High-coercivity nanocomposite permanent magnet based on Nd–Fe–B–Ti–C with Cr addition for high-temperature applications

We have investigated influences of various elements (Ti, Nb, Mo, Ta, Hf, W, V, Cr) on magnetic properties of Fe–B/Nd₂Fe₁₄B-based Nd–Fe–B–Ti–C nanocomposite magnets in order to obtain larger coercivity required for high-temperature applications. As a result, addition of Cr was found to be most effective among additive elements investigated to enhance coercivity. Thermal flux losses of high-coercivity (H_cJ=1609 kA/m) Nd–Fe–B–Ti–C–Cr nanocomposite magnet at 200 °C are less than 2%.     

Cooperative Regulation of Vocal Fold Morphology and Stress by the Cricothyroid and Thyroarytenoid Muscles

Voice is produced by vibrations of vocal folds that consist of multiple layers. The portion of the vocal fold tissue that vibrates varies depending primarily on laryngeal muscle activity. The effective depth of tissue vibration should significantly influence the vibrational behavior of the tissue and resulting voice quality. However, thus far, the effect of the activation of individual muscles on the effective depth is not well understood. In this study, a three-dimensional finite element analysis is performed to investigate the effect of the activation of two major laryngeal muscles, the cricothyroid (CT) and thyroarytenoid (TA) muscles, on vocal fold morphology and stress distribution in the tissue. Because structures that bear less stress can easily be deformed and involved in vibration, information on the morphology and stress distribution may provide a useful estimate of the effective depth. The results of the analyses indicate that the two muscles perform distinct roles, which allow cooperative control of the morphology and stress. When the CT muscle is activated, the tip region of the vocal folds becomes thinner and curves upward, resulting in the elevation of the stress magnitude all over the tissue to a certain degree that depends on the stiffness of each layer. On the other hand, the TA muscle acts to suppress the morphological change and controls the stress magnitude in a position-dependent manner. Thus, the present analyses demonstrate quantitative relationships between the two muscles in their cooperative regulation of vocal fold morphology and stress.     

Two-color pulse compression in aperiodically-poled lithium niobate

We experimentally demonstrate engineerable compression of two-colored pulses in a linearly-chirped quasi-phase-matching grating. Quadratic solitons generated from fundamental input are reshaped through cascaded parametric processes of second-harmonic generation (SHG) and the back-conversion. We use type-I (e: o + o) SHG geometry in a 50-mm-long aperiodically-poled MgO:LiNbO₃ device to satisfy the group-velocity matching condition. Simultaneously compressed fundamental and SH pulses of about 55-fs duration with small pedestal are generated from the fundamental input pulses of 95-fs duration.     

Recoil effect of photoelectrons in the Fermi edge of simple metals

High energy resolution photoelectron spectroscopy of conduction electrons in the vicinity of the Fermi edge in Al and Au at excitation energies of 880 and 7940 eV was carried out using synchrotron radiation. For the excitation energy of 7940 eV, the observed Fermi energy of Al shows a remarkable shift to higher binding energy as compared with that of Au, with accompanying broadening. This is due to the recoil effect of the emitted photoelectrons. The observed spectra are well reproduced by a simple model of Bloch electrons based on the isotropic Debye model.     

Walk-Off Ring Coupling Type CO Laser

As a complementary scheme to a coupling-hole type laser, a walk-off ring coupling type laser is proposed to extract a donut shaped beam by shrinking the diameter of one of the stable resonator mirrors. This was successfully applied to a conventional slow axial-flow CO laser. First, finding the intensity distribution close to the Gaussian profile by using a partially transparent mirror in a hemispherical configuration for coupling, we obtain the relationship between the mirror radius and the effective transmittance. Then, using several mirrors with a diameter smaller than the Gaussian profile above instead of the partially transparent mirror, the output power with the donut shape was optimized to yield the maximum power, together with theoretical treatments. This resulted in an optimum mirror diameter of 4.2 mm, which corresponds to the optimum transmittance of 5-6% for the CO laser having the gain parameter G≅0.34, the inherent loss ā ≅ 0.07, and the measure of partial homogeneity m¯ =; 0.5. This value is exactly the same as that of the coupling-hole mirror. Some application feasibilities are also discussed.     

