Photostability of Isovaline and its Precursor 5-Ethyl-5- methylhydantoin Exposed to Simulated Space Radiations

Aqueous solutions of isovaline and its precursor molecule, 5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin, were irradiated with ultraviolet and γ-ray photons, to evaluate their structural stability against space radiation. The degree of photolysis was measured and irradiation products were identified using chiral, reversed-phase and ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. The experimental results show that the degree of photolysis of 5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin is more significant than that of isovaline under ultraviolet light irradiation, while the results under γ-ray irradiation are the opposite. As the products of isovaline photolysis, aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid and alanine were dominantly detected.     

Properties of Bi-doped PbTe layers grown by liquid phase epitaxy under controlled Te vapor pressure

Effects of Bi doping in PbTe liquid-phase epitaxial layers grown by the temperature difference method under controlled vapor pressure (TDM-CVP) are investigated. For Bi concentrations in the solution, x_Bi, lower than 0.2 at.%, an excess deep-donor level (activation energy E_d≈0.03–0.04 eV) appears, and Hall mobility is low. In contrast, for x_Bi>0.2 at.%, Hall mobility becomes very high, while carrier concentration is in the range of 10¹⁷ cm⁻³. Inductive coupled plasma (ICP) emission analysis shows that, for x_Bi=1 at.%, Bi concentration in the epitaxial layer is as high as N_Bi=2.3–2.7 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³. These results indicate that Bi behaves not only as a donor but also as an acceptor, and the nearest neighbor or very near donor-acceptor (D-A) pairs are formed, so that strong self-compensation of Bi takes place. Carrier concentration for highly Bi-doped layers shows a minimum at a Te vapor pressure of 2.2 × 10⁻⁵ torr for growth temperature 470°C, which is coincident with that of the undoped PbTe.     

Polymerization of trithiane

The catalytic solid-state polymerization of trithane to polythiomethylene has been studied. The polymerization can be initiated by wide varieties of substances such as metal salts, halogen, and active organic halides. The polymerization proceeds in solid-state without topochemical process. The catalytic irreversible degradation of polythiomethylene to dimethyl sulfide and carbon disulfide has been observed.     

Preparation of Pb(Zr,Ti)03 Through the Use of Cupferron

An organic chelation reagent, cupferron, was used to coprecipitate Ti⁴⁺ andZr⁴⁺. After the materials were fired, they were mixed with PbO powder and fired again at high temperatures to obtain Pb(Zr,Ti)0₃ (PZT). It was confirmed that this method is useful for the preparation of homogeneous PZT having no compositional fluctuations. No coexistence range of the tetragonal and rhombohedral phases was observed in the PZT compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary.     

Modulation characteristics of 1.3 ?m buried-stripe InGaAsP laser up to 2 Gbit/s data rates

Modulation experimenting on a buried-stripe (b.s.) InGaAsP laser emitting at 1.3 ?m was carried out up to 2 Gbit/s. The b.s. laser is free from relaxation oscillation, which degrades modulated optical pube waveforms, especially at high data rates. The repeater gain of 1.6 Gbit/s transmission systems is improved by 9 dB compared with previously reported experiments. Modulation characteristics up to 2 Gbit/s are reported.     

Dispersion-free single-mode fibre transmission experiments up to 1.6 Gbit/s

Long-span single-mode fibre transmission experiments at 1.3 ?m have been refined toward higher digit rate and longer fibre span. Error-rate against receiving optical level characteristics showed that optical power penalties at 100 Mbit/s, 1.2 Gbit/s and 1.6 Gbit/s are negligible, even after 30 km, 23 km and 13 km fibre transmission, respectively.     

Adaptive optics instrumentation in submillimeter/terahertz spectroscopy with a flexible polyvinylidene fluoride cladding hollow waveguide

A simple instrument has been developed to carry out temperature dependent submillimeter/terahertz-wave spectroscopy using a polyvinylidene fluoride flexible hollow waveguide and an eggplant-shape launching lens.     

Electron beam nanoprocessing of a carbon nanotube film using a variable pressure scanning electron microscope

We demonstrate a novel method of processing carbon nanotubes using a variable pressure scanning electron microscope. Lines were processed in a nanotube film by electron beam irradiation in oxygen gas and nitrogen gas. The processing mechanism can be explained in terms of gas ion sputtering and chemical reaction. In this experiment, the narrowest line width of 120 nm was achieved in a nitrogen atmosphere.