Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy on Au nanoparticles assembled using lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT)

In this report, we demonstrate scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy on thin films of lauryl amine (LAM) and octadecane thiol (ODT) protected gold nanoparticles. We show that the zero current in the I-V curves (measure of Coulomb blockade (CB) of the nanoparticles) depends on the properties of the spacer molecule. In both the cases the gap voltage and the tunneling current at which the images are obtained are quite different which is further confirmed from the fitting performed based on the orthodox theory. The values for the capacitance and charging energy obtained from the fitting for ODT capped particles are comparable to the values obtained using spherical capacitor model. In contrast, values of these parameters were found to differ for LAM capped nanoparticles. While imaging, ODT capped nanoparticles were observed to drag along the scan direction leading to ordering of particles. Images of LAM capped gold nanoparticles show local ordering in self-assembly of particles although no evidence of large scale ordering in spatial Fourier transform was seen. These observations suggest that nanoparticles with larger CB would be imaged nonevasively in contrast to small CB systems for which tip induced effects will be dominant. In both the systems the current was found to rise faster than theoretical curves based on the orthodox theory suggesting that mechanism of charge transfer in this case may involve field emission rather than tunneling through a rectangular barrier. An attempt has been made to explain charge transfer based on Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) plots of the I-V curves.     

High-power continuous-wave operation of a diode-pumped laser at

The continuous-wave laser properties of an efficient diode-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ crystal operating at formed with a simple plane-concave cavity have been studied. With the incident pump power of 21 W, an output power of 6.9 W was obtained, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 32.8% and a slope efficiency of 35.3%. The laser characterization of two different Nd³⁺-doped concentration of Nd:GdVO₄ crystals were studied.     

Space-selective co-precipitation of silver and gold nanoparticles in femtosecond laser pulses irradiated Ag, Au co-doped silicate glass

We report on space-selective co-precipitation of silver and gold nanoparticles in Ag⁺, Au³⁺ co-doped silicate glasses by irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses and subsequent annealing at high temperatures. The color of the irradiated area in the glass sample changed from yellow to red with the increase of the annealing temperature. The effects of average laser power and annealing temperature on precipitation of the nanoparticles were investigated. A reasonable mechanism was proposed to explain the observed phenomena.     

Fourier multipliers and periodic solutions of delay equations in Banach spaces

In this paper we characterize the existence and uniqueness of periodic solutions of inhomogeneous abstract delay equations and establish maximal regularity results for strong solutions. The conditions are obtained in terms of R-boundedness of linear operators determined by the equations and Lp- Fourier multipliers. Periodic mild solutions are also studied and characterized.     

Comparison of two randomized policy M/G/1 queues with second optional service, server breakdown and startup

The problem addressed in this paper is to compare the minimum cost of the two randomized control policies in the M/G/1 queueing system with an unreliable server, a second optional service, and general startup times. All arrived customers demand the first required service, and only some of the arrived customers demand a second optional service. The server needs a startup time before providing the first required service until the system becomes empty. After all customers are served in the queue, the server immediately takes a vacation and the system operates the (T, p)-policy or (p, N)-policy. For those two policies, the expected cost functions are established to determine the joint optimal threshold values of (T, p) and (p, N), respectively. In addition, we obtain the explicit closed form of the joint optimal solutions for those two policies. Based on the minimal cost, we show that the optimal (p, N)-policy indeed outperforms the optimal (T, p)-policy. Numerical examples are also presented for illustrative purposes.     

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of band tails and anomalous kinetics of underdoped cuprates

The electron-phonon interaction in cuprates with c-axis polarised optical phonons, which is roughly one order of magnitude stronger than superexchange, bounds holes into mobile bipolarons. Bipolarons pin the chemical potential within the charge-transfer gap of doped Mott insulators, accounting for unusual kinetics and thermodynamics of doped cuprates such as the Nernst and giant proximity effects, pseudo-gaps, and normal-state diamagnetism. We propose that “quasi-particle” peaks, “Fermi-arcs”, and high-energy “waterfalls” in the photoemission spectra of cuprates originate from the photo-ionization matrix elements of disorder-localised band-tails in the charge-transfer gap.     

