528 research outputs found
Broadband energy-efficient optical modulation by hybrid integration of silicon nanophotonics and organic electro-optic polymer
Silicon-organic hybrid integrated devices have emerging applications ranging
from high-speed optical interconnects to photonic electromagnetic-field
sensors. Silicon slot photonic crystal waveguides (PCWs) filled with
electro-optic (EO) polymers combine the slow-light effect in PCWs with the high
polarizability of EO polymers, which promises the realization of
high-performance optical modulators. In this paper, a broadband,
power-efficient, low-dispersion, and compact optical modulator based on an EO
polymer filled silicon slot PCW is presented. A small voltage-length product of
V{\pi}*L=0.282Vmm is achieved, corresponding to an unprecedented record-high
effective in-device EO coefficient (r33) of 1230pm/V. Assisted by a backside
gate voltage, the modulation response up to 50GHz is observed, with a 3-dB
bandwidth of 15GHz, and the estimated energy consumption is 94.4fJ/bit at
10Gbit/s. Furthermore, lattice-shifted PCWs are utilized to enhance the optical
bandwidth by a factor of ~10X over other modulators based on
non-band-engineered PCWs and ring-resonators.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, SPIE Photonics West Conference 201
Topological linear magnetoresistivity and thermoconductivity induced by noncentrosymmetric Berry curvature
The Berry curvature plays a key role in the magnetic transport of topological
materials. Yet, it is not clear whether the Berry curvature by itself can give
rise to universal transport phenomena with specific scaling behaviors. In this
work, based on the semiclassical Boltzmann formalism and the symmetry analysis,
we show that the noncentrosymmetric distribution of the Berry curvature
generally results in linear magnetoresistivity and thermoconductivity both
exhibiting the B-scaling behavior. We then study such kind of topological
linear magnetoresistivity in the 2D MnBi2Te4 flakes and the 3D
spin-orbit-coupled electron gas, the former showing good agreement with the
experimental observations. The difference between our mechanism and the
conventional anisotropic magnetoresistance is elucidated. Our theory proposes a
universal scenario for the topological linear magnetoresistivity and
thermoconductivity and predicts such effects to occur in various materials,
which also provides a reasonable explanation for the recent observations of
linear magnetoresistivity
A review on the occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment and their fate and removal during wastewater treatment
Micropollutants are emerging as a new challenge to the scientific community. This review provides a summary of the recent occurrence of micropollutants in the aquatic environment including sewage, surface water, groundwater and drinking water. The discharge of treated effluent from WWTPs is a major pathway for the introduction of micropollutants to surface water. WWTPs act as primary barriers against the spread of micropollutants. WWTP removal efficiency of the selected micropollutants in 14 countries/regions depicts compound-specific variation in removal, ranging from 12.5 to 100%. Advanced treatment processes, such as activated carbon adsorption, advanced oxidation processes, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, and membrane bioreactors can achieve higher and more consistent micropollutant removal. However, regardless of what technology is employed, the removal of micropollutants depends on physico-chemical properties of micropollutants and treatment conditions. The evaluation of micropollutant removal from municipal wastewater should cover a series of aspects from sources to end uses. After the release of micropollutants, a better understanding and modeling of their fate in surface water is essential for effectively predicting their impacts on the receiving environment. © 2013 Elsevier B.V
Removal and fate of micropollutants in a sponge-based moving bed bioreactor
This study investigated the removal of micropollutants using polyurethane sponge as attached-growth carrier. Batch experiments demonstrated that micropollutants could adsorb to non-acclimatized sponge cubes to varying extents. Acclimatized sponge showed significantly enhanced removal of some less hydrophobic compounds (log. D<. 2.5), such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen, and estriol, as compared with non-acclimatized sponge. The results for bench-scale sponge-based moving bed bioreactor (MBBR) system elucidated compound-specific variation in removal, ranging from 25.9% (carbamazepine) to 96.8% (β-Estradiol 17-acetate) on average. In the MBBR system, biodegradation served as a major removal pathway for most compounds. However, sorption to sludge phase was also a notable removal mechanism of some persistent micropollutants. Particularly, carbamazepine, ketoprofen and pentachlorophenol were found at high concentrations (7.87, 6.05 and 5.55. μg/g, respectively) on suspended biosolids. As a whole, the effectiveness of MBBR for micropollutant removal was comparable with those of activated sludge processes and MBRs. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd
