446 research outputs found
Inter- and intra-layer excitons in MoS/WS and MoSe/WSe heterobilayers
Accurately described excitonic properties of transition metal dichalcogenide
heterobilayers (HBLs) are crucial to comprehend the optical response and the
charge carrier dynamics of them. Excitons in multilayer systems posses inter or
intralayer character whose spectral positions depend on their binding energy
and the band alignment of the constituent single-layers. In this study, we
report the electronic structure and the absorption spectra of MoS/WS
and MoSe/WSe HBLs from first-principles calculations. We explore the
spectral positions, binding energies and the origins of inter and intralayer
excitons and compare our results with experimental observations. The absorption
spectra of the systems are obtained by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation on
top of a GW calculation which corrects the independent particle
eigenvalues obtained from density functional theory calculations. Our
calculations reveal that the lowest energy exciton in both HBLs possesses
interlayer character which is decisive regarding their possible device
applications. Due to the spatially separated nature of the charge carriers, the
binding energy of inter-layer excitons might be expected to be considerably
smaller than that of intra-layer ones. However, according to our calculations
the binding energy of lowest energy interlayer excitons is only 20\%
lower due to the weaker screening of the Coulomb interaction between layers of
the HBLs. Therefore, it can be deduced that the spectral positions of the
interlayer excitons with respect to intralayer ones are mostly determined by
the band offset of the constituent single-layers. By comparing oscillator
strengths and thermal occupation factors, we show that in luminescence at low
temperature, the interlayer exciton peak becomes dominant, while in absorption
it is almost invisible.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Polysulfone/Clay Nanocomposites by in situ Photoinduced Crosslinking Polymerization
Cataloged from PDF version of article.PSU/MMT nanocomposites are prepared by dispersing MMT nanolayers in a PSU matrix via in situ photoinduced crosslinking polymerization. Intercalated methacrylate-functionalized MMT and polysulfone dimethacrylate macromonomer are synthesized independently by esterification. In situ photoinduced crosslinking of the intercalated monomer and the PSU macromonomer in the silicate layers leads to nanocomposites that are formed by individually dispersing inorganic silica nanolayers in the polymer matrix. The morphology of the nanocomposites is investigated by XRD and TEM, which suggests the random dispersion of silicate layers in the PSU matrix. TGA results confirm that the thermal stability and char yield of PSU/MMT nanocomposites increases with the increase of clay loading
Surface Acoustic Waves to Control Droplet Impact onto Superhydrophobic and Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces
Superhydrophobic coatings and slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) have shown their potentials in self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-erosion, and antibiofouling applications. Various studies have been done on controlling the droplet impact on such surfaces using passive methods such as modifying the lubricant layer thickness in SLIPS. Despite their effectiveness, passive methods lack on-demand control over the impact dynamics of droplets. This paper introduces a new method to actively control the droplet impact onto superhydrophobic and SLIPS surfaces using surface acoustic waves (SAWs). In this study, we designed and fabricated SLIPS on ZnO/aluminum thin-film SAW devices and investigated different scenarios of droplet impact on the surfaces compared to those on similar superhydrophobic-coated surfaces. Our results showed that SAWs have insignificant influences on the impact dynamics of a porous and superhydrophobic surface without an infused oil layer. However, after infusion with oil, SAW energy could be effectively transferred to the droplet, thus modifying its impact dynamics onto the superhydrophobic surface. Results showed that by applying SAWs, the spreading and retraction behaviors of the droplets are altered on the SLIPS surface, leading to a change in a droplet impact regime from deposition to complete rebound with altered rebounding angles. Moreover, the contact time was reduced up to 30% when applying SAWs on surfaces with an optimum oil lubricant thickness of ∼8 μm. Our work offers an effective way of applying SAW technology along with SLIPS to effectively reduce the contact time and alter the droplet rebound angles
The RFOFO Ionization Cooling Ring for Muons
Practical ionization cooling rings could lead to lower cost or improved
performance in neutrino factory or muon collider designs. The ring modeled here
uses realistic three-dimensional fields. The performance of the ring compares
favorably with the linear cooling channel used in the second US Neutrino
Factory Study. The normalized 6D emittance of an ideal ring is decreased by a
factor of approximately 240, compared with a factor of only 15 for the linear
channel. We also examine such \textit{real-world} effects as windows on the
absorbers and rf cavities and leaving empty lattice cells for injection and
extraction. For realistic conditions the ring decreases the normalized 6D
emittance by a factor of 49.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures and 5 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. ST-A
Biofortification and Localization of Zinc in Wheat Grain
