Formation mechanism of element distribution in glass under femtosecond laser irradiation

We report on the formation mechanism of element distribution in glass under high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser irradiation. We simultaneously focused two beams of femtosecond laser pulses inside a glass and confirmed the formation of characteristically shaped element distributions. The results of the numerical simulation in which we considered concentration- and temperature-gradient-driven diffusions were in excellent qualitative agreement with the experimental results, indicating that the main driving force is the sharp temperature gradient. Since the composition of a glass affects its refractive index, absorption, and luminescence property, the results in this study provide a framework to fabricate a functional optical device such as optical circuits with a high-repetition-rate femtosecond laser.     

Reverse current reduction of Ge photodiodes on Si without post-growth annealing

A new approach to reduce the reverse current of Ge pin photodiodes on Si is presented, in which an i-Si layer is inserted between Ge and top Si layers to reduce the electric field in the Ge layer. Without post- growth annealing, the reverse current density is reduced to -10 mA/cm^2 at -1 V, i.e., over one order of magnitude lower than that of the reference photodiode without i-Si layer. However, the responsivity of the photodiodes is not severely compromised. This lowered-reverse-current is explained by band-pinning at the i-Si/i-Ge interface. Barrier lowering mechanism induced by E-field is also discussed. The presented ＂non-thermal＂ approach to reduce reverse current should accelerate electronics-photonics convergence by using Oe on the Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor （CMOS） platform.     

Proper composition for superconductivity in Pb(Ba, Sr)2(Y, Ca)Cu3O7

Superconductivity and composition analysis of PbBaSr(Y, Ca)Cu₃O_y with fixed ratio of Sr/Ba = 1 were studied. Synthesis condition and superconductivity of Pb(Ba, Sr)₂(Y, Ca)Cu₃O_y with various ratio of Sr/Ba and Ca/Y were also studied. It was found that T_c increased with increasing Ca concentration, and that Sr-rich specimens allowed to contain more Ca. PbBa_0.8Sr_1.2Y_0.6Ca_0.4Cu₃O₇ showed superconductivity with zero-resistance temperature of 42 K, which was higher than PbBaSrY_0.7Ca_0.3Cu₃O₇ with maximum Ca content for Sr/Ba = 1. Decrease in averaged ionic radii of Ba and Sr in Sr-rich compositions would be favorable for the contraction of Cu-O bonds by hole-doping via Ca substitution for Y.     

Magneto-optical single dot spectroscopy of GaSb/GaAs type II quantum dots

We have investigated magneto-optical properties of GaSb/GaAs self-assemble type II quantum dots by single dot spectroscopy in magnetic field. We have observed clear Zeeman splitting and diamagnetic shift of GaSb/GaAs quantum dots. The diamagnetic coefficient ranges from 5 to 30 μeV/T². The large coefficient and their large distribution are attributed to the size inhomogeneity and electron localization outside the dot. The g-factor of GaSb/GaAs quantum dots is slightly larger than that of similar type I InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots. In addition, we find almost linear relationship between the diamagnetic coefficient and the g-factor. The linear increase of g-factor with diamagnetic coefficient is due to an increase of spin-orbit interaction with dot size.     

Long-wavelength luminescence from GaSb quantum dots grown on GaAs substrates

Self-assembled GaSb quantum dots (QDs) with a photoluminescence wavelength longer than 1.3 μm were successfully grown by suppressing the replacement of As and Sb on the surface of the GaSb QDs. This result means that GaSb can thus join InAs or GaInAs as a suitable material for QD lasers for optical communications.     

Parametrization of calcium binding site in proteins and molecular dynamics simulation on phospholipase A2

The empirical energy parameters for a calcium ion and its ligands in proteins were determined within a pairwise additive framework. The interaction energies of Ca²⁺-water, Ca²⁺-peptide group and Ca²⁺-carboxyl group systems were calculated using the ab initio molecular orbital method with basis sets of double zeta quality including polarization or diffuse functions. The resulting potential energy surfaces served as references for the determination of the nonbonded parameters in the empirical energy function. The nonadditive corrections for the Ca²⁺-ligand pair potentials are incorporated implicitly in the nonbonded paremeters by treating three-body (1:2 complex) or seven-body (1:6 complex) systems in reference calculations. Ligand polarizations induced by Ca²⁺ are estimated from the partial atomic charges of two-body (1:1 complex) systems. The charge sets were determined by scaling so as to reproduce the reference potential energy surfaces. The newly determined parameter set was used in a stochastic boundary molecular dynamics simulation of phospholipase A₂. The solvated structure of the Ca²⁺-binding site obtained from an X-ray crystallographic study is well reproduced by the parameter set.     

Numerical simulation of cyclic voltammetry for reversible systems with complex stoichiometry

Reversible waves of voltammetry with complex non-unity stoichiometry are studied here based on theory. Numerical simulations were performed for various stoichiometric systems in which coefficients m and q were independently varied from 1 to 4 in a general reaction scheme, mO + ne⁻ ai qR. The calculation results indicate that the peak current function at complex stoichiometry differs from that at simple unity stoichiometry. The relation between the half-wave potential and the formal potential has been partially corrected from that previously reported in the literature. Parameters in the relation between the peak potential and the half-wave potential are unique for each stoichiometric system. The parameter in the relation between the peak potential and the half-peak potential is also presented here.     

Optical characteristics of one-dimensional photonic crystals composed of high-aspect-ratio Si walls fabricated on V-grooved wafer

We demonstrate optical properties of one-dimensional photonic crystals (PC), which are fabricated using high-aspect-ratio etching on a V-grooved silicon wafer. The measured transmission spectrum has an obvious band gap; the suppression is over 30 dB. The quite small insertion loss of 1.9 dB is achieved by induced coupled plasma (ICP) cryogenic etching and direct coupling to the optical fiber aligned in the V-groove. We also successfully observed peaks originating from a localized cavity mode. Such a microcavity enables control of the light, which qualifies photonic crystal as a fundamental structure of optical functional devices. These results lead to achievement of integrated Si-based photonic circuits.     

Discrete Dynamical Systems with W(A (1) m−1 × A (1) n−1) Symmetry

We give a birational realization of affine Weyl group of type A ⁽¹⁾ _m–1 × A ⁽¹⁾ _n–1. We apply this representation to construct some discrete integrable systems and discrete Painlevé equations. Our construction has a combinatorial counterpart through the ultra-discretization procedure.