Tunable diffraction of magnetic fluid films and its potential application in coarse wavelength-division multiplexing

When an external magnetic field is applied parallel to the film surface of a magnetic fluid film, a high-quality one-dimensional periodic chain structure is formed when the field strength reaches a certain level. With a periodic chain structure in the magnetic fluid film, an incident light is diffracted onto the magnetic thin film. The results show that the one-dimensional periodic chain structure in the magnetic fluid film can serve as an optical grating. Further investigations reveal the feasibility of developing tunable coarse wavelength-division multiplexing by utilizing a periodic chain structure.     

Improvement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-ZnO/<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Si photodiodes by embedding of silver nanoparticles

The photo-current of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes was improved by embedding Ag nanoparticles in the interface (ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si), and the ratio between photo- and dark-current increased by about three orders more than that of a n-ZnO/p-Si specimen. The improvement in the photo-current resulted from the light scattering of embedded Ag nanoparticles. The I–V curve of n-ZnO/p-Si degraded after thermal treatment (A-ZnO/p-Si) because the silicon robbed the oxygen from ZnO to form amorphous silicon dioxide and left an oxygen vacancy. Notably, the properties of ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si were better in the time-dependent photoresponse under 10 V bias. Ag nanoparticles (15–20 nm) scattered the UV light randomly and increased the probability for the absorption of ZnO to enhance the properties of the photodiode.     

Analytical study of an active piezoelectric absorber on vibration attenuation of a plate

The attenuation of the transverse vibration of a plate, subjected to a harmonic force, is studied. This goal can be achieved by using an active dynamic absorber. The active absorber is made of a pair of piezoelectric sheets, attached to both sides of the plate, and closed electric circuits. One piece of the piezoelectric material provides a sensor for detecting the motion of the plate. Another piece serves as an active dynamic absorber. The equations of motion of the composite plate, including the plate and the piezoelectric material, and the circuit equations of the sensor and the absorber are derived. The displacements of the plate and the currents in the circuits are calculated. The active absorber can successfully attenuate the vibration. The numerical results show that the proposed active absorber can offer more reduction than that using a passive absorber while the absorber is designed to suppress the resonance of a particular vibration mode. Moreover, the active absorber can also reduce the displacements corresponding to other uncontrolled modes. The effects of altering various parameters of the active absorber are studied and discussed.     

Raman scattering of L‐tryptophan enhanced by surface plasmon of silver nanoparticles: vibrational assignment and structural determination

Vibrational bands of L ‐tryptophan which was adsorbed on Ag nanoparticles (∼10 nm in diameter) have been investigated in the spectral range of 200–1700 cm⁻¹ using surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy. Compared with the normal Raman scattering (NRS) of L ‐tryptophan in either 0.5 M aqueous solution (NRS‐AS) or solid powder (NRS‐SP), the intensified signals by SERS have made the SERS investigation at a lower molecular concentration (5 × 10⁻⁴ M ) possible. Ab initio calculations at the B3LYP/6‐311G level have been carried out to predict the optimal structure and vibrational wavenumbers for the zwitterionic form of L ‐tryptophan. Facilitated with the theoretical prediction, the observed vibrational modes of L ‐tryptophan in the NRS‐AS, NRS‐SP, and SERS spectra have been analyzed. In the spectroscopic observations, there are no significant changes for the vibrational bands of the indole ring in either NRS‐AS, NRS‐SP, or SERS. In contrast, spectral intensities involving the vibrations of carboxylate and amino groups are weak in NRS‐AS and NRS‐SP, but strong in SERS. The intensity enhancement in the SERS spectrum can reach 10³–10⁴‐fold magnification. On the basis of spectroscopic analysis, the carboxylate and amino groups of L ‐tryptophan are determined to be the preferential terminal groups to attach onto the surfaces of Ag nanoparticles in the SERS measurement. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sulfur adsorption on Fe(1 1 0): a DFT study

