Low temperature thermoelectric properties of Pb- or Sn-doped Bi-Sb alloys

Pb- or Sn-doped Bi₈₈Sb₁₂ alloys were prepared by direct melting, quenching, and annealing. The Bi-Sb alloy phase was predominant in all samples. Pb or Sn atoms were distributed almost uniformly in Bi₈₈Sb_12, while some segregation was confirmed at the grain boundaries when Pb or Sn was involved heavily. The thermoelectric properties of these doped materials were investigated by measuring the Hall coefficient, electrical resistivity, and Seebeck coefficient between 20 K and 300 K. The Hall and Seebeck coefficients of Pb- or Sn-doped samples were positive at low temperatures, indicating that the doping element acted as an acceptor. Temperatures resulting in positive Hall and Seebeck coefficients further increased with increasing doping amount and with respect to the annealing process. As a result, a large power factor of 1.2 W/mK² could be obtained in the 3-at% Sn-doped sample at 220 K, with a large positive Seebeck coefficient.     

Self-trapped excitons perturbed by Na in KCl crystal

The optical absorption and emission induced by electron irradiation of Na⁺-doped KCl was measured and new absorption and emission bands which decay at the same time constant were found and ascribed to the self-trapped exciton perturbed by Na⁺ impurity.     

Lithium-ion-conductive polyethylene oxide based polymer electrolytes containing tris(pentafluorophyenyl)borane

For enhancement of lithium-ion transference number, lithium-ion-conductive polymer electrolytes have been prepared from polyethylene oxide (PEO), lithium salt of LiCF₃SO₃ or LiF, plasticizer of polyethylene glycol dimethylether (PEGDME), and anion receptor of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (TPFB). Transport properties of the resultant polymer electrolytes have been studied by AC impedance spectroscopy. As a result, lithium-ion transference number increased with increasing TPFB due to the restriction of anion conduction by the interaction between anion and anion receptor. Effects of anion receptor on transport properties are discussed.     

Formation of "fuzzy" phases with high proton conductivities in the composites of polyphosphoric acid and metal oxide nanoparticles

A high proton-conducting phase appears in the composites of zirconium- and titanium-oxide nanoparticles and polyphosphoric acid (HPO(3)). Metal oxide nanoparticles (ZrO(2) and TiO(2)) react with HPO(3) and form composite electrolytes containing pyrophosphates (ZrP(2)O(7) or TiP(2)O(7)) and shortened HPO(3) chains. The ZrO(2)-HPO(3) composite exhibits eleven times higher conductivity than sole HPO(3) at the maximum. A formed layer of shortened HPO(3) chains surrounding the pyrophosphates enhances the proton conductivities of the composite electrolytes and reduces the activation energies for the proton conductivities from 50 to 30 kJ mol(-1).     

Chaos dynamics in semiconductor lasers with polarization-rotated optical feedback

By using polarization-rotated optical feedback from the transverse-electric (TE) mode to the transverse-magnetic (TM) mode, chaotic oscillations for both polarization modes are excited in a semiconductor laser. We find different correlations between these chaotic oscillations than those found in previous studies. In this study, the dynamics are strongly dependent on their radio-frequency (RF) components and they are divided into three RF regions. For low-pass filtered signals lower than the laser relaxation oscillation, there is an antiphase correlation between the two polarization modes. On the other hand, the two polarization modes have an in-phase correlation for the RF components of the high-pass filtered signals, which are higher than the relaxation oscillation. However, no correlations were observed between the two modes for the intermediate RF components that include the relaxation oscillation frequency. We also perform numerical calculations for the model and obtain good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results.     

Influence of plasma power and substrate temperature on structure of nanocrystalline germanium carbon thin films by VHF plasma CVD

The influence of plasma power and substrate temperature on the structure of nanocrystalline germanium carbon thin films was investigated. Films were deposited by the very high frequency plasma chemical vapor deposition technique using hydrogen diluted monomethylgermane (MMG). Plasma power strongly affected the decomposition of hydrogen and MMG. Crystalline volume fraction and bonding states of the atoms in the films depends on plasma power and substrate temperature. FT-IR measurements also revealed that Ge–H_n and CH_n bonds are sensitive to these factors.     

Parametric simplex algorithms for a class of NP-Complete problems whose average number of steps is polynomial

We will show that the average number of steps of parametric simplex algorithms for obtaining global minima of rank-one and rank-two bilinear-programming problems are lower-order polynomial functions of the problem size under the standard assumptions on the distribution of the data imposed in the probabilistic analysis of the simplex method. This means that there exist algorithms for some special class of NP-complete problems, whose average number of arithmetics are polynomial order of the problem size.     

Sorption and partial molar volume of gases in polybutadiene

Sorption of He, H₂, N₂, O₂, Ar, CH₄, C₂H₆, and C₂H₆ in polybutadiene and the dilation of the polymer due to sorption of the gases are investigated over the pressure range 0-50 atm at 25°C. For CO₂ the measurements are made at temperatures ranging from 15 to 80°C. Partial molar volumes of the gases in the polymer are determined. The temperature dependence of partial molar volume is discussed on the basis of the data for CO₂. The Flory-Huggins interaction parameters of CO₂, C₂H₄, and C₂H₆ are also estimated.     

Mixing Schemes for Aqueous Dimethyl Sulfoxide: Support by X-ray Diffraction Data

Aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was studied by X-ray diffraction at room temperature. The results indicated that there are three distinct composition regions. In the DMSO-rich region, DMSO molecules retain the same molecular arrangement as in the pure state, while H₂O does not show any structural feature. These findings are in the complete agreement with the suggestion by our earlier thermodynamic study on aqueous DMSO.⁽¹⁾ In the H₂O-rich region, there is an indication that DMSO molecules exist as small clusters bound mainly by S=O dipole attraction. Hence, hydrophobic CH₃ groups point outward from such a cluster and DMSO acts in effect as a hydrophobic solute. This is also consistent with the findings of our earlier thermodynamic study. In the intermediate region, a gradual change in the radial distribution function with composition was observed.