Electro-optical properties of high birefringence liquid crystal compounds with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group

Liquid crystal（LC） compound with isothiocyanate and naphthyl group is an attractive high birefringence LC material,and can be used in optical devices. In this paper, the electro-optical properties of a series of this type of LC compounds were investigated. The melting points and enthalpy values of these LC compounds were higher than those of corresponding compounds with the phenyl group. These compounds exhibited high birefringence with a maximum value of 0.66. Fluorine substitution in the molecular almost does not affect the birefringence value. When these LC compounds with the naphthyl group were dissolved in a commercial LC mixture, the electro-optical properties depending on temperature were investigated. In the low-temperature region, LC mixtures with the naphthyl-group LC compounds exhibited higher viscosity than pure commercial LCs. In the high-temperature region, viscosity values very closely approached each other. When response performance was investigated, figure-of-merit（FoM） values were measured. The Fo M values of LC mixtures containing LC compounds with naphthyl group were lower than those of reference benzene LCs in the low-temperature region. However, in the high-temperature region, the results were reversed. These isothiocyanate LC compounds with naphthyl group can be applied in special fast-response LC device, particularly the ones used under high-temperature conditions.

B-C Bond in Diamond Single Crystal Synthesized with h-BN Additive at High Pressure and High Temperature

The synthesis of diamond single crystal in the Fe64Ni36-C system with h-BN additive is investigated at pressure 6.5 GPa and temperature range of 1300-1400℃. The color of the obtained diamond crystals translates from yellow to dark green with increasing the h-BN addition. Fourier-transform infrared （FTIR） results indicate that sp2 hybridization B-N-B and B-N structures generate when the additive content reaches a certain value in the system. The two peaks are located at 745 and 1425cm-1, respectively. Fhrthermore, the FTIR characteristic peak resulting from nitrogen pairs is noticed and it tends to vanish when the h-BN addition reaches 1.1 wt%. Furthermore, Raman peak of the synthesized diamond shifts down to a lower wavenumber with increasing the h-BN ~ddition content in the synthesis system.

Polarisation-sensitive four-wave mixing and soliton self-frequency shift effect in the highly birefringent photonic crystal fibre

By adjusting the polarisation state of the pump at 805 nm parallel to slow （x） and fast （y） axes of the highly birefringent photonic crystal fibre with zero dispersion wavelengths 790 nm and 750 nm, this paper demonstrates the efficient polarisation-sensitive four wave mixing involved in pump, anti-Stokes and Stokes signals and soliton self- frequency shift effects induced by the phase-matching between red-shifted solitons and blue-shifted dispersive waves. If the reduction of coupling efficiency to the circular pump laser mode or other circular fibres due to asymmetry of the core is neglected, more than 98% of the total input power is kept in a single linear polarisation. Controlled dispersion characteristic of the doublet of fundamental guided-modes results in achieving light field strongly confined in principal axes of photonic crystal fibre, and enhancing the corresponding nonlinear-optical process through the remarkable nonlinear birefringence.

Theoretical design of diamondlike superhard structures at high pressure

Diamond, as the hardest known material, has been widely used in industrial applications as abrasives, coatings, and cutting and polishing tools, but it is restricted by several shortcomings, e.g., its low thermal and chemical stability. Considerable efforts have been devoted to designing or synthesizing the diamond-like B-C-N-O compounds, which exhibit excellent mechanical property. In this paper, we review the recent theoretical design of diamond-like superhard structures at high pressure. In particular, the recently designed high symmetric phase of low-energy cubic BC3 meets the experimental observation, and clarifies the actual existence of cubic symmetric phase for the compounds formed by B-C-N-O system,besides the classical example of cubic boron nitride.

Epitaxial growth of large-area and highly crystalline anisotropic ReSe2 atomic layer

The anisotropic two-dimensional （2D） layered material rhenium disulfide （ReSe2） has attracted considerable attention because of its unusual properties and promising applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, because of its low lattice symmetry and interlayer decoupling, anisotropic growth and out-of-plane growth occur easily, yielding thick flakes, dendritic structure, or flower-like structure. In this stud34 we demonstrated a bottom-up method for the controlled and scalable synthesis of ReSe2 by van der Waals epitaxy. To achieve controllable growth, a micro-reactor with a confined reaction space was constructed by stacking two mica substrates in the chemical vapor deposition system. Within the confined reaction space, the nucleation density and growth rate of ReSe2 were significantly reduced, favoring the large-area synthesis of ReSe2 with a uniform monolayer thickness. The morphological evolution of ReSe2 with growth temperature indicated that the anisotropic growth was suppressed at a low growth temperature （〈600 ℃）. Field-effect transistors employing the grown ReSe2 exhibited p-type conduction with a current ON/OFF ratio up to 10s and a hole carrier mobility of 0.98 cm^2/（V·s）. Furthermore, the ReSe2 device exhibited an outstanding photoresponse to near-infrared light, with responsivity up to 8.4 and 5.1 A/W for 850- and 940-nm light, respectively. This work not only promotes the large-scale application of ReSe2 in high-performance electronic devices but also clarifies the growth mechanism of low-lattice symmetry 2D materials.

