Cuticular and Suberin Polymers of Edible Plants. Analysis by Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric and Solid State Spectroscopic Methods

Cutin and suberin are structural and protective polymers of plant surfaces. The epidermal cells of the aerial parts of plants are covered with an extracellular cuticular layer, which consists of polyester cutin, highly resistant cutan, cuticular waxes and polysaccharides which link the layer to the epidermal cells. A similar protective layer is formed by a polyaromatic-polyaliphatic biopolymer suberin, which is present particularly in the cell walls of the phellem layer of periderm of the underground parts of plants (e.g. roots and tubers) and the bark of trees. In addition, suberization is also a major factor in wound healing and wound periderm formation regardless of the plants’ tissue. Knowledge of the composition and functions of cuticular and suberin polymers is important for understanding the physiological properties for the plants and for nutritional quality when these plants are consumed as foods. The aims of the practical work were to assess the chemical composition of cuticular polymers of several northern berries and seeds and suberin of two varieties of potatoes. Cutin and suberin were studied as isolated polymers and further after depolymerization as soluble monomers and solid residues. Chemical and enzymatic depolymerization techniques were compared and a new chemical depolymerization method was developed. Gas chromatographic analysis with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) was used to assess the monomer compositions. Polymer investigations were conducted with solid state carbon-13 cross polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C CP-MAS NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and microscopic analysis. Furthermore, the development of suberin over one year of post-harvest storage was investigated and the cuticular layers from berries grown in the North and South of Finland were compared. The results show that the amounts of isolated cuticular layers and cutin monomers, as well as monomeric compositions vary greatly between the berries. The monomer composition of seeds was found to differ from the corresponding berry peel monomers. The berry cutin monomers were composed mostly of long-chain aliphatic ω-hydroxy acids, with various mid-chain functionalities (double-bonds, epoxy, hydroxy and keto groups). Substituted α,ω-diacids predominated over ω-hydroxy acids in potato suberin monomers and slight differences were found between the varieties. The newly-developed closed tube chemical method was found to be suitable for cutin and suberin analysis and preferred over the solvent-consuming and laborious reflux method. Enzymatic hydrolysis with cutinase was less effective than chemical methanolysis and showed specificity towards α,ω-diacid bonds. According to ₁₃C CP-MAS NMR and FTIR, the depolymerization residues contained significant amounts of aromatic structures, polysaccharides and possible cutan-type aliphatic moieties. Cultivation location seems to have effect on cuticular composition. The materials studied contained significant amounts of different types of biopolymers that could be utilized for several purposes with or without further processing. The importance of the so-called waste material from industrial processes of berries and potatoes as a source of either dietary fiber or specialty chemicals should be further investigated in detail. The evident impact of cuticular and suberin polymers, among other fiber components, on human health should be investigated in clinical trials. These by-product materials may be used as value-added fiber fractions in the food industry and as raw materials for specialty chemicals such as lubricants and emulsifiers, or as building blocks for novel polymers.

Investigation of Oxygen Cutting Process in Solid-State Welding

The oxygen cutting is a thermal cutting process, in which metal is heated locally up to its ignition temperature and burnt off by oxygen blast. Oxygen cutting can be used to remove upset metal of a hollow bar occurred due to solid-state welding process. The main goal of this research was to establish a connection between oxygen blasts and mass of metal removed and relate findings to production to suggest improvements to the current process. This master´s thesis describes the designing and building of a test rig for oxygen blowing measurements. It also contains all executed tests and test results, which were carried out. There are different cutting parameters which were studied as well as their effect on cutting process. The oxygen cutting process, used in solid-state welding process, can be improved by the test results.

Solid-state reference and ion-selective electrodes : towards portable potentiometric sensing

