A New Method to Measure the Coupling Efficiency of Waveguide Photodetector

In this paper, a new method is outlined for the estimation of coupling efficiency between a source laser and a WGPD. Internal quantum efficiencies as high as 72% (for 0.15 μm device) and 86.5% (for 0.5 μm device) are achieved.     

On self-reciprocal polynomials

In this paper we establish a sharp result concerning integral mean estimates for self-reciprocal polynomials.     

Laser pulse heating of steel surface and flexural wave analysis

Laser gas-assisted material processing finds wide application in industry. The modelling of heating, elastic response of the substrate material, and the wave analysis gives insight into the laser workpiece interaction. In the present study, laser gas-assisted heating of steel is considered. The normal component of the thermal stress is taken as the source of load for the flexural wave generation in the material. The flexural wave generated is simulated and the wave characteristics are analyzed at four locations at the workpiece surface. The numerical scheme employing a control volume approach is introduced when solving the governing equations of flow and heat transfer while finite element and spectran element methods are used when solving the stress and wave equations. It is found that the normal component of the stress is tensile. The dispersion effect of the workpiece material, interference of the reflected beam, and partial overlapping of second mode of the travelling wave enable to identify a unique pattern in the travelling wave in the substrate.     

Multifunctional ToF-SIMS: combinatorial mapping of gradient energy substrates

We present a simple method for chemical modification of chlorosilane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Si surfaces by exposure to a gradient of UV-ozone radiation to create stable substrates with a range of contact angles (θ_H2O≈5–95°) and surface energies on a single substrate. These gradient energy substrates are developed to potentially generate libraries for combinatorial studies of thin film phenomenology, where a systematic variation of interfacial surface energy represents one of the significant parameters along one axis. The graded oxidation process presents a systematic variation of surface chemical composition. We have utilized contact angle measurements and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to investigate this variation for a series of ions, among which are SiCH₃⁺, SiOH⁺ and COOH⁻. We show that the macroscopic measurements of surface free energy/contact angle correlate with the detailed analysis of surface chemistry (as assessed by ToF-SIMS) on these test substrates.     

A Complete Classification of Curvature Collineations of Cylindrically Symmetric Static Metrics

Curvature collineations are symmetry directions for the Riemann tensor, as isometries are for the metric tensor and Ricci collineations are for the Ricci tensor. Complete listings of many metrics possessing some minimal symmetry have been given for a number of symmetry groups for the latter two symmetries. It is shown that a claimed complete listing of cylindrically symmetric static metrics by their curvature collineations [1] was actually incomplete and is completed here. It turns out that in this complete list, unlike the previous claim, there are curvature collineations that are distinct from the set of isometries and of Ricci collineations. The physical interpretation of some of the metrics obtained is given.     

Complex polymer architectures through dimethoxymethyl 1,1‐diphenylethylene derivatives

The reactions of polystyryllithium and potassium on dimethoxymethyl 1,1‐diphenylethylene derivatives were studied in different solvents. In a polar medium, A₃ and A₆ star types were formed according to the stoichiometry, whereas in a nonpolar medium, hyperbranched structures were synthesized. Extensions of an already proposed mechanism in polar and nonpolar media were examined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3329–3335, 2003     

Reaction kinetics and pathway of hydrothermal decomposition of aspartic acid

The kinetics and pathway of hydrothermal decomposition of aspartic acid were studied using a continuous‐flow tubular reactor. The reaction was carried out in the temperature range of 200–260°C and at a pressure of 20 MPa. Deamination was the primary reaction, indicated by the presence of significant amount of ammonia, fumaric acid, or maleic acid in the products. Other reaction products were pyruvic acid, malic acid, and traces of succinic and lactic acid. Traces of alanine were also detected, showing the possibility of decomposing high‐molecular weight amino acids to obtain simple amino acids such as glycine or alanine. Results on the effect of reaction parameters demonstrated that decomposition of aspartic acid is highly temperature dependent under hydrothermal conditions. For a slight temperature difference of 60°C (from 200 to 260°C), the first‐order reaction rate constants of 0.003 significantly increased to 0.231 s^?1. The activation energy was 144 kJ/mol, as calculated by the Arrhenius equation. No significant effect was exhibited by other reaction parameters such as pH and pressure. The results are useful in controlling the hydrolysis of proteinaceous materials toward high yield of aspartic acid under hydrothermal conditions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 39: 175–180, 2007     

Fluctuation study of pionisation in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus interaction

The scaled factorial moments and the multifractal moments have been investigated in differentη-intervals to study the dynamical fluctuation of pions produced in 200 AGeV³²S-Ag/Br interaction. In order to investigate the detail characteristics of intermittency behaviour, theF-moments are extracted up to the eighth order of moments in differentM-intervals. The analysis indicates a non-thermal phase transition and different regime of particle production during the hadronisation process.     

Enzyme production and profile by Aspergillus niger during solid substrate fermentation using palm kernel cake as substrate

The oil palm sector is one of the major plantation industries in Malaysia. Palm kernel cake is a byproduct of extracted palm kernel oil. Mostly palm kernel cake is wasted or is mixed with other nutrients and used as animal feed, especially for ruminant animals. Recently, palm kernel cake has been identified as an important ingredient for the formulation of animal feed, and it is also exported especially to Europe, South Korea, and Japan. It can barely be consumed by nonruminant (monogastric) animals owing to the high percentages of hemicellulose and cellulose contents. Palm kernel cake must undergo suitable pretreatment in order to decrease the percentage of hemicellulose and cellulose. One of the methods employed in this study is fermentation with microorganisms, particularly fungi, to partially degrade the hemicellulose and cellulose content. This work focused on the production of enzymes by Aspergillus niger and profiling using palm kernel cake as carbon source.     

1‐Acetyl‐3′‐(4‐bromophenyl)‐3′‐chlorospiro[3H‐indole‐3,2′‐oxetan]‐2(1H)‐one

In the title compound, C₁₈H₁₃BrClNO₃, the heterocyclic ring of the indole is distorted from planarity towards an envelope conformation. The orientations of the indole, oxetane, chloro and bromo­phenyl substituents are conditioned by the sp³ states of the spiro‐junction and the Cl‐attached C atoms.