Engineering the composition, morphology, and optical properties of InAsSb nanostructures via graded growth technique

Graded growth technique is utilized to realize the control over the composition, morphology, and optical properties of self-assembled InAsSb/InGaAs/InP nanostructures. By increasing the initial mole fraction of the Sb precursor during the graded growth of InAsSb, more Sb atoms can be incorporated into the InAsSb nanostructures despite the same Sb mole fraction averaged over the graded growth. This leads to a shape change from dots to dashes/wires for the InAsSb nanostructures. As a result of the composition and morphology change, photoluminescence from the InAsSb nanostructures shows different polarization and temperature characteristics. This work demonstrates a technologically important technique—graded growth, to control the growth and the resultant physical properties of self-assembled semiconductor nanostructures.Financial support from Australian Research Council is gratefully acknowledged

The effect of manganese oxide on the sinterability of hydroxyapatite

The sinterability of manganese oxide (MnO2) doped hydroxyapatite (HA) ranging from 0.05 to 1 wt% was investigated. Green samples were prepared and sintered in air at temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1400 °C. Sintered bodies were characterized to determine the phase stability, grain size, bulk density, hardness, fracture toughness and Young's modulus. XRD analysis revealed that the HA phase stability was not disrupted throughout the sintering regime employed. In general, samples containing less than 0.5 wt% MnO2 and when sintered at lower temperatures exhibited higher mechanical properties than the undoped HA. The study revealed that all the MnO2-doped HA achieved >99% relative density when sintered at 1100–1250 °C as compared to the undoped HA which could only attained highest value of 98.9% at 1150 °C. The addition of 0.05 wt% MnO2 was found to be most beneficial as the samples exhibited the highest hardness of 7.58 GPa and fracture toughness of 1.65 MPam1/2 as compared to 5.72 GPa and 1.22 MPam1/2 for the undoped HA when sintered at 1000 °C. Additionally, it was found that the MnO2-doped samples attained E values above 110 GPa when sintered at temperature as low as 1000 °C if compared to 1050 °C for the undoped HA

Protostellar Feedback Processes and the Mass of the First Stars

We review theoretical models of Population III.1 star formation, focusing on the protostellar feedback processes that are expected to terminate accretion and thus set the mass of these stars. We discuss how dark matter annihilation may modify this standard feedback scenario. Then, under the assumption that dark matter annihilation is unimportant, we predict the mass of stars forming in 12 cosmological minihalos produced in independent numerical simulations. This allows us to make a simple estimate of the Pop III.1 initial mass function and how it may evolve with redshift.Comment: 6 pages, Proceedings of 'The First Stars and Galaxies: Challenges for the Next Decade", Austin, TX, March 8-11, 201

Stress-intensity factor calculations using the boundary force method

The Boundary Force Method (BFM) was formulated for the three fundamental problems of elasticity: the stress boundary value problem, the displacement boundary value problem, and the mixed boundary value problem. Because the BFM is a form of an indirect boundary element method, only the boundaries of the region of interest are modeled. The elasticity solution for the stress distribution due to concentrated forces and a moment applied at an arbitrary point in a cracked infinite plate is used as the fundamental solution. Thus, unlike other boundary element methods, here the crack face need not be modeled as part of the boundary. The formulation of the BFM is described and the accuracy of the method is established by analyzing a center-cracked specimen subjected to mixed boundary conditions and a three-hole cracked configuration subjected to traction boundary conditions. The results obtained are in good agreement with accepted numerical solutions. The method is then used to generate stress-intensity solutions for two common cracked configurations: an edge crack emanating from a semi-elliptical notch, and an edge crack emanating from a V-notch. The BFM is a versatile technique that can be used to obtain very accurate stress intensity factors for complex crack configurations subjected to stress, displacement, or mixed boundary conditions. The method requires a minimal amount of modeling effort

Adipokinetic effect of corpora cardiaca extract in Valanga nigricornis (Burm.)

1. The effect of injection of corpora cardiaca (CC) extract on haemolymph lipid concentration of V. nigricornis was studied. 2. The CC extract caused a marked increase in the haemolymph lipid, which attained a peak at about 1 1/2 hr after injection. At longer intervals of up to 4 hr, this response was markedly diminished. 3. The results were considered in relation to the natural habit of the insect; it is suggested that the adipokinetic effect probably represents an adaptive mechanism to non-flight physiological conditions like starvation

Boundary force method for analyzing two-dimensional cracked bodies

The Boundary Force Method (BFM) was formulated for the two-dimensional stress analysis of complex crack configurations. In this method, only the boundaries of the region of interest are modeled. The boundaries are divided into a finite number of straight-line segments, and at the center of each segment, concentrated forces and a moment are applied. This set of unknown forces and moments is calculated to satisfy the prescribed boundary conditions of the problem. The elasticity solution for the stress distribution due to concentrated forces and a moment applied at an arbitrary point in a cracked infinite plate are used as the fundamental solution. Thus, the crack need not be modeled as part of the boundary. The formulation of the BFM is described and the accuracy of the method is established by analyzing several crack configurations for which accepted stress-intensity factor solutions are known. The crack configurations investigated include mode I and mixed mode (mode I and II) problems. The results obtained are, in general, within + or - 0.5 percent of accurate numerical solutions. The versatility of the method is demonstrated through the analysis of complex crack configurations for which limited or no solutions are known

Nuclear isotope thermometry

We discuss different aspects which could influence temperatures deduced from experimental isotopic yields in the multifragmentation process. It is shown that fluctuations due to the finite size of the system and distortions due to the decay of hot primary fragments conspire to blur the temperature determination in multifragmentation reactions. These facts suggest that caloric curves obtained through isotope thermometers, which were taken as evidence for a first-order phase transition in nuclear matter, should be investigated very carefully.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

An adaptive controller for photovoltaic emulator using artificial neural network

The photovoltaic (PV) emulator is a nonlinear power supply that features the similar characteristic of the PV module. However, the nonlinear characteristic of the PV module causes instability of the PV emulator output. The conventional solution is to operate the PV emulator in the overdamped condition which results in a poor dynamic performance. This drawback is solved by manipulating the proportional and integral gains of the proportional-integral (PI) controller. In this paper, the artificial neural network is used in the adaptive PI controller to maintain a stable and fast dynamic response of the PV emulator. This has been simulated with varied output resistance and irradiance. By comparing the proposed control strategy with the conventional method during start-up response of the photovoltaic emulator, the dynamic performance of the output current has shown an improvement of up to 80 % faster than the conventional method