Potentiometric sensors are very attractive tools for chemical analysis because of their simplicity, low power consumption and low cost. They are extensively used in clinical diagnostics and in environmental monitoring. Modern applications of both fields require improvements in the conventional construction and in the performance of the potentiometric sensors, as the trends are towards portable, on-site diagnostics and autonomous sensing in remote locations. The aim of this PhD work was to improve some of the sensor properties that currently hamper the implementation of the potentiometric sensors in modern applications. The first part of the work was concentrated on the development of a solid-state reference electrode (RE) compatible with already existing solid-contact ion-selective electrodes (ISE), both of which are needed for all-solid-state potentiometric sensing systems. A poly(vinyl chloride) membrane doped with a moderately lipophilic salt, tetrabutylammonium-tetrabutylborate (TBA-TBB), was found to show a satisfactory stability of potential in sample solutions with different concentrations. Its response time was nevertheless slow, as it required several minutes to reach the equilibrium. The TBA-TBB membrane RE worked well together with solid-state ISEs in several different situations and on different substrates enabling a miniature design. Solid contacts (SC) that mediate the ion-to-electron transduction are crucial components of well-functioning potentiometric sensors. This transduction process converting the ionic conduction of an ion-selective membrane to the electronic conduction in the circuit was studied with the help of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The solid contacts studied were (i) the conducting polymer (CP) poly(3,4-ethylienedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and (ii) a carbon cloth having a high surface area. The PEDOT films were doped with a large immobile anion poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS-) or with a small mobile anion Cl-. As could be expected, the studied PEDOT solid-contact mediated the ion-toelectron transduction more efficiently than the bare glassy carbon substrate, onto which they were electropolymerized, while the impedance of the PEDOT films depended on the mobility of the doping ion and on the ions in the electrolyte. The carbon cloth was found to be an even more effective ion-to-electron transducer than the PEDOT films and it also proved to work as a combined electrical conductor and solid contact when covered with an ion-selective membrane or with a TBA-TBB-based reference membrane. The last part of the work was focused on improving the reproducibility and the potential stability of the SC-ISEs, a problem that culminates to the stability of the standard potential E°. It was proven that the E° of a SC-ISE with a conducting polymer as a solid contact could be adjusted by reducing or oxidizing the CP solid contact by applying current pulses or a potential to it, as the redox state of the CP solid-contact influences the overall potential of the ISE. The slope and thus the analytical performance of the SC-ISEs were retained despite the adjustment of the E°. The shortcircuiting of the SC-ISE with a conventional large-capacitance RE was found to be a feasible instrument-free method to control the E°. With this method, the driving force for the oxidation/reduction of the CP was the potential difference between the RE and the SC-ISE, and the position of the adjusted potential could be controlled by choosing a suitable concentration for the short-circuiting electrolyte. The piece-to-piece reproducibility of the adjusted potential was promising, and the day-today reproducibility for a specific sensor was excellent. The instrumentfree approach to control the E° is very attractive considering practical applications.

Investigation ofsolid - state cooler based on electrocaloric effect

Electrocaloric cooling based on ability of material to change temperature by applying an electric field under adiabatic conditions is relatively new and challenging direction of ferroelectrics research. In this work we report about analytical, simulation and experimental data for BaSrTiO3 thin film and bulk ceramic samples. Detailed discussion of a theoretical base of the electrocaloric effect is included. Demonstrated experimental and computational results exemplify rational approach to a problem of solid-state cooler construction.

Laser Cutting of Austenitic Stainless Steel with a High Quality Laser Beam

The thin disk and fiber lasers are new solid-state laser technologies that offer a combinationof high beam quality and a wavelength that is easily absorbed by metal surfacesand are expected to challenge the CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers in cutting of metals ofthick sections (thickness greater than 2mm). This thesis studied the potential of the disk and fiber lasers for cutting applications and the benefits of their better beam quality. The literature review covered the principles of the disk laser, high power fiber laser, CO2 laser and Nd:YAG laser as well as the principle of laser cutting. The cutting experiments were made with thedisk, fiber and CO2 lasers using nitrogen as an assist gas. The test material was austenitic stainless steel of sheet thickness 1.3mm, 2.3mm, 4.3mm and 6.2mm for the disk and fiber laser cutting experiments and sheet thickness of 1.3mm, 1.85mm, 4.4mm and 6.4mm for the CO2 laser cutting experiments. The experiments focused on the maximum cutting speeds with appropriate cut quality. Kerf width, cutedge perpendicularity and surface roughness were the cut characteristics used to analyze the cut quality. Attempts were made to draw conclusions on the influence of high beam quality on the cutting speed and cut quality. The cutting speeds were enormous for the disk and fiber laser cutting experiments with the 1.3mm and 2.3mm sheet thickness and the cut quality was good. The disk and fiber laser cutting speeds were lower at 4.3mm and 6.2mm sheet thickness but there was still a considerable percentage increase in cutting speeds compared to the CO2 laser cutting speeds at similar sheet thickness. However, the cut quality for 6.2mm thickness was not very good for the disk and fiber laser cutting experiments but could probably be improved by proper selection of cutting parameters.

