Structural properties of phosphorous-doped polycrystalline silicon

The structural properties and hydrogen bonding of undoped and phosphorous doped polycrystalline silicon produced by step-by-step laser dehydrogenation and crystallization technique were investigated using Raman spectroscopy and hydrogen effusion measurements. At low laser fluences, E_L, a two-layer system is created. This is accompanied by the change in hydrogen bonding. The intensity of the Si–H vibration mode at 2000 decreases faster than the one at 2100 cm⁻¹. This is even more pronounced in phosphorous-doped specimens. The laser crystallization results in an increase of the hydrogen binding energy by approximately 0.2–0.3 eV compared to the amorphous starting materials.     

Electrical characteristics of the ITO/HgInTe photodiodes

Photodiodes designed to be sensitive in the region 0.5–1.7 μm and obtained by vacuum magnetron sputtering of the ITO (SnO₂ + In₂O₃) layer on the surface of the Hg₃In₂Te₆ single crystal are studied. The electrical characteristics, measured at 265–333 K, indicate that the mechanism of charge transport in the diodes under study is thermionic. The current-voltage characteristic and its temperature variations are described quantitatively based on the energy diagram and the found parameters of the heterojunction. Original Russian Text ? L.A. Kosyachenko, I.M. Rarenko, E.F. Sklyarchuk, I.I. German, Sun Weiguo, 2006, published in Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, 2006, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 568–571.     

Measurement of target coordinates in three-dimensional bistatic forward-scattering radar

The maximum-likelihood technique is applied to determine the coordinates of moving targets in a three-dimensional bistatic forward-scattering radar. The potential accuracy of the coordinates’ determination is estimated. Simulation results are presented.     

Evaluating hyperspectral imaging of wetland vegetation as a tool for detecting estuarine nutrient enrichment

Nutrient enrichment and eutrophication are major concerns in many estuarine and wetland ecosystems, and the need is urgent for fast, efficient, and synoptic ways to detect and monitor nutrients in wetlands and other coastal systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales. We integrated three approaches in a multi-disciplinary evaluation of the potential for using hyperspectral imaging as a tool to assess nutrient enrichment and vegetation responses in tidal wetlands. For hyperspectral imaging to be an effective tool, spectral signatures must vary in ways correlated with water nutrient content either directly, or indirectly via such proxies as vegetation responses to elevated nitrogen. Working in Elkhorn Slough, central California, where intensive farming practices generate considerable runoff of fertilizers and pesticides, we looked first for long- and short-term trends among temporally ephemeral point data for nutrients and other water quality characters collected monthly at 18 water sampling stations since 1988. Second, we assessed responses of the dominant wetland plant, Salicornia virginica (common pickleweed) to two fertilizer regimes in 0.25 m² experimental plots, and measured changes in tissue composition (C, H, N), biomass, and spectral responses at leaf and at canopy scales. Third, we used HyMap hyperspectral imagery (126 bands; 15–19 nm spectral resolution; 2.5 m spatial resolution) for a synoptic assessment of the entire wetland ecosystem of Elkhorn Slough. We mapped monospecific Salicornia patches (～ 56–500 m²) on the ground adjacent to the 18 regular water sampling sites, and then located these patches in the hyperspectral imagery to correlate long-term responses of larger patches to water nutrient regimes. These were used as standards for correlating plant canopy spectral responses with nitrogen variation described by the water sampling program. There were consistent positive relationships between nitrogen levels and plant responses in both the field experiment and the landscape analyses. Two spectral indices, the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) and Derivative Chlorophyll Index (DCI), were correlated significantly with water nutrients. We conclude that hyperspectral imagery can be used to detect nutrient enrichment across three spatial and at least two temporal scales, and suggest that more quantitative information could be extracted with further research and a greater understanding of physiological and physical mechanisms linking water chemistry, plant properties and spectral imaging characteristics.     

Sandia National Laboratories Validation Workshop: Structural dynamics application

This article specifies a virtual structural dynamic subsystem and some systems, as well as mathematical models that approximately simulate them. The purpose is to define a setting for model validations conceived by participants in the Sandia National Laboratories Validation Workshop. Some broad guidelines for the model validations are set, as well as a regulatory requirement to be satisfied by the target system. Participants are directed to present techniques for subsystem model validation, to analytically predict whether or not the regulatory requirement will be met, and to estimate the likelihood of accuracy of the prediction.     

Closed-form error analysis of the non-identical Nakagami-m relay fading channel

We present closed-form expressions for the average bit error probability (ABEP) of BPSK, QPSK and M-QAM of an amplify-and-forward average power scaling dual-hop relay transmission, over non-identical Nakagami-m fading channels, with integer values of m. Additionally, we evaluate in closed-form the ABEP under sufficiently large signal-to-noise ratio for the source-relay link, valid for arbitrary rn. Numerical and simulation results show the validity of the proposed mathematical analysis and point out the effect of the two hops unbalanced fading conditions on the error performance.     

A simple technique to minimize heat damage to specimens during thermal polymerization of LR White in plastic and gelatin capsules

London Resin (LR) White is a commonly used resin for embedding specimens to be used for immuno- and/or cytochemical studies. In some instances, due to either the properties of the specimen or the availability of various reagents and equipment, it becomes necessary and/or more convenient to polymerize LR White using heat rather than chemical accelerators or UV light. It is known, however, that heat can reduce or even eliminate the anti genicity of the tissue being embedded. It is therefore desirable to polymerize specimens at the lowest temperature possible and to remove the specimens from the oven as soon as polymerization is complete. We have developed a technique that provides a visual marker that allows the exothermic polymerization of LR White to be monitored, thus minimizing the amount of time a specimen must stay in the oven while excluding oxygen from capsules of polymerizing LR White.     

Thomson scattering diagnostic systems in the ITER divertor

A diagnostic array has been developed for studying the operating modes of the divertor in the ITER tokamak-reactor using the Thomson scattering technique. The aim of this study is to measure the spatial profiles of the electron temperature and density. The structure of the diagnostic setup was selected on the basis of a classical diagnostic geometry and the high-resolution LIDAR system, which provide access to different regions of the divertor plasma. A severe radiation environment, limited access to the plasma in the ITER divertor, and a high-dust environment (the divertor plate erosion material) in the divertor volume pose many problems for performing diagnostics under unique conditions having no analogs in the tokamaks that are now in operation. Different methods for protecting optical surfaces from plasma-enriched deposition are proposed and analyzed. The efficiency of these methods has been demonstrated in bench tests. The concept of laser and detector systems and diffraction polychromators capable of operating at different electron temperatures with a lower limit of 1 eV, has been justified and approved.     

An efficient electron-beam-pumped semiconductor laser for the green spectral range based on II–VI multilayer nanostructures

Emission characteristics of an electron-beam-pumped Cd(Zn)Se/ZnMgSSe semiconductor laser are studied. The laser’s active region consists of a set of ten equidistant ZnSe quantum wells containing fractional-monolayer CdSe quantum-dot inserts and a waveguide formed by a short-period superlattice with the net thickness of ～0.65 μm. Lasing occurs at room temperature at a wavelength of 542 nm. Pulsed power as high as 12 W per cavity face and an unprecedentedly high efficiency of ～8.5% are attained for the electron-beam energy of 23 keV.