Band structure in104Ag

The level structure of¹⁰⁴Ag has been studied through the¹⁰³Rh (α, 3nγ) reaction at E_α=40 and 45 MeV. The principal features of the proposed level scheme are in agreement with those obtained earlier through heavy ion reaction. Two quasiparttcle-plus-rotor model calculation has been performed, and the results are compared with experimental data.     

Octave-spanning frequency comb generation in a silicon nitride chip

We demonstrate a frequency comb spanning an octave via the parametric process of cascaded four-wave mixing in a monolithic, high-Q silicon nitride microring resonator. The comb is generated from a single-frequency pump laser at 1562?nm and spans 128?THz with a spacing of 226?GHz, which can be tuned slightly with the pump power. In addition, we investigate the RF amplitude noise characteristics of the parametric comb and find that the comb can operate in a low-noise state with a 30?dB reduction in noise as the pump frequency is tuned into the cavity resonance.     

Effect of reducing agent in the formation of CdSe nanoparticles by chemical reduction route

CdSe nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple chemical reduction route at room temperature. Nanoparticle size was controlled by the amount of reducing agent and was characterized by TEM and TED. With increased amounts of sodium borohydride as a reducing agent, the size of the nanoparticles decreased. Size of the nanoparticles varies between 5 and 12 nm with a size dispersion of 1.5 nm. The grown sample was ultra-sonicated in ethanol. The dispersed sample was characterized structurally, optically and electrically. The long-duration photoconductive decay at room temperature shows exponential variation under weak illumination.     

Anomalous temperature dependence of phonons and photoluminescence bands in pyrochlore Er2Ti2O7: signatures of structural deformation at 130 K

We report a Raman study of single crystal pyrochlore Er(2)Ti(2)O(7) as a function of temperature from 12 to 300 K. In addition to the phonons, various photoluminescence (PL) lines of Er(3+) in the visible range are also observed. Our Raman data show an anomalous red-shift of two phonons (one at ~200 cm(-1) and another at ~520 cm(-1)) upon cooling from room temperature which is attributed to phonon-phonon anharmonic interactions. However, the phonons at ~310, 330, and 690 cm(-1) initially show a blue-shift upon cooling from room temperature down to about 130 K, followed by a red-shift, indicating a structural deformation at ~130 K. The intensities of the PL bands associated with the transitions between the various levels of the ground state manifold ((4)I(15/2)) and the (2)H(11/2) as well as (4)S(3/2) excited state manifolds of Er(3+) show a change at ~130 K. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the peak position of the two PL bands shows a change in their slope (dω/dT) at ~130 K, thus further strengthening the proposal of a structural deformation. The temperature dependence of the peak positions of the PL bands has been analyzed using the theory of optical dephasing in crystals.     

A new distribution-free adaptive sample size control chart for a finite production horizon and its application in monitoring fill volume of soft drink beverage bottles

Nonparametric control charts have received increasing attention in process monitoring. In this article, a new nonparametric sign (SN) control chart with variable sample size (VSS) for a finite horizon process is developed. The novelty of this research lies in the incorporation of the VSS technique into the nonparametric SN chart for a finite horizon process, hence, resulting in the development of a more sensitive nonparametric short run chart. The statistical performance of the new nonparametric VSS SN control chart is evaluated and compared with the existing fixed sample size (FSS) SN chart for a finite horizon process. The charts' performances are compared using the truncated average run length (TARL) and truncated standard deviation of the run length (TSDRL) criteria. The results obtained show that the nonparametric VSS SN short run chart is always quicker than the FSS SN short run chart in detecting process shifts for various underlying process distributions, hence, reducing scrap and rework cost. Finally, an application of the proposed control charting scheme is shown through a real-life example on the fill volume of soft drink beverage bottles.     

Spectroscopic and microscopic investigation of gold nanoparticle formation: ligand and temperature effects on rate and particle size

We report a spectroscopic and microscopic investigation of the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with average sizes of less than 5 nm. The slow reduction and AuNP formation processes that occur by using 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) as a reducing agent enabled a time-dependent investigation based on standard UV-vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. This is in contrast to other borohydride-based syntheses of thiolate monolayer protected AuNPs which form particles very rapidly. We investigated the formation of 1-octadecanethiol (ODT) protected AuNPs with average diameters of 1.5-4.3 nm. By studying the progression of nanoparticle formation over time, we find that the nucleation rate and the growth time, which are interlinked with the amount of ODT and the temperature, influence the size and the size dispersion of the AuNPs. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) analyses also suggest that the nanoparticles are highly single crystalline throughout the synthesis and appear to be formed by a diffusion-controlled Ostwald-ripening growth mechanism.     

A novel CAN‐SiO2‐mediated one‐pot oxidation of 1‐keto‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydrocarbazoles to carbazoloquinones: Efficient syntheses of murrayaquinone A and koeniginequinone A

One‐pot oxidations of substituted 1‐keto‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydrocarbazoles ( 1 ) to carbazole‐1,4‐quinones ( 2 ) are efficiently carried out by CAN‐SiO₂‐mediated reaction. This generalized protocol was successfully extended to the synthesis of two naturally occurring carbazoloquinones: murrayaquinone A ( 2b ) and koeniginequinone A ( 2g ). A plausible mechanism for this novel reaction involves formation of a 9‐hydroxy‐2,3,4,9‐tetrahydro‐1H‐carbazole‐1‐one followed by rearrangement to 1‐hydroxycarbazole derivatives, which are further oxidized by cerium (IV) to carbazoloquinones. J. Heterocyclic Chem., (2011).