All-optical photonic switches using integrated inverted asymmetricFabry-Perot modulators and heterojunction phototransistors

InGaAs/GaAs(100) multiple-quantum-well-based inverted cavity asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulators are vertically integrated with GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction phototransistors to yield all-optical photonic switches. The photonic switches using `normally on' modulator pixels exhibit an output on-off ratio of 12:1 with internal optical gain of 4 dB. The photonic switches using `normally off' modulator pixels yield similar contrast and gain, but exhibit intrinsic bistable behavior. The inverted cavity modulators employed permit utilizing the transparency of the GaAs substrate at the operating wavelength and offer advantages for fabricating large arrays for optical signal processing     

Analysis of electromagnetic forces in a levitated short rotor LIM.II. Lateral stabilization

For pt.I see ibid., vol.17, no.1, p.95-101 (2002). This paper proposes a method for lateral stabilization of the levitated linear induction motor and also gives the analysis for calculating the stabilizing force in detail. The calculated force has been experimentally verified using the laboratory prototype described previously     

A theoretical study of pulsed laser sampling photon amplifiers

Theoretical studies point to significant improvements in the performance of semiconductor laser amplifiers by injecting carriers with pulsed electric currents of sub-nanosecond duration. A pulsed Fabry-Perot amplifier (FPA) is most sensitive to input lightwave at the instant the carrier density is crossing the critical region, and gives a sharply pulsed sampling effect on the input lightwave signal. Compared with a FPA operating at subcritical electron density, the pulsed amplifier gives much higher gain, peak power, and bandwidth. In fact, pulsed operation of a FPA is also expected to give significantly higher gain and about the same peak output power as a traveling wave amplifier. Pulsed operation also improves the performance of a traveling wave amplifier by attenuating its internally reflected waves     

EFFICIENCY OF PETROLEUM CONCENTRATION IN MAJOR PETROLIFEROUS BASINS

The ratio of the concentration (barrels of oil equivalent/sq. km) of accumulated oil in the richest sedimentary basin to that in the poorest basin, among those basins containing "giant" and "super-giant" fields, is more than 500 to 1. By contrast, the ratio of the richest to the poorest petroliferous basin in terms of average organic concentration may be less than 20 to 1. Such a large discrepancy between these two ratios suggests that organic concentration alone cannot account, for petroleum concentration in commercial reservoirs, because significant quantities of petroleum may be lost to the surface and be disseminated throughout the sedimentary sequence if the trapping conditions are not suitable. Most of this disseminated petroleum cannot be produced economically using present-day technology.
For a more accurate petroleum assessment, the Author stresses the importance of the efficiency of petroleum accumulation and preservation in commercial reservoirs: this may be evaluated as combining (a) the organic concentration of the source rock, (b) the duration of oil generation, (c) the thickness of the oil-generating "window", (d) the total geologic age involved, and (e) the fluid expulsion rate, and the presence or absence of undercompacted intervals.
Other parameters, such as the trap, reservoir and cap rock, and also the types of organic matter in the source rock, may have a great influence on the efficiency of petroleum concentrations in commercial reservoirs. However, most of these factors are of local significance, and thus are more difficult to generalise than those mentioned above in the context of the global distribution and concentration of oil reserves.     

Microscopic examination of the microstructure and deformation of conventional and auxetic foams

Auxetic materials have a negative Poisson’s ratio, that is, they expand laterally when stretched longitudinally. One way of obtaining a negative Poisson’s ratio is by using a re-entrant cell structure. Auxetic foam was fabricated from a conventional polymeric foam. Assuming similar mechanical properties for the solid material comprising the foams, the principle variable affecting the properties of the foam is the geometry of the cells. This means that the unusual mechanical properties of auxetic foams are attributed to the deformation characteristics of re-entrant microstructures. In this paper, the results of optical- and scanning electron-microscopic studies of the geometrical parameters for the different foams examined are presented. Examples of the microstructural deformation mechanisms observed are also presented. Comparison between the conventional foams and their auxetic conversions are also made. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of Compressive Load on Uplift Capacity of Model Piles

Thirty six tests on model tubular steel piles embedded in sand were carried out in the laboratory to assess the effects of compressive load on uplift capacity of piles considering various parameters. The model piles were of 25 mm outside diameter and 2 mm wall thickness. The soil–pile friction angles were 21 and 29° in loose and dense conditions of sand. The piles were embedded in sand for embedment length/diameter ratios of 8,16, and 24 inside a model tank. They were subjected to a static compressive load of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of their ultimate capacity in compression and subjected to pull out loading tests. The experimental results indicated that the presence of the compressive load on the pile decreases the net uplift capacity of a pile and the decrease depends on the magnitude of the compressive load. A logical approach, based on the experimental results, has been suggested to predict the net uplift capacity of a pile considering the presence of compressive load.     

Antiferroelectric lead zirconate thin films derived from acetate precursors

Antiferroelectric lead zirconate (PbZrO₃) films derived from acetate precursors have been fabricated on Pt/Ti-coated silicon wafers and fused silica at 700 °C with an automatic dip-coating process. Films formed directly on the metallized silicon wafer showed the coexistence of perovskite and pyrochlore phases. A pre-coated titania layer of about 10 nm facilitated the formation of the desired perovskite phase. Films deposited on fused silica exhibited interactions between lead and silica which inhibited the crystallization of the films. In this case, a pre-coated titania layer in the range 50–75 nm acted as a diffusion barrier layer, allowing the formation of the perovskite phase. Antiferroelectricity in the films was confirmed by X-ray superstructure, dielectric double hysteresis loops and d.c. bias behaviour at room temperature. The corresponding transverse electro-optic properties were also measured for films deposited on fused silica.     

Modelling topology optimization problems as linear mixed 0–1 programs

This paper deals with topology optimization of discretized continuum structures. It is shown that a large class of non‐linear 0–1 topology optimization problems, including stress‐ and displacement‐constrained minimum weight problems, can equivalently be modelled as linear mixed 0–1 programs. The modelling approach is applied to some test problems which are solved to global optimality. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aerodynamic effect on natural frequency and flutter instability in rotating optical disks

 Experimental studies on the aerodynamic coupling effect on natural frequencies and flutter instability of rotating disks are investigated in this paper. The experiments performed using a vacuum chamber and optical disks give two main results. One is that the aerodynamic effect by surrounding air reduces the natural frequencies and critical speeds of the vibration modes in pre-flutter regions. The other is that the natural frequency of the disk rotating at ambient atmospheric pressure is equal to that in vacuum at the flutter onset speed where the disk experiences aero-induced flutter. In post-flutter regions, the aerodynamic coupling between the disk and surrounding air increases the natural frequencies of the disk. Received: 17 June 2002/Accepted: 7 October 2002 The work was supported by Grant No. R11-1997-042-090001-0 of the Center for Information Storage Devices designated by the Korea Science & Engineering Foundation. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Symposium on Information Storage and Processing Systems, Santa Clara, CA, USA, 17–18 June, 2002