A 15‐in. XGA thresholdless antiferroelectric LCD addressed by TFTs and using the quasi‐dc driving method

Abstract— A 15‐in. TFT‐LCD with XGA resolution using thresholdless antiferroelectric liquid crystal (TLAF) has been developed. TLAF materials show V‐shaped switching and enable display of analog gray scale, wide viewing angle, and fast response. However, in the case that high‐resolution TFT‐LCDs using materials with large spontaneous polarization such as TLAF were driven by the conventional method, alternating current (ac) driving, the obtained contrast ratio was limited because of a sharp decline of holding voltage due to the growth of a depolarization field. In order to enhance the contrast ratio, a novel driving method referred to as quasi‐dc driving was proposed. In the quasi‐dc driving, the polarity of the applied voltage to liquid crystals inverts at certain intervals of several seconds. Moreover, the applied voltage and the charging time at the time of polarity inversion are increased more than the intended signals. By this method, the 15‐in. TFT‐LCD using TLAF with high contrast ratio (more than 100:1) and wide viewing angle was realized.     

In situ FTIR study on the active oxygen species for the conversion of methane to methanol

In situ FTIR studies showed the generation of a peroxide species by the contact of a H₂-O₂ gas mixture or of N₂O with Fe-Al-P-O catalysts at 573 K. This oxygen species oxidized methane into methanol at 473 K, through the formation of methoxide species on the catalysts.     

Effect of gel on crystallization behavior of natural rubber after accelerated storage hardening test

Crystallization of natural rubber (NR) and purified NR after storage hardening of the rubbers under dried condition with phosphorus pentoxide was investigated by dilatometry and polarized light microscopy. The purified NR was prepared by removing proteins and fatty acid ester groups from fresh NR (FNR) through deproteinization and transesterification, respectively. The rubbers were characterized in regard as gel content, ester content and crosslink density. Nucleation (I) and growth rates (V) of the gel fraction estimated from the number of spherulites and their sizes observed in the course of isothermal crystallization depended on supercooling (ΔT = T_m⁰ ? T). T_m⁰ is equilibrium melting temperature and T is absolute temperature. Slope of linear line in a plot of logarithmic V versus 1/TΔT for NR was independent of time for storage hardening, suggesting that the lateral surface free energy and diffusion were little function of branching and crosslinking. The rate of crystallization of FNR significantly decreased when the crosslink density increased. Since the overall crystallization is functions of chain mobility and surface free energy, the slower crystallization of well crosslinked FNR may be attributed to the less chain mobility and small value of Δσ due to the formation of crosslinked and branched entities. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

Two-step formation of entanglement from disentangled polymer melt detected by using nucleation rate

“How do chain molecules spontaneously entangle from completely disentangled polymer melt?” remains the most interesting unsolved problem. In order to solve this problem, we used the concept that the melt of “nascent” polymer crystallized during polymerization just after melting does not include any entanglements. We succeeded in detecting the increase of entanglement density ν_e with the increase of annealing time Δt above the equilibrium melting temperature before isothermal crystallization. The increase of ν_e was detected by observing the decrease of nucleation rate I from the melt of nascent polymer with different Δts. I is a very sensitive detector of entanglements because the nucleation is a rearrangement process of chains to the crystalline lattice through the disentanglement. Therefore, I is significantly suppressed with the increase of ν_e. We found a two-step decrease of I with an increase of Δt for the first time. This should correspond to a two-step increase of ν_e with an increase of Δt. This indicates that simple entanglements such as twist or knot with lower order (one time knot) were formed within short time and then the complicated ones such as knot with higher order (two or three times knots) or loops (entanglements by loop conformation) were formed.     

Preparation of resins containing phenol derivatives from chloromethylstyrene-tetraethyleneglycol dimethacrylate copolymer beads and antibacterial activity of resins

Copolymer beads (RCCS-4G) with many chloromethyl groups were prepared by treating macroreticular chloromethylstyrene-tetraethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (4G) copolymer beads with chloromethylether. Copolymer beads (RAAS-4G) with benzylamino groups were prepared by treating RCCS-4G with potassium phthalimide. Then the copolymer beads containing phenol derivatives were prepared by treating RAAS-4G with p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA), 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA), and 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (gallic acid, GA) in N,N-dimethylformamide. The antibacterial activity of the obtained resins was examined against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Resins containing phenolic hydroxy groups of 2.3–7.7 mequiv/g were obtained. Antibacterial activity of the resins containing various phenol derivatives against E. coli or S. aureus increased in the order of RAAS-4G-GA > RAAS-4G-DHBA > RAAS-4G-pHBA. The resins containing phenol derivatives exhibited higher antibacterial activity against E. coli than against S. aureus and high activity even against bacteria in NaCl solution. Scanning electron micrographs showed that high antibacterial activity was brought about by the phenolic hydroxyl groups in the resin. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 66: 1621–1630, 1997     

