InGaAs/GaAs multiple-quantum-well modulators and switches

The design, fabrication and characterization of electrooptical modulators and switches based on pseudomorphic InGaAs/GaAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) structures is presented. The absorption and refractive index changes (, n) of In_0.2Ga_0.8As/GaAs MQW structures due to the quantum-confined Stark effect are examined in detail. The figures of merit /₀ and n/₀ give information on the design of modulation and switching devices. Based on these results, we develop two types of efficient and high-speed modulators, vertical and waveguide modulators, and for the first time an InGaAs/GaAs intersectional X-type switch. Recent experimental results for each device are presented.     

Rapid crack growth in a thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanical loading

A two-dimensional steady-sate analysis of semi-infinite brittlecrack growth at a constant subcritical rate in an unboundedfully-coupled thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanicalloading is made. The loading consists of normal and shear tractionsand heat fluxes applied as point sources (line loads in theout-of-plane direction). A related problem is solved exactly in an integral transformspace, and robust asymptotic forms used to reduce the originalproblem to a set of integral equations. The equations are partiallycoupled and exhibit operators of both Cauchy and Abel types,yet can be solved analytically. The temperature change field at a distance from the moving crackedge is then constructed, and its dominant term is found tobe controlled by the imposed heat fluxes. The role of this termis, indeed, enhanced if the heat fluxes serve to render thecrack as a net heat source/sink for the solid, as opposed tobeing a transmitter of heat across its plane. More generally,the influence of the thermoelastic coupling on this field, aswell as other functions, is found to increase with crack speed.     

Novel Thermostable Flavin‐binding Fluorescent Proteins from Thermophilic Organisms

Flavin‐binding fluorescent proteins (FbFPs) are small, oxygen‐independent in vivo reporters, derived from Light Oxygen Voltage (LOV) domains of photoreceptors. Here, we investigated the thermostability of existing, as well as novel FbFPs, whose genes were identified in genome sequences of various thermophilic bacteria as well as metagenomic libraries from hot springs in the Yellowstone National Park. Detailed in vitro analyses revealed that two of those fluorescent reporter proteins were highly thermostable, exhibiting melting temperatures above 75°C.     

New experimental and theoretical approach to the heterogeneous hydrolysis of NO2: key role of molecular nitric acid and its complexes

Although heterogeneous chemistry on surfaces in the troposphere is known to be important, there are currently only a few techniques available for studying the nature of surface-adsorbed species as well as their chemistry and photochemistry under atmospheric conditions of 1 atm pressure and in the presence of water vapor. We report here a new laboratory approach using a combination of long path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR that allows the simultaneous observation and measurement of gases and surface species. Theory is used to identify the surface-adsorbed intermediates and products, and to estimate their relative concentrations. At intermediate relative humidities typical of the tropospheric boundary layer, the nitric acid formed during NO2 heterogeneous hydrolysis is shown to exist both as nitrate ions from the dissociation of nitric acid formed on the surface and as molecular nitric acid. In both cases, the ions and HNO3 are complexed to water molecules. Upon pumping, water is selectively removed, shifting the NO(3-)-HNO3(H2O)y equilibria toward more dehydrated forms of HNO3 and ultimately to nitric acid dimers. Irradiation of the nitric acid-water film using 300-400 nm radiation generates gaseous NO, while irradiation at 254 nm generates both NO and HONO, resulting in conversion of surface-adsorbed nitrogen oxides into photochemically active NO(x). These studies suggest that the assumption that deposition or formation of nitric acid provides a permanent removal mechanism from the atmosphere may not be correct. Furthermore, a potential role of surface-adsorbed nitric acid and other species formed during the heterogeneous hydrolysis of NO2 in the oxidation of organics on surfaces, and in the generation of gas-phase HONO on local to global scales, should be considered.     

Diffusion in a collisional standard map

Test particle evaluation of the diffusion coefficient in the presence of magnetic field fluctuations and binary collisions is presented. Chaotic magnetic field lines originate from resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs). To lowest order, charged particles follow magnetic field lines. Drifts and interaction (collisions) with other particles decorrelate particles from the magnetic field lines. We model the binary collision process by a constant collision frequency. The magnetic field configuration including perturbations on the integrable Hamiltonian part is such that the single particle motion can be followed by a collisional version of a Chirikov-Taylor (standard) map. Frequent collisions are allowed for. Scaling of the diffusion beyond the quasilinear and subdiffusive behaviour is investigated in dependence on the strength of the magnetic perturbations and the collision frequency. The appearance of the so called Rechester-Rosenbluth regime is verified. It is further shown that the so called Kadomtsev-Pogutse diffusion coefficient is the strong collisional limit of the Rechester-Rosenbluth formula. The theoretical estimates are supplemented by numerical simulations.     

The nature of the excited states in all-trans-retinal Schiff bases

The temperature dependent CD spectra of two chiral Schiff bases of all-$\text{trans}$-retinal reveal a three-band absorption pattern for the retinal chromophor. A preliminary analysis suggests that the band at 260 nm corresponds to the $\text{cis}$-peak.     

Synthetic magnetic opals

We present studies of novel nanocomposites of BiNi impregnated into the structure of opals as well as inverse opals. Atomic force microscopy and high resolution elemental analyses show a highly ordered structure and uniform distribution of the BiNi filler in the matrix. These BiNi-based nanocomposites are found to exhibit distinct ferromagnetic-like ordering with transition temperature of about 675 K. As far as we know there exists no report in literature on any BiNi compound which is magnetic.     

Stochastic Transport of Magnetic Field Lines in the Symmetric Tokamap

The topological structure and the statistical properties of stochastic magnetic fields are investigated on the basis of the so called tokamap. First, a monotonic safety factor (q‐profile) is assumed. As it is demonstrated, the transition from the continuous model to the discrete mapping in its symmetric form is essential, not only for the symplectic structure, but also for the precise values characterizing the transition to chaos (e.g. the break‐up of the KAM surfaces) in applications. Statistical properties of the symmetric tokamap, such as escape rates and anomalous diffusion properties, are being presented. By a systematic procedure the stable and unstable manifolds of the periodic hyperbolic fixed points and the resulting homoclinic tangles (stochastic layers) are determined. The latter are important for the magnetic field line transport. For a non‐monotonic q‐profile, the differences between the symmetric and non‐symmetric revtokamap become also significant. The symmetric revtokamap represents an open nonlinear dynamical system which is characterized here with the relevant tools. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)