内蒙古典型草原群落SPAC系统水运动的观测与仿真

草原不仅是陆地生态系统重要的一种类型，而且是人类赖以生存的畜牧业基地。由于草原多处于半干旱区，所以研究草原生态系统的水循环、水利用非常重要。本文对我国内蒙古草原区一个典型的群落－羊草群落的水分运动特征进行了定位观测，并在对这些观测结果进行分析的基础上，对土壤－植物－大气连续体（Soil-Plant-Atomosphere Continuum, SPAC）内的水流运动过程进行了仿真。 气孔是草原生态系统SPAC水流运动中最大的阻力项，是制约SPAC内水流通量的“瓶颈”，因此要想对该系统进行仿真首先必须建立精确的气孔导度（阻力）模型。根据1998～1999观测，羊草气孔导度主要受0～40cm土壤含水量的影响，在日的时间尺度上，用普通的线性回归模型对日均气孔导度就可以实现精确的预测，R~2可以达到96％，但是在小时的时间尺度上，仅用0～40cm土壤含水量是不够的，必须同时考虑其它环境因子的作用、构建具有一定机理基础的模型才能达到较为理想的模拟精度。现有的具有机理性质的气孔导度模型大致可以分为“Jarvis-类”和“BWB模型”（或“光合－导度”模型）。但是它们都没有充分考虑土壤水分因素对气孔导度的重要作用，所以这不符和草原区的实际情况。本文构建了一个考虑土壤水分因素的气孔导度模型，并分析了环境因素之间的互作对气孔导度的影响程度，最后这个模型被应用到了SPAC系统能量平衡和蒸散过程的模拟中去。 在降水量正常的情况下，例如1999年（年降水量344mm），羊草群落的显热通量明显高于潜热通量;在特别干旱的情况下，例如 1997年（年降水量仅280mm左右），白天甚至可能出现潜热的逆向传递;但是在湿润的年份，例如1998年（年降水量507mm），潜热通量却与显热通量相当。 在模拟植物蒸腾和群落的蒸散时需要分析叶片和冠层能量平衡，此时，往往需要简化处理，为了使这种简化更符合实际情况，所以根据羊草叶片红外辐射温度的实测结果，对羊草叶片上的能量平衡进行了分析。结果表明，太阳短波辐射对叶片能量总收入的贡献率小于30％，而来自地表和天空的长波辐射却古总收入的约74％。叶片的热辐射为双向，占叶片能量总支出的约90％。显热与潜热交换的总和才占叶片能量总支出的10％，而且在所测的时间点上两者的平均值相近，各占5％左右。在能量平衡的各分量中，长波辐射部分表现为净支出，因而可以假设短波辐射为叶片的唯一能量来源。此时，热辐射消耗其中的59％，显热潜热消耗40.1％。 将冠层分成上中下三层，分别模拟了这三层叶片以及土壤表面的能量平衡动态。与实测的各层红外辐射温度进行了对比，发现模型预测的冠层温度值与实测值的相关性良好，但是对中下层叶片温度的预测偏低。对土壤表面温度的模拟效果不好。 由于1998年降水量很大，根据蒸渗仪的观测，2m土体出现了渗漏。渗漏的出现，使得生长季末0～2m土壤贮水量与生长季初相比不但没有增加，反而减少。由于渗漏使得80～120cm土层内的粗细交界面得以贯通，该层对其上层土壤水头的蓄持能力下降，所以在1999年即使降雨强度不大也会造成渗漏的再次发生，这使得1999年生长季各月份水分平衡表现为较大的净支出。因此，实现SPAC水流成功模拟应该考虑土壤质地的成层性，以及渗漏的问题。 根据1998年波文比、涡度相关和蒸发渗漏仪联合实验的结果，对三种方法监测内蒙古草原群落蒸散的适用性进行了分析。三种仪器逐时、逐日蒸散回归关系极显著（P＝0.000），但是涡度相关的测量值往往低于其它两者。分析认为蒸发渗漏仪在逐日或者更长的取样时间间隔上能够达到足够的精度，适合于作为长期监测内蒙古草原群落蒸散量的工具，但是，由于受风压等随机因素的影响，不适用于逐时或逐分的测量。波文比在无对流逆温的天气里可以精确地测定逐刻和逐时的潜热通量，适合于作为短期的监测工具，但在更复杂的气象条件下波动幅度较涡度相关大。涡度相关法能在较复杂的天气条件下稳定地反映逐刻、逐时和逐日的潜热通量变化。但是，在内蒙古草原区现实的野外条件下，涡度相关法尚难以作为长期蒸散监测的工具。 除了对上述三,种观测方法进行比对外，还有波文比与Penman-Moteith公式、涡度相关法与Penman-Moteith公式对蒸散的监测进行了对比，发现Penman-Monteith公式在1998和1999年都低估了蒸散。分析认为，对总蒸散的低估可能来自对土表蒸发的低估。 本文最后还对SPAC系统水流各部分的模拟进行了整合，希望得到一个对整个系统的水流循环进行动态仿真的模型。

