Effects of temperature and carrier gas flow amount on the formation of GaN nanorods by the HVPE method

We fabricated one-dimensional GaN nanorods on AlN/Si (1 1 1) substrates at various temperatures, and carrier gas flow amount, using the hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) method. An AlN buffer layer of 50 nm thickness was deposited by RF sputtering for 25 min. Stalagmite-like GaN nanorods formed at a growth temperature of 650 °C. The diameters and lengths of GaN nanorods increase with growth time, whereas the density of nanorods decreases. And we performed the experiments by changing the carrier gas flow amount at a growth temperature of 650 °C and HCl:NH₃ flow ratio of 1:40. GaN nanorods, with an average diameter of 50 nm, were obtained at a carrier gas flow amount of 1340 sccm. The shape, structures, and optical characteristics of the nanorods were investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence.     

Parameterized OWA operator weights: An extreme point approach

Since Yager first presented the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator to aggregate multiple input arguments, it has received much attention from the fields of decision science and computer science. A critical issue when selecting an OWA operator is the determination of the associated weights. For this reason, numerous weight generating methods, including rogramming-based approaches, have appeared in the literature. In this paper, we develop a general method for obtaining OWA operator weights via an extreme point approach. The extreme points are represented by the intersection of an attitudinal character constraint and a fundamental ordered weight simplex. The extreme points are completely identified using the proposed formula, and the OWA operator weights can then be expressed by a convex combination of the identified extreme points. With those identified extreme points, some new OWA operator weights can be generated by a centroid or a user-directed method, which reflects the decision-maker’s incomplete preferences. This line of reasoning is further extended to encompass situations in which the attitudinal character is specified in the form of interval with an aim to relieve the burden of specifying the precise attitudinal character, thus obtaining less-specific expressions that render human judgments readily available. All extreme points corresponding to the uncertain attitudinal character are also obtained by a proposed formula and then used to prioritize the multitude of alternatives. Meanwhile, two dominance rules are effectively used for prioritization of alternatives.     

Curcumin‐loaded biodegradable polyurethane scaffolds modified with gelatin using 3D printing technology for cartilage tissue engineering

We described the curcumin‐loaded biodegradable polyurethane (PU) scaffolds modified with gelatin based on three‐dimensional (3D) printing technology for potential application of cartilage regeneration. The printing solution of poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) triol (polyol) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) in 2,2,2‐trifluoroethanol was printed through a nozzle in dimethyl sulfoxide phase with or without gelatin. The weight ratio of HMDI against PCL triol was varied as 3, 5, and 7 in order to evaluate its effect on the mechanical properties and biodegradation rate. A higher ratio of HMDI resulted in higher mechanical properties and a lower biodegradation rate. The use of gelatin increased the mechanical properties, biodegradation rate, and curcumin release due to the surface cross‐linking, nanoporous structure, and surface hydrophilicity of the scaffolds. In vitro study revealed that the released curcumin enhanced the proliferation and differentiation of chondrocyte. The 3D‐printed biodegradable PU scaffold modified with gelatin should thus be considered as a potential candidate for cartilage regeneration.     

Temperature- and Pressure-induced Structural Transition of Binary Clathrate Hydrates

We discover new structure II (sII) hydrate forming agents of two C₄H₈O molecules (2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol and 2-butanone) and report the abnormal structural transition of binary C₄H₈O+CH₄ hydrates between structure I (sI) and sII with varying temperature and pressure conditions. In both (2-methyl-2-propen-1-ol+CH₄) and (2-butanone+CH₄) systems, the phase boundary of the two different hydrate phases (sI and sII) exists at the slope change of the phase-equilibrium curve in the semi-logarithmic plots. We confirm the crystal structures of two hydrates synthesized at low (278 K and 6 MPa) and high (286 K and 15 MPa) temperature and pressure conditions by using high-resolution powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. 2-Methyl-2-propen-1-ol and 2-butanone can occupy the large cages of sII hydrate at low temperature and pressure conditions; however, they are excluded from the hydrate phase at high temperature and pressure conditions, resulting in the formation of pure sI CH₄ hydrate.     