Rotational spectra of the deuterated carbon chain molecules: C3D, C4D, C3HD, and C4HD

The rotational spectra of the deuterated carbon chain molecules, C₃D, C₄D, C₃HD, and C₄HD, have been measured with the Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) spectrometer. The C₃D and C₄D radicals are produced by discharging the DCCD gas diluted in Ar. On the other hand, the gaseous mixture of HCCH, DCCD, and HCCD diluted in Ar is used for producing C₃HD and C₄HD. For C₃D, the molecular constants are determined from a joint least-squares analysis with the previously published millimeter- and submillimeter-wave data by considering the vibronic interaction between the ²Π ground state and the low-lying ²Σ vibronic state. The molecular constants of C₄D are determined by use of the conventional Hamiltonian of the ²Σ radical, while the effective rotational constant and centrifugal distortion constant are derived for C₃HD and C₄HD. In the present study, the hyperfine interaction constants of the deuterium nuclei in C₃D and C₄D are determined accurately. In particular, the nuclear quadrupole interaction constant, eQq, of the C₃D radical is found to be significantly smaller than those of C₂D and C₄D, indicating that C₃D has a floppy motion of the CCD bending mode due to the large Renner-Teller effect.     

Enhancement of electroluminescence through a two-dimensional corrugated metal film by grating-induced surface-plasmon cross coupling

We report enhancement of electroluminescence through opaque-topped metal cathodes in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), which are periodically corrugated in two dimensions. The enhancement is caused by grating-induced cross coupling and outcoupling of surface plasmons. The emission intensity observed at normal direction is enhanced by a factor of 4 compared with that of OLEDs with one-dimensionally corrugated metal cathodes and is higher than that observed from the transparent substrate side in uncorrugated OLEDs. We attribute the enhancement to the fact that the surface plasmons propagating in all lateral directions are coupled out into free space by the two-dimensional corrugated structure of the OLEDs. In addition, the emission from the transparent substrate side is also much enhanced owing to the efficient coupling out of the waveguide modes trapped in the emissive layer.     

Effects of magnetic annealing on structure and multiferroic properties of pure and dysprosium substituted BiFeO3

In this work, the effects of magnetic annealing on crystal structure and multiferroic properties of BiFeO₃ and Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ have been investigated. It is found that the X-ray diffraction patterns of pure BiFeO₃ samples are obviously broadened after magnetic annealing, whereas those of Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ samples are almost unchanged. Magnetic field annealing did not affect the magnetic properties of these two kinds of samples much. However, ferroelectric properties of the two materials exhibited different behaviors after magnetic field annealing. For pure BiFeO₃ samples, the remnant polarizations (P_r) are suppressed; in contrast, for Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ samples, P_r is greatly enhanced. Possible mechanisms for the effects of magnetic field annealing have been discussed.     

Sm atomic dynamics in a charge density wave compound SmNiC2

¹⁴⁹Sm nuclear resonant inelastic scattering was carried out in a charge density wave compound SmNiC₂. We have investigated temperature dependences of the Sm partial phonon density of states and recoil-free fraction at the Sm site and the average sound velocity estimated from the Sm partial density of states. The Sm partial density of states exhibits temperature dependence, suggesting that the phonon modes between 20 and 25 meV may correlate with the charge density wave. Temperature dependence of the recoil-free fraction is difficult to prove the correlation with either the charge density wave or ferromagnetic ordering. The average sound velocity obtained by the Sm partial phonon density of states exhibits temperature dependence, agreeing qualitatively with very recent elastic constant measurements.     

Nonlinear ultrasonic imaging method for closed cracks using subtraction of responses at different external loads

To improve the selectivity of closed cracks for objects other than cracks in ultrasonic imaging, we propose an extension of a novel imaging method, namely, subharmonic phased array for crack evaluation (SPACE) as well as another approach using the subtraction of responses at different external loads. By applying external static or dynamic loads to closed cracks, the contact state in the cracks varies, resulting in an intensity change of responses at cracks. In contrast, objects other than cracks are independent of external load. Therefore, only cracks can be extracted by subtracting responses at different loads. In this study, we performed fundamental experiments on a closed fatigue crack formed in an aluminum alloy compact tension (CT) specimen using the proposed method. We examined the static load dependence of SPACE images and the dynamic load dependence of linear phased array (PA) images by simulating the external loads with a servohydraulic fatigue testing machine. By subtracting the images at different external loads, we show that this method is useful in extracting only the intensity change of responses related to closed cracks, while canceling the responses of objects other than cracks.