Evaluation of fine structure of tubular zeolite NaA membrane by FTIR-ATR and FIB-TEM.

A zeolite NaA (LTA) membrane supported by an alumina porous support tube for pervaporation (PV) dehydration of ethanol was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) using a focused ion beam (FIB) thin-layer specimen preparation technique and by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance method (FTIR-ATR) using a diamond prism as the waveguide. FIB-TEM clearly presented cross-section images up to about 15 microm depth from the membrane surface. FTIR-ATR monitored the Si-O asymmetric stretching vibration spectrum. The Si-O spectrum was compared with the TEM image and their relationships were discussed. By combining the two methods, we could study the thickness of surface LTA crystals, the grain boundary, the LTA/alumina interface structure and the crystallinity and density of materials inside of the alumina porous support. Consequently, fine structure changes of the LTA membrane corresponding to the hydrothermal synthesis condition could be sensitively detected.     

Structure induced by irradiation of femtosecond laser pulse in dyed polymeric materials

We investigated the structures induced by an irradiation of a near‐infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser pulse in dye‐doped polymeric materials {poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), thermoplastic epoxy resin (Epoxy), and a block copolymer of methyl methacrylate and ethyl acrylate‐butyl acrylate [p(MMA/EA‐BA) block copolymer]}. Dyes used were classified into two types—type 1 with absorption at 400 nm and type 2 with no absorption at 400 nm. The 400‐nm wavelength corresponds to the two‐photon absorption region by the irradiated NIR laser pulse at 800 nm. Type 1 dye‐doped PMMA and p(MMA/EA‐BA) block copolymer showed a peculiar dye additive effect for the structures induced by the line irradiation of a NIR femtosecond laser pulse. On the contrary, dye‐doped Epoxy did not exhibit a dye additive effect. The different results among PMMA, p(MMA/EA‐BA) block copolymer, and Epoxy matrix polymers are supposed to be related to the difference of electron‐acceptor properties. The mechanism of this type 1 dye‐additive‐effect phenomenon for PMMA and p(MMA/EA‐BA) block copolymer is discussed on the basis of two‐photon absorption of type 1 dye at 400 nm by the irradiation of a femtosecond laser pulse with 800 nm wavelength and the dissipation of the absorbed energy to the polymer matrix among various transition processes. Dyes with a low‐fluorescence quantum yield favored the formation of thicker grating structures. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 2800–2806, 2002     

Anomalous System Size Dependence of Large Deviation Functions for Local Empirical Measure

We study the large deviation function for the empirical measure (the time-averaged density) of diffusing particles at one fixed position. We find that the large deviation function exhibits anomalous system size dependence in systems with translational symmetry if and only if they satisfy the following conditions: (i) there exists no macroscopic flow, and (ii) their space dimension is one or two. We investigate this anomaly by using a contraction principle. We also analyze the relation between this anomaly and the so-called long-time tail behavior on the basis of phenomenological arguments.     

Theory of ferromagnetism in Ca(1-x)La(x)B(6)

Novel ferromagnetism in Ca(1-x)La(x)B(6) is studied in terms of the Ginzburg-Landau theory for excitonic-order parameters, taking into account symmetry of the wave functions. We found that the minima of the free energy break both inversion and time-reversal symmetries, while the product of these two remains preserved. This explains various novelties of the ferromagnetism and predicts a number of magnetic properties, including the magnetoelectric effect, which can be tested experimentally.     

Fundamental Relation Between Entropy Production and Heat Current

Journal of Statistical Physics - We investigate the fundamental relation between entropy production rate and the speed of energy exchange between a system and baths in classical Markov processes....     

Visible nonlinear band-edge luminescence in ZnSe and CdS excited by a mid-infrared free-electron laser

Visible nonlinear band-edge luminescence in ZnSe and CdS bulk crystals was observed upon excitation by a mid-infrared free-electron laser (mid-IR FEL) at approximately 9 mm. The emission intensity is proportional to the 74th and 45th powers of the excitation intensity for ZnSe and CdS, respectively. For ZnSe, the temporal profile of the emission intensity does not follow the profile of the excitation macropulse of the FEL, but sharply rises and decays only at the maximum of the macropulse profile. These features are in marked contrast to those of a previous report, where the emission profile follows that of the macropulse, and the emission intensity scales with the 4th power of the excitation intensity. The experimental observations were reproduced by a numerical simulation based on impact ionization and avalanche ionization by electrons accelerated by the optical electric field of the FEL. The large nonlinearity in the bandedge emission comes from the macropulse temporal structure, which consists of micropulses densely spaced to allow excited carriers to survive when the next micropulse arrives. They work as seed carriers in the next carrier multiplication step.     

Asymptotic distributions of regression and autoregression coefficients with martingale difference disturbances

In this paper a form of the Lindeberg condition appropriate for martingale differences is used to obtain asymptotic normality of statistics for regression and autoregression. The regression model is y_t = Bz_t + v_t. The unobserved error sequence {v_t} is a sequence of martingale differences with conditional covariance matrices {Σ_t} and satisfying sup_{t=1,…, n} {v′_tv_tI(v′_tv_t>a) |z_t, v_t−1, z_t−1, …} 0 as a → ∞. The sample covariance of the independent variables z₁, …, z_n, is assumed to have a probability limit M, constant and nonsingular; max_t=1,…,nz′_tz_t/n 0. If (1/n)Σ_t=1ⁿΣ_t Σ, constant, then √nvec( _n−B) N(0,M⁻¹Σ) and _n Σ. The autoregression model is x_t = Bx_{t − 1} + v_t with the maximum absolute value of the characteristic roots of B less than one, the above conditions on {v_t}, and (1/n)Σ_t=max(r,s)+1(Σ_tv_t−1−rv′_t−1−s) δ_rs(ΣΣ), where δ_rs is the Kronecker delta. Then √nvec( _n−B) N(0,Γ⁻¹Σ), where Γ = Σ_{s = 0}^∞B^sΣ(B′)^s.     

Intrinsic versus extrinsic anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnets

A unified theory of the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is presented for multiband ferromagnetic metals with dilute impurities. In the clean limit, the AHE is mostly due to extrinsic skew scattering. When the Fermi level is located around anticrossing of band dispersions split by spin-orbit interaction, the intrinsic AHE to be calculated ab initio is resonantly enhanced by its nonperturbative nature, revealing the extrinsic-to-intrinsic crossover which occurs when the relaxation rate is comparable to the spin-orbit coupling.     

A Small One-Fiber WDM Optical Ethernet PC Card for FTTD

A new generation of network interface card for fiber-to-the-desktop has been fabricated. The fabricated card is PC-card size and suitable for notebook PCs. It could become the key element in the coming optical Ethernet age.