Structure dependence of mode edges in photonic crystal waveguide with silicon on insulator

The mode edges of photonic crystal waveguide with triangular lattice based on a silicon-on-insulator slab are investigated by combination of the effective index method and two-dimensional plane wave expansion method. The variations of waveguide-mode edges with structure parameters of photonic crystal are deduced. When the ratio of the radius of air holes to the lattice constrant, r/Lambda, is fixed and the lattice constant of photonic crystal, Lambda, increases, the waveguide-mode edges shift to longer wavelengths. When Lambda is fixed and r/Lambda increases, the waveguide-mode edges shift to shorter wavelengths. Additionally, when r/Lambda and Lambda are both fixed, the radius of the two-row air holes adjacent to the waveguide increases, the waveguide-mode edges shift to shorter wavelengths.

WG-like modes selectivity in a square cavity with posts

We investigate the characteristics of Whispering-Gallery(WG)-like modes in a square cavity with posts by employing the two-dimentional (2D) finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique combined with the effective index method. The results indicate that the posts can result in mode selection in the WG-like modes. The WG-like modes with odd mode numbers are not much sensitive to the sizes of the posts. However, the quality factor (i.e. Q-factor) of the WG-like modes with even mode numbers decreases sharply with the increasing size of the posts. The decreasing Q-factor is attributed to mode leakage and scattering loss due to the presence of the post. The mode selection increases with the mode spacing of square cavity twice in an optimized strucure.

Line defect splitters for self-collimated beams in photonic crystals

A one-to-two splitter for self-collimated beams in photonic crystal (PC) is designed by inserting one row of line defects. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to simulate the light propagation process. Our systematical studies show that the splitting ratio is a function of the airholes size of the line defect radius, and stays fairly constant as a function of frequency. Furthermore, it is shown the numerical results can be analyzed by coupled-mode theory. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oblique alignment of columns of self-organized Ge/Si(001) islands in multilayer structure

Ge/Si multilayer structures with a bimodal distribution of the island spacing in the first layer have been investigated by atomic-force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Besides the vertical alignment, some oblique alignments of stacked islands are observed. The presence of the elastic interaction between islands is responsible for the oblique alignment of stacked islands. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04644-1].

Tuning of conduction intersublevel absorption wavelengths in (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot nanostructures

We demonstrate that by increasing the amount of (In, Ga)As deposit in a quantum dot layer, the intersublevel absorption wavelength for (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot infrared photodetectors can be blue-shifted from 15 to 10 mu m while the photoluminescence peak is red-shifted. We directly compare the measured energy spacing between intersublevels obtained from infrared absorption spectroscopy with those obtained from photoluminescence spectroscopy. We find that the intersublevel energy spacing determined from absorption measurements is much larger than that obtained from the photoluminescence measurements. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04524-1].

Normal-incidence intersubband (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors

We report the device performance of normal-incidence (In, Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot intersubband infrared photodetectors. A primary intersubband transition peak is observed at the wavelength of 13 mu m (E-0 --> E-1) and a secondary peak at 11 mu m (E-0 --> E-2). The measured energy spacing in the conduction band of the quantum dots is in good agreement with low temperature photoluminescence measurement and calculations. A peak detectivity of 1 x 10(10) cm Hz(1/2)/W at 13 mu m was achieved at 40 K for these devices. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)01440-5].

Transmission electron microscopy study of triple-ribbon contrast features in a ZnTe epitaxial layer

A transmission electron microscopy study of triple-ribbon contrast features in a ZnTe layer grown epitaxially on a vicinal GaAs (001) substrate is reported. The ribbons go through the layer as threading dislocations near the [<(11)over bar 2>](111) or [112](<(11)over bar 1>) directions. Each of these (with a 40 nm width) has two narrow parts enclosed by three partial dislocations (with a 20 nm spacing). By contrast analysis and contrast simulation, the ribbons have been shown to be composed of two partially overlapping stacking faults. Their origin is attributed to a forced reaction between two crossing perfect misfit dislocations.

