Design and optimization of DBR in 980 nm bottom-emitting VCSEL

According to the theory of DBR, with the P-type DBR as an example, the electrical characteristics and optical reflection of the DBR are analyzed by studying the energy band structure with various graded region widths and doping densities. The width and doping density of graded region are decided through a comparative study. The P-type DBR of 980 nm VCSELs is designed with Al_0.9Ga_0.1As and Al_0.1Ga_0.9As selected as the high and low refractive index material for the DBR. The 980 nm bottom VCSELs, which consists of 30 pairs P-type DBR and 28 pairs N-type DBR, are then fabricated. In P-type DBR, the width of graded region is 0.02 μm and the uniformity doping concentration is 2.5×10¹⁸cm⁻³. Its reflectivity is 99.9%. In N-type DBR, the width of graded region is also 0.02 μm and the uniformity doping concentration is 2×10¹⁸cm⁻³. Its reflectivity is 99.3%. The I–V curve shows that the series resistance of the device is about 0.05 Ω. According to the theory of DBR, with the P-type DBR as an example, the electrical characteristics and optical reflection of the DBR are analyzed by studying the energy band structure with various graded region widths and doping densities. The width and doping density of graded region are decided through a comparative study. The P-type DBR of 980 nm VCSELs is designed, with Al_0.9Ga_0.1As and Al_0.1Ga_0.9As selected as the high and low refractive index material for the DBR. The 980 nm bottom VCSELs, which consist of 30 pairs P-type DBR and 28 pairs N-type DBR, are then fabricated. In P-type DBR, the width of graded region is 0.02 μm and the uniformity doping concentration is 2.5×1018cm⁻³. Its reflectivity is 99.9%. In N-type DBR, the width of graded region is also 0.02 μm and the uniformity doping concentration is 2×1018cm⁻³. Its reflectivity is 99.3%. The I–V curve shows that the series resistance of the device is about 0.05 Ω. Supported partially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60636020, 60676034, 60577003, 60706007)     

Thermal stability and switching field distribution of CoNi/Pt patterned media

The thermal dependence and distribution of the switching fields of arrays of magnetic Co₅₀Ni₅₀/Pt nanodots has been studied. These dots, with a diameter of 90 nm, are arranged in a hexagonal pattern with a periodicity of 300 nm. Field-dependent magnetic force microscopy was used to measure the switching field distribution of the array, which was found to range from 80 to 192 kA/m, a value which is confirmed by vibrating sample magnetometer measurements. Additionally, the temperature dependence on the collective behaviour of the switching fields of the array has been investigated. The energy barrier at zero field was estimated to have a value in between 1.8×10⁻¹⁹ and 2.1×10⁻¹⁹ J. Combining this value with the effective anisotropy determined by torque measurements, the switching volume can be estimated to lie in between 1.2×10³ and 1.4×10³ nm³.     

Volume hologram recording in diarylethene doped polymer

Volume hologram recording is implemented experimentally in the bulk of diarylethene dyedoped polymeric host-guest material. A wide range of reciprocity for holographic imaging is demonstrated, ranging from as low as 0.55 mW/cm² up to more than 200 mW/cm². At a dye concentration of 2 × 10⁻³ M and spatial frequency of 2000 mm⁻¹, refractive index modulations Δn of 2 × 10⁻⁵ at λ = 514.5 nm and 1 × 10⁻⁵ at λ = 830 nm were attained. Increasing the dye concentration to 3.8 × 10⁻² M resulted in higher Δn values of 3.8 × 10⁻⁴ at λ = 514.5 nm and 2.1 × 10⁻⁴ at λ = 830 nm. The high fatigue resistance of the dye allows multiple record/erase cycles without degradation. The thermal stability of the dye allows for durability of the recording material at temperatures above 115°C. At temperatures above 57°C, the hologram is found to exhibit thermal degradation at a rate far exceeding that caused by thermochromism. It is suggested that diffusion of the dye in the polymer matrix is responsible for the increased sensitivity of the hologram to elevated temperatures, which may be applied in reusable holographic thermal sensors. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Equivalence Problems for Circuits over Sets of Natural Numbers

We investigate the complexity of equivalence problems for {∪,∩,⁻,+,×}-circuits computing sets of natural numbers. These problems were first introduced by Stockmeyer and Meyer (1973). We continue this line of research and give a systematic characterization of the complexity of equivalence problems over sets of natural numbers. Our work shows that equivalence problems capture a wide range of complexity classes like NL, C ₌ L, P,Π₂^P, PSPACE, NEXP, and beyond. McKenzie and Wagner (2003) studied related membership problems for circuits over sets of natural numbers. Our results also have consequences for these membership problems: We provide an improved upper bound for the case of {∪,∩,⁻,+,×}-circuits.     

Micro-electroforming metallic bipolar electrodes for mini-DMFC stacks

This paper describes the development of metallic bipolar plate fabrication using micro-electroforming process for mini-DMFC (direct methanol fuel cell) stacks. Ultraviolet (UV) lithography was used to define micro-fluidic channels using a photomask and exposure process. Micro-fluidic channels mold with 300 μm thick and 500 μm wide were firstly fabricated in a negative photoresist onto a stainless steel plate. Copper micro-electroforming was used to replicate the micro-fluidic channels mold. Following by sputtering silver (Ag) with 1.2 μm thick, the metallic bipolar plates were completed. The silver layer is used for corrosive resistance. The completed mini-DMFC stack is a 3.5 × 3.5 cm² fuel cell stack including a 1.5 × 1.5 cm² MEA (membrane electrode assembly). Several MEAs were assembly into mini-DMFC stacks using the completed metallic bipolar plates. All test results showed the metallic bipolar plates suitable for mini-DMFC stacks. The maximum output power density is 9.3 mW/cm² and current density is 100 mA/cm² when using 8 vol.% methanol as fuel and operated at temperature 30°C. The output power result is similar to other reports by using conventional graphite bipolar plates. However, conventional graphite bipolar plates have certain difficulty to be machined to such micro-fluidic channels. The proposed micro-electroforming metallic bipolar plates are feasible to miniaturize DMFC stacks for further portable 3C applications.     

