Low-noise wide-band hot-electron bolometer mixer based on an NbN film

We develop and study a hot-electron bolometer mixer made of a two-layer NbN–Au film in situ deposited on a silicon substrate. The double-sideband noise temperature of the mixer is 750K at a frequency of 2.5 THz. The conversion efficiency measurements show that at the superconducting transition temperature, the intermediate-frequency bandwidth amounts to about 6.5GHz for a mixer 0.112 μm long. These record-breaking characteristics are attributed to the improved contacts between a sensitive element and a helical antenna and are reached due to using the in situ deposition of NbN and Au layers at certain stages of the process.     

Ab initio computation of low-temperature phase diagrams exhibiting miscibility gaps

A new methodology for the computation of the low-temperature part of phase diagrams without recourse to any experimental information is presented. A central element is a procedure for deciding whether formation of crystalline solid solution phases can take place in the chemical system. Via global exploration of the enthalpy landscapes for many different compositions in the system, candidates for ordered stoichiometric and crystalline solid solution phases are identified. Next, their free enthalpies are computed at ab initio level and a low-temperature phase diagram is derived. As examples, the low-temperature phase diagrams for the ternary alkali halides NaCl/LiCl NaBr/LiBr and NaCl/KCl are presented.     

Building capacity for undergraduate education and training in computational molecular science: A collaboration between the MERCURY consortium and the Molecular Sciences Software Institute

The Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) is an National Science Foundation (NSF) funded institute that focuses on improving software, education, and training in the computational molecular sciences. Through a collaboration with the Molecular Education and Research Consortium in Undergraduate computational chemistRY (MERCURY), the MolSSI has developed resources for undergraduate and other early career students to lay an educational foundation for the next generation of computational molecular scientists. The resources focus on introducing best practices in software engineering to students from the very start to make their software more useable, maintainable, and reproducible.     

Analysis of methods for calculating the transition frequencies of the torsional vibration of acrolein isomers in the ground (S 0) electronic state

B3LYP, MP2, CCSD(T), and MP4/MP2 in the 6-311G(d, p), 6-311++G(d, p), cc-pVTZ, aug-cc-pVTZ bases used to calculate the transition frequencies of torsional vibration of trans- and cis-isomers of acrolein in the ground electronic state (S ₀) are analyzed. It is found that for trans-isomers, all methods of calculation except for B3LYP in the cc-pVTZ basis yield good agreement between the calculated and experimental values. It is noted that for the cis-isomer of acrolein, no method of calculation confirms the experimental value of the frequency of torsional vibration (138 cm^?1). It is shown that the calculated and experimental values for obertones at 273.0 cm^?1 and other transitions of torsional vibration are different for this isomer in particular. However, it is established that in some calculation methods (B3LYP, MP2), the frequency of the torsional vibration of the cis-isomer coincides with another experimental value of this frequency (166.5 cm^?1). It is concluded that in analyzing the vibrational structure of the UV spectrum, the calculated and experimental values of its obertone (331.3 cm^?1) coincide, along with its frequency. It is also noted that the frequency of torsional vibration for the cis-isomer (166.5 cm^?1) can also be found in other experimental works if we change the allocation of torsional transition 18 ₁ ¹ .     

Mutual synchronization of two coupled self-oscillators based on GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices

The interaction of self-oscillators based on 30-period weakly coupled GaAs/AlGaAs superlattices is studied. The action of one self-oscillator on the other was observed for a constant bias voltage in the absence of generation of self-sustained oscillations in one of the oscillators. It is shown that induced oscillations in a forced oscillator appear due to excitation of oscillations in the system of coupled oscillators forming the electric-field domain wall at the frequency of one of the higher harmonics of a forcing oscillation.     

An analysis of the vibrational structure of the UV absorption spectrum of methacryloyl chloride vapor

An analysis of the vibrational structure of the UV spectrum of methacryloyl chloride vapor was performed. The spectrum contained unique information about the torsional vibration levels of the trans and cis isomers in the ground (S ₀) and excited (S ₁) electronic states. 136 absorption bands were revealed, and ～85% of them were assigned. The 0-0 transition frequencies of the trans and cis isomers were found. Several Deslandres tables were constructed for torsional vibrations from 0-0 transition frequencies and “local origins” corresponding to fundamental and combined frequencies of both isomers. Systems of torsional levels up to high quantum number values (v ≈ 6–8) were determined, and the ω_e harmonic frequencies and χ ₁₁ anharmonicity coefficients were calculated for both isometric forms in the ground (S ₀) and excited (S ₁) states. The results were substantially different from those obtained in an analysis of Fourier-transform IR spectra.     

Errors as Multistable Response Options

Five simulations mimicked benchmark phenomena of intact and dyslexic word naming. Initially, an iterative map was tuned to simulate the frequency × consistency interaction in skilled naming. Subsequently, two model parameters were changed, in turn, to produce the regularization error of surface dyslexia (PINT pronounced to rhyme with /mint/), absent pseudoword (BINT) naming of phonological dyslexia (words are named correctly; pseudowords are not), the semantic error of deep dyslexia (BUSH named as /tree/), and a dissociation in picture naming of spoken versus written responses (the spoken response to a picture of a bush is /tree/, but the written response is BUSH). All errors, except absent pseudoword naming, were simulated as transcritical bifurcations.