1,392 research outputs found
Amorphous interface layer in thin graphite films grown on the carbon face of SiC
Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is used to
characterize an amorphous layer observed at the interface in graphite and
graphene films grown via thermal decomposition of C-face 4H-SiC. The amorphous
layer does not to cover the entire interface, but uniform contiguous regions
span microns of cross-sectional interface. Annular dark field scanning
transmission electron microscopy (ADF-STEM) images and electron energy loss
spectroscopy (EELS) demonstrate that the amorphous layer is a carbon-rich
composition of Si/C. The amorphous layer is clearly observed in samples grown
at 1600{\deg}C for a range of growth pressures in argon, but not at
1500{\deg}C, suggesting a temperature-dependent formation mechanism
Concurrent growth rate and transcript analyses reveal essential gene stringency in Escherichia coli
BACKGROUND: Genes essential for bacterial growth are of particular scientific interest. Many putative essential genes have been identified or predicted in several species, however, little is known about gene expression requirement stringency, which may be an important aspect of bacterial physiology and likely a determining factor in drug target development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Working from the premise that essential genes differ in absolute requirement for growth, we describe silencing of putative essential genes in E. coli to obtain a titration of declining growth rates and transcript levels by using antisense peptide nucleic acids (PNA) and expressed antisense RNA. The relationship between mRNA decline and growth rate decline reflects the degree of essentiality, or stringency, of an essential gene, which is here defined by the minimum transcript level for a 50% reduction in growth rate (MTL(50)). When applied to four growth essential genes, both RNA silencing methods resulted in MTL(50) values that reveal acpP as the most stringently required of the four genes examined, with ftsZ the next most stringently required. The established antibacterial targets murA and fabI were less stringently required. CONCLUSIONS: RNA silencing can reveal stringent requirements for gene expression with respect to growth. This method may be used to validate existing essential genes and to quantify drug target requirement.Peer reviewe
Nanometer-scale sharpness in corner-overgrown heterostructures
A corner-overgrown GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure is investigated with
transmission and scanning transmission electron microscopy, demonstrating
self-limiting growth of an extremely sharp corner profile of 3.5 nm width. In
the AlGaAs layers we observe self-ordered diagonal stripes, precipitating
exactly at the corner, which are regions of increased Al content measured by an
XEDS analysis. A quantitative model for self-limited growth is adapted to the
present case of faceted MBE growth, and the corner sharpness is discussed in
relation to quantum confined structures. We note that MBE corner overgrowth
maintains nm-sharpness even after microns of growth, allowing the realization
of corner-shaped nanostructures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Multi-mode photonic crystal fibers for VCSEL based data transmission
Quasi error-free 10 Gbit/s data transmission is demonstrated over a novel
type of 50 micron core diameter photonic crystal fiber with as much as 100 m
length. Combined with 850$ nm VCSEL sources, this fiber is an attractive
alternative to graded-index multi-mode fibers for datacom applications. A
comparison to numerical simulations suggests that the high bit-rate may be
partly explained by inter-modal diffusion.Comment: Accepted for Optics Expres
Response of Multi-strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber
A prototype of Multi-strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate chamber (MMRPC) with
active area 40 cm 20 cm has been developed at SINP, Kolkata. Detailed
response of the developed detector was studied with the pulsed electron beam
from ELBE at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. In this report the response
of SINP developed MMRPC with different controlling parameters is described in
details. The obtained time resolution () of the detector after slew
correction was 91.53 ps. Position resolution measured along ()
and across () the strip was 2.80.6 cm and 0.58 cm, respectively.
The measured absolute efficiency of the detector for minimum ionizing particle
like electron was 95.81.3 . Better timing resolution of the detector
can be achieved by restricting the events to a single strip. The response of
the detector was mainly in avalanche mode but a few percentage of streamer mode
response was also observed. A comparison of the response of these two modes
with trigger rate was studiedComment: 19 pages, 26 figure
Gas mixing system for imaging of nanomaterials under dynamic environments by environmental transmission electron microscopy
A gas mixing manifold system that is capable of delivering a stable pressure stream of a desired composition of gases into an environmental transmission electron microscope has been developed. The system is designed to provide a stable imaging environment upon changes of either the composition of the gas mixture or upon switching from one gas to another. The design of the system is described and the response of the pressure inside the microscope, the sample temperature, and sample drift in response to flow and composition changes of the system are reported. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC
Efficiency determination of resistive plate chambers for fast quasi-monoenergetic neutrons
Composite detectors made of stainless steel converters and multigap resistive
plate chambers have been irradiated with quasi-monoenergetic neutrons with a
peak energy of 175MeV. The neutron detection efficiency has been determined
using two different methods. The data are in agreement with the output of Monte
Carlo simulations. The simulations are then extended to study the response of a
hypothetical array made of these detectors to energetic neutrons from a
radioactive ion beam experiment.Comment: Submitted to Eur.Phys.J. A; upgraded version correcting some typos
and updating ref.
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