Coherent states of a damped harmonic oscillator

We construct here the coherent states (annihilation operator eigenstates) of a damped harmonic oscillator. These coherent states, which are normalizable, have the desired behaviour in the classical limit (ℏ→0).     

Preparation and surface charge studies of bio-magnetoelectrets of l-serine

This paper reports the study of surface charge characteristics of bio-magnetoelectrets of amino acid l-serine. Electrets were prepared under the combined effect of heat and magnetic field. Three different forming temperatures and five different magnetic fields were used for the study. The bio-magnetoelectrets prepared this way were observed to have a surface charge of the order of 10^?9 C. The decay of surface charge was studied continuously for 20 days and corresponding time constant was calculated. The comparative studies of surface charge characteristics were done by preparing bio-magnetoelectrets using homogeneous and inhomogeneous magnetic fields.     

Comparative studies on conventional and microwave assisted synthesis of benzimidazole and their 2-substituted derivative with the effect of salt form of reactant

Benzimidazole and their derivative were reported to have wide biological activities and were synthesized by using different solvents and ring closing agents. The present work deals with the comparative synthesis of 2-alkyl and aryl substituted benzimidazole derivative in the presence of polyphosphoric acid through microwave and conventional methods and also studied the effect of salt form of reactant for completion of the reaction. The 2-substituted aryl and alkyl benzimidazole derivative were synthesized via microwave and was observed to be more beneficial, in respect of yield (increases up to 10 to 50%) and time (96 to 98% was reduced) than conventional method of synthesis. This study was concluded that the salt form of reactant (o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride) gave reduced colour impurities, homogenous mixing and reduced time for completion of reaction.     

Self-assembled monolayer of organic iodine on a Au surface for attachment of redox-active metal clusters

The attachment of a bifunctional iodo-organo-phosphinate compound to gold (Au) surfaces via chemisorption of the iodine atom is described and used to chelate a redox-active metal cluster via the phosphinate group. XPS, AFM, and electrochemical measurements show that (4-iodo-phenyl)phenyl phosphinic acid (IPPA) forms a tightly bound self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on Au surfaces. The surface coverage of an IPPA monolayer on Au was quantified by an electrochemical method and found to be 0.40 +/- 0.03 nmol/cm2, roughly corresponding to 0.4 monolayers. We show that the Au/IPPA SAM, but not the underivatized Au, adsorbs Mn4O4(Ph2PO2)6 from solution by a phosphinate exchange reaction to yield Au/IPPA/Mn4O4(Ph2PO2)5 SAM. The resulting SAM is firmly bound and not removed by sonication, as confirmed by manganese XPS (Mn 2p1/2) and by AFM. Electrochemistry confirms that Mn4O4(Ph2PO2)6 is anchored on the Au/IPPA surface and that redox chemistry can be mediated between the electrode and the surface-attached complex. Mn4O4(Ph2PO2)6 contains the reactive Mn4O46+ cubane core, a redox-active bioinspired catalyst.     

Underwater adhesive using solid–liquid polymer mixes

Instantaneous adhesion between different materials is a requirement for several applications ranging from electronics to biomedicine. Approaches such as surface patterning, chemical cross-linking, surface modification, and chemical synthesis have been adopted to generate temporary adhesion between various materials and surfaces. Because of the lack of curing times, temporary adhesives are instantaneous, a useful property for specific applications that need quick bonding. However, to this day, temporary adhesives have been mainly demonstrated under dry conditions and do not work well in submerged or humid environments. Furthermore, most rely on chemical bonds resulting from strong interactions with the substrate such as acrylate based. This work demonstrates the synthesis of a universal amphibious adhesive solely by combining solid polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymers. While the dipole-dipole interactions are induced by a large electronegativity difference between fluorine atoms in PTFE and hydrogen atoms in PDMS, strong surface wetting allows the proposed adhesive to fully coat both substrates and PTFE particles, thereby maximizing the interfacial chemistry. The two-phase solid–liquid polymer system displays adhesive characteristics applicable both in air and water, and enables joining of a wide range of similar and dissimilar materials (glasses, metals, ceramics, papers, and biomaterials). The adhesive exhibits excellent mechanical properties for the joints between various surfaces as observed in lap shear testing, T-peel testing, and tensile testing. The proposed biocompatible adhesive can also be reused multiple times in different dry and wet environments. Additionally, we have developed a new reactive force field parameterization and used it in our molecular dynamics simulations to validate the adhesive nature of the mixed polymer system with different surfaces. This simple amphibious adhesive could meet the need for a universal glue that performs well with a number of materials for a wide range of conditions.     

