Enhancement of three-dimensional electron standing waves at the metal–insulator transition in 1T-TaS2

STM images of subsurface impurities were found to change abruptly at the metal–insulator transition temperature in 1T-TaS₂. In the metallic phase the impurities were imaged as less-conducting regions with diameters less than a few nanometers; in the insulating phase, however, characteristic ring-shape structures were observed, which typically showed 1 nm in corrugation amplitude and several tens of nanometers in diameter. Based on a recent theoretical investigation, this phenomenon can be interpreted as a long-range standing wave formation caused by a significant increase of the effective wavelengths of the electronic low energy excitations associated with the metal–insulator transition.     

Tunneling-current-induced light emission from individual carbon nanotubes

Tunneling electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope were used to excite light emission from individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes adsorbed on a highly ordered pyrolytic graphite surface. In the integral photon-intensity map, spatially uniform emission in the visible region was observed along the identical multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The emission spectra for the individual nanotubes showed unique profiles which differed with each nanotube, and were classified into two types. Our results indicate that the light emission is due to not the localized electronic states at the tube ends or defects but radiative transitions of electrons between the one-dimensional van Hove singularities, indicating that the two types of spectra are attributed to metallic and semiconducting nanotubes.     

Enhancement of saccharin removal from aqueous solution by activated carbon adsorption with ultrasonic treatment

This study investigates the use of ultrasonication as a pretreatment process and its effect on the adsorption characteristics of saccharin onto activated carbon (AC). Ultrasonic decomposition of saccharin was performed at a frequency of 500 kHz under argon and O2/N2 (20/80 vol%) atmospheres. Adsorption was carried out using a commercial activated carbon. The behavior of total organic carbon (TOC) during ultrasonication was investigated. Saccharin removal after 180 min of ultrasonication under Ar and O2/N2 atmospheres are 38% and 26%, respectively, while the amount of saccharin removed by activated carbon adsorption without US pretreatment is 40% after 16 h. After 16 h of AC adsorption with 180 min of ultrasonic pretreatment under Ar and O2/N2 atmospheres, both removal ratios increased to 75%. These results indicated that the pretreatment of sonication under O2/N2 leads to the increase in the amount of saccharin adsorbed on AC. On the other hand, the TOC removal by decomposition by ultrasound is not more than 5% in both Ar and O2/N2 atmospheres after 180 min ultrasonication. However, the TOC removal increased to 54% and 69% after 16 h of adsorption of saccharin pretreated by ultrasonication for 180 min under Ar and O2/N2 atmospheres, respectively. About 13% and 16% TOC removal in Ar and in O2/N2, respectively, were achieved due to adsorption of the by-products. It is considered that the improvement in TOC removal is also brought about by the formation of the by-products that were adsorbed onto AC.     

NMR study of YP and YPO4 as 2-qubits quantum computers

The ³¹P-NMR experiments in YP and YPO₄ as 2-qubits quantum computers were performed at room temperature under magnetic fields of 6.3 and 11.75 T with a coherent type pulsed FT-NMR spectrometer. The full width at half of the maximum intensity of NMR spectrum for ³¹P is compared with the second moment caused by the dipolar field. The obtained spin–lattice relaxation times T₁ of 1.2 and 320 s for the P nuclei in YP and YPO₄, respectively, suggest both compounds have the advantage of increasing the numbers of quantum computing operations.     

Stress dependence on N/Ga ratio in GaN epitaxial films grown on ZnO substrates

GaN films were grown on ZnO substrate under various beam equivalent pressure ratios by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (P-MBE). We theoretically calculated the thermal stress caused by the difference of thermal expansion coefficients between GaN and ZnO. The changes of stress and critical thickness were evaluated by measurement of XRD for HT GaN and LT GaN buffer grown under Ga-rich and N-rich conditions. From this study, we observed that GaN grown under Ga-rich condition causes GaN film to under compressive-stress, while GaN grown under N-rich condition was tensile-stressed. Consequently, interdiffusion has no effect on the variation of the critical thickness.     

