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At least 1,261 records · Page 70

E × B shear pattern formation by radial propagation of heat flux waves

A novel theory to describe the formation of E×B flow patterns by radially propagating heat flux waves is presented. A model for heat avalanche dynamics is extended to include a finite delay time between the instantaneous heat flux and the mean flux, based on an analogy between heat avalanche dynamics and traffic flow dynamics. The response time introduced here is an analogue of the drivers' response time in traffic dynamics. The microscopic foundation for the time delay is the time for mixing of the phase space density. The inclusion of the finite response time changes the model equation for avalanche dynamics from Burgers equation to a nonlinear telegraph equation. Based on the telegraph equation, the formation of heat flux jams is predicted. The growth rate and typical interval of jams are calculated. The connection of the jam interval to the typical step size of the E×B staircase is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Influences of carrier diffusion and radial mode field pattern on high speed characteristics for microring lasers

High-speed directly modulated microlasers are potential light sources for on-chip optical interconnection and photonic integrated circuits. In this Letter, dynamic characteristics are studied for microring lasers by rate equation analysis considering radial carrier hole burning and diffusion and experimentally. The coupled modes with a wide radial field pattern and the injection current focused in the edge area of microring resonator can greatly improve the high speed response curve due to the less carrier hole burning. The small-signal response curves of a microring laser connected with an output waveguide exhibit a larger 3 dB bandwidth and smaller roll-off at low frequency than that of the microdisk laser with the same radius of 15 μm, which accords with the simulation results.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Robustness of cluster synchronous patterns in small-world networks with inter-cluster co-competition balance

All edges in the classical Watts and Strogatz's small-world network model are unweighted and cooperative (positive). By introducing competitive (negative) inter-cluster edges and assigning edge weights to mimic more realistic networks, this paper develops a modified model which possesses co-competitive weighted couplings and cluster structures while maintaining the common small-world network properties of small average shortest path lengths and large clustering coefficients. Based on theoretical analysis, it is proved that the new model with inter-cluster co-competition balance has an important dynamical property of robust cluster synchronous pattern formation. More precisely, clusters will neither merge nor split regardless of adding or deleting nodes and edges, under the condition of inter-cluster co-competition balance. Numerical simulations demonstrate the robustness of the model against the increase of the coupling strength and several topological variations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Extremely compliant and highly stretchable patterned graphene

Graphene is intrinsically ultra-stiff in its plane. Its huge mechanical mismatch when interfacing with ultra-compliant biological tissues and elastomers (7–9 orders of magnitude difference in stiffness) poses significant challenge in its application to functional devices such as epidermal electronics and sensing prosthesis. We offer a feasible and promising solution to this significant challenge by suitably patterning graphene into a nanomesh. Through systematic coarse-grained simulations, we show that graphene nanomesh can be made extremely compliant with nearly zero stiffness up to about 20% elongation and then remain highly compliant up to about 50% elongation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Prediction of Debye-Scherrer diffraction patterns in arbitrarily strained samples

The prediction of Debye-Scherrer diffraction patterns from strained samples is typically conducted in the small strain limit. Although valid for small deviations from the hydrostat (such as the conditions of finite strength typically observed in diamond anvil cells) this assertion is likely to fail for the large strain anisotropies (often of order 10% in normal strain) found in uniaxially loaded dynamic compression experiments. In this paper, we derive a general form for the (θ{sub B},ϕ) dependence of the diffraction for an arbitrarily deformed polycrystalline sample in any geometry, and of any crystal symmetry. We show that this formula is consistent with ray traced diffraction for highly strained computationally generated polycrystals, and that the formula shows deviations from the widely used small strain solutions previously reported.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Development of a cost effective surface-patterned transparent conductive coating as top-contact of light emitting diodes

Sol-gel process has been used to form indium zinc oxide films using an optimized combination of zinc to indium concentration in the precursor solutions. Different structures, like one (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) gratings and diffractive optical elements (DOEs) in the form of Fresnel lens are fabricated on the film surface of proposed top metal contact of LED by imprint soft lithography technique. These structures can enhance the LED's light extraction efficiency (LEE) or can shape the output beam pattern, respectively. Several characterizations are done to analyze the material and structural properties of the films. The presence of 1D and 2D gratings as well as DOEs is confirmed from field emission scanning electron and atomic force microscopes analyses. Although, X-ray diffraction shows amorphous nature of the film, but transmission electron microscopy study shows that it is nano crystalline in nature having fine particles (∼8 nm) of hexagonal ZnO. Shrinkage behaviour of gratings as a function of curing temperature is explained by Fourier transform infra-red spectra and thermo gravimetric-differential thermal analysis. The visible transmission and sheet resistance of the sample are found comparable to tin doped indium oxide (ITO). Therefore, the film can compete as low cost substitute of ITO as top metal contact of LEDs.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Residue-free fabrication of high-performance graphene devices by patterned PMMA stencil mask

