Impact ionization and electroluminescence in single barrier tunnelling structures

At high electric fields, hot electrons injected into the undoped regions of n-i-n structures can give rise to impact ionization of the host lattice and electron-hole pair production. The holes created by impact ionization recombine with majority carrier electrons, leading to electroluminescence (EL) from the device at fields in excess of 10⁵V/cm. In the present work, we show that the study of such EL in GaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs single barrier tunnelling structures provides a simple and effective quantitative method to determine impact ionization coefficients in GaAs. Structures with undoped regions of length 100, 150 and 200nm are shown to give very similar results for the impact ionization coefficient. The values obtained for the impact ionization coefficient are shown to be consistent with those obtained by carrier multiplication methods.     

The tracklengths of iodine and gold ions in mica

The tracklengths in mica have been measured for iodine and gold ions in the energy range 0 to 1 MeV/amu. These data and those from previous studies have been compared with the Lindhard-Scharff-Schiøtt theory for the stopping of heavy ions in matter. Discrepancies from the theory are discussed.     

Lower bounds for the norm of the symmetric product

Suppose each of m, n, and k is a positive integer, k ? n, A is a (real-valued) symmetric n-linear function on E_m, and B is a k-linear symmetric function on E_m. The tensor and symmetric products of A and B are denoted, respectively, by A ?B and A?B. The identity

$\text{6A · B6}{}^2\text{=}\text{∑}\text{q=0}\text{n}\text{(}\text{n}\text{k}\text{)}\text{(}\text{n+k}\text{k}\text{)}\text{6A?}{}_{\mathrm{q}}\text{B6}{}^2$

is proven by Neuberger in [1]. An immediate consequence of this identity is the inequality

$\text{6A · B 6}{}^2\text{?}\text{n+k}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{6A · B 6}{}^2$

In this paper a necessary and sufficient condition for

$\text{6A · B 6}{}^2\text{=}\text{n+k}\text{n}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{6A · B 6}{}^2$

is given. It is also shown that under certain conditions the inequality can be considerably improved. This improvement results from an analysis of the terms 6A?_qB6, 1?q?n, appearing in the identity.     

Strongly segregated cubic microdomain morphology consistent with the double gyroid phase in high molecular weight diblock copolymers of polystyrene and poly(dimethylsiloxane)

We report the observation of a cubic phase consistent with the double gyroid structure in strongly segregated diblock copolymers of PS‐b‐PDMS over a volume fraction (φ_PDMS) range of ～0.39 to 0.45. The samples have respective molecular weights of 127 kg/mol and 73 kg/mol and degree of segregation Nχ equal to 187 and 106, respectively, at annealing temperature of 130 °C. It is important to highlight that two out of the total four samples investigated, exhibited hexagonally close packed cylindrical domains of PDMS and alternating lamellae at φ_PDMS = 0.39 and 0.45, respectively, indicating the possible narrow range of the DG morphology for the specific diblock copolymers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2419–2427, 2009     

Effect of Film Thickness on the Columnar Packing Structures of Discotic Supramolecules in Thin Films

The effects of film thickness on the columnar packing structure of discotic supramolecules in a thin supported film have been investigated by grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering technique using magnetically aligned cobalt octa(n‐decylthio)porphyrazine (CoS10) films on octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)‐functionalized substrates as model systems. Magnetically aligned CoS10 films with a range of film thicknesses (49–845 nm) form uniaxially oriented ‘edge‐on’ columnar superstructures with their columnar directors perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. However, the orientational ordering of the columnar packing in the plane perpendicular to the applied magnetic field is strongly dependent on the film thickness. While being damped by the elasticity of the side chains of CoS10, the strong interfacial interaction at the film‐substrate interface propagates up to 50–100 nm from the substrate, maintaining the orientation of columnar packing in the plane perpendicular to the applied magnetic field. When the distance from the film‐substrate interface becomes larger than about 100 nm, symmetric tilting of columnar layer orientation, which saturates at 11.5°, occurs due to longitudinal edge dislocations induced by accumulated elastic deformation.     

Probing the C?H⋅⋅⋅π Weak Hydrogen Bond in Anesthetic Binding: The Sevoflurane–Benzene Cluster

Cooperativity between weak hydrogen bonds can be revealed in molecular clusters isolated in the gas phase. Here we examine the structure, internal dynamics, and origin of the weak intermolecular forces between sevoflurane and a benzene molecule, using multi‐isotopic broadband rotational spectra. This heterodimer is held together by a primary C H⋅⋅⋅π hydrogen bond, assisted by multiple weak C H⋅⋅⋅F interactions. The multiple nonbonding forces hinder the internal rotation of benzene around the isopropyl C H bond in sevoflurane, producing detectable quantum tunneling effects in the rotational spectrum.     

