Synthesis, characterization and hydrolysis of aromatic polyazomethines containing non-coplanar biphenyl structures

New polyazomethines containing electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group and non-coplanar biphenyl structures were prepared at room temperature under reduced pressure. It was found that these polyazomethines would undergo hydrolysis in DMSO solution at temperature higher than 50 °C. The hydrolysis, evidenced by ¹H NMR spectra and GPC chromatograms, was resulted from the reverse reaction of azomethine formation and was facilitated at higher temperature. The GPC results also suggested that post-polymerization would be possible if polyazomethine films were heated at elevated temperature (200 °C) under reduced pressure (0.27 torr). The HOMO (−5.69 to −5.96 eV) and LUMO (−3.04 to −3.18 eV) energy levels of the new polyazomethines are much lower than those of other polyazomethines. Combined with the excellent solubility and good thermal stability, non-coplanar biphenyl structure containing electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl group could be a new candidate as electron acceptor for the structure design of new conjugated polymers.     

A novel and rapid fabrication for microlens arrays using microinjection molding

This work reports a novel and effective procedure for manufacturing the mold insert of microlens arrays. First, the microlens arrays master is formed using room‐temperature imprint lithography and photoresist reflow process. Next, electroforming is carried out to fabriccate the metal mold insert from the master. Finally, microinjection molding is used to replicate the molded microlens arrays. The 200 × 200 arrays of molded microlens, with a diameter of 150 μm, a pitch of 200 μm, and a sag height of 11.29 μm for polycarbonate (PC) material and 11.24 μm for polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) material have been successfully fabricated. The moldability for PMMA material is better than PC material on molded microlens arrays. The average surface roughness of the molded microlens arrays is 4.53 nm for PMMA material and 4.81 nm for PC material. The mold temperature is the most important processing factor for the focal length and sag height of molded microlens arrays. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Strain gradient theory based on a new framework of non-local model

A new framework of non-local model for the strain energy density is proposed in this paper. The global strain energy density of the representative volume element is treated as a non-local variable and can be obtained through a special integral of the local strain energy density. The local strain energy density is assumed to be dependent on both the strain and the rotation-gradient. As a result of the non-local model, a new strain gradient theory is derived directly, in which the first and second strain gradients, as well as the triadic and tetradic stress, are introduced in the context of work conjugate. For power law hardening materials, size effects in thin metallic wire torsion and ultra-thin cantilever beam bend are investigated. It is found that the result predicted by the theoretical model is well consistent with the experimental data for the thin wire torsion. On the other hand, the calculation result for the micro-cantilever beam bend clearly shows the size effect.     

Effects of argon sintering atmosphere on luminescence characteristics of Ca6BaP4O17:Sm3+ phosphors

In this paper, Ca₆BaP₄O₁₇:Sm³⁺ and Li⁺ co-doped Ca₆BaP₄O₁₇:Sm³⁺ phosphors were synthesized in air and argon atmospheres using a solid-state reaction method. The phosphor morphologies and crystal structure were studied using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, respectively. The emission and absorption characteristics were investigated using photoluminescence emission spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The surface states and composition of phosphor were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The emission integrated intensities of the phosphors sintered in an argon atmosphere increased 3.5 fold than the ones sintered in air atmosphere, with Li⁺ ions becoming embedded in the lattice of the Ca₆BaP₄O₁₇:Sm³⁺ phosphor. This occurs because there are fewer defect/oxygen vacancies and less of the secondary phase forms, leading to better Sm³⁺ emission. The results suggest that sintering a mixture of the raw materials of a phosphor in an argon atmosphere is a good approach for synthesizing Ca₆BaP₄O₁₇:Sm³⁺ phosphor powders. The color purity and CIE values of an optimized phosphor sample sintered in an argon atmosphere with an Li⁺ ion compensator were calculated to be ~ 99.6% and (0.612,0.386) in the orange–red region under 405-nm excitation, respectively. Moreover, the solid solubility of Sm³⁺ ions in the Ca₆BaP₄O₁₇ host can be enhanced by using an argon atmosphere in the synthesis process.     

Corrosion fatigue behavior of dissimilar metal weldments under nominal constant ΔK loading mode in a simulated BWR coolant environment

Corrosion fatigue behavior of the dissimilar metal weldment, Alloy 52-A508, under a simulated BWR coolant condition was studied. Corrosion fatigue crack growth rates of the dissimilar metal weldments were observed to increase with crack extension under the nominal constant ΔK loading mode. It could be accounted for by a decrease in the Cr and Ni contents and the crack closure effect with the weld depth. Finite element analysis on the welding residual stress was performed. The trend of analytical results agreed well with that of the residual stress measurements obtained by a hole-drilling strain gauge method.     

