Engineering the Losses and Beam Divergence in Arrays of Patch Antenna Microcavities for Terahertz Sources

We perform a comprehensive study on the emission from finite arrays of patch antenna microcavities designed for the terahertz range by using a finite element method. The emission properties including quality factors, far-field pattern, and photon extraction efficiency are investigated for etched and non-etched structures as a function of the number of resonators, the dielectric layer thickness, and period of the array. In addition, the simulations are achieved for lossy and perfect metals and dielectric layers, allowing to extract the radiative and non-radiative contributions to the total quality factors of the arrays. Our study shows that this structure can be optimized to obtain low beam divergence (FWHM <10°) and photon extraction efficiencies >50% while keeping a strongly localized mode. These results show that the use of these microcavities would lead to efficient terahertz emitters with a low divergence vertical emission and engineered losses.     

Reappraisal of variable-range hopping in quantum-dot solids

The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of assemblies of ZnO nanocrystals, studied with an electrochemically gated transistor is very accurately described by the relation ln sigma=ln sigma0-(T0/T)(x) with x=2/3 over the entire temperature range from 7 to 200 K, independent of charge concentration and dielectric environment. These results cannot be explained by existing models but are supported by results on Au nanocrystals where an identical temperature dependence was observed (Zabet-Khosousi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 96 (15), 156403). We propose an adaptation of the Efros-Shklovskii variable-range hopping model by introducing an expression for nonresonant tunneling based on local energy fluctuations, which yields exactly the temperature dependence that is observed experimentally.     

Shack-Hartmann sensor improvement using optical binning

We present a design improvement for a recently proposed type of Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor that uses a cylindrical (lenticular) lenslet array. The improved sensor design uses optical binning and requires significantly fewer detector pixels than the corresponding conventional or cylindrical Shack-Hartmann sensor, and so detector readout noise causes less signal degradation. Additionally, detector readout time is significantly reduced, which reduces the latency for closed loop systems and data processing requirements. We provide simple analytical noise considerations and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the optically binned Shack-Hartmann sensor can offer better performance than the conventional counterpart in most practical situations, and our design is particularly suited for use with astronomical adaptive optics systems.     

On the human ability to discriminate audio ambiances from similar locations of an urban environment

When developing advanced location-based systems augmented with audio ambiances, it would be cost-effective to use a few representative samples from typical environments for describing a larger number of similar locations. The aim of this experiment was to study the human ability to discriminate audio ambiances recorded in similar locations of the same urban environment. A listening experiment consisting of material from three different environments and nine different locations was carried out with nineteen subjects to study the credibility of audio representations for certain environments which would diminish the need for collecting huge audio databases. The first goal was to study to what degree humans are able to recognize whether the recording has been made in an indicated location or in another similar location, when presented with the name of the place, location on a map, and the associated audio ambiance. The second goal was to study whether the ability to discriminate audio ambiances from different locations is affected by a visual cue, by presenting additional information in form of a photograph of the suggested location. The results indicate that audio ambiances from similar urban areas of the same city differ enough so that it is not acceptable to use a single recording as ambience to represent different yet similar locations. Including an image was found to increase the perceived credibility of all the audio samples in representing a certain location. The results suggest that developers of audio-augmented location-based systems should aim at using audio samples recorded on-site for each location in order to achieve a credible impression.     

Crowds by Example

We present an example-based crowd simulation technique. Most crowd simulation techniques assume that the behavior exhibited by each person in the crowd can be defined by a restricted set of rules. This assumption limits the behavioral complexity of the simulated agents. By learning from real-world examples, our autonomous agents display complex natural behaviors that are often missing in crowd simulations. Examples are created from tracked video segments of real pedestrian crowds. During a simulation, autonomous agents search for examples that closely match the situation that they are facing. Trajectories taken by real people in similar situations, are copied to the simulated agents, resulting in seemingly natural behaviors.     

Psychological constructs in driving automation: a consensus model and critical comment on construct proliferation

As automation in vehicles becomes more prevalent, the call for understanding the behaviour of the driver while driving an automated vehicle becomes more salient. Although a variety of driver behaviour models exist, and various psychological constructs have been said to be influenced by automation, an empirically testable psychological model of automated driving has yet to be developed. Building upon Stanton and Young's model of driving automation, this article presents an updated model of interrelated psychological constructs. The proposed model was created based upon a systematic literature search of driving automation papers and a subsequent quantification of the number of reported links between a selected set of psychological constructs. A secondary aim of this article is to reach consensus in the use of psychological constructs regarding driving automation. Henceforth special attention is paid to resolving the issue of construct proliferation.     

Tensile stress relaxation in unsaturated granular materials

The mechanics of granular media at low liquid saturation levels remain poorly understood. Macroscopic mechanical properties are affected by microscale forces and processes, such as capillary forces, inter-particle friction, liquid flows, and particle movements. An improved understanding of these microscale mechanisms is important for a range of industrial applications and natural phenomena (e.g. landslides). This study focuses on the transient evolution of the tensile stress of unsaturated granular media under extension. Experimental results suggest that the stress state of the material evolves even after cessation of sample extension. Moreover, we observe that the packing density strongly affects the efficiency of different processes that result in tensile stress relaxation. By comparing the observed relaxation time scales with published data, we conclude that tensile stress relaxation is governed by particle rearrangement and fluid redistribution. An increased packing density inhibits particle rearrangement and only leaves fluid redistribution as the major process that governs tensile stress relaxation.     

基于3D打印技术的宽带圆形微带天线

该文介绍了一款环形耦合的圆形贴片天线。采用圆形金属贴片作为天线的辐射贴片,通过在介质板上引入两个谐振环,产生两个新的工作谐振频段。通过调节圆形贴片和耦合环之间的高度,进一步拓宽了天线的工作频段。通过3D打印技术对不规则的介质基板进行加工制作,有效解决了传统加工方法加工难度大及生产周期长的问题。测试结果表明,该天线在3.8～5.8 GHz工作频段内,回波损耗小于-10 dB;在5.1 GHz时,天线增益达到8.4 dBi;天线相对带宽为42%,且具有良好的全向辐射特性。天线的测试结果与仿真结果基本吻合。