Electron spin resonance study of Langmuir-Blodgett films of N-docosylpyridinium- di(tetracyanoquinodimethane)

An electron spin resonance (ESR) investigation is performed on Langmuir-Blodgett films consisting of a surface-active 1:2 complex of N-docosylpyridinium and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), whose temperature-dependent spin susceptibility has been so far found to be consistent with the random-exchange Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain (REHAC) model of Soos and Bondeson. An out-of-plane anisotropy in the ESR spectra shows that the long axes of TCNQ molecules are preferentially oriented along the plane normal to the sample, where the negligible in- plane anisotropy indicates the random distribution of the short and the pπ orbital axes in the film plane. A heat treatment applied to the samples results in an increase in the concentration of disorder, showing the possibility of controlling it in the present REHAC system.     

Study of self-trapped optical beams by high-speed holography

Output of a 10-MWQ-switched Nd³⁺glass laser was focused into several kinds of liquid media, and the change in the refractive indicesdeltandue to the focused laser beam was observed by means of double exposure holography using aQ-switched ruby laser as the light source. It has been shown that a filament of several 10 μ in diameter and several mm in length is formed around the focal point. The filament remains almost unchanged more than several μs. The sign ofdeltanafter the passage of the laser beam is negative. The temperature change at the filament has been estimated to be about 0.2°C, assumingdeltanto be caused entirely by thermal effect of the beam. The absorption of the laser beam that causes this temperature change has been found to be linear in the flux density, the absorption coefficient being2 times 10^{-3}cm^-1in CS2. The growth of spherical and plane pressure waves has also been observed.     

Disadvantages of muscle-sparing thoracotomy in patients with lung cancer

At our institute patients with lung cancer had traditionally undergone lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection using a standard posterolateral approach. The considerable morbidity associated with the standard posterolateral thoracotomy led us to investigate an alternative muscle-sparing approach. A prospective, randomized study of 30 patients with primary lung cancer (stage I or II) was performed to compare the following: operative field size, number of dissected lymph nodes, surgery time, postoperative pain, shoulder range of motion, and pulmonary function test results between patients who underwent either standard thoracotomy (SP group, n = 15) or the muscle-sparing thoracotomy (MS group, n = 15). The procedure should provide enough operative field size to access to mediastinum. Compared with the standard posterior thoracotomy, the muscle-sparing thoracotomy supplied a smaller operative field (218 +/- 31 versus 165 +/- 41 cm2) and required more surgery time (87 +/- 13 minutes) than the standard posterior thoracotomy (66 +/- 12 minutes). There were no significant differences in the number of dissected mediastinal lymph nodes. During the early postoperative days, pain and restriction of shoulder flexion were significantly less in the MS group than in the SP group. There were no significant differences in pulmonary function between the two groups. In terms of the operative field there is a marked disadvantage with the muscle-sparing incision compared with standard thoracotomy. The operative field is significantly smaller than with a standard thoracotomy, requiring more time to dissect the mediastinum; however, the pain is less and shoulder range of motion is superior to what is seen after standard thoracotomy during the early postoperative period. We conclude that there is no overall advantage to using the muscle-sparing incision in patients with lung cancer.     

First plasma experiment on spherical tokamak device UTST

The UTST (University of Tokyo Spherical Tokamak) device was constructed for the purpose of exploring the formation of ultrahigh‐beta ST (spherical tokamak) plasma using the double null plasma merging method. When two plasmas merge together to form a single plasma, magnetic field lines reconnect, and magnetic field energy is converted to plasma kinetic energy, increasing the plasma beta. Merging start‐up has been demonstrated in the TS‐3/4, START, and MAST devices using coils inside the vacuum vessel, and the TS‐3 plasma obtained a 50% beta. In order to demonstrate start‐up in a more reactor‐relevant situation, UTST has all poloidal field (PF) coils outside the vacuum vessel. The first plasma experiment on the UTST was begun in December 2007. In the results, the plasma obtained 10 kA by using only the outer PF coils and a single ST was generated in the lower area (z = –0.3 to –1.0 m) close to a washer gun. This result suggests that another washer gun on the top of the UTST can allow the generation of ST in the upper area and merging start‐up by using outer PF coils. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 179(2): 20–26, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.21216     

