Uniformity of gallium doped zinc oxide thin film prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Recently, transparent conducting oxide thin films have attracted attention for the application to transparent conducting electrodes. In this work, we evaluated the uniformity of electrical, optical and structural properties for gallium doped zinc oxide thin films prepared on the 10 × 10 cm² silica glass substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The resistivity, carrier concentration, mobility, bonding state and atomic composition of the film were uniform along in-plane and depth direction over the 10 × 10 cm² area of the substrate. The film showed the average transmittance of 81-87%, resistivity of 1.4 × 10^− 3 Ω cm, carrier concentration of 9.7 × 10²⁰/cm³ and mobility of 5 cm²/Vs in spite of the amorphous X-ray diffraction pattern. The gradual thickness distribution was found, however, the potential for large-area and low temperature deposition of transparent conducting oxide thin film using pulsed laser deposition method was confirmed.     

Theranostic Agent Combining Fullerene Nanocrystals and Gold Nanoparticles for Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

Developing photoactivatable theranostic platforms with integrated functionalities of biocompatibility, targeting, imaging contrast, and therapy is a promising approach for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we report a theranostic agent based on a hybrid nanoparticle comprising fullerene nanocrystals and gold nanoparticles (FGNPs) for photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy. Compared to gold nanoparticles and fullerene crystals, FGNPs exhibited stronger photoacoustic signals and photothermal heating characteristics by irradiating light with an optimal wavelength. Our studies demonstrated that FGNPs could kill cancer cells due to their photothermal heating characteristics in vitro. Moreover, FGNPs that are accumulated in tumor tissue via the enhanced permeation and retention effect can visualize tumor tissue due to their photoacoustic signal in tumor xenograft model mice. The theranostic agent with FGNPs shows promise for cancer therapy.     

Spatiotemporal Magnetocaloric Microenvironment for Guiding the Fate of Biodegradable Polymer Implants

The degradation behavior of implants is significantly important for bone repair. However, it is still unprocurable to spatiotemporally regulate the degradation of the implants to match bone ingrowth. In this paper, a magneto-controlled biodegradation model is established to explore the degradation behavior of magnetic scaffolds in a magnetothermal microenvironment generated by an alternating magnetic field (AMF). The results demonstrate that the scaffolds can be heated by magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) under AMF, which dramatically accelerated scaffold degradation. Especially, magnetic NPs modified by oleic acid with a better interface compatibility exhibit a greater heating efficiency to further facilitate the degradation. Furthermore, the molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the enhanced motion correlation between magnetic NPs and polymer matrix can accelerate the energy transfer. As a proof-of-concept, the feasibility of magneto-controlled degradation for implants is demonstrated, and an optimizing strategy for better heating efficiency of nanomaterials is provided, which may have great instructive significance for clinical medicine.     

High-performance C60 and picene thin film field-effect transistors with conducting polymer electrodes in bottom contact structure

C₆₀ and picene thin film field-effect transistors (FETs) in bottom contact structure have been fabricated with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) electrodes for a realization of mechanical flexible organic FETs. The C₆₀ thin film FETs showed n-channel enhancement-type characteristics with the field-effect mobility μ value of 0.41 cm² V^?1 s^?1, while the picene thin film FET showed p-channel enhancement-type characteristics with the μ of 0.61 cm² V^?1 s^?1. The μ values recorded for C₆₀ and picene thin film FETs are comparable to those for C₆₀ and picene thin film FETs with Au electrodes.     

Electron-microscopic imaging of single-walled carbon nanotubes grown on silicon and silicon oxide substrates

Direct imaging of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) suspended on pillar-patterned Si or SiO2 substrates is investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The suspended nanotubes are successfully observed by direct TEM imaging and it is seen that they have either individual or bundles of SWNTs. Low energy (< or =2 keV) SEM produces high contrast images of suspended SWNTs. On the contrary, when SWNTs contact a SiO2 substrate, they are imaged using electron-beam induced current. The image brightness depends on the length of SWNTs.     

