Optically controlled quantum dot gated transistors with high on/off ratio

We report the design and fabrication of InAs quantum dot gated transistors, which are normally-on, where the channel current can be switched off by laser illumination. Laser light at 650 nm with a power of 850 pW switches the channel current from 5 mu A to 2 pA, resulting in an on/off ratio of more than 60 dB. The switch-off mechanism and carrier dynamics are analyzed with simulated band structure.

Influence of spacer layer thickness on the current-voltage characteristics of pseudomorphic AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunnelling diodes

This paper investigates the dependence of current-voltage characteristics of AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs) on spacer layer thickness. It finds that the peak and the valley current density J in the negative differential resistance (NDR) region depends strongly on the thickness of the spacer layer. The measured peak to valley current ratio of RTDs studied here is shown to improve while the current density through RTDs decreases with increasing spacer layer thickness below a critical value.

Dependence of current-voltage characteristics of pseudomorphic AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunnelling diodes on quantum well widths

This paper studies the dependence of I - V characteristics on quantum well widths in AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As and AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs resonant tunnelling structures grown on InP substrates. It shows that the peak and the valley current density in the negative differential resistance region are closely related with quantum well width. The measured peak current density, valley current densities and peak-to-valley current ratio of resonant tunnelling diodes are continually decreasing with increasing well width.

Analysis of the temperature-induced transition to current self-oscillations in doped GaAs/AlAs superlattices

We observed the decrease of the hysteresis effect and the transition from the stable to the dynamic domain regime in doped superlattices with increasing temperature. The current-voltage characteristics and the behaviours of the domain boundary are dominated by the temperature-dependent lineshape of the electric field dependence of the drift velocity (V(F)), As the peak-valley ratio in the V(F) curve decreases with increasing temperature, the hysteresis will diminish and temporal current self-oscillations will occur. The simulated calculation, which takes the difference in V(F) curves into consideration, gives a good agreement with the experimental results.

Self-aligned current aperture in native oxidized AlInAs buried heterostructure InGaAsP/InP distributed feedback laser

A InGaAsP/InP self-aligned, native oxidized buried heterostructure (BH) distributed feedback (DFB) laser is proposed. It is as easy to process as the ridge waveguide DFB laser and has superior performance. The current aperture can be easily controlled without selective regrowth. The laser exhibits a low threshold of 5.0 mA with 36 dB side mode suppression ratio at the emission wavelength of 1.562 mu m. It emits in a single lobe with full width at half maximum angles of 33.6 degrees and 42.6 degrees for the lateral and vertical fields, respectively. Its beam is more circular than that of the as-grown BH laser because the lower refractive index of oxide compared to the as-grown layer and results in a larger lateral optical confinement. Its characteristic temperature (T-0) is 50 K at room temperature but increases in value at the higher temperature range. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)00812-3].

