A new high performance phase shifter using BaxSr1-xTiO3 thin films

In this paper, a new device topology has been proposed to implement parallel plate capacitors using Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ (BST) thin films. The device layout utilizes a single parallel capacitor and minimizes conductor losses in the base electrode. The new design simplifies the monolithic process and overcomes the problems associated with electrode patterning. An X-band 180° phase shifter has been implemented using the new device design. The circuit provided 240° phase shift with an insertion loss of only 3 dB at 10 GHz at room temperature. We have shown a figure of merit 93°/dB at 6.3 GHz and 87°/dB at 8.5 GHz. To our knowledge, these are the best figure of merit results reported in the literature for distributed phase shifters implemented using BST films at room temperature     

795 nm and 1064 nm dual pump thulium-doped tellurite fibre for S-band amplification

Gain measurement in thulium-doped tellurite fibre is demonstrated with a maximum internal gain of 7 dB at 1480 nm. An improvement in gain by a factor of 2 is achieved using a 795 nm and 1064 nm dual pump scheme. Gain in tellurite fibres extends to longer wavelength than in fluorides, showing improved overlap with the C-band EDFA.     

Vapor Annealing as a Post-Processing Technique to Control Carrier Concentrations of Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript> Thin Films

This article demonstrates that carrier concentrations in bismuth telluride films can be controlled through annealing in controlled vapor pressures of tellurium. For the bismuth telluride source with a small excess of tellurium, all the films reached a steady state carrier concentration of 4 × 10¹⁹ carriers/cm³ with Seebeck coefficients of −170 μV K⁻¹. For temperatures below 300°C and for film thicknesses of 0.4 μm or less, the rate-limiting step in reaching a steady state for the carrier concentration appeared to be the mass transport of tellurium through the gas phase. At higher temperatures, with the resulting higher pressures of tellurium or for thicker films, it was expected that mass transport through the solid would become rate limiting. The mobility also changed with annealing, but at a rate different from that of the carrier concentration, perhaps as a consequence of the non-equilibrium concentration of defects trapped in the films studied by the low temperature synthesis approach.     

Public Relations: State of the Field

Public relations is both a professional practice and a subfield of communication with its own research and theory base. Public relations is relatively young as an academic field, however, having developed identifiable theory in only about the last 50 years. The field of public relations is developing into a theoretically based area of applied communication that has the potential to inform several areas of communication/mass communication and to offer theoretic and conceptual tools useful in health, risk, and political communication, among others. Because many readers are unfamiliar with public relations theory and research, this article first reviews and summarizes theory-related scholarship in public relations, then categorizes and explains the theoretic trends in the field. The article concludes by demonstrating how one of public relations' theoretic/conceptual tools, issues management, can apply across all areas of applied communication.     

Thermoelectric quantum-dot superlattices with high ZT

Following the experimentally observed Seebeck coefficient enhancement in PbTe quantum wells in Pb_1−xEu_xTe/PbTe multiple-quantum-well structures which indicated the potential usefulness of low dimensionality, we have investigated the thermoelectric properties of PbSe_xTe_1−x/PbTe quantum-dot superlattices for possible improved thermoelectric materials. We have again found enhancements in Seebeck coefficient and thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) relative to bulk values, which occur through the various physics and materials science phenomena associated with the quantum-dot structures. To date, we have obtained estimated ZT values approximately double the best bulk PbTe values, with estimated ZT as high as about 0.9 at 300 K.     

Demonstration of multi-core photonic crystal fibre in an optical interconnect

A novel microstructured fibre has been created for use in an optical interconnection system. The fibre has low crosstalk with a high density of cores corresponding to 1150 channels/mm/sup 2/. A repeating pseudorandom binary sequence has been used to demonstrate a four-channel transmit/receive system using vertical cavity surface emitting lasers as both emitters and detectors.     