New symbiotic hypothesis on the origin of eukaryotic flagella

The origin of eukaryotic flagella has long been a mystery. Here we review the possibility that flagella sprouted evolutionarily from the eukaryotic cell proper seems very unlikely because it is hard to imagine what function and benefit in natural selection the flagella would have provided to the cells when they first emerged as simple buds. Lynn Margulis' 1970 spirochete hypothesis, though popular still, has never been confirmed. Moreover, the absence of tubulin and axonemal dynein in the spirochetes and the incapability of the bacterial and eukaryotic membranes' making a continuum now suggest that the hypothesis is outdated. Tubulin genes were recently identified in a new bacteria division, verrucomicrobia, and microtubules have also been found in one of these species, epixenosomes, the defensive ectosymbionts. On the basis of these data, we propose a new symbiotic hypothesis: that the mid-ancestor of eukaryotic cells obtained epixenosomelike verrucomicrobia as defensive ectosymbionts and the ectosymbionts later became endosymbiotic. They still, however, protruded from the surface of their host to play their role. Later, many genes were lost or incorporated into the host genome. Finally, the genome, the bacterial membrane, and the endosymbiotic vesicle membrane were totally lost, and fingerlike protrusions with microtubules formed. As the cells grew larger, the defensive function of the protrusions eventually weakened and then vanished. Some of the protrusions took on a new role in cell movement, which led them to evolve into flagella. The key step in this process was that the dynein obtained from the host evolved into axonemal dyneins, attaching onto the microtubules and forming motile axonemes. Our hypothesis is unproven, but it offers a possible explanation that is consistent with current scientific thought. We hope that our ideas will stimulate additional studies on the origin of eukaryotic flagella and on investigations of verrucomicrobia. Whether such studies confirm, refine, or replace our hypothesis, they should nevertheless further our understanding of the origin of eukaryotic cells.

Male-infant-male interactions in Tibetan macaques

Event-sampling and scans were used for collecting data on male-infant-male triadic interactions, and their effects on member spacing respectively in a group of Macaca thibetana at Mt. Emei in 1989. The group was partially provisioned by human visitors in seasons other than winter, and could be observed closely. In addition, a stable linear male-hierarchy among five males existed for two years since the end of 1987, providing a good social condition for this topic. The triadic interactions were specific to the birth season, and recognized as three types being on a continuum functionally changing from passive ''agonistic buffering'' (4.8%) to active spatial cohesion, which resulted in a significant decline of intermale distances. Positive correlations were documented between the triad initiation rate and the number of females in consort with the males in the mating season (MS), and between the triad reception rate and the number of infants in proximity to the males in the MS when maternal care was significantly reduced. Thus the male's mating effort and kin/sexual selection may deeply be involved in the triad of this species. Considering that the two triad-species, M. sylvanus and M. thibetana, had different levels of paternity, but shared similar foraging conditions, and showed similar intensities of male-infant caretaking, the triad was very likely a byproduct of male-infant caretaking, which was probably shaped to compensate heavy maternal investment to young offspring in harsh conditions. Accordingly, the long-term arguments about the triad in M. sylvanus can be united to a model of the way in which ''male-infant caretaking'' hypothesis works ultimately, and ''regulating social relations'' hypothesis does proximately.

