Optimizing effective phase modulation in coupled double quantum well Mach–Zehnder modulators

We report optimal phase modulation based on enhanced electro–optic effects in a Mach–Zehnder（MZ） modulator constructed by AlGaAs/GaAs coupled double quantum well（CDQW） waveguides with optical gain. The net change of refractive indexes between two arms of the CDQW MZ modulator is derived by both the electronic polarization method and the normal-surface method. The numerical results show that very large refractive index change over 10^（-1） can be obtained, making the phase modulation in the CDQW MZ modulator very highly efficient. It is desirable and important that a very small voltage-length product for π phase shift, V_π× L_0= 0.0226 V · mm, is obtained by optimizing bias electric field and CDQW structural parameters, which is about seven times smaller than that in single quantum-well MZ modulators.These properties open an avenue for CDQW nanostructures in device applications such as electro–optical switches and phase modulators.

Phase Effect on Mode Coupling in Kelvin—Helmholtz Instability for Two-Dimensional Incompressible Fluid

This paper studies the phase effect in mode coupling of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in two-dimensionalincompressible fluid.It is found that there is an important growth phenomenon of every mode in the mode couplingprocess.The growth changes periodically with phase difference and in the condition of our simulation the period is about0.7π.The period characteristic is apparent in all stage of the mode coupling process,especially in the relatively laterstage.

Optical simulation of in-plane-switching blue phase liquid crystal display using the finite-difference time-domain method

The finite-difference time-domain method is used to simulate the optical characteristics of an in-plane switching blue phase liquid crystal display.Compared with the matrix optic methods and the refractive method,the finite-difference timedomain method,which is used to directly solve Maxwell＇s equations,can consider the lateral variation of the refractive index and obtain an accurate convergence effect.The simulation results show that e-rays and o-rays bend in different directions when the in-plane switching blue phase liquid crystal display is driven by the operating voltage.The finitedifference time-domain method should be used when the distribution of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal display has a large lateral change.

EFFECT OF DISPERSED PHASE PARTICLES ON ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION OF PEO-NaSCN

Fast ionic conductors are one kind of solid state material with ionic conductivity as high as that of melten salts or liquid electrolytes.Ionic conductivity is one of the important parameters for characterizing a fast ionic conductor.For a long time materialists and chemists have made great efforts in search of new fast ionic conductors with high ionic conductivity.In view of structure,they have synthesised silver and copper fast ionic conductors with so called open structures.But it is not so successful for searching more applicable alkaline fast ionic conductors.Since polymer has flexibility for making thin film,it concentrates attention on the polymer-alkaline salt complex.Fenton et al.have first reported poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-alkaline salt complex.Later on Armard et al.have investigated the electrical property of PEO-NaSCN.

Effect of Phase Modulation on Electromagnetically Induced Grating in a Five-Level M-Type Atomic System

We theoretically investigate the phenomena of electromagnetically induced grating in an M-type five-level atomic system. It is found that a weak field can be effectively diffracted into high-order directions using a standing wave coupling field, and different depths of the phase modulation can disperse the diffraction light into different orders. When the phase modulation depth is approximated to the orders of π, 2π and 3π, the first-, second- and third-order diffraction intensity reach the maximum, respectively. Thus we can take advantage of the phase modulation to control the probe light dispersing into the required high orders.

Site 0ccupancy of Alloying Elements and Their Effects on the D0_3 Phase Stability in Fe_3Al

The effects of ternary solutes Ti, Co, V, Cr, Ta, W and Mo on the D03 phase 5tability of Fe3Alintermetallics are investigated by tight-binding linear Muffin-tin orbitaI method. The predictedsite preference5 of these elements in Fe3AI are in agreement with the experimental observations.The calculated Iocal magnetic moment of Fe3AI is identical to the experimentaI. ln addition, itis found that the D03 phase stability of Fe3AI doped with Ti, V, Co and Cr depends on 'energygap- of energy band near Fermi level. while the D03 phase stability of Fe3AI doped with Ta, Wand Mo may be affected by Madelung energy.

Asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating in nematic liquid crystal

A new scheme for recording a dynamic phase grating with an asymmetric profile in C60-doped homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal（NLC） was presented.An oblique incidence beam was used to record the thin asymmetric dynamic phase holographic grating.The diffraction efficiency we achieved is more than 40%,exceeding the theoretical limit for symmetric profile gratings.Both facts can be explained by assuming that a grating with an asymmetric saw-tooth profile is formed in the NLC.Finally,physical mechanism and mathematical model for characterizing the asymmetric phase holographic grating were presented,based on the photo-refractive-like（PR-like） effect.

