Room-temperature continuous-wave operation of InAs quantum-wire laser on InP(001) substrate

A self-assembled quantum-wire laser structure was grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy in an InAlGaAs-InAlAs matrix oil InP(001) substrate. Ridge-waveguide lasers were fabricated and demonstrated to operate at a heatsink temperature tip to 330 K in continuous-wave (CW) mode. The emission wavelength of the lasers with 5 mm-long cavity was 1.713 mu m at room temperature in CW mode. The temperature stability of the devices was analysed and the characteristic temperature was found to be 47 K in the mnge of 220-320 K.

The photon scanning tunneling microscope and its applications

A simple photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is described. Its lateral resolution (similar to 10nm with a maximal scanning range of 10 mu m x 10 mu m ) is much better than that of a conventional optical microscope. Its principle, the fiber optic tip fabrication and PSTM images of different samples such as mica, HDPE and LiNbO3 are presented.

tilt menu: using the 3d orientation information of pen devices to extend the selection capability of pen-based user interfaces

We present a new technique called‘Tilt Menu’ for better extending selection capabilities of pen-based interfaces.The Tilt Menu is implemented by using 3D orientation information of pen devices while performing selection tasks.The Tilt Menu has the potential to aid traditional onehanded techniques as it simultaneously generates the secondary input (e.g., a command or parameter selection) while drawing/interacting with a pen tip without having to use the second hand or another device. We conduct two experiments to explore the performance of the Tilt Menu. In the first experiment, we analyze the effect of parameters of the Tilt Menu, such as the menu size and orientation of the item, on its usability. Results of the first experiment suggest some design guidelines for the Tilt Menu. In the second experiment, the Tilt Menu is compared to two types of techniques while performing connect-the-dot tasks using freeform drawing mechanism. Results of the second experiment show that the Tilt Menu perform better in comparison to the Tool Palette, and is as good as the Toolglass.

Multi-channel effect of condensation flow in a micro triple-channel condenser

Multi-channel effect is important to understand transport phenomenon in phase change systems with parallel channels. In this paper, visualization studies were performed to study the multi-channel effect in a silicon triple-channel condenser with an aspect ratio of 0.04. Saturated water vapor was pumped into the microcondenser, which was horizontally positioned. The condenser was cooled by the air natural convention heat transfer in the air environment. Flow patterns are either the annular flow at high inlet vapor pressures, or a quasi-stable elongated bubble at the microchannel upstream followed by a detaching or detached miniature bubble at smaller inlet vapor pressures. The downstream miniature bubble was detached from the elongated bubble tip induced by the maximum Weber number there. It is observed that either a single vapor thread or dual vapor threads are at the front of the elongated bubble. A miniature bubble is fully formed by breaking up the vapor thread or threads. The transient vapor thread formation and breakup process is exactly symmetry against the centerline of the center channel. In side channels, the Marangoni effect induced by the small temperature variation over the channel width direction causes the vapor thread formation and breakup process deviating from the side channel centerline and approaching the center channel. The Marangoni effect further forces the detached bubble to rotate and approach the center channel, because the center channel always has higher temperatures, indicating the multi-channel effect. 

Periodic bubble emission and appearance of an ordered bubble sequence (train) during condensation in a single microchannel

Condensation of steam in a single microchannel, silicon test section was investigated visually at low flow rates. The microchannel was rectangular in cross-section with a depth of 30 pm, a width of 800 mu m and a length of 5.0 mm, covered with a Pyrex glass to allow for visualization of the bubble formation process. By varying the cooling rate during condensation of the saturated water vapor, it was possible to control the shape, size and frequency of the bubbles formed. At low cooling rates using only natural air convection from the ambient environment, the flow pattern in the microchannel consisted of a nearly stable elongated bubble attached upstream (near the inlet) that pinched off into a train of elliptical bubbles downstream of the elongated bubble. It was observed that these elliptical bubbles were emitted periodically from the tip of the elongated bubble at a high frequency, with smaller size than the channel width. The shape of the emitted bubbles underwent modifications shortly after their generation until finally becoming a stable vertical ellipse, maintaining its shape and size as it flowed downstream at a constant speed. These periodically emitted elliptical bubbles thus formed an ordered bubble sequence (train). At higher cooling rates using chilled water in a copper heat sink attached to the test section, the bubble formation frequency increased significantly while the bubble size decreased, all the while forming a perfect bubble train flowing downstream of the microchannel. The emitted bubbles in this case immediately formed into a circular shape without any further modification after their separation from the elongated bubble upstream. The present study suggests that a method for controlling the size and generation frequency of microbubbles could be so developed, which may be of interest for microfluidic applications. The breakup of the elongated bubble is caused by the large Weber number at the tip of the elongated bubble induced by the maximum vapor velocity at the centerline of the microchannel inside the elongated bubble and the smaller surface tension force of water at the tip of the elongated bubble.

