Synthesis of nano-polycrystalline diamond from glassy carbon at pressures up to 25 GPa

ABSTRACT

Nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPD) with various grain sizes has been synthesized from glassy carbon at pressures 15–25?GPa and temperatures 1700–2300°C using multianvil apparatus. The minimum temperature for the synthesis of pure NPD, below which a small amount of compressed graphite was formed, significantly increased with pressure from ～1700°C at 15?GPa to ～1900°C at 25?GPa. The NPD having grain sizes less than ～50?nm was synthesized at temperatures below ～2000°C at 15?GPa and ～2300°C at 25?GPa, above which significant grain growth was observed. The grain size of NPD decreases with increasing pressure and decreasing temperature, and the pure NPD with grain sizes less than 10?nm is obtained in a limited temperature range around 1800–2000°C, depending on pressure. The pure NPD from glassy carbon is highly transparent and exhibits a granular nano-texture, whose grain size is tunable by selecting adequate pressure and temperature conditions.     

Phase Conjugation in Saturable Absorbing Dye Films by Degenerate Four-Wave Mixing and Holographic Processes Using Nanosecond Pulse and CW Lasers

We report on the simultaneous generation of phase-conjugate signals by degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) and holographic processes using a nanosecond pulse and a CW lasers in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films doped with four kinds of saturable absorbing dyes. For the pulse laser, of the four kinds of dye-doped PVA films, the erythrosine B-doped PVA and uranine doped-PVA films generate PC signals only by the DFWM process, while the other dye-doped PVA films generate PC signals simultaneously by not only the DFWM process but also the holographic process. Especially, the safranin T-doped PVA film generates strong PC signals by the holographic process. In contrast, all of the dye-doped PVA films generate the two types of PC signals for the CW laser. The fading of dye molecules is found to result in the generation of the holographic component of PC signals which governs the temporal behavior of the total PC signals.     

Development of a “Built-in” Scanning Near Field Microscope Head for an Atomic Force Microscope System and Stress Mapping of an Al2O3/ZrO2 Eutectic Composite

We constructed a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) on a commercially available atomic force microscopy (AFM) apparatus (SPM-9500J2; Shimadzu Corp.) to measure the stress distribution in ceramic composite materials. Features of our SNOM system are: (1) a compact SNOM head substituted for the original AFM head; (2) a wide scanning range (125 × 125 μm²) inherited from the original scanner; (3) use of conventional shear-force regulation; (4) an optical system for the illumination-collection (I-C) mode; (5) excitation by a 488 nm line of an Ar-ion laser, and (6) light detection by photon counting or a polychromator equipped with an electronically cooled charge coupled device (CCD). This SNOM system was used to measure the surface structure and stress distribution of an Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ eutectic composite. We simultaneously measured topographic images and fluorescence spectra of an Al₂O₃/ZrO₂ eutectic composite. We estimated its peak intensity, peak position, and peak width from the fluorescence spectrum during scanning, which respectively correspond to the abundance of Al₂O₃, stress in the grain, and the anisotropy of that stress. Mapping images showed that the stress and its anisotropy were weaker in the center of the Al₂O₃ grain than its boundary between Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂. That observation suggests that Al₂O₃ underwent intense anisotropic stress induced by volume expansion in the phase transition of ZrO₂ from the cubic phase to the monoclinic phase during preparation.     

Self-Restoration Properties of VWP Networks by Spare Wavelength Optimization

The self-restoration properties in VWP networks are investigated with optimization about spare wavelength by simulations. Rapid restoration can be achieved by selection of rerouting path with long delay and no delay-limitation for new routes.     

Endoscopic Observation of Tissue by Narrowband Illumination

We propose a new illumination method for a medical endoscope: narrow band imaging (NBI), in which the spectral bandwidth of the filtered light is narrowed. To confirm how the spectral specifications of the filtered light influence a reproduced image, an experiment was conducted observing the endoscopic images of the back mucosa of a human tongue. In addition, the effect of NBI on endoscopic images was investigated through preliminary clinical tests in colonoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. It has been shown that NBI can enhance the capillary pattern and the crypt pattern on the mucosa. These patterns are useful features for diagnosing an early cancer.     

Optimal block length for Basic mode data transmission control procedure

This paper considers two models of BASIC mode data transmission: When we transmit data with length l

1. (1) data are divided into N blocks and each block is transmitted individually

2. (2) data are divided into N sub-blocks and all sub-blocks are transmitted together.

We derive total average transmission data lengths of each model and discuss optimal numbers N* and block length B* which minimize them. In model 1, the length of one block is approximately determined independently of l. It is shown in a numerical example that when l is large, model 2 is better than model 1.     

Successive phase transitions of [(PyO)(H/D)][AuCl4] (PyO=C5H5NO)

³⁵Cl NQR as well as heat capacity measurements of [(PyO)H][AuCl₄] and its deuterated analog [(PyO)D][AuCl₄] revealed successive phase transitions at 70.5 and 62.5 K, and at 71 and 63 K, respectively. The NQR frequency varied continuously through the upper transition point while discontinuously through the lower transition point. In the intermediate-temperature phase a remarkable decrease in the signal intensity was observed. These NQR observations as well as the feature of the heat capacity anomaly in which a broad peak is succeeded by a sharp peak with decreasing temperature suggest a possibility of normal-incommensurate-commensurate phase sequence.     

Breakage of λ-DNA by inorganic tin and organotin compounds as environmental pollutants

In proportion to the environmental pollution problems caused by organotin compounds, the genotoxicities of tin compounds in the environments have become of interest so as to estimate their safety in recent years. In this work, isolated λ-DNA (double-strand DNA) was incubated with inorganic tin(II) and tin(IV) and five organotin compounds [n-butyltin trichloride, di(n-butyltin) dichloride, methyltin trichloride, dimethyltin dichloride and trimethyltin chloride] in reaction systems both with and without hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) content. The tin compounds tested in this study did not induce DNA breakage in the absence of hydrogen peroxide. Divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) and tetravalent inorganic tin (SnCl₄) caused DNA breakage in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (10 mM), and the DNA damage activity of inorganic tin was much more potent in divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) than in tetravalent inorganic tin (SnCl₄). Divalent inorganic tin (SnCl₂) induced DNA breakage in a concentration-dependent fashion at concentrations greater than 0.1 mM of SnCl₂ in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (10 mM). DNA breakage was not caused by n-butyltin compounds and methyltin compounds either in the presence or in the absence of hydrogen peroxide.     

Angular momentum effect in prescission particle multiplicities for a light system by diffusion model

The effect of angular momentum on the competition between fission and particle emission during light system fission process was studied via fission diffusion model. The prescission particle multiplicities were found to increase with decreasing angular momentum. The experimental prescission proton and α particle multiplicities can be fitted for 10.6 MeV/nucleon ⁸⁴Kr(²⁷Al,binary fission) reaction with this model. Entrance channel effect found in [1] is proved to be angular momentum effect.