High‐Performance Dibenzoheteraborin‐Based Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters: Molecular Architectonics for Concurrently Achieving Narrowband Emission and Efficient Triplet–Singlet Spin Conversion

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials, which enable the full harvesting of singlet and triplet excited states for light emission, are expected as the third‐generation emitters for organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), superseding the conventional fluorescence and phosphorescence materials. High photoluminescence quantum yield (Φ_PL), narrow‐band emission (or high color purity), and short delayed fluorescence lifetime are all strongly desired for practical applications. However, to date, no rational design strategy of TADF emitters is established to fulfill these requirements. Here, an epoch‐making design strategy is proposed for producing high‐performance TADF emitters that concurrently exhibiting high Φ_PL values close to 100%, narrow emission bandwidths, and short emission lifetimes of ≈1 µs, with a fast reverse intersystem crossing rate of over 10⁶ s^?1. A new family of TADF emitters based on dibenzoheteraborins is introduced, which enable both doped and non‐doped TADF‐OLEDs to achieve markedly high external electroluminescence quantum efficiencies, exceeding 20%, and negligible efficiency roll‐offs at a practical high luminance. Systematic photophysical and theoretical investigations and device evaluations for these dibenzoheteraborin‐based TADF emitters are reported here.     

Technique for detecting flaws in metallic surfaces using an optical system with phase-type blazed gratings

In this paper, we evaluate a novel flaw-detection technique for metallic surfaces based on the use of phase-type blazed gratings. Transparent blazed gratings were prepared by the soft nanoimprint method involving the transfer of a template (a reflective grating structure used for spectroscopy) onto silicone rubber. The blazed gratings were then integrated into an imaging system to observe the reflective metal sample. Due to the low-pass-filtering properties of the gratings, the captured image was notably blurred. This characteristic aids in flaw detection on metallic surfaces because the captured image is adequate to distinguish flaws in the targeted area on the basis of the texture of the rough surface, including any other structures that were unintended. The use of double-sided gratings with crossing grating vectors was found to be efficient for homogenous low-pass filtering. Such flaw-detection techniques are expected to be useful for conducting quality inspections of rolled steel plates since the surface contains both a rough surface and undesirable flaws.     

4032 ppi High‐resolution OLED microdisplay

A 0.5‐inch Ultra Extended Graphics Array (UXGA) organic light‐emitting diodes microdisplay has been developed with 6.3 μm pixel pitch. Not only 4032 ppi high resolution but high frame rate, low power consumption, wide viewing angle, and high luminance have been achieved. This newly developed organic light‐emitting diodes microdisplay is suitable for Near‐to‐Eye display applications, especially electronic viewfinders.     

Room-temperature densification of MgO bulk ceramics with dispersed nitride phosphor particles

Wave conversion materials with high thermal conductivity are necessary for high-power semiconductor lighting. Ceramics have higher thermal conductivity than existing matrices such as resin or glass in which phosphor particles are dispersed. However, the high densification of ceramics generally requires high-temperature sintering, which degrades and alters the phosphor particles. In this study, we aimed to achieve the high densification of MgO ceramics at room temperature. Applying high hydrostatic pressure with water addition improved the sample packing ratio and promoted the formation of Mg(OH)₂. As a result, the relative density was ≥95%. Additionally, various nitride phosphor particles (CaAlSiN₃:Eu²⁺, β-SiAlON:Eu²⁺, and α-SiAlON:Eu²⁺) were dispersed in the MgO matrix at room temperature without degrading the luminescence property. The thermal conductivity of the obtained sample was about 8 W m^?1K^?1, 40 times higher than that of the epoxy matrix.