木结构古建筑结构特性的实验研究

中国古建筑是中华文明的重要组成部分,其影响远及日本、韩国。其中最具中国特 色、数量最多的当属木结构古建筑。随着时间的延续,对这类历史文物的保护日益迫切。为 了对木结构古建筑的结构特性有准确的把握,为研究和维修保护提供依据,本文通过对具有 一定代表性的西安北门箭楼的现场脉动试验和激振实验获得了大量第一手资料如结构的自振 频率以及结构整体的振动模态。通过有机玻璃模型及木模型的多点激振实验验证了实测结果, 建立了适合这类结构的实验方法,获得了有关结构动力特性的更为详尽的信息。通过对实验 结果的讨论,获得了木结构古建筑的基本动力学特征。在本文的姊妹篇,即本研究的第二部 分中,结合实验结果及结构特点,建立了针对木结构古建筑的结构模型和分析方法,编制了 考虑斗栱和榫卯等半刚性节点的三维有限元分析程序,并对西安北门箭楼作了详细研究。     

Pulsed discharge purification of water containing nondegradable hazardous substances

We investigate the decomposition characteristics of phenol in an aqueous solution under exposure to pulsed discharge plasma. The investigation is carried out with different electrode configurations, applied voltages, and humidity levels and compositions of the background gas. It is possible that in the case of all gases, OH radicals are responsible for the decomposition of phenol in the solution. In pure O₂, the decomposition rate of phenol increases due to the generation of O and O₃. In pure N₂, OH radicals produced by N₂, which is excited in the metastable state, contribute to phenol decomposition. In N₂‐O₂, the decomposition rate of phenol remains low, and the NO_x produced by the pulsed plasma in a N₂‐O₂ mixture destroys O₃, and the production of the NO_x inhibits O₃ production. In Ar‐O₂, the decomposition rate of phenol increases with an increase in the concentration of Ar in the mixture. It is possible that excited Ar atoms are responsible for the decomposition of phenol in the solution at higher concentrations of Ar in Ar‐O₂. Further, it is found that the decomposition rate of phenol in aqueous solution exposed to a pulsed discharge is almost the same as that of phenol in aqueous solution exposed to a DC corona discharge. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 174(2): 1–8, 2011; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20937     

50-nm gate Schottky source/drain p-MOSFETs with a SiGe channel

We propose new SiGe channel p-MOSFETs with germano-silicide Schottky source/drains (S/Ds). The Schottky barrier-height (SBH) for SiGe is expected to be low enough to improve the injection of carriers into the SiGe channel and, as a result, current drivability is also expected to improve. In this work, we demonstrate the proposed Schottky S/D p-MOSFETs down to a 50-nm gate-length. The drain current and transconductance are -339 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m and 285 /spl mu/S//spl mu/m at V/sub GS/=V/sub DS/=-1.5 V, respectively. By increasing the Ge content in the SiGe channel from 30% to 35%, the drive current. and transconductance can be improved up to 23% and 18%, respectively. This is partly due to the lower barrier-height for strained Si/sub 0.65/Ge/sub 0.35/ channel than those for strained Si/sub 0.7/Ge/sub 0.3/ channel device and partly due to the lower effective mass of the holes.     

The effect of the structural order of isotactic polypropylene containing magnetically aligned nickel particles on its electrical resistivity

The effect of the high order structure of an isotactic polypropylene (PP) composite on the resistivity of composites containing magnetically aligned Ni particles was studied. Only a small amount of particles needed to be added for the composite material to become conducting after heating while in a magnetic field. The Ni columns formed on applying the field were distorted by the formation of large PP spherulites. Changes to the crystallization process due to the addition of a nucleating agent gave rise to changes in the columnar structure, resulting in large changes in the resistivity of the composite material. Controlling the high order structure of the polymer matrix including its morphology is very important in order to be able to control the magnetically aligned Ni structure.     

Magnetic-field induced alignment of low molecular weight polyethylene

Magnetic-field induced alignment of polyethylene is firstly reported. Isothermal crystallization of low molecular weight polyethylene samples, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), from melting state was conducted under the magnetic-field of 2 or 10 T. Isothermal crystallization at the temperatures which induced effective self-seeding achieved alignment of polymer chains. The b axis of polyethylene unit cell was aligned parallel to the magnetic-field. Low viscosity and low crystallization rate of the polyethylene samples were favorable for high degree of the magnetic-field alignment.