Plasticity theory for porous metals

A plasticity theory for porous metals is proposed. From the stress-strain curves for sintered copper with various apparent densities, the stress-strain curves for pore-free copper is calculated by utilizing the basic equations.The equations are applied to frictionless closed-die compression and the stress in the direction of compression is evaluated in relation to the relative density and is compared with experimental results.     

DX centers in AlxGa1-xAs bulk alloy,AlAs/GaAs ordered,and disordered superlattices

Properties of theDX centers in Al_0.5Ga_0.5As bulk alloy (b-AL), (AlAs)₂ (GaSa)₂ ordered superlattice (o-SL) and (AlAs) _m (GaAs) _n disordered superlattice (d-SL) (m = 1, 2, 3,n = 1, 2, 3) with the same macroscopic composition were measured and compared. By deconvolution of deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) spectrum due to theDX center, we have found a decrease in the number of separate peaks in DLTS spectrum in an intentionally atomic ordered arrangement. Visiting Scholar of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. On leave from Department of Electrical Engineering, San Jose State University, San Jose, California 95192-0084, USA.     

Direct and Indirect Exciton Dynamics in Few‐Layered ReS2 Revealed by Photoluminescence and Pump‐Probe Spectroscopy

Atomically thin‐layered ReS₂ with a distorted 1T structure has attracted attention because of its intriguing optical and electronic properties. Here, the direct and indirect exciton dynamics of a three‐layered ReS₂ is investigated by polarization‐resolved transient photoluminescence (PL) and ultrafast pump‐probe spectroscopy. The various time scales of the decay signals of the time‐resolved PL (<10 ps), with monitoring of the populations of electron–hole pairs (exciton), and the transient differential reflectance (≈1 and 100 ps), with monitoring of the populations of electrons and/or holes in the excited states, are observed. These results reveal the characteristic exciton dynamics: rapid relaxation of direct excitons (electron–hole pairs) and slow relaxation of the momentum‐mismatched indirect excitons accompanied by a one‐phonon emission process. These findings provide important information regarding the indirect bandgap nature of few‐layered ReS₂ and its characteristic exciton dynamics, boosting the understanding of the novel electronic and optical properties of atomically thin‐layered ReS₂.     

A novel dynamic survivable routing in WDM optical networks with/without sparse wavelength conversion

In this paper, we study the dynamic survivable routing problem, both in optical networks without wavelength conversion and in optical networks with sparse wavelength conversion, and propose a novel hybrid algorithm for it based on the combination of mobile agents technique and genetic algorithms (GA). By keeping a suitable number of mobile agents in the network to cooperatively explore the network states and continuously report cycles (that are formed by two disjoint-link routes) into the routing tables, our new hybrid algorithm can promptly determine the first population of cycles for a new request based on the routing table of its source node, without the time consuming process associated with current GA-based lightpath protection schemes. We further improve the performance of our algorithm by introducing a more advanced fitness function that is suitable for both the above networks. Extensive simulation studies on the ns-2 network simulator show that our hybrid algorithm achieves a significantly lower blocking probability than the conventional survivable routing algorithms for all the cases we studied.     

Models of Restoration Probability in WDM Networks Employing Active Restoration

The ever-increasing demand for network bandwidth makes network survivability an issue of great concern. Lightpath restoration is a valuable approach to guaranteeing an acceptable level of survivability in WDM optical networks with better resource utilization than that of its protection counterpart. Active restoration (AR) is a newly proposed lightpath restoration scheme [M. Mostafa et al. OSA Journal of Optical Networking, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 247–260] that combines the best of protection and reactive restoration while avoiding their shortcomings. In this paper, we conduct detailed performance analysis on the restoration probability of AR-based WDM networks. In particular, analytical models of restoration probability are developed respectively for networks with full-wavelength conversion capability and for networks without wavelength conversion capability under different backup path searching schemes. Based on the new models, we investigate the effects of wavelength availability, wavelength conversion capability, path length as well as backup path seeking methods on the restoration probability.     