环境CO2浓度和群落密度对红桦(Betula albosinensis Burk.)幼苗碳氮吸收和分配的影响

当前大气CO2浓度升高是全球变化的主要趋势之一，CO2浓度升高还会引起全球变暖等其它环境问题，因而CO2浓度浓度升高对植物影响的研究已经成为全球变化领域的焦点。红桦是川西亚高山地区暗针叶林演替初期的先锋树种和演替后期的建群种，在群落演替过程中它对环境因子的响应决定红桦群落的演替进程。本文通过控制CO2浓度的气候室试验，研究了CO2浓度倍增环境下，不同密度水平红桦碳氮固定、分配可能发生的改变，并探讨了升高大气CO2浓度对群体内部竞争的影响。以期通过本研究明确川西亚高山地区代表性物种红桦对未来气候变化的响应，为今后采取措施应对气候变化、妥善进行森林管理提供理论依据和科学指导。主要研究结果如下： 1.升高CO2浓度对红桦幼苗生长的影响以及树皮、树干响应的不同 (1) CO2浓度升高显著促进红桦幼苗的生物量、株高、基茎的生长，同时也改变生物量在体内的分配格局，主要是增加根和主茎、减少叶在总生物量中的比重。(2)树皮和树干对升高CO2浓度的影响有差异，它们对CO2浓度升高的反应程度不同，但反应方向一致。 2.密度的副效应 (1) 增加种植密度对单株生物量、株高和基径的生长具有副效应，也降低升高CO2浓度对红桦生长的正效应。(2) 增加种植密度，显著增加红桦幼苗的群体生物量，从而使红桦群体固定更多的大气CO2气体。可见密度在决定红桦生物量及固碳能力方面具有重要意义。探索适合未来大气CO2浓度升高条件下植物生长的密度，对未来的森林经济生产、生态恢复具有重要意义。 3. 升高CO2浓度对红桦幼苗苗冠结构及冠层内部竞争的影响 (1) 冠幅、冠高、苗冠表面积和苗冠体积等树冠特征均受CO2浓度升高的影响而增加，但是受密度增加的影响而降低。(2) 单位苗冠投影面积叶片数(LDcpa)和单位苗冠体积叶片数(LDcv)均低于相应的现行CO2浓度处理，这主要是由于冠幅和冠高的快速生长所造成的。(3) LDcpa和LDcv的降低表明，红桦在升高CO2浓度的条件下，会作出积极的响应，从而缓解由于群体和个体生长的增加所引起的竞争压力的增加。 4. 升高CO2浓度对红桦幼苗养分元素吸收与分配的影响 (1) CO2浓度升高，植株各器官N、P含量降低，但单株N、P总吸收量均增加。红桦幼苗体内N、P浓度的下降是由于生物量迅速增加引起的稀释效应造成的。(2) CO2浓度升高，N、P向主茎和根的分配增加，向叶片的分配减少，主要是由于前者在总生物量中的比重增加，而后者减少了。(3) CO2浓度升高，氮磷利用效率(NUE和PUE)提高，氮磷累积速率(NAcR和PAcR)显著增加。而NUE和PUE的提高可以有效缓解CO2浓度升高后，亚高山和高山地区森林土壤中养分元素不足对森林生产力的限制。 5. 升高CO2浓度对红桦幼苗群体碳平衡的影响 (1) 升高CO2浓度对植物的光合作用、呼吸速率和生长均具有促进作用。(2) 土壤有机碳含量在实验前期迅速增加，后期积累速率下降。(3) 升高CO2浓度以后，土壤呼吸显著增强；土壤呼吸还具有明显的季节变化。(4) 红桦群体日固碳量受到升高CO2浓度的促进作用。结果(1)-(4)说明所研究群落的碳动态对现行的气候波动是敏感的；所研究群落在作为大气CO2气体的源-汇关系方面至少存在季节间的源汇飘移。(5)种植密度的升高显著增加了群体固碳量。 6. 升高CO2浓度对红桦幼苗生长后期叶片衰老的影响 升高CO2浓度有利于减缓红桦幼苗叶片生长季节末期的衰老。生长季节末期，随着CO2浓度的升高光合速率和可溶性蛋白含量均呈上升趋势，同时MDA（丙二醛）含量下降，保护酶SOD（超氧化物岐化酶）、CAT（过氧化氢酶）活性升高。由此说明，升高CO2浓度有利于减缓生长季节后期叶片的衰老，使叶片维持较高的光合速率，也从生理学的角度支持了本文及前人有关CO2浓度升高促进植物光合和生长的假说及结果。 The increased CO2 concentration is one of the most important problems among global changes. The increase of CO2 will also cause other environmental problems, such as global warming, etc. So the effects of elevated CO2 on plant have drawn sights of many scientists in the research field of global change. Red birch (Betula albosinensis) usually emerges as the pioneer species in initial stage and as constructive species in later stages of forest community succession of the dark coniferous forests in Western Sichuan, China. It’s response to elevated CO2 may determine the succession process of the community where it lives in. By controlling CO2 at the ambient and twice as the ambient level (ambient + 350 umol mol-1) using enclosed-top chambers (ETC), possible effects of elevated CO2 on carbon fixation and allocation under two plantation densities are investigated. The effects of elevated CO2 on competition within canopy of red birch seedlings are also observed in the present paper. We hope to make sure of the effects of elevated CO2 on the representative species, red birch. And so that, our results could provide a strong theoretical evidence and scientific direction for forest management and afforestation under a future, CO2 elevated world. The results are as fowllows: 1. The effects of elevated CO2 on growth and the different responses of wood and bark of red birch seedlings (1) Elevated CO2 increases the growth of seedling biomass, seedling height and basal diameter of red birch. It also changed the biomass allocation in red birch seedlings. The ratio of root and main stem to all biomass is increased and the ratio of leaf is decreased. (2) Tree bark and wood show different response degree but similar response direction to elevated CO2. 