Growth and characterization of ZnO films on (11-20) sapphire substrates by atomic layer deposition using DEZn and N2O

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films were grown on (11-20) sapphire substrates at 600 A degrees C by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using diethylzinc (DEZn) and nitrous oxide (N2O). A ZnO buffer layer was deposited at low temperature (LT) prior to the growth of a bulk ZnO film for a typical growth run. In some cases, buffer-layer annealing or post-annealing treatments were employed to optimize ZnO growth. Based on the experimental results of X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), all the as-grown ZnO films were found to show c-axis preferred orientation with co-existence of (ZnO)ayen (sapphire) and (ZnO)ayen (sapphire) relationships in the (0001)ZnO/(11-20)sapphire hetero-interface. Typical room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the as-grown ZnO film shows only near band edge (NBE) emissions without defect luminescence. ZnO films with improved quality were achieved by post-annealing or buffer-layer annealing treatments. In particular, buffer-layer annealing was found to improve the crystalline and optical properties of a ZnO film substantially

Scale Dependence of the Halo Bias in General Local-Type Non-Gaussian Models I: Analytical Predictions and Consistency Relations

We investigate the clustering of halos in cosmological models starting with general local-type non-Gaussian primordial fluctuations. We employ multiple Gaussian fields and add local-type non-Gaussian corrections at arbitrary order to cover a class of models described by frequently-discussed f_nl, g_nl and \tau_nl parameterization. We derive a general formula for the halo power spectrum based on the peak-background split formalism. The resultant spectrum is characterized by only two parameters responsible for the scale-dependent bias at large scale arising from the primordial non-Gaussianities in addition to the Gaussian bias factor. We introduce a new inequality for testing non-Gaussianities originating from multi fields, which is directly accessible from the observed power spectrum. We show that this inequality is a generalization of the Suyama-Yamaguchi inequality between f_nl and \tau_nl to the primordial non-Gaussianities at arbitrary order. We also show that the amplitude of the scale-dependent bias is useful to distinguish the simplest quadratic non-Gaussianities (i.e., f_nl-type) from higher-order ones (g_nl and higher), if one measures it from multiple species of galaxies or clusters of galaxies. We discuss the validity and limitations of our analytic results by comparison with numerical simulations in an accompanying paper.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures, typo corrected, Appendix C updated, submitted to JCA

Modelling of strain effects in manganite films

Thickness dependence and strain effects in films of $La_{1-x}A_xMnO_3$ perovskites are analyzed in the colossal magnetoresistance regime. The calculations are based on a generalization of a variational approach previously proposed for the study of manganite bulk. It is found that a reduction in the thickness of the film causes a decrease of critical temperature and magnetization, and an increase of resistivity at low temperatures. The strain is introduced through the modifications of in-plane and out-of-plane electron hopping amplitudes due to substrate-induced distortions of the film unit cell. The strain effects on the transition temperature and transport properties are in good agreement with experimental data only if the dependence of the hopping matrix elements on the $Mn-O-Mn$ bond angle is properly taken into account. Finally variations of the electron-phonon coupling linked to the presence of strain turn out important in influencing the balance of coexisting phases in the filmComment: 7 figures. To be published on Physical Review

New way of healing : experienced counsellors’ perceptions of the influence of ch’i-related exercises on counselling practice in Taiwan

This study examines how Taiwanese senior counsellors with substantial experience of ch’i-related exercise (CRE) perceived the influence of their regular CRE on their counselling practice. I am interested in the perceived influence of CRE on both self-care and professional practice. In this studyn this studyn this study n this study n this study n this study, CRE, CRE, CRE, CRE, CRE refers to any refers to any refers to any refers to any ch'i enhancing exercise that coordinates movement with breathing and inner concentration wherein ch'i is a first order concept used by practitioners and regarded by them as an embodiment of ideas related to human life and human existence and able to be experienced and refined through any ch'i related exercise. CRE is a set of practices and an intrinsic part of local culture in Taiwan which in recent years, has become popular practice in Taiwanese society. There are growing numbers of counselling professionals involved in regular CRE in recent years. Studies examining the effects of CRE indicate the benefits of CRE on practitioners' global health and personal growth. However, no previous study has investigated the influence of the long-term regular use of CRE on counsellors‟ self-care and counselling practice. The narrative research design for this study was developed from a post-structural theoretical perspective located in the domain of social constructivism. The data were co-constructed between the researcher and 12 senior Taiwanese counsellors with substantial CRE experience using a semi-structured in-depth interview approach. Interview data were analysed using the structure-based approach developed by William Labov in the field of socio-linguistics. The study reveals an overall benefit of regular involvement in CRE for practitioners' global wellbeing and personal growth counsellor' self-care. The research findings also reveals the potential of ch’i to be used as a way of expressing health and illness and a way of understanding in therapy and CRE to be lived out in therapy as an embodiment. I argue that collectively the narratives, as a whole, give evidence of an increasing integratin of the ideas and practices of ch’i into counselling practice in contemporary Taiwan. This might even make up a new form of integrated and culturally appropriate practice, what I term "a new way of healing." These are therapeutic practices which value the potential of CRE for counsellor's self-care and personal growth; recognize the integral whole of the human person; promote conscious use of the knowledge and experience of ch’i and CRE in therapy as an important aspect of the therapeutic use of self. Implications for practice such as the potential of CRE to be introduced into counsellor training programmes for counsellors' preparation or ongoing education are provided. Recommendations for future research such as the development of a new healing modality based on the research findings are offered

Prunella vulgaris: A comprehensive review of chemical constituents, pharmacological effects and clinical applications.