聚烯烃官能化及其反应共混的Monte Carlo

针对马来酸酐(MAH)接枝聚丙烯(PP)和聚乙烯(PE)、不相容共混物的反应增容、聚丙烯共混物在剪切流动过程中形态结构演化等聚烯烃反应加工中典型的化学和物理问题开展了计算机模拟和实验研究。 首先，我们建立和完成了适用于Monte Carlo计算机模拟的MAH接枝PP和PE的反应动力学模型及模拟程序的编写与运行。对于MAH接枝PP，模拟结果表明接枝产物所占比例与MAH初始浓度有关。当MAH浓度较低时(小于2.5 wt%)，MAH主要接枝在由β裂解所产生PP链末端上；而在MAH浓度较大时(大于2.5 wt%)，大部分MAH接枝在PP链上的三级碳上。这一结论很好地解决了多年来存在的关于MAH接枝PP位置的争议。为了进一步验证模拟结果，在实验上我们制备了不同MAH(13C标记)初始浓度下接枝PP的系列样品。核磁共振(NMR)研究结果表明MAH的初始浓度明显影响不同接枝产物所占比例，具体表现为MAH接枝到PP三级碳的MAH的NMR共振峰（δ= 32.0 ppm）随MAH的初始浓度的增加而明显增强，而接枝到由β裂解所产生PP链末端的MAH的NMR共振峰（δ=30.3 ppm）随MAH的初始浓度的增加而明显减弱。这与模拟结果一致。对于MAH接枝线性PE，模拟结果表明MAH接在PE主链上形成枝状结构所占比例随MAH初始浓度的增加而增加，而接在两PE主链中间形成桥状结构所占比例随MAH初始浓度的增加而下降。当MAH浓度非常低的时候，两种结构所占比例相当接近。这一结果改变了人们对这一问题的传统认识，即在任何条件下桥状结构所占比例都远远低于枝状结构。以上结果为MAH接枝聚乙烯、聚丙烯分子结构的调控提供了科学依据。 其次，我们开展了伴有化学反应的不相容共混聚合物的增容，即反应增容的Monte Carlo模拟研究。模拟结果表明官能化聚合物A的加入有效改善了聚合物A与极性聚合物B的相容性。当聚合物A为分散相时，A-B和A-B-A嵌段共聚物的增容效果比B-A-B嵌段共聚物好。我们发现原位生成的A-B、A-B-A和B-A-B三种嵌段共聚物在共混体系中微观结构各不相同。所生成的A-B两嵌段共聚物分布在A/B两相界面上，其A、B嵌段分别嵌入A、B相区里；所生成的A-B-A三嵌段共聚物则通过“桥状结构”连接两个被分散的A相区；所生成的B-A-B三嵌段共聚物则以“折叠结构”存在于A/B两相界面。此外，我们还研究了接枝共聚物在A/B/接枝共聚物三元共混体系中的增容效果及其微观结构。模拟结果表明，接枝共聚物的结构和支链长度对其在共混物中的微观结构和分散相粒径影响很大。当添加A-g-B接枝共聚物作为增容剂时，如果其支链较短，部分接枝共聚物将会在连续相中形成胶束；当其支链较长时，它们会通过“桥状结构”连接分散相形成网络结构。当选择B-g-A接枝共聚物作为增容剂，如果其支链长度较短，部分共聚物会在分散相里形成胶束；如果其支链较长，大部分共聚物将存在于A/B两相界面上连接A、B两相。 最后，我们在线跟踪研究了聚丙烯共混物在剪切流动过程中形态结构演化过程，观察到了剪切流动下尼龙6(PA6)液滴在PP连续相中的破裂过程。结果表明PA6液滴同时存在fracture 和tip streaming 两种破裂模式。在该共混体中添加少量的SEBS或SEBS-g-MAH，发现在适当的剪切条件下PA6液滴可通过SEBS粘结形成非常有序的规则结构，即平行排列的线条结构。有趣的是这种平行排列的线条结构垂直于剪切流动方向。进一步研究结果表明该结构是一亚稳态，其最终要聚集成球状结构。有意义的是该亚稳态结构可以保持数十分钟以上，这使得人们有足够的时间降温将该结构“冻结”住。这一结果为通用高分子共混物有序结构的外场调控提供了成功范例。

