45 research outputs found
Carbon monoxide adsorption on platinum-osmium and platinum-ruthenium-osmium mixed nanoparticles
Density functional calculations (DFT) on carbon monoxide (CO) adsorbed on platinum, platinum-osmium, and platinum-ruthenium-osmium nanoclusters are used to elucidate changes on the adsorbate internal bond and the carbon-metal bond, as platinum is alloyed with osmium and ruthenium atoms. The relative strengths of the adsorbate internal bond and the carbon-metal bond upon alloying, which are related to the DFT calculated CâO and CâPt stretching frequencies, respectively, cannot be explained by the traditional 5Ï-donation/2Ï*-back-donation theoretical model. Using a modified Ï-attraction Ï-repulsion mechanism, we ascribe the strength of the CO adsorbate internal bond to changes in the polarization of the adsorbate-substrate hybrid orbitals towards carbon. The strength of the carbon-metal bond is quantitatively related to the CO contribution to the adsorbate-substrate hybrid orbitals and the sp and d populations of adsorbing platinum atom. This work complements prior work on corresponding slabs using periodic DFT. Similarities and differences between cluster and periodic DFT calculations are discussed
Vertical coupling of laser glass microspheres to buried silicon nitride ellipses and waveguides
We demonstrate the integration of Nd3+ doped Barium-Titanium-Silicate
microsphere lasers with a Silicon Nitride photonic platform. Devices with two
different geometrical configurations for extracting the laser light to buried
waveguides have been fabricated and characterized. The first configuration
relies on a standard coupling scheme, where the microspheres are placed over
strip waveguides. The second is based on a buried elliptical geometry whose
working principle is that of an elliptical mirror. In the latter case, the
input of a strip waveguide is placed on one focus of the ellipse, while a
lasing microsphere is placed on top of the other focus. The fabricated
elliptical geometry (ellipticity=0.9) presents a light collecting capacity that
is 50% greater than that of the standard waveguide coupling configuration and
could be further improved by increasing the ellipticity. Moreover, since the
dimensions of the spheres are much smaller than those of the ellipses, surface
planarization is not required. On the contrary, we show that the absence of a
planarization step strongly damages the microsphere lasing performance in the
standard configuration.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Optical and mechanical mode tuning in an optomechanical crystal with light-induced thermal effects
Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to their work.We report on the modification of the optical and mechanical properties of a silicon 1D optomechanical crystal cavity due to thermo-optic effects in a high phonon/photon population regime. The cavity heats up due to light absorption in a way that shifts the optical modes towards longer wavelengths and the mechanical modes to lower frequencies. By combining the experimental optical results with finite-difference time-domain simulations, we establish a direct relation between the observed wavelength drift and the actual effective temperature increase of the cavity. By assuming that the Young's modulus decreases accordingly to the temperature increase, we find a good agreement between the mechanical mode drift predicted using a finite element method and the experimental one.This work was supported by the EU through the project TAILPHOX (ICT-FP7-233883) and the ERC Advanced Grant SOULMAN (ERC-FP7-321122) and the Spanish projects TAPHOR (MAT2012-31392).Peer Reviewe
An Empirical Characterization of Extended Cool Gas Around Galaxies Using MgII Absorption Features
We report results from a survey of MgII absorbers in the spectra of
background QSOs that are within close angular distances to a foreground galaxy
at z<0.5, using the Magellan Echellette Spectrograph. We have established a
spectroscopic sample of 94 galaxies at a median redshift of = 0.24 in
fields around 70 distant background QSOs (z_QSO>0.6), 71 of which are in an
'isolated' environment with no known companions and located at rho <~ 120 h^-1
kpc from the line of sight of a background QSO. The rest-frame absolute B-band
magnitudes span a range from M_B-5log h=-16.4 to M_B-5log h=-21.4 and
rest-frame B_AB-R_AB colors range from B_AB-R_AB~0 to B_AB-R_AB~1.5. Of these
'isolated' galaxies, we find that 47 have corresponding MgII absorbers in the
spectra of background QSOs and rest-frame absorption equivalent width
W_r(2796)=0.1-2.34 A, and 24 do not give rise to MgII absorption to sensitive
upper limits. Our analysis shows that (1) Wr(2796) declines with increasing
distance from 'isolated' galaxies but shows no clear trend in 'group'
environments; (2) more luminous galaxies possess more extended MgII absorbing
halos with the gaseous radius scaled by B-band luminosity according to
R_gas=75x(L_B/L_B*)^(0.35+/-0.03) h^{-1} kpc; (3) there is little dependence
between the observed absorber strength and galaxy intrinsic colors; and (4)
within R_gas, we find a mean covering fraction of ~70% for absorbers
of Wr(2796)>=0.3 A and ~80% for absorbers of Wr(2796)>=0.1 A. The
lack of correlation between Wr(2796) and galaxy colors suggests a lack of
physical connection between the origin of extended MgII halos and recent star
formation history of the galaxies. Finally, we discuss the total gas mass in
galactic halos as traced by MgII absorbers. We also compare our results with
previous studies.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journal 2010 May
10 issue; a version with higher resolution figures can be found at
http://lambda.uchicago.edu/public/tmp/mage_apj.pd
The Gaseous Environment of High-z Galaxies: Precision Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen in the Circumgalactic Medium of z ~ 2-3 Galaxies in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey
We present results from the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS), a unique
spectroscopic survey designed to explore the connection between galaxies and
intergalactic baryons. The KBSS is optimized for the redshift range z ~ 2-3,
combining S/N ~ 100 Keck/HIRES spectra of 15 hyperluminous QSOs with densely
