377 research outputs found
Expatriate leaders’ leadership styles vs. local subordinates’ perspectives in a United Arab Emirates higher education institution
This is the final version. Available on open access from the Institute of Rhetoric and Communications via the link in this recordThe main aim of this small scale qualitative pilot exploratory study is to examine how the local subordinates in one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) higher education institutions perceive their expatriate western leaders’ behaviors, what work and personal relationship is established between them, what leadership skills, if any, the UAE local subordinates think their expatriate leaders need to improve or develop to cope with their culture, and what strategies the UAE local subordinates use to adapt to their expatriate leaders’ behaviors. Semi-structured interviews were used to interview three UAE local subordinates in a higher education institution. The purpose was particularly to answer the following research questions as perceived by the local subordinates: 1) What were your expectations of the expatriate leadership? 2) How would you describe your relation with your expatriate leader? 3) What skills do you think your leader needs to develop to cope with your cultural norms? 4) What strategies do you use to cope with your leader’s behaviors? The main findings show a significant contradiction between what local subordinates expected from their expatriate leaders and their perceptions of leadership behavior
Structural, Electronic, and Vibrational Properties of Amino-adamantane and Rimantadine Isomers
We performed a first principles total energy investigation on the structural,
electronic, and vibrational properties of adamantane molecules, functionalized
with amine and ethanamine groups. We computed the vibrational signatures of
amantadine and rimantadine isomers with the functional groups bonded to
different carbon sites. By comparing our results with recent infrared and Raman
spectroscopic data, we discuss the possible presence of different isomers in
experimental samples
Crystal engineering using functionalized adamantane
We performed a first principles investigation on the structural, electronic,
and optical properties of crystals made of chemically functionalized adamantane
molecules. Several molecular building blocks, formed by boron and nitrogen
substitutional functionalizations, were considered to build zincblende and
wurtzite crystals, and the resulting structures presented large bulk moduli and
cohesive energies, wide and direct bandgaps, and low dielectric constants
(low- materials). Those properties provide stability for such
structures up to room temperature, superior to those of typical molecular
crystals. This indicates a possible road map for crystal engineering using
functionalized diamondoids, with potential applications ranging from space
filling between conducting wires in nanodevices to nano-electro-mechanical
systems
Mid-infrared emission and absorption in strained and relaxed direct bandgap GeSn semiconductors
By independently engineering strain and composition, this work demonstrates
and investigates direct band gap emission in the mid-infrared range from GeSn
layers grown on silicon. We extend the room-temperature emission wavelength
above ~4.0 {\mu}m upon post-growth strain relaxation in layers with uniform Sn
content of 17 at.%. The fundamental mechanisms governing the optical emission
are discussed based on temperature-dependent photoluminescence, absorption
measurements, and theoretical simulations. Regardless of strain and
composition, these analyses confirm that single-peak emission is always
observed in the probed temperature range of 4-300 K, ruling out defect- and
impurity-related emission. Moreover, carrier losses into thermally-activated
non-radiative recombination channels are found to be greatly minimized as a
result of strain relaxation. Absorption measurements validate the direct band
gap absorption in strained and relaxed samples at energies closely matching
photoluminescence data. These results highlight the strong potential of GeSn
semiconductors as versatile building blocks for scalable, compact, and
silicon-compatible mid-infrared photonics and quantum opto-electronics
Functionalized adamantane: fundamental building blocks for nanostructure self-assembly
We report first principles calculations on the electronic and structural
properties of chemically functionalized adamantane molecules, either in
isolated or crystalline forms. Boron and nitrogen functionalized molecules,
aza-, tetra-aza-, bora-, and tetra-bora-adamantane, were found to be very
stable in terms of energetics, consistent with available experimental data.
Additionally, a hypothetical molecular crystal in a zincblende structure,
involving the pair tetra-bora-adamantane and tetra-aza-adamantane, was
investigated. This molecular crystal presented a direct and large electronic
bandgap and a bulk modulus of 20 GPa. The viability of using those
functionalized molecules as fundamental building blocks for nanostructure
self-assembly is discussed
Vacancy complexes in nonequilibrium germanium-tin semiconductors
Understanding the nature and behavior of vacancy-like defects in epitaxial
GeSn metastable alloys is crucial to elucidate the structural and
optoelectronic properties of these emerging semiconductors. The formation of
vacancies and their complexes is expected to be promoted by the relatively low
substrate temperature required for the epitaxial growth of GeSn layers with Sn
contents significantly above the equilibrium solubility of 1 at.%. These
defects can impact both the microstructure and charge carrier lifetime. Herein,
to identify the vacancy-related complexes and probe their evolution as a
function of Sn content, depth-profiled pulsed low-energy positron annihilation
lifetime spectroscopy and Doppler broadening spectroscopy were combined to
investigate GeSn epitaxial layers with Sn content in the 6.5-13.0 at.% range.
The samples were grown by chemical vapor deposition method at temperatures
between 300 and 330 {\deg}C. Regardless of the Sn content, all GeSn samples
showed the same depth-dependent increase in the positron annihilation line
broadening parameters, which confirmed the presence of open volume defects. The
measured average positron lifetimes were the highest (380-395 ps) in the region
near the surface and monotonically decrease across the analyzed thickness, but
remain above 350 ps. All GeSn layers exhibit lifetimes that are 85 to 110 ps
higher than the Ge reference layers. Surprisingly, these lifetimes were found
to decrease as Sn content increases in GeSn layers. These measurements indicate
that divacancies are the dominant defect in the as-grown GeSn layers. However,
their corresponding lifetime was found to be shorter than in epitaxial Ge thus
suggesting that the presence of Sn may alter the structure of divacancies.
Additionally, GeSn layers were found to also contain a small fraction of
vacancy clusters, which become less important as Sn content increases
Strain engineering in Ge/GeSn core/shell nanowires
Strain engineering in Sn-rich group IV semiconductors is a key enabling
factor to exploit the direct band gap at mid-infrared wavelengths. Here, we
investigate the effect of strain on the growth of GeSn alloys in a Ge/GeSn
core/shell nanowire geometry. Incorporation of Sn content in the 10-20 at.%
range is achieved with Ge core diameters ranging from 50nm to 100nm. While the
smaller cores lead to the formation of a regular and homogeneous GeSn shell,
larger cores lead to the formation of multi-faceted sidewalls and broadened
segregation domains, inducing the nucleation of defects. This behavior is
rationalized in terms of the different residual strain, as obtained by
realistic finite element method simulations. The extended analysis of the
strain relaxation as a function of core and shell sizes, in comparison with the
conventional planar geometry, provides a deeper understanding of the role of
strain in the epitaxy of metastable GeSn semiconductors
Electronic properties and hyperfine fields of nickel-related complexes in diamond
We carried out a first principles investigation on the microscopic properties
of nickel-related defect centers in diamond. Several configurations, involving
substitutional and interstitial nickel impurities, have been considered either
in isolated configurations or forming complexes with other defects, such as
vacancies and boron and nitrogen dopants. The results, in terms of spin,
symmetry, and hyperfine fields, were compared with the available experimental
data on electrically active centers in synthetic diamond. Several microscopic
models, previously proposed to explain those data, have been confirmed by this
investigation, while some models could be discarded. We also provided new
insights on the microscopic structure of several of those centers.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
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