Band alignment of InN/GaAs heterojunction determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The valence band offset (VBO) of the InN/GaAs heterojunction is directly determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to be 0.94 +/- 0.23 eV. The conduction band offset is deduced from the known VBO value to be 1.66 +/- 0.23 eV, and a type-II band alignment forms at the InN/GaAs heterojunction. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Voltage tunable two-color InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetector

We report a bias voltage tunable two-color InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetector working under the normal incidence infared irradiation. The two-color detection of our device is realized by combining a photovoltaic and a photoconductive response by bias voltage tuning. The photovoltaic response is attributed to the transition of electron from the ground state to a high continuum state. The photoconductive response arises from the transition of electron from the ground state to the wetting layer state through the barrier via Fowler-Nordheim tunneling evidenced by a broad feature of the photocurrent peak on the high energy side. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

n-type Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing quantum wells for electrons in the L and Gamma valleys

In this letter, we propose an n-type vertical transition bound-to-continuum Ge-SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing electronic quantum wells in the L and F valleys of the Ge layers. The optical transition levels are located in the quantum wells in the L valley. Under a bias of 80 kV/cm, the carriers in the lower level are extracted by miniband transport and L - Gamma tunneling into the subband in the Gamma well of the next period. And then the electrons are injected into the upper level by ultrafast intervalley scattering, which not only effectively increases the tunneling rate and suppresses the thermal backfilling of electrons, but also enhances the injection efficiency of the upper level. The performance of the laser is discussed.

Direct observation of coherent spin transfer processes in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well via two-color time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements

A two-color time-resolved Kerr rotation spectroscopy system was built, with a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser and a photonic crystal fiber, to study coherent spin transfer processes in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well sample. The femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser plays two roles: besides providing a pump beam with a tunable wavelength, it also excites the photonic crystal fiber to generate supercontinuum light ranging from 500 nm to 1600 nm, from which a probe beam with a desirable wavelength is selected with a suitable interference filter. With such a system, we studied spin transfer processes between two semiconductors of different gaps in an InGaAs/GaAs quantum well sample. We found that electron spins generated in the GaAs barrier were transferred coherently into the InGaAs quantum well. A model based on rate equations and Bloch-Torrey equations is used to describe the coherent spin transfer processes quantitatively. With this model, we obtain an effective electron spin accumulation time of 21 ps in the InGaAs quantum well.

Confined LO-phonon-assisted magnetotunneling in a parabolic quantum well with double barriers

The confined longitudinal-optical phonon-assisted tunneling through a parabolic quantum well with double barriers in a magnetic field perpendicular to the interfaces is studied theoretically based on a dielectric continuum model. The numerical results show that the applied magnetic field sharpens and heightens the phonon-assisted tunneling peaks in agreement with experimental observation. Furthermore, the phonon-assisted magnetotunneling peaks shift towards the higher biases as the magnetic field increases. In contrast to the results for a rectangular quantum well, the ratio of peak to valley of the phonon-assisted tunneling is larger for the wider well case. It also indicates that the phonon-assisted tunneling current peaks can be easily observed for a wider parabolic quantum well. (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Calculation of energy levels in InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot array

The subbands of the ground state E-c1, the first excited state E-c2 and heavy hole state E-HH1 are calculated by solving the eigenvalues of effective-mass Hamiltonian H-0 which is derived from eight-band k . p theory and the calculations are performed at k(x) = k, = k = 0 for the three-dimensional array of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs). With indium content in InGaAs QDs gradually increasing from 30% to 100%,the intersubband transition wavelength of E-c2 to E-c1, blue-shifts from 18.50 to 11.87 mu m,while the transition wavelength of E-c1, to E-HH1, red-shifts from 1. 04 to 1. 73 mu m. With the sizes of Ir-0.5 Ga-0.5 As and InAs QDs increasing from 1.0 to 5.0 nm, the intersubband transition from E-c1, to E-C2 transforms from bound-state-to-continuum-state to bound-state-to-bound-state, and the corresponding intersubband transition wavelengths red-shift from 8.12 pm (5.90 pm) to 53.47 mu m (31.87 pm), respectively, and the transition wavelengths of E-C1 to E-HH1 red-shift from 1. 13 mu m (1.60 mu m) to 1.27 mu m (2.01 mu m), respectively.

Energy structure and fluorescence of Eu2+ in ZnS : Eu nanoparticles

Eu2+-doped ZnS nanoparticles with an average size of around 3 nm were prepared, and an emission band around 530 nm was observed. By heating in air at 150 degrees C, this emission decreased, while the typical sharp line emission of Eu3+ increased. This suggests that the emission around 530 nm is from intraion transition of Eu2+: In bulk ZnS:Eu2+, no intraion transition of Eu2+ was observed because the excited states of Eu2+ are degenerate with the continuum of the ZnS conduction band. We show that the band gap in ZnS:Eu2+ nanoparticles opens up due to quantum confinement, such that the conduction band of ZnS is higher than the first excited state of Eu2+, thus enabling the intraion transition of Eu2+ to occur.

Temperature and excitation power dependence of the optical properties of InAs self-assembled quantum dots grown between two Al0.5Ga0.5As confining layers

We have investigated the temperature and excitation power dependence of photoluminescence properties of InAs self-assembled quantum dots grown between two Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum wells. The temperature evolutions of the lower-and higher-energy transition in the photoluminescence spectra have been observed. The striking result is that a higher-energy peak appears at 105 K and its relative intensity increases with temperature in the 105-291 K range. We demonstrate that the higher-energy peak corresponds to the excited-state transition involving the bound-electron state of quantum dots and the two-dimensional hole continuum of wetting layer. At higher temperature, the carrier transition associated with the wetting layer dominates the photoluminescence spectra. A thermalization model is given to explain the process of hole thermal transfer between wetting layer and quantum dots. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Infrared absorption efficiency in AlAs/AlxGa1-xAs type-II multiple-quantum-well structure grown on (211) GaAs substrate

We have made a normal incidence high infrared absorption efficiency AlAs/Al0.55Ga0.45As multiple-quantum-well structure grown on (211) GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A strong infrared absorption signal at 11.6 mu m due to the transition of the ground state to the first excited state, and a small signal at 6.8 mu m due to the transition from the ground state to continuum. were observed. A 45 degrees tilted incidence measurement was also performed on the same sample for the comparison with a normal incidence measurement. Both measurements provide important information about the quantum well absorption efficiency. Efficiencies which evaluate the absorption of electric components perpendicular and parallel to the well plane are eta(perpendicular to) = 25% and eta(parallel to) = 88%, respectively. The total efficiency is then deduced to be eta = 91%. It is apparent that the efficiency eta(parallel to) dominates the total quantum efficiency eta Because an electron in the (211) AlAs well has a small effective mass (m(zx)* or m(zy)*), the normal incidence absorption coefficient is expected to be higher:than that grown on (511) and (311) substrates. Thus, in the present study, we use the (211) substrate to fabricate QWIP. The experimental results indicate the potential of these novel structures for use as normal incidence infrared photodetectors.

Degenerate four-wave-mixing signals from dc- and ac-driven semiconductor superlattice