Extrusion of YAG Tubes Shows that Bottom‐up Processing is Not Always Optimal

Liquid‐feed flame spray pyrolysis provides easily dispersed, unaggregated nanopowders with average particle sizes of 20–70 nm depending on the processing conditions. Their chemical compositions can be controlled to ppm levels via control of the initial precursor solution. In this paper, Y₃Al₅O₁₂ composition nanopowders are produced that are atomically mixed but offer a hexagonal crystal structure rather than a YAG structure. Y₂O₃ and δ‐Al₂O₃ nanopowders are also produced and mixed to evaluate reactive sintering. It is shown that nanopowder/polymer mixtures permit the extrusion of tubes that retain their shape on debindering and sintering to ≥95% theoretical density. More importantly, the sintering behavior of hex‐Y₃Al₅O₁₂ is compared with that of tubes formed using 3:5 Y₂O₃:δ‐Al₂O₃ mixtures to test the so‐called bottom‐up paradigm, which suggests that mixing on the finest length scales should provide optimal control of sintering rates, final densities, and grain sizes. Instead, it is found that reactive sintering is faster and offers better control of final grain sizes. Dense sintered tubes are translucent, and dimensional uniformity is maintained from extrusion through sintering.     

Optical Communication Using Subcarrier PSK Intensity Modulation Through Atmospheric Turbulence Channels

This paper studies optical communications using subcarrier phase shift keying (PSK) intensity modulation through atmospheric turbulence channels. The bit error rate (BER) is derived for optical communication systems employing either on/off key (OOK) or subcarrier PSK intensity modulation. It is shown that at BER = 10^-6 and a scintillation level of sigma = 0.1, an optical communication system employing subcarrier BPSK is 3 dB better than a comparable system using fixed-threshold OOK. When sigma = 0.2, an optical communication system employing subcarrier BPSK achieves a BER = 10^-6 at SNR = 13.7 dB, while the BER of a comparable system employing OOK can never be less than 10^-4. Convolutional codes are discussed for optical communication through atmospheric turbulence channels. Interleaving is employed to overcome memory effect in atmospheric turbulence channels. An upper bound on BER is derived for optical communication systems employing convolutional codes and subcarrier BPSK modulation.     

Photon-assisted capacitance–voltage study of organic metal–insulator–semiconductor capacitors

The results are reported of a detailed investigation into the photoinduced changes that occur in the capacitance–voltage (C–V) response of an organic metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) capacitor based on the organic semiconductor poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT. During the forward voltage sweep, the device is driven into deep depletion but stabilizes at a voltage-independent minimum capacitance, C_min, whose value depends on photon energy, light intensity and voltage ramp rate. On reversing the voltage sweep, strong hysteresis is observed owing to a positive shift in the flatband voltage, V_FB, of the device. A theoretical quasi-static model is developed in which it is assumed that electrons photogenerated in the semiconductor depletion region escape geminate recombination following the Onsager model. These electrons then drift to the P3HT/insulator interface where they become deeply trapped thus effecting a positive shift in V_FB. By choosing appropriate values for the only disposable parameter in the model, an excellent fit is obtained to the experimental C_min, from which we extract values for the zero-field quantum yield of photoelectrons in P3HT that are of similar magnitude, 10^?5 to 10^?3, to those previously deduced for π-conjugated polymers from photoconduction measurements. From the observed hysteresis we deduce that the interfacial electron trap density probably exceeds 10¹⁶ m^?2. Evidence is presented suggesting that the ratio of free to trapped electrons at the interface depends on the insulator used for fabricating the device.     

Quantification of Temperature-Dependent Charge Separation and Recombination Dynamics in Non-Fullerene Organic Photovoltaics

Transient optical spectroscopy is used to quantify the temperature-dependence of charge separation and recombination dynamics in P3TEA:SF-PDI₂ and PM6:Y6, two non-fullerene organic photovoltaic (OPV) systems with a negligible driving force and high photocurrent quantum yields. By tracking the intensity of the transient electroabsorption response that arises upon interfacial charge separation in P3TEA:SF-PDI₂, a free charge generation rate constant of ≈2.4 × 10¹⁰ s⁻¹ is observed at room temperature, with an average energy of ≈230 meV stored between the interfacial charge pairs. Thermally activated charge separation is also observed in PM6:Y6, and a faster charge separation rate of ≈5.5 × 10¹⁰ s⁻¹ is estimated at room temperature, which is consistent with the higher device efficiency. When both blends are cooled down to cryogenic temperature, the reduced charge separation rate leads to increasing charge recombination either directly at the donor-acceptor interface or via the emissive singlet exciton state. A kinetic model is used to rationalize the results, showing that although photogenerated charges have to overcome a significant Coulomb potential to generate free carriers, OPV blends can achieve high photocurrent generation yields given that the thermal dissociation rate of charges outcompetes the recombination rate.