The study of wet etching on GaN surface by potassium hydroxide solution

Potassium hydroxide solution was used to etch un-doped GaN grown on the sapphire substrate at 180 and 260 °C. We illustrated the etching phenomenon in detail and probed its mechanism in the wet etching process. By multiplying the planar density and the number of dangling bonds on the N atom, we proposed the etching barrier index (EBI) to describe the difficulty degree of each lattice facet. The raking of EBI will be +c-plane > a-plane > m-plane > ?c-plane > (10-1-1) plane > r-plane. Combining the EBI with SEM results, we thoroughly studied the whole etching process. We confirmed that in our research, KOH wet etching on GaN starts from the r-plane instead of the +c-plane or ?c-plane, which differs from other studies. We also found that during the high-temperature etching process, there are two etching approaches. In one, the etching begins vertically from the top to the bottom, then horizontally, and finally reversely from the bottom to the top. In the other, etching pits will develop into a hexagonal hole of the sidewall of m-plane.     

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior and crystalline structure of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)/layered double hydroxide nanocomposites

X‐ray diffraction method and differential scanning calorimetry analysis have been used to investigate the nonisothermal crystallization of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/poly(ethylene glycol) phosphonates (PEOPAs)‐modified layered double hydroxide (PMLDH) nanocomposites. Effects of cooling rates and PMLDH contents on the nonisothermal crystallization behavior of PHB were explored. These results show that the addition of 2 wt % PMLDH into PHB caused heterogeneous nucleation increasing the crystallization rate and reducing the activation energy. By adding PMLDH into the PHB probably hinder the transport ability of the molecule chains and result in a decreasing crystallity of PHB, thus increasing the activation energy. The correlation among melting behavior, apparent crystallite size, and paracrystalline distortion of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites has been also discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 995–1002, 2007     

The sustainability balanced scorecard as a framework for selecting socially responsible investment: an effective MCDM model

In recent years, sustainable development and social responsibility have become important issues around the globe. Investors are interested in the so-called ‘socially responsible investment’ (SRI), an investment strategy that employs criteria other than financial risk and return when selecting firms in which to invest. The practice of SRI shows that there are growing numbers of investors who want to take account of more criteria. Given this worldwide trend, the question arises how these issues can be incorporated into the investment decision process. This paper proposes a novel integrated model for selecting SRI stocks and illustrates the practical application of such a model through a case study. This model first applied the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach to deal with the interdependencies existing among the criteria of organization requires, and then integrated the DEMATEL, the analytic network process, and the zero-one goal programming method to select an optimal portfolio of SRI. Additionally, we used the sustainability balanced scorecard as a multi-criteria framework for SRI evaluation. This integrated model enables the management to obtain the fitting SRI portfolio and achieves the desired spiritual value.     

Design and analysis of joint data detection and frequency/phase estimation algorithms

The problem of joint data detection and frequency/phase estimation is considered in this paper. The traditional belief regarding exact generalized-likelihood-based joint detection and estimation is that its complexity is exponential in the sequence length N. This belief is justified due to the memory imposed on the transmitted sequence by the lack of knowledge of the auxiliary channel parameters. In this paper, we show that the exact solution can be performed with O(N/sup 4/) worst case complexity regardless of the operating signal-to-noise ratio. The concepts used in the proof of the polynomial complexity result are also utilized to evaluate tight performance bounds on the exact and a family of approximate algorithms.     

pH sensing reliability of flexible ITO/PET electrodes on EGFETs prepared by a roll-to-roll process

In this work, indium tin oxide (ITO) layers were deposited by radio frequency sputtering using a roll-to-roll process on flexible polyethylene terephthalate substrates as pH-sensing electrodes of extended gate field effect transistors (EGFETs). When the pH sensitivity of EGFETs for ITO layers with different sheet resistances was compared, a higher sensitivity was found for samples with a lower sheet resistance (100 Ω/□), and a reliability evaluation was carried out for this condition. The average sensitivity was 50.1 mV/pH, as measured from pH 2 to pH 12. Over three additional runs, the standard variation of the average sensitivity was found to be ±1.7 mV/pH. The tolerance to light is high; the samples were measured in dark and light conditions, and a difference of only 0.6 mV was observed. The temperatures available for measurement are 25–40 °C. Up to this point, the behavior of samples stored in dry conditions has been found to persist for more than 55 days.     

Recurrent-neural-network-based adaptive-backstepping control for induction servomotors

This study is concerned with the position control of an induction servomotor using a recurrent-neural-network (RNN)-based adaptive-backstepping control (RNABC) system. The adaptive-backstepping approach offers a choice of design tools for the accommodation of system uncertainties and nonlinearities. The RNABC system is comprised of a backstepping controller and a robust controller. The backstepping controller containing an RNN uncertainty observer is the principal controller, and the robust controller is designed to dispel the effect of approximation error introduced by the uncertainty observer. Since the RNN has superior capabilities compared to the feedforward NN for dynamic system identification, it is utilized as the uncertainty observer. In addition, the Taylor linearization technique is employed to increase the learning ability of the RNN. Meanwhile, the adaptation laws of the adaptive-backstepping approach are derived in the sense of the Lyapunov function, thus, the stability of the system can be guaranteed. Finally, simulation and experimental results verify that the proposed RNABC can achieve favorable tracking performance for the induction-servomotor system, even with regard to parameter variations and input-command frequency variation.     

Total syntheses of sesterpenic acids: refuted (+/-)-bilosespenes A and B

[reaction: see text] The total syntheses of racemic sesterpenic acids 1 and 2 have been accomplished from creosol (6) in 12 and 13 steps, respectively. Intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of masked o-benzoquinone 7 generated from 6 and allyl alcohol, stereoselective addition of alkenylcerium(III) chloride 8 to ketone 5, and anionic oxy-Cope rearrangement of dienol 4 are the key steps.     

Structural distinction among inositol phosphate isomers using high-energy and low-energy collisional-activated dissociation tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization

Electrospray (ESI) collisional-activated dissociation (CAD) tandem mass spectrometric methods for the structural characterization of inositol phosphates (InsPs) using both quadrupole and sector mass spectrometers are described. Under low-energy CAD, the [M + H](+) ions of the positional isomers of inositol phosphates, including inositol mono-, bis- and trisphosphates, yield distinguishable product-ion spectra, which are readily applicable for isomer differentiation. In contrast, the product-ion spectra arising from high-energy CAD (2 keV collision energy, floating at 50%) tandem sector mass spectrometry are less applicable for isomer identification. The differences in the product-ion spectrum profiles among the aforementioned InsP isomers become more substantial and differentiation of positional isomers can be achieved when the collison energy is reduced to 1 keV (floating at 75%). These results demonstrate that the applied collision energies play a pivotal role in the fragmentations upon CAD. The product-ion spectra are similar among the positional isomers of inositol tetrakisphosphates and of inositol pentakisphosphates. Thus, isomeric distinction for these two inositol polyphosphate classes could not be established by the tandem mass spectrometric methods that have achieved such distinctions for the less highly phosphorylated inositol phosphate classes. Under both high- and low-energy CAD, the protonated molecular species of all InsPs undergo similar fragmentation pathways, which are dominated by the consecutive losses of H(2)O, HPO(3) and H(3)PO(4).     

Interference patterns of scattering light induced by orientational fluctuations in an electric-field-biased nematic liquid-crystal film

A new light-scattering phenomenon from a planar aligned nematic liquid-crystal film is observed and studied. This new phenomenon exhibits ring patterns in the orthogonal polarization. A simple model based on optical interference has been developed, and its predictions agree well with experimental observation.