Measuring irregularities and surface defects from printed patterns

Quality inspection and assurance is a veryimportant step when today's products are sold to markets. As products are produced in vast quantities, the interest to automate quality inspection tasks has increased correspondingly. Quality inspection tasks usuallyrequire the detection of deficiencies, defined as irregularities in this thesis. Objects containing regular patterns appear quite frequently on certain industries and science, e.g. half-tone raster patterns in the printing industry, crystal lattice structures in solid state physics and solder joints and components in the electronics industry. In this thesis, the problem of regular patterns and irregularities is described in analytical form and three different detection methods are proposed. All the methods are based on characteristics of Fourier transform to represent regular information compactly. Fourier transform enables the separation of regular and irregular parts of an image but the three methods presented are shown to differ in generality and computational complexity. Need to detect fine and sparse details is common in quality inspection tasks, e.g., locating smallfractures in components in the electronics industry or detecting tearing from paper samples in the printing industry. In this thesis, a general definition of such details is given by defining sufficient statistical properties in the histogram domain. The analytical definition allowsa quantitative comparison of methods designed for detail detection. Based on the definition, the utilisation of existing thresholding methodsis shown to be well motivated. Comparison of thresholding methods shows that minimum error thresholding outperforms other standard methods. The results are successfully applied to a paper printability and runnability inspection setup. Missing dots from a repeating raster pattern are detected from Heliotest strips and small surface defects from IGT picking papers.

Piikarbidipuolijohdekomponentit tehoelektroniikassa

Piikarbidi (SiC) on tunnettu korkealuokkaisena hioma-aineena ja hiekkapaperin pin-noitteena yli 100 vuoden ajan. Nykyisin ainetta käytetään pääasiassa puolijohteiden raaka-aineena. Piikarbidi on puolijohteena ylivoimainen tavanomaiseen piihin (Si) verrattuna lähes joka suhteessa johtuen sen kiderakenteesta, mutta sen valmistus on osoittautunut erittäin monimutkaiseksi johtuen pääasiassa vaikeudesta kasvattaa riittävän suuria ja laadukkaita SiC-kiteitä. Siksi tehoelektroniikan SiC-puolijohdekomponenttien laajamittaista käyttöä joudutaan yhä odottamaan. Tässä diplomityössä tehdään perusteellinen selvitys, miten piikarbidin valmistuspro-sessit eroavat normaaleista piin valmistusprosesseista, mitä etuja piikarbidin käytöllä saavutetaan ja vastaavasti mitä varjopuolia sillä on. Työssä selvitetään tällä hetkellä markkinoilla olevien SiC-tehopuolijohdekomponenttien ominaisuuksia, ketkä ovat teh-neet tutkimusta alalla, sekä esitetään arvioita SiC-tekniikan tulevaisuuden näkymistä.

NMR in Crystals and Powders of Topazes with Different Colours

The present work is a part of the large project with purpose to investigate microstructure and electronic structure of natural topazes using NMR method. To reach this task we determined the relative contents of fluorine and hydrogen in crystals blue, colorless, wine and wine irradiated topazes. Then we determined the electric field gradients in site of aluminium atoms by NMR method, calculated EFG using ab initio method, and measured relaxation time dependence on heating temperature for blue, colorless, Swiss blue and sky blue topazes. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an effective method to investigate the local structure in the crystal. The NMR study of the single crystal gives detailed information especially about the local crystal structure. As a result of this work we have received practical data, which is possible to use in future for making personal dosimetry and for preparation of mullite, which is widely used in traditional and advanced ceramic materials.

