Role of nitrogen in the mobility drop of electrons in modulation-doped GaAsN/AlGaAs heterostructures

We report transport properties of a 2 dimension electron gas (2DEG) in molecular beam epitaxy-grown GaAs_1−xN_x/AlGaAs modulation-doped heterostructures. Quantum oscillations in far infrared cyclotron resonance prove the efficient electron transfer and formation of the 2DEG. The 2DEG mobility strongly depends on the N concentration in the channel layer. It shows a drastic decrease as compared to N-free samples, even for the smallest amount of N (0.02%). For this N composition, the electron effective mass was found to be 0.073m₀. Reduced growth temperature (450 °C) was found to improve the mobility of N-containing channels. Examination of transport properties from 4 to 300 K and cyclotron resonance experiments give evidence of the presence of ionised impurity-like scattering centres in GaAsN.     

Digital flow control of electroosmotic pump: Onsager coefficients and interfacial parameters determination

Electroosmosis and streaming potential are two complementary electrokinetic processes related by the Onsager relation. In particular, an electroosmotic pump (EOP) is potentially useful for a variety of engineering and bio-related applications. By fabricating samples consisting of dry-etched cylindrical pores (50 μm in length and 3.5 μm in diameter) on silicon wafers, we demonstrate that the use of digital control via voltage pulses can resolve the flow regulation and stability issues associated with the EOP, so that the intrinsic characteristics of the porous sample medium may be revealed. Through the consistency of the measured electroosmosis (EO) and the streaming potential (SP) coefficients as required by the Onsager relation, we deduce the zeta potential and the surface conductivity, both physical parameters pertaining to the liquid-solid interface.     

Studies on some alkali-phosphate glasses containing antimony and iron oxides

The effect of heat treatment on the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio in some alkali phosphate glasses containing antimony and iron oxides has been investigated. Differential thermal analysis, Mossbauer spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility and density measurements as well as the molar volume calculations were used in this study. The obtained data indicate that all glasses show approximately unchangeable stability. It is found, from the area under the Mossbauer absorption spectra that ferrous transformed gradually to ferric ions and the transformation rate constant was found to be 48 min⁻¹. The elapsed time was found to be 160 min. This transformation represents a first-order solid state reaction. The molar magnetic susceptibility measurements confirm the above results.     

Thermal annealing effects on grain boundary recombination activity in silicon

We have studied the influence of conventional and rapid thermal treatments at 850°C for 30 min and 10 s, respectively, on the recombination activity of the9,13 (P-type) and25 (N-type) grain boundaries in silicon. The analyses were made by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) working in the electron beam induced current mode (EBIC) and completed by minority carrier diffusion length measurements. The main result obtained from this study shows the importance of the rapid thermal process as a suitable thermal treatment for polycrystalline materials.     

Nonlinear oscillations and chaotic behavior due to impact lonization of shallow donors in InSb

Both nonlinear oscillations and chaotic behavior in n-InSb are experimentally investigated for the case of impact ionization of shallow donors at low temperatures. Complex behavior including a simple periodic oscillation, a period-doubling route to chaos, and quasiperiodic behavior are observed with increasing electric field as the parameter. For the first time, a type of pitchfork bifurcation (period halving) is seen.     

Krichever-Novikov algebras for more than two points

Krichever-Novikov algebras of meromorphic vector fields with more than two poles on higher genus Riemann surfaces are introduced. The structure of these algebras and their induced modules of forms of weight is studied.     

Chiral fermions on a compact Riemann surface: A sheaf cohomology analysis

We prove that the correlation functions of a system of chiral fermions on a compact Riemann surface are determined by postulating their behaviour at coincident points and a principle of maximal analyticity. The proof proceeds by a reformulation as a problem of sheaf cohomology. Wick's theorem and the Fay identities are rigorous consequences of our analysis.     

On spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar curvature

Spherically symmetric Finsler metrics form a rich class of Finsler metrics. In this paper we find equations that characterize spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar flag curvature. By using these equations, we construct infinitely many non-projectively flat spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar curvature.     

Local foliations and optimal regularity of Einstein spacetimes

We investigate the local regularity of pointed spacetimes, that is, time-oriented Lorentzian manifolds in which a point and a future-oriented, unit timelike vector (an observer) are selected. Our main result covers the class of Einstein vacuum spacetimes. Under curvature and injectivity bounds only, we establish the existence of a local coordinate chart defined in a ball with definite size in which the metric coefficients have optimal regularity. The proof is based on quantitative estimates for, on one hand, a constant mean curvature (CMC) foliation by spacelike hypersurfaces defined locally near the observer and, on the other hand, the metric in local coordinates that are spatially harmonic in each CMC slice. The results and techniques in this paper should be useful in the context of general relativity for investigating the long-time behavior of solutions to the Einstein equations.     

Mechanistic studies of reactions catalysed by diamine oxidase using isotope effects

Diamine oxidase (DAO), the enzyme that is responsible for amine biodegradation in animals, plants and humans, catalyses the biotransformation of amines such as histamine (HA), putrescine, 1-phenylethylamine, tyrosine, tryptamine, serotonine and spermine. The kinetic and solvent isotope effects (SIEs) were applied to study the mechanism of the biotransformation using HA and its methylderivatives. The SIE for the biotransformation of HA, N^τ-methylhistamine and N^π-methylhistamine was found to be 3.58, 2.22 and 5.70 on V_max, and 1.58, 1.06 and 1.14 on V_max/K_M, respectively. On the other hand, the kinetic isotope effect for oxidation of stereospecifically deuterium-labelled [(α R)-²H]-N^τ-methylhistamine and [(α R)-²H]-N^π-methylhistamine was 0.69 and 0.62 on V_max, and 15.06 and 7.50 on V_max/K_M, respectively. These results demonstrate that DAO catalyses amine biotransformation by stereospecifically cleaving the αC\bond H bond in the pro-S position. Moreover, the oxidation of amine to aldehyde involves several transition states, including hybridisation change from sp³ (Schiff base) to sp² (imine), then back again to sp³ to give a final product with hybridisation sp² (aldehyde).