Effects of VLS and VS mechanisms during shell growth in GaAs-AlGaAs core-shell nanowires investigated by transmission electron microscopy

We investigated by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the final growth stage of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires (NWs) self-assembled by Au-catalyst assisted metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). TEM observations and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy revealed the presence of an AlGaAs tapered region of varying chemical composition nearby the NW extreme end (i.e. between the core-shell NW trunk and the Au nanoparticle catalyst). Our findings evidence that this region exhibits an unintentional Al_yGa_1−yAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs core-shell structure, a result of the combined axial (vapor-liquid-solid, VLS) self-assembly and conventional (vapor-solid, VS) overgrowth of the material. While the VS-grown Al_xGa_1−xAs alloy retains the Al composition (x=0.3) of the AlGaAs shell along the NW trunk, the central Al_yGa_1−yAs section is made of an Al-rich (y≈0.8–0.9) alloy segment formed during AlGaAs shell overgrowth, followed by a graded-alloy segment formed upon deposition of the terminating GaAs cap layer, the latter segment due to the effect of the Al reservoir left in the Au catalyst nanoparticle (NP).     

Accelerating the calculations of binary detour phase method by integrating both CUDA and Matlab programming for GPU's parallel computations

The availability of state of art GPGPU cards can play a promising role in accelerating the calculations of computer generated holograms (CGH) where one of the main problems of generating such holograms is the need for massive amount of calculations. Both CUDA and Matlab can be used alone to fulfill this purpose but using both at the same time gives a number of benefits. This paper is dedicated to present a performance study of applying Fermi-Architecture CUDA-enabled GPGPU card for speeding up the calculations of binary detour phase holograms using both Matlab and CUDA programming.     

A Matter of Size and Stress: Understanding the First‐Order Transition in Materials for Solid‐State Refrigeration

Solid‐state magnetic refrigeration is a high‐potential, resource‐efficient cooling technology. However, many challenges involving materials science and engineering need to be overcome to achieve an industry‐ready technology. Caloric materials with a first‐order transition—associated with a large volume expansion or contraction—appear to be the most promising because of their large adiabatic temperature and isothermal entropy changes. In this study, using experiment and simulation, it is demonstrated with the most promising magnetocaloric candidate materials, La–Fe–Si, Mn–Fe–P–Si, and Ni–Mn–In–Co, that the characteristics of the first‐order transition are fundamentally determined by the evolution of mechanical stresses. This phenomenon is referred to as the stress‐coupling mechanism. Furthermore, its applicability goes beyond magnetocaloric materials, since it describes the first‐order transitions in multicaloric materials as well.     

Photoinduced phase transition accompanied with the changes in magnetic properties

Recently, many studies have been started in search for materials which show a photoinduced phase transition (PIPT). In this work, we review two systems as typical examples of PIPT accompanied with changes in magnetic characteristics; (1) organo-metal complex [Fe(2-pic)₃]Cl₂ EtOH (2-pic = 2-amino-methyl-pyridine) and (2) III-V based magnetic semiconductors (In_1-x , Mn _x )As. In the former case, we show several nonlinear characteristics in dynamical process of photoinduced spin state transition from low-spin to high-spin states. In the latter one, photocarrier-induced ferromagnetic order has been observed by both magnetic and transport measurements.     

Superspace groups and superstructures: NbS3

The application of superspace groups to short-period superstructures is considered. For niobium tri-sulfide this is worked out in detail. It is shown that in that case the superspace group provides more symmetry then given by the space group of the supercell. Its consequences for the structure, the diffraction pattern and tensor-properties are discussed.     

Modification of hydrophilic channels in Nafion membranes by DMBA: Mechanism and effects on proton conductivity

Modification of proton conductive channels (PCCs) in Nafion has been achieved with the assistance of 3, 4‐dimethylbenzaldehyde (DMBA). During annealing, ionic clusters develop from small isolated spheres (1.72 nm) to wide continuous channels (5.15 nm), and the crystallinity of Nafion/DMBA membranes is also improved from 17% to 32% as shown by X‐ray diffraction. Molecular dynamic simulation reveals that hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction between DMBA and Nafion work synergistically to achieve better phase separation. The morphology–property relationship shows that, versus various PCCs width, the corresponding proton conductivities vary greatly from 0.079 to 0.139 S/cm at 80 °C. By carefully tuning the width of PCCs, the proton conductivity shows an improvement of 22–34% as compared with pristine Nafion. A significant enhancement on the maximum power density is achieved for the membrane electrode assembly on Nafion/DMBA‐8h (as high as 1018 mW/cm^?2), yielding an enhancement of 39% on pristine Nafion‐8h (730 mW/cm^?2). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 52, 1107–1117     

A variational problem determined by probability measures

ABSTRACT

An optimization problem of maximizing an integral of a function over a family of probability measures is considered. The problem is a generalization of a well-studied variational problem in mathematical economics, concerning optimal allocations. The specific generalization that we examine arises also in the limit of singularly perturbed optimal control problems. We examine the mathematical problem and allude to the singular perturbation motivation.     

Simultaneous determination of 75 abuse drugs including amphetamines,benzodiazepines, cocaine,opioids, piperazines,zolpidem and metabolites in human hair samples using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric method for the simultaneous determination of 75 abuse drugs and metabolites, including 19 benzodiazepines, 19 amphetamines, two opiates, eight opioids, cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide, zolpidem, three piperazines and 21 metabolites in human hair samples, was developed and validated. Ten‐milligram hair samples were decontaminated, pulverized using a ball mill, extracted with 1 mL of methanol spiked with 28 deuterated internal standards in an ultrasonic bath for 60 min at 50°C, and purified with Q‐sep dispersive solid‐phase extraction tubes. The purified extracts were evaporated to dryness and the residue was dissolved in 0.1 mL of 10% methanol. The 75 analytes were analyzed on an Acquity HSS T3 column using gradient elution of methanol and 0.1% formic acid and quantified in multiple reaction monitoring mode with positive electrospray ionization. Calibration curves were linear (r ≥ 0.9951) from the lower limit of quantitation (2–200 pg/mg depending on the drug) to 2000 pg/mg. The coefficients of variation and accuracy for intra‐ and inter‐assay analysis at three QC levels were 4.3–12.9% and 89.2–109.1%, respectively. The overall mean recovery ranged from 87.1 to 105.3%. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of 11 forensic hair samples obtained from drug abusers.