Analysis of Radiation Phenomena in a Wedge Ended Dielectric Slab Waveguide

Radiation phenomena observed in a wedge shape ended dielectric slab waveguide are analyzed using mode matching technique. The case of transverse electric polarization (TE) being parallel to dielectric slab waveguide is assumed. In order to describe the fields in the wedge region, a stack of dielectric plates is assumed and in each layer the fields are expanded in terms of the mixed spectrum of guided and radiated modes. A similar expansion is used in the constant thickness slab waveguide while in free space medium a continuous-radiation mode expansion is used. Then a mode matching approach is applied, incorporating the orthogonality properties of mixed spectrum modes, in order to compute the wave fields inside the dielectric slab waveguide and wedge medium. Mode matching is achieved by discretizing the continuous radiation mode spectrum leading into a numerically stable solution provided a sufficient large number of points are used to convert integrals into finite summations. Numerical computations are carried out for various wedge geometries and shapes including linear and exponential profiles.     

ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOUR OF THE SOLUTIONS OF A CERTAIN FOURTH-ORDER DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION

The present paper establishes sufficient conditions for the uniformly bounded of any solution of (1.1) and which tend to zero as t → ∞.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel polyimides with 2,2‐bis[4(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]phthalein‐3′,5′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)anilide

2,2‐Bis[4(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]phthalein‐3′,5′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)anilide (6FADAP), containing fluorine and phthalimide moieties, was synthesized via the Williamson ether condensation reaction from 1‐chloro‐4‐nitrobenzene and phenolphthalein‐3′,5′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)anilide, which was followed by hydrogenation. Monomers such as 2,2‐bis[4(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]phthalein‐anilide containing phthalimide groups and 2,2‐bis[4(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl]phthalein containing only phthalein moieties were also synthesized for comparison. The monomers were first characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ¹H NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, elemental analysis, and titration and were then used to prepare polyimides with 2,2‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride. The polyimides were designed to have molecular weights of 20,000 g/mol via off‐stoichiometry and were characterized by FTIR, NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. Their solubility, water absorption, dielectric constant, and refractive index were also evaluated. The polyimides prepared with 6FADAP, containing fluorine and phthalimide moieties, had excellent solubility in N‐methylpyrrolidinone, N,N‐dimethylacetamide, tetrahydrofuran, CHCl₃, tetrachloroethane, and acetone, and GPC analysis showed a molecular weight of 18,700 g/mol. The polyimides also exhibited a high glass‐transition temperature (290 °C), good thermal stability (～500 °C in air), low water absorption (1.9 wt %), a low dielectric constant (2.81), a low refractive index, and low birefringence (0.0041). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3361–3374, 2003     

Structural and electrical properties of crystalline (1−x)Ta2O5−xTiO2 thin films fabricated by metalorganic decomposition

Polycrystalline (1−x)Ta₂O₅−xTiO₂ thin films were formed on Si by metalorganic decomposition (MOD) and annealed at various temperatures. As-deposited films were in the amorphous state and were completely transformed to crystalline after annealing above 600 °C. During crystallization, a thin interfacial SiO₂ layer was formed at the (1−x)Ta₂O₅−xTiO₂/Si interface. Thin films with 0.92Ta₂O₅–0.08TiO₂ composition exhibited superior insulating properties. The measured dielectric constant and dissipation factor at 1 MHz were 9 and 0.015, respectively, for films annealed at 900 °C. The interface trap density was 2.5×10¹¹ cm⁻² eV⁻¹, and flatband voltage was −0.38 V. A charge storage density of 22.8 fC/μm² was obtained at an applied electric field of 3 MV/cm. The leakage current density was lower than 4×10⁻⁹ A/cm² up to an applied electric field of 6 MV/cm.     

Protonation constant of salicylidene (N-benzoyl)glycyl hydrazone and its coordination behaviour towards some bivalent metal ions

Protonation constant of an unsymmetrical Schiff base, salicylidene(N-benzoyl)glycyl hydrazone (SalBzGH), and formation constants of its complexes have been determined potentiometrically at different temperatures in aqueous dioxane medium. Complexes of SalBzGH with VO(IV), Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) have been prepared. Elemental analyses, pH-metric, molar conductance, magnetic susceptibility, electronic, IR, ESR, XRD (powder) and NMR studies have been carried out to study the coordination behaviour of SalBzGH toward these metal ions. pH-metric and 1H NMR studies show the presence of two dissociable protons in the ligand. IR and NMR spectra suggest the tridentate nature of the ligand, coordinating as a uninegative species in the Mn(II) complex and as a dinegative species in all the other complexes. Presence of two different conformers of the ligand at room temperature and stabilization of a single conformer upon complex formation have been established from¹H NMR spectra of the metal-free ligand, Zn(II) and Hg(II) complexes recorded at 296 K. Electronic and ESR spectra indicate highly distorted tetragonal geometry for VO(IV) and Cu(II) complexes. XRD powder patterns of the Zn(II) complexes are indexed for an orthorhombic crystal system.     

