Near-field focused photoemission from polystyrene microspheres studied with photoemission electron microscopy

We use photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) to image 3 μm diameter polystyrene spheres supported on a metal thin film illuminated by 400 nm (～3.1 eV) and 800 nm (～1.5 eV) femtosecond (fs) laser pulses. Intense photoemission is generated by microspheres even though polystyrene is an insulator and its ionization threshold is well above the photon energies employed. We observe intense photoemission from the far side (the side opposite the incident light) of the illuminated microsphere that is attributed to light focusing within the microsphere. For the case of p-polarized, 800 nm fs laser pulses, we observe photoemission exclusively from the far side of the microsphere and additionally resolve sub-50 nm hot spots in the supporting Pt∕Pd thin film that are located only within the focal region of the microsphere. We compare the PEEM images with finite difference time domain (FDTD) electrodynamic simulations to model our experimental results. The FDTD simulations predict light focusing in the microsphere and subsequent interaction with the supporting metal surface that is consistent with the experimental observations.     

Segregation of Aluminium at Nickel-Sapphire Interfaces

Sessile drop experiments of pure liquid Ni on the basal surface of pure sapphire were conducted under controlled atmosphere and temperature. This system has been traditionally considered as non-reactive, based on thermodynamic assessments. However, the results of this study demonstrate that a capillary driven interaction exists between the pure liquid Ni and the sapphire, which causes the dissolution of the sapphire substrate mainly at the triple junction. Oxygen and Al resulting from the dissolution process diffuse into Ni and segregate at its interfaces with the atmosphere and the sapphire (probably as Al _x O _y clusters), which reduces the interface energy. It is considered that this reduction is beneficial for the adhesion of both liquid and solid Ni on sapphire. The amount of Al introduced into the drop, and hence the segregation of Al that affects the interface energy (and adhesion), are related to the size of the sessile drop.     

Characterization of Fibers in an Existing Network for High Speed System (10Gb/s or Greater) Compatibility

With OC-192 communications systems being commercially available and higher bit rate systems in development, prudent telecommunications network administrators are testing their installed fibers to determine if they can be successfully used at 10 Gb/s and higher. Together with New Brunswick Telephone (NBTel), the Fiber Optics Group at UNB have tested various installed fibers and cables in the NBTel network for their losses at wavelengths of 1244, 1310, 1550, and 1625 nm, as well as for strain and polarization mode dispersion (PMD). Weather conditions, age, place of installation, and cable types have also been considered. Aging does not seem to affect the performance of the fibers. Although most fibers are high-speed system compatible when looking at attenuation measurements, about 40% of the fibers tested would not meet the 10 Gb/s OC-192 system manufacturer's design guidelines concerning PMD.     

Psoralen Derivatives with Enhanced Potency

Psoralen is a furocoumarin natural product that intercalates within DNA and forms covalent adducts when activated by ultraviolet radiation. It is well known that this property contributes to psoralen’s clinical efficacy in several disease contexts, which include vitiligo, psoriasis, graft-versus-host disease and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Given the therapeutic relevance of psoralen and its derivatives, we attempted to synthesize psoralens with even greater potency. In this study, we report a library of 73 novel psoralens, the largest collection of its kind. When screened for the ability to reduce cell proliferation, we identified two derivatives even more cytotoxic than 4′-aminomethyl-4,5′,8-trimethylpsoralen (AMT), one of the most potent psoralens identified to date. Using MALDI-TOF MS, we studied the DNA adduct formation for a subset of novel psoralens and found that in most cases enhanced DNA binding correlated well with cytotoxicity. Generally, our most potent derivatives contain positively charged substituents, which we believe increase DNA affinity and enhance psoralen intercalation. Thus, we provide a rational approach to guide efforts toward further optimizing psoralens to fully capitalize on this drug class’ therapeutic potential. Finally, the structure–activity insights we have gained shed light on several opportunities to study currently underappreciated aspects of psoralen’s mechanism.     

