The application of recurrence plot in DC tracking test of gamma-ray irradiated polycarbonate

Irradiation effects on tracking resistance of polymer insulation materials should be investigated due to the increasing usage in radiation-prone environments. This paper presents a study on dc tracking resistance of gamma-ray irradiated polycarbonate mixed with polyethylene by use of IEC 60112 method. The samples were irradiated in air up to 100 kGy and 1000 kGy with a dosage rate of 10 kGy/h using a /sup 60/Co gamma source. Because the data of tracking resistance obtained from the tracking test has a wide variation, discharge current in the test is considered as a main factor to estimate the tracking resistance. A recurrence plot analysis of discharge current has been made to evaluate the tracking resistance more consistently. Obtained results showed that after gamma-ray irradiation, the tracking resistance was improved compared with that of the unirradiated sample. The tracking resistance showed an increasing tendency from 0 kGy to 100 kGy but a decreasing tendency from 100 kGy to 1000 kGy. There was a threshold value for the tracking resistance around 100 kGy, which was related to the reaction of cross-linking and degradation. The topological structures of the recurrence plots with the irradiated samples were different from that of the unirradiated one. There were bigger white space segments, which indicated that there were high amplitude transients in the discharge currents of unirradiated sample. The recurrence point density increased from 100 kGy to 1000 kGy, which suggested that the discharge process of the total dose at 1000 kGy was more intensive than that at 100 kGy. The irradiation effects on the tracking resistance can be visually identified by the recurrence plot.     

Dynamic dispersion compensation in a 10-Gb/s optical system using anovel voltage tuned nonlinearly chirped fiber Bragg grating

We experimentally demonstrate dynamic dispersion compensation using a novel nonlinearly chirped fiber Bragg grating in a 10-Gb/s system. A single piezoelectric transducer continuously tunes the induced dispersion from 300 to 1000 ps/nm. The system achieves a bit-error rate=10^-9 after both 50 and 104 km of single-mode fiber by dynamically tuning the dispersion of the grating between 500 and 1000 ps/nm, respectively. The power penalty after 104 km is reduced from 3.5 to <1 dB     

Optical properties of CdSe quantum dots grown on ZnSe and ZnBeSe by molecular beam epitaxy

We report detailed studies of the optical properties of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) grown on ZnSe and ZnBeSe by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). We performed steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements and observe that nonradiative processes dominate at room temperature (RT) in the CdSe/ZnBeSe QDs structures, though these nonradiative processes do not dominate in the CdSe/ZnSe QDs structures up to RT. We performed secondary ion-mass spectrometry (SIMS) measurement and propose that the oxygen incorporation in the ZnBeSe layers (possibly caused by the reactivity of Be) may contribute to the dominant nonradiative processes at high temperatures in the QDs grown on ZnBeSe.     

ZnO growth on Si with low-temperature CdO and ZnO buffer layers by molecular-beam epitaxy

Low-temperature (LT) buffer-layer techniques were employed to improve the crystalline quality of ZnO films grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra show that CdO, as a hetero-buffer layer with a rock-salt structure, does not improve the quality of ZnO film grown on top. However, by using ZnO as a homo-buffer layer, the crystalline quality can be greatly enhanced, as indicated by PL, atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman scattering. Moreover, the buffer layer grown at 450°C is found to be the best template to further improve the quality of top ZnO film. The mechanisms behind this result are the strong interactions between point defects and threading dislocations in the ZnO buffer layer.     

Optically transparent monopole antenna with high radiation efficiency manufactured with silver grid layer (AgGL)

A technology based on a meshed silver/titanium bilayer printed on glass substrate is briefly presented. A sheet resistance equal to 0.054 /sq with 81.3 of optical transparency is obtained. The performances of a monopole antenna made from such a material have been investigated. The measured S₁₁ and gain of the transparent antenna are compared with those of an antenna fabricated from a reflective silver/titanium film, and stand for reference. The transparent antenna provides radiation efficiency better than 85%.     

Convoluted raised-cosine and triangular-cosine (RCTC) modulation and its performance against timing jitter over noisy channels

The performance of proposed convoluted raised-cosine and triangular-cosine (RCTC) modulation in the presence of Gaussian noise and receiver timing jitter is analysed. The result shows that the new modulation offers a superior BER performance over reported QORC modulation.<>     

A robust algorithm for reduction of truncation artifact in chemical shift images

A new iterative technique to reduce the ringing artifacts in chemical shift images due to the truncation of the high spatial frequency is presented. In this approach the authors extrapolate the high spatial frequency data guided by the edge information obtained from a high resolution anatomic image of the region of interest. The fact that the edge information obtained from the anatomic image can be off by a few pixels (due to factors such as chemical shift artifact, error in edge detection or misregistration) is taken into account by assuming a confidence interval of several pixels around the anatomic edges. The algorithm is validated on simulated and in vivo data, and excellent results were obtained.     

Monolithic integration of InGaAsP/InP lasers and heterostructure bipolar transistors by selective area epitaxy

The authors describe the use of selective area epitaxy to prepare monolithically integrated lasers and heterostructure bipolar transistors based on InGaAsP/InP. Selective growth offers a versatile method of lateral integration of structurally dissimilar devices with the different device structures grown side by side in different growth cycles. Individual devices can be optimised separately without any performance compromise. Bipolar transistors grown on the semi-insulating current blocking layers of the buried heterostructure lasers show high gain, high breakdown voltage and excellent high current stability. Laser threshold is reached at a base current as low as 160 mu A and the light output is linear with current to 10 mW.<>