2. Negative effects of planting density (1) The increase of planting density showes negative effects on the individual growth of seedling biomass, seedling height and basal diameter of red birch. It also eliminates the positive effects of elevated CO2 on growth of red birch seedlings. (2) Community biomass is increased by the elevated planting density, which means that the high density red birch community could fix more CO2 than the low density one. These results show that planting density plays an important role in determining biomass and carbon fixation ability of red birch community. Thus, exploring proper planting density becomes economically important for the future, CO2 elevated word. 3. The effects of elevated CO2 on crown architecture and competition within canopy of red birch seedlings (1) Crown width, crown depth, crown surface area and crown volume are all increased under the influence of elevated CO2. (2) Leaf number per unit area of projected crown area (LDcpa) and per unit volume of crown volume (LDcv) are lower under elevated CO2. This is resulted from the stimulated growth of tree crown features. (3) The decrease of LDcpa and LDcv indicate that plants will respond forwardly to reduce the possible increase of competition resulted from stimulated growth of individual plant and collectives in conditions of elevated CO2. 4. The effects of elevated CO2 on nutrition accumulation and allocation of red birch seedlings (1) Contents of N and P decrease due to the prompt increase of biomass of plant organs caused by elevated CO2. However, their accumulations increase under elevated CO2. (2) Elevated CO2 increases the allocation of N, P to main stem but reduced its allocation to leaf for that dry weight of the former increased but the dry weight of the later decreased. (3) Using efficiencies of N, P (NUE and PUE) and their accumulation rates (NAcR and PAcR) are found to increase under elevated CO2. Soil nutrition contents are always the limiting factors for plant growth at subalpine and alpine region. The increased NUE and PUE are helpful to eliminate the nutrition limitation in this area in the future world, when CO2 concentration doubles the ambient. 5. The effects of elevated CO2 on carbon balance of red birch communities (1) Net photosynthetic rates (Pn), dark respiration rates (Rd) and growth are all stimulated by elevated CO2. (2) Content soil organic carbon increases sharply at the primary stage of experiments and then the increasing rates decrease to a low level at later stages. (3) Soil respiration rates increase significantly with the elevation of CO2 concentration. (4) The daily carbon fixations of whole community are heightened by elevated CO2. The results (1)-(4) suggest that, the community being studied are sensitive to current climate change; the studied community, as a sink of atmospheric CO2, is pool-sink alternative between seasons. (5) The carbon fixations are increased along the increase of planting densities. 6. The effects of elevated CO2 on physiological features of leaf senescences of red birch seedlings at the later stage of growing season Elevated CO2 helps to postpone the leaf senescences of red birch at the end of the growth season. CO2 enrichment increases the photosynthetic rates, contents of soluble proteins and photosynthetic pigments. And meanwhile contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) decreases and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) are both increased. These results suggest that the senescences of red birch leaves are delayed by elevated CO2, which keep the photosynthetic rates at relatively high levels. Our results lend supports to hypothesis and results on stimulated photosynthetic rates and growth from both other researchers and the present paper.