Intramolecular energy transfer in naphthalene-containing polyesters: Experiment and simulation for model compounds derived from five aliphatic dicarboxylic acids and 2-hydroxynaphthalene

Steady-state fluorescence depolarization measurements and molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the efficiency of nonradiative intramolecular singlet energy transfer between 2-naphthoxy groups, denoted N, in model compounds for polyesters derived from 2,6-dihydroxy-naphthalene and aliphatic dicarboxylic acids. The five bichromophoric compounds studied are the diesters abbreviated as N-OOC-(CH₂)_n-COO-N;n = 2–6, which are condensation products obtained from 2-naphthol and aliphatic dicarboxylic acids. The anisotropy of the fluorescence of these compounds dispersed in a solid matrix of glassy poly(methyl methacrylate) indicates that there is nonradiative singlet energy transfer between naphthoxy groups. The efficiency of this transfer depends onn. A theoretical treatment using molecular dynamics simulations for the conformations of the five model compounds has been performed in order to evaluate the parameters related to the efficiency of the transfer. The experimental and theoretical variation of such parameters withn is consistent with the estimated Förster radius of 9–10 Å for this system.     

Ranking and unranking planar embeddings

In this paper, we give a formula for computing the number of different planat embeddings of any planar biconnected graph. The enumeration method used in deriving the formula readily gives rise to efficient algorithms for the ranking, unranking and random generation of embeddings of the given graph. We also give linear time algorithms for checking planarity and constructing any particular embedding.     

Liapunov spectra for infinite chains of nonlinear oscillators

We argue that the spectrum of Liapunov exponents for long chains of nonlinear oscillators, at large energy per mode, may be well approximated by the Liapunov exponents of products of independent random matrices. If, in addition, statistical mechanics applies to the system, the elements of these random matrices have a distribution which may be calculated from the potential and the energy alone. Under a certain isotropy hypothesis (which is not always satisfied), we argue that the Liapunov exponents of these random matrix products can be obtained from the density of states of a typical random matrix. This construction uses an integral equation first derived by Newman. We then derive and discuss a method to compute the spectrum of a typical random matrix. Putting the pieces together, we see that the Liapunov spectrum can be computed from the potential between the oscillators.     

Studies of the surface structures formed by the alternated electrodeposition of Cd and Te on the low-index planes of Au: II. STM studies

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of the alternated deposition of Te and Cd atomic layers on the low-index planes of Au are presented here. These investigations were designed to gain an understanding of the surface chemistry involved in the deposition of CdTe by electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy (ECALE). ECALE is the electrochemical analog of atomic layer epitaxy (ALE). In the present study, the structures formed by the alternated electrodeposition of Te and Cd atomic layers, at underpotential, were examined by STM on the low-index planes of Au.

Deposition of atomic layers of each element were achieved by underpotential deposition (UPD). Studies of the UPD of Cd by STM were not performed due to Cd's instability in aqueous solutions after withdrawal from solution and loss of potential control. Studies of Te UPD were performed, however, since Te is stable in aqueous media without potential control. Ordered Te structures were observed using STM on all three Au low-index planes. Atomic resolution imaging of Cd UPD on Te atomic layers proved more difficult than imaging simple Te deposits, however, ordered CdTe structures were observed on each Au plane. Higher bias voltages were generally required to image the CdTe deposits. On Au(100) the CdTe deposit appears to adopt a structure equivalent to a (100) slice of bulk CdTe (zinc blende), but contracted 10% due to the lattice missmatch on the Au surfaces. Similar structures were observed on the other two low index planes, as well; although Cd-Cd distances were closer to those found in bulk CdTe.     

Composition operators acting on holomorphic Sobolev spaces

We study the action of composition operators on Sobolev spaces of analytic functions having fractional derivatives in some weighted Bergman space or Hardy space on the unit disk. Criteria for when such operators are bounded or compact are given. In particular, we find the precise range of orders of fractional derivatives for which all composition operators are bounded on such spaces. Sharp results about boundedness and compactness of a composition operator are also given when the inducing map is polygonal.