Fourier magnitude of the field incident on a random scattering medium from spatial speckle intensity correlations

Spatial speckle intensity correlations are used to determine the spatial Fourier magnitude of a field incident on a random scattering medium. The patterned beam is scanned across the scattering medium, and the speckle pattern on the opposite side is imaged at each beam position. A theory based on a Green's function representation is used to reconstruct the spatial Fourier magnitude of the patterned incident field.     

Spinning disk for compressive imaging

We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, experimental implementation of a spinning-disk configuration for high-speed compressive image acquisition. A single rotating mask (i.e., the spinning disk) with random binary patterns was utilized to spatially modulate a collimated terahertz (THz) or IR beam. After propagating through the sample, the THz or IR beam was measured using a single detector, and THz and IR images were subsequently reconstructed using compressive sensing. We demonstrate that a 32-by-32 pixel image could be obtained from 160 to 240 measurements in both the IR and THz ranges. This spinning-disk configuration allows the use of an electric motor to rotate the spinning disk, thus enabling the experiment to be performed automatically and continuously. This, together with its compact design and computational efficiency, makes it promising for real-time imaging applications.     

Fluctuation Bounds For Interface Free Energies in Spin Glasses

We consider the free energy difference restricted to a finite volume for certain pairs of incongruent thermodynamic states (if they exist) in the Edwards–Anderson Ising spin glass at nonzero temperature. We prove that the variance of this quantity with respect to the couplings grows proportionally to the volume in any dimension greater than or equal to two. As an illustration of potential applications, we use this result to restrict the possible structure of Gibbs states in two dimensions.     

A complete TSDC description of molecular mobilities in polylactide/starch blends from local to normal modes: Effect of composition,moisture, and crystallinity

Thermally stimulated depolarization current is applied to study the dielectric relaxations coexisting from 80 to 380 K in the PLLA/starch, immiscible biodegradable blend system. The relaxation parameters are determined for chain mobilities at different ranges, whether in the amorphous or cold‐crystallized state for PLLA, and totally amorphous one for starch as demonstrated by wide‐angle X‐ray scattering experiments. The PLLA crystallization is favored by the presence of starch, in both the crystallinity degree reached and the crystallization time. The effect of moisture is followed for both the local modes and the segmental mobilities, where a bimodal relaxation for starch sweeps the temperature range, thus evidencing the heterogeneities existing in the starch disordered phase. The moisture plasticization effect is estimated and shows differences in the water absorption in starch either neat or as a minority component. The onset of the segmental mobility in PLLA is independent of composition or crystallinity, but the large intensity decrease observed when PLLA cold‐crystallizes evidences the simultaneous formation of a rigid amorphous fraction and the crystallites. The normal relaxation mode is recorded in amorphous PLLA whether neat or blended, which again demonstrates the absence of interactions among the blend components. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 680–691     

Mao based catalysts for syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS)

Several non-metallocene (Ti, Zr) and substituted mono-Cp titanium metallocenes have been tested in the presence of methylalumoxane (MAO) as catalyst for syndiospecific polymerization of styrene. Effect of substitutions on the titanium and Cp ligand, molar ratio of Al/Ti, TMA and temperature on activity, Mwt. and % sPS were studied. CpTi(OiPr)₃ gives a less active catalyst than Cp*Ti(OiPr)₃ and the resulting sPS is less stereoregular and of lower molecular weight.     

Recent advances in ferroelectric polymers

In the Polymer Electroprocessing Laboratory at Rutgers University, we have discovered that the odd-numbered nylons constitute the second known class of ferroelectric polymers^1–3, and that polarized films exhibit piezoelectric properties similar to poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF₂) and copolymers of PVF₂ and trifluoroethylene (PVF₂/PVF₃). A study of a series of these polymers including nylon 11, nylon 9, nylon 7 and nylon 5 showed that the remanent polarization produced in quenched, cold-drawn films was a linear function of polymer dipole density⁴. The highest remanent polarization produced was that of nylon 5, the value attained (P₁=125mC/m²) being approximately 2.5 times that of PVF₂. We also discovered that (unlike PVF₂ or PVF₂/PVF₃) the remanent polarization could be stabilized to elevated temperatures (close to the polymer melting point). For nylon 5, the remanent polarization and piezoelectric response was stable to over 250°C⁵. We showed that the hydrogen-bonded sheet structure in nylon 11 for quenched cold-drawn films was parallel to the plane of the film, and that after application of high electric fields the hydrogen-bonded sheet structure was rotated 90° to an orientation perpendicular to the plane of the film³. A detailed X-ray diffraction study of the effects of humidity and electroprocessing on the switching behavior of nylon 5, nylon 7 and nylon 11 films was carried out⁵. The piezoelectric and pyroelectric response⁶ of these films was also determined. The different switching mechanisms observed and the measured piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties will be presented and discussed.