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In this paper, we find the higher-order expansion parameters α and λ of spherically symmetric parameterized Rezzolla–Zhidenko (PRZ) spacetime by using its functions of the radial coordinate. We subject the parameters of this spacetime to classical tests, including weak gravitational field effects in the solar system, observations of the S2 star that is located in the star cluster close to the Sgr A ^⋆ , and of the frequencies of selected microquasars. Based on this spherically symmetric spacetime, we perform the analytic calculations for solar system effects such as perihelion shift, light deflection, and gravitational time delay to determine limits on the parameters by using observational data. We restrict our attention to the limits on the two higher-order expansion parameters α and λ that survive at the horizon or near the horizon of spherically symmetric metrics. The properties of the expansion of these two small parameters in PRZ parameterization are discussed. We further apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations to analyze and obtain the limits on the expansion parameters by using observations of the phenomena of the S2 star. Finally, we consider the epicyclic motions and derive analytic expressions of the epicyclic frequencies. Applying these expressions to the quasiperiodic oscillations of selected microquasars allows us to set further limits on the parameters of the PRZ spacetime. Our results demonstrate that the higher-order expansion parameters can be given in the range α , λ = (−0.09, 0.09) and of order ∼10 ^−2 as a consequence of three different tests and observations.

In this paper, an MoOx film is deposited on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate as a buffer layer to improve the surface roughness of the flexible PET substrate. With an optimized MoOx thickness of 100 nm, the surface roughness of the PET substrate can be reduced to a very small value of 0.273 nm (much less than 0.585 nm of the pure PET). Flexible white top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes (TEOLEDs) with red and blue dual phosphorescent emitting layers are constructed based on a low-reflectivity Sm/Ag semi-transparent cathode. The flexible white emission exhibits the best luminance and current injection characteristics with the 100-nm-thick MoOx buffer layer and this result indicates that a smooth substrate is beneficial to the enhancement of device electrical and electroluminescence performances. However, the white TEOLED with a 50-nm-thick MoOx buffer layer exhibits a maximum current efficiency of 4.64 cd/A and a power efficiency of 1.9 lm/W, slightly higher than those with a 100-nm MoOx buffer layer, which is mainly due to an obvious intensity enhancement but limited current increases in 50-nm MoOx-based white TEOLED. The change amplitudes of the Commission International de l'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates are less than (0.016, 0.005) for all devices in a wide luminance range over 100 cd/m2, indicating an excellent color stability in our white flexible TEOLEDs. Additionally, the flexible white TEOLED with an MoOx buffer layer shows excellent flexibility to withstand more than 500 bending times under a curvature radius of approximately 9 mm. Research demonstrates that it is mainly attributed to the high surface energy of the MoOx buffer layer, which is conducible to the improvement of the surface adhesion to the PET substrate and the Ag anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent progress of research for graphene applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices is reviewed, and recent developments in circuits based on graphene devices are summarized. The bandgap—mobility tradeoff inevitably constrains the application of graphene for the conventional field-effect transistor (FET) devices in digital applications. However, this shortcoming has not dampened the enthusiasm of the research community toward graphene electronics. Aside from high mobility, graphene offers numerous other amazing electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties that continually motivate innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a continuous-wave squeezed vacuum generation system at a telecommunication wavelength of 1.3 μm. By employing a home-made single-frequency Nd:YVO4 laser with dual wavelength outputs as the pump source, via an optical parameter oscillator based on periodically poled KTP, a squeezed vacuum of 6.1 dB±0.1 dB below the shot noise limit at 1342 nm is experimentally measured. This system could be utilized for demonstrating practical quantum information networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An enhanced refractive index (RI) sensor based on a combination of a long period fiber grating (LPG) and a small core singlemode fiber (SCSMF) structure is proposed and developed. Since the LPG and SCSMF transmission spectra experience a blue and a red shift respectively as the surrounding RI (SRI) increases, the sensitivity is improved by measuring the separation between the resonant wavelengths of the LPG and SCSMF structures. Experimental results show that the sensor has a sensitivity of 1028 nm/SRI unit in the SRI range from 1.422 to 1.429, which is higher than individual sensitivities of either structure alone used in the experiment. Experimental results agree well with simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We observe the phenomenon of priority oscillation of the unexpected σ-polarization in high-power Nd:YVO4 ring laser. The severe thermal lens of the σ-polarized lasing, compared with the π-polarized lasing, is the only reason for the phenomenon. By designing a wedge Nd:YVO4 crystal as the gain medium, the unexpected σ-polarization is completely suppressed in the entire range of