Rapid Room Temperature Synthesis of Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica Using Inorganic Silicate Sources and Cationic Surfactants under Highly Acidic Conditions

The room-temperature synthesis of mesoporous silica was investigated by using cationic surfactants and inorganic Si sources, like sodium silicate and colloidal silica. Mesoporous silica analogous to the hexagonal MCM-41 could be obtained over a wide range of pH below ca. 11 within short synthesis time (3 h), when the Q⁴-state Si was absent in the Si source solution prior to mixing with an aqueous solution of cationic surfactants. It was suggested that the strongly acidic conditions (pH < 1) were favorable to give mesoporous silica materials with higher surface area and larger mesopore volume.     

Photoluminescence of exciton-polaritons in GaN

Temperature dependent studies of the resonant (no-phonon) and phonon-assisted radiative recombination of free excitons (FEs) in GaN are performed, and are analyzed within the polariton concept. The parameters of the exciton–phonon coupling are estimated by analyzing the thermal broadening of the no-phonon (NP) FE line. The interaction with acoustic phonons is shown to be the dominant broadening mechanism for temperatures lower than 150 K, while for higher temperatures the contribution from the interaction with optical phonons is important. Strong defect/impurity scattering of exciton-polaritons is proposed to be responsible for the revealed unusual behavior of the free A exciton in GaN, i.e. an enhanced intensity of NP FE emission in comparison with its longitudinal optical (LO) phonon replicas, as well as the narrow line shape of the 1-LO assisted transitions.     

A power factor correction with two‐input current mode using voltage doubler rectifier

For rectifier circuits with a small capacity, such as those for consumer electronics and appliances, capacitor input‐type rectifier circuits are generally used. Consequently, various harmonics generated within the power system become a serious problem. Various studies of this effect have been reported. However, most of these employ switching devices, such as FETs and the like. The absence of switching devices makes systems more tolerant to overload, and brings low radio noise benefits. We propose a power factor correction scheme using a voltage doubler rectifier without switching devices. In this method, the input current is divided into two periods, where one period charges the small input capacitor and the other charges the large output capacitor. By dividing the input current into two different modes, the current conduction period can be widened and harmonics can largely be canceled between the two modes. Hence, the harmonic characteristics can be significantly improved, whereby the lower‐order harmonics, such as the fifth and seventh orders, are much reduced. The results are confirmed by theoretical and experimental implementations. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(3): 52–58, 2001     

Interfacial tension of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/polyamide blends

Summary Interfacial tensions (γ) between poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) and polyamide6-co-12 (PA6-12) were measured by pendant drop method. In the measurements for PA6-12 and EVOH of high ethylene contents, γ's were decreasing with elevating temperature. On the other hand, in the measurements for PA6-12 and EVOH of low ethylene contents, γ's were increasing with elevating temperature. On the basis of these results, interaction parameters, χ, were estimated. Resulting temperature dependence of χ parameters predicted a LCST phase behavior for the blends of PA6-12 and EVOH of low ethylene contents corresponding to our previous study. Received: 11 May 1998/Revised version: 21 July 1998/Accepted: 3 August 1998     

Inference of plastic deformation in weldment with parallel cracks from infrared thermography

Tensile tests are carried out by using the welded plate with two parallel cracks. The effects of the residual stress, the hardened zone by welding and the interaction between cracks on the plastic deformation near cracks and the crack opening displacement are examined by the experiment as well as the elasto plastic finite element analysis. A new technique for evaluating nondestructively the plastic deformation near cracks by using the infrared thermography is proposed. The heated region and the temperature rise measured by the thermography are compared with the plastic zone and the work of plastic deformation obtained by the analysis. The validity and the limitations of the application of the infrared thermography to the evaluation of the plastic deformation are discussed.     

Computational characterization on mechanical behavior of polymer electrolyte membrane based on nonaffine molecular chain network model

This paper investigates the mechanical behavior of polymer electrolyte membrane based on a nonaffine molecular chain network model (nonaffine model), which may account for the change in the entanglement situation for the physical linkages of the molecular chain during the deformation process. After the identification of the parameters used in the nonaffine model with the experimental data of the fresh membrane, a computational model is proposed for the degraded membrane, in which the swelling parts of the degraded membrane are replaced with voids. Employing the extended 2D homogenization method, the effect of the change in the entanglement situation for the physical linkages of the molecular chain and that of the macroscopic loading conditions on the mechanical behavior of the membrane with different volume fractions of voids are discussed. The results indicate that the dramatic increase in the average number of segments in a single chain, which occurs inside the microscopic sharp shear band, leads to a great strain softening after the macroscopic yield. Moreover, such strain softening tends to appear at early deformation stage for the membrane with high volume fraction of voids under high macroscopic triaxiality loading condition.     

Fluorescent SiC and its application to white light-emitting diodes

Fluorescent-SiC(f-SiC),which contains donor and acceptor impurities with optimum concentrations, has high conversion efficiency from NUV to visible light caused by donor-acceptor-pair(DAP) recombination. This material can be used as a substrate for a near UV light-emitting diode(LED) stack,and leads to monolithic white LED device with suitable spectral property for general lighting applications.In this paper,we describe basic technologies of the white LED,such as optical properties of f-SiC substrate,and epitaxial growth of NUV stack on the f-SiC substrate.     

Characteristics of the mode converter of Gyrotron FU CW GII radiating Gaussian beams in both the fundamental and second harmonic frequency bands

Gyrotron FU CW GII, the second gyrotron of the Gyrotron FU CW G-series with an internal quasi-optical mode converter, was recently developed at the Research Center for Development of Far-Infrared Region, University of Fukui (FIR FU) [Y. Tatematsu et al., J. Infrared, Millimeter, Terahertz Waves 35, 169 (2014)]. The design oscillation mode of this gyrotron is TE_8,3 with a corresponding frequency of 393.4 GHz in the second harmonic cyclotron resonance. We observed oscillations of different modes including fundamental harmonic modes in the 200-GHz band upon varying the strength of the magnetic field in the cavity. Radiation patterns corresponding to these modes emitted from the window were Gaussian although the internal mode converter was designed for the TE_8,3 mode. The directions of the radiated Gaussian beams were found to depend on the oscillation modes with a relation similar to that obtained for another gyrotron that was also equipped with a mode converter. This relation is explained based on geometrical optics. Moreover, numerical calculation with the electromagnetic wave code developed in FIR FU confirmed the same relation. The observed features of the Gyrotron FU CW GII show that it can serve as a unique power source with two frequency bands at 200 and 400 GHz. This result provides a way of developing multiple-frequency gyrotrons.     

Impact of low-temperature buffer layers on nitride-based optoelectronics

A historical overview and recent trends in the research and development of nitride-based light emitters are presented. The growth of GaN using a low-temperature-deposited buffer layer conductivity control, and the use of GaInN alloys, by which nonradiative recombination centers in nitrides are screened, have been employed to fabricate high-efficiency blue and green light-emitting diodes. Today, luminous flux efficiency of up to 50 lm/W at a specific wavelength is available. Electrical pumping has realized commercial laser diodes in the violet and blue regions. Several milestones in the realization of these achievements are reviewed. Future prospects of the nitride-based light emitters are also discussed.