Design of a Tapered Lens for Semiconductor Laser to Single-Mode Fiber Coupling

The theoretical investigation of the coupling efficiency of a laser diode to a single mode fiber via a hemispherical lens on the tip of the tapered fiber in the presence of possible transverse offset and angular mismatch is reported.Without the misalignment,coupling efficiency increases with the decreasing of taper length.With the misalignment,this relation is that the coupling efficiency decreases with each kind of offset.

The photon scanning tunneling microscope and its applications

A simple photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) is described. Its lateral resolution (similar to 10nm with a maximal scanning range of 10 mu m x 10 mu m ) is much better than that of a conventional optical microscope. Its principle, the fiber optic tip fabrication and PSTM images of different samples such as mica, HDPE and LiNbO3 are presented.

Dynamic behaviors of mode III interfacial crack under a constant loading rate

In an earlier study on intersonic crack propagation, Gao et al. (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 49: 2113-2132, 2001) described molecular dynamics simulations and continuum analysis of the dynamic behaviors of a mode II dominated crack moving along a weak plane under a constant loading rate. The crack was observed to initiate its motion at a critical time after the onset of loading, at which it is rapidly accelerated to the Rayleigh wave speed and propagates at this speed for a finite time interval until an intersonic daughter crack is nucleated at a peak stress at a finite distance ahead of the original crack tip. The present article aims to analyze this behavior for a mode III crack moving along a bi-material interface subject to a constant loading rate. We begin with a crack in an initially stress-free bi-material subject to a steadily increasing stress. The crack initiates its motion at a critical time governed by the Griffith criterion. After crack initiation, two scenarios of crack propagation are investigated: the first one is that the crack moves at a constant subsonic velocity; the second one is that the crack moves at the lower shear wave speed of the two materials. In the first scenario, the shear stress ahead of the crack tip is singular with exponent -1/2, as expected; in the second scenario, the stress singularity vanishes but a peak stress is found to emerge at a distance ahead of the moving crack tip. In the latter case, a daughter crack supersonic with respect to the softer medium can be expected to emerge ahead of the initial crack once the peak stress reaches the cohesive strength of the interface.

Mechanical Behavior of Nanometer Ni by Simulating Nanoindentation

An indentation simulation of the crystal Ni is carried out by a molecular dynamics technique (MD) to study the mechanical behavior at nanometer scales. Indenter tips with both sphere shape and conical shape with 60 cone angle are used, and simulation samples with different crystal orientations are adopted. Some defects such as dislocations and point defects are observed. It is found that nucleated defects (dislocations, amorphous atoms) are from the local region near the pin tip or the sample surface. The temperature distribution of the local region is analyzed and it can explain our MD simulation results.

Mechanical Behavior of Nanometer Ni by MD Simulation

The indention simulation of the crystal Ni is carried out by molecular dynamics technique (MD) to study the mechanical behavior at nanometer scales, the indenter tips with sphere shape is used. Some defects such as dislocations, point defects are observed. It is found that defects (dislocations, amorphous) nucleated is from local region near the pin tip or the sample surface. The temperature distribution of local region is analyzed and it can explain our MD simulation result.