Development of an on-line low gas pressure cell for laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry.

An on-line low gas pressure cell device has been developed for elemental analysis using laser ablation-ICP-mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Ambient gas in the sample cell was evacuated by a constant-flow diaphragm pump, and the pressure of the sample cell was controlled by changing the flow rate of He-inlet gas. The degree of sample re-deposition around the ablation pit could be reduced when the pressure of the ambient gas was lower than 50 kPa. Produced sample aerosol was drawn and taken from the outlet of the diaphragm pump, and directly introduced into the ICP ion source. The flow rate of He gas controls not only the gas pressure in the sample cell, but also the transport efficiency of the sample particles from the cell to the ICP, and the gas flow rate must be optimized to maximize the signal intensity of the analytes. The flow rates of the He carrier and Ar makeup gas were tuned to maximize the signal intensity of the analytes, and in the case of (238)U from the NIST SRM610 glass material, the signal intensity could be maximized with gas flow rates of 0.4 L/min for He and 1.2 L/min for Ar. The resulting gas pressure in the cell was 30 - 35 kPa. Using the low gas pressure cell device, the stability in the signal intensities and the resulting precision in isotopic ratio measurements were evaluated. The signal intensity profile of (63)Cu obtained by laser ablation from a metallic sample (NIST SRM976) demonstrated that typical spikes in the transient signal, which can become a large source of analytical error, were no longer found. The resulting precision in the (65)Cu/(63)Cu ratio measurements was 2 - 3% (n = 10, 2SD), which was half of the level obtained by laser ablation under atmospheric pressure (6 - 10%). The newly developed low-pressure cell device provides easier optimization of the operational conditions, together with smaller degrees of sample re-deposition and better stability in the signal intensity, even from a metallic sample.     

Quantitative Evaluation of Oxygenation and Metabolism in the Human Skeletal Muscle

The forearm muscles of five healthy males were monitored for changes in microvessel hemoglobin saturation (SO_2-TRS) by near infrared time-resolved spectroscopy (NIR_TRS) and changes in phosphorus metabolites by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (³¹P-MRS) during 12 min of resting arterial occlusion. Muscle oxygenation and phosphorus metabolites were also measured during grip exercises at varying intensities. Upon the initiation of occlusion, SO_2-TRS fell progressively until it reached a plateau in the latter half of the occlusion. Phosphocreatine (PCr) began to decrease around 6 min after the initiation of arterial occlusion. The resting O₂ store and O₂ consumption were 295 μM and 0.95 μM/sec, respectively-values which reasonably agree with the reported results. A significant correlation was observed between the changes in SO_2-TRS and PCr during exercise (r² = 0.80, p < 0.001). These results indicate that NIR_TRS is able to provide reliable information about resting metabolism and oxidative rate during exercise. NIR_TRS and MRS are useful to monitor oxygenation and energetics noninvasively in the human muscle.     

Effects of an air-layer-subdivision technique on the sound transmission through a single plate

Many studies on the sound transmission through a single plate have been carried out theoretically and experimentally. The transmission-loss characteristics, in general, follow mass law. Therefore, increasing mass of a plate is a fundamental measure to improve the insulation performance. This method, however, has limitations and might not be a reasonable alternative in current standards. Furthermore, the transmission loss at the critical frequency of coincidence is deteriorated significantly even if the mass is rather large. In this paper, the effect of the air-layer-subdivision technique is studied in detail from the viewpoint of the sound transmission problem of a single plate. An analytical model of an infinite single plate with a subdivided layer is considered and the improvement of the transmission loss is estimated. The limitations of the technique are clarified with some parametric studies. In order to validate the predictions, an experiment was carried out. The transmission loss of a glass board with the air layer subdivided by acryl partitions was measured in the experiment. They were in good agreement with the theoretical ones near and above the coincidence.