Two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals and their hybrid structures have recently attracted much attention due to their potential applications. The fabrication of metallic contacts or nanostructures on 2D materials is very common and generally achieved by performing electron-beam (e-beam) lithography. However, e-beam lithography is not applicable in certain situations, e.g., cases in which the e-beam resist does not adhere to the substrates or the intrinsic properties of the 2D materials are greatly altered and degraded. Here, we present a residue-free approach for fabricating high-performance graphene devices by patterning a thin film of e-beam resist as a stencil mask. This technique can be generally applied to substrates with varying surface conditions, while causing negligible residues on graphene. The technique also preserves the design flexibility offered by e-beam lithography and therefore allows us to fabricate multi-probe metallic contacts. The graphene field-effect transistors fabricated by this method exhibit smooth surfaces, high mobility, and distinct magnetotransport properties, confirming the advantages and versatility of the presented residue-free technique for the fabrication of devices composed of 2D materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effects of polycrystallinity in nano patterning by ion-beam sputtering

Employing graphites with distinctly different mean grain sizes, we study the effects of polycrystallinity on the pattern formation by ion-beam sputtering. The grains influence the growth of the ripples in a highly anisotropic fashion; both the mean uninterrupted ripple length along the ridges and the surface width depend on the mean size of the grains, which is attributed to the large sputter yield at the grain boundary compared with that on the terrace. In contrast, the ripple wavelength does not depend on the mean size of the grains, indicating that the mass transport across the grain boundaries should efficiently proceed by both thermal diffusion and ion-induced processes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

On plasmon-induced photocurrent and doping of metal-patterned graphene

Patterning graphene with noble metal plasmonic nanostructures to enhance and to manipulate the optical and electronic properties of graphene promises a variety of technological innovations in the field of nano-optoelectronics. In this report, we briefly revisit photoconduction experiments done recently on graphene plasmonic sensors and show that the excess electrical current generated in response to spatially non-uniform optical excitation is primarily induced by a photo-thermo-electric effect in the graphene itself. As this mechanism has nothing to do with the excess free carrier generation common with conventional semiconductors, the plasmonic nanostructures cannot be utilized to regulate the free carrier density and doping of graphene, in contrast to what has been proposed recently.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Scaling up the shape: A novel growth pattern of gallium clusters

Putative global minima for Ga{sub N}{sup +} clusters with size “N” ranging from 49 to 70 are found by employing the Kohn-Sham formulation of the density functional theory, and their evolution is described and discussed in detail. We have discovered a unique growth pattern in these clusters, all of which are hollow core-shell structures. They evolve with size from one spherical core-shell to the next spherical core-shell structure mediated by prolate geometries, with an increase in overall diameter of the core, as well as the shell, without putting on new layers of atoms. We also present a complete picture of bonding in gallium clusters by critically analyzing the molecular orbitals, the electron localization function, and Bader charges. Bonding in these clusters is a mixture of metallic and covalent type that leans towards covalency, accompanied by marginal charge transfer from the surface to the core. Most molecular orbitals of Ga clusters are non-jellium type. Covalency of bonding is supported by a wide localization window of electron localization function, and joining of its basins along the bonds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

One-step patterning of double tone high contrast and high refractive index inorganic spin-on resist

A direct one-step and low temperature micro-fabrication process, enabling to realize large area totally inorganic TiO₂ micro-patterns from a spin-on resist, is presented. High refractive index structures (up to 2 at 632 nm) without the need for transfer processes have been obtained by mask assisted UV lithography, exploiting photocatalytic titania properties. A distinctive feature not shared by any of the known available resists and boosting the material versatility, is that the system behaves either as a positive or as negative tone resist, depending on the process parameters and on the development chemistry. In order to explain the resist double tone behavior, deep comprehension of the lithographic process parameters optimization and of the resist chemistry and structure evolution during the lithographic process, generally uncommon in literature, is reported. Another striking property of the presented resist is that the negative tone shows a high contrast up to 19, allowing to obtain structures resolution down to 2 μm wide. The presented process and material permit to directly fabricate different titania geometries of great importance for solar cells, photo-catalysis, and photonic crystals applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Field-assisted patterned dissolution of silver nanoparticles in phosphate glass

Phosphate glass samples doped with silver ions through a Na⁺-Ag⁺ ion-exchange process were treated in a hydrogen atmosphere at temperatures near 430°C for durations ranging from 4 to 5 h. Such treatment causes metallic silver precipitation at the surface as well as nanoclustering of silver atoms under the surface under conditions very similar to those used for silicate glasses. The presence of silver clusters resulted in a characteristic coloring of the glass and was verified by the observation of a plasmon resonance peak near 410–420 nm in the absorption spectra. Applying a DC voltage between 1.4 and 2 kV at temperatures between 120 and 130°C led to dissolution of the clusters in the area under the positive electrode, thereby bleaching the glass color. The use of a patterned doped-silicon electrode further led to the formation of a 300 nm thick surface relief on the glass surface and of a volume complex permittivity grating extending at least 4 μm under the surface. Such volume complex refractive index gratings may find applications in passive or active (laser) photonic devices in rare-earth doped phosphate glasses, where conventional bulk grating formation techniques have limited applicability.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Magnetic anisotropies in epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4}/GaAs(100) patterned structures

