80 research outputs found
In situ measurements of density fluctuations and compressibility in silica glass as a function of temperature and thermal history
In this paper, small-angle X-ray scattering measurements are used to
determine the different compressibility contributions, as well as the
isothermal compressibility, in thermal equilibrium in silica glasses having
different thermal histories. Using two different methods of analysis, in the
supercooled liquid and in the glassy state, we obtain respectively the
temperature and fictive temperature dependences of the isotheraml
compressibility. The values obtained in the glass and supercooled liquid states
are very close to each other. They agree with previous determinations of the
literature. The compressibility in the glass state slightly decreases with
increasing fictive temperature. The relaxational part of the compressibility is
also calculated and compared to previous determinations. We discussed the small
differences between the different determinations
Quantum statistical effects in nano-oscillator arrays
We have theoretically predicted the density of states(DOS), the low
temperature specific heat, and Brillouin scattering spectra of a large, free
standing array of coupled nano-oscillators. We have found significant gaps in
the DOS of 2D elastic systems, and predict the average DOS to be nearly
independent of frequency over a broad band f < 50GHz. At low temperatures, the
measurements probe the quantum statistics obeyed by rigid body modes of the
array and, thus, could be used to verify the quantization of the associated
energy levels. These states, in turn, involve center-of mass motion of large
numbers of atoms, N > 1.e14, and therefore such observations would extend the
domain in which quantum mechanics has been experimentally tested. We have found
the required measurement capability to carry out this investigation to be
within reach of current technology.Comment: 1 tex file, 3 figures, 1 bbl fil
Voltage-programmable liquid optical interface
Recently, there has been intense interest in photonic devices based on microfluidics, including displays and refractive tunable microlenses and optical beamsteerers, that work using the principle of electrowetting. Here, we report a novel approach to optical devices in which static wrinkles are produced at the surface of a thin film of oil as a result of dielectrophoretic forces. We have demonstrated this voltage-programmable surface wrinkling effect in periodic devices with pitch lengths of between 20 and 240 µm and with response times of less than 40 µs. By a careful choice of oils, it is possible to optimize either for high-amplitude sinusoidal wrinkles at micrometre-scale pitches or more complex non-sinusoidal profiles with higher Fourier components at longer pitches. This opens up the possibility of developing rapidly responsive voltage-programmable, polarization-insensitive transmission and reflection diffraction devices and arbitrary surface profile optical devices
Water Dynamics at Protein Interfaces: Ultrafast Optical Kerr Effect Study
The behavior of water molecules surrounding a protein can have an important bearing on its structure and function. Consequently, a great deal of attention has been focused on changes in the relaxation dynamics of water when it is located at the protein surface. Here we use the ultrafast optical Kerr effect to study the H-bond structure and dynamics of aqueous solutions of proteins. Measurements are made for three proteins as a function of concentration. We find that the water dynamics in the first solvation layer of the proteins are slowed by up to a factor of 8 in comparison to those in bulk water. The most marked slowdown was observed for the most hydrophilic protein studied, bovine serum albumin, whereas the most hydrophobic protein, trypsin, had a slightly smaller effect. The terahertz Raman spectra of these protein solutions resemble those of pure water up to 5 wt % of protein, above which a new feature appears at 80 cm–1, which is assigned to a bending of the protein amide chain
RAYLEIGH SCATTERING: COLLISIONAL MOTIONS IN
This research was supported by the Atomic Energy Commission. Present address: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.""Author Institution: Department of Physics, The Catholic University of AmericaMeasurements of light scattered in the Rayleigh wing were made over the range from 5 to in , , , , , , and . These data when compared with earlier data on Ar, Xe, and SnBr, indicate that in all of these liquids there is present the essentially exponential frequency dependence typical of collision induced effects. A calculation of the spectrum for large frequency shifts based on a binary interaction picture employing a Lennard-Jones potential and a short range electronic overlap distortion model agrees well with the experimental results in liquid argon. Further, assuming that molecular frame distortion is proportional to the interaction force, a similar calculation yields excellent agreement for the molecular systems. It is concluded that isolated binary interactions are mainly responsible for the spectral density in the wings of the Rayleigh Spectrum
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