A resonant-cavity, separate-absorption-and-multiplication,avalanche photodiode with low excess noise factor

We report on the design, fabrication, and performance of a photodiode that combines the advantages of a resonant cavity with a separate-absorption-and-multiplication avalanche photodiode. The device is grown on GaAs using molecular beam epitaxy and is designed to detect light near 900 nm. This photodetector has exhibited the following characteristics: an external quantum efficiency of 70%, a spectral linewidth of less than 7 nm, an avalanche gain in excess of 30, and low dark current. In addition, a low excess noise factor corresponding to 0.2⩽k⩽0.3 has been achieved     

Electrolytic Generation “In-Situ” of Sodium Hypochlorite

In-situ production of sodium hypochlorite is one of the oldest electrochemical processes of the chemical industry. During the past twenty years a new “in-situ” hypochlorite industry has developed. Construction and performance of present-day cells are considered in detail. Modern cells are fed with seawater or similar weak brines and yield solutions suitable for disinfection, e. g. in breweries, laundries, etc., or for treatment of municipal sewage. Particular importance attaches to units for chlorination of cooling water for power stations or on board ships, thus hindering growth of organisms leading to operating failures. The article closes by considering development trends.     

Halogen bonding at the active sites of human cathepsin L and MEK1 kinase: efficient interactions in different environments

In two series of small‐molecule ligands, one inhibiting human cathepsin L (hcatL) and the other MEK1 kinase, biological affinities were found to strongly increase when an aryl ring of the inhibitors is substituted with the larger halogens Cl, Br, and I, but to decrease upon F substitution. X‐ray co‐crystal structure analyses revealed that the higher halides engage in halogen bonding (XB) with a backbone C?O in the S3 pocket of hcatL and in a back pocket of MEK1. While the S3 pocket is located at the surface of the enzyme, which provides a polar environment, the back pocket in MEK1 is deeply buried in the protein and is of pronounced apolar character. This study analyzes environmental effects on XB in protein–ligand complexes. It is hypothesized that energetic gains by XB are predominantly not due to water replacements but originate from direct interactions between the XB donor (C_aryl? X) and the XB acceptor (C?O) in the correct geometry. New X‐ray co‐crystal structures in the same crystal form (space group P2₁2₁2₁) were obtained for aryl chloride, bromide, and iodide ligands bound to hcatL. These high‐resolution structures reveal that the backbone C?O group of Gly61 in most hcatL co‐crystal structures maintains water solvation while engaging in XB. An aryl? CF₃‐substituted ligand of hcatL with an unexpectedly high affinity was found to adopt the same binding geometry as the aryl halides, with the CF₃ group pointing to the C?O group of Gly61 in the S3 pocket. In this case, a repulsive F₂C? F???O?C contact apparently is energetically overcompensated by other favorable protein–ligand contacts established by the CF₃ group.     

The role of the peripherin/RDS gene in retinal dystrophies

The effect of a potent endogenous antioxidant, the pineal gland indole melatonin (MLT) on the mutagenicity of twelve well-known mutagens and carcinogens has been investigated using two in vitro tests the Ames test and the single cell gel electrophoresis assay (SCGE assay or COMET assay). The 12 mutagens used were 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), benzo(a)pyrene (BP), 2-aminofluorene (AF), 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), bleomycin, cyclophosphamide (CP), 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (NQO), 2,4, 7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (TNF), 9-aminoacridine (AA), N-nitrosomethylurea (NMU), mitomycin C and sodium azide tested in the absence or in the presence of S9 mix. MLT alone turned out neither toxic nor mutagenic in the Ames test and revealed clastogenic activity at the highest concentration tested (100 microM) in the SCGE assay. In four Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA 97, TA 98, TA 100 and TA 102 MLT significantly reduced the mutagenicity of chemicals which require S9 activation. In the SCGE assay performed on CHO cells, preincubation with MLT led to a strong inhibition of clastogenic activities of DMBA and CP, and in a lesser extent with BP and NMU. With mitomycin C, MLT exacerbated responses in both tests. The possible mechanisms of MLT's inhibitory action are discussed.     

A new look at impact ionization-Part II: Gain and noise in shortavalanche photodiodes

For Part I see R.J. McIntyre, ibid., vol.46, no.8, pp.1623-31 (1999). In Part I, a new theory for impact ionization that utilizes history-dependent ionization coefficients to account for the nonlocal nature of the ionization process has been described. In this paper, we will review this theory and extend it with the assumptions that are implicitly used in both the local-field theory in which the ionization coefficients are functions only of the local electric field and the new one. A systematic study of the noise characteristics of GaAs homojunction avalanche photodiodes with different multiplication layer thicknesses is also presented. It is demonstrated that there is a definite “size effect” for thin multiplication regions that is not well characterized by the local-field model. The new theory, on the other hand, provides very good fits to the measured gain and noise. The new ionization coefficient model has also been validated by Monte Carlo simulations     

Design concepts and construction of bipolar filterpress cells

The design concepts used in the construction of bipolar parallel plate cells for aqueous electrolysis are critically considered.