Characterization of the Field Emission Properties of Carbon Nanotubes Formed on Silicon Carbide Substrates by Surface Decomposition

Dense arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) form on the surface of silicon carbide wafers during high temperature anneals under moderate vacuum conditions. The novelty of this growth method is that the CNTs form without the aid of a metal catalyst, allowing for potentially impurity-free CNTs to form. In this study, CNT films were grown by the surface decomposition of silicon carbide substrates. The associated field emission characteristics were investigated to determine if films grown using this method possessed advantages over films grown using metal-catalyzed methods. The associated turn-on and threshold voltages, maximum current density, and emission current stability of the CNT films were measured using a standard vacuum tube diode test configuration. Although the samples tested did not demonstrate improved field emission characteristics when compared to values found in the literature for catalyst-grown CNT films, the data collected compares well with data in the literature and shows that further investigation is warranted regarding the emission capabilities of CNT films formed on SiC by surface decomposition. From the measured CNT data, the lowest turn-on electric field was found to be lower than 3.0 V/micrometers, while exhibiting a high maximum current density of 4.25 mA/sq cm at 6.7 V/micrometers

Early phrenic motor neuron loss and transient respiratory abnormalities following unilateral cervical spinal cord contusion

Contusion-type cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most common forms of SCI observed in patients. In particular, injuries targeting the C3-C5 region affect the pool of phrenic motor neurons (PhMNs) that innervates the diaphragm, resulting in significant and often chronic respiratory dysfunction. Using a previously described rat model of unilateral midcervical C4 contusion with the Infinite Horizon Impactor, we have characterized the early time course of PhMN degeneration and consequent respiratory deficits following injury, as this knowledge is important for designing relevant treatment strategies targeting protection and plasticity of PhMN circuitry. PhMN loss (48% of the ipsilateral pool) occurred almost entirely during the first 24 h post-injury, resulting in persistent phrenic nerve axonal degeneration and denervation at the diaphragm neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Reduced diaphragm compound muscle action potential amplitudes following phrenic nerve stimulation were observed as early as the first day post-injury (30% of pre-injury maximum amplitude), with slow functional improvement over time that was associated with partial reinnervation at the diaphragm NMJ. Consistent with ipsilateral diaphragmatic compromise, the injury resulted in rapid, yet only transient, changes in overall ventilatory parameters measured via whole-body plethysmography, including increased respiratory rate, decreased tidal volume, and decreased peak inspiratory flow. Despite significant ipsilateral PhMN loss, the respiratory system has the capacity to quickly compensate for partially impaired hemidiaphragm function, suggesting that C4 hemicontusion in rats is a model of SCI that manifests subacute respiratory abnormalities. Collectively, these findings demonstrate significant and persistent diaphragm compromise in a clinically relevant model of midcervical contusion SCI; however, the therapeutic window for PhMN protection is restricted to early time points post-injury. On the contrary, preventing loss of innervation by PhMNs and/or inducing plasticity in spared PhMN axons at the diaphragm NMJ are relevant long-term targets

Strain and correlation of self-organized Ge_(1-x)Mn_x nanocolumns embedded in Ge (001)

We report on the structural properties of Ge_(1-x)Mn_x layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. In these layers, nanocolumns with a high Mn content are embedded in an almost-pure Ge matrix. We have used grazing-incidence X-ray scattering, atomic force and transmission electron microscopy to study the structural properties of the columns. We demonstrate how the elastic deformation of the matrix (as calculated using atomistic simulations) around the columns, as well as the average inter-column distance can account for the shape of the diffusion around Bragg peaks.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Modulation Response of a Long-cavity, Gain-levered Quantum-dot Semiconductor Laser