pump powers, and the polarization stability of the expected π-polarized output is enhanced. With the output power increasing from threshold to the maximum power, no σ-polarization lasing is observed. As a result, 25.3 W of stable single-frequency laser output at 532 nm is experimentally demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the dependences of polyaniline (PANI) morphology on the oxidant and the initial pH value (referred to as 'pH-initial') of the reaction system, a series of oxidative polymerization experiments on aniline using chloroaurate acid (HAuCl4) as the oxidant are carried out in aqueous solutions with different values of pH-initial. The smooth morphology transition of PANI nanostructures from nanofibers to solid and hollow nanospheres can be controlled by simply changing pH-initial for the reaction solution using HAuCl4 as the oxidant. In aqueous solutions with different values of pH-initial, the anilinium ions and neutral aniline molecules coexist in different proportions, leading to different PANI nanostructures under different nucleation mechanisms. In strongly acidic media (pH-initial < 2), the homogeneous nucleation of PANI will result in PANI nanofibers. When pH-initial is raised to 2 or above, the heterogeneous nucleation will lead to solid or hollow PANI nanospheres. The solid PANI nanospheres are obtained in mildly acidic media (pH-initial =2-4) and the diameter decreases as the initial pH value of the reaction solution increases from 2 to 4. However, in weakly acidic and neutral media (pH-initial = 5-7), hollow PANI nanospheres are formed and the diameter increases with the increase of pH-initial for the solution from 5 to 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coherent backscattering of light from a water suspension of zirconium silicate microcrystals is experimentally studied. Optically controlled weak localization of photons is realized, which is due to the reorientation behaviors of positive uniaxial microcrystals induced by a linearly polarized pump beam. Because zirconium silicate particles are positive uniaxial microcrystals, their reorientation behaviors are contrary to negative ones. Our work widely extends the materials used in the light-controllable weak localization of photons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional GeSn/GeSiSn single-heterojunction (SH) n-channel tunneling field-effect transistor (NTFET) faces a serious off-state current (IOFF) breakdown and a subthreshold swing (SS) degradation when the channel length is scaled to 10 nm. In this work, we propose a double-heterojunction (DH) short channel NTFET by utilizing heterojunction engineering. A 60% lower IOFF value (4.83 × 10−10 A μm−1), a 6.2 times higher ION value (9.39 × 10−6 A μm−1) and an SS of 39.14 mV/dec are achieved in the DH NTFET at 0.3 V compared to the SH NTFET when the channel length is 10 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel plasmonic polarization filter based on the diamond-shape photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed. The resonant coupling characteristics of the PCF polarization filter are investigated by the full-vector finite-element method. By optimizing the geometric parameters of the PCF, when the fiber length is 5 mm, the polarization filter has a bandwidth of 990 nm and an extinction ratio (ER) of lower than –20 dB. Moreover, a single wavelength polarization filter can also be achieved, along with an ER of –279.78 dB at wavelength 1.55 μm. It is believed that the proposed PCF polarization filter will be very useful in laser and optical communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate novel polarization-dependent pulse dynamics in a fiber laser cavity mode-locked by single-wall carbon nanotubes. By managing the net dispersion and polarization state, we obtain two noise-like pulsing procedures with distinctive polarization characteristics. Ultrafast polarization measurements reveal double pulses are produced by the combined effects of double-scroll chaotic polarization attractors and the polarization mode dispersion of single-mode fiber. The corresponding single-shot spectra provide evidence of coherent energy coupling between pulses during the switching process, due to the polarization hole burning of the active medium. The relative results provide new information for the polarization control of ultrafast lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrospinning is becoming an efficient method to produce fibers in the submicron range, but the bending instability of conventional electrospinning system (CES) brings limitations in the distinctive deposition of electrospun fibers. Herein, we proposed a strategy to update the electrospinning system through establishment of a uniform electric field, realizing 3D printing of electrospun fibers with well-controlled, low-cost, and template-free manners. The uniform field electrospinning (UFES) apparatus is configured by inserting the electrospinning nozzle into the center of an aided metal plate. The electric field simulation of UFES indicates a uniform distribution between the aided metal plate and the collector, while a diverging and weaker electric field is produced by CES. The collector of UFES is mounted on a translation stage, which moves along x and y axes under computer control. The distinctive deposition of electrospun fibers produces fibrous mats with rectangular patterns of different grid sizes, and butterfly and TaiJi figures with high resolutions are directly written by UFES. The layer-by-layer deposition of electrospun fibers under UFES produces microscale Mongolian yurts with distinct hollow structure. Fibrous blocks with an average width of 120 μm and height of 630 μm were printed by UFES from conductive polymer composites and constructed into strain sensors. The electric current strength of