1,177 research outputs found
Chalcogenide phase change materials for nanoscale switching
Since the demonstration of threshold switching in chalcogenide alloys over forty five years ago, phase change materials have been extensively investigated for switching and data storage applications. Phase change switching is based on the reversible change between crystalline and amorphous states of a material and in many chalcogenides this change of state takes place in nanoseconds
Metamaterial electro-optic switch of nanoscale thickness
We demonstrate an innovative concept for nanoscale electro-optic switching. It exploits the frequency shift of a narrow-band Fano resonance mode in a plasmonic planar metamaterial induced by a change in the dielectric properties of an adjacent chalcogenide glass layer. An electrically stimulated transition between amorphous and crystalline forms of the glass brings about a 150 nm shift in the near-infrared resonance providing transmission modulation with a contrast ratio of 4:1 in a device of subwavelength thickness
Characteristics of the grain-filling process and starch accumulation of high-yield common buckwheat âcv. Fengtian 1â and tartary buckwheat âcv. Jingqiao 2â
High-yield common buckwheat âcv. Fengtian 1â (FT1) and tartary buckwheat âcv. Jingqiao 2â (JQ2) were selected to investigate the characteristics of the grain-filling process and starch accumulation of high-yield buckwheat. FT1 had an average yield that was 43.0% higher than that of the control âcv. Tongliaobendixiaoliâ (TLBDXL) in two growing seasons, while JQ2 had an average yield that was 27.3% higher than that of the control âcv. Chuanqiao 2â (CQ2). The Richards equation was utilized to evaluate the grain-filling process of buckwheat. Both FT1 and JQ2 showed higher values of initial growth power and final grain weight and longer linear increase phase, compared with respective control. These values suggest that the higher initial increasing rate and the longer active growth period during grain filling play important roles to increase buckwheat yield. Similar patterns of starch, amylose and amylopectin accumulation were detected in common buckwheat, leading to similar concentration of each constituent at maturity in FT1 and TLBDXL. Tartary buckwheat showed an increasing accumulation pattern of amylose in developing seeds, which differed from that of starch and amylopectin. This pattern led to a significant difference of the concentrations of amylose and amylopectin at maturity between JQ2 and CQ2, the mechanisms of which remained unclear. Nevertheless, both FT1 and JQ2 showed increased starch, amylose, and amylopectin accumulation during the physiological maturity of grains. The results suggest that prolonging the active grain-filling period to increase carbohydrate partitioning from source to seed sink can be an effective strategy to improve buckwheat yield
Determining the structure of Ru(0001) from low-energy electron diffraction of a single terrace
While a perfect hcp (0001) surface has three-fold symmetry, the diffraction
patterns commonly obtained are six-fold symmetric. This apparent change in
symmetry occurs because on a stepped surface, the atomic layers on adjacent
terraces are rotated by 180 degrees. Here we use a Low-Energy Electron
Microscope to acquire the three-fold diffraction pattern from a single hcp Ru
terrace and measure the intensity-vs-energy curves for several diffracted
beams. By means of multiple scattering calculations fitted to the experimental
data with a Pendry R-factor of 0.077, we find that the surface is contracted by
3.5(+-0.9) at 456 K.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Corrected some typos, added more details.
Accepted for publication in Surface Science (Letters
The use of rapid prototyping in the design of a customised ankle brace structure for ACL injury risk reduction.