The gain-lever effect enhances the modulation efficiency of a semiconductor laser when compared to modulating the entire laser. This technique is investigated in a long-cavity multi-section quantum-dot laser where the length of the modulation section is varied to achieve 14:2, 15:1 and 0:16 gain-to-modulation section ratios. In this work, the gain-levered modulation configuration resulted in an increase in modulation efficiency by as much as 16 dB. This investigation also found that the 3-dB modulation bandwidth and modulation efficiency are dependent on the modulation section length of the device, indicating the existence of an optimal gain-to-modulation section ratio. The long cavity length of the multi-section laser yielded a distinctive case where characteristics of both the gain-lever effect and spatial effects are observed in the modulation response. Here, spatial effects within the cavity dominated the small-signal modulation response close to and above the cavity’s free-spectral range frequency, whereas the gain-lever effect influenced the modulation response throughout the entirety of the response

Optical feedback instabilities in a monolithic InAs/GaAs quantum dot passively mode-locked laser

International audienceThe impact of optical feedback on the direct performance of a monolithic InAs/GaAs quantum dot passively mode-locked laser intended for applications such as multigigahertz interchip/intrachip clock distribution is experimentally investigated. Evaluation of the feedback resistance is an important feature, as the laser is to be monolithically integrated on chip with other devices, in which case optical isolation is difficult. This work shows that a feedback level on the order of −24 dB is detrimental for mode-locking operation, enhancing noise in the rf electrical signal, strongly narrowing the useful mode-locking region as well as causing central frequency shift, and severe instabilities

Mixed integer programming in production planning with backlogging and setup carryover : modeling and algorithms

This paper proposes a mixed integer programming formulation for modeling the capacitated multi-level lot sizing problem with both backlogging and setup carryover. Based on the model formulation, a progressive time-oriented decomposition heuristic framework is then proposed, where improvement and construction heuristics are effectively combined, therefore efficiently avoiding the weaknesses associated with the one-time decisions made by other classical time-oriented decomposition algorithms. Computational results show that the proposed optimization framework provides competitive solutions within a reasonable time

Application of a strain- level shotgun metagenomics approach on food samples : resolution of the source of a Salmonella food-borne outbreak

Food- borne outbreak investigation currently relies on the time- consuming and challenging bacterial isolation from food, to be able to link food- derived strains to more easily obtained isolates from infected people. When no food isolate can be obtained, the source of the outbreak cannot be unambiguously determined. Shotgun metagenomics approaches applied to the food samples could circumvent this need for isolation from the suspected source, but require downstream strain- level data analysis to be able to accurately link to the human isolate. Until now, this approach has not yet been applied outside research settings to analyse real food- borne outbreak samples. In September 2019, a Salmonella outbreak occurred in a hotel school in Bruges, Belgium, affecting over 200 students and teachers. Following standard procedures, the Belgian National Reference Center for human salmonellosis and the National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella in food and feed used conventional analysis based on isolation, serotyping and MLVA (multilocus variable number tandem repeat analysis) comparison, followed by wholegenome sequencing, to confirm the source of the contamination over 2 weeks after receipt of the sample, which was freshly prepared tartar sauce in a meal cooked at the school. Our team used this outbreak as a case study to deliver a proof of concept for a short- read strain- level shotgun metagenomics approach for source tracking. We received two suspect food samples: the full meal and some freshly made tartar sauce served with this meal, requiring the use of raw eggs. After analysis, we could prove, without isolation, that Salmonella was present in both samples, and we obtained an inferred genome of a Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis that could be linked back to the human isolates of the outbreak in a phylogenetic tree. These metagenomics- derived outbreak strains were separated from sporadic cases as well as from another outbreak circulating in Europe at the same time period. This is, to our knowledge, the first Salmonella food- borne outbreak investigation uniquely linking the food source using a metagenomics approach and this in a fast time frame

Spin Reorientations Induced by Morphology Changes in Fe/Ag(001)

By means of magneto-optical Kerr effect we observe spin reorientations from in-plane to out-of-plane and vice versa upon annealing thin Fe films on Ag(001) at increasing temperatures. Scanning tunneling microscopy images of the different Fe films are used to quantify the surface roughness. The observed spin reorientations can be explained with the experimentally acquired roughness parameters by taking into account the effect of roughness on both the magnetic dipolar and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages with 3 EPS figure