A New Architecture for Nonblocking Optical Switching Networks

With the current technology, all-optical networks require nonblocking switch architectures for building optical cross-connects. The crossbar switch has been widely used for building an optical cross-connect due to its simple routing algorithm and short path setup time. It is known that the crossbar suffers from huge signal loss and crosstalk. The Clos network uses a crossbar as building block and reduces switch complexity, but it does not significantly reduce signal loss and crosstalk. Although the Spanke's network eliminates the crosstalk problem, it increases the number of switching elements required considerably (to 2N ² - 2N). In this paper, we propose a new architecture for building nonblocking optical switching networks that has much lower signal loss and crosstalk than the crossbar without increasing switch complexity. Using this architecture we can build non-squared nonblocking networks that can be used as building block for the Clos network. The resulting Clos network will then have not only lower signal loss and crosstalk but also a lower switch complexity.     

Impact of Dynamic Interlayer Interactions on Thermal Conductivity of Ca3Co4O9

The phonon thermal conductivity of misfit-layered Ca₃Co₄O₉ has been calculated by perturbed molecular dynamics using a classical force field. Detailed numerical analyses reveal that, in spite of its smaller cross-sectional area, the CoO₂ layer transports more heat than the thicker rock salt (RS) layer, although its local thermal conduction is more suppressed than in another layered cobaltite, Na _x CoO₂. The origins of these differences have been elucidated through careful examination of the atomic arrangements in each layer. Since thermal conduction in the RS layer can be reduced without deteriorating electronic properties for which the CoO₂ layer is responsible, it is suggested that the RS layer should be modified to further suppress the overall in-plane thermal conductivity. Computational experiments with increasing number of Ca–O planes in the RS layer showed the opposite trend to what can be predicted based on the misfit between two dissimilar layers. Further analyses to reveal the origin of these unexpected results provide yet another strategy to further decrease the thermal conductivity, namely to control the dynamic interference between atoms across the interface between two layers.     

Effects of sea surface temperature accuracy on offshore wind resource assessment using a mesoscale model

Offshore wind simulations were performed with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model driven by three different sea surface temperature (SST) datasets for Japanese coastal waters to investigate the effect of the SST accuracies on offshore wind simulations. First, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Final analysis (FNL) (1° × 1° grid resolution) and the Operational Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Analysis (OSTIA) (0.05° × 0.05° grid resolution) datasets were compared with in situ measurements. The results show a decrease in accuracy of these datasets toward the coast from the open ocean. Aiming at an improved accuracy of SST data, we developed a new high‐resolution SST dataset (0.02° × 0.02° grid resolution). The new dataset referred to as MOSST is based on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) product, provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). MOSST was confirmed to be more accurate than FNL and OSTIA for the coastal waters. Then, WRF simulations were carried out for 1 year with a 2 km grid resolution and by using the FNL, OSTIA and MOSST datasets. The use of the OSTIA dataset for a WRF simulation was found to improve the accuracy when compared with the FNL dataset, and further improvement was obtained when the MOSST dataset was applied. The sensitivity of wind speed and wind energy density to SST is also discussed. We conclude that the use of an accurate SST is a key factor not only for realistic offshore wind simulations near the surface but also for accurate wind resource assessments at the hub height of wind turbines. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dye-sensitized solar cell made of mesoporous titania by surfactant-assisted templating method

Nanocrystalline mesoporous titania was obtained by surfactant-assisted templating method using tetraisopropyl orthotitanate modified with acethylacetone and laurylamine hydrochloride as template. This material was applied for the electrode of dye-sensitized solar cell. The mesoporous TiO₂ (MP-TiO₂) cells exhibited higher short-circuit photocurrent density and solar energy conversion efficiency compared to P25 (a typical commercial titania powder) cells. The incident photon to current conversion efficiency spectrum of MP-TiO₂ can be improved by using the cell made with 5% P25 additive. Double-layer titania cells were fabricated to further improve cell performance by increasing the film thickness and light scattering. The solar conversion efficiency up to 8.06% was obtained by using the double-layer titania cell sintered at 450 °C for 2 h.     

Polymers of α-substituted benzyl methacrylates as a new type of electron-beam resist

Summary Polymer of α-substituted benzyl methacrylate was found to be used as a new type of positive electron-beam resist, which forms methacrylic acid units in the polymer chain on the exposure to electron-beam and can be developed using alkaline solution as a developer. The sensitivity was dependent on the bulkiness of the ester group and the number of ?-hydrogen atoms in the ester group. The sensitivity and γ-value of atactic poly(α, α-dimethylbenzyl methacrylate) were improved by a factor of more than three over poly (methyl methacrylate).