Shell-model studies of the 90Y, 91Zr, 92Nb and 93Mo nuclei

A shell-model calculation of the N = 51, 39 ≦ Z ≦ 42 nuclei is presented. The ⁸⁸Sr nucleus is assumed to be an inert closed core. The extra-core protons are restricted to the ($\text{2}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$) configurations, and the active neutron is allowed to occupy the $\text{2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>5</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{3}\text{s}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$, $\text{2}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and $\text{1}\text{g}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>7</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ orbits. The proton-proton effective interaction is directly taken from the previous analysis on the energy levels for N = 50 isotones by Ball et al. The proton-neutron effective interaction is assumed to be of the form of the surface δ-interaction. The energy spectra are calculated from a least-squares fit to the experimental data, varying the T = 0 and T = 1 strengths of the surface δ-interaction. Spectroscopic factors, E2 transition rates and two-body matrix elements are also calculated and compared with the observed values and the previous theoretical results.     

S-wave structure in the Kπ system

We have analysed the Kπ spectrum (4 827 events) of the reaction K⁺n→K⁺π^?p at 9 GeV/c and find evidence of a broad S-wave enhancement which may be interpreted as a resonance. For production of Kπ masses above 890 GeV/c², we have assumed the dominance of pion exchange.     

GaAs distributed Bragg reflector lasers

An equivalent cavity approach is used to derive the oscillation condition of a distributed Bragg reflector laser. The oscillation frequencies and thresholds are determined graphically. The effect of lossy reflectors is discussed. Several advantages and potential applications of distributed Bragg reflector structures are pointed out. Experimental results on optically pumped GaAs lasers are presented.     

Anhydrous proton-conducting polymeric electrolytes for fuel cells

The need to design proton-conducting electrolytes for fuel cells operating at temperatures of 120 degrees C and above has prompted the investigation of various "water-free" polymeric materials. The present study investigates the properties of "water-free" proton-conducting membranes prepared from high-molecular-weight polymeric organic amine salts. Specifically, the properties of bisulfates and dihydrogenphosphates of poly-2-vinylpyridine (P2VP), poly-4-vinylpyridine (P4VP), and polyvinylimidazoline (PVI) have been investigated over the temperature range of 25-180 degrees C. Nanocomposites of these polymeric organic amine salts and hydroxylated silica have also been investigated in this study. These polymers are found to be stable and proton-conducting at temperatures up to 200 degrees C. In all the polymer examples studied herein, the phosphates are more conducting than the bisulfates. The activation energy for ionic conduction was found to decrease with increasing temperature, and this is associated with the increased polymer mobility and ionization of the proton. This is confirmed by the high degree of motional narrowing that is observed in proton NMR experiments. The measured values of conductivity and the differences in pKa values of the polymeric organic amine and the mineral acid are clearly correlated. This observation provides the basis for the design of other water-free acid-base polymer systems with enhanced proton conductivity. The results presented here suggest that anhydrous polymer systems based on acid-base polymer salts could be combined with short-range proton conductors such as nanoparticulate silica to achieve acceptable conductivity over the entire temperature range.     

Substrate-directed stereoselectivity in vicinal diamine-catalyzed synthesis of warfarin

[Structure: see text] A new mechanism involving a diimine intermediate is proposed for vicinal diamine-catalyzed synthesis of warfarin. Decreasing the NCCN dihedral angle by varying the diamine results in an increase in the enantioselectivity of warfarin synthesis.     

Comment on “A special attack on the multiparty quantum secret sharing of secure direct communication using single photons”

In this comment, we show that the special attack [S.-J. Qin, F. Gao, Q.-Y. Wen, F.-C. Zhu, Opt. Commun. 281 (2008) 5472.], which claims to be able to obtain all the transmitted secret message bit values of the protocol of the multiparty quantum secret sharing of secure direct communication using single photons with random phase shift operations, fails. Furthermore, a class of similar attacks are also shown to fail to extract the secrete message.     

Influence of postdeposition annealing on structural properties and electrical characteristics of thin Tm2O3 and Tm2Ti2O7 dielectrics

We describe the structural properties and electrical characteristics of thin thulium oxide (Tm₂O₃) and thulium titanium oxide (Tm₂Ti₂O₇) as gate dielectrics deposited on silicon substrates through reactive sputtering. The structural and morphological features of these films were explored by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and atomic force microscopy, measurements. It is found that the Tm₂Ti₂O₇ film annealed at 800 °C exhibited a thinner capacitance equivalent thickness of 19.8 Å, a lower interface trap density of 8.37 × 10¹¹ eV⁻¹ cm⁻², and a smaller hysteresis voltage of ∼4 mV than the other conditions. We attribute this behavior to the Ti incorporated into the Tm₂O₃ film improving the interfacial layer and the surface roughness. This film also shows negligible degrees of charge trapping at high electric field stress.