Improved outcoupling of light in organic light emitting devices, utilizing a holographic DFB-structure

In this work organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) were fabricated implementing gratings, in order to extract waveguided electroluminescence (EL). The gratings were recorded by exposing thin films of the molecular azo glass N, N′-bis (4-phenyl)-N, N′-bis [(4-phenylazo)-phenyl] benzidine (AZOPD) to holographic light patterns. The photopatterned AZOPD serves as hole transport material for devices with aluminum-tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) doped with 1% of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (Alq₃:DCM) as emissive/electron transport layer. The corrugated devices showed enhanced emission in the forward direction. The emitted light is polarized preferably parallel to the grating lines. In addition, we have found a doubling in the total luminance with respect to the unstructured device.     

Chaos in brake squeal noise

Brake squeal has become an increasing concern to the automotive industry because of warranty costs and the requirement for continued interior vehicle noise reduction. Most research has been directed to either analytical and experimental studies of brake squeal mechanisms or the prediction of brake squeal propensity using finite element methods. By comparison, there is a lack of systematic analysis of brake squeal data obtained from a noise dynamometer. It is well known that brake squeal is a nonlinear transient phenomenon and a number of studies using analytical and experimental models of brake systems (e.g., pin-on-disc) indicate that it could be treated as a chaotic phenomenon. Data obtained from a full brake system on a noise dynamometer were examined with nonlinear analysis techniques. The application of recurrence plots reveals chaotic structures even in noisy data from the squealing events. By separating the time series into different regimes, lower dimensional attractors are isolated and quantified by dynamic invariants such as correlation dimension estimates or Lyapunov exponents. Further analysis of the recurrence plot of squealing events by means of recurrence quantification analysis measures reveals different regimes of laminar and random behaviour, periodicity and chaos-forming recurrent transitions. These results help to classify brake squeal mechanisms and to enhance understanding of friction-related noise phenomena.     

Localized in vivo H spectroscopy of human skeletal muscle: Normal and pathologic findings

To obtain high signal to noise ratio in small volume elements (8 cm³), in vivo ¹H NMR spectroscopy of normal and diseased human skeletal muscle was performed using a double spin-echo localization method on a 1.5-T whole body system. High resolved spectra of normal calf muscle show the well known resonances of lipids (methyl, methylene, olefinic, and other fatty acid resonances), creatine/phosphocreatine, choline/carnitine, taurine, and histidine with good intraindividual reproducibility. Pronounced intraindividual differences in the lipid range were found between different upper thigh muscle groups. On pathologic conditions like myopathia, myositis or irradiation damage the spectral lipid content was increased. Three months after local irradiation of the medial vastus muscle (50 Gy), the localized ¹H NMR spectrum showed a complete loss of the choline and creatine signals. In a case of M. Behçet with muscular involvement the relative reduction of the choline signal may provide an insight in the pathobiochemistry. The results of our investigations in nine healthy volunteers and three patients are presented in detail including relaxation times of the metabolites.     

Mono- and Dianion of a Bis(benzobuta)tetraazapentacene Derivative

A bis(benzobuta)tetraazapentacene derivative was reduced to its radical anion and its dianion, using potassium [18]crown-6 anthracenide in THF. Both reduced species were characterized by UV/Vis spectroscopy of the isolated species and by spectroelectrochemistry. Two distinct single-crystal structures of the dianion and an EPR spectrum of the radical anion were obtained. Contrary to other azaacenes, the lowest energy absorption in the UV/Vis spectrum of the dianion is redshifted in comparison to that of the neutral compound.     

Effects of reaction parameters on the preparation of thick silica gel films by an interfacial polymerization. 1. Effects of pH and type of catalyst

The polymerization of different silicon precursors at the interface of two immiscible liquids (organic and inorganic phase) led to the formation of thick (up to 40 m) and crack-free silica gel films. The pH of the inorganic phase and the type of catalyst strongly governed the rate of film formation along with the gel film properties. The preparation of thick and crack-free gel films within 24 hours of reaction time was possible for both acid-catalyzed and base-catalyzed systems in the vicinity of pH=2 and 11, respectively. The use of acetic acid as an catalyst led to gel films with a weight eight times higher than those prepared using HCl and HNO₃ catalysts. The weight of formic acid-catalyzed gel films was four times higher, and the weight of citric acid-catalyzed gel films was twice as high as the mineral acid-catalyzed gel films, respectively.