3D Stripixel Detectors Simulation

Solid-state silicon detectors have replaced conventional ones in almost all recent high-energy physics experiments. Pixel silicon sensors don't have any alternative in the area near the interaction point because of their high resolution and fast operation speed. However, present detectors hardly withstand high radiation doses. Forthcoming upgrade of the LHC in 2014 requires development of a new generation of pixel detectors which will be able to operate under ten times increased luminosity. A planar fabrication technique has some physical limitations; an improvement of the radiation hardness will reduce sensitivity of a detector. In that case a 3D pixel detector seems to be the most promising device which can overcome these difficulties. The objective of this work was to model a structure of the 3D stripixel detector and to simulate electrical characteristics of the device. Silvaco Atlas software has been used for these purposes. The structures of single and double sided dual column detectors with active edges were described using special command language. Simulations of these detectors have shown that electric field inside an active area has more uniform distribution in comparison to the planar structure. A smaller interelectrode space leads to a stronger field and also decreases the collection time. This makes the new type of detectors more radiation resistant. Other discovered advantages are the lower full depletion voltage and increased charge collection efficiency. So the 3D stripixel detectors have demonstrated improved characteristics and will be a suitable replacement for the planar ones.

Ledivalaisimet rautatiealueiden valaistuksessa

Leditekniikan kehitys viime vuosina on mahdollistanut niiden käytön yleisvalaistuksessa. Tässä työssä tehdään katsaus leditekniikan nykytilaan ja tulevaisuuteen, sekä osoitetaan, että ledivalaisimien energiankulutuksessa ja huoltokustannuksissa tehdyillä säästöillä voidaan kattaa suuremmat hankintakustannukset ja päästä yhtä suuriin tai pienempiin elinkaarikustannuksiin verrattuna perinteisiin kaasupurkausvalaisimiin. Valaisimien määrät on laskettu Dialux-valaistuslaskentaohjelmalla siten että rautatieasemien avolaitureiden ja katettujen laitureiden valaistusvaatimukset täyttyvät. Tuloksia voi soveltaa muihin vastaaviin tiloihin kuten asematunneleihin tai kevyen liikenteen väylille.

Galvanomagnetic properties of CdSb

Main aim of this work was preparation of a computer program for investigation of galvanomagnetic effects in solid state materials. These effects were investigated in magnetic field up to 6 T at temperatures 4.6 and 80.5 K. Two CdSb samples with Ni shallow impurities (concentration of impurity was 5% by mass) and one undoped CdSb single crystal were studied. Obtained results were compared with previous experimental results for these samples, and showed their identity.

Defects in Persistent Luminescence Materials

Persistent luminescence materials can store energy from solar radiation or artificial lighting and release it over a period of several hours without a continuous excitation source. These materials are widely used to improve human safety in emergency and traffic signalization. They can also be utilized in novel applications including solar cells, medical diagnostics, radiation detectors and structural damage sensors. The development of these materials is currently based on methods based on trial and error. The tailoring of new materials is also hindered by the lack of knowledge on the role of their intrinsic and extrinsic lattice defects in the appropriate mechanisms. The goal of this work was to clarify the persistent luminescence mechanisms by combining ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations with selected experimental methods. The DFT approach enables a full control of both the nature of the defects and their locations in the host lattice. The materials studied in the present work, the distrontium magnesium disilicate (Sr₂MgSi₂O₇) and strontium aluminate (SrAl₂O₄) are among the most efficient persistent luminescence hosts when doped with divalent europium Eu²⁺ and co-doped with trivalent rare earth ions R³⁺ (R: Y, La-Nd, Sm, Gd-Lu). The polycrystalline materials were prepared with the solid state method and their structural and phase purity was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction. Their local crystal structure was studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The crystal and electronic structure of the nondoped as well as Eu²⁺, R^2+/3+ and other defect containing materials were studied using DFT calculations. The experimental trap depths were obtained using thermoluminescence (TL) spectroscopy. The emission and excitation of Sr₂MgSi₂O₇:Eu²+,Dy³⁺ were also studied. Significant modifications in the local crystal structure due to the Eu²⁺ ion and lattice defects were found by the experimental and DFT methods. The charge compensation effects induced by the R³⁺ co-doping further increased the number of defects and distortions in the host lattice. As for the electronic structure of Sr₂MgSi₂O₇ and SrAl₂O₄, the experimental band gap energy of the host materials was well reproduced by the calculations. The DFT calculated Eu²⁺ and R^2+/3+ 4fn as well as 4f^n-15d¹ ground states in the Sr₂MgSi₂O₇ band structure provide an independent verification for an empirical model which is constructed using rather sparse experimental data for the R³⁺ and especially the R²⁺ ions. The intrinsic and defect induced electron traps were found to act together as energy storage sites contributing to the materials’ efficient persistent luminescence. The calculated trap energy range agreed with the trap structure of Sr₂MgSi₂O₇ obtained using TL measurements. More experimental studies should be carried out for SrAl₂O₄ to compare with the DFT calculations. The calculated and experimental results show that the electron traps created by both the rare earth ions and vacancies are modified due to the defect aggregation and charge compensation effects. The relationships between this modification and the energy storage properties of the solid state materials are discussed.

