Temperature dependent energy relaxation time in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterostructures

The two-dimensional (2D) electron energy relaxation in Al_0.25Ga_0.75N/AlN/GaN heterostructures was investigated experimentally by using two experimental techniques; Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect and classical Hall Effect. The electron temperature (T_e) of hot electrons was obtained from the lattice temperature (T_L) and the applied electric field dependencies of the amplitude of SdH oscillations and Hall mobility. The experimental results for the electron temperature dependence of power loss are also compared with the current theoretical models for power loss in 2D semiconductors. The power loss that was determined from the SdH measurements indicates that the energy relaxation of electrons is due to acoustic phonon emission via unscreened piezoelectric interaction. In addition, the power loss from the electrons obtained from Hall mobility for electron temperatures in the range T_e > 100 K is associated with optical phonon emission. The temperature dependent energy relaxation time in Al_0.25Ga_0.75N/AlN/GaN heterostructures that was determined from the power loss data indicates that hot electrons relax spontaneously with MHz to THz emission with increasing temperatures.     

Detecting organic vapors using a conductometric sensor prepared from Ardel®D-100 and graphite

The composites of graphite with Ardel^?D-100 which is a trademark of a polyester of bisphenol-A with terephthalic and isophthalic acid were used as a sensing material in a conductometric vapor sensor. The magnitudes of responses are increased in the order of benzene, isobutyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl benzene and chloro benzene. This suggests that Ardel^?D-100 can be used as a sensing material for chlorobenzene, ethyl benzene and isoamyl acetate. On the other hand, specific retention volumes of the sensed vapors on Ardel^?D-100 coated on graphite were determined by inverse gas chromatography at temperatures between 200 and 260 °C. The distribution coefficient, K _s of the vapors between stationary and mobile phases in the column was obtained. It was revealed for the first time that the logarithm of K _s of the solvents varies almost linearly with their responses based on conductometric resistance of the sensing polymer composite. Subsequently, the study suggests that gas chromatographic retention data can be used in prediction of the conductometric responses of a polymeric sensor to vapors. Correspondence: Ferdane Karaman, Department of Chemistry, Yildiz Technical University, 34220 Istanbul-Esenler, Turkey     

An empirical study on the benefit of split loads with the pickup and delivery problem

Splitting loads such that the delivery of certain loads is completed in multiple trips rather than one trip has been shown to have benefit for both the classic Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) and the Pickup and Delivery Problem (PDP). However, the magnitude of the benefit may be affected by various problem characteristics. In this paper, we characterize those real world environments in which split loads are most likely to be beneficial. Based on practitioner interest, we determine how the benefit is affected by the mean load size and variance, number of origins relative to the number of destinations, the percentage of origin–destination pairs with a load requiring service, and the clustering of origin and destination locations. We find that the magnitude of benefit is greatest for load sizes just over one half vehicle capacity as these loads can not be combined without splitting, while they are the easiest to combine on a vehicle with splitting; increases as the number of loads sharing an origin or destination increases because there are more potential load combinations to split at each stop; and increases as the average distance from an origin to a destination increases because splitting loads reduces the trips from origins to destinations.