Dijkgraaf–Witten invariants of surfaces and projective representations of groups

We compute the Dijkgraaf–Witten invariants of surfaces in terms of projective representations of groups. As an application we prove that the complex Dijkgraaf–Witten invariants of surfaces of positive genus are positive integers.     

Zirconia-based planar NO2 sensor using ultrathin NiO or laminated NiO–Au sensing electrode

The nanostructured thin NiO films with the thicknesses of 30–180 nm were examined as a sensing electrode (SE) for the planar mixed-potential-type yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ)-based NO₂ sensor. The sensing characteristics were examined in the temperature range of 600–800 °C under the wet condition (5 vol.% water vapor). Among the NiO-SEs tested, the 60 nm-thick NiO-SE sintered at 1,000 °C was found to give the highest NO₂ sensitivity in the NO₂ concentration range of 50–400 ppm accompanying with fast response/recovery at the operating temperatures of 600–700 °C. The high NO₂ sensitivity was attributed to the high catalytic activity for both electrochemical reactions of O₂ and NO₂ at the interface of NiO-SE/YSZ. The ultrathin gold layer with the thickness of about 60 nm was additionally formed on the 60 nm-thick NiO-SE to fabricate the laminated-type (60 nm NiO/60 nm Au)-SE. It was demonstrated that the use of this laminated (NiO–Au)-SE improved both the sensitivity and the selectivity to NO₂.     

Interpretation of transport measurements in ZnO-thin films

In order to interpret results of temperature dependent Hall measurements in heteroepitaxial ZnO-thin films, we adopted a multilayer conductivity model considering carrier-transport through the interfacial layer with degenerate electron gas as well as the upper part of ZnO layers with lower conductivity. This model was applied to the temperature dependence of the carrier concentration and mobility measured by Hall effect in a ZnO-layer grown on c-sapphire with conventional high-temperature MgO and low-temperature ZnO buffer. We also compared our results with the results of maximum entropy mobility-spectrum analysis (MEMSA). The formation of the highly conductive interfacial layer was explained by analysis of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images taken from similar layers.     

Atomic and Electronic Structures of Traps in Silicon Oxide and Silicon Oxynitride

Silicon oxide (SiO₂) and silicon oxynitride (SiO_xN_y) are two key dielectrics used in silicon devices. The excellent interface properties of these dielectrics with silicon have enabled the tremendous advancement of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) technology. However, these dielectrics are still found to have pronounced amount of localized states which act as electron or hole traps and lead to the performance and reliability degradations of the MOS integrated circuits. A better understanding of the nature of these states will help to understand the constraints and lifetime performance of the MOS devices. Recently, due to the available of ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations and some synchrotron radiation experiments, substantial progress has been achieved in understanding the atomic and electronic nature of the defects in these dielectrics. In this review, the properties, formation and removal mechanisms of various defects in silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride films will be critically discussed. Some remarks on the thermal ionization energies in connection with the optical ionization energies of electron and hole traps, as well as some of the unsolved issues in these materials will be highlighted.     

Solitons in a medium with linear dissipation and localized gain

We present a variety of dissipative solitons and breathing modes in a medium with localized gain and homogeneous linear dissipation. The system possesses a number of unusual properties, like exponentially localized modes in both focusing and defocusing media, existence of modes in focusing media at negative propagation constant values, simultaneous existence of stable symmetric and antisymmetric localized modes when the gain landscape possesses two local maxima, as well as the existence of stable breathing solutions.     

Coherence function and mean field of plane and spherical sound waves propagating through inhomogeneous anisotropic turbulence

Inhomogeneity and anisotropy are intrinsic characteristics of daytime and nighttime atmospheric turbulence. For example, turbulent eddies are often stretched in the direction of the mean wind, and the turbulence statistics depends on the height above the ground. Recent studies have shown that the log-amplitude and phase fluctuations of plane and spherical sound waves are significantly affected by turbulence inhomogeneity and anisotropy. The present paper is devoted to studies of the mean sound field and the coherence functions of plane and spherical sound waves propagating through inhomogeneous anisotropic turbulence with temperature and velocity fluctuations. These statistical moments of a sound field are important in many practical applications, e.g., for source detection, ranging, and recognition. Formulas are derived for the mean sound field and coherence function of initially arbitrary waveform. Using the latter formula, we also obtained formulas for the coherence functions of plane and spherical sound waves. All these formulas coincide with those known in the literature for two limiting cases: homogeneous isotropic turbulence with temperature and wind velocity fluctuations, and inhomogeneous anisotropic turbulence with temperature fluctuations only. Using the formulas obtained, we have numerically shown that turbulence inhomogeneity significantly affects the coherence functions of plane and spherical sound waves.     

Isotopic heterogeneity in synthetic and natural silicon carbide

The distribution of both carbon and silicon isotopes in synthetic sublimation growth SiC wafers and in natural SiC grains was studied using secondary ion mass-spectrometry (SIMS). Significant variations in both isotopic ratios were observed which were broadly correlated with the crystalline perfection as documented by Raman microspectroscopy. Domains consisting of 15R (or with its admixture) are, on average, enriched in ¹²C isotope relative to 6H domains, and they also show larger scatter in their observed silicon isotope ratios. We ascribe such heterogeneity to fluctuations of Si/C ratio in the growth medium and it is possible to model the spatial extent of such fluctuations. For the natural SiC grains the isotopic data suggest that they grew under relatively stable conditions, although some of them show significant isotopic zoning.     

On the dynamics of parabolic equations describing diffusion, convection and a chemical reaction

A tubular nonisothermal-nonadiabatic chemical reactor with a consecutive reactions described by a set of three nonlinear parabolic equations, shows a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations of a “limit cycle”. A numerical examination of the model reveals that complex periodic and irregular oscillations are possible. With increasing value of the Peclet number regular and irregular oscillations are suppressed and disappear. From the computed results may be informed that for reacting systems nonlinear parabolic equations may feature similar qualitative properties as the ordinary differential equations. The results of this numerical study may be used to explain turbulization of laminar flames.     

Integrated Dual-Display-Based 3G Mobile Phone / Wireless Terminal

In this paper, we describe HW and SW features of the developed prototype of a hybrid 3G mobile phone and wireless terminal, which provides integral video projection onto two VGA/2 displays that, when put side-by-side, form the integrated display with the ratio of the overall width to its overall height, equal to 4:3, so providing the integral video VGA format and enabling visual presentation of standard full-size web pages, PC mainstream SW screens (such as e.g. the ones of e-mail clients), multi-media content etc. When not in use, the displays can be fold back one onto each other, so preserving the industry-standard dimensions of the device. The two displays that share the image provide it with overall resolution of 640 x 480 pixels per inch. The device is driven by Texas Instruments OMAP 2420 multimedia processor with ARM1136 core and Linux operating system. In addition, the device is equipped with specially developped prototypes of unique spring/microgenerator-based battery charger as well as with ultra-thin mountable foil-based QWERTY keyboard.