Control of Equiaxed Crystal Ratio of High Carbon Steel Billets by Circular Seam Cooling Nozzle

A circular seam cooling nozzle and its online control system have been developed to reduce the center segregation in high carbon steel billets by decreasing the superheat of the molten steel and improving the equiaxed crystal ratio based on the numerical results. An industrial experiment has been carried out on a 150 mm× 150 mm caster to investigate the effect of the circular seam cooling nozzle on the superheat removal of the molten steel. The results show that the circular seam cooling nozzle can be used to control the casting temperature in a closed loop control system. The online control system can be effectively adapted to the variation of operating parameters. The casting lasts about 4 h and about 400 t steel is successfully produced in a continuous operation. The removal of about 14 ℃ superheat and the improvement of approximate 10% equiaxed crystal ratio can be achieved by the newly developed circular seam cooling nozzle.

High efficiency filtering using two-dimensional photonic crystal coupled cavity structures

Transmission spectra of coupled cavity structures （CCSs） in two-dimensional （2D） photonic crystals （PCs） are investigated using a coupled mode theory, and an optical filter based on CCS is proposed. The performance of the filter is investigated using finite-difference time-domain （FDTD） method, and the results show that within a very short coupling distance of about 3λ, where ）, is the wavelength of signal in vacuum, the incident signals with different frequencies are separated into different channels with a contrast ratio of 20 dB. The advantages of this kind of filter are small size and easily tunable operation frequencies.

A novel highly negative dispersion photonic crystal fiber

Based on the full-vector finite element method,a novel structure of highly negative dispersion photonic crystal fiber with the central index dip in the low germanium doped core is proposed.The highly negative dispersion can be obtained at the wavelength of 1.55 μm by adjusting the pitch,the air-hole diameter in the third ring,the germanium doped concentration and the influence of central index dip.

PST TiAl single crystals for high temperature applications

Recently,the research team led by Prof.Chen Guang(陈光)at the Engineering Research Center of Materials Behavior and Design,Ministry of Education,Nanjing University of Science and Technology,successfully manufactured a new kind of high-temperature polysynthetic twinned(PST)TiAl single

Highly Birefringent Photonic Crystal Fibers B Using Asymmetric Core Design

We demonstrate a highly birefringent photonic crystal fiber by utilizing the asymmetric core design. Based on spectral measurements of the polarization mode interfering, we estimate that the fiber has a beat length of about 0.33 mm at 1545 nm.

Optical Sampling at 80 Gbit/s Using a Highly Non-Linear Photonic Crystal Fiber

Opticalsamplingusingfour-wavemixingin50mofnewlydevelopedhighlynon-linearphotoniccrystalfiberhasbeen achieved at 80 Gbit/s with an Extinction Ratio of 12 dB. A basic characterization is also included.

High Azimuthal Index Doughnut Beam Generated by Liquid Crystal Spiral Phase Plates

A novel technique of producing azimuthal index 1>1 doughnut beam of good quality by use of multi-liquid crystal cells is presented, it has the advantages of high conversion efficiency and flexibility.

The mechanism of the UV band edge photorefractivity suppression in highly doped LiNbO3：Zr crystals

The ultraviolet(UV) band edge photorefractivity of LiNbO_3:Zr at 325 nm has been investigated. The experimental results show that the resistance against photorefraction at 325 nm is quite obvious but not as strong as that at 351 nm, when the doping concentration of Zr reaches 2.0 mol%. It is reported that the photorefractivity in other tetravalently doped LiNbO_3 crystals, such as LiNbO_3:Hf and Li NbO_3:Sn, is enhanced dramatically with doping concentration over threshold. Here we give an explicit explanation on such seemly conflicting behaviors of tetravalently doped LiNbO_3, which is ascribed to the combined effect of increased photoconductivity and the absorption strength of the band edge photorefractive centers.

Surface Anchoring Stabilized High Strength Disclinations in Smectic C Phase of a Schiff-base Liquid Crystal

The observation of disclination cores of high strength S=-2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8 in a smectic C phase of Schiff-base type liquid crystal (LC) is reported. The results of polarizing optical microscope (POM), dif-ferential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) prove that the sample exhibits smectic C phase. It is suggested that the formation of the high strength disclination is mainly ascribed to the stronger anchoring of LC molecules on the substrate due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between the pendent hydroxyl of the LC molecule and the substrate.

Long-range ordering of composites for organic electronics:TIPS-pentacene single crystals with incorporated nano-fibers

Multi-component active materials are widely used for organic electronic devices, with every component contributing complementary and synergistic optoelectronic functions. Mixing these components generally leads to lowered crystallinity and weakened charge transport. Therefore, preparing the active materials without substantially disrupting the crystalline lattice is highly desired. Here, we show that crystallization of TIPS-pentacene from solutions in the presence of fluorescent nanofibers of a perylene bisimide derivative （PBI） leads to formation of composites with nanoflber guest incorporated in the crystal host. In spite of the binary composite structure, the TIPS-pentacene maintains the single- crystalline nature. As a result, the incorporation of the PB1 guest introduces additional fluorescence function but does not significantly reduce the charge transport property of the TIPS-pentacene host, exhibiting field-effect mobility as high as 3.34 cm^2 V^-1 s^-1 even though 26.4% of the channel area is taken over by the guest. As such, this work provides a facile approach toward high-performance multifunctional organic electronic materials.