A dual-wavelength sampled fiber Bragg grating and its application in L-band dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber lasers

A novel dual-wavelength (DW) sampled fiber Bragg grating (SFBG) is proposed and demonstrated for the first time to the author's best knowledge. This kind of SFBG can realize a DW operation with uniform reflection peaks rather than multiple nonuniform peaks shown in conventional SFBGs. Based on the designed SFBG, we have proposed a novel L-band DW erbium-doped fiber laser, which has such a unique merit that the spacing of the two wavelengths keeps unchanged during tuning laser.

Guiding mode in elliptical core microstructured polymer optical fiber

A kind of microstructured polymer optical fiber with elliptical core has been fabricated by adopting in-situ chemical polymerization technology and the secondary sleeving draw-stretching technique. Microscope photography demonstrates the clear hole-structure retained in the fiber. Though the holes distortion is visible, initial laser experiment indicates that light can be strongly confined in the elliptical core region, and the mode field is split obviously and presents the multi-mode characteristic. Numerical modeling is carried out for the real fiber with the measured parameters, including the external diameter of 150 pin, the average holes diameter of 3.3 mu m, and the average hole spacing of 6.3 mu m. by using full-vector plane wave method. The guided mode fields of the numerical simulation are consistent with the experiment result. This fiber shows the strong multi-mode and weak birefringence in the visible and near-infrared band, and has possibility for achieving the fiber mode convertors, mode selective couplers and so on.

The thermal fatigue resistance of vermicular cast iron coupling with H13 steel units by cast-in process

This paper focuses on improving the thermal fatigue resistance on the surface of vermicular cast iron coupling with inserted H13 steel blocks that had different cross sections, by cast-in processing. The microstructure of bionic units was examined by scanning electron microscope. Micro-hardness and thermal fatigue resistance of bionic samples with varied cross sections and spacings were investigated, respectively. Results show that a marked metallurgical bonding zone was produced at interface between the inserted H13 steel block and the parent material - a unique feature of the bionic structure in the vermicular cast iron samples. The micro-hardness of the bionic samples has been significantly improved. Thermal resistance of the samples with the circular cross section was the highest and the bionics sample with spacing of 2 mm spacing had a much longer thermal fatigue life, thus resulting in the improvement for the thermal fatigue life of the bionic samples, due to the efficient preclusion for the generation and propagation of crack at the interface of H13 block and the matrix. Crown Copyright (c) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dislocation nucleation governed softening and maximum strength in nano-twinned metals

In conventional metals, there is plenty of space for dislocations-line defects whose motion results in permanent material deformation-to multiply, so that the metal strengths are controlled by dislocation interactions with grain boundaries(1,2) and other obstacles(3,4). For nano-structured materials, in contrast, dislocation multiplication is severely confined by the nanometre-scale geometries so that continued plasticity can be expected to be source-controlled. Nano-grained polycrystalline materials were found to be strong but brittle(5-9), because both nucleation and motion of dislocations are effectively suppressed by the nanoscale crystallites. Here we report a dislocation-nucleation-controlled mechanism in nano-twinned metals(10,11) in which there are plenty of dislocation nucleation sites but dislocation motion is not confined. We show that dislocation nucleation governs the strength of such materials, resulting in their softening below a critical twin thickness. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and a kinetic theory of dislocation nucleation in nano-twinned metals show that there exists a transition in deformation mechanism, occurring at a critical twin-boundary spacing for which strength is maximized. At this point, the classical Hall-Petch type of strengthening due to dislocation pile-up and cutting through twin planes switches to a dislocation-nucleation-controlled softening mechanism with twin-boundary migration resulting from nucleation and motion of partial dislocations parallel to the twin planes. Most previous studies(12,13) did not consider a sufficient range of twin thickness and therefore missed this strength-softening regime. The simulations indicate that the critical twin-boundary spacing for the onset of softening in nano-twinned copper and the maximum strength depend on the grain size: the smaller the grain size, the smaller the critical twin-boundary spacing, and the higher the maximum strength of the material.