Review on second-harmonic generation of ultrasonic guided waves in solid media(Ⅰ): Theoretical analyses

Considering the high sensitivity of the nonlinear ultrasonic measurement technique and great advantages of the guided wave testing method, the use of nonlinear ultrasonic guided waves provides a promising means for evaluating and characterizing the hidden and/or inaccessible damage/degradation in solid media. Increasing attention on the development of the testing method based on nonlinear ultrasonic guided waves is largely attributed to the theoretical advances of nonlinear guided waves propagation in solid media. One of the typical acoustic nonlinear responses is the generation of second harmonics that can be used to effectively evaluate damage/degradation in materials/structures. In this paper, the theoretical progress of second-harmonic generation（SHG） of ultrasonic guided wave propagation in solid media is reviewed. The advances and developments of theoretical investigations on the effect of SHG of ultrasonic guided wave propagation in different structures are addressed. Some obscure understandings and the ideas in dispute are also discussed.

Orbital magnetization in semiconductors

This paper theoretically investigates the orbital magnetization of electron-doped （n-type） semiconductor het-erostructures and of hole-doped （p-type） bulk semiconductors, which are respectively described by a two-dimensional electron/hole Hamiltonian with both the included Rashba spin-orbit coupling and Zeeman splitting terms. It is the Zeeman splitting, rather than the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, that destroys the time-reversal symmetry of the semiconductor systems and results in nontrivial orbital magnetization. The results show that the magnitude of the orbital magnetization per hole and the Hall conductance in the p-type bulk semiconductors are about 10^-2-10^-1 effective Bohr magneton and 10^-1-1 e^2/h, respectively. However, the orbital magnetization per electron and the Hall conductance in the n-type semiconductor heterostructures are too small to be easily observed in experiment.

Cooling rate effects on the structure and transformation behavior of Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys

Different fragments of a hot-rolled and homogenized Cu–Zn–Al shape memory alloy（SMA） were subjected to thermal cycling by means of a differential scanning calorimetric（DSC） device. During thermal cycling, heating was performed at the same constant rate of increasing temperature while cooling was carried out at different rates of decreasing temperature. For each cooling rate, the temperature decreased in the same thermal interval. During each cooling stage, an exothermic peak（maximum） was observed on the DSC thermogram. This peak was associated with forward martensitic transformation. The DSC thermograms were analyzed with PROTEUS software： the critical martensitic transformation start（Ms） and finish（Mf） temperatures were determined by means of integral and tangent methods, and the dissipated heat was evaluated by the area between the corresponding maximum plot and a sigmoid baseline. The effects of the increase in cooling rate, assessed from a calorimetric viewpoint, consisted in the augmentation of the exothermic peak and the delay of direct martensitic transformation. The latter had the tendency to move to lower critical transformation temperatures. The martensite plates changed in morphology by becoming more oriented and by an augmenting in surface relief, which corresponded with the increase in cooling rate as observed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）.

EFFECT OF HEAT TREATMENTS ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND TRANSFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF TiNiPd SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY THIN FILMS

Microstructure and phase transformation behaviors of the film annealed at different temperatures were studied by X-ray diffractometry （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimeter （DSC）. Also tensile tests were examined. For increasing annealed temperature, multiple phase transformations, transformations via a B19-phase or direct martensite/austenite transformtion are observed. The TiNiPd thin film annealed at 750℃ had relatively uniform martensite/austenite transformtion and shape memory effect. Martensite/austenite transformtion was also found in strain-temperature curves. Subsequent annealing at 450℃ had minor effect on transformation temperatures of Ti-Ni-Pd thin films but resulted in more uniform transformation and improved shape memory effect.

Observation of giant magnetocaloric effect under low magnetic fields in EuTi_(1-x)Co_xO_3

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect（MCE） in EuTi1-xCoxO3（x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1） compounds have been investigated. When the Ti^4＋ ions were substituted by Co2＋ions, the delicate balance was changed between antiferromagnetic（AFM） and ferromagnetic（FM） phases in the EuTiO3 compound. In EuTi1-xCoxO3 system, a giant reversible MCE and large refrigerant capacity（RC） were observed without hysteresis. The values of -△SM^max were evaluated to be around 10 J·kg^-1·K^-1 for EuTi0.95Co0.05O3 under a magnetic field change of 10 kOe. The giant reversible MCE and large RC suggests that EuTi1-xCoxO3 series could be considered as good candidate materials for low-temperature and low-field magnetic refrigerant.