Analysis of the lattice thermal resistivity due to the presence of electrons at low temperatures: Application to phosphorus-doped Ge

The temperature-dependence of the extra lattice thermal resistivity of a doped sample due to the presence of electrons has been studied at low temperatures for the first time by analysing the extra lattice thermal resistivity due to electrons of five samples of phosphorus-doped Ge having different carrier concentrations in the range 1.2×10²³–1.1×10²⁴ m^?3 in the temperature range 1–5 K. The variation of the extra lattice thermal resistivity of a doped sample due to electrons with the parameters η^* (the reduced Fermi energy),m ^* (the density of states effective mass),E _D (the deformation potential constant) andn (the carrier concentration) which are responsible for the electron-phonon scattering relaxation rate has also been analysed for the first time in the present study. A distinction has been made between non-peripheral and peripheral phonons in the present analysis. An analytical expression is reported for calculation of an approximate value of the extra lattice thermal resistivity of a doped sample due to the presence of electrons at low temperatures.     

Polyimide-epoxy alloys prepared via micro-modification: Water sorption and diffusion

A novel polyimide-epoxy or PI-EP alloys are prepared by the modification of polyamic acid in the concentration range of 1.54×10⁻⁶ to 1.54×10⁻² mol/L. The methanol sorption for these alloys at 24 hrs and at equilibrium conditions are determined and the residual solvent in fully cyclized polyimides were calculated. The presence of the residual solvent is visualized in fully imidized polymer and a structure containing partly imidized amic acid moiety is proposed and their concentration (in percentage) is calculated. The water sorption for these alloys at 24 hrs and at equilibrium conditions and the values of the water diffusion coefficient are determined from absorption isotherms. The PI-EP alloys have shown comparatively lower water sorption and higher diffusion coefficient than the unmodified polyimide. The mechanistic aspects of water sorption and diffusion are discussed.     

Optimization of Graphene Layers Grown on Pt/Ti/SiO2 by Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition

Large area single and bilayer graphene are grown on Pt/Ti/SiO₂ substrates by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) with and without the assistance of Cu foil. The quality and number of graphene layers deposited on the substrate are assessed by Raman Spectroscopy. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is used for assessing the surface topography of the graphene films grown on the Pt/Ti/SiO₂ substrates. The microstructure and elemental analyses are performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). The results show that bilayer graphene growth is facilitated by a copper foil placed nearby Pt/Ti/SiO2 substrate and by a high filament temperature in the HFCVD reactor. Monolayer graphene grows only when no copper foil is placed near the Pt/Ti/SiO₂ substrate at a low filament temperature. The approach paves a novel pathway towards the layer-controlled growth of graphene on Pt/Ti/SiO₂ substrates by HFCVD for frontier applications.     

Optical mixing in InSb

Abstract

In this paper, the authors have derived the expression for the combination frequency components ω₃ = 2ω₁-ω₂ in the current density by solving the appropriate Boltzmann transfer equation for electrons, when two laser beams of frequencies of ω₁ and ω₂ are incident on a degenerate nonparabolic semiconductor viz. InSb; the nonlinearity due to collision mechanism as well as the nonparabolicity of conduction band has been taken into account. The ionized impurity scattering has been considered to be the sole mechanism of electron scattering. The expression for the current density is further substituted in the wave equation to obtain the expression for the amplitude of combination frequency wave in the transmitted component. The calculated value of output power of frequency ω₂ is found to be 1/10th of the experimental value (Patel, Slusher and Fleury, 1966), ⁽⁷⁾ and thus is in better agreement as compared to earlier investigators (Wolff and Pearson, 1966; Kaw, 1968). ^{(5, 10)}