Theoretical analysis of SAW propagation characteristics in (100) oriented AlN/diamond structure

In this study, the finite element method is employed to calculate SAW characteristics in (100) AlN/diamond based structures with different electrical interfaces; i.e., IDT/ AlN/diamond, AlN/IDT/diamond, IDT/AlN/thin metal film/ diamond, and thin metal film/AlN/IDT/diamond. The effects of Cu and Al electrodes as well as the thickness of electrode on phase velocity, coupling coefficient, and reflectivity of SAWs are illustrated. Propagation characteristics of SAWs in (002) AlN/diamond-based structures are also presented for comparison. Simulation results show that to retain a large reflectivity for the design of RF filters and duplexers, the Cu IDT/(100) AlN/diamond structure possesses the highest phase velocity and largest coupling coefficient at the smallest AlN film thickness- to-wavelength ratio.     

A Fast-Settling Wideband-IF ASK Baseband Circuit for a Wireless Endoscope Capsule

A novel automatic-gain-control (AGC) architecture utilizing wideband current feedback is proposed for the baseband circuit of a wireless endoscope capsule. The baseband circuit consists of a fast-settling wideband AGC loop and an amplitude-shift-keying demodulator. Additional integrators in the reverse signal path provide negative feedback, bandpass-filtering effect, attenuating low-frequency noises, and dc offset from the radio-frequency front end. The baseband circuit fabricated in a 180-nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process achieves a wide-intermediate-frequency (IF) carrier frequency in the range of 0.5-40 MHz, a measured settling time of 2 mus, and an input sensitivity of -57 dBm. The entire baseband demodulator dissipates only 5 mA, with a 1.8-V supply at a data rate of 1.37 Mb/s and an IF carrier frequency of 10 MHz.     

An optimal algorithm for rectilinear steiner trees for channels with obstacles

The channel rectilinear Steiner tree problem is to construct an optimal rectilinear Steiner tree interconnecting n terminals on the upper shore and the lower shore of a channel without crossing any obstacles inside the channel. However, intersecting boundaries of obstacles is allowed. We present an algorithm that computes an optimal channel rectilinear Steiner tree in O(F₁(k)n + F₂(k)) time, where k is the number of obstacles inside the channel and F₁ and F₂ are exponential functions of k. For any constant k the proposed algorithm runs in O(n) time.     

Lidar ratio and depolarization ratio for cirrus clouds

We report on studies of the lidar and the depolarization ratios for cirrus clouds. The optical depth and effective lidar ratio are derived from the transmission of clouds, which is determined by comparing the backscattering signals at the cloud base and cloud top. The lidar signals were fitted to a background atmospheric density profile outside the cloud region to warrant the linear response of the return signals with the scattering media. An average lidar ratio, 29 +/- 12 sr, has been found for all clouds measured in 1999 and 2000. The height and temperature dependences ofthe lidar ratio, the optical depth, and the depolarization ratio were investigated and compared with results of LITE and PROBE. Cirrus clouds detected near the tropopause are usually optically thin and mostly subvisual. Clouds with the largest optical depths were found near 12 km with a temperature of approximately -55 degrees C. The multiple-scattering effect is considered for clouds with high optical depths, and this effect lowers the lidar ratios compared with a single-scattering condition. Lidar ratios are in the 20-40 range for clouds at heights of 12.5-15 km and are smaller than approximately 30 in height above 15 km. Clouds are usually optically thin for temperatures below approximately -65 degrees C, and in this region the optical depth tends to decrease with height. The depolarization ratio is found to increase with a height at 11-15 km and smaller than 0.3 above 16 km. The variation in the depolarization ratio with the lidar ratio was also reported. The lidar and depolarization ratios were discussed in terms of the types of hexagonal ice crystals.     

Microscopic phase-shifting profilometry based on digital micromirror device technology

A microscopic three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement system based on digital fringe projection has been developed and experimentally investigated. A Digital Micromirror Device along with its illumination optics is integrated into a stereomicroscope, which projects computer-generated fringe patterns with a sinusoidal intensity profile through the microscope objective onto the object surface being measured. The fringe patterns deformed by the object surface are recorded by a CCD camera. The microscopic 3-D shape of the object surface is measured and reconstructed by use of a phase-shifting technique. We discuss design considerations and error analysis of the system. Experimental results successfully demonstrate the capability of this technique for surface profile measurement of rough surfaces at the micrometer level.