Ion selective electrodes for determination of low and ultra low concentrations of lead (II) in natural waters

Att övervaka förekomsten av giftiga komponenter i naturliga vattendrag är nödvändigt för människans välmående. Eftersom halten av föroreningar i naturens ekosystem bör hållas möjligast låg, pågår en ständig jakt efter kemiska analysmetoder med allt lägre detektionsgränser. I dagens läge görs miljöanalyser med dyr och sofistikerad instrumentering som kräver mycket underhåll. Jonselektiva elektroder har flera goda egenskaper som t.ex. bärbarhet, låg energiförbrukning, och dessutom är de relativt kostnadseffektiva. Att använda jonselektiva elektroder vid miljöanalyser är möjligt om deras känslighetsområde kan utvidgas genom att sänka deras detektionsgränser. För att sänka detektionsgränsen för Pb(II)-selektiva elektroder undersöktes olika typer av jonselektiva membran som baserades på polyakrylat-kopolymerer, PVC och PbS/Ag2S. Fast-fas elektroder med membran av PbS/Ag2S är i allmänhet enklare och mer robusta än konventionella elektroder vid spårämnesanalys av joniska föroreningar. Fast-fas elektrodernas detektionsgräns sänktes i detta arbete med en nyutvecklad galvanostatisk polariseringsmetod och de kunde sedan framgångsrikt användas för kvantitativa bestämningar av bly(II)-halter i miljöprov som hade samlats in i den finska skärgården nära tidigare industriområden. Analysresultaten som erhölls med jonselektiva elektroder bekräftades med andra analytiska metoder. Att sänka detektionsgränsen m.hj.a. den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden möjliggör bestämning av låga och ultra-låga blyhalter som inte kunde nås med klassisk potentiometri. Den verkliga fördelen med att använda dessa blyselektiva elektroder är möjligheten att utföra mätningar i obehandlade miljöprov trots närvaron av fasta partiklar vilket inte är möjligt att göra med andra analysmetoder. Jag väntar mig att den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden kommer att sätta en trend i spårämnesanalys med jonselektiva elektroder.

