Electron–hole complexes in self-assembled quantum dots in strong magnetic fields

We present results of calculations and experiments on electron–hole complexes in InGaAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots in high magnetic field (B). Due to hidden symmetries, the chemical potential of an N-exciton system at special B fields becomes insensitive to the exciton number as well as the magnetic field. This results in plateau regions of high intensity in measured magneto-PL spectrum. Theoretical calculations using exact diagonalization techniques successfully explain the measured magneto-photoluminescence spectrum with B fields up to 28 T.     

Synthesis of optically active 6-substituted 2-(aminomethyl)chromans

Three novel, optically active, 6-substituted 2-(aminomethyl)chromans were synthesized from readily available chroman 2-carboxylic acid precursors. These chroman-containing primary amines are useful building blocks for the synthesis of chroman-derived pharmaceutical agents.     

NMR investigation of concentrated alumina and silica slurries

The longitudinal relaxation times (T₁) of water in concentrated silica and alumina slurries were measured as a function of solids content. It was shown that the results could be fit very well with a two-phase fast-exchange model between free and surface-bound water. As expected, values of T₁ for bound water were in the order of 20–2000 times lower than that for free water, indicating a higher effective viscosity of the surface-bound water. The strength of the interaction depended on the particular surface, and all of the aluminas examined interacted more strongly with water than the two silicas studied, which themselves differed considerably. The chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) removal rate of tantalum by silica slurries was shown to be directly correlated with the interaction parameters, derived from the NMR relation times rather than with total surface hydroxyl group concentration.     

Anionically Substituted 1,1′,1″‐Methylidynetris[1H‐pyrazole] Ligands for the Formation of Neutral Lanthanide Complexes in Water: Synthesis,Characterization, and Photophysical Properties

The six‐step synthesis of the new podand‐type ligand 6,6′,6″‐[methylidenetri(1H‐pyrazole‐1,3‐diyl)]tris[pyridine‐2‐carboxylic acid] (LH₃) is described. Reaction of LH₃ with LnCl₃ ?6 H₂O (Ln=Eu, Gd, Tb) in MeOH resulted in the isolation of [LnL]?HCl complexes characterized by elemental analysis, mass and IR spectroscopy. Photophysical studies of the Eu and Tb complexes in aqueous solutions revealed the characteristic luminescence features of the metal atoms, indicative of an efficient ligand‐to‐metal energy‐transfer process. Determination of the luminescence quantum yields in H₂O showed the Tb complex to be highly luminescent (?=15%), while, for the Eu complex, the quantum efficiency was only 2%. Excited‐state‐lifetime measurements in H₂O and D₂O evidenced the presence of ca. three H₂O molecules in the first coordination sphere of the complexes. Investigation of the Gd complex allowed the determination of the ligand‐centered triplet state and showed the ligand to be well suited for energy transfer to the metal. The luminescence properties of the complexes are described, and the properties of the ligand as a suitable complexation pocket is questioned.     

Finding the best visualization of an ontology

An ontology is a classification model for a given domain. In information retrieval, ontologies are used to perform broad searches. An ontology can be visualized as nodes and edges. Each node represents an element and each edge a relation between a parent and a child element. Working with an ontology becomes easier with a visual representation. An idea is to use the expressive power of 3D representation to provide visualization for the user. In this paper, we propose a new method for positioning the elements of the visualized concept lattice in the 3D world based on operations research (OR) methods. One method uses a discrete location model to create an initial solution and we propose heuristic methods to further improve the visual result. We evaluate the visual results according to our success criteria and the feedback from users. Running times of the heuristic indicate that an improved version should be feasible for on-line processing and what-if analysis of ontologies.     

Economics and Performance of 10 Gb/s Metro Transport Over Mixed Fiber Plant of G.655 NZDF and G.652.C Zero Water-Peak Fibers

Using lower-cost lasers, 30% savings are possible for 10-Gb/s uncompensated metro transmission over NZDF, compared to G.652 fiber. We present WDM transmission results for a mixed plant of NZDF rings interconnected to G.652.C-fiber access laterals.     

Killing tensors as irreducible representations of the general linear group

We show that the vector space of fixed valence Killing tensors on a space of constant curvature is naturally isomorphic to a certain highest weight, irreducible representation of the general linear group. The isomorphism is equivariant in the sense that the natural action of the isometry group corresponds to the restriction of the linear action to the appropriate subgroup. As an application, we deduce the Delong–Takeuchi–Thompson formula on the dimension of the vector space of Killing tensors from the classical Weyl dimension formula. To cite this article: R.G. McLenaghan et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 339 (2004).