High-order torsional couplings in the infrared spectrum of 3,3,3-trifluoropropene

A 2 MHz resolution electric-resonance optothermal spectrometer and a microwave-sideband CO₂ laser have been used with microwave-infrared double resonance to investigate high-order torsional couplings in the 10 μm infrared spectrum of 3,3,3-trifluoropropene. Three normal mode vibrations are studied with band origins at 963.4, 980.2 and 1025.2 cm⁻¹. The 963.4 cm⁻¹ band is well characterized by an asymmetric-top Hamiltonian, except for the presence of a weak perturbation for J′ = 7, K_a′ = 2 affecting only the A-symmetry internal-rotor state. Microwave-infrared double resonance is used to study the microwave spectrum of the perturbing or ‘dark’ state. The observed dark-state K-doublet asymmetry splittings and rotational-state selection rules indicate that the perturbing state has five quanta of excitation in the torsional mode (ν₂₁) built upon the A″ ν₁₉ fundamental. The precise frequency determined for 5 β₂₁ of 421(2) cm⁻¹ leads to the first accurate determination of the barrier to CF₃ internal rotation as 641(5) cm⁻¹. In contrast to the 963.4 cm⁻¹ vibration, the 980.2 and 1025.2 cm⁻¹ modes show a large number of J′ and K_a′ perturbations which differentially affect the A and E symmetry internal-rotor states. The magnitude of the perturbation-induced A/E splittings indicate that the perturbing states must have at least four quanta of torsional excitation. The present results suggest that high-order vibrational interactions are important in the vibrational dynamics of molecules at low levels of overall vibrational excitation.     

Spatial distributions and interstellar reaction processes

Methyl formate presents a challenge for the conventional chemical mechanisms assumed to guide interstellar organic chemistry. Previous studies of potential formation pathways for methyl formate in interstellar clouds ruled out gas-phase chemistry as a major production route, and more recent chemical kinetics models indicate that it may form efficiently from radical-radical chemistry on ice surfaces. Yet, recent chemical imaging studies of methyl formate and molecules potentially related to its formation suggest that it may form through previously unexplored gas-phase chemistry. Motivated by these findings, two new gas-phase ion-molecule formation routes are proposed and characterized using electronic structure theory with conformational specificity. The proposed reactions, acid-catalyzed Fisher esterification and methyl cation transfer, both produce the less stable trans-conformational isomer of protonated methyl formate in relatively high abundance under the kinetically controlled conditions relevant to interstellar chemistry. Gas-phase neutral methyl formate can be produced from its protonated counterpart through either a dissociative electron recombination reaction or a proton transfer reaction to a molecule with larger proton affinity. Retention (or partial retention) of the conformation in these neutralization reactions would yield trans-methyl formate in an abundance that exceeds predictions under thermodynamic equilibrium at typical interstellar temperatures of ≤100 K. For this reason, this conformer may prove to be an excellent probe of gas-phase chemistry in interstellar clouds. Motivated by new theoretical predictions, the rotational spectrum of trans-methyl formate has been measured for the first time in the laboratory, and seven lines have now been detected in the interstellar medium using the publicly available PRIMOS survey from the NRAO Green Bank Telescope.     

Structure and properties of the (HCl)2H2O cluster observed by chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy

The rotational spectrum of the cyclic (HCl)(2)H(2)O cluster has been identified for the first time in the chirped pulse, Fourier transform microwave spectrum of a supersonically expanded HCl/H(2)O/Ar mixture. The spectrum was measured at frequencies 6-18.5 GHz, and transitions in two inversion-tunneling states, at close to 1?:?3 relative intensity, have been assigned for the parent species. The two single (37)Cl isotopic species, and the double (37)Cl species have been assigned in the natural abundance sample, and the (18)O and HDO species of the cluster were identified in isotopically enriched samples. The rich nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure due to the presence of two chlorine nuclei has been satisfactorily fitted and provided useful information on the nonlinearity of intermolecular bonds in the cluster. The r(s) heavy atom geometry of the cluster was determined and the strongest bond in the intermolecular cycle r(O···HCl) = 3.126(3) ?, is found to be intermediate in length between the values in H(2)O···HCl and (H(2)O)(2)HCl. The fitted spectroscopic constants and derived molecular properties are compared with ab initio predictions, and a discussion of complexation effects in these three clusters is made.