A study of the influence of initial liquid volume on the capillary flow in an interior corner under microgravity

In this work the influence of initial liquid volume on the capillary flow in an interior corner is studied systematically by microgravity experiments using the drop tower, under three different conditions: the Concus-Finn condition is satisfied,close to and dissatisfied. The capillary flow is studied by discussing the movement of tip of the meniscus in the corner. Experimental results show that with the increase of initial liquid volume the tip location increases for a given microgravity time, the achievable maximum tip velocity increases and the flow reaches its maximum tip velocity earlier However, the results for the three different conditions show some difference. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Criterion of aerodynamic performance of large-scale offshore horizontal axis wind turbines

With the background of offshore wind energy projects, this paper studies aerodynamic performance and geometric characteristics of large capacity wind turbine rotors ( 1 to 10 MW), and the main characteristic parameters such as the rated wind speed, blade tip speed, and rotor solidity. We show that the essential criterion of a high-performance wind turbine is a highest possible annual usable energy pattern factor and a smallest possible dimension, capturing the maximum wind energy and producing the maximum annual power. The influence of the above-mentioned three parameters on the pattern factor and rotor geometry of wind turbine operated in China's offshore meteorological environment is investigated. The variation patterns of aerodynamic and geometric parameters are obtained, analyzed, and compared with each other. The present method for aerodynamic analysis and its results can form a basis for evaluating aerodynamic performance of large-scale offshore wind turbine rotors.

Influence of Contact Geometry on Hardness Behavior in Nano-indentation

In this paper the influence of contact geometry, including the round tip of the indenter and the roughness of the specimen, on hardness behavior for elastic plastic materials is studied by means of finite element simulation. We idealize the actual indenter by an equivalent rigid conic indenter fitted smoothly with a spherical tip and examine the interaction of this indenter with both a flat surface and a rough surface. In the latter case the rough surface is represented by either a single spherical asperity or a dent (cavity). Indented solids include elastic perfectly plastic materials and strain hardening elastic-plastic materials, and the effects of the yield stress and strain hardening index are explored. Our results show that due to the finite curvature of the indenter tip the hardness versus indentation depth curve rises or drops (depending on the material properties of the indented solids) as the indentation depth decreases, in qualitative agreement with experimental results. Surface asperities and dents of curvature comparable to that of the indenter tip can appreciably modify the hardness value at small indentation depth. Their effects would appear as random variation in hardness.

Modeling study to compare the flow and heat transfer characteristics of low-power hydrogen, nitrogen and argon arc-heated thrusters

A modelling study is performed to compare the plasma °ow and heat transfer char- acteristics of low-power arc-heated thrusters (arcjets) for three di®erent propellants: hydrogen, nitrogen and argon. The all-speed SIMPLE algorithm is employed to solve the governing equa- tions, which take into account the e®ects of compressibility, Lorentz force and Joule heating, as well as the temperature- and pressure-dependence of the gas properties. The temperature, veloc- ity and Mach number distributions calculated within the thruster nozzle obtained with di®erent propellant gases are compared for the same thruster structure, dimensions, inlet-gas stagnant pressure and arc currents. The temperature distributions in the solid region of the anode-nozzle wall are also given. It is found that the °ow and energy conversion processes in the thruster nozzle show many similar features for all three propellants. For example, the propellant is heated mainly in the near-cathode and constrictor region, with the highest plasma temperature appear- ing near the cathode tip; the °ow transition from the subsonic to supersonic regime occurs within the constrictor region; the highest axial velocity appears inside the nozzle; and most of the input propellant °ows towards the thruster exit through the cooler gas region near the anode-nozzle wall. However, since the properties of hydrogen, nitrogen and argon, especially their molecular weights, speci¯c enthalpies and thermal conductivities, are di®erent, there are appreciable di®er- ences in arcjet performance. For example, compared to the other two propellants, the hydrogen arcjet thruster shows a higher plasma temperature in the arc region, and higher axial velocity but lower temperature at the thruster exit. Correspondingly, the hydrogen arcjet thruster has the highest speci¯c impulse and arc voltage for the same inlet stagnant pressure and arc current. The predictions of the modelling are compared favourably with available experimental results.