Second-harmonic-generation microscope using eight-segment polarization-mode converter to observe three-dimensional molecular orientation

We developed a compact polarization-mode converter for microscopy to control three-dimensional polarization at the focus. The converter consisted of two homogeneously aligned liquid-crystal spatial light modulators with eight independently controllable electrodes (segments), and a quarter-waveplate. The converter converted a linearly polarized beam to three polarization modes: two orthogonal linear polarizations and a pseudo-radial polarization. We applied the converter to second-harmonic-generation microscopy and demonstrated the detection of three-dimensional molecular orientation.     

Multiple Fused Anthracenes as Helical Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Motif for Chiroptical Performance Enhancement

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons consisting of three fused anthracene units were designed as new π‐conjugated compounds having helical structures. These expanded helicenes were synthesized by Pt‐catalyzed cycloisomerization of the corresponding ethynyl‐substituted precursors. The nonplanar and helical structure was confirmed by X‐ray analysis and DFT calculations, and the barrier to helical inversion was estimated to be 34 kJ mol^?1. The enantiomers of the diphenyl derivative were successfully resolved by chiral HPLC. Enantiopure samples showed good chiroptical performance in the CD (|Δ?| 1380 L mol^?1 cm^?1) and CPL (|g_lum| 0.013) spectra, and these values were considerably large for simple organic molecules. The unique chiroptical properties are discussed on the basis of the molecular structure and the electronic state with the aid of time‐dependent DFT calculations.     

Porosity control in nylon-6/nylon-6, 6 membranes

The possibility of porosity control in N6/N66 membranes prepared from N6/N66 blend solutions of calcium chloride – methanol mixture was investigated. For N6/N66 blend solutions at 10 °C and 20 °C, the four-phase structure of solid, gel 1, gel 2 and solution was observed clearly in the pore formation process after adding water on a solution surface. In the boundary part between gel 1 and gel 2, the phase separation of N6 and N66 was predicted. The macroscopic pores of blend membranes prepared at 10°C and 20 °C were almost spherical.     

Monte carlo simulations for blue-phase structure in liquid crystals

Blue-phase liquid crystals form three-dimensional structures in a self-organizing manner and are similar to living tissue structures such as the teeth of mice and collagen tissues. This study presents numerical results regarding the conditions under which blue-phase liquid crystals occur. The Monte Carlo simulations are performed by employing an improved Lennard–Jones potential that considers anisotropy and chirality. The conditions for the formation of the blue phase, which vary with respect to the chirality, are examined first. The relationship between the anisotropic parameters and the chiral parameter for the formation of the blue phase is discussed. Identical blue-phase structures are obtained, even when the cell size and molecular number are varied drastically. This discussion is useful for considering the scale-up problem, which is almost always a difficult issue for molecular-scale simulations.     

Evaluating a time-delay of hydrogen production quantitatively in photosynthetic bacteria for stabilizing intermittency

Renewable energy is regarded as a clean energy source but has some problems, one of which is intermittency. To reduce this, the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria can be effective. In this study, we qualitatively evaluated the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria under various irradiation conditions, and we also quantitatively evaluated it by fitting the experimental data and the hydrogen production model with a genetic algorithm. As a result of model fitting, we found that the relationship between the lengths of the optimized time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria and the amount of light irradiation is linear. And we also found that the time-delay of hydrogen production by photosynthetic bacteria had an upper limit under low light intensity. We have suggested the existence of an energy store mechanism in photosynthetic bacteria.     

Convenient green preparation of dipeptides using unprotected α-amino acids

Dipeptides and amides were obtained in high yields from N-carbobenzyloxy α-amino acids and 3-phenylpropanoic acid with unprotected α-amino acids via the corresponding mixed carbonic carboxylic anhydrides using ethyl chloroformate and triethylamine by an ecological and convenient method in which the protection of C-terminals is not needed.     

Large four-wave mixing of spatially extended excitonic states in thin GaAs layers

We study the size dependence of the nonlinear response of weakly confined excitons for the size region beyond the long wavelength approximation regime. The observed degenerate-four-wave mixing signal of GaAs thin layers exhibits an anomalous size dependence, where the signal is resonantly enhanced at a particular thickness region. The theoretical analysis elucidates that this enhancement is due to the size-resonant enhancement of the internal field with a spatial structure relevant to the nondipole-type excitonic state. These results establish the formerly proposed new type of size dependence of nonlinear response due to the nonlocality induced double resonance.     

Chronopotentiometric determination of the outer-sphere association constants of substitution-inert metal complexes

Summary A new method for the determination of association constants by the measurement of chronopotentiometric transition time has been developed and applied to the study on the outer-sphere association of some substitution-inert complex cations with sulphate ions. The association constants were determined from the change in transition time as function of the concentration of sulphate ions at ionic strength 0.1 (NaClO₄) and 25° C: 93 ±8 for [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺SO₄ ^2–, 99 ±15 for [Co(en)₃]³⁺SO₄ ^2–, 61 ±7 for [Cr(NH₃)₆]³⁺SO₄ ^2– and 58 ±8 for [Cr(en)₃]³⁺SO₄ ^2–. The ratios of the diffusion coefficients of the univalent ion-pairs and tervalent substitution-inert complex cations were also obtained. From these ratios the diffusion coefficients of the univalent ion-pairs were calculated, which were found to differ not greatly from those of univalent complex ions with similar structures.

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Zusammenfassung Eine neue Methode zur Bestimmung von Assoziationskonstanten aus den Transitionszeiten chronopotentiometrischer Messungen wurde entwickelt. Sie wurde zur Untersuchung der Assoziation von Sulfationen in zweiter Sphäre an koordinativ abgesättigten Komplex-Kationen herangezogen. Die Assoziationskonstanten wurden aus der Abhängigkeit der Transitionszeit von der Sulfatkonzentration in Medien der Ionenstärke 0,1 (NaClO₄) und bei 25° C bestimmt. Man erhält folgende Werte: 93±8 für [Co(NH₃)₆]³⁺SO₄ ^2–, 99±15 für [Co(en)₃]³⁺SO₄ ^2–, 61±7 für [Cr(NH₃)₆]³⁺SO₄ ^2– und 58±8 für [Cr(en)₃]³⁺SO₄ ^2–. Die Verhältnisse der Diffusionskoeffizienten der einwertigen Ionenpaare zu denen der dreiwertigen Komplex-Kationen wurden ebenfalls bestimmt. Aus diesen Verhältnissen lassen sich die Diffusionskoeffizienten der Ionenpaare berechnen. Man erhält eine gute Übereinstimmung mit den Werten für einwertige Komplexionen mit ähnlicher Struktur.

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. M. von Stackelberg on his 70th birthday.     

High-fidelity teleportation beyond the no-cloning limit and entanglement swapping for continuous variables

We experimentally demonstrate continuous-variable quantum teleportation beyond the no-cloning limit. We teleport a coherent state and achieve the fidelity of 0.70 +/- 0.02 that surpasses the no-cloning limit of 2/3. Surpassing the limit is necessary to transfer the nonclassicality of an input quantum state. By using our high-fidelity teleporter, we demonstrate entanglement swapping, namely, teleportation of quantum entanglement, as an example of transfer of nonclassicality.