sampled galaxy redshift surveys surrounding each QSO sightline. We perform
Voigt profile decomposition of all 6000 HI absorbers within the full Lya forest
in the QSO spectra. Here we present the distribution, column density,
kinematics, and absorber line widths of HI surrounding 886 star-forming
galaxies with 2.0 < z < 2.8 and within 3 Mpc of a QSO sightline. We find that
N_HI and the multiplicity of HI components increase rapidly near galaxies. The
strongest HI absorbers within ~ 100 physical kpc of galaxies have N_HI ~ 3 dex
higher than those near random locations in the IGM. The circumgalactic zone of
most enhanced HI absorption (CGM) is found within 300 kpc and 300 km/s of
galaxies. Nearly half of absorbers with log(N_HI) > 15.5 are found within the
CGM of galaxies meeting our photometric selection, while their CGM occupy only
1.5% of the cosmic volume. The spatial covering fraction, multiplicity of
absorption components, and characteristic N_HI remain elevated to transverse
distances of 2 physical Mpc. Absorbers with log(N_HI) > 14.5 are tightly
correlated with the positions of galaxies, while absorbers with lower N_HI are
correlated only on Mpc scales. Redshift anisotropies on Mpc scales indicate
coherent infall toward galaxies, while on scales of ~100 physical kpc peculiar
velocities of 260 km/s are indicated. The median Doppler widths of absorbers
within 1-3 virial radii of galaxies are ~50% larger than randomly chosen
absorbers of the same N_HI, suggesting higher gas temperatures and/or increased
turbulence likely caused by accretion shocks and/or galactic winds.Comment: Accepted to Ap
Observational Diagnostics of Gas Flows: Insights from Cosmological Simulations
Galactic accretion interacts in complex ways with gaseous halos, including
galactic winds. As a result, observational diagnostics typically probe a range
of intertwined physical phenomena. Because of this complexity, cosmological
hydrodynamic simulations have played a key role in developing observational
diagnostics of galactic accretion. In this chapter, we review the status of
different observational diagnostics of circumgalactic gas flows, in both
absorption (galaxy pair and down-the-barrel observations in neutral hydrogen
and metals; kinematic and azimuthal angle diagnostics; the cosmological column
density distribution; and metallicity) and emission (Lya; UV metal lines; and
diffuse X-rays). We conclude that there is no simple and robust way to identify
galactic accretion in individual measurements. Rather, progress in testing
galactic accretion models is likely to come from systematic, statistical
comparisons of simulation predictions with observations. We discuss specific
areas where progress is likely to be particularly fruitful over the next few
years.Comment: Invited review to appear in Gas Accretion onto Galaxies, Astrophysics
and Space Science Library, eds. A. J. Fox & R. Dave, to be published by
Springer. Typos correcte
Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries
Background
Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres.
Methods
This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and lowâmiddle-income countries.
Results
In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of âsingle-useâ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for lowâmiddle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia.
Conclusion
This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both highâ and lowâmiddleâincome countries
Laser emission in Nd3+ doped barium-titanium-silicate microspheres under continuous and chopped wave pumping in a non-coupled pumping scheme
Laser action using non-coupled excitation and detection of microspheres made of Nd3+ doped barium-titanium-silicate glass has been demonstrated and measured. The microspheres have also been successfully deposited over Si3N4 strip waveguides with a SiO2 separation layer, thus enabling the laser emission extraction onto a CMOS compatible photonic circuit. The dynamics of the lasing wavelength and intensity has been studied as a function of the pump power and interpreted in terms of thermal effects generated through non-radiative recombination of the excited ions. © 2013 Astro Ltd.The authors thank the Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad of Spain (MINECO) within the National Program of Materials (MAT2010-21270-C04-02/-03/-04), the Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Program (MALTA CSD2007-0045, www.malta-consolider.com), the EU-FEDER, the GICSERV NGG-268 for their financial support and ACIISI of Gobierno de Canarias for the project ID20100152 and FPI. DN-U acknowledges the financial support of Generalitat de Catalunya through the Beatriu de PinĂČs program.Peer Reviewe
Spectroscopy of silica layers containing Si nanocrystals: Experimental evidence of optical birefringence
We report an unusual case of spectral filtering by a silica waveguide containing Si nanocrystals (Si-nc's) deposited on a silica plate. For a number of Si-rich silica (Si Ox) slab waveguides annealed at 1100 °C, the TE and TM waveguide mode cutoff positions are found in the inversed order with respect to the classical waveguide theory for an isotropic material. Using the cutoff and m -line spectra, this unusual behavior was explained assuming an optical birefringence of the material. For the highest Si content (xâŒ1.5), we estimated a maximal positive birefringence of âŒ8%. The cutoff spectrum simulated with the optical parameters extracted from the m -line measurements corresponds well to the cutoff spectrum directly obtained by measuring waveguided luminescence. This agreement shows that the spectral filtering effect of silica layers containing Si-nc can be described within the quantitative model of delocalized waveguide modes. The possible origin for the observed birefringence is discussed. © 2007 American Institute of Physics
Dataset related to the publication "Mechanical oscillations in lasing microspheres", DOI: 10.1063/1.4997182
This folder contains the raw data from which the graphs in paper "Mechanical oscillations in lasing microsphere", DOI: 10.1063/1.4997182, have been obtained.European Commission: PHENOMEN - All-Phononic circuits Enabled by Opto-mechanics (713450)Peer reviewe