Influence of Inter-Fiber Spacing and Interfacial Adhesion on Failure of Multi-Fiber Model Composites: Experiment and Numerical Analysis

The uniaxial tension experiments on glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites reveal that the fragmentations of fibers display vertically aligned fracture, clustered fracture, coordinated fracture, and random fracture with the increase of inter-fiber spacing. The finite element analysis indicates that the fragmentations of fibers displaying different phenomena are due to the stress concentration as well as the inherent randomness of fiber defects, which is the dominant factor. The experimental results show that matrices adjacent to the fiber breakpoints all exhibit birefringent-whitening patterns for the composites with different interfacial adhesion strengths. The larger the extent of the interfacial debonding, the less the domain of the birefringent-whitening patterns. The numerical analysis indicates that the orientation of the matrix adjacent to a fiber breakpoint is caused by the interfacial shear stress, resulting in the birefringent-whitening patterns. The area of shear stress concentrations decides on the domain of the birefringent-whitening patterns.

Simulation of Banded Spherulite Patterns by Coupled Logistic Map Lattice Model in Three Dimensions

Banded spherulite patterns are simulated in three dimensions by means of a Coupled Logistic map lattice model. The patterns obtained by numerical calculation are consistent with those in experiments. The simulation results also indicate that the hand spacing is decreased with the increase of parameter mu in the Logistic map and increased with the increase of the coupling parameter e for cube lattices, and increased with the increase of the thickness of the lattice for polymer film, which is quite similar to the results in some experiments. Spiral pattern in three dimensions is also shown in this paper, which helps us understand the form of banded spherulite in polymers.

Autophobic Dewetting of a Poly(methyl methacrylate) Thin Film on a Silicon Wafer Treated in Good Solvent Vapor

The wettability of thin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films on a silicon wafer with a native oxide layer exposed to solvent vapors is dependent on the solvent properties. In the nonsolvent vapor, the film spread on the substrate with some protrusions generated on the film surface. In the good solvent vapor, dewetting happened. A new interface formed between the anchored PMMA chains and the swollen upper part of the film. Entropy effects caused the upper movable chains to dewet on the anchored chains. The rim instability depended on the surface tension of solvent (i.e., the finger was generated in acetone vapor (gamma(acetone) = 24 mN/m), not in dioxane vapor (gamma(dioxane) = 33 mN/m)). The spacing (lambda) that grew as an exponential function of film thickness h scaled as similar to h(1.31) whereas the mean size (D) of the resulting droplets grew linearly with h.

Lamella reorientation in thin films of a symmetric poly(L-lactic acid)-block-polystyrene upon crystallization at different temperatures

The thin films of a symmetric crystalline-coil diblock copolymer of poly(L-lactic acid) and polystyrene (PLLA-b-PS) formed lamellae parallel to the substrate surface in melt. When annealed at temperatures well above the glass transition temperature of PLLA block (T-g(PLLA)), the PLLA chains started to crystallize, leading to reorientation of lamellae. Such reorientation behavior exhibited dependence on the correlation between the crystallization temperature (T-c), the glass transition temperature of PS (T-g(PS)), the peak melting point of PLLA crystals (T-m(PLLA)), and the end melting point of PLLA crystals (T-m,end(PLLA)). When annealed at (T-c =) 80 degrees C (T-c < T-g(PS) < T-ODT, order-disorder transition temperature), 123 degrees C (T-g(PS) < T-c < T-m(PLLA) < T-ODT). 165 degrees C (T-g(PS) < T-m(PLLA) < T-c < T-m,end(PLLA) < T-ODT), the parallel lamellae became perpendicular to the substrate surface, exclusively starting at the edge of surface relief patterns. Meanwhile, the corresponding lamellar spacing was significantly enhanced.