Highly soluble and optically transparent poly (ether imide)s based on 2,6‐ or 2,7‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride and aromatic bis(ether amine)s bearing trifluoromethyl groups

Two series of novel fluorinated poly(ether imide)s (coded IIIA and IIIB ) were prepared from 2,6‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride and 2,7‐bis(3,4‐dicarboxyphenoxy)naphthalene dianhydride, respectively, with various trifluoromethyl‐substituted aromatic bis(ether amine)s by a standard two‐step process with thermal or chemical imidization of the poly(amic acid) precursors. These fluorinated poly(ether imide)s showed good solubility in many organic solvents and could be solution‐cast into transparent, flexible, and tough films. These films were nearly colorless, with an ultraviolet–visible absorption edge of 364–386 nm. They also showed good thermal stability with glass‐transition temperatures of 221–298 °C, 10% weight loss temperatures in excess of 489 °C, and char yields at 800 °C in nitrogen greater than 50%. The 2,7‐substituted IIIB series also showed better solubility and higher transparency than the isomeric 2,6‐substituted IIIA series. In comparison with nonfluorinated poly (ether imide)s, the fluorinated IIIA and IIIB series showed better solubility, higher transparency, and lower dielectric constants and water absorption. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5909–5922, 2006     

Divinylsiloxane‐bisbenzocyclobutene‐based polymer modified with polystyrene–polybutadiene–polystyrene triblock copolymers

Divinylsiloxane‐bisbenzocyclobutene (DVS‐bisBCB) polymer has very low dielectric constant and dissipation factor, good thermal stability, and high chemical resistance. The fracture toughness of the thermoset polymer is moderate due to its high crosslink density. A thermoplastic elastomer, polystyrene–polybutadiene–polystyrene triblock copolymer, was incorporated into the matrix to enhance its toughness. The cured thermoset matrix showed different morphology when the elastomer was added to the B‐staged prepolymer or when the elastomer was B‐staged with the DVS‐bisBCB monomer. Small and uniformly distributed elastomer domains were detected by transmission electron micrographs (TEM) in the former case, but TEM did not detect a separate domain in the latter case. A high percentage of the polystyrene–polybutadiene–polystyrene triblock copolymer could be incorporated into the DVS‐bisBCB thermoset matrix by B‐staging the triblock copolymer with the BCB monomer. The elastomer increased the fracture toughness of DVS‐bisBCB polymer as indicated by enhanced elongation at break and increased K1c values obtained by the modified edge‐lift‐off test. Elastomer modified DVS‐bisBCB maintained excellent electrical properties, high T_g and good thermal stability, but showed higher coefficient of linear thermal expansion values. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1591–1599, 2006     

Surface properties of finite classical Coulomb systems: Debye-Hückel approximation and computer simulations

We report analytical and numerical studies of surface correlations in finite, homogeneously polarizable, classical Coulomb systems placed in an insulating or conducting environment. Their purpose is to understand the phenomenological, shape-dependent laws of electrostatics, from the point of view of statistical mechanics; we focus on the knowledge of the dielectric susceptibility of the system, a quantity proportional to the equilibrium fluctuation of the system's instantaneous polarization per unit volume. This goal has been achieved for a system in a conducting state. The picture is that the shape-dependent part of the susceptibilities results from the action of unbounded observables (the second moments of the instantaneous polarization of the system) on long-range surface correlations and that the relations of electrostatics are verified by means of shape-dependent thermodynamic limits. This picture is supported (i) by exact solutions and asymptotic analysis of the Debye-Hückel approximation of multicomponent plasmas in disks and spheres with insulating and conducting environment and also in ellipses in a vacuum, and (ii) by computer simulations of a one-component plasma in a disk with different environments, notably a conducting environment with permeable and impermeable wall. These observations have revealed for the first time the reason why the susceptibility of a conducting disk in a conductor with impermeable walls diverges linearly with the radius of the disk: this is due to the occurrence of long-range radial correlations in the conductor. These findings are quantitatively interpreted in terms of a novel canonical Debye-Huckel approximation as contrasted to the ordinary grand canonical version. Lastly a fresh look at the problem of the surface correlations of a conductor in a vacuum, which places the observer close to the surface of the conductor but in the vacuum, is presented and applied to the disk, the ellipse, the cylinder, the sphere, and the wedge.     

A study of the oxidation of vegetable oils by inverse gas chromatography

Summary Inverse gas chromatography is shown to be suitable for the study of the oxidation of vegetable oils. With air as carrier gas characteristic plots of retention index versus time are obtained for hydroxylic test solutes that are consistent with the oxidation behaviour of vegetable oils. Shifts of retention are found to be accompanied by changes of column efficiency due to the oxidative crosslinking of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. The technique also leads to useful information concerning the oxidation of antioxidant inhibited systems. Presented at the 15th International Symposium on Chromatography, Nürnberg, October 1984     

Dielectric relaxation studies of 1-hexanol and 1,2-hexanediol in heptane

Solutions of 1-hexanol and 1,2-hexanediol in heptane have been investigated tigated by means of dielectric time domain spectroscopy (TDS). The permittivity spectrum of 1-hexanol in heptane is characterized by a model function containing a sum of three elementary Debye dispersions, while 1,2-hexanediol in heptane is best described by a Cole-Davidson model function. It is shown that dilute solutions of 1-hexanol in heptane have a completely different behavior to that of 1,2-hexanediol. For the diol, the relaxation time levels off at a high value indicating an existence of higher hydrogen bonded complexes. It is possible to quantify the relative amount of monomeric 1-alcohol molecules from the dielectric spectrum. The monomerization rate for 1-hexanol upon dilution with heptane is initially low, but increases rapidly for mole fractions of heptane exceeding 0.4.