Formation Technologies of Fiber Bragg Gratings

The principle of fiber Bragg gratings(FBG) is briefly described. The formation technologies of FBG are systematically given and analyzed. In addition, the experiment is described in detail, e.g.,the phase mask method is used to write directly the period Bragg gratings into the Ge-doped single mode fiber with KrF excimer UV laser. The results of experiment are also presented and analyzed.

Kerr effect and Kerr constant enhancement in vertically aligned deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystals

In this article,we review recently achieved Kerr effect progress in novel liquid crystal（LC） material：vertically aligned deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystal（VADHFLC）.With an increasing applied electric field,the induced inplane birefringence of LCs shows quadratic nonlinearity.The theoretical calculations and experimental details are illustrated.With an enhanced Kerr constant to 130 nm/V2,this VADHFLC cell can achieve a 2π modulation by a small efficient electric field with a fast response around 100 μs and thus can be employed in both display and photonics devices.

Effect of Electric Current on Diffusion of Aluminum in Ti3AlC2 into Zirconium Alloy

The spark plasma sintering（SPS） method was used to study the mechanism of reaction interface between Zr and Ti3AlC2 with electric current going through it. It was found that electric current greatly reduced the bonding temperature of Zr and Ti3AlC2. By the micro-structure analysis of the interface through SEM/EDS, it was found that Al atoms diffused from the Ti3AlC2 substrate into the Zr side and reacted with Zr to form the Zr-Al compounds at the interface, which is the strengthening mechanism of Ti3AlC2-Zr bonding. The thickness of reaction layers（Zr-Al alloy） was from 0.879 to 13.945 mm depending on different sintering condition. Current direction, heating rate, soaking time, pulse patterns all influenced the diffusion of Al atoms which affected the joining quality of Zr and Ti3AlC2.

Probing crystalline phase effect of rare earth metal oxides(REO)on Cu/REO(RE=Gd,Eu,Sm)catalysts for methanol steam reforming(MSR)to produce H_(2)

In this work,to study the phase structure effect,three groups of Cu/REO catalysts were prepared with cubic and monoclinic Gd_(2)O_(3),Eu_(2)O_(3)and Sm_(2)O_(3) supports for MSR reaction to produce H_(2).Based on CH3OH conversion and H_(2)yield,the reaction perfo rmance of the catalysts ranks as Cu/Sm_(2)O_(3)-M>Cu/Sm_(2)O_(3)-C>Cu/Gd_(2)O_(3)-M>Cu/Gd_(2)O_(3)-C>Cu/Eu_(2)O_(3)-M>Cu/Eu_(2)O_(3)-C.For the same kind of REO,Cu supported on the monoclinic support shows better performance than on the cubic one.Despite the phase structure difference,Sm_(2)O_(3) is the best support among all the three kinds of REOs.Compared with Cu/REO catalysts prepared with cubic supports,the corresponding catalysts prepared with monoclinic supports generally possess mo re surface oxygen vacancies,which can generate mo re surface active oxygen(O_(2)^(-)) and moderate basic sites.Moreover,the contents of Cu^(+) on the catalysts follow the same sequence.The reaction performance is positively related to the amount of these three types of surface sites.But metallic Cuo species is necessary to maintain the Cu^(+)■Cu^(0) redox cycle.Furthe rmore,on a catalyst with good perfo rmance,those vital surface reaction intermediates can be stabilized during the reaction.Cu/Sm_(2)O_(3)-M possesses the largest quantities of these surface sites,and has the appropriate amount of Cu^(+) and Cu^(0) after reduction,thereby displaying the optimal performance in all the catalysts.In conclusion,evident support crystal structure effect is observed for Cu/REO catalysts,and a monoclinic phase REO is a better support than the respective cubic phase one.