Effect of La/Ce ratio on the structure and electrochemical characteristics of La0.7-xCexMg0.3Ni2.8Co0.5 (x=0. 1-0.5) hydrogen storage alloys

The effect of La/Ce ratio on the structure and electrochemical characteristics of the La0.7-xCexMg0.3Ni2.8Co0.5 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) alloys has been studied systematically. The result of the Rietveld analyses shows that, except for small amount of impurity phases including LaNi and LaNi2, all these alloys mainly consist of two phases: the La(La, Mg)(2)Ni-9 phase with the rhombohedral PuNi3-type structure and the LaNi5 phase with the hexagonal CaCU5-type structure. The abundance of the La(La, Mg)(2)Ni-9 phase decreases with increasing cerium content whereas the LaNi5 phase increases with increasing Ce content, moreover, both the a and cell volumes of the two phases decrease with the increase of Ce content. The maximum discharge capacity decreases from 367.5 mAh g(-1) (x = 0.1) to 68.3 mAh g(-1) (x = 0.5) but the cycling life gradually improve. As the discharge current density is 1200 mA g(-1), the HRD increases from 55.4% (x = 0.1) to 67.5% (x = 0.3) and then decreases to 52.1% (x = 0.5). The cell volume reduction with increasing x is detrimental to hydrogen diffusion D and accordingly decreases the low temperature dischargeability of the La0.7-xCexMg0.3Ni2.8Co0.5 (x = 0.1-0.5) alloy electrodes.

Charge transport in a blue-emitting alternating block copolymer with a small spacer to conjugated segment length ratio

We analyze current versus voltage data obtained using single carrier injection in several metal/polymer/metal sandwich structures. The polymer used in each case is a soluble blue-emitting alternating block copolymer. Our experimental results demonstrate that the electron transport is space-charge limited by the high density of traps having an exponential energy distribution (temperature dependent characteristic energy) in the copolymer. The electron mobility of 8x10(-10) cm(2)/V s is directly determined using space-charge-limited current analytical expressions. Hole transport is also space-charge limited, with a mobility of 2x10(-6) cm(2)/V s. A hole trap with energy 0.17 eV is observed. We compare these results with those obtained for related block copolymers with different spacer and conjugated segment lengths and discuss the influence of spacer length and conjugated segment length on the charge transport properties. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)04501-1].

THEORY OF STEADY-STATE CURRENT AT MULTIPLE MICROCYLINDER ELECTRODES COUPLED WITH A PARALLEL PLANAR ELECTRODE

A novel device of multiple cylinder microelectrodes coupled with a parallel planar electrode was proposed. The feedback diffusion current at this device was studied using bilinear transformation of coordinates in the diffusion space, where lines of mass flux and equiconcentration are represented by orthogonal circular functions. The derived expression for the steady-state current shows that as the gap between cylindrical microelectrodes and planar electrode diminishes, greatly enhanced currents can be obtained with high signal-to-noise ratio. Other important geometrical parameters such as distance between adjacent microcylinders, cylinder radius, and number of microcylinders were also discussed in detail.

Correction for Eddy Current-Induced Echo-Shifting Effect in Partial-Fourier Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

In most diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies, images are acquired with either a partial-Fourier or a parallel partial-Fourier echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence, in order to shorten the echo time and increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, eddy currents induced by the diffusion-sensitizing gradients can often lead to a shift of the echo in k-space, resulting in three distinct types of artifacts in partial-Fourier DTI. Here, we present an improved DTI acquisition and reconstruction scheme, capable of generating high-quality and high-SNR DTI data without eddy current-induced artifacts. This new scheme consists of three components, respectively, addressing the three distinct types of artifacts. First, a k-space energy-anchored DTI sequence is designed to recover eddy current-induced signal loss (i.e., Type 1 artifact). Second, a multischeme partial-Fourier reconstruction is used to eliminate artificial signal elevation (i.e., Type 2 artifact) associated with the conventional partial-Fourier reconstruction. Third, a signal intensity correction is applied to remove artificial signal modulations due to eddy current-induced erroneous T2(∗) -weighting (i.e., Type 3 artifact). These systematic improvements will greatly increase the consistency and accuracy of DTI measurements, expanding the utility of DTI in translational applications where quantitative robustness is much needed.

