q-Painlevé Systems Arising from q-KP Hierarchy

A system of q-Painlevé type equations with multi-time variables t ₁,...,t _M is obtained as a similarity reduction of the N-reduced q-KP hierarchy. This system has affine Weyl group symmetry of type . Its rational solutions are constructed in terms of q-Schur functions.     

Observation of magnetic order of Cu-moment aroundx=0.12 in La2−x Ba x CuO4 and La2−x sr x CuO4 by μ+SR

Zero field positive muon spin rotation method ( ⁺SR) is applied on La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ around forx=0.12 at which the high-T _c superconductivity (SC) is suppressed. The magnetically ordered state of Cu-moments, which is not a spin glass state but an antiferromagnetic like state, appears below 15 K for 0.105x0.120. The magnetic phase boundary is very similar to the one of the La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄ in which the structural transition from the low temperature orthorhombic (LTO) phase to the low temperature tetragonal (LTT) phase is observed aroundx=0.12. The present study suggests that there is no big difference of the electronic state of the CuO₂ plane between the La-Ba system and the La-Sr system and that the magnetic ordering of Cu-moments plays an important role for the suppression of the high-T _c SC aroundx=0.12 in both of the systems, although the LTO-LTT structural transition has not been observed yet in the La-Sr system.     

Ni thin films vacuum-evaporated on polyethylene naphthalate substrates with and without the application of magnetic field

We study the structural properties of the surface roughness, the surface mound size and the interfacial structure in Ni thin films vacuum-deposited on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) organic substrates with and without the application of magnetic field and discuss its feasibility of fabricating quantum cross (QC) devices. For Ni/PEN evaporated without the magnetic field, the surface roughness decreases from 1.3 nm to 0.69 nm and the surface mound size increases from 32 nm to 80 nm with the thickness increased to 41 nm. In contrast, for Ni/PEN evaporated in the magnetic field of 360 Oe, the surface roughness tends to slightly decrease from 1.3 nm to 1.1 nm and the surface mound size shows the almost constant value of 28-30 nm with the thickness increased to 35 nm. It can be also confirmed for each sample that there is no diffusion of Ni into the PEN layer, resulting in clear Ni/PEN interface and smooth Ni surface. Therefore, these experimental results indicate that Ni/PEN films can be expected as metal/insulator hybrid materials in QC devices, leading to novel high-density memory devices.     

Theoretical Demonstration of a Newly Designed Micro-Rotator Driven by Optical Pressure on a Light Incident Surface

A newly designed cylindrical optical micro-rotator which has slopes for trapping and rotation on its upper surface is proposed. The cylindrical shape is effective in decreasing viscous drag force (damping factor) in the medium. A ray-tracing method considering the beam waist is employed to analyze the radiation pressure exerted on the upper surface of the rotator. We have demonstrated optical trapping and high speed rotation for various optical beam parameters such as the lens numerical aperture and the Gaussian mode profile as well as rotator shape parameters including oblique angle, height and diameter.     

Microencapsulation of TiO2 Nanoparticles with Polymer by Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solution

A novel preparation method is reported for the microencapsulation of TiO₂ nanoparticles by rapid expansion of supercritical solution with a nonsolvent. A suspension of TiO₂ nanoparticles in carbon dioxide containing a cosolvent and dissolved polymer is sprayed through a nozzle to atmospheric pressure. After rapid expansion, polymer microspheres were obtained. The microspheres do not tend to agglomerate, since the pure cosolvent is a nonsolvent for the polymer. The structure and morphology of microspheres were investigated by SEM, TEM and XRD. The obtained polymer microspheres are microcapsules of TiO₂ nanoparticles. The mean particle diameter and particle size distribution of microcapsules, could be controlled by changing the polymer concentration, pre-expansion pressure, temperature and injection distance. The polymer feed compositions are more effective than other factors on the control of particle size.     

Integration of a piezoelectric transformer and an ultrasonic motor

Ultrasonic motors are usually operated at an AC voltage higher than a regular battery. This implies the need of a voltage step-up transformer. In this paper, we report the integration of a piezoelectric transformer (PT) with an ultrasonic motor and a simple drive circuit. The stator of the ultrasonic motor and the PT were operated in the same radial vibration mode. Their dimensions were very close to each other yielding nearly matching resonance frequencies. Consequently, they could be combined together without inductor. The drive circuit was designed by using a 555 timer as an astable multivibrator, and high-speed dual MOSFET drivers as a class D half-bridge switching amplifier. This integrated PT-ultrasonic motor performed reasonably without the use of electromagnetic transformer or inductor.     

Sonochemical preparation of composite nanoparticles of Au/gamma-Fe2O3 and magnetic separation of glutathione

We prepared Au/gamma-Fe2O3 composite nanoparticles by sonochemically reducing Au(III) ions employing no stabilizer in the aqueous solution to form stable Au nanoparticles and allowing them to attach onto the surface of gamma-Fe2O3 particles with an average size of 21 nm. Size of the formed Au nanoparticle depended on the initial concentration of Au(III) ions. The number of the Au nanoparticles, supported on each gamma-Fe2O3 particle was controlled by changing the relative amounts of Au(III) ions and gamma-Fe2O3 particles. The composite nanoparticles exhibited a high affinity with glutathione, a tripeptide with mercapto group so that separation and manipulation of glutathione in aqueous solutions could be performed by application of external magnetic field. Because the surfaces of the Au nanoparticles were not shielded by any stabilizers, or naked, sonochemically prepared Au/gamma-Fe2O3 composite nanoparticles seemed to show stronger affinity to the glutathione than those by the radiochemical method.     

First-principles energy band calculation for undoped and N-doped InTaO4 with layered wolframite-type structure

The electronic structures of undoped and N-doped InTaO₄ with optimized structures are calculated within the framework of the density functional theory. Calculated lattice constants are in excellent agreement with experimental values, within a difference of 2%. The valence band maximum (VBM) is located near the middle point on the ZD line and the conduction band minimum (CBM) near the middle point on the DX line. This means that InTaO₄ is an indirect-gap material and a minimum theoretical gap between VBM and CBM is ca. 3.7 eV. The valence band in the range from −6.0 to 0 eV mainly consists of O 2p orbitals, where In 4d5s5p and Ta 5d orbitals are slightly hybridized with O 2p orbitals. On the other hand, the conduction band below 5.5 eV is mainly composed of the Ta 5d orbitals and the contributions of In and O orbitals are small. The band gap of N-doped InTaO₄ decreases by 0.3 eV than that of undoped InTaO₄, because new gap states originating from N 2p orbitals appear near the top of the valence band. This result indicates that doping of N atoms into metal oxides is a useful method to develop photocatalysts sensitive to visible light.     

High-repetition-rate 12 fs pulse amplification by a Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system

We demonstrate the direct generation of 12 fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system at a 1 kHz repetition rate utilizing properly designed broadband components for chirped-pulse amplification. Optimized designs of a regenerative amplifier with a multilayer gain-narrowing compensator and an adaptive dispersion compensator with a spatial light modulator contribute to the shorter pulse amplification.     

Charmonium spectra at finite temperature from QCD sum rules with the maximum entropy method

Charmonia spectral functions at finite temperature are studied using QCD sum rules in combination with the maximum entropy method. This approach enables us to directly obtain the spectral function from the sum rules, without having to introduce any specific assumption about its functional form. As a result, it is found that while J/ψ and η(c) manifest themselves as significant peaks in the spectral function below the deconfinement temperature T(c), they quickly dissolve into the continuum and almost completely disappear at temperatures between 1.0T(c) and 1.1T(c).