Rapid prototyping, or additive manufacturing, is becoming more useful in creating functional prototypes, especially when customisation is required. This paper explores the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing in designing a customised ankle brace structure for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk reduction. A new process is proposed to obtain ankle flexion angles and the corresponding foot surface strain associated with high ACL injury risks through motion analysis. This data is used in the design of the customised ankle brace structure and printed using rapid prototyping. One customised ankle brace structure was printed and tested to demonstrate this proposed framework. The ankle flexion range of motion (ROM) was significantly reduced in the high-risk ankle positions with the ankle brace structure. Rapid prototyping could thus be used to design customised ankle brace structures and this is useful in reducing fabrication time and complexity of customisation. Š 2013 Taylor & Francis
Gibraltar at the United Nations: Caught between a treaty, the charter and the 'fundamentalism' of the special committee
On account of Spainâs long-standing claim to the sovereignty of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, âthe Rockâ remains one of sixteen non-self-governing territories on the United Nations list awaiting decolonization. This article examines the principles of
self-determination and territorial integrity adopted by the United Nations in consideration of the issue of decolonization as they have been applied to Gibraltar, together with the consequences for the parties concerned. With the fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Resolution on decolonization on the horizon and the recent adoption by Gibraltar of what is considered to be a noncolonial constitution, the article suggests that it is timely for the United Nations to consider taking a more flexible approach to Gibraltarâs status that would put to one side Spainâs claim but allow Gibraltar to be removed from the UN list
Bcc He as a Coherent Quantum Solid
In this work we investigate implications of the quantum nature of bcc %
He. We show that it is a unique solid phase with both a lattice structure and
an Off-Diagonal Long Range Order of coherently oscillating local electric
dipole moments. These dipoles arise from the local motion of the atoms in the
crystal potential well, and oscillate in synchrony to reduce the dipolar
interaction energy. The dipolar ground-state is therefore found to be a
coherent state with a well defined global phase and a three-component complex
order parameter. The condensation energy of the dipoles in the bcc phase
stabilizes it over the hcp phase at finite temperatures. We further show that
there can be fermionic excitations of this ground-state and predict that they
form an optical-like branch in the (110) direction. A comparison with
'super-solid' models is also discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Exploration of hyperfine interaction between constituent quarks via eta productions
In this work, the different exchange freedom, one gluon, one pion or
Goldstone boson, in constituent quark model is investigated, which is
responsible to the hyperfine interaction between constituent quarks, via the
combined analysis of the eta production processes,
and . With the Goldstone-boson exchange, as well as
the one-gluon or one-pion exchange, both the spectrum and observables, such as,
the differential cross section and polarized beam asymmetry, are fitted to the
suggested values of Particle Data Group and the experimental data. The first
two types of exchange freedoms give acceptable description of the spectrum and
observables while the one pion exchange can not describe the observables and
spectrum simultaneously, so can be excluded. The experimental data for the two
processes considered here strongly support the mixing angles for two lowest S11
sates and D13 states as about -30 and 6 degree respectively.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 4 table
The Consistent Result of Cosmological Constant From Quantum Cosmology and Inflation with Born-Infeld Scalar Field
The Quantum cosmology with Born-Infeld(B-I) type scalar field is considered.
In the extreme limits of small cosmological scale factor the wave function of
the universe can also be obtained by applying the methods developed by
Hartle-Hawking(H-H) and Vilenkin. H-H wave function predicts that most Probable
cosmological constant equals to (
equals to the maximum of the kinetic energy of scalar field). It is different
from the original results() in cosmological constant obtained by
Hartle-Hawking. The Vilenkin wave function predicts a nucleating unverse with
largest possible cosmological constant and it is larger than . The
conclusions have been nicely to reconcile with cosmic inflation. We investigate
the inflation model with B-I type scalar field, and find that depends on
the amplitude of tensor perturbation , with the form
The vacuum energy in inflation epoch depends on the
tensor-to-scalar ratio . The amplitude of the
tensor perturbation can, in principle, be large enough to be
discovered. However, it is only on the border of detectability in future
experiments. If it has been observed in future, this is very interesting to
determine the vacuum energy in inflation epoch.Comment: 12 pages, one figure, references added, accepted by European Physical
Journal
Active photonic metamaterials
Nanostructured photonic metamaterials with narrow-band responses provide a promising platform for applications ranging from slow-light and polarization control to optical modulation and the 'lasing spaser'. We show that the introduction of functional (nonlinear, switchable, gain, etc.) media into such structures provides a powerful paradigm for the active control of their resonant properties, for the enhancement of nonlinear responses and for strong switching performance in sub-wavelength devices
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