Money Demand Accommodation: Impact on Macro-Dynamics and Policy Consequences

In this paper we account for the U.S. Fed's response to money demand shocks by allowing for less-than-complete accommodation in the estimation of its money supply policy rule. We estimate a significantly lower degree of money accommodation in the 1979-1982 period than before and after. We identify the path of money demand and money supply shocks and show their effects on the money market, output and inflation. Both money demand and money supply shocks have been considerably less destabilizing since 1984. We also find that monetary policy was significantly pro-cyclical in the 70s. Additionally, the price puzzle disappears for two of the three subperiods considered in the study.Money demand shocks, money demand accommodation, monetary policy procedures, macroeconomic dynamics

Plasmonics: Enabling functionalities with novel materials

The Guest Editors sincerely thank all of the authors for their contributing articles. We are grateful to the Journal of Applied Physics Driving Editors, Professor Rachel Goldman and Professor David Aspnes, for their support as well as the American Institute of Physics publishing staff for helping and promoting the Special Topic issue “Plasmonics: Enabling functionalities with novel materials.” The Guest Editors also acknowledge the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 899598 FET OPEN—PHEMTRONICS

Banks’ Net Interest Margin in the 2000s: A Macro-Accounting International Perspective

This paper re-examines the determinants of Net Interest Margin (NIM) in the banking industries of 15 developed and emerging economies. It presents three main contributions with respect to previous studies: first, we analyze the determinants of NIM in the years leading to the 2008 financial crisis; second, we account for the role of different accounting standards across countries; third, we use multi-way cluster estimation methodologies which control for cross-sectional and time-series dependence in macroeconomic and banking variables. We find that the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) contributed to lower NIM variations unexplained by standard accounting variables. Interest rate volatility is found to be positively and strongly related to NIM dynamics, whereas inflation risk is often found to be a relevant driver of NIM crosscountry differences

Time Series

This paper first shows that survey-based expectations (SBE) outperform standard time series models in U.S. quarterly inflation out-of-sample prediction and that the term structure of survey-based inflation forecasts has predictive power over the path of future inflation changes. It then proposes some empirical explanations for the forecasting success of survey-based inflation expectations. We show that SBE pool a large amount of heterogeneous information on inflation expectations and react more flexibly and accurately to macro conditions both contemporaneously and dynamically. We illustrate the flexibility of SBE forecasts in the context of the recent financial crisis

Interaction of nanoparticles with substrates: effects on the dipolar behaviour of the particles

In this work, we present a numerical analysis of the surface electric field of a metallic nanoparticle (either 2D or 3D) interacting with a flat substrate underneath. The influence of the distance to the substrate, particle size, the surrounding media and the substrate optical properties is analyzed as a function of the incident wavelength. We show that these are crucial factors that change the field distribution associated to the dipolar behavior of the particle. A useful parameter for illustrating the changes in the angular distribution is θmax , the angle at which the maximum of the surface electric field is located

Spectral response of dielectric nano-antennas in the far- and near-field regimes

Recent studies show that the spectral behaviour of localized surface plasmon resonances (LPSRs) in metallic nanoparticles su er from both a redshift and a broadening in the transition from the far- to the near-field regimes. An interpretation of this efect was given in terms of the evanescent and propagating components of the angular spectrum representation of the radiated eld. Due to the increasing interest awakened by magnetodielectric materials as a both low-loss material option for nanotechnology applications, and also for their particular scattering properties, here we study the spectral response of a magnetodielectric nanoparticle as a basic element of a dielectric nano-antenna. This study is made by analyzing the changes su ered by the scattered electromagnetic field when propagating from the surface of this dielectric nanostructure to the far-zone in terms of propagating and evanescent plane wave components of the radiated fields.This research was supported by MICINN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) with project FIS2013- 45854-P

Surface inspection by monitoring spectral shifts of localized plasmon resonances

We present a numerical study of the spectral variations of localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) in a 3D-probe metallic nanoparticle scanned over an inhomoegeneous dielectric surface. The possibilities for both, index monitoring and lateral resolution at nanoscale level are explored, with special attention paid to the shape of the probe and the profile of the near field underneath

Polar decomposition of the Mueller matrix: a polarimetric rule of thumb for square-profile surface structure recognition

In this research, the polar decomposition (PD) method is applied to experimental Mueller matrices (MMs) measured on two-dimensional microstructured surfaces. Polarization information is expressed through a set of parameters of easier physical interpretation. It is shown that evaluating the first derivative of the retardation parameter, δ, a clear indication of the presence of defects either built on or dug in the scattering flat surface (a silicon wafer in our case) can be obtained. Although the rule of thumb thus obtained is established through PD, it can be easily implemented on conventional surface polarimetry. These results constitute an example of the capabilities of the PD approach to MM analysis, and show a direct application in surface characterization

Reversible and non-volatile metal-to-insulator chemical transition in molybdenum oxide films

Significant effort is being dedicated to developing alternative materials whose optical properties can be controllably and reversibly modified. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the reversible non-volatile molybdenum oxides MoO3-to-MoO2 transition associated to a change from a metallic to a dielectric behavior through cycles of thermal annealing in air and hydrogen (H2). A full cycle is demonstrated by characterizing structurally and optically the transition using Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The potential applicability of the metal-to-insulator transition in MoOx is benchmarked through comparison with a canonical Mott insulator VO2 in a reconfigurable reflective configuration as well as in cladded waveguide schemes.European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (No 899598 – PHEMTRONICS

Spectral behavior of the linear polarization degree at right-angle scattering configuration for nanoparticle systems

We present a numerical study of the spectral evolution of the linear polarization degree at right-angle scattering configuration (PL(90º)) for two different particle systems: an isolated nanosphere and a nanodimer composed of two finite size spherical particles separated by a gap distance d. We shall focus on the influence of charge oscillation modes other than the dipolar on the linear polarization degree of the scattered light. The possibility of using this alternative parameter for characterizing nanoparticle systems and particle interaction is analyzed.We acknowledge financial support from USAITCA (US Army International Technology Center—Atlantic) under the project R&D1390-PH-01 and from the Ministry of Education of Spain under the project FIS2007-60158