Growth of silicon thin film by LPE on porous silicon bilayers

The fabrication of solar cells based on the transfer of a thin silicon film on a foreign substrate is an attractive way to realise cheap and efficient photovoltaic devices. The aim of this work is to realise a thin mono-crystalline silicon film on a double porous silicon layer in order to detach and transfer it on mullite. The first step is the fabrication of a double porous silicon layer by electrochemical anodisation using two different current densities. The low current leads to a low porosity layer and during annealing, the recrystallisation of this layer allows epitaxial growth. The second current leads to a high porosity which permits the transfer on to a low cost substrate. Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) performed with indium (or In+Ga) in the temperature range of 950–1050°C leads to almost homogeneous layers. Growth rate is about 0.35 μm min⁻¹. Crystallinity of the grown epilayer is similar on porous silicon and on single crystal silicon. In this paper, we focus on the realisation of porous silicon sacrificial layer and subsequent LPE growth. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Detection of the His-heme Fe2+-NO species in the reduction of NO to N2O by ba3-oxidase from thermus thermophilus

Reaction pathways in the enzymatic formation and cleavage of the N-N and N-O bonds, respectively, are difficult to verify without the structure of the intermediates, but we now have such information on the heme a(3)(2+)-NO species formed in the reaction of ba(3)-oxidase with NO from resonance Raman spectroscopy. We have identified the His-heme a(3)(2+)-NO/Cu(B)(1+) species by its characteristic Fe-NO and N-O stretching frequencies at 539 and 1620 cm(-)(1), respectively. The Fe-NO and N-O frequencies in ba(3)-oxidase are 21 and 7 cm(-)(1) lower and higher, respectively, than those observed in Mb-NO. From these results and earlier Raman and FTIR measurements, we demonstrate that the protein environment of the proximal His384 that is part of the Q-proton pathway controls the strength of the Fe-His384 bond upon ligand (CO vs NO) binding. We also show by time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy that Cu(B)(1+) has a much lower affinity for NO than for CO. We suggest that the reduction of NO to N(2)O by ba(3)-oxidase proceeds by the fast binding of the first NO molecule to heme a(3) with high-affinity, and the second NO molecule binds to Cu(B) with low-affinity, producing the temporal co-presence of two NO molecules in the heme-copper center. The low-affinity of Cu(B) for NO binding also explains the NO reductase activity of the ba(3)-oxidase as opposed to other heme-copper oxidases. With the identification of the His-heme a(3)(2+)-NO/Cu(B)(1+) species, the structure of the binuclear heme a(3)-Cu(B)(1+) center in the initial step of the NO reduction mechanism is known.     

Perturbations for linear difference equations

In this paper we study boundary value problems for perturbed second-order linear difference equations with a small parameter. The reduced problem obtained when the parameter is equal to zero is a first-order linear difference equation. The solution is represented as a convergent series in the small parameter, whose coefficients are given by means of solutions of the reduced problem.     

Thermal analysis of interpenetrating polymer networks through molecular dynamics simulations: a comparison with experiments

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this work, we verified the synthesis of a novel sequential interpenetrating polymer network, composed of poly(2-hexyl-ethylacrylate) and...     

Dynamic transcritical bifurcations in a class of slow-fast predator-prey models

We study the stability loss delay phenomenon in a dynamic transcritical bifurcation in a class of three-dimensional prey and predator systems. The dynamics of the predator is assumed to be slow comparatively to the dynamics of the prey. As an application, a well-known model considered by Clark will be discussed.     

Swelling Behaviour of Isotropic Poly(n-butyl acrylate) Networks in Isotropic and Anisotropic Solvents

Summary: The swelling properties of photochemically crosslinked poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PABu) networks in isotropic and anisotropic solvents were investigated experimentally. The purpose of this study was to examine the swelling kinetics of PABu networks in isotropic solvents and to compare the results obtained which those observed in the case of the low molecular weight liquid crystal 4-cyano-4′-n-pentyl-biphenyl known as 5CB. The phase diagrams were established in terms of composition and temperature for isotropic solvents, as toluene, acetone, cyclohexane, and methanol, and 5CB, using the plateau values corresponding to equilibrium states of swelling. The polymer networks were prepared via free radical polymerization/crosslinking processes by ultraviolet (UV) radiation of initial mixtures made up from a monomer, a crosslinker, and a photoinitiator. PABu networks with several crosslinking densities were formed using different quantities of difunctional monomer hexanedioldiacrylate (HDDA). Immersion of these networks in excess solvent allows measuring the solvent uptake by determination of the weight in isotropic solvents and diameter in an anisotropic solvent (5CB). Swelling data were rationalized by calculating weight and diameter ratios considering swollen to dry network states of the samples.     

2,4-Disubstituted Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine α-D- and β-D-Ribofuranosides Related to 7-Deazaguanosine

Nucleobase-anion glycosylation (KOH, tris[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]amine (TDA-1), MeCN) of the pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines 4a – d with 5-O-[(1,1-dimethylethyl)dimethylsilyl]-2,3-O-(1-methylethylidene)-α-D -ribo-furanosyl chloride ( 5 ) gave the protected β-D -nucleosides 6a – d stereoselectively (Scheme 1). Contrary, the β-D -halogenose 8 yielded the corresponding α-D -nucleosides ( 9a and 9b ) apart from minor amounts of the β-D -anomers. The deprotected nucleosides 10a and 11a were converted into 4-substituted 2-aminopyrrolo[2,3-d]-pyrimidine β-D -ribofuranosides 1 . 10c , 12 , 14 , and 16 and into their α-D -anomers, respectively (Scheme 2). From the reaction of 4b with 5 , the glycosylation product 7 was isolated, containing two nucleobase moieties.