Design and construction of size-controlled CoO/CS catalysts for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis

The use of supported Co-based catalysts is widespread in various catalytic reactions due to their unique structures.The structural sensitivity of these catalysts is closely linked to their particle size and crystal form.Consequently,comprehending the structure–activity relationship requires the development of well-defined Co-based catalysts.Herein,we employed a colloidal wet chemical process and a heterogeneous nucleation method to prepare well-defined Co-based catalysts supported by inert carbon nanospheres.The nanospheres’surface possesses abundant functional groups that efficiently capture metal complexes and facilitate the nucleation and growth of CoO nanoparticles.By adjusting the Co source concentration,solvent molar ratio,and nucleation growth kinetics,we successfully prepared CoO/carbon sphere(CS)catalysts with different particle sizes and crystal forms.The influence of metallic face-centered cubic(fcc)-Co^(0) particle size in the range of 6.6–17.6 nm on the performance of Fischer–Tropsch synthesis(FTS)using well-defined CoO/CS catalysts has been investigated.The result demonstrated that the turnover frequency(TOF)remained constant for CoO/CS catalysts with metallic fcc-Co^(0) particle size larger than 7.7 nm.However,both the selectivity and the activity changed for CoO/CS catalysts with smaller particles(<7.7 nm).Significantly,when metallic fcc-Co^(0) particle size was reduced from 17.6 to 7.7 nm,the cobalt time yield increased to 6.7μmolCO·gCo^(-1)·s^(-1),indicating improved catalytic activity.At the same time,the CH_(4) selectivity decreased to 4.9%,suggesting a higher preference for hydrocarbon production.These findings demonstrate the importance of particle size in Co catalyzed Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.The use of well-defined CoO/CS catalysts offers valuable insights into the structure–activity relationship,leading to a better understanding of Co catalyzed Fischer–Tropsch synthesis.

Dynamic Bonds Mediate π-π Interaction via Phase Locking Effect for Enhanced Heat Resistant Thermoplastic Polyurethane

Stimulus-responsive polymers containing dynamic bonds enable fascinating properties of self-healing,recycling and reprocessing due to enhanced relaxation of polymer chain/network with labile linkages.Here,we study the structure and properties of a new type of thermoplastic polyurethanes(TPUs)with trapped dynamic covalent bonds in the hard-phase domain and report the frustrated relaxation of TPUs containing weak dynamic bond andπ-πinteraction in hard segments.As detected by rheometry,the aromatic TPUs with alkyl disulfide in the hard segments possess the maximum network relaxation time in contrast to those without dynamic bonds and alicyclic TPUs.In situ FTIR and small-angle scattering results reveal that the alkyl disulfide facilitates stronger intermolecular interaction and more stable micro-phase morphology inπ-πinteraction based aromatic TPUs.Molecular dynamics simulation for pure hard segments of model molecules verify that the presence of disulfide bonds leads to strongerπ-πstacking of aromatic rings due to both enhanced assembling thermodynamics and kinetics.The enhancedπ-πpacking and micro-phase structure in TPUs further kinetically immobilize the dynamic bond.This kinetically interlocking between the weak dynamic bonds and strong molecular interaction in hard segments leads to much slower network relaxation of TPU.This work provides a new insight in tuning the network relaxation and heat resistance as well as molecular self-assembly in stimulus-responsive dynamic polymers by both molecular design and micro-phase control toward the functional applications of advanced materials.

Tuning of the active phase structure and hydrofining performance of alumina-supported tri-metallic WMoNi catalysts via phosphorus incorporation

The effects of phosphorus on the structure and hydrofining performance of tri-metallic WMoNi/Al2O3 catalysts prepared with W/Mo-based hybrid precursor nanocrystals were investigated. The incorporation of phosphorus weakened the metal-support interactions （MSIs） and facilitated the formation of more synergetic NiWMoS phases with higher stacks. Catalytic tests using a fluid catalytic cracking diesel fuel showed that the changes in the MSIs and the morphology of the active phases had a more positive effect on the hydrodenitrogenation activity than on the hydrodesulfurization activity. In contrast, when phosphorus was incorporated into a tri-metallic WMoNiP/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by a conventional incipient impregnation method, the MSIs decreased causing aggregation of the metal species which resulted in poorer hydrofining performance of the catalyst. These results show that incorporating phosphorus into a WMoNi/Al2O3 catalyst can finely tune the structure of the active phase to enhance the hydrogenation and hydrodenitrogenation activity of the resulting tri-metallic catalyst.

Phase behavior of undecane–tetradecane mixtures confned in SBA-15

Phase behavior of undecane-tetradecane （n-C11H24-C14H3o, C11-C14） mixtures in bulk and confined in SBA-15 have been studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The bulk C11-C14 system shows multiple phase regions due to rotator phase. Confined in the pores of SBA-15 （pore diameters 3.8- 7.8 rim）, the mixtures only show a melting boundary of a straight line and a curve, respectively. In SBA- 15 （ 17.2 nm）, phase behavior of the mixtures has some similarity to that of the bulk. Under confinement, the phase diagrams of the mixtures vary with the pore size, temperature, and compositions.