Control of surface migration of gold particles on Si nanowires

On the surface of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) synthesized by gold (Au)-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (CVD), Au particles 5-20 nm in diameter are formed if the growth conditions are within a specific range. We studied the mechanism of Au particle formation by growing SiNWs under different conditions, specifically by dynamically changing the growth parameters during the growth process. We show that insufficient supply of Si source to the Au-Si eutectic on top of the SiNWs enhances the migration of Au atoms on the surface of SiNWs in the form of Au-Si eutectic, which is precipitated on the surface as Au particles during cooling. We also show that using Au-Si eutectic on the surface of SiNWs as a catalyst enables one-step growth of branched SiNWs.     

Distribution of active impurities in single silicon nanowires

The distribution of electrically active B concentration in single SiNWs (nanowires) grown by a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process was studied by analyzing Fano resonance in Raman spectra. We found a gradient of active B concentration along the growth direction; the B concentration was the largest at the substrate side and the smallest at the catalyst side. The observed concentration gradient suggests the conformal growth of a high B concentration layer during a VLS process. To confirm this effect, we grew SiNWs with controlled impurity profiles, that is, p-type/intrinsic ( p-i) and intrinsic/ p-type ( i-p) SiNWs, by controlling the supply of B source during SiNWs growth. We found that p-i SiNWs can be grown by just stopping the supply of B source in the middle of the growth, while i-p SiNWs were not realized; that is, the whole region of nominal " i-p" SiNWs was B-doped even if we started the supply of B source in the middle of the growth. These results confirm the above doping model. We also found that the distribution of active B concentration was significantly modified by high temperature annealing. By annealing at 1100 degrees C for 1 min, B concentration became almost uniform along 10 mum long SiNWs irrespective of initial B profiles. This suggests very efficient diffusion of B atoms in a defective high B concentration surface layer of SiNWs.     

Self‐Assembled Multilayer‐Stabilized Nickel Nanoparticle Catalyst for Ligand‐Free Cross‐Coupling Reactions: in situ Metal Nanoparticle and Nanospace Simultaneous Organization

We have developed a conceptually and methodologically novel self‐assembled multilayer nickel nanoparticle (NP) catalyst – sulfur‐modified gold‐supported Ni NPs (SANi) – for organic synthesis. The SANi catalyst was easily prepared through a three‐step procedure involving simultaneous in situ metal NP and nanospace organization. This unique method does not require any conventional preformed template for immobilizing and stabilizing NPs. SANi catalyzes carbon‐carbon bond‐forming cross‐coupling, Kumada coupling, and Negishi coupling reactions under ligand‐free conditions and can be used repeatedly for these reactions. Physical analysis of SANi showed that the active species in these reactions are self‐assembled multilayer zerovalent Ni NPs with a size of ∼3 nm.

     

Optical characteristics of injection molded plastic ferrules forsingle-mode optical fiber applications

We injection molded a plastic ferrule for a single-mode optical fiber connector. We used liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) as the molding material because of its fine mold replication ability and introduced an eccentricity control mechanism into the ferrule mold. As a result, we succeeded in molding plastic ferrules whose eccentricity was less than 1 μm by optimizing the eccentricity control conditions. The connection loss of these low eccentricity plastic ferrules was around 0.2 dB and they exhibited an excellent reflection characteristic of 52.5 dB. These initial results were maintained during mating tests and temperature and humidity cycling tests     

Effect of maleated polypropylene on the performance of polypropylene/cellulose composite

Composites consisting of a polypropylene (PP) and highly crystalline cellulosic microfibers were prepared by melting mixing with the maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) as a compatibilizer. The results show that even with addition of a small amount of MAPP, the mechanical properties of the composites improved dramatically. The improvement is attributed to stronger interfacial adhesion caused by esterification between anhydride groups of MAPP and hydroxyl groups of cellulose, although the number of the ester bonds is too few to be detected by FT‐IR spectroscopy. It was also found that tensile strength and Young's modulus increased with the increasing MAPP contents in the composites, and the optimum MAPP content is about 10 wt% for the composite with cellulose content of 30 wt%. SEM indicated that the interfacial adhesion between cellulose fibers and PP improved in MAPP‐containing composites. The DSC results showed that MAPP has little effect on melting and crystallization temperatures of PP in the composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:448–453, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A thin‐film silicon solar cell and module

We have developed a new light‐trapping scheme for a thin‐film Si stacked module (Si HYBRID PULS module), where a (a‐Si:H/transparent interlayer/microcrystalline Si) thin‐film was integrated into a large‐area solar cell module. An initial aperture efficiency of 13·1% has been achieved for a 910 × 455 mm Si HYBRID PLUS module, which was independently confirmed by AIST. This is the first report of the independently confirmed efficiency of a large‐area thin‐film Si module with an interlayer. The 19% increase of short‐circuit current of this module was obtained by the introduction of a transparent interlayer that caused internal light‐trapping. A mini‐module was shown to exhibit a stabilized efficiency of 12%. Outdoor performance of a Si HYBRID (a‐Si:H / micro‐crystalline Si stacked) solar cell module has been investigated for over 4 years with two different kinds of module (top and bottom cell limited, respectively). The HYBRID modules limited by the top cell have exhibited a more efficient performance than the modules limited by the bottom cell, in natural sunlight at noon. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of residual stress in spherical balls by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

In this study, resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) for determining residual stress in small size spherical balls was examined. Natural frequencies of spherical balls with residual stress were analysed by finite element method. Resonant frequencies of spherical balls were experimentally measured by a RUS system. Both natural frequencies in the analysis and the resonant frequencies measured in the experiment decreased as the compressive circumferential stress at the ball surface increased. It was concluded, on the basis of both analytical and experimental results, that the measurement of the resonant frequency by the RUS system along with the analysis of natural frequency are effective for determining the values and distributions of unknown residual stress in spheres.     

Ultrafast real-time vibronic coupling dynamics of a breather soliton in trans-polyacetylene with a few-optical-cycle-pulse laser

The dynamics preceding the spatial separation of a charged soliton pair after photoexcitation in trans-polyacetylene was successfully investigated by using ultrafast spectroscopy with a 6.2 fs pulse laser. It was directly verified that after photoexcitation, the electron–hole pair relaxes with a breather mode (i.e. multi-quanta vibronic states), as theory predicts, with an electron–hole pair lifetime of 33–50 fs. By applying spectrogram analysis to the time trace of the absorbance change, the ultrafast amplitude and frequency modulations of CC and CC stretching modes, induced by breathers and lasting no longer than 100 fs, can be observed simultaneously for the first time. The frequency shifts of both modes were in good agreement with a simulation based on the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model. It was found that the intensities of transition dipoles changed due to breathers, whereas transition energies were dominantly modulated by CC stretching modes as recent theoretical work predicted.