Inelastic x-ray scattering study of exciton properties in an organic molecular crystal

Excitons in a complex organic molecular crystal were studied by inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) for the first time. The dynamic dielectric response function is measured over a large momentum transfer region, from which an exciton dispersion of 130 meV is observed. Semiempirical quantum chemical calculations reproduce well the momentum dependence of the measured dynamic dielectric responses, and thus unambiguously indicate that the lowest Frenkel exciton is confined within a fraction of the complex molecule. Our results demonstrate that IXS is a powerful tool for studying excitons in complex organic molecular systems. Besides the energy position, the IXS spectra provide a stringent test on the validity of the theoretically calculated exciton wave functions.     

Electrochemical study of P(VDF-HFP)/PMMA blended polymer electrolyte with high-temperature stability for polymer lithium secondary batteries

In the present study, a kind of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) based on poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/poly(methyl methacrylate) blends was prepared by a casting method to solve the safety problem of lithium secondary batteries. Owing to being plasticized with a room temperature ionic liquid, N-butyl-N′-methyl-imidiazolium hexafluorophosphate, the obtained SPE shows a thermal decomposition temperature over 300°C and an ionic conductivity close to 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹. The SPE-3 sample, in which the weight of two polymers is equivalent, possesses an ionic conductivity of 0.45 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 25°C and presents an electrochemical window of 4.43 V. The ionic conductivity of the SPE-3 is as high as 1.73 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 75°C approaching to that of liquid electrolyte. The electrochemical performances of the Li/LiFePO₄ cells confirmed its feasibility in lithium secondary batteries.     

Synchrotron X‐ray tests of an L‐shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror for the analyzer system of the ultra‐high‐resolution IXS spectrometer at NSLS‐II

Characterization and testing of an L‐shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror are presented. This mirror is designed as a two‐dimensional collimating optics for the analyzer system of the ultra‐high‐resolution inelastic X‐ray scattering (IXS) spectrometer at National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS‐II). The characterization includes point‐to‐point reflectivity measurements, lattice parameter determination and mirror metrology (figure, slope error and roughness). The synchrotron X‐ray test of the mirror was carried out reversely as a focusing device. The results show that the L‐shaped laterally graded multilayer mirror is suitable to be used, with high efficiency, for the analyzer system of the IXS spectrometer at NSLS‐II.     

Numerical simulation of soliton and kink density waves in traffic flow with periodic boundaries

The soliton and kink–antikink density waves are simulated with periodic boundaries, by adding perturbation in the initial condition on single-lane road based on a car-following model. They are reproduced in the form of the space–time evolution of headway, both of which propagate backwards. It is found that the solitons appear only near the neutral stability line regardless of the boundary conditions, and they exhibit upward form when the initial headway is smaller than the safety distance, otherwise they exhibit downward form. Comparison is made between the numerical and analytical results about the amplitude of kink–antikink wave, and the underlying mechanism is analyzed. Besides, it is indicated that the maximal current of traffic flow increases with decreasing safety distance. The numerical simulation shows a good agreement with the analytical results.     

Immobilization of bovine serum albumin on TiO2 film via chemisorption of H3PO4 interface and effects on platelets adhesion

In the present study, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was successfully covalently immobilized on the surface of anatase TiO₂ film by a three-step method, i.e. application of H₃PO₄ chemisorption to increase surface -OH, which increases the amount of coupling 3-aminopropyl-triethoxylsilane (APTES), thus linking with BSA by imide bond using EDC/NHS/MES. There is no significant -OH group increase on rutile film when using the same method of phosphoric acid treatment, which suggest it is difficult for further chemical modification of the rutile film. After covalent immobilization of BSA on anatase film, an improved hemocompatibility of anti-platelet adhesion and aggregation in vitro could be recognized by LDH and SEM analysis. This study suggests BSA-immobilized anatase surface can serve as hemocompatibility material in vivo.     

Large roomtemperature magnetocaloric effect with negligible magnetic hysteresis losses in Mn1−xVxCoGe alloys

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties have been investigated in a series of Mn_1−xV_xCoGe (x=0.01, 0.02, 0.03, and 0.05) alloys. The substitution of V for Mn reduces the structural transformation temperature of MnCoGe alloy effectively and results in a second-order magnetic transition in Mn_0.95V_0.05CoGe alloys. Large room temperature magnetocaloric effect and almost zero magnetic hysteresis losses are simultaneously achieved in the alloys with x=0.01, 0.02, and 0.03. The reasons for the negligible magnetic hysteresis losses and the potential application for the roomtemperature magnetic refrigeration are discussed.     

Electronic transport in the multi-terminal graphene nanodevices

We examined the ac transport attribute of the multi-terminal structures in the absence and presence of magnetic field. We found that the ac response depends on the structural configurations and that the admittance varies with the features of the attached nanoribbons. In the vicinity of Dirac point the dc conductance manifests a dip or peak and the imaginary part (emittance) vanishes or not, depending on whether the attached ribbon is semiconductive or metallic. In the presence of magnetic field, the emittance becomes asymmetric reflecting the dynamic behaviors of electron and hole.     

InGaAs/GaAs saturable absorber for diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locking of Tm:YAP laser

A passively Q-switched mode-locking of diode-pumped TmYAP laser by use of InGaAs/GaAs as a saturable absorber is reported. The maximum Q-switched mode-locking output power was 480 mW near the wavelength range of 1.94 μm with pulse repetition frequency of 26.47 kHz. The beam quality was also measured to be 1.12 ± 0.02.     

Diode both ends pumped two crystals Tm:YLF laser

In this paper, we report two crystals Tm:YLF laser pumped by a fiber coupled diode laser with total power of 180 W at 792 nm. When the incident power reached up to 117.0 and 37.3 W of the emission wave-length at 1.91 μm was achieved. Through linear fit, the corresponding slope efficiency of 38.5%, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 31.9% and the beam quality factor of M ² ∼ 1.1 were obtained, indicating nearly diffraction limited beam propagation. To our best knowledge, this is the best beam quality among the reported paper results under the similar experiments.     

Synthesis and photonic band gap characterization of high quality photonic crystal heterostructures

High quality photonic crystal heterostructures with a thin titania planar defect layer between its two constitutional photonic crystals were fabricated and their structural and optical properties were analyzed. The results suggest that the thin planar defect layer is beneficial to separate the two constitutional photonic crystals from each other and to reduce the roughness of the interface. The quality of the resulting photonic crystal heterostructures is improved largely and the main features of the photonic band gaps of the two constitutional photonic crystals are inherited. The predominant optical quality of these heterostructures (e.g. deep double photonic band gaps and steep photonic band edges) may afford new flexibility and functionality for engineered photonic behavior in practical devices such as late-model light-operated switches.