Previous studies on epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} rings in the context of spin-transfer torque effect have revealed complicated and undesirable domain structures, attributed to the intrinsic fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the ferrite. In this Letter, we report a viable solution to this problem, utilizing a 6-nm-thick epitaxial Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} thin film on GaAs(100), where the fourfold magnetocrystalline anisotropy is negligible. We demonstrate that in the Fe{sub 3}O{sub 4} planar wires patterned from our thin film, such a unique magnetic anisotropy system has been preserved, and relatively simple magnetic domain configurations compared to those previous reports can be obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The temporal patterns of disease severity and prevalence in schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis is one of the most widespread public health problems in the world. In this work, we introduce an eco-epidemiological model for its transmission and dynamics with the purpose of explaining both intra- and inter-annual fluctuations of disease severity and prevalence. The model takes the form of a system of nonlinear differential equations that incorporate biological complexity associated with schistosome's life cycle, including a prepatent period in snails (i.e., the time between initial infection and onset of infectiousness). Nonlinear analysis is used to explore the parametric conditions that produce different temporal patterns (stationary, endemic, periodic, and chaotic). For the time-invariant model, we identify a transcritical and a Hopf bifurcation in the space of the human and snail infection parameters. The first corresponds to the occurrence of an endemic equilibrium, while the latter marks the transition to interannual periodic oscillations. We then investigate a more realistic time-varying model in which fertility of the intermediate host population is assumed to seasonally vary. We show that seasonality can give rise to a cascade of period-doubling bifurcations leading to chaos for larger, though realistic, values of the amplitude of the seasonal variation of fertility.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A bioinformatics prediction approach towards analyzing the glycosylation, co-expression and interaction patterns of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA/MUC1)

Epithelial membrane antigen (EMA or MUC1) is a heavily glycosylated, type I transmembrane glycoprotein commonly expressed by epithelial cells of duct organs. It has been shown to be aberrantly glycosylated in several diseases including cancer. Protein sequence based annotation and analysis of glycosylation profile of glycoproteins by robust computational and comprehensive algorithms provides possible insights to the mechanism(s) of anomalous glycosylation. In present report, by using a number of bioinformatics applications we studied EMA/MUC1 and explored its trans-membrane structural domain sequence that is widely subjected to glycosylation. Exploration of different extracellular motifs led to prediction of N and O-linked glycosylation target sites. Based on the putative O-linked target sites, glycosylated moieties and pathways were envisaged. Furthermore, Protein network analysis demonstrated physical interaction of EMA with a number of proteins and confirmed its functional involvement in cell growth and proliferation pathways. Gene Ontology analysis suggested an involvement of EMA in a number of functions including signal transduction, protein binding, processing and transport along with glycosylation. Thus, present study explored potential of bioinformatics prediction approach in analyzing glycosylation, co-expression and interaction patterns of EMA/MUC1 glycoprotein.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Feasibility of bit patterned media for HAMR at 5 Tb/in{sup 2}

We have investigated the feasibility of BPM for HAMR via Finite Difference Time Domain and atomistic simulation and we have substantiated the feasibility of 5 Tb/in{sup 2} with two filling factors 25% and 56% even when the maximum on-track bit temperature is below the Curie temperature. The success of this underheated switching is attributed to sufficiently low anisotropy instead of reduction of Curie temperature. The temperature gradient in the cross-track direction is almost doubled if the optical head width is reduced by half, indicating the possibility of higher areal densities. Moreover, contrary to continuous media, we also found that the power absorption peaks at the bottom of the bit patterned FePt when the media is illuminated from above, which is probably due to stronger coupling there between FePt and the surrounding materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Contact resistance improvement by the modulation of peripheral length to area ratio of graphene contact pattern

High contact resistance between graphene and metal is a major huddle for high performance electronic device applications of graphene. In this work, a method to improve the contact resistance of graphene is investigated by varying the ratio of peripheral length and area of graphene pattern under a metal contact. The contact resistance decreased to 0.8 kΩ·μm from 2.1 kΩ·μm as the peripheral length increased from 312 to 792 μm. This improvement is attributed to the low resistivity of edge-contacted graphene, which is 8.1 × 10{sup 5} times lower than that of top-contacted graphene.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Pattern manipulation via on-chip phase modulation between orbital angular momentum beams

An integrated approach to thermal modulation of relative phase between two optical vortices with opposite chirality has been demonstrated on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The device consists of a silicon-integrated optical vortex emitter and a phase controlled 3 dB coupler. The relative phase between two optical vortices can be actively modulated on chip by applying a voltage on the integrated heater. The phase shift is shown to be linearly proportional to applied electrical power, and the rotation angle of the interference pattern is observed to be inversely proportional to topological charge. This scheme can be used in lab-on-chip, communications and sensing applications. It can be intentionally implemented with other modulation elements to achieve more complicated applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