Dual-Mode Space-Temporal Simultaneous Processing Equalizer

A tapped delayed line adaptive array antenna (TDL-AAA) and a space-temporal simultaneous processing equalizer (ST-SPE) are proposed as simple space-temporal equalizers based on minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion. The ST-SPE has a compact hardware with a small number of taps compared to that of the TDL-AAA. The ST-SPE can reduce the computational complexity of the space-temporal joint equalization and it works effectively under the minimum phase condition such as appeared at line-of-sight (LOS) propagation environments at a high antenna height base station. However the ST-SPE cannot work under a non-minimum phase condition caused under N-LOS (non-line-of-sight). On the other hand, the TDL-AAA whose reference signal is synchronized at the center tap (TDL-AAA_C) can work even in the non-minimum phase condition. In this paper, we propose a dual-mode space-temporal simultaneous processing equalizer (Dual-mode ST-SPE) which has a simple configuration and also works in non-minimum phase condition. The Dual-mode ST-SPE can reduce the computational complexity compared to the TDL-AAA_C. Yoshihiro Ichikawa received the B.E. degree in department of communication engineering, in National Defense Academy in 1995, and M.E. and D.E. degree from Ibaraki University in 2001 and 2004, respectively. He joined the Japan Air Self Defense Force in 1995. His research interests are an adaptive algorithm, an antenna design, and an adaptive array antenna. Shigeki Obote received his B.E., M.E. and D.E. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Tottori University, Tottori, Japan, in 1996, 1998 and 2000, respectively. Since 2000, he has been with department of media and telecommunications engineering, faculty of engineering, Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan, where he is currently a associate professor. His research interests are in adaptive array antenna and wireless communications systems. Kenichi Kagoshima received the B.E., M.E. and D.E. degrees in electronics engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan, in 1969, 1971, and 1974, respectively. He joined the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) Laboratory in 1974 and researched and developed many kinds of radio communication antennas. Since 1997, he has been a professor at Ibaraki University, Ibaraki, Japan. Dr. Kagoshima was a Secretary and Treasure, Vice Chairman, and Chairman of the IEEE AP-S Tokyo Chapter in 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively. He was a chair of antennas and propagation professional group of IEICE in 1999 and 2000. In 1973, he received the Yonezawa Prize for Young Engineers and 1998, best paper award from IEICE, respectively.     

Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 31)

Consolidated tables showing an extensive listing of the highest independently confirmed efficiencies for solar cells and modules are presented. Guidelines for inclusion of results into these tables are outlined and new entries since July, 2008 are reviewed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solar cell efficiency tables (version 43)

Consolidated tables showing an extensive listing of the highest independently confirmed efficiencies for solar cells and modules are presented. Guidelines for inclusion of results into these tables are outlined, and new entries since July 2013 are reviewed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of cube-type SOFC stacks using anode-supported tubular cells

Tubular SOFCs have shown many desirable characteristics such as high thermal stability during rapid heat cycling and large electrode area per unit volume, which can accelerate to realize SOFC systems applicable to portable devices and auxiliary power units for automobile. So far, we have developed anode-supported tubular SOFCs with 0.8–2 mm diameter using Gd-doped CeO₂ (GDC) electrolyte, NiO-GDC anode and (La, Sr)(Co, Fe)O₃ (LSCF)-GDC cathode. In this study, a newly developed cube-type SOFC stack which consists of three SOFC bundles was designed and examined. The bundle consists of three 2 mm diameter tubular SOFCs and a rectangular shaped cathode support where these tubular cells are arranged in parallel. The performance of the stack whose volume is less than 1 cm³ was shown to be 2.8 V OCV and over 1 W at 1.6 V under 500 °C. Cathode loss factor due to current collection from cathode matrix was also estimated using a proposed model.     

Decision-making in electrical appliance use in the home

This paper presents the results of a survey as well as an argument from the viewpoint of behavioral economics with the aim of clarifying how consumers make decisions about electrical appliance use in the home. A survey of consumers showed that most have little awareness of the energy efficiency of appliances, the price of the services produced by electrical appliances, or electricity rates. These findings indicate that price does not function as a signal in electricity consumption through electrical appliance use. Rather, we found that consumer decision-making in electricity consumption is dependent on the characteristics of the particular electrical appliances they use. Additionally, we argue that the payment system for home electricity consumption plays an important role in decision-making, causing biases due to aspects of human psychology discussed here in terms of satisficing and heuristics, payment decoupling, and budgeting. We conclude that decision-making about electrical appliance use and electricity consumption in the home is not always rational and is affected both by the particular characteristics of appliances and the payment system for electricity consumption along with human psychology.