Temperature dependence of the convex solubility parameters of organic semiconductors

Solubility parameter methods have also proven very useful in an array of theoretical and practical applications, particularly regarding the mutual solubility of polymers and organic semiconductors in bulk‐heterojunction composites. The temperature dependence of the solubility and miscibility of organic semiconductors offers a promising route for directing the organization of materials and composites toward optimal morphologies. Here, the convex solubility parameter (CSP) approach is used to investigate the temperature dependence of three organic semiconductors: PCBM, P3HT, and PCPDTBT. The CSPs and mutual solubility regions are computed at several temperatures between 25 °C and 140 °C, and the results are compared to those obtained from a traditional spherical‐fitting algorithm. In addition, the impact that constant and varying thermal expansion coefficients have on the computed solubility parameters across this temperature range is investigated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 81–88     

Electron paramagnetic resonance in Nd-Ag amorphous alloys

We have studied the EPR of Nd³⁺ ions in Nd_16.7Ag_83.3 amorphous alloys between 4.2 K and room temperature. The resonance observed above 100K at a field corresponding to a g ? 2.3 indicates the existence of sites having a non-axial crystal field of the form J²_x-J²_z.     

Primarily nonlinear effects observed in a driven asymmetrical vibrating wire

The purpose of the work reported here is to further experimentally explore the wide variety of behaviors exhibited by driven vibrating wires, primarily in the nonlinear regime. When the wire is driven near a resonant frequency, it is found that most such behaviors are significantly affected by the splitting of the resonant frequency and by the existence of a "characteristic" axis associated with each split frequency. It is shown that frequency splitting decreases with increasing wire tension and can be altered by twisting. Two methods are described for determining the orientation of characteristic axes. Evidence is provided, with a possible explanation, that each axis has the same orientation everywhere along the wire. Frequency response data exhibiting nonlinear generation of transverse motion perpendicular to the driving direction, hysteresis, linear generation of perpendicular motion (sometimes tubular), and generation of motion at harmonics of the driving frequency are exhibited and discussed. Also reported under seemingly unchanging conditions are abrupt large changes in the harmonic content of the motion that sometimes involve large subharmonics and harmonics thereof. Slow transitions from one stable state of vibration to another and quasiperiodic motions are also exhibited. Possible musical significance is discussed.     

Ordering and excitations in the field-induced magnetic phase of Cs3Cr2Br9

Field-induced magnetic order has been investigated in detail in the interacting spin 3/2 dimer system Cs3Cr2Br9. Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed up to H=6 T, well above the critical field H(c1) approximately 1.5 T. The ordering displays incommensurabilities and a large hysteresis before a commensurate structure is reached. This structure is fully determined. Surprisingly, the lowest excitation branch never closes. Above H(c1), the gap increases slowly with the field. An analysis in terms of projected pseudospins is given.     

A masking level difference due to harmonicity

The role of harmonicity in masking was studied by comparing the effect of harmonic and inharmonic maskers on the masked thresholds of noise probes using a three-alternative, forced-choice method. Harmonic maskers were created by selecting sets of partials from a harmonic series with an 88-Hz fundamental and 45 consecutive partials. Inharmonic maskers differed in that the partial frequencies were perturbed to nearby values that were not integer multiples of the fundamental frequency. Average simultaneous-masked thresholds were as much as 10 dB lower with the harmonic masker than with the inharmonic masker, and this difference was unaffected by masker level. It was reduced or eliminated when the harmonic partials were separated by more than 176 Hz, suggesting that the effect is related to the extent to which the harmonics are resolved by auditory filters. The threshold difference was not observed in a forward-masking experiment. Finally, an across-channel mechanism was implicated when the threshold difference was found between a harmonic masker flanked by harmonic bands and a harmonic masker flanked by inharmonic bands. A model developed to explain the observed difference recognizes that an auditory filter output envelope is modulated when the filter passes two or more sinusoids, and that the modulation rate depends on the differences among the input frequencies. For a harmonic masker, the frequency differences of adjacent partials are identical, and all auditory filters have the same dominant modulation rate. For an inharmonic masker, however, the frequency differences are not constant and the envelope modulation rate varies across filters. The model proposes that a lower variability facilitates detection of a probe-induced change in the variability, thus accounting for the masked threshold difference. The model was supported by significantly improved predictions of observed thresholds when the predictor variables included envelope modulation rate variance measured using simulated auditory filters.     

Limiter Biasing Experiments in TEXTOR-94

Particle collection by the ALT-II belt limiter in the TEXTOR-94 tokamak is exclusively limited to the parallel outflux because the scoop walls that are oriented parallel to the field lines obstruct the poloidal E×B mass flow. With normal B _tor direction (E×B towards the scoops), a threefold decrease of plenum pressure is measured during negative biasing, while with reversed B _tor (E×B away from the scoops), a 60% pressure increase is observed. This behaviour is exactly opposite to that observed in X-point divertors. A simple fluid model explains this apparent contradiction, and gives good quantitative agreement with measurements of the parallel Mach number in the SOL. The essential physics is governed by the Bohm-Chodura criterion.     

Trace gas absorption spectroscopy using laser difference-frequency spectrometer for environmental application

A widely tunable infrared spectrometer based on difference frequency generation (DFG) has been developed for organic trace gas detection by laser absorption spectroscopy. On-line measurements of concentration of various hydrocarbons, such as acetylene, benzene, and ethylene, were investigated using high-resolution DFG trace gas spectroscopy for highly sensitive detection.     

ESR investigation on the breather mode and the spinon-breather dynamical crossover in Cu benzoate

A "breather excitation" is observed directly by electron spin resonance in the quantum spin chain Cu benzoate, in which an unexpected field-induced gap has recently been found. The nonlinear field dependence of the resonance field agrees well with the formula based on a quantum sine-Gordon model. The power-law temperature dependence of the linewidth is observed in the gapless spinon regime while the width decreases exponentially for the gapped breather regime. In the intermediate range, a distinct anomaly is found, which is the manifestation of "the spinon-breather dynamical crossover."     

Linear codes using skew polynomials with automorphisms and derivations

In this work the definition of codes as modules over skew polynomial rings of automorphism type is generalized to skew polynomial rings, whose multiplication is defined using an automorphism and a derivation. This produces a more general class of codes which, in some cases, produce better distance bounds than module skew codes constructed only with an automorphism. Extending the approach of Gabidulin codes, we introduce new notions of evaluation of skew polynomials with derivations and the corresponding evaluation codes. We propose several approaches to generalize Reed-Solomon and BCH codes to module skew codes and for two classes we show that the dual of such a Reed-Solomon type skew code is an evaluation skew code. We generalize a decoding algorithm due to Gabidulin for the rank metric and derive families of Maximum Distance Separable and Maximum Rank Distance codes.