Multi-scale study of the mineral porosity of veined gneiss and pegmatitic granite from Olkiluoto,Western Finland

The purpose of this work was to support the long-term experiments for investigation of rock matrix retention properties at the spent nuclear fuel repository site ONKALO, in Olkiluoto, Western Finland. Towards this end, rock samples were characterised in terms of porosity connected to mineralogy, with emphasis on pore sizes, and fillings. Both filled and unfilled pores were found with unfilled pores being majority in the pegmatitic granite veins of the mostly veined gneiss samples. It was found that the fillings were often connected to local alteration and the alteration caused variation in the range of pore sizes.     

A simplified approach to the generalized standard-addition method and its application in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple and general standard-addition method for a single-component determination is presented. The method uses two independent variables for the calculation of the analyte concentration (the amount of sample taken and the amount of analyte added) and one dependent variable, the response. The sensitivity and the response of the blank can also be estimated from the model by changing the amount of the sample and the amount of the analyte addition. In the simples case, a linear equation is assumed to exist between the variables. Geometrically, the model can be expressed by the response plane in the variable-space. The method has all the advantages of the ordinary standard-addition method but also includes automatic blank elimination and versatile matrix-interference control. Two examples of the use of the method are based on graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry of chromium and lead. Standard statistical packages are applied.     

The Steiner quadruple systems of order 16

The Steiner quadruple systems of order 16 are classified up to isomorphism by means of an exhaustive computer search. The number of isomorphism classes of such designs is 1,054,163. Properties of the designs—including the orders of the automorphism groups and the structures of the derived Steiner triple systems of order 15—are tabulated. A consistency check based on double counting is carried out to gain confidence in the correctness of the classification.     

A Storage Process with Local Time Input

In this paper we introduce a storage process with singular continuous input. The input process is defined as the local time of a stationary reflecting Brownian motion with drift. Many basic charateristics of the process are computed explicitly, e.g., stationary distribution, distributions of the starting and ending time of on-going busy and idle periods. We also consider the multifractal spectrum of the input process and observe that it is independent of system parameters.     

Organocatalytic asymmetric conjugate addition to allenic esters and ketones

The first example of an organocatalytic enantioselective conjugate addition of cyclic beta-ketoesters and glycine imine derivatives to electron-deficient allenes is described. We disclose that the corresponding chiral beta,gamma-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are formed exclusively under phase-transfer conditions using either cinchona-alkaloid-derived or biphenyl-based chiral quaternary ammonium salts as catalysts. The scope of the reaction for beta-ketoesters is outlined for allenes having a ketone or ester motif as electron-withdrawing group as well as different substituents in the 3-position, giving the optically active products in high yields and excellent diastereo- and enantioselectivities (90-96% ee). The conjugate addition also proceeds for a number of cyclic beta-ketoesters having different ring sizes, ring systems, and substituents in high yields and enantioselectivities. Glycine imine derivatives also undergo the asymmetric conjugate addition to electron-deficient allenes in high yields and with enantioselectivities in the range of 60-88% ee, thus providing a rapid entry to optically active alpha-vinyl-substituted alpha-amino acid derivatives. It is shown that the enantioselectivity is strongly dependent on the size of the ester moiety of the nucleophile in combination with the catalytic system used. The high synthetic value of the chiral products arising from these new catalytic processes is demonstrated by two straightforward transformations leading in one case to optically active hexahydrobenzopyranones and in the other to substituted pyroglutamates (gamma-lactames).     

There exists no (15,5,4) RBIBD

An (n, M, d)_q code is a q‐ary code of length n, cardinality M, and minimum distance d. We show that there exists no (15,5,4) resolvable balanced incomplete block design (RBIBD) by showing that there exists no (equidistant) (14,15,10)₃ code. This is accomplished by an exhaustive computer search using an orderly algorithm combined with a maximum clique algorithm. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 9: 227–232, 2001     

Emission studies of InGaN layers and LEDs grown by plasma-assisted MBE

We prepared InGaN layers on GaN/sapphire substrates using rf-MBE. Photoluminescence (PL) from these layers, grown at different temperatures T_S, shows that there is a strong tendency of GaN to form a separate phase as T_S is increased from 600°C to 650°C. Concomitant with the phase separation, the PL from the InGaN phase broadens, which indicates that indium composition in this phase becomes increasingly non-uniform. Indium compositions measured by Rutherford backscattering (RBS) are consistent with these results. We also observed an increase in PL intensity for InGaN layers grown at higher temperatures. In this paper, we also report on preparing a top-contact InGaN/GaN light emitting diode. The device was operated at 447 nm and had the emission line width of 37 nm with no observable impurity related features. The turn-on voltage was 3.0 V. The output power was 20 μW at 60 mA drive current.     

Growth of strain-compensated GaInNAs/GaAsP quantum wells for 1.3 μm lasers

Strain-compensated GaInNAs/GaAsP quantum well structures and lasers were grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy using a RF-plasma nitrogen radical beam source. The optimal growth condition for the quantum well structure was determined based on room-temperature photoluminescence measurements. Effects of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the optical properties of GaInNAs/GaAsP quantum well structures as well as laser diodes are examined. It was found to significantly increase the photoluminescence from the quantum wells and reduce the threshold current density of the lasers, due to a removal of N induced nonradiative centers from GaInNAs wells.