Current-induced transition in atomic-sized contacts of metallic alloys

We have measured conductance histograms of atomic point contacts made from the noble-transition-metal alloys CuNi, AgPd, and AuPt for a concentration ratio of 1:1. For all alloys these histograms at low-bias voltage (below 300 mV) resemble those of the noble metals, whereas at high bias (above 300 mV) they resemble those of the transition metals. We interpret this effect as a change in the composition of the point contact with bias voltage. We discuss possible explanations in terms of electromigration and differential diffusion induced by current heating.

Potential improvements in the therapeutic ratio of prostate cancer irradiation: dose escalation of pathologically identified tumour nodules using intensity modulated radiotherapy.

The potential of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) to improve the therapeutic ratio in prostate cancer by dose escalation of intraprostatic tumour nodules (IPTNs) was investigated using a simultaneous integrated boost technique. The prostate and organs-at-risk were outlined on CT images from six prostate cancer patients. Positions of IPTNs were transferred onto the CT images from prostate maps derived from sequential large block sections of whole prostatectomy specimens. Inverse planned IMRT dose distributions were created to irradiate the prostate to 70 Gy and all the IPTNs to 90 Gy. A second plan was produced to escalate only the dominant IPTN (DIPTN) to 90 Gy, mimicking current imaging techniques. These plans were compared with homogeneous prostate irradiation to 70 Gy using dose–volume histograms, tumour control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for the rectum. The mean dose to IPTNs was increased from 69.8 Gy to 89.1 Gy if all the IPTNs were dose escalated (p=0.0003). This corresponded to a mean increase in TCP of 8.7–31.2% depending on the /ß ratio of prostate cancer (p

Room Temperature, Electrochemical Generation of Ozone with 50% Current Efficiency in 0.5M Sulfuric Acid at Cell Voltages <3V.

The electrochemical generation of ozone by Ni/Sb-SnO2 anodes immersed in 0.5M H2SO4 was assessed in both flow and recycle systems using the same electrochemical cell. The anodes were found to exhibit current efficiencies of up to 50% for ozone generation under flow conditions at room temperature, with an optimum mole ratio in the precursor solutions of ca. 500:8:3 Sn:Sb:Ni and optimum cell voltage of 2.7V. A comparison of the data obtained under flow and recycle conditions suggests that the presence of ozone in the anolyte inhibits its formation. The minimum electrical energy cost achieved, of 18 kWh kg1 compares favorably with estimated costs for Cold Corona Discharge generally reported in the literature, especially when the very significant advantages of electrochemical ozone generation are taken into account.

Internal limiting membrane peeling versus no peeling for idiopathic full-thickness macular hole: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE. To determine whether internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling is effective and cost effective compared with no peeling in patients with idiopathic stage 2 or 3 full-thickness maculay hole (FTMH). METHODS. This was a pragmatic multicenter randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants from nine centers were randomized to ILM peeling or no peeling (1:1 ratio) in addition to phacovitrectomy, including detachment and removal of the posterior hyaloid and gas tamponade. The primary outcome was distance visual acuity (VA) at 6 months after surgery. Secondary outcomes included hole closure, distance VA at other time points, near VA, contrast sensitivity, reading speed, reoperations, complications, resource use, and participant-reported health status, visual function, and costs. RESULTS. Of 141 participants randomized in nine centers, 127 (90%) completed the 6-month follow-up. Nonstatistically significant differences in distance visual acuity at 6 months were found between groups (mean difference, 4.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.3 to 9.8; P = 0.063). There was a significantly higher rate of hole closure in the ILM-peel group (56 [84%] vs. 31 [48%]) at 1 month (odds ratio [OR], 6.23; 95% CI, 2.64-14.73; P <0.001) with fewer reoperations (8 [12%] vs. 31 [48%]) performed by 6 months (OR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.05- 0.34; P <0.001). Peeling the ILM is likely to be cost effective. CONCLUSIONS. There was no evidence of a difference in distance VA after the ILM peeling and no-ILM peeling techniques. An important benefit in favor of no ILM peeling was ruled out. Given the higher anatomic closure and lower reoperation rates in the ILM-peel group, ILM peeling seems to be the treatment of choice for idiopathic stage 2 to 3 FTMH. © 2011 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.