Acidic dissolution of iron oxides and regeneration of a ceramic filter medium

The dewatering of iron ore concentrates requires large capacity in addition to producing a cake with low moisture content. Such large processes are commonly energy intensive and means to lower the specific energy consumption are needed. Ceramic capillary action disc filters incorporate a novel filter medium enabling the harnessing of capillary action, which results in decreased energy consumption in comparison to traditional filtration technologies. As another benefit, the filter medium is mechanically and chemically more durable than, for example, filter cloths and can, thus, withstand harsh operating conditions and possible regeneration better than other types of filter media. In iron ore dewatering, the regeneration of the filter medium is done through a combination of several techniques: (1) backwashing, (2) ultrasonic cleaning, and (3) acid regeneration. Although it is commonly acknowledged that the filter medium is affected by slurry particles and extraneous compounds, published research, especially in the field of dewatering of mineral concentrates, is scarce. Whereas the regenerative effect of backwashing and ultrasound are more or less mechanical, regeneration with acids is based on chemistry. The chemistry behind the acid regeneration is, naturally, dissolution. The dissolution of iron oxide particles has been extensively studied over several decades but those studies may not necessarily be directly applicable in the regeneration of the filter medium which has undergone interactions with the slurry components. The aim of this thesis was to investigate if free particle dissolution indeed correlates with the regeneration of the filter medium. For this purpose, both free particle dissolution and dissolution of surface adhered particles were studied. The focus was on acidic dissolution of iron oxide particles and on the study of the ceramic filter medium used in the dewatering of iron ore concentrates. The free particle dissolution experiments show that the solubility of synthetic fine grained iron oxide particles in oxalic acid could be explained through linear models accounting for the effects of temperature and acid concentration, whereas the dissolution of a natural magnetite is not so easily explained by such models. In addition, the kinetic experiments performed both support and contradict the work of previous authors: the suitable kinetic model here supports previous research suggesting solid state reduction to be the reaction mechanism of hematite dissolution but the formation of a stable iron oxalate is not supported by the results of this research. Several other dissolution mechanisms have also been suggested for iron oxide dissolution in oxalic acid, indicating that the details of oxalate promoted reductive dissolution are not yet agreed and, in this respect, this research offers added value to the community. The results of the regeneration experiments with the ceramic filter media show that oxalic acid is highly effective in removing iron oxide particles from the surface of the filter medium. The dissolution of those particles did not, however, exhibit the expected behaviour, i.e. complete dissolution. The results of this thesis show that although the regeneration of the ceramic filter medium with acids incorporates the dissolution of slurry particles from the surface of the filter medium, the regeneration cannot be assessed purely based upon free particle dissolution. A steady state, dependent on temperature and on the acid concentration, was observed in the dissolution of particles from the surface even though the limit of solubility of free iron oxide particles had not been reached. Both the regeneration capacity and efficiency, with regards to the removal of iron oxide particles, was found to be temperature dependent, but was not affected by the acid concentration. This observation further suggests that the removal of the surface adhered particles does not follow the dissolution of free particles, which do exhibit a dependency on the acid concentration. In addition, changes in the permeability and in the pore structure of the filter medium were still observed after the bulk concentration of dissolved iron had reached a steady state. Consequently, the regeneration of the filter medium continued after the dissolution of particles from the surface had ceased. This observation suggests that internal changes take place at the final stages of regeneration. The regeneration process could, in theory, be divided into two, possibly overlapping, stages: (1) dissolution of surface-adhered particles, and (2) dissolution of extraneous compounds from within the pore structure. In addition to the fundamental knowledge generated during this thesis, tools to assess the effects of parameters on the regeneration of the ceramic filter medium are needed. It has become clear that the same tools used to estimate the dissolution of free particles cannot be used to estimate the regeneration of a filter medium unless only a robust characterisation of the order of regeneration efficiency is needed.

Resonant tunneling effects in semiconductor heterostructures

The thesis is devoted to a theoretical study of resonant tunneling phenomena in semiconductor heterostructures and nanostructures. It considers several problems relevant to modern solid state physics. Namely these are tunneling between 2D electron layers with spin-orbit interaction, tunnel injection into molecular solid material, resonant tunnel coupling of a bound state with continuum and resonant indirect exchange interaction mediated by a remote conducting channel. A manifestation of spin-orbit interaction in the tunneling between two 2D electron layers is considered. General expression is obtained for the tunneling current with account of Rashba and Dresselhaus types of spin-orbit interaction and elastic scattering. It is demonstrated that the tunneling conductance is very sensitive to relation between Rashba and Dresselhaus contributions and opens possibility to determine the spin-orbit interaction parameters and electron quantum lifetime in direct tunneling experiments with no external magnetic field applied. A microscopic mechanism of hole injection from metallic electrode into organic molecular solid (OMS) in high electric field is proposed for the case when the molecules ionization energy exceeds work function of the metal. It is shown that the main contribution to the injection current comes from direct isoenergetic transitions from localized states in OMS to empty states in the metal. Strong dependence of the injection current on applied voltage originates from variation of the number of empty states available in the metal rather than from distortion of the interface barrier. A theory of tunnel coupling between an impurity bound state and the 2D delocalized states in the quantum well (QW) is developed. The problem is formulated in terms of Anderson-Fano model as configuration interaction between the carrier bound state at the impurity and the continuum of delocalized states in the QW. An effect of this interaction on the interband optical transitions in the QW is analyzed. The results are discussed regarding the series of experiments on the GaAs structures with a -Mn layer. A new mechanism of ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductor heterosructures is considered, namely the resonant enhancement of indirect exchange interaction between paramagnetic centers via a spatially separated conducting channel. The underlying physical model is similar to the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction; however, an important difference relevant to the low-dimensional structures is a resonant hybridization of a bound state at the paramagnetic ion with the continuum of delocalized states in the conducting channel. An approach is developed, which unlike RKKY is not based on the perturbation theory and demonstrates that the resonant hybridization leads to a strong enhancement of the indirect exchange. This finding is discussed in the context of the known experimental data supporting the phenomenon.