Low Electrical Percolation Threshold of Silver and Copper Nanowires in Polystyrene Composites

Silver and copper nanowires have been synthesized using a scalable method of AC electrodeposition into porous aluminum oxide templates, which produces gram quantities of metal nanowires ca. 25 nm in diameter and up to 5 and 10 μm in length for Ag and Cu, respectively. The nanowires have been used to prepare polystyrene nanocomposites by solution processing. Electrical resistivity measurements performed on polymer nanocomposites containing different volume fractions of metal indicate that low percolation thresholds of nanowires are attained between compositions of 0.25 and 0.75 vol %.     

An ARQ scheme using combined QPSK and BPSK transmissions

We propose a hybrid ARQ scheme which uses QPSK modulation for the first transmission and BPSK modulation for retransmissions. The throughput performance of the proposed ARQ scheme is better that those of ARQ schemes purely using QPSK modulation or purely using BPSK modulation for transmissions. Furthermore, the proposed scheme does not require any operation of error correction as usually required in hybrid ARQ schemes. Therefore, the ARQ scheme proposed in this paper can be easily implemented     

A MULTIAXIAL FATIGUE DAMAGE MODEL FOR ORTHOTROPIC MATERIALS UNDER PROPORTIONAL LOADING

A new multiaxial fatigue damage model for orthotropic materials is proposed based on the strain vector. Six material constants are included in the model. These material constants represent the dependence of fatigue resistance on material orientation, and they can be obtained by conducting strain-controlled uniaxial fatigue tests along the three principal orthotropic directions of an orthotropic material. The model can also be transformed in new coordinate systems to predict the fatigue lives of new material orientations. Biaxial low-cycle fatigue tests are conducted to verify the model. The prediction of the model agrees with the experimental results reasonably well.     

Study and design of step-index channel waveguide bends withlarge-angle and low-loss characteristics

By using micro-prisms, improved three-dimensional (3-D) bends of the embedded and buried waveguides of step-index profile are proposed. A simple phase compensation rule for the optimal design of the micro-prism is also presented. Through the simulation of 3-D semivectorial finite-difference beam propagation method, the transmission characteristics of the improved bends are shown to have been enhanced dramatically as compared with those of the conventional ones. Even for a bend angle of as large as 10°, the normalized transmitted power can still be greater than 95%. These results of 3-D bends are then compared with those of the two-dimensional (2-D) ones which are simplified from 3-D structures by the effective index method, and physical explanation of the discrepancy between the 3-D and 2-D results is introduced. The influences of waveguide structures and prism parameters on the transmission characteristics are discussed in detail. Some criteria for the design of large-angle low-loss 3-D improved bends are also accessed     

β″－Al_2O_3陶瓷的强化和韧化

研究了稳定ＺｒＯ＿２和部份稳定ＺｒＯ＿２对β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３陶瓷的强化和韧化作用，观察了不同种类、不同含量的ＺｒＯ＿２对β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３陶瓷的显微结构、力学性能和电导率的影响，探讨了β″－Ａｌ＿２Ｏ＿３的韧化机理。     

Determination of the width of the transition layer between the crystalline and amorphous zones in nylon 1010 by SAXS

The width of the transition layer between the crystalline and amorphous zones in nylon 1010 was determined by SAXS with point collimation and long-slit collimation, respectively. The width of the transition layer, E, was found to be 1.7 nm. The results show that the width of the transition layer is independent of crystallinity.     

Multiple negative-differential-resistance (MNDR) phenomena of ametal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM)-like structurewith step-compositioned InxGa1-xAs quantum wells

In this paper, a new multiple negative-differential-resistance (MNDR) device based on a metal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM)-like structure with step-compositional In_xGa_1-x As quantum wells has been fabricated and demonstrated. The interesting MNDR phenomena are found in the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of this device. At room temperature, the triple switching behaviours and quadruple stable operation states are obtained. In addition, the sixfold switching behaviors and a staircase-shaped I-V characteristic are observed at -105°C. A sequential carrier accumulation at InGaAs subwells and the potential lowering process are used to qualitatively explain the interesting MNDR phenomena. From the experimental results, it is shown that the studied device has good potential in multiple-valued logic applications     

Multimode parameter extraction for multiconductor transmissionlines via single-pass FDTD and signal-processing techniques

We present two approaches to extract the broadband multimode parameters of guided wave structures from a single-pass finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. They include a two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier transform (FT) algorithm and a super-resolution estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique (ESPRIT) algorithm. Comparison is made to show the superiority of the super-resolution approach. As a typical application, a three-line coupled microstrip structure is studied. After a single-pass FDTD simulation, broadband multimode parameters such as propagation constants, modal-field templates, and modal impedances are extracted and verified against published data obtained by the spectral-domain method. The main feature of this parameter-extraction methodology is that it decouples the computational electromagnetics engine (in this case, the FDTD simulator) from the post-processing parameter-extraction algorithm, thus providing more flexibility and connectivity among the various simulation tools     

溅射——气体——聚集共沉积法制备金属／金属（介质）复合团簇镶嵌薄膜

提出了溅射－气体－聚集共沉积制备金属／金属（介质）复合团簇镶嵌薄膜的新方法，并利用该方法成功地在方华膜衬底上制备了系列Ｆｅ／Ａｇ及ＣａＦ２复合团簇镶嵌薄膜样品。透射电镜分析结果表明，样品中Ｆｅ（Ｃｕ）团簇都较好地镶嵌于Ａｇ（ＣａＦ２）基质中，其结构为两种材料的多晶共存形态。进一步分析发现，与块材相比，Ｆｅ／Ａｇ样品中Ｆｅ团簇晶格常数呈现出不同程度的收缩，而Ｃｕ／ＣａＦ２样品中Ｃｕ团簇晶格常数则呈现出不同程度的膨胀。运用附加压力的模型对该现象进行了解释。     

Ethnic differences in the length of the menstrual cycle during the postmenarcheal period

In 1989, 125 African-American and 123 European-American girls aged 12-14 years were enrolled in a 2-year study in which they maintained a menstrual calendar, recording the date and amount of menstrual bleeding. Weight, exercise, and stress during the previous week were recorded at the start of each menstrual cycle. Although only minor ethnic differences were observed in expected cycle length (29.3 vs. 28.8 days for European-American and African-American girls, respectively), more prominent differences were observed in the between-subjects standard deviation of cycle length (2.9 vs. 2.2 days, respectively) and in the odds of having a cycle longer than 45 days (odds ratio=1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.17-2.97) for European-American compared with African-American girls. Low weight for height and high levels of exercise increased the probability of having a cycle longer than 45 days and decreased expected cycle length of 13- to 45-day cycles. Additional investigation of potential ethnic differences in menstrual cycle characteristics is warranted.