The Luminosity & Mass Function of the Trapezium Cluster: From B stars to the Deuterium Burning Limit

We use the results of a new, multi-epoch, multi-wavelength, near-infrared census of the Trapezium Cluster in Orion to construct and to analyze the structure of its infrared (K band) luminosity function. Specifically, we employ an improved set of model luminosity functions to derive this cluster's underlying Initial Mass Function (IMF) across the entire range of mass from OB stars to sub-stellar objects down to near the deuterium burning limit. We derive an IMF for the Trapezium Cluster that rises with decreasing mass, having a Salpeter-like IMF slope until near ~0.6 M_sun where the IMF flattens and forms a broad peak extending to the hydrogen burning limit, below which the IMF declines into the sub-stellar regime. Independent of the details, we find that sub-stellar objects account for no more than ~22% of the total number of likely cluster members. Further, the sub-stellar Trapezium IMF breaks from a steady power-law decline and forms a significant secondary peak at the lowest masses (10-20 times the mass of Jupiter). This secondary peak may contain as many as \~30% of the sub-stellar objects in the cluster. Below this sub-stellar IMF peak, our KLF modeling requires a subsequent sharp decline toward the planetary mass regime. Lastly, we investigate the robustness of pre-main sequence luminosity evolution as predicted by current evolutionary models, and we discuss possible origins for the IMF of brown dwarfs.Comment: 74 pages, 30 figures, AASTeX5.0. To be published in the 01 July 2002 ApJ. For color version of figure 1 and online data table see http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~muench/PUB/publications.htm

Pholidosis Abnormalities and Injuries in the European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Conditions of the Khopersky Nature Reserve

Pholidosis abnormalities and injuries were studied through 194 specimens of European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) in the Khopersky nature reserve (Voronezh Province, Russia) in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Six types of abnormalities (on the carapace only) were detected. The occurrence of individuals with all types of abnormalities, the partial occurrence of various abnormalities and the average number of abnormalities per individual were analyzed. Most individuals showed signs of predator attack, mostly on the carapace and tail. During winter hibernation, animals with limb injuries were noted

Hunting Galaxies to (and for) Extinction

In studies of star-forming regions, near-infrared excess (NIRX) sources--objects with intrinsic colors redder than normal stars--constitute both signal (young stars) and noise (e.g. background galaxies). We hunt down (identify) galaxies using near-infrared observations in the Perseus star-forming region by combining structural information, colors, and number density estimates. Galaxies at moderate redshifts (z = 0.1 - 0.5) have colors similar to young stellar objects (YSOs) at both near- and mid-infrared (e.g. Spitzer) wavelengths, which limits our ability to identify YSOs from colors alone. Structural information from high-quality near-infrared observations allows us to better separate YSOs from galaxies, rejecting 2/5 of the YSO candidates identified from Spitzer observations of our regions and potentially extending the YSO luminosity function below K of 15 magnitudes where galaxy contamination dominates. Once they are identified we use galaxies as valuable extra signal for making extinction maps of molecular clouds. Our new iterative procedure: the Galaxies Near Infrared Color Excess method Revisited (GNICER), uses the mean colors of galaxies as a function of magnitude to include them in extinction maps in an unbiased way. GNICER increases the number of background sources used to probe the structure of a cloud, decreasing the noise and increasing the resolution of extinction maps made far from the galactic plane.Comment: 16 pages and 16 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Full resolution version at http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/papers/Foster_HuntingGalaxies.pd

Looking for Distributed Star Formation in L1630: A Near-infrared (J, H, K) Survey

We have carried out a simultaneous, multi-band (J, H, K) survey over an area of 1320 arcmin^2 in the L1630 region, concentrating on the region away from the dense molecular cores and with modest visual extinctions (\leq 10 mag). Previous studies found that star formation in L1630 occurs mainly in four localized clusters, which in turn are associated with the four most massive molecular cores (Lada et al. 1991; Lada 1992). The goal of this study is to look for a distributed population of pre-main-sequence stars in the outlying areas outside the known star-forming cores. More than 60% of the pre-main-sequence stars in the active star forming regions of NGC 2024 and NGC 2023 show a near-infrared excess in the color-color diagram. In the outlying areas of L1630, excluding the known star forming regions, we found that among 510 infrared sources with the near-infrared colors ((J-H) and (H-K)) determined and photometric uncertainty at K better than 0.10 mag, the fraction of the sources with a near-infrared excess is 3%--8%; the surface density of the sources with a near-infrared excess is less than half of that found in the distributed population in L1641, and 1/20 of that in the young cluster NGC 2023. This extremely low fraction and low surface density of sources with a near-infrared excess strongly indicates that recent star formation activity has been very low in the outlying region of L1630. The sources without a near-infrared excess could be either background/foreground field stars, or associated with the cloud, but formed a long time ago (more than 2 Myrs). Our results are consistent with McKee's model of photoionization-regulated star formation.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures To appear in ApJ Oct 1997, Vol 48

Fullerene derivative based spin-on-carbon hard masks for advanced lithographic applications

Spin-on-Carbon (SoC) hardmasks are an increasingly key component of the microchip fabrication process. Progress in lithographic resolution has made the adoption of extremely thin photoresist films necessary for the fabrication of “1x nanometre” linewidth structures to prevent issues such as resist collapse during development. While there are resists with high etch durability, ultimately etch depth is limited by resist thickness. A possible solution is the use of a multilayer etch stack. This allows for considerable increase in aspect ratio. For the organic hard mask base layer, a carbon-rich material is preferred as carbon possesses a high etch resistance in silicon plasma etch processes. A thin silicon topcoat deposited on the carbon film can be patterned with a thin photoresist film without feature collapse, and the pattern transferred to the underlying carbon film by oxygen plasma. This produces high aspect ratio carbon structures suitable for substrate etching. In terms of manufacturability it is beneficial to spin coat the carbon layer instead of using chemical vapor deposition, but the presence of carbon-hydrogen bonds in typical spin-on-carbon leads to line wiggling during the etch (a significant problem at smaller feature sizes). We have developed a fullerene based SoC and reported on material characterization. The materials low Ohnishi number provides high etch durability and the low hydrogen level allows for high resolution etching without wiggling. Here recent advances in material development and work towards commercialization of the materials are presented and the use of the materials in etch stacks is demonstrated

Modeling the Near-Infrared Luminosity Functions of Young Stellar Clusters

We present the results of numerical experiments designed to evaluate the usefulness of near-infrared luminosity functions for constraining the Initial Mass Function (IMF) of young stellar populations. From this numerical modeling, we find that the luminosity function of a young stellar population is considerably more sensitive to variations in the underlying initial mass function than to either variations in the star forming history or assumed pre-main-sequence (PMS) mass-to-luminosity relation. To illustrate the potential effectiveness of using the KLF of a young cluster to constrain its IMF, we model the observed K band luminosity function of the nearby Trapezium cluster. Our derived mass function for the Trapezium spans two orders of magnitude in stellar mass (5 Msun to 0.02 Msun), has a peak near the hydrogen burning limit, and has an IMF for Brown Dwarfs which steadily decreases with decreasing mass.Comment: To appear in ApJ (1 April 2000). 37 pages including 11 figures, AAS: ver 5.