Energetics of CdSxSe1−x quantum dots in borosilicate glasses

The thermodynamics of CdSe quantum dots embedded in a glass matrix is of great interest because of the numerous applications as optical materials. In this study, the energetics and stability of CdSe quantum dots in a borosilicate glass matrix is investigated as a function of size using high-temperature oxide melt solution calorimetry. CdS_0.1Se_0.9 nanoparticles (1-40 nm) embedded in glass were analyzed by photoluminescence spectroscopy, electron microprobe, X-ray fluorescence, high-energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and (scanning) transmission electron microscopy using both electron energy loss and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. As CdSe particles coarsen, their heat of formation becomes more exothermic. The interfacial energy of CdSe QDs embedded in a borosilicate glass, determined from the slope of enthalpy of drop solution versus calculated surface area, is 0.56 ± 0.01 J/m².     

Well-posedness of a class of perturbed optimization problems in Banach spaces

Let X be a Banach space and Z a nonempty subset of X. Let J:Z→R be a lower semicontinuous function bounded from below and p?1. This paper is concerned with the perturbed optimization problem of finding z₀∈Z such that ‖x−z₀p^‖+J(z₀)=infz∈Z{‖x−zp^‖+J(z)}, which is denoted by minJ(x,Z). The notions of the J-strictly convex with respect to Z and of the Kadec with respect to Z are introduced and used in the present paper. It is proved that if X is a Kadec Banach space with respect to Z and Z is a closed relatively boundedly weakly compact subset, then the set of all x∈X for which every minimizing sequence of the problem minJ(x,Z) has a converging subsequence is a dense Gδ-subset of X?Z₀, where Z₀ is the set of all points z∈Z such that z is a solution of the problem minJ(z,Z). If additionally p>1 and X is J-strictly convex with respect to Z, then the set of all x∈X for which the problem minJ(x,Z) is well-posed is a dense Gδ-subset of X?Z₀.     

Elliptic enumeration of nonintersecting lattice paths

We enumerate lattice paths in the planar integer lattice consisting of positively directed unit vertical and horizontal steps with respect to a specific elliptic weight function. The elliptic generating function of paths from a given starting point to a given end point evaluates to an elliptic generalization of the binomial coefficient. Convolution gives an identity equivalent to Frenkel and Turaev's summation. This appears to be the first combinatorial proof of the latter, and at the same time of some important degenerate cases including Jackson's and Dougall's summation. By considering nonintersecting lattice paths we are led to a multivariate extension of the summation which turns out to be a special case of an identity originally conjectured by Warnaar, later proved by Rosengren. We conclude with discussing some future perspectives.     

Spectral flow invariants and twisted cyclic theory for the Haar state on

In [A.L. Carey, J. Phillips, A. Rennie, Twisted cyclic theory and an index theory for the gauge invariant KMS state on Cuntz algebras. arXiv:0801.4605], we presented a K-theoretic approach to finding invariants of algebras with no non-trivial traces. This paper presents a new example that is more typical of the generic situation. This is the case of an algebra that admits only non-faithful traces, namely SU_q(2) and also KMS states. Our main results are index theorems (which calculate spectral flow), one using ordinary cyclic cohomology and the other using twisted cyclic cohomology, where the twisting comes from the generator of the modular group of the Haar state. In contrast to the Cuntz algebras studied in [A.L. Carey, J. Phillips, A. Rennie, Twisted cyclic theory and an index theory for the gauge invariant KMS state on Cuntz algebras. arXiv:0801.4605], the computations are considerably more complex and interesting, because there are non-trivial ‘eta’ contributions to this index.