Effect of dispersed phase viscosity on maximum droplet generation frequency in microchannel emulsification using asymmetric straight-through channels

Uniformly sized droplets of soybean oil, MCT (medium-chain fatty acid triglyceride) oil and n-tetradecane with a Sauter mean diameter of d _3,2 = 26–35 μm and a distribution span of 0.21–0.25 have been produced at high throughputs using a 24 × 24 mm silicon microchannel plate consisting of 23,348 asymmetric channels fabricated by photolithography and deep reactive ion etching. Each channel consisted of a 10-μm diameter straight-through micro-hole with a length of 70 μm and a 50 × 10 μm micro-slot with a depth of 30 μm at the outlet of each channel. The maximum dispersed phase flux for monodisperse emulsion generation increased with decreasing dispersed phase viscosity and ranged from over 120 L m⁻² h⁻¹ for soybean oil to 2,700 L m⁻² h⁻¹ for n-tetradecane. The droplet generation frequency showed significant channel to channel variations and increased with decreasing viscosity of the dispersed phase. For n-tetradecane, the maximum mean droplet generation frequency was 250 Hz per single active channel, corresponding to the overall throughput in the device of 3.2 million droplets per second. The proportion of active channels at high throughputs approached 100% for soybean oil and MCT oil, and 50% for n-tetradecane. The agreement between the experimental and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) results was excellent for soybean oil and the poorest for n-tetradecane.     

Microdroplet formation of water and nanofluids in heat-induced microfluidic T-junction

This paper reports experimental investigations on the droplet formation and size manipulation of deionized water (DIW) and nanofluids in a microfluidic T-junction at different temperatures. Investigations of the effect of microchannel depths on the droplet formation process showed that the smaller the depth of the channel the larger the increase of droplet size with temperature. Sample nanofluids were prepared by dispersing 0.1 volume percentage of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles of 15 nm and 10 nm × 40 nm in DIW for their droplet formation experiments. The heater temperature also affects the droplet formation process. Present results demonstrate that nanofluids exhibit different characteristics in droplet formation with the temperature. Addition of spherical-shaped TiO₂ (15 nm) nanoparticles in DIW results in much smaller droplet size compared to the cylindrical-shaped TiO₂ (10 nm × 40 nm) nanoparticles. Besides changing the interfacial properties of based fluid, nanoparticles can influence the droplet formation of nanofluids by introducing interfacial slip at the interface. Other than nanofluid with cylindrical-shaped nanoparticles, the droplet size was found to increase with increasing temperature.     

Nano- and microsized metal oxide thin film gas sensors

Functional micro- and nanosized metal oxide thin film structures are very promising candidate for future gas-sensors. Their reduced size offers an increased surface to volume ratio thus improving sensitivity and sensor performance. Whilst most experimental nanostructures are produced using a bottom-up approach, a top-down sputtering technique for structuring nano-sized gas sensitive metal oxide areas is presented in this letter. Oxidised silicon wafers were used as substrates. The silicon dioxide film of 1 μm thickness was prepared by thermal oxidation in order to insulate the gas sensing elements from the substrate. The sensor chips had an overall size of (1.5 × 1.5) mm² onto which a Ta/Pt film (20/200 nm thickness) was deposited and patterned to act as electrodes, heater and temperature sensor. In a second step micro-scaled tin dioxide layers (60 nm thick, 5 μm width) were deposited by sputtering techniques and photolithographical patterning between the platinum micro-electrodes (4 μm gap). Finally, the width of the stripes was reduced using focused ion beam technology to obtain the desired size and structure. This enables the control of the dimensions of the structures down to the resolution limit of the FIB-system which is about 10 nm. The structural and electrical characterisation of the sensors and their responses during exposure to several test gases including O₂, CO, NO₂ and H₂O are presented as well.     

Synthesis of space optimal systolic arrays for band matrix-vector multiplication

In this paper, we consider the implementation of a product c=A b, where A is N ₁×N ₃ band matrix with bandwidth ω and b is a vector of size N ₃×1, on bidirectional and unidirectional linear systolic arrays (BLSA and ULSA, respectively). We distinguish the cases when the matrix bandwidth ω is 1≤ω≤N ₃ and N ₃≤ω≤N ₁+N ₃−1. A modification of the systolic array synthesis procedure based on data dependencies and space-time transformations of data dependency graph is proposed. The modification enables obtaining both BLSA and ULSA with an optimal number of processing elements (PEs) regardless of the matrix bandwidth. The execution time of the synthesized arrays has been minimized. We derive explicit formulas for the synthesis of these arrays. The performances of the designed arrays are discussed and compared to the performances of the arrays obtained by the standard design procedure.     

Quantum model and memory of informative biomacromolecules

It is shown, that tubuline informative biomacromolecule has two-well structure potential energy relief for an electron responsible for the switching between conformations of molecules. Therefore the system of conformational excitation in informative biomacromolecules must be described as a two-level quantum system. The energy of the basic electron state ɛ₊ = 1.2 eV and frequency of electron tunneling ω = (6 × 10¹³–6 × 10¹¹) s⁻¹ in a tubuline molecule were calculated. The possibility of data recording by directly collapse of wave function in a two-level cell was shown, thus coherence of quantum state collapses only. The article is published in the original.