Steady-state thermally annealed GaAs with room-temperature-implanted Si

Semi-insulating Cr-doped single-crystal GaAs samples were implanted at room temperature with 300-keV Si ions in the dose range of (0.17–2.0)×1015 cm–2 and were subsequently steady-state annealed at 900 and 950°C for 30 min in a H2 ambient with a Si3N4 coating. Differential Hall measurements showed that an upper threshold of about 2×1018/cm3 exists for the free-electron concentration. The as-implanted atomic-Si profile measured by SIMS follows the theoretical prediction, but is altered during annealing. The Cr distribution also changes, and a band of dislocation loops ~2–3 kÅ wide is revealed by cross-sectional TEM at a mean depth of Rp~3 kÅ. Incomplete electrical activation of the Si is shown to be the primary cause for the effect

Pulsed electron beam induced recrystallization and damage in GaAs

Single-pulse electron-beam irradiations of 300-keV 10^(15)Kr+/cm^2 or 300-keV 3×10^(12)Se+/cm^2 implanted layers in unencapsulated GaAs are studied as a function of the electron beam fluence. The electron beam pulse had a mean electron energy of ~-20 keV and a time duration of ~-10^(–7) s. Analyses by means of MeV He + channeling and TEM show the existence of narrow fluence window (0.4–0.7 J/cm^2) within which amorphous layers can be sucessfully recrystallized, presumably in the liquid phase regime. Too high a fluence produces extensive deep damage and loss of As

The sweet smell of success: Enhancing multimedia applications with olfaction

This is the Post-Print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2012 ACMOlfaction, or smell, is one of the last challenges which multimedia applications have to conquer. As far as computerized smell is concerned, there are several difficulties to overcome, particularly those associated with the ambient nature of smell. In this article, we present results from an empirical study exploring users' perception of olfaction-enhanced multimedia displays. Findings show that olfaction significantly adds to the user multimedia experience. Moreover, use of olfaction leads to an increased sense of reality and relevance. Our results also show that users are tolerant of the interference and distortion effects caused by olfactory effect in multimedia

Support for Integrated Ecosystem Assessments of NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserves System (NERRS), Volume I: The Impacts of Coastal Development on the Ecology and Human Well-being of Tidal Creek Ecosystems of the US Southeast

A study was conducted, in association with the Sapelo Island and North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERRs), to evaluate the impacts of coastal development on sentinel habitats (e.g., tidal creek ecosystems), including potential impacts to human health and well-being. Uplands associated with southeastern tidal creeks and the salt marshes they drain are popular locations for building homes, resorts, and recreational facilities because of the high quality of life and mild climate associated with these environments. Tidal creeks form part of the estuarine ecosystem characterized by high biological productivity, great ecological value, complex environmental gradients, and numerous interconnected processes. This research combined a watershed-level study integrating ecological, public health and human dimension attributes with watershed-level land use data. The approach used for this research was based upon a comparative watershed and ecosystem approach that sampled tidal creek networks draining developed watersheds (e.g., suburban, urban, and industrial) as well as undeveloped sites. The primary objective of this work was to clearly define the relationships between coastal development with its concomitant land use changes and non-point source pollution loading and the ecological and human health and well-being status of tidal creek ecosystems. Nineteen tidal creek systems, located along the southeastern United States coast from southern North Carolina to southern Georgia, were sampled during summer (June-August), 2005 and 2006. Within each system, creeks were divided into two primary segments based upon tidal zoning: intertidal (i.e., shallow, narrow headwater sections) and subtidal (i.e., deeper and wider sections), and watersheds were delineated for each segment. In total, we report findings on 24 intertidal and 19 subtidal creeks. Indicators sampled throughout each creek included water quality (e.g., dissolved oxygen concentration, salinity, nutrients, chlorophyll-a levels), sediment quality (e.g., characteristics, contaminants levels including emerging contaminants), pathogen and viral indicators, and abundance and genetic responses of biological resources (e.g., macrobenthic and nektonic communities, shellfish tissue contaminants, oyster microarray responses). For many indicators, the intertidally-dominated or headwater portions of tidal creeks were found to respond differently than the subtidally-dominated or larger and deeper portions of tidal creeks. Study results indicate that the integrity and productivity of headwater tidal creeks were impaired by land use changes and associated non-point source pollution, suggesting these habitats are valuable early warning sentinels of ensuing ecological impacts and potential public health threats. For these headwater creeks, this research has assisted the validation of a previously developed conceptual model for the southeastern US region. This conceptual model identified adverse changes that generally occurred in the physical and chemical environment (e.g., water quality indicators such as indicator bacteria for sewage pollution or sediment chemical contamination) when impervious cover levels in the watershed reach 10-20%. Ecological characteristics responded and were generally impaired when impervious cover levels exceed 20-30%. Estimates of impervious cover levels defining where human uses are impaired are currently being determined, but it appears that shellfish bed closures and the flooding vulnerability of headwater regions become a concern when impervious cover values exceed 10-30%. This information can be used to forecast the impacts of changing land use patterns on tidal creek environmental quality as well as associated human health and well-being. In addition, this study applied tools and technologies that are adaptable, transferable, and repeatable among the high quality NERRS sites as comparable reference entities to other nearby developed coastal watersheds. The findings herein will be of value in addressing local, regional and national needs for understanding multiple stressor (anthropogenic and human impacts) effects upon estuarine ecosystems and response trends in ecosystem condition with changing coastal impacts (i.e., development, climate change). (PDF contaions 88 pages

