Towards molecular-scale electronics and biomolecular self-assembly

This paper provides an overview of recent research developments in the field of nanoelectronics with organic materials such as carbon nanotubes and DNA-templated nanowires. Carbon nanotubes and gold electrodes are chemically functionalized in order to contact carbon nanotubes by self-assembly. The transport properties of these nanotubes are dominated by charging effects and display clear Coulomb blockade behaviour. A different approach towards nanoscale electronics is based on the molecular recognition properties of biomolecules such as DNA. As an example, DNA is stretched between electrodes using a molecular combing technique. A two-step metallization procedure leads to the formation of highly conductive gold nanowires.     

Estimation of growth rate in unidirectionally solidified multicrystalline silicon by the growth-induced striation method

Multicrystalline silicon was grown by unidirectional solidification method using the accelerated crucible rotation technique. The application of the accelerated crucible rotation technique in unidirectional solidification method induced growth striations across the axial direction of the grown crystal. This striation pattern was observed from carbon concentration distribution, obtained by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The generated striation pattern was found to be weak and discontinuous. Some striations were absent, probably due to back melting, caused during each crucible rotation. From the growth striations and applied time period in crucible rotation, the growth rate was estimated by using Fourier transformation analysis.     

Beyond nanosizing: an approach to shape analysis of fluorescent nanostructures by SMI-microscopy

Using spatially modulated illumination (SMI) light microscopy it is possible to measure the sizes of fluorescent structures that have an extension far below the conventional optical resolution limit (“subresolution size”). Presently, the sizes are determined as the object extension along the optical axis of the SMI microscope. For this, however, “a priori” assumptions on the fluorochrome distribution (“shape”) within the examined fluorescent structure have to be made. Usually it is assumed that the fluorochrome follows a Gauss-distribution or a spherical distribution. In this report we overcome the necessity to make an assumption on the shape of the fluorochrome distribution. We introduce two new experimentally obtained parameters which allow the determination of a shape measure to describe the spatial distribution of the fluorescent dye. This becomes possible by independent measurements with different excitation wavelengths. As an example, we present shape parameter measurements on individual fluorescent microspheres with a nominal geometrical diameter (“size”) of 190 nm. In the case investigated, the experimental shape correlated well with a homogeneous fluorochrome distribution (“spherical shape”) but not with a variety of other “shapes”.     

Measuring Light Field of Light Source with High Directional Resolution Using Mirrored Ball and Pinhole Camera

This paper presents a method of measuring a light field of a light source with high directional resolution using a mirrored ball and a pinhole camera. The light field describes a spatial and directional distribution of radiances from the light source. The directional distribution is expanded by a reflection on the mirrored ball, and the radiances are measured by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera with a pinhole lens. The light source is laterally moved by a robot arm to measure the directionally expanded light field, and each pixel on a CCD can obtain the radiances from the light source through the pinhole lens with high directional resolution. The light field is estimated from the pixel value and the position of each pixel using a ray tracing technique. The light field of a krypton lamp was experimentally measured by the proposed method, and the accuracy of the measurement was evaluated against the irradiances measured by a spectro-radiometer at sample points.     

Synthese und Eigenschaften von Sr3Mo1.5Zn0.5O7‐δ, einer Phase mit perowskitverwandter Schichtstruktur

Synthesis and Properties of the Layered Perovskite Phase Sr₃Mo_1.5Zn_0.5O_7‐δ The new layered perovskite phase Sr₃Mo_1.5Zn_0.5O_7‐δ was synthesized by solid state reaction using a Zn/ZnO oxygen buffer. The crystal structure was refined from X‐ray powder pattern by the Rietveld method. The compound crystallizes tetragonal in the space group I4/mmm (no. 139) with the lattice parameters a = 3.9631(3) Å, c = 20.583(1) Å. An oxygen deficiency corresponding to δ ≈ 0.25 was determinated, indicating the presence of molybdenum in mixed valence (Mo⁴⁺ and Mo⁶⁺).     

Die Entwicklung kausaler Hypothesen in der qualitativen Sozialforschung

The disregard of causal inference in the methodological literature about qualitative research is highly problematic, since the category of causality is closely linked to the concept of social action. However, it is also clear that causal analysis is burdened with certain difficulties and methodological challenges in the realm of social research. Some of these problems are discussed in this article using Mackie—s concept of 3 “INUS”-conditions. Thereby it will be shown that strategies of causal analysis based on comparative methods proposed for qualitative research, namely “Analytic Induction” and “Qualitative Comparative Analysis” have great difficulties in dealing adequately with these problems. They can only be solved, if case-comparative methods are combined with explorative research strategies which support the researcher in gaining access to the local knowledge of the research field.     

A Simulation Study of Due-date Assignment Rules in a Dynamic Job Shop

This paper is a report of a simulation study that investigates a dynamic approach to scheduling jobs in a multi-machine job shop. The workload information of a job is used in different forms to evaluate the shop performance based on three measures: mean job lateness, percentage of tardy jobs and lateness variance. Different combinations of due-date assignment methods and sequencing rules are compared based on specific performance criteria. The results indicate that using the cumulative distribution function of workload information can yield a better performance than using a proportional function of workload information or ignoring shop congestion information. A few situations are identified in which workload information is not critical.