Zinc (Zn) deficiency associated with low dietary intake is a well-documented public health problem, resulting in serious health and socioeconomic problems. Field experiments were conducted with wheat to test the role of both soil and foliar application of ZnSO4 in Zn concentration of whole grain and grain fractions (e.g., bran, embryo and endosperm) in 3 locations. Foliar application of ZnSO4 was realized at different growth stages (e.g., stem elongation, boot, milk, dough stages) to study the effect of timing of foliar Zn application on grain Zn concentration. The rate of foliar Zn application at each growth stage was 4 kg of ZnSO4 3 7H2O ha-1. Laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS was used to follow the localization of Zn within grain. Soil Zn application at a rate of 50 kg of ZnSO4 3 7H2O ha-1 was effective in increasing grain Zn concentration in the Zn-deficient location, but not in the locations without soil Zn deficiency. In all locations, foliar application of Zn significantly increased Zn concentration in whole grain and in each grain fraction, particularly in the case of high soil N fertilization. In Zn-deficient location, grain Zn concentration increased from 11 mg kg-1 to 22 mg kg-1 with foliar Zn application and to 27 mg kg-1 with a combined application of ZnSO4 to soil and foliar. In locations without soil Zn deficiency, combination of high N application with two times foliar Zn application (e.g., at the booting and milk stages) increased grain Zn concentration, on average, from 28 mg kg-1 to 58 mg kg-1. Both ICP-OES and LA-ICP-MS data showed that the increase in Zn concentration of whole grain and grain fractions was pronounced when Zn was sprayed at the late growth stage (e.g., milk and dough). LA-ICP-MS data also indicated that Zn was transported into endosperm through the crease phloem. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the timing of foliar Zn application is of great importance in increasing grain Zn in wheat, especially in the endosperm part that is the predominant grain fraction consumed in many countries. Providing a large pool of Zn in vegetative tissues during the grain filling (e.g., via foliar Zn spray) is an important practice to increase grain Zn and contribute to human nutritio
Highly sensitive and selective Love mode surface acoustic wave ammonia sensor based on graphene oxides operated at room temperature
It is crucial to develop highly sensitive and selective sensors for ammonia, one of the most common toxic gases which have been widely used in pharmaceutical, chemical and manufacturing industries. In this study, graphene oxide (GO) film was spin-coated onto surfaces of ST-cut quartz surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with a resonant frequency of 200 MHz for ammonia sensing. The oxygen-containing functional groups (such as hydroxyl and epoxy ones) on the surface of GO film strongly absorb ammonia molecules and thus increase the film stiffness. This is attributed to the main ammonia sensing mechanism of the Love mode SAW devices, which show not only a positive frequency shift of 620 Hz for 500 ppb ammonia gas, but also an excellent selectivity (as compared to other gases such as H2, H2S, CO and NO2) and a good reproducibility, operated at room temperature of 22 oC
Wide range of droplet jetting angles by thin-film based surface acoustic waves
Nozzleless jetting of droplets with different jetting angles is a crucial requirement for 2D and 3D printing/bioprinting applications, and Rayleigh mode surface acoustic waves (SAWs) could be a potential technique for achieving this purpose. Currently, it is critical to vary the jetting angles of liquid droplets induced by SAWs and control the liquid jet directions. Generally, the direction of the liquid jet induced by SAWs generated from a bulk piezoelectric substrate such as LiNbO_{3} is along the theoretical Rayleigh angle of ∼22°. In this study, we designed and manufactured thin-film SAW devices by depositing ZnO films on different substrates (including silicon and aluminium) to realize a wide range of jetting angles from ∼16° to 55° using propagating waves generated from one interdigital transducer. We then systematically investigated different factors affecting the jetting angles, including liquid properties, applied SAW power and SAW device resonant frequency. Finally, we proposed various methods using thin-film SAW devices together with different transducer designs for realizing a wide range of jetting angles within the 3D domain. A nozzleless jetting method is proposed using thin-film based surface acoustic wave devices to achieve a wide range of jetting angles for droplets
Muon Colliders
Muon Colliders have unique technical and physics advantages and disadvantages
when compared with both hadron and electron machines. They should thus be
regarded as complementary. Parameters are given of 4 TeV and 0.5 TeV high
luminosity \mumu colliders, and of a 0.5 TeV lower luminosity demonstration
machine. We discuss the various systems in such muon colliders, starting from
the proton accelerator needed to generate the muons and proceeding through muon
cooling, acceleration and storage in a collider ring. Problems of detector
background are also discussed.Comment: 28 pages, with 12 postscript figures. To be published Proceedings of
the 9th Advanced ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop, AIP Pres
Antiproton Production in Collisions at AGS Energies
Inclusive and semi-inclusive measurements are presented for antiproton
() production in proton-nucleus collisions at the AGS. The inclusive
yields per event increase strongly with increasing beam energy and decrease
slightly with increasing target mass. The yield in 17.5 GeV/c p+Au
collisions decreases with grey track multiplicity, , for ,
consistent with annihilation within the target nucleus. The relationship
between and the number of scatterings of the proton in the nucleus is
used to estimate the annihilation cross section in the nuclear
medium. The resulting cross section is at least a factor of five smaller than
the free annihilation cross section when assuming a small or
negligible formation time. Only with a long formation time can the data be
described with the free annihilation cross section.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
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