fibrous microblocks changes sharply in response to the finger bending and release, indicating the capability to monitor human motions. Thus, this study demonstrates that the UFES becomes an easy-handling strategy for 3D printing of electrospun fibers to create complex geometries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all optical fiber Fresnel reflection sensor for detecting the solid–liquid phase change in n-octadecane is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor probe consists of a single-mode fiber with a cleaved end which is immersed in the material sample under test. As the n-octadecane changes from solid to liquid or from liquid to solid, its refractive index (RI) changes resulting in changes of the light power ratio reflected by the probe. Since the RI of n-octadecane during its phase transition changes discontinuously, inflection in the reflected light power ratio dependence indicates the phase change of the sample in the vicinity of the sensor probe. The results of this work suggest that such a simple optical fiber sensor can be used for detection of liquid–solid phase changes in other materials with similar to n-octadecane thermo-optic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the variations of threshold voltage (Vth) and hold voltage (Vhold) of threshold switching (TS) selector in 1S1R crossbar array is investigated. Based on ON/OFF state I–V curves measurements from a large number of Ag-filament TS selectors, Vth and Vhold are extracted and their variations distribution expressions are obtained, which are then employed to evaluate the impact on read process and write process in 32 × 32 1S1R crossbar array under different bias schemes. The results indicate that Vth and Vhold variations of TS selector can lead to degradation of 1S1R array performance parameters, such as minimum read/write voltage, bit error rate (BER), and power consumption. For the read process, a small Vhold variation not only results in the minimum read voltage increasing but it also leads to serious degradation of BER. As the standard deviation of Vhold and Vth increases, the BER and the power consumption of 1S1R crossbar array under 1/2 bias, 1/3 bias, and floating scheme degrade, and the case under 1/2 bias tends to be more serious compared with other two schemes. For the write process, the minimum write voltage also increases with the variation of Vhold from small to large value. A slight increase of Vth standard deviation not only decreases write power efficiency markedly but also increases write power consumption. These results have reference significance to understand the voltage variation impacts and design of selector properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A platinum coated singlemode-multimode (SM) structure is investigated in this paper as an optical fibre sensor (OFS) to monitor the phase transition of a phase change material (PCM). Paraffin wax has been used as an example to demonstrate the sensor’s performance and operation. Most materials have the same temperature but different thermal energy levels during the phase change process, therefore, sole dependency on temperature measurement may lead to an incorrect estimation of the stored energy in PCM. The output spectrum of the reflected light from the OFS is very sensitive to the bend introduced by the PCM where both liquid and solid states exist during the phase transition. The measurement of strain experienced by the OFS during the phase change of the PCM is utilized for identifying the phase transition of paraffin wax between the solid and liquid states. The experimental results presented in this paper show that the OFS with a shorter multimode fibre section has better performance for monitoring the phase transition of paraffin wax with a measured phase transition temperature range of 41.5 °C–57.7 °C for the SM based OFS with a 5 mm long multimode fibre section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ synchrotron angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction experiments on niobium powders have been conducted at pressures up to 61 GPa and room temperature using the diamond anvil cell technique. From the full width at half maximum of the measured diffraction lines, the yield strength was derived with the line-width analysis theory. The niobium powder sample was found to be compressed more packed firstly and then yielded at ∼14 GPa–18 GPa. Following an initial increase in the yield strength with pressure, an obvious decrease was observed occurring at ∼42 GPa–47 GPa accompanying with a typical pressure dependence above 47 GPa. The experimentally observed anomalous softening of the yield strength in niobium surprisingly follows the trend of the predicted unusual softening in the shear modulus by the recent theoretical investigations. The possible mechanisms, applicable to interpret the yield strength softening of materials at high pressure, were also discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By a method of population synthesis we construct a model of dark matter (DM) accretion onto binary black holes (BHs) and investigate the merger rate of the binary BHs. We find that the merger rate can weakly increase (less than 10%). However, the DM accretion can efficiently enhance the masses of binary BHs. In our model, the result for Z = 0.01 without the DM accretion cannot explain GW170104, GW170814, and GW150914, while with the DM accretion it can cover all observations well. For the higher metallicity (Z = 0.02), our model cannot explain the mergers of high-mass binary BHs like GW170104, GW170814, and GW150914. We estimate that the merger rate of binary BHs lies between 55 and 197 Gpc−3 yr−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and experimentally validate a wavelength diversity technique combined with a passive depolarizer in