Picosecond pulse laser ablation of yttria-stabilized zirconia from kilohertz to megahertz repetition rates

Thin films of yttria stabilized zirconia were deposited onto silicon substrates using high repetition rate picosecond pulse lasers. The applied lasers covered the repetition rate range from 10 kHz to 4 MHz. We found that the laser pulse overlapping which results from increased repetition rates led to considerable changes in the ablation process. Defect formation and local heating lead to lower ablation thresholds and, with sufficiently high repetition rates, to melting of the target and even to thermal evaporation. We found that yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) films deposited with picosecond pulses at 1064 nm wavelength below repetition rates of 2 MHz have rough, nanostructured morphology and the same atomic ratio of yttrium and zirconium as the target. Films deposited with 2 MHz and higher repetition rates with high number of overlapping pulses are very smooth, but are yttrium deficient, providing evidence of the importance of the thermal processes.     

Contactless radiation pattern measurement method for UHF RFID transponders

A contactless method of measuring the radiation pattern of a UHF RFID transponder is presented. The novel technique does not require any special transponder IC or measurement equipment. The measurement method also enables radiation pattern determination in the end-use application. The measurement setup and some example results are presented.     

On initial populations of a genetic algorithm for continuous optimization problems

Genetic algorithms are commonly used metaheuristics for global optimization, but there has been very little research done on the generation of their initial population. In this paper, we look for an answer to the question whether the initial population plays a role in the performance of genetic algorithms and if so, how it should be generated. We show with a simple example that initial populations may have an effect on the best objective function value found for several generations. Traditionally, initial populations are generated using pseudo random numbers, but there are many alternative ways. We study the properties of different point generators using four main criteria: the uniform coverage and the genetic diversity of the points as well as the speed and the usability of the generator. We use the point generators to generate initial populations for a genetic algorithm and study what effects the uniform coverage and the genetic diversity have on the convergence and on the final objective function values. For our tests, we have selected one pseudo and one quasi random sequence generator and two spatial point processes: simple sequential inhibition process and nonaligned systematic sampling. In numerical experiments, we solve a set of 52 continuous test functions from 16 different function families, and analyze and discuss the results.     

Normal covariant quantization maps

We consider questions related to quantizing complex valued functions defined on a locally compact topological group. In the case of bounded functions, we generalize R. Werner's approach to prove the characterization of the associated normal covariant quantization maps.     

Heuristic for a new multiobjective scheduling problem

We consider a telecommunication problem in which the objective is to schedule data transmission to be as fast and as cheap as possible. The main characteristic and restriction in solving this multiobjective optimization problem is the very limited computational capacity available. We describe a simple but efficient local search heuristic to solve this problem and provide some encouraging numerical test results. They demonstrate that we can develop a computationally inexpensive heuristic without sacrificing too much in the solution quality.     

Development of Counting Skills: Role of Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity and Subitizing-Based Enumeration

Children differ in how much they spontaneously pay attention to quantitative aspects of their natural environment. We studied how this spontaneous tendency to focus on numerosity (SFON) is related to subitizing-based enumeration and verbal and object counting skills. In this exploratory study, children were tested individually at the age of 4-5 years on these skills. Results showed 2 primary relationships in children's number skills development. Performance in a number sequence production task, which is closely related to ordinal number sequence without reference to cardinality, is directly associated with SFON. Second, the association of SFON and object counting skills, which require relating cardinal and ordinal aspects of number, is mediated by subitizing-based enumeration. This suggests that there are multiple pathways to enumeration skills during development.     

Removable sets for Sobolev spaces

We study removable sets for the Sobolev spaceW ^1,p. We show that removability for sets lying in a hyperplane is essentially determined by their thickness measured in terms of a concept ofp-porosity. The author was partially supported by the NSF and the Academy of Finland, SA-34082.     

Quasihyperbolic boundary conditions and capacity: Uniform continuity of quasiconformal mappings

We prove that quasiconformal maps onto domains which satisfy a suitable growth condition on the quasihyperbolic metric are uniformly continuous when the source domain is equipped with the internal metric. The obtained modulus of continuity and the growth assumption on the quasihyperbolic metric are shown to be essentially sharp. As a tool, we prove a new capacity estimate.     

New faster CHARMM molecular dynamics engine

We introduce a new faster molecular dynamics (MD) engine into the CHARMM software package. The new MD engine is faster both in serial (i.e., single CPU core) and parallel execution. Serial performance is approximately two times higher than in the previous version of CHARMM. The newly programmed parallelization method allows the MD engine to parallelize up to hundreds of CPU cores. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Structural and Photophysical Study on Heterobimetallic Complexes with d8–d10 Interactions Supported by Carborane Ligands: Theoretical Analysis of the Emissive Behaviour

Heterobimetallic complexes of formula [M{(PPh₂)₂C₂B₉H₁₀}(S₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀)M′(PPh₃)] (M=Pd, Pt; M′=Au, Ag, Cu) and [Ni{(PPh₂)₂C₂B₉H₁₀}(S₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀)Au(PPh₃)] were obtained from the reaction of [M{(PPh₂)₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀}(S₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀)] (M=Pd, Pt) with [M′(PPh₃)]⁺ (M′=Au, Ag, Cu) or by one‐pot synthesis from [(SH)₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀], (PPh₂)₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀, NiCl₂ ? 6 H₂O, and [Au(PPh₃)]⁺. They display d⁸–d¹⁰ intermetallic interactions and emit red light in the solid state at 77 K. Theoretical studies on [M{(PPh₂)₂C₂B₉H₁₀}(S₂C₂B₁₀H₁₀)Au(PPh₃)] (M=Pd, Pt, Ni) attribute the luminescence to ligand (thiolate, L)‐to‐“P₂‐M‐S₂” (ML′) charge‐transfer (LML′CT) transitions for M=Pt and to metal (M)‐to‐“P₂‐M‐S₂” (ML′) charge‐transfer (MML′CT) transitions for M=Ni, Pd.