Experimental Apparatus to Search for Supersolidity in Monolayer ^4He on Graphite

We describe some details of a new experimental setup for torsional oscillator (TO) measurement of $^4$ He monolayers adsorbed on a graphite surface. This setup is designed to seek for the possible supersolid phase, in which crystalline order coexists with superfluidity, in two dimensional (2D) solid $^4$ He below 300 mK. Among such 2D solids, the commensurate phase in the second layer on graphite is the most hopeful candidate for the novel supersolid phase since it is the lowest-density quantum solid ever found. An exfoliated graphite substrate we used is ZYX which has at least ten times longer surface coherence length compared to Grafoil, an exfoliated graphite most commonly used in previous experiments. The first version of TO we made has the resonant frequency of 786.8 Hz and the Q value of $1.1\times 10^5$ at $T \le 10$  mK. The resonant frequency of this particular TO without any He samples ( $f_{\mathrm {cell}}$ ) showed unexpectedly large temperature variation and non-reproducibility below 1 K as well as sudden jumps when mechanical shocks are applied to the experimental apparatus. We found the stability of $f_{\mathrm {cell}}$ is highly correlated with the temperature stability of 1 K pot in dilution refrigerator.     

Preparation and properties of CuInS2 thin film prepared from electroplated precursor

Thin CuInS₂ films were prepared by sulfurization of Cu/In bi-layers. First, the precursor layer was electroplated onto the treated surface of Mo-coated glass. Observation of the cross-section prepared by focused ion beam (FIB) etching revealed that the void-free film was initially formed on the top surface of the precursor layer and continued to grow until the advancing front of the film reached the Mo layer. The nucleation of voids near the bottom of the CuInS₂ film followed. To determine whether the condition of the Cu/In alloy influences the CuInS₂ quality we investigated the Cu/In alloy state using FIB. We found that the annealed precursor of low Cu/In ratio (1.2) has several voids in the mid position in the layer compared with Cu-rich precursor (1.6). The cross-sectional view of the Cu-rich absorber layer is uniform compared with the low copper absorber layer. Thin film solar cells were fabricated using the CuInS₂ film (Cu/In ratio: 1.2) as an optical absorber layer. It was found that the optimization of a sulfurization period is important in order to improve the cell efficiency. We have not yet obtained good results with high Cu-rich absorber because of a blister problem. This blister was found before sulfurization. So, we are going to solve this blister problem before sulfurization.     

Suppressing the effect of lightning-induced overvoltages by the combined use of surge arresters and overhead ground wires

Lightning voltage induced by nearby strokes is one of the causes of major overvoltages which threaten the insulation of power distribution lines. Surge arresters as well as an overhead ground wire usually are employed for the protection of equipment and line insulation on overhead power distribution lines. The fundamental mechanism of suppressing effects of overvoltages induced by nearby strokes has been demonstrated independently by one of the present authors for surge arresters and for an overhead ground wire. In this paper, the protective effect of the combination of surge arresters and overhead ground wire is analyzed. As a result, it is found that the effect of surge arresters used together with an overhead ground wire is almost the same as that of surge arresters alone.     

Design of Cavities for a Short Pulse Powerful Large Orbit Gyrotron

Designs of cavities for fundamental and high harmonic operation in Large Orbit Gyrotron (LOG) are discussed. The fundamental operation allows one to use beam currents in the range from 200 A to 300 A achieve output power of the order of 9–10 MW at frequency 143.6 GHz. Mode competition calculations show that stable oscillations in the TE^1,4 mode using high beam currents are possible even with the pitch factor 1.3 which is significantly lower than the design value 1.55. For the second harmonic operation, the maximum current used for excitation of the TE^2,4 mode is 60 A and the optimum magnetic field is 7.6 T. A cavity design for fourth harmonic operation using the TE^4,4 mode is also presented.     

Spatiotemporal expression of C-CAM in the rat placenta

We investigated the expression of the immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecule, C-CAM, in developing and mature rat placenta. By immunohistochemical staining at the light microscopic level, no C-CAM-expression was seen before Day 9 of gestation, when it appeared in the trophoblasts of ectoplacental cones. On Day 10.5, spongiotrophoblasts and invasive trophoblasts around the maternal vessels of the decidua basalis were stained positively. On Day 12.5, C-CAM was detected in the spongiotrophoblasts of the junctional layer, but labyrinth trophoblasts and secondary giant trophoblasts were not stained. On Day 17.5, C-CAM was found only in the labyrinth and lacunae of the junctional layer. At this stage, both the labyrinth cytotrophoblasts of the maternal blood vessels and the endothelial cells of the embryonic capillaries were strongly stained. Placental tissues from gestational Days 12.5 and 17.5 were analyzed by immunoelectron microscopy to determine the location of C-CAM at the subcellular level. On Day 12.5, positive staining of the spongiotrophoblasts was observed, mainly on surface membranes and microvilli between loosely associated cells. On Day 17.5, staining was found primarily on the microvilli of the maternal luminal surfaces of the labyrinth cytotrophoblasts, and both on the luminal surface and in the cytoplasm of endothelial cells of the embryonic vessels. RT-PCR analysis and Southern blotting of the PCR products revealed expression of mRNA species for both of the major isoforms, C-CAM1 and C-CAM2. Immunoblotting analysis of C-CAM isolated from 12.5-day and 14.5-day placentae showed that it appeared as a broad band with an apparent molecular mass of 110-170 kD. In summary, C-CAM was strongly expressed in a specific spatiotemporal pattern in trophoblasts actively involved in formation of the placental tissue, suggesting an important role in placental development. In the mature placenta, C-CAM expression was confined to the trophoblastic and endothelial cells lining the maternal and embryonic vessels, respectively, suggesting important functions in placental physiology.