Er3+-doped glass-polymer composite thin films fabricated using combinatorial pulsed laser deposition

Siloxane Polymer exhibits low loss in the 800-1500 nm range which varies between 0.01 and 0.66 dB cm1. It is for such low loss the material is one of the most promising candidates in the application of engineering passive and active optical devices [1, 2]. However, current polymer fabrication techniques do not provide a methodology which allows high structurally solubility of Er3+ ions in siloxane matrix. To address this problem, Yang et al.[3] demonstrated a channel waveguide amplifier with Nd 3+-complex doped polymer, whilst Wong and co-workers[4] employed Yb3+ and Er3+ co-doped polymer hosts for increasing the gain. In some recent research we demonstrated pulsed laser deposition of Er-doped tellurite glass thin films on siloxane polymer coated silica substrates[5]. Here an alternative methodology for multilayer polymer-glass composite thin films using Er3+ - Yb3+ co-doped phosphate modified tellurite (PT) glass and siloxane polymer is proposed by adopting combinatorial pulsed laser deposition (PLD). © 2011 IEEE.

A simple combinatorial method aiding research on single-walled carbon nanotube growth on substrates

Establishing fabrication methods of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is essential to realize many applications expected for CNTs. Catalytic growth of CNTs on substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is promising for direct fabrication of CNT devices, and catalyst nanoparticles play a crucial role in such growth. We have developed a simple method called "combinatorial masked deposition (CMD)", in which catalyst particles of a given series of sizes and compositions are formed on a single substrate by annealing gradient catalyst layers formed by sputtering through a mask. CMD enables preparation of hundreds of catalysts on a wafer, growth of single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs), and evaluation of SWCNT diameter distributions by automated Raman mapping in a single day. CMD helps determinations of the CVD and catalyst windows realizing millimeter-tall SWCNT forest growth in 10 min, and of growth curves for a series of catalysts in a single measurement when combined with realtime monitoring. A catalyst library prepared using CMD yields various CNTs, ranging from individuals, networks, spikes, and to forests of both SWCNTs and multi-walled CNTs, and thus can be used to efficiently evaluate self-organized CNT field emitters, for example. The CMD method is simple yet effective for research of CNT growth methods. © 2010 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.

a backtracking search tool for constructing combinatorial test suites

Combinatorial testing is an important testing method. It requires the test cases to cover various combinations of parameters of the system under test. The test generation problem for combinatorial testing can be modeled as constructing a matrix which has certain properties. This paper first discusses two combinatorial testing criteria: covering array and orthogonal array, and then proposes a backtracking search algorithm to construct matrices satisfying them. Several search heuristics and symmetry breaking techniques are used to reduce the search time. This paper also introduces some techniques to generate large covering array instances from smaller ones. All the techniques have been implemented in a tool called EXACT (EXhaustive seArch of Combinatorial Test suites). A new optimal covering array is found by this tool.

Quantified MS analysis applied to combinatorial heterogeneous catalyst libraries

A high-throughput screening system for secondary catalyst libraries has been developed by incorporation of an 80-pass reactor and a quantified multistream mass spectrometer screening (MSMSS) technique. With a low-melting alloy as the heating medium, a uniform reaction temperature could be obtained in the multistream reactor (maximum temperature differences are less than 1 K at 673 K). Quantification of the results was realized by combination of a gas chromatogram with the MSMSS, which could provide the product selectivities of each catalyst in a heterogeneous catalyst library. Because the catalyst loading of each reaction tube is comparable to that of the conventional microreaction system and because the parallel reactions could be operated under identical conditions (homogeneous temperature, same pressure and WHSV), the reaction results of a promising catalyst selected from the library could be reasonably applied to the further scale-up of the system. The aldol condensation of acetone, with obvious differences in the product distribution over different kind of catalysts, was selected as a model reaction to validate the screening system.

Simultaneous chiral separation using a combinatorial molecular imprinting phase

Molecular imprinting chiral stationary phase against Cbz-L-Serine (Cbz-L-Ser) and Cbz-L-Alaine (Cbz-L-Ala) were prepared utilizing acrylamide + 2-vinylpyridine as combined basic functional monomers. Cross-selectivity was used to obtain simultaneous chiral separations of Cbz-DL-Ser and Cbz-DL-Ala by connecting two columns packed with Cbz-L-Ser and Cbz-L-Ala imprinted chiral stationary phase, respectively.

Free Indexation: Combinatorial Analysis and a Compositional Algorithm

In the principles-and-parameters model of language, the principle known as "free indexation'' plays an important part in determining the referential properties of elements such as anaphors and pronominals. This paper addresses two issues. (1) We investigate the combinatorics of free indexation. In particular, we show that free indexation must produce an exponential number of referentially distinct structures. (2) We introduce a compositional free indexation algorithm. We prove that the algorithm is "optimal.'' More precisely, by relating the compositional structure of the formulation to the combinatorial analysis, we show that the algorithm enumerates precisely all possible indexings, without duplicates.

Hematopoietic gene promoters subjected to a group-combinatorial study of DNA samples: identification of a megakaryocytic selective DNA signature

Identification of common sub-sequences for a group of functionally related DNA sequences can shed light on the role of such elements in cell-specific gene expression. In the megakaryocytic lineage, no one single unique transcription factor was described as linage specific, raising the possibility that a cluster of gene promoter sequences presents a unique signature. Here, the megakaryocytic gene promoter group, which consists of both human and mouse 5' non-coding regions, served as a case study. A methodology for group-combinatorial search has been implemented as a customized software platform. It extracts the longest common sequences for a group of related DNA sequences and allows for single gaps of varying length, as well as double- and multiple-gap sequences. The results point to common DNA sequences in a group of genes that is selectively expressed in megakaryocytes, and which does not appear in a large group of control, random and specific sequences. This suggests a role for a combination of these sequences in cell-specific gene expression in the megakaryocytic lineage. The data also point to an intrinsic cross-species difference in the organization of 5' non-coding sequences within the mammalian genomes. This methodology may be used for the identification of regulatory sequences in other lineages.