Particle size dependence of electro-optical switching in ZrP nano colloid

Aqueous colloid of 2-dimensional (2D) α-ZrP nanoparticles can serve as an excellent material for Kerr devices. We investigate the influence of the particle size on the electro-optical switching for isotropic and biphasic α-ZrP colloids that exhibit stable Kerr effect. Smaller sized α-ZrP colloid has wider range of isotropic and biphasic phases, but since the anisotropic polarizability is approximately proportional to square diameter of particles, the larger sized α-ZrP colloid has higher birefringence at a given concentration. The dynamic response time is also dramatically influenced by the particle size. Smaller sized particle has lower viscosity, and the fall time monotonically increases with increasing particle size. However, the rise time has the minimum at around 0.6 μm owing to the competitive contributions of the anisotropic polarizability and the rotational viscosity. Thus, the particle size in α-ZrP colloid is an important factor to determine the electro-optical performance of a Kerr device based on 2D α-ZrP colloids. These findings will be important in developing electro-optical devices using lyotropic liquid crystal colloids.     

Effect of organosilane agents on the vulcanizate structure and physical properties of silica-filled solution styrene butadiene rubber compounds

Physical properties of rubber compounds are affected by the filler-rubber interaction, filler dispersion in the rubber matrix, and crosslink structure formed during vulcanization. Organosilane agents are essentially used in silica-rubber compounds to inhibit the formation of silica agglomerates and increase the formation of silica-rubber networks. Generally, organosilane agents have an alkoxysilyl alkyl sulfide structure and are classified into silane coupling and covering agents depending upon the presence of sulfur. Coupling agents have a sulfur moiety and serve as a sulfur donor during the vulcanization process, thus increasing the formation of filler-rubber and chemical crosslink networks. On the other hand, covering agents promote the hydrophobation of silica surfaces, decreasing the adsorption loss of vulcanization additives, which increases the formation of chemical crosslink networks. This implies that organosilane agents can affect the vulcanizate structure, which causes a variation in the properties of silica compounds. Therefore, in this study, the effect of coupling (bis(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)disulfide (TESPD) and bis(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)tetrasulfide (TESPT)) agents and a covering (triethoxy(octyl)silane) agent on the vulcanizate structure and properties of silica compounds was investigated and compared. In the comparative study of coupling and covering agents, the influence of sulfur donors on the formation of vulcanizate structures was investigated. In the case of the coupling agents, the effect of sulfur rank on the vulcanizate structure and properties of silica-rubber compounds was quantitatively analyzed through various characterization techniques.     

Devices and architectures for photonic chip-scale integration

Silicon nanophotonics holds the promise of dramatically advancing the state of the art in computing by enabling parallel architectures that combine unprecedented performance and ease of use with affordable power consumption. This paper presents a design study for a many-core architecture called Corona which utilizes dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) for on- and off-chip communication together with the devices which will be needed to implement such a communication infrastructure.     

Phase Behavior of a Weakly Interacting Polystyrene and Poly(n‐hexyl methacrylate) System: Evidence for the Coexistence of UCST and LCST

The phase behavior of a weakly interacting binary system composed of deuterated polystyrene (dPS) and poly(n‐hexyl methacrylate) (PnHMA) was investigated by the turbidity measurement for the binary blend, and by small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) and depolarized light scattering for the block copolymers. For the binary dPS/PnHMA blend, a new phase diagram involving both the upper critical solution transition (UCST) and lower critical solution transition (LCST) was observed by the delicate control of molecular weights between dPS and PnHMA. Whereas for the block copolymers such as dPS‐block‐PnHMA and PS‐block‐PnHMA, an order‐to‐disorder transition (ODT) on heating was observed within the experimental temperature range depending on the molecular weight. This coexistence of both a UCST and LCST in the dPS/PnHMA blend consequently represents the experimental evidence that the corresponding (d)PS‐b‐PnHMAs possess not only ODT, but also lower disorder‐to‐order transition (LDOT) character driven by a compressibility difference, although the latter is hindered by thermal degradation.

     

Measurement of the inclusive jet cross section in pp[over] collisions at square root [s]=1.96 TeV

We report on a measurement of the inclusive jet cross section in pp[over ] collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt[s]=1.96 TeV using data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.70 fb;{-1}. The data cover jet transverse momenta from 50 to 600 GeV and jet rapidities in the range -2.4 to 2.4. Detailed studies of correlations between systematic uncertainties in transverse momentum and rapidity are presented, and the cross section measurements are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading order QCD calculations.