The adsorption of atomic S on the Fe(1 1 0) surface is examined using density functional theory (DFT). Three different adsorption sites are considered, including the atop, hollow and bridge sites and the S is adsorbed at a quarter monolayer coverage in a p(2 × 2) arrangement. The hollow site is found to be the most stable, followed by the bridge and atop sites. At all three sites, S adsorption results in relatively minor surface reconstruction, with the most significant being that for the hollow site, with lateral displacements of 0.09 Å. Comparisons between S-adsorbed and pure Fe surfaces revealed reductions in the magnetic moments of surface-layer Fe atoms in the vicinity of the S. At the hollow site, the presence of S causes an increase in the surface Fe d-orbital density of states between 4 and 5 eV. However, S adsorption has no significant effect on the structure and magnetic properties of the lower substrate layers.     

Utilization of four WDM channels with signal remodulation of OFDM-QAM for 10 Gb/s uplink passive optical networks

In this investigation, we experimentally investigate an extended reach (ER) time-division-multiplexed passive optical network (TDM-PON) using four wavelength-multiplexed channels to achieve 16 Gb/s downlink and 10 Gb/s uplink traffic. Each downlink signal uses the highly spectral efficient 4 Gb/s OFDM-QAM, and each uplink signal is generated by signal remodulating the downlink signal via a reflective semiconductor amplifier (RSOA) at 2.5 Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ). In addition, the performance of the proposed ER TDM-PON has also been analyzed and discussed.     

Even and Odd Charge Coherent States: Higher-Order Nonclassical Properties and Generation Scheme

We examine the higher-order nonclassical properties of the even and odd charge coherent states as well as proposing a scheme to generate these states whose modes can freely travel in open space. We show that the even and odd charge coherent states exhibit both higher-order antibunching and higher-order squeezing. While the two-mode higher-order antibunching occurs in any order and essentially depends on the charge number, the two-mode higher-order squeezing appears only in the even orders. We also prove that these states are genuinely entangled, and they can be generated by means of cross-Kerr media, beam splitters, phase shifts and threshold detectors. We find that the fidelity and the corresponding success probability to generate these states are dependent on the correlative parameters.     

Speckle averaging by phase shift for digital shearography fringe

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Determination of microelement distribution in different components of soil-plant systems

The leaves, stem, and roots of two types of shrubs (tea (Camellia sinensis) and sweet leaf (Sauropus androgynus)) and two types of herbs (vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L. Nash) and maize (Zea mays L)) and the Thucuc soil where the plants were growing were collected to be studied. The contents of 22 elements in the samples were determined by three methods: X-Ray fluorescence analysis (XRFA), gamma activation analysis (GAA), and the tracking method to study the distribution of these elements in plants and the soil-plant relationship. This study was carried out at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR), Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Dubna, Russia. The distribution of the elements in the soil-plant system was studied.     

Fuel spray visualization and its impingement analysis on in-cylinder surfaces in a direct-injection spark-ignition engine

Abstract  

Experiments are performed to investigate the effects of fuel spray on in-cylinder mixture preparation and its impingement on cylinder walls and piston top inside a direct-injection spark-ignition engine with optical access to the cylinder. Novel image processing algorithms are developed to analyze the fuel impingement quantitatively on in-cylinder surfaces. The technique is useful to optimize the fuel pressure, injection timing and the number of injections to minimize the fuel impingement on in-cylinder surfaces. E85, which represents a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline (by volume) is used in this study. Two types of fuel injectors are used; (i) low-pressure production-intent injector with fuel pressure of 3 MPa, and (ii) high-pressure production injector with fuel pressures of 5 and 10 MPa. In addition, the effects of split injection are also presented by maintaining the same amount of fuel used in single injection. It is found that the split injection is an effective way to reduce the overall fuel impingement on in-cylinder surfaces while maintaining a reasonably good air–fuel mixture in the cylinder.