order to improve the performance of Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry (BOTDR). The wavelength diversity technique enables the maximization of the launch pump power and suppresses the nonlinear effects, the latter of which limits the conventional BOTDR performance. As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio increases, thus improving the measurement accuracy for strain and temperature. In addition, considering the complexity and expensive methods required for polarization noise suppression in BOTDR system, a simple, low-cost passive depolarizer is employed to reduce the polarization noise. The experimental results show that the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by 4.85 dB, which corresponds to 174% improvement compared to a conventional BOTDR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of high pressure can fundamentally modify the crystalline and electronic structures of elements as well as their chemical reactivity, which could lead to the formation of novel materials. Here, we explore the reactivity of lithium with sodium under high pressure, using a swarm structure searching techniques combined with first-principles calculations, which identify a thermodynamically stable Li–Na compound adopting an orthorhombic oP8 phase at pressure above 355 GPa. The formation of Li–Na may be a consequence of strong concentration of electrons transfering from the lithium and the sodium atoms into the interstitial sites, which also leads to open a relatively wide band gap for LiNa-oP8. This is substantially different from atoms sharing or exchanging electrons in common compounds and alloys. In addition, lattice-dynamic calculations indicate that LiNa-oP8 remains dynamically stable when pressure decompresses down to 70 GPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A breathing sensor has been experimentally demonstrated based on a singlemode–multimode–singlemode (SMS) fiber structure which is attached to a thin plastic film in an oxygen mask. By detecting power variations due to the macro bending applied to the SMS section by each inhalation and exhalation process, the breath state can be monitored. The proposed sensor is capable of distinguishing different types of breathing conditions including regular and irregular breath state. The sensor can be used in a strong electric/magnetic field and radioactive testing systems such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and computed tomography (CT) examinations where electrical sensors are restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-pressure polymorphs and structural transformation of Sn were experimentally investigated using angle-dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction up to 108.9 GPa. The results show that at least at 12.8 GPa β-Sn→bct structure transformation was completed and no two-phase coexistence was found. By using a long-wavelength x-ray, we resolved the diffraction peaks splitting and discovered the formation of a new distorted orthorhombic structure bco from the bct structure at 31.8 GPa. The variation of the lattice parameters and their ratios with pressure further validate the observation of the bco polymorph. The bcc structure appears at 40.9 GPa and coexists with the bco phase throughout a wide pressure range of 40.9 GPa–73.1 GPa. Above 73.1 GPa, only the bcc polymorph is observed. The systematically experimental investigation confirms the phase transition sequence of Sn as β-Sn→bct→bco→bco+bcc→bcc upon compression to 108.9 GPa at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, small diameter InP nanowires with high crystal quality were synthesized through a chemical vapor deposition method. Benefitting from the high crystallinity and large specific surface area of InP nanowires, the simply constructed photodetector demonstrates a high responsivity of up to 1170 A·W−1 and an external quantum efficiency of 2.8×105% with a fast rise time of 110 ms and a fall time of 130 ms, even at low bias of 0.1 V. The effect of back-gate voltage on photoresponse of the device was systematically investigated, confirming that the photocurrent dominates over thermionic and tunneling currents in the whole operation. A mechanism based on energy band theory at the junction between metal and semiconductor was proposed to explain the back-gate voltage dependent performance of the photodetectors. These convincing results indicate that fine InP nanowires will have a brilliant future in smart optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High pressure and high temperature properties of AB (A  =  6Li, 7Li; B  =  H, D, T) are comprehensively investigated with first-principles methods. It is found that H−sublattice features in the low-pressure electronic structure near the Fermi level of LiH are shifted to that dominated by the Li+ sublattice under compression. The lattice dynamics are studied in quasi-harmonic approximation, from which the phonon contribution to the free energy and the isotopic effects are accurately modelled with the aid of a parameterized double-Debye model. The equation of state (EOS) obtained matches perfectly with available static experimental data. The calculated principal Hugoniot is also in accordance with that derived from shock wave experiments. Using the calculated principal Hugoniot and the previous theoretical melting curve, we predict a shock melting point at 56 GPa and 1923 K. In order to establish the phase diagram for LiH, the phase boundaries between the B1 and B2 solid phases are explored. The B1–B2-liquid triple point is determined at about 241 GPa and 2413 K. The remarkable shift in the phase boundaries with isotopic effect and temperature reveal the significant role played by lattice vibrations. Furthermore, the Hugoniot of the static-dynamic coupling compression is assessed. Our EOS suggests