Effect of non-phytate phosphorus levels and phytase sources on the growth performance, serum biochemical and tibial parameters of broiler chickens
A 3×3 fattorial arrangement with dietary non-phytate phosphorus (NPP) levels and phytase sources (3- and 6-phytase) was conducted to evaluate the effects of NPP levels, phytase sources and their possible interactions on growth performance, serum biochemical and tibia parameters of broiler chickens from hatch to 42 days of age. A total of 540 1-day-old Arbor Acres male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into nine dietary treatments, each containing 5 replicates pens with 12 birds per pen. Interaction was statistically significant in the performance till day 21 of trial, supplementation of low NPP diet decreased body weight (BW) (P<0.001), depressed average daily gain (ADG) (P<0.001) and deteriorated average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P<0.001) over day 42. During the 8-to-21-day period, even if interaction between NPP levels and phytase sources was significant (P<0.01), BW, ADG and ADFI always increased due to dietary supplementation of phytase, with source not differing. Dietary high NPP enhanced serum calcium and P concentrations on day 21 and 42 (linear contrast, P<0.01), while decreased alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity on day 42 (linear contrast, P<0.001), and interaction was not significant. Both dietary sources of phytase decreased serum AKP activities on day 42 (P<0.001), and urea nitrogen content on day 21 (P<0.01) and 42 (P<0.001). Both phytase improved ash percentage on day 21 and P content in tibia at 21 and 42 days of age (P<0.001). The results confirmed that dietary supplementation of phytase may enhance P availability during the 8-to-21-day period. Nevertheless, no difference between the two phytase sources was observed
Quasi-spin Model for Macroscopic Quantum Tunnelling between Two Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates
The macroscopic quantum tunneling between two coupled Bose-Einstein
condensates (BEC) (radio-frequency coupled two-component BECs or two BECs
confined in a double-well potential) is mapped onto the tunneling of an
uniaxial spin with an applied magnetic field. The tunneling exponent is
calculated with an imaginary-time path-integral method. In the limit of low
barrier, the dependence of tunneling exponent on the system parameters is
obtained, and the crossover temperature from thermal regime to quantum regime
is estimated. The detailed information about the tunnelling will give help to
control population conversion between coupled BECs and realize quantum
computation with coupled BECs.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Phys.Rev.
A Binary-Medium Constitutive Model for Artificially Structured Soils Based on the Disturbed State Concept and Homogenization Theory
Triaxial compression tests were carried out on artificially structured soil samples at confining pressures of 25, 37.5, 50, 100, 200, and 400 kPa. A binary-medium constitutive model for artificially structured soils is proposed based on the experimental results, the disturbed state concept (DSC), and homogenization theory. A new constitutive model for artificially structured soils was formulated by regarding the structured soils as a binary medium consisting of bonded blocks and weakened bands. The bonded blocks are idealized as bonded elements whose deformation properties are described by elastic materials, and the weakened bands are idealized as frictional elements whose deformation properties are described by the Lade-Duncan model. By introducing the structural parameters of breakage ratio and local strain coefficient, the nonuniform distribution of stress and strain within a representative volume element can be given based on the homogenization theory of heterogeneous materials. The methods for determination of the model parameters are given on the basis of experimental results. Comparisons of predictions with experimental data demonstrate that the new model provides satisfactory qualitative and quantitative modeling of many important features of artificially structured soils
Growth and characterization of A_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2 (A = Ba, Sr) single crystals with x=0 - 0.4
Single crystals of AKFeAs (A=Ba, Sr) with high quality
have been grown successfully by FeAs self-flux method. The samples have sizes
up to 4 mm with flat and shiny surfaces. The X-ray diffraction patterns suggest
that they have high crystalline quality and c-axis orientation. The
non-superconducting crystals show a spin-density-wave (SDW) instability at
about 173 K and 135 K for Sr-based and Ba-based compound, respectively. After
doping K as the hole dopant into the BaFeAs system, the SDW transition
is smeared, and superconducting samples with the compound of
BaKFeAs (0 0.4) are obtained. The
superconductors characterized by AC susceptibility and resistivity measurements
exhibit very sharp superconducting transition at about 36 K, 32 K, 27 K and 23
K for x= 0.40,0.28,0.25 and 0.23, respectively.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. This paper together with new data are
modified into a new pape
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