Analysis of nasal consonants using perceptual linear prediction.

Until recently, speech analysis techniques have been built around the all-pole linear predictive model. This study examines the effectiveness of using the perceptual linear predictive method for analyzing nasal consonants. Six speakers (three men and three women) produced 300 CV syllables with initial nasal consonants /m/ and /n/. A threshold-based boundary detection algorithm was developed to extract nasal segments from the CV contexts. Poles of a fifth-order perceptual linear predictive model were calculated and the frequency of the second pole was used to characterize the place of articulation of nasal consonants. Results indicated that the frequency for the second transformed pole was significantly lower for /m/ than for /n/ and was independent of factors such as a vowel context and gender of the speaker. A nasal identification rate of 86% was obtained based on the frequency of the second pole. The use of the perceptual linear predictive method may thus overcome some difficulties associated with analyzing nasal consonants.     

10-Gbit/s optical receiver using ICs with low-capacitance HBT technology

A 10-Gbit/s optical receiver is developed using low-capacitance HBT IC technology. The HBT allows a cutoff frequency of 45 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 70 GHz. The receiver contains an automatic gain-control amplifier IC with a gain of 16 dB, a bandwidth of 10.7 GHz, and a decision-circuit IC with an ambiguity of 66 mVp-p at a data rate of 10 Gbit/s. The sensitivity of this receiver is -26.5 dBm at a bit error rate of 10^-9. Transmission over a 140-km fiber was achieved successfully.     

Absolute fluorescence quantum efficiency of GSGG : Cr at ambient temperature

The absolute fluorescence quantum efficiencies of three GSGG : Cr³⁺ samples have been determined at specific excitation wavelengths for the ⁴T₁and ⁴T₂ absorption bands using a novel photocalorimetric compensation technique [1]. For laser excitation in the ⁴T₁ and ⁴T₁ bands, the technique yields the same fluorescence quantum efficiency within experimental error for all three samples, viz. 0.840 ± 0.015. The effect of flourescence reabsorption on the measurements is discussed.     

Directed paths with random phases

Directed Feynman paths in 1 + 1 dimensions that acquire random phases are examined numerically and analytically. This problem is relevant for the behavior of the conductance in two-dimensional amorphous insulators in the variable-range-hopping regime. Large-scale numerical simulations were performed on a model with short-range correlations. For the scaling of the transverse fluctuations ( t^ν), we obtain ν = 0.68 ± 0.025; and for the r.m.s free-energy fluctuations ( t^ω), we obtain ω = 0.335 ± 0.01. Up to 100 000 random samples were used for times as large as 2000. These results seem to exclude a recent conjecture that ν = 3/4 and ω = 1/2. Two versions of a model with long-range correlations are solved and shown to yield ν = 1/2; a physical explanation is given.     

Study of γ d → π + π − d Reaction in an Energy Region of 0.67 ≤ E γ ≤ 1.08 GeV

Double charged pion photoproductions from the deuteron have been studied at Research Center for Electron Photon Science (ELPH), Tohoku University. Tagged photon beams in an energy range of 0.67 ≤ E _γ ≤ 1.08 GeV were impinged on the liquid deuteron target. Produced charged particles were observed with the Neutral Kaon Spectrometer2 (NKS2). The γ d → π ⁺ π ^? d process was clearly separated among the three charged tracks. We obtained the photon energy dependence of the normalized yields of this process.     

Nanoscale gap filling for phase change material by pulsed deposition and inductively coupled plasma etching

The gap filling of phase change material has become a critical module in the fabrication process of phase change random access memory (PCRAM) as the device continues to scale down to 45 nm and below. However, conventional physical vapor deposition process cannot meet the nanoscale gap fill requirement anymore. In this study, we found that the pulsed deposition followed by inductively coupled plasma etching process showed distinctly better gap filling capability and scalability than single-step deposition process. The gap filling mechanism of the deposit–etch–deposit (DED) process was briefly discussed. The film redeposition during etching step was the key ingredient of gap filling improvement. We achieved void free gap filling of phase change material on the 30 nm via with aspect ratio of 1:1 by two-cycle DED process. The results provided a rather comprehensive insight into the mechanism of DED process and proposed a potential gap filling solution for 45 nm and below technology nodes for PCRAM.     

Resistivity anisotropy of layered cobaltite Na x CoO2 thin films

AZO thin films with low surface roughness and low sheet resistance are required in the touch panels and display panels. In this work, we investigated the substrate cooling effect of the ion beam post-treatment on AZO films properties, and one new way to obtain low surface roughness and low sheet resistance at the same time was proposed. The more exciting find of this paper is that, compared to the samples without cooling during the process of the ion beam post-treatment, samples with proper cooling voltage show a sheet resistance decrease of 26 % (from 11.9 Ω/□ to 8.8 Ω/□) and a roughness decrease of 35.5 % (from 13.389 nm to 8.637 nm) without transparency losing. And the viewpoint that substrate cooling has the effect of weakening the crystallization, especially for the subface and internal parts of samples is deduced.     

Characterization methods for liquid interfacial layers

Liquid interfaces are met everywhere in our daily life. The corresponding interfacial properties and their modification play an important role in many modern technologies. Most prominent examples are all processes involved in the formation of foams and emulsions, as they are based on a fast creation of new surfaces, often of an immense extension. During the formation of an emulsion, for example, all freshly created and already existing interfaces are permanently subject to all types of deformation. This clearly entails the need of a quantitative knowledge on relevant dynamic interfacial properties and their changes under conditions pertinent to the technological processes. We report on the state of the art of interfacial layer characterization, including the determination of thermodynamic quantities as base line for a further quantitative analysis of the more important dynamic interfacial characteristics. Main focus of the presented work is on the experimental possibilities available at present to gain dynamic interfacial parameters, such as interfacial tensions, adsorbed amounts, interfacial composition, visco-elastic parameters, at shortest available surface ages and fastest possible interfacial perturbations. The experimental opportunities are presented along with examples for selected systems and theoretical models for a best data analysis. We also report on simulation results and concepts of necessary refinements and developments in this important field of interfacial dynamics.     

Fabrication and transport properties of multiwall carbon nanotube crossroads

A multiwall carbon nanotube crossroads has been fabricated by a manipulation technique using a glass microcapillary, and the low temperature transport properties investigated. The two-terminal conductance of an individual tube shows Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid behavior G∝T^α at high temperature and dI/dV ∝V ^α at low temperature. However, no evidence of such a power-law behavior is obtained in the four-terminal conductance at the junction, where the conductance shows an almost metallic behavior ‘corrected’ by weak localization. Weak localization would essentially appear in electron states at the junctions of MWNTs.