident wavenumber was near the dipole resonance of NSs and the quadrupole resonance for the NPs. These varied enhancements are explained in part as due to the binding energies of the nanocrystal facets, but the larger contribution results from the plasmon electromagnetic fields. A parallel finite difference time domain (FDTD) calculations were carried out, which corporate the experimental results and show agreement with ratios of the SERS enhancement for the different shapes. The normalized SERS intensity for NPs of different interstice distances show a sharp rise with the decrease of the interstice distances because of interparticle dipolar and quadrupolar coupling as evidenced also by FDTD calculations. Furthermore, these calculations show that the enhancement is polarization independent for an incident wavelength near quadrupole resonance but polarization dependent for an incident wavelength near the plasmon dipole transition. In the last case, the enhancement is larger by an order of magnitude for a polarization parallel to the NPs bisector than for polarization normal to the bisector with no hot spots for the relatively large interstice dimensions used. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dual-channel spectral subtraction algorithms based speech enhancement dedicated to a bilateral cochlear implant

In this paper, two speech enhancement algorithms (SEAs) based on spectral subtraction (SS) principle have been evaluated for bilateral cochlear implant (BCI) users. Specifically, dual-channel noise power spectral estimation algorithm using power spectral densities (PSD) and cross power spectral density (CPSD) of the observed signals was studied. The enhanced speech signals were obtained using either Dual Channel Non Linear Spectral Subtraction ‘DC-NLSS’ or Dual-Channel Multi-Band Spectral Subtraction ‘DC-MBSS’ algorithms. For performance evaluation, some objective speech assessment tests relying on Perceptual Evaluation of Speech Quality (PESQ) score and speech Itakura-Saito (IS) distortion measurement were performed to fix the optimal number of frequency band needed in DC-MBSS algorithm. In order to evaluate the speech intelligibility, subjective listening tests were assessed with 50 normal hearing listeners using a specific BCI simulator and with three deafened BCI patients. Experimental results, obtained using French Lafon database corrupted by an additive babble noise at different Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNR), showed that DC-MBSS algorithm improves speech understanding better than DC-NLSS algorithm for single and multiple interfering noise sources.     

Spectral Properties of Probes Containing Benzothioxanthene Chromophore Linked with Hindered Amine in Solution and in Polymer Matrices

Absorption and emission spectroscopy as well as laser flash photolysis was employed in order to characterize the spectral properties of novel probes based on benzothioxantheneimide chromophore covalently linked with different types of sterically hindered amines. These were chosen as 2-(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)-thioxantheno[2,1,9-dej]isoquinoline-1,3-dione (BTXINH), the equivalent stable nitroxyl radical, i.e. 2-(1-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)thioxantheno[2,1,9dej]isoquinoline 1,3-dione (BTXINO) and the alkoxy derivative 2-(1-(1′-phenylethoxy)-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)-thioxantheno[2,1,9-dej]isoquinoline-1,3-dione (BTXINOR). Spectral properties, in solutions and in various polymer matrices such as polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene, were compared with the compound 2-(1-dodecyl)-thioxantheno[2,1,9-dej]isoquinoline-1,3-dione (BTXID) taken in the present study as a reference compound. By means of the fluorescence decay and in the contrary to three other probes, BTXINO probe clearly showed a biexponential decay while the three other probes led to monoexponential decay. Two different singlet excited states with lifetimes of about 0.4 and 5 ns were proposed. They correspond to two dispositions of the nitroxyl radical chain above and along the fluorescent moiety of the molecule. Such behaviour depends on the surrounding media. Moreover, an efficient intramolecular quenching of the fluorescence emission was only observed with the short lived singlet excited state. The ratio BTXID/BTXINO was found equal to about 4 and 9 in solutions and polymer matrices respectively. Laser flash photolysis indicated that the novel probes as well as the model compound yielded transient absorption with maximum at 530 nm, corresponding to the triplet states. The intermolecular quenching of such species by molecular oxygen and by free N-oxyl, such as 1-oxy-2,2,6,6-teramethylpiperidine (TEMPO) and 1-oxy-2,2,6,6-teramethyl-4-hydroxypiperidine (TEMPOL), and the intramolecular quenching was not efficient.     

