Dipole-Allowed Direct Band Gap Silicon Superlattices

Silicon is the most popular material used in electronic devices. However, its poor optical properties owing to its indirect band gap nature limit its usage in optoelectronic devices. Here we present the discovery of super-stable pure-silicon superlattice structures that can serve as promising materials for solar cell applications and can lead to the realization of pure Si-based optoelectronic devices. The structures are almost identical to that of bulk Si except that defective layers are intercalated in the diamond lattice. The superlattices exhibit dipole-allowed direct band gaps as well as indirect band gaps, providing ideal conditions for the investigation of a direct-to-indirect band gap transition. The transition can be understood in terms of a novel conduction band originating from defective layers, an overlap between the valence- and conduction-band edge states at the interface layers, and zone folding with quantum confinement effects on the conduction band of non-defective bulk-like Si. The fact that almost all structural portions of the superlattices originate from bulk Si warrants their stability and good lattice matching with bulk Si. Through first-principles molecular dynamics simulations, we confirmed their thermal stability and propose a possible method to synthesize the defective layer through wafer bonding

Discriminative Indexing for Probabilistic Image Patch Priors

Abstract. Newly emerged probabilistic image patch priors, such as Expected Patch Log-Likelihood (EPLL), have shown excellent performance on image restoration tasks, especially deconvolution, due to its rich expressiveness. However, its applicability is limited by the heavy computation involved in the associated optimization process. Inspired by the recent advances on using regression trees to index priors defined on a Conditional Random Field, we propose a novel discriminative indexing approach on patch-based priors to expedite the optimization process. Specifically, we propose an efficient tree indexing structure for EPLL, and overcome its training tractability challenges in high-dimensional spaces by utilizing special structures of the prior. Experimental results show that our approach accelerates state-of-the-art EPLL-based deconvolution methods by up to 40 times, with very little quality compromise.

Optical Mobius symmetry in metamaterials

We experimentally observed a new topological symmetry in optical composites, namely, metamaterials. While it is not found yet in nature materials, the electromagnetic Mo¨bius symmetry discovered in metamaterials is equivalent to the structural symmetry of a Mo¨bius strip, with the number of twists controlled by the sign change of the electromagnetic coupling between the meta-atoms. We further demonstrate that metamaterials with different coupling signs exhibit resonance frequencies that depend only on the number but not the locations of the ‘‘twists,’’ thus confirming its topological nature. The new topological symmetry found in metamaterials may enable unique functionalities in optical materialsThis work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 on simulations and fabrication, and by the NSF Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) under Grant No. CMMI-0751621 for optical characterizations

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI