Electrochemical, spectroscopic and SPM evidence for the controlled formation of self-assembled monolayers and organised multilayers of ferrocenyl alkyl thiols on Au(111)

Organised multilayers were formed from the controlled self-assembly of ferrocene alkyl thiols on Au(111) surfaces. The control was accomplished by increasing the concentration of the thiol solutions used for the assembly. Cyclic voltammetry, ellipsometry, scanning probe microscopy (STM and AFM) and in situ FTIR spectroscopy were used to probe the differences between mono- and multilayers of the same compounds. Electrochemical desorption studies confirmed that the multilayer structure is attached to the surface via one monolayer. The electrochemical behaviour of the multilayers indicated the presence of more than one controlling factor during the oxidation step, whereas the reduction was kinetically controlled which contrasts with the behaviour of monolayers, which exhibit kinetic control for the oxidation and reduction steps. Conventional and imaging ellipsometry confirmed that multilayers with well-defined increments in thickness could be produced. However, STM indicated that at the monolayer stage, the thiols used promote the mobility of Au atoms on the surface. It is very likely that the multilayer structure is held together through hydrogen bonding. To the best of out knowledge, this is the first example of a controlled one-step growth of multilayers of ferrocenyl alkyl thiols using self-assembly techniques.

Low-threshold diode-pumped Yb3+, Na+: CaF2 self-Q-switched laser

For the first time to our knowledge, the laser performance of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 single crystals was demonstrated. Self-Q-switched laser operation at 1050nm was observed for 976 nm diode pumping at room temperature. On 5 W of incident power, the repetition rate and width of the self-Q-switched pulses reached 28 kHz and 1.5 mu s, respectively. A maximal slope efficiency of 20.3% and minimal threshold absorbed pump power of 30 mW were respectively achieved with different output couplers, showing the promising application of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 crystals as compact and efficient solid-state lasers. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Generation of 210 fs laser pulses at 1093 nm by a self-starting mode-locked Yb:GYSO laser

We report the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of the femtosecond laser operation by using a new alloyed Yb:GYSO crystal as the gain medium. With a 5 at. % Yb3+-doped sample and chirped mirrors for dispersion compensation, we obtained pulses as short as 210 fs at the center wavelength of 1093 nm. The average mode-locking power is 300 mW, and the pulse repetition frequency is 80 MHz. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Self-consistent analysis of AlSb/InAs high electron mobility transistor structures

The influences of channel layer width, spacer layer width, and delta-doping density on the electron density and its distribution in the AlSb/InAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been studied based on the self-consistent calculation of the Schrodinger and Poisson equations with both the strain and nonparabolicity effects being taken into account. The results show that, having little influence on the total two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration in the channel, the HEMT's channel layer width has some influence on the electron mobility, with a channel as narrow as 100-130 angstrom being more beneficial. For the AlSb/InAs HEMT with a Te delta-doped layer, the 2DEG concentration as high as 9.1 X 10(12) cm(-2) can be achieved in the channel by enhancing the delta-doping concentration without the occurrence of the parallel conduction. When utilizing a Si delta-doped InAs layer as the electron-supplying layer of the AlSb/InAs HEMT, the effect of the InAs donor layer thickness is studied on the 2DEG concentration. To obtain a higher 2DEG concentration in the channel, it is necessary to use an InAs donor layer as thin as 4 monolayer. To test the validity of our calculation, we have compared our theoretical results (2DEG concentration and its distribution in different sub-bands of the channel) with the experimental ones done by other groups and show that our theoretical calculation is consistent with the experimental results.

PolydA and polyrA self-structured by a europium and amino acid complex

Different DNA selectivity was found for the newly synthesized europium-L-valine complex. Unexpected DNA and RNA selection results showed that europium-L-valine complex can cause single-stranded polydA and polyrA to self-structure. The sigmoidal melting curve profiles indicate the transition is cooperative, similar to the cooperative melting of a duplex DNA. This is different from another europium amino acid complex, europium-L-aspartic acid complex which can induce B-Z transition under the low salt condition. To our knowledge, there is no report to show that a metal-amino acid complex can cause the self-structuring of single-stranded DNA and RNA.