that a precompression of the sample to 50 GPa will allow the shock Hugoniot to pass through the triple point and enter the B2 solid phase. This transition leads to a discontinuity with 4.6% volume collapse—about four times greater than the same B1–B2 transition at zero temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper crystalline noble metallic nanorods including Au and Ag with sub-10 nm diameter, are encapsulated within prealigned and open-ended multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) through an electrodeposition method. As the external surface of CNTs has been insulated by the epoxy the CNT channel becomes the only path for the mass transport as well as the nanoreactor for the metal deposition. Highly crystallized Au and Ag2O nanorods parallel to the radial direction of CNTs are confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and x-ray powder diffraction spectroscopy. The Ag2O nanorods are formed by air oxidation on the Ag metals and show a single crystalline structure with (111) planes. The Au nanorods exhibit a complex crystalline structure including twin-crystal and lattice dislocation with (111) and (200) planes. These crystalline noble metallic nanostructures may have important applications for nanocatalysts for fuel cells as well as nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices. This method is deemed to benefit the precise deposition of other crystalline nanostructures inside CNTs with a small diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noiseless linear amplification (NLA), first proposed by Ralpha et al., is a nondeterministic amplification process which gives gain to the Fock state |n〉 → gn|n〉, with g being the amplification gain. We here give a general framework for improving the NLA scheme with arbitrary general local unitary operations. We derive the improvement in the amplification gain in 0–1 photon subspace. In particular, we study if the local unitary is composed of single mode squeezing and coherent displacement operation. Finally, numerical simulations show that local unitary operation could give a further enhancement in the amplification gain as well as the success probability, making the NLA more feasible in future optic quantum communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pt-Sn alloy nanoparticles were conveniently immobilized on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) through microwave-assisted ethylene glycol reduction. The nanoparticles have a narrow particle size distribution with the average particle size around 3 nm as measured by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The binding energy of metallic Sn passively shifts due to the charge transfer from Sn to Pt, as revealed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In comparison with the commercial Pt/C catalyst, Pt/NCNT presents a clear increase in activity for alcohol electro-oxidation due to the improved support, while the bimetallic Pt-Sn/NCNT has even higher activity owing to the alloying of Pt with Sn. Both Pt-Sn/NCNT and Pt/NCNT catalysts exhibit competitive long-term stability to Pt/C catalyst. The low cost, simple preparation and superior electrocatalytic performance indicate the great potential of Pt-Sn/NCNT in direct alcohol fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An all-fibre displacement sensor with a simple configuration and capable of monitoring sub-50 nm displacements is proposed and investigated experimentally. The proposed fibre displacement sensor consists of a half-loop structure of bare high bend loss single-mode fibre 1060XP and a ratiometric power interrogation system. By measuring the change in transmission ratio in the ratiometric system, a change in displacement can be measured. The displacement sensor is sensitive to temperature and an experimental investigation of this sensitivity is presented. It is found that the peak shift response has a linear variation with temperature; therefore, temperature dependence can be mitigated by a suitable displacement correction process. The proposed macrobending fibre based displacement sensor benefits from simplicity and low cost and achieves a comparable resolution as compared with other conventional fibre optic sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple displacement sensor based on a bent single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) fiber structure is proposed and experimentally investigated. The sensor offers a wider displacement range, not limited by the risk of fiber breakage, as well as a three-fold increase in displacement sensitivity by comparison with a straight SMS structure sensor. This sensor can be interrogated by either an optical spectral analyzer (OSA) or a ratiometric interrogation system: (1) if interrogated by an OSA assuming a resolution of 1 pm, it has a sensitivity of 28.2 nm for a displacement measurement range from 0 to 280 um; (2) if interrogated by a ratiometric interrogation system, it has worst and best case resolutions of 556 and 38 nm, respectively, for a displacement measurement range from 0 to 520 um. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the position of an edge filter within a ratiometric wavelength measurement system was investigated based on three cases: (1) the reflected fibre Bragg grating (FBG) signal passes through both the reference arm and the edge filter arm, (2) the reflected FBG signal is connected directly to the edge filter arm and does not pass through the reference arm, (3) the edge filter sits in line with the FBG and thus the source power is filtered prior to reaching the FBG. Both numerical simulations and experimental results show that cases 1 and 2 have similar system performance whilst case 3 is the best arrangement which offers the highest wavelength resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]