Photoacoustic characterization of optical and thermal properties of CdSe quantum dots

We report on the optical absorption properties of as prepared CdSe quantum dots (QDs) measured by the photoacoustic (PA) method. CdSe QDs were fabricated by the chemical solution deposition (CD) technique. With increasing growing time, the redshift of the PA spectra can be clearly observed and optical absorption in the visible region due to CdSe Q-dots is demonstrated. The average diameters of the CdSe QDs for each growth time interval is estimated using the effective mass approximation giving diameters ranging from 2.6 nm to 3.4 nm. These values are comparable to those obtained by scanning tunnelling microscope (STM). Thus, PA spectroscopy is useful to obtain the QDs sizes as grown and with no further preparation. In addition, PA measurements provide also the thermal diffusivity of samples of different sizes which in this case show an increase by at least an order of magnitude than the bulk value.     

The sound generated by a square cylinder with a splitter plate at low Reynolds number

The generation of aerodynamic sound by the interaction of flow at a Reynolds number of 150 and a Mach number of 0.2 with a rigid square cylinder attached to a rigid thin flat plate is numerically investigated. When the length of the plate is varied from L=0.5D to 6D, where D is the side length of the square cylinder, the results can be grouped into three distinct regimes. For the first regime (L?D), the sound levels decrease with increasing plate length. A 3 dB sound reduction is obtained when the length of the plate is D. For the second regime (1.25D?L?4.75D), the sound levels increase with increasing plate length. For the third regime (5D?L?6D), the sound levels decrease as the length of the plate increases but the levels are higher than for the other regimes. Results also show that the lift fluctuation is the dominant sound source. These acoustic results can be explained in terms of the fluid mechanics occurring in the near wake of the cylinder.     

Growth and characterization of L-phenylalanine nitric acid (LPN) and tris L-(phenylalanine)-phenylalanininum nitrate (TPLPN) as second and third order nonlinear optical materials

We synthesized noncentrosymmetric single crystals of L-phenylalanine nitrate (LPN) and tris L-(phenylalanine) L-phenylalaninium nitrate (TPLPN) by slow solvent evaporation technique. Both crystallized in monoclinic system with different acentric space groups namely P2₁ (LPN) and C2 (TPLPN) respectively. The IR and Raman spectral investigation was done for LPN and TPLPN and discussed. The UV-vis-studies accomplished the excitation wavelength of the grown crystals suitable to exhibit second harmonic generation signal. From the absorption data, remarkable optical properties such as direct band gap energy, Urbach energy, extinction coefficient were evaluated. The mechanical strength of the grown crystal was examined by Vickers micro hardness test. The temperature of decomposition was confirmed by TG/DSC analysis. Fluorescence emission spectrum of LPN and TPLPN were recorded and lifetime was also studied. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of LPN and TPLPN has been determined as a function of frequency and temperature. Also the surface topologies of the crystallized salts were assessed by SEM studies. The third-order nonlinearities of LPN and TPLPN were determined by Z-scan technique with Nd: YAG at 532?nm and thereby from closed and open Z-scan data, third-order susceptibilities were calculated to be χ⁽³⁾?=?8.826?×?10^?6 esu for LPN and χ⁽³⁾?=?2.552?×?10^?7 esu for TPLPN.     

UV protection filters by dielectric multilayer thin films on Glass BK-7 and Infrasil 301

The increasing use of Ultraviolet (UV) light in medicine, industrial environments, for cosmetic use, and even in consumer products necessitates that greater attention be paid to the potential hazards of this type of electromagnetic radiation. To avoid any adverse effects of exposure to this type of radiation, four suitable protection filters were produced to block three UV bands (UVA, UVB, and UVC). The design structure of the required dielectric multilayer filters was done by optical thin film technology using the absorbing property of UV radiation for the substrates and dielectric materials. The computer analyses of the multilayer filter formulas were prepared using Macleod Software for the production processes. The deposition technique was achieved on optical substrates (Glass BK-7 and Infrasil 301) by dielectric material combinations including Titanium dioxide (Ti₂O₃), Hafnium dioxide (HfO₂), and Lima (mixture of oxides SiO₂/Al₂O₃); deposition being achieved using an electron beam gun. The output results of the theoretical and experimental transmittance values for spectral band from 200 nm to 800 nm were discussed in four processes. To analyze the suitability for use in ‘real world’ applications, the test pieces were subjected to the durability tests (adhesion, abrasion resistance, and humidity) according to Military Standard MIL-C-675C and MIL-C-48497A.