Adaptive Dispersion Compensation for Remote Fiber Delivery of NIR Femtosecond Pulses

We report on remote delivery of 25 pJ broadband near-infrared femtosecond light pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser through 150 meters of single-mode optical fiber. Pulse distortion due to dispersion is overcome with pre-compensation using adaptive pulse shaping techniques, while nonlinearities are mitigated using an SF10 rod for the final stage of pulse compression. Near transform limited pulse duration of 130 fs is measured after the final compression.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Quantized Transport in Graphene p-n Junctions in Magnetic Field

Recent experimental work on locally gated graphene layers resulting in p-n junctions have revealed quantum Hall effect in their transport behavior. We explain the observed conductance quantization which is fractional in the bipolar regime and integer in the unipolar regime in terms of quantum Hall edge modes propagating along and across the p-n interface. In the bipolar regime the electron and hole modes can mix at the p-n boundary, leading to current partition and quantized shot noise plateaus similar to those of conductance, while in the unipolar regime transport is noiseless. These quantum Hall phenomena reflect the massless Dirac character of charge carriers in graphene, with particle-hole interplay manifest in mode mixing and noise in the bipolar regime.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, available online at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/114467

User quality of experience of mulsemedia applications

User Quality of Experience (QoE) is of fundamental importance in multimedia applications and has been extensively studied for decades. However, user QoE in the context of the emerging multiple-sensorial media (mulsemedia) services, which involve different media components than the traditional multimedia applications, have not been comprehensively studied. This article presents the results of subjective tests which have investigated user perception of mulsemedia content. In particular, the impact of intensity of certain mulsemedia components including haptic and airflow on user-perceived experience are studied. Results demonstrate that by making use of mulsemedia the overall user enjoyment levels increased by up to 77%

Phase coherent transport in (Ga,Mn)As

Quantum interference effects and resulting quantum corrections of the conductivity have been intensively studied in disordered conductors over the last decades. The knowledge of phase coherence lengths and underlying dephasing mechanisms are crucial to understand quantum corrections to the resistivity in the different material systems. Due to the internal magnetic field and the associated breaking of time-reversal symmetry quantum interference effects in ferromagnetic materials have been scarcely explored. Below we describe the investigation of phase coherent transport phenomena in the newly discovered ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. We explore universal conductance fluctuations in mesoscopic (Ga,Mn)As wires and rings, the Aharonov-Bohm effect in nanoscale rings and weak localization in arrays of wires, made of the ferromagnetic semiconductor material. The experiments allow to probe the phase coherence length L_phi and the spin flip length L_SO as well as the temperature dependence of dephasing.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figure