Prunella vulgaris (PV) is a perennial herb belonging to the Labiate family and is widely distributed in northeastern Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, and China. It is reported to display diverse biological activities including anti-microbial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammation as determined by in vitro or in vivo studies. So far, about 200 compounds have been isolated from PV plant and majority of these have been characterized mainly as triterpenoids, sterols and flavonoids, followed by coumarins, phenylpropanoids, polysaccharides and volatile oils. This review summarizes and analyzes the current knowledge on the chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, mechanisms of action and clinical applications of the PV plant including its potential as a future medicinal plant. Although some of the chemical constituents of the PV plant and their mechanism of action have been investigated the biological activities of many of these remain unknown and further clinical trials are required to further enhance its reputation as a medicinal plant

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Deposition of AlGaN films on (111)Si substrates and optimization of GaN growth on Si using intermediate-temperature AlGaN buffer layers

AlxGa1-xN films having various Al-contents were grown on (111) Si substrates over a temperature range of 800 similar to 1000 degrees C. It was found that crack free AlxGa1-xN films were achieved when the films were grown at 800 degrees C. High temperature (HT) GaN films were also deposited on (111) Si substrates using 800 degrees C grown AlxGa1-xN buffer layers with different thickness and composition combinations. The best HT GaN film was achieved on (111) Si substrate by process optimization with an 800 degrees C grown 180 nm-thick Al0.58Ga0.42N buffer layer. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the HT GaN film shows a strong near band edge emission having a linewidth of 100 meV and a quenched yellow luminescence. It is believed that the use of intermediate temperature AlxGa1-xN buffer layer is beneficial to accommodate the misfit strain between HT GaN film and (111) Si substrate. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

On the characteristics of AlGaN films grown on (111) and (001)Si substrates

High Al-content AlxGa1-xN films were deposited on (001) and (111) Si substrates at 1000 degrees C\ using high temperature AIN buffer layers. Experimental results show that AlxGa1-xN films grown on (111) Si substrates exhibit better crystalline quality than that in the films deposited on (001) Si substrates. Cracks were found in the high Al-content AlxGa1-xN/(111) Si samples but they were not observed in the AlxGa1-xN films grown on (001) Si substrates having the same film thicknesses and Al compositions. Based upon the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it appears that mono-crystalline AlxGa1-xN films were achieved on (111) Si substrates while columnar structure was observed in the AlxGa1-xN/(001) Si samples. According to the depth profiles of AlxGa1-xN/Si samples using secondary ion mass spectroscopic (SIMS) analyses, enhanced Al inter-diffusion in the AlxGa1-xN/(001) Si samples was identified. Room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) measurements of the AlxGa1-xN (x <= 0.10)/(111) Si samples exhibit strong near band edge luminescence. The PL emission linewidth was found to decrease with the decrement of Al-content. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Influence of the trench depths of grooved GaN templates on the characteristics of overgrown AlGaN films

In this study, the properties of Al0.18Ga0.82N films grown on stripe-grooved GaN templates with different trench depths have been investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), double crystal X-ray diffractometer (DCXRD), and photoluminescence (PL) measurement. Based upon the results of FESEM observations, a crack-free Al0.18Ga0.82N surface has been achieved using a GaN template with 1-mu m-deep trenches. Moreover, from the observations of TEM, the density of threading dislocations in Al0.18Ga0.82N film was found to reduce during the lateral growth on the trench regions. DCXRD and PL both measurements were carried out to determine the quality of the Al0.18Ga0.82N films. The full-width at half-maxima of double crystal X-ray rocking curve and PL spectrum are the smallest, respectively, for the Al0.18Ga0.82N film grown on grooved GaN template having 1 mu m-deep trenches. It is believed that the use of the grooved GaN templates effectively improves the quality of the overgrown Al0.18Ga0.82N films. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Improvement in the characteristics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes by inserting AlGaN-GaN short-period superlattices in GaN underlayers

We report the influence of short-period superlattice (SPSL)-inserted structures in the underlying undoped GaN on the characteristics of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The measurements of current-voltage (I-V) curves indicate that GaN-based LEDs having pseudomorphic Al0.3Ga0.7N(2 nm)-GaN(2 nm) SPSL-inserted structures exhibit improvements in device characteristics with the best LED being inserted with two sets of five-pair Al0.3Ga0.7N(2 nm)-GaN(2 nm) SPSL structure. Based upon the results of etch pit counts, double-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopic observations of the GaN-based LEDs, it was found that the Al0.3Ga0.7N(2 nm)-GaN(2 mn) SPSL-inserted structures tended to serve as threading dislocation filters in the LEDs so that the improved I-V characteristics were achieved