Temperature-dependent conductance of quasi-one-dimensional electrons in a novel constricted channel with corrugated interfaces

Transport properties of a novel quasi-ballistic quantum wire field-effect transistor are studied experimentally and then discussed in relation to a theory for dirty Tomonaga–Luttinger (T–L) liquids. The sample was prepared by constricting lithographically an epitaxially grown In_0.1Ga_0.9As/GaAs quantum well channel, whose bottom interface is corrugated by a quasi-periodic array of multi-atomic steps of 20 nm in periodicity. A quasi-one-dimensional channel of about 200 nm in metallurgical width and in length was formed and its conductance parallel to the steps was measured at temperatures between 4 and 0.3 K as a function of gate voltage. Plateau-like structures substantially lower than 2e²/h were observed. The conductance at each gate voltage decreases sensitively as temperature lowers until it gets nearly constant below a critical temperature. These tendencies are found to be qualitatively consistent with the theory of Ogata and Fukuyama for dirty T–L liquids. The temperature dependence above the critical temperature is found to fit quantitatively with the formula of Ogata and Fukuyama, if the parameters are suitably chosen.     

Artificial electric field in fermi liquids

Based on the Keldysh formalism, we derive an effective Boltzmann equation for a quasiparticle constrained within a particular Fermi surface in an interacting Fermi liquid. This provides a many-body derivation of Berry curvatures in electron dynamics with spin-orbit coupling, which has received much attention in recent years in noninteracting models. As is well known, the Berry curvature in momentum space modifies na?ve band dynamics via an "artificial magnetic field" in momentum space. Our Fermi liquid formulation completes the reinvention of modified band dynamics by introducing in addition an artificial electric field, related to Berry curvature in frequency and momentum space. We show explicitly how the artificial electric field affects the renormalization factor and transverse conductivity of interacting U(1) Fermi liquids with nondegenerate bands.     

Conjugated ketonic fatty acids from Pleurocybella porrigens

Three novel conjugated long-chain fatty acids (1-3) were obtained from aqueous methanol extracts of Pleurocybella porrigens together with nine known constituents including (8E,10E)-7,12-dioxo-8,10-octadecadienoic acid (ostopanic acid) (4). The structures of the new fatty acids were characterized as (14RS)-(10E,12E)-14-hydroxy-9-oxo-10,12-octadecadienoic acid (1), (12RS)-(8E,10E)-12-hydroxy-7-oxo-8,10-octadecadienoic acid (2), and (10E,12E)-9,14-dioxo-10,12-octadecadienoic acid (3) by spectroscopic methods.     

Isolation and structure of a galactocerebroside molecular species from the starfish Culcita novaeguineae

A galactocerebroside molecular species, CNC-2, has been isolated from the less polar lipid fraction of a chloroform/methanol extract of the starfish Culcita novaeguineae. The structure of this galactocerebroside molecular species was determined on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence. CNC-2 is a phytosphingosine-type galactocerebroside molecular species with nonhydroxylated and hydroxylated fatty acyl moieties. The isolation of a galactocerebroside from echinoderms is rare.     

Photocurrent enhancement in a porphyrin-gold nanoparticle nanostructure assisted by localized plasmon excitation

The nanostructured assembly of porphyrin and gold nano-particles exhibits distinct enhancement of photocurrents from porphyrin in the longer wavelength region, where the localized plasmon resonance was responsible     

Low-valent niobium-mediated double activation of C-F/C-H bonds: fluorene synthesis from o-arylated alpha,alpha,alpha-trifluorotoluene derivatives

By the treatment of 0.3 molar amount of NbCl5 and LiAlH4, o-arylated alpha,alpha,alpha-trifluorotoluenes afforded fluorene derivatives in good yields. C-F bonds of the CF3 group and the neighboring ortho C-H bond were doubly activated to give the coupling products.     

Changes in thermodynamic quantities upon contact of two solutes in solvent under isochoric and isobaric conditions

The changes in excess thermodynamic quantities upon the contact of two solutes immersed in a solvent are analyzed using the radial-symmetric and three-dimensional versions of the integral equation theory. A simple model mimicking a solute in water is employed. The solute-solute interaction energy is not included in the calculations. Under the isochoric condition, the solute contact always leads to a positive entropy change irrespective of the solute solvophobicity or solvophilicity. The energy change is negative for solvophobic solutes while it is positive for solvophilic ones. Under the isobaric condition, the contact of solvophobic solutes results in system-volume compression but that of solvophilic ones gives rise to expansion. Effects of the compression and expansion on the changes in enthalpy and entropy are enlarged with rising temperature. When the solute solvophobicity is sufficiently high, the entropy change (multiplied by the absolute temperature) can become negative due to the compression, except at low temperatures with the result of an even larger, negative enthalpy change. The expansion in the case of solvophilic solutes leads to a large, positive entropy change accompanied by an even larger, positive enthalpy change. The changes in enthalpy and entropy are strongly dependent on the temperature. However, the changes in enthalpy and entropy are largely cancelled out and the temperature dependency of the free-energy change is much weaker. The authors also discuss possible relevance to the enthalpy-entropy compensation experimentally known for a variety of physicochemical processes in aqueous solution such as protein folding.     

New class of pyridine catalyst having a conformation switch system: asymmetric acylation of various sec-alcohols

We have developed a new class of pyridine catalyst for asymmetric acylation of sec-alcohols having a conformation switch system in which interconversion between self-complexation and uncomplexation is induced by acylation and deacylation steps, respectively. Kinetic resolution of various sec-alcohols is performed by the asymmetric acylation with isobutyric anhydride using 0.05 to 0.5 mol % catalyst 1a with s values of up to 30. In addition, dl-diols are also resolved in a similar manner in good selectivity. Moreover, asymmetric desymmetrization of meso-1,X-diols (X = 2-6) are achieved in the presence of 0.5-5 mol % catalyst 1a. A working model for the reaction mechanism is proposed on the basis of the (1)H NMR measurements, X-ray structural analyses, and AM1 and DFT calculations, where the conformation switch system governed by an intramolecular cation-pi interaction between a pyridinium ring and a thiocarbonyl group would play a key role to attain both good selectivity and high catalytic activity.