Within the one-dimensional tight-binding model;rnd chi-3 approximation, we have calculated four-wave-mixing (FWM) signals for a semiconductor superlattice in the presence of both static and high-frequency electric fields. When the exciton effect is negligible, the time-periodic field dynamically delocalizes the otherwise localized Wannier-Stark states, and accordingly quasienergy band structures are formed, and manifest in the FWM spectra as a series of equally separated continua. The width of each continuum is proportional to the joint width of the valence and conduction minibands and is independent of the Wannier-Stark index. The realistic homogeneous broadening blurs the continua into broad peaks, whose line shapes, far from the Lorentzian, vary with the delay time in the FWM spectra. The swinging range of the peaks is just the quasienergy bandwidth. The dynamical delocalization (DDL) also induces significant FWM signals well beyond the excitation energy window. When the Coulomb interaction is taken into account, the unequal spacing between the excitonic Wannier-Stark levels weakens the DDL effect, and the FWM spectrum is transformed into groups of discrete lines. Strikingly, the groups are evenly spaced by the ac field frequency, reflecting the characteristic of the quasienergy states. The homogeneous broadening again smears out the line structures, leading to the excitonic FWM spectra quite similar to those without the exciton effect. However, all these features predicted by the dynamical theory do not appear in a recent experiment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 301 (1997)], in which, by using the static approximation the observed Wannier-Stark ladder with delay-time-dependent spacing in the FWM spectra is attributed to a temporally periodic dipole field, produced by the Bloch oscillation of electrons in real space. The contradiction between the dynamical theory and the experiments is discussed. In addition, our calculation indicates that the dynamical localization coherently enhances the time-integrated FWM signals. The feasibility of using such a technique to study the dynamical localization phenomena is shown. [S0163-1829(99)10607-6].

Intrasubband and intersubband transitions in lightly and heavily doped GaAs/AlGa1-xAs multiple quantum wells

We use a polarizer to investigate quantum-well infrared absorption, and report experimental results as follows. The intrasubband transition was observed in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) when the incident infrared radiation (IR) is polarized parallel to the MQW plane. According to the selection rule, an intrasubband transition is forbidden. Up to now, most studies have only observed the intersubband transition between two states with opposite parity. However, our experiment shows not only the intersubband transitions, but also the intrasubband transitions. In our study, we also found that for light doping in the well (4x10(18) cm(-3)), the intrasubband transition occurs only in the lowest subband, while for the heavy doping (8x10(18) cm(-3)), such a transition occurs not only in the lowest subband, but also in the first excited one, because of the electron subband filling. Further experimental results show a linear dependence of the intrasubband transition frequency on the root of the well doping density. These data are in good agreement with our numerical results. Thus we strongly suggest that such a transition can be attributed to plasma oscillation. Conversely, when the incident IR is polarized perpendicular to the MQW plane, intersubband-transition-induced signals appear, while the intrasubband-transition-induced spectra disappear for both light and heavy well dopings. A depolarization blueshift was also taken into account to evaluate the intersubband transition spectra at different well dopings. Furthermore, we performed a deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurement to determine the subband energies at different well dopings. A good agreement between DLTS, infrared absorption, and numerical calculation was obtained. In our experiment, two important phenomena are noteworthy: (1) The polarized absorbance is one order of magnitude higher than the unpolarized spectra. This puzzling result is well explained in detail. (2) When the IR, polarized perpendicular to the well plane, normally irradiates the 45 degrees-beveled edge of the samples, we only observed intersubband transition spectra. However, the intrasubband transition signals caused by the in-plane electric-field component are significantly absent. The reason is that such in-plane electric-field components can cancel each other out everywhere during the light propagating in the samples. The spectral widths of bound-to-bound and bound-to-continuum transitions were also discussed, and quantitatively compared to the relaxation time tau, which is deduced from the electron mobility. The relaxation times deduced from spectral widths of bound-to-bound and bound-to-continuum transitions are also discussed, and quantitatively compared to the relaxation time deduced from electron mobility. [S0163-1829(98)01912-2].

Si based quantum cascade structure: from energy band structures design to materials growth

In this paper, we propose an n-type vertical transition bound-to-continuum Ge/SiGe quantum cascade structure utilizing electronic quantum wells in the L and Gamma valleys of the Ge layers. The optical transition levels are located in the quantum wells in the L valley. The Gamma-L intervalley scattering is used to depopulate the lower level and inject the electrons into the upper level. We also show that high quality Si1-yGey pseudosubstrate is obtained by thermal annealing of Si1-xGex/Ge/Si structure. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim