Inelastic neutron scattering study of low energy excitations in polymer thin films

We report inelastic neutron scattering measurements on polystyrene thin films in a glassy state in the meV region. We found in elastic scattering that the mean square displacement decreased with film thickness, and hence the corresponding force constant f increased. In inelastic and quasielastic scattering, we observed the so-called boson peak at around 1.5 meV and the picosecond fast process for the first time in thin films, both of which decreased in intensity with film thickness. These results were discussed in terms of the potential hardening due to the confinement of polymer chains and/or the interfacial dead layer.     

Photodecarbonylation of ruthenium carbonyl octaethylporphyrin via stepwise two-photon absorption of visible light

The photoinduced decarbonylation of a ruthenium(II) carbonyl octaethylporphyrin (RuOEP(CO)(Py)) complex has been shown to occur upon nanosecond pulse laser irradiation as a visible light excitation source, which is reasonably interpreted by a stepwise two-photon absorption process.     

The Total Absolute Curvature of Nonclosed Curves in S 2, (II)

Extending the results in [1], we determine the shape of the curve in S ² which minimize the total absolute curvature in the set of nonclosed curves with fixed endpoints, end-directions and length. We deal with a more general class of curves than in [1].     

Universal features of quantized thermal conductance of carbon nanotubes

The universal features of quantized thermal conductance of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are revealed through a theoretical analysis based on the Landauer theory of heat transport. The phonon-derived thermal conductance of semiconducting CNTs exhibits a universal quantization in the low-temperature limit, independent of the radius or atomic geometry. The temperature dependence follows a single curve given in terms of temperature scaled by the phonon energy gap. The thermal conductance of metallic CNTs has an additional contribution from electronic states, which also exhibits quantized behavior up to room temperature.     

Controllable photoinduced optical attenuation in a single-mode optical fiber by irradiation of a femtosecond pulse laser

Novel optical attenuation fibers were fabricated by the irradiation of a focused infrared femtosecond pulsed laser onto the core of a silica glass single-mode optical fiber. Optical attenuation at a wavelength of 1.55 microm proportionally increased with increasing numbers of irradiation points and was controllable under laser irradiation conditions. The single-mode property of the waveguide and the mode-field diameter of the optical fiber were maintained after irradiation of the femtosecond laser. It is suggested that the attenuation results from optical scattering at photoinduced spots formed inside the fiber core.     

Nearest-neighbor configuration in (GaIn)(NAs) probed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

Ga(1-x)In(x)N(y)As(1-y) is a promising material system for the fabrication of inexpensive "last-mile" optoelectronic components. However, details of its atomic arrangement and the relationship to observed optical properties is not fully known. Particularly, a blueshift of emission wavelength is observed after annealing. In this work, we use x-ray absorption fine structure to study the chemical environment around N atoms in the material before and after annealing. We find that as-grown molecular beam epitaxy material consists of a nearly random distribution of atoms, while postannealed material shows segregation of In toward N. Ab initio simulations show that this short-range ordering creates a more thermodynamically stable alloy and is responsible for blueshifting the emission.     

Itinerant memory dynamics and global bifurcations in chaotic neural networks

We have considered itinerant memory dynamics in a chaotic neural network composed of four chaotic neurons with synaptic connections determined by two orthogonal stored patterns as a simple example of a chaotic itinerant phenomenon in dynamical associative memory. We have analyzed a mechanism of generating the itinerant memory dynamics with respect to intersection of a pair of alpha branches of periodic points and collapse of a periodic in-phase attracting set. The intersection of invariant sets is numerically verified by a novel method proposed in this paper.     

Synthesis of the P-cluster inorganic core of nitrogenases

The [8Fe-7S] core of the P-clusters in nitrogenases is unique among the known [Fe-S] clusters which are essential to electron-transfer processes in nature. The [8Fe-7S] cluster has been thought unstable and to exist only in protein environments. We found that this unusual [8Fe-7S] structure can be self-assembled from the reaction of Fe(II) bis-amide, tetramethylthiourea, 2,4,6-triisopropylbenzenethiol, and elemental sulfur in a specific mole ratio. The structure of the complex isolated therefrom closely resembles that of the reduced form (PN) of the P-clusters, while the 6Fe(II)2Fe(III) oxidation state was manifested by the M?ssbauer study.     

A convenient synthesis of the beraprost intermediate: a useful method for introducing a C3 unit at the benzyl position

[reaction: see text] The Heck reaction is a more efficient and reliable method than previous ones for introducing a C3 unit at the benzyl position for the synthesis of Beraprost. Especially, trialkylated long-chain amines such as (n-C(8)H(17))(3)N and (n-C(12)H(25))(3)N resulted in good yields. This development will be used for the industrial synthesis of Beraprost.