Average Linewidth Research Articles

Optimizing quality of additively manufactured Inconel 718 using powder bed laser melting process

Inconel 718, a widely used nickel based super alloy, is of special interest to the aerospace and automotive fields for its highly desirable and consistent material properties over a large range of temperatures. The objective of this research is to understand the effect of process parameters of a Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) machine, concerning mainly beam power between 40W and 300W and scan line speed between 200mm/s and 2500mm/s on scan line quality, line geometry and dimensions, and melt pool geometry in laser melted Inconel 718 line scans. A beam power that is too low (40W) does not provide enough energy to maintain a continuous line. It was shown that mid-range beam powers (100W and 150W) result in the best and most uniform scan lines with minimal voids and shallower melt volumes. Higher power runs resulted in voids forming in the bottom of the melt pool and were consistent with either electron beam welding or melting processes operating at higher temperatures. Laser energy density (LED), a method of correlating the effects of scan speed and beam power into one characteristic process parameter, was also investigated. This ratio of beam power to scan speed follows a second order polynomial trend line for melt pool width and a logarithmic trend for average line width. LED values for melt pool depth are separated to show two trend lines as two mechanisms operate at low values below 0.25J/mm and high values above 0.25J/mm. LED values above 0.21J/mm are desired for a continuous fill percentage in the formed lines, however dimensional accuracy of the line is sacrificed significantly at values over 0.2J/mm.

Parameter optimization for reproducible cardiac 1 H-MR spectroscopy at 3 Tesla.

To optimize data acquisition parameters in cardiac proton MR spectroscopy, and to evaluate the intra- and intersession variability in myocardial triglyceride content. Data acquisition parameters at 3 Tesla (T) were optimized and reproducibility measured using, in total, 49 healthy subjects. The signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and the variance in metabolite amplitude between averages were measured for: (i) global versus local power optimization; (ii) static magnetic field (B0 ) shimming performed during free-breathing or within breathholds; (iii) post R-wave peak measurement times between 50 and 900 ms; (iv) without respiratory compensation, with breathholds and with navigator triggering; and (v) frequency selective excitation, Chemical Shift Selective (CHESS) and Multiply Optimized Insensitive Suppression Train (MOIST) water suppression techniques. Using the optimized parameters intra- and intersession myocardial triglyceride content reproducibility was measured. Two cardiac proton spectra were acquired with the same parameters and compared (intrasession reproducibility) after which the subject was removed from the scanner and placed back in the scanner and a third spectrum was acquired which was compared with the first measurement (intersession reproducibility). Local power optimization increased SNR on average by 22% compared with global power optimization (P = 0.0002). The average linewidth was not significantly different for pencil beam B0 shimming using free-breathing or breathholds (19.1 Hz versus 17.5 Hz; P = 0.15). The highest signal stability occurred at a cardiac trigger delay around 240 ms. The mean amplitude variation was significantly lower for breathholds versus free-breathing (P = 0.03) and for navigator triggering versus free-breathing (P = 0.03) as well as for navigator triggering versus breathhold (P = 0.02). The mean residual water signal using CHESS (1.1%, P = 0.01) or MOIST (0.7%, P = 0.01) water suppression was significantly lower than using frequency selective excitation water suppression (7.0%). Using the optimized parameters an intrasession limits of agreement of the myocardial triglyceride content of -0.11% to +0.04%, and an intersession of -0.15% to +0.9%, were achieved. The coefficient of variation was 5% for the intrasession reproducibility and 6.5% for the intersession reproducibility. Using approaches designed to optimize SNR and minimize the variation in inter-average signal intensities and frequencies/phases, a protocol was developed to perform cardiac MR spectroscopy on a clinical 3T system with high reproducibility. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1151-1158.

Electrohydrodynamic direct-writing microfiber patterns under stretching

In this paper, the rheology and deposition behaviors of electrohydrodynamic direct-write (EDW) jet under stretching tension are studied. The EDW jet is stretched into tightened state by the drag force from moving collector, when moving speed of collector is higher than deposition velocity of jet. The drag force from the moving collector provides an extra force to stretch the charged jet, which promotes the stability and decreases the diameter of direct-written fiber. The whipping and bending motion of jet can be overcome by the drag force, and then, straight orderly fibers are direct-written along the trajectory of collector. The falling jet would be also deviated from the extension line of spinneret by the drag force. As the collector velocity increases from 10 to 1000 mm/s, the average line width of direct-written microfiber decreases from 18.89 to 0.89 µm. The thickness of microfiber ranges from 100 nm to 1.5 µm. The moving collector leads to large deviation of charged jet. The tightened charged jet has good resistance against the interference of charge repulsion force, which helps to direct-write orderly nanofiber. During the EDW process, the mechanical stretching force had provided an excellent function to control the morphology and deposition pattern of micro-/nanofiber.

Analytic models of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect for arbitrary eclipser/star size ratios and arbitrary multiline stellar spectra

We present an attempt to improve models of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect by relaxing several restrictive assumptions. We consider the entire multiline stellar spectrum rather than just a single line, use no assumptions about the shape of the lines profiles, and allow arbitrary size ratio for the star and its eclipser. However, we neglect the effect of macro-turbulence and differential rotation. We construct our model as a power series in the stellar rotation velocity, $V\sin i$, giving a closed set of analytic formulae for up to three terms, and assuming quadratic limb-darkening law. We consider three major approaches of determining the Doppler shift: cross-correlation with a predefined template, cross-correlation with an out-of-transit stellar spectrum, and parametric modelling of the spectrum. A numerical testcase revels that our model preserves good accuracy for the rotation velocity of up to the limit of $2-3$ times the average linewidth in the spectrum. We also apply our approach to the Doppler data of HD 189733, for which we obtain an improved model of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect with two correction terms, and derive a reduced value for $V\sin i$.

Conductive polymer/metal composites for interconnect of flexible devices

An interconnect of flexible and foldable devices based on advanced electronics requires high electrical conductivity, flexibility, adhesiveness on a plastic substrate, and efficient productivity. In this study, we investigated the applicability of a conductive polymer/metal composite to the interconnect of flexible devices. By combining an inkjet process and a photochemical reaction, micropatterns of a polypyrrole/silver composite were formed on flexible plastic substrates with an average linewidth of approximately 70 µm within 10 min. The conductivity of the composite was improved to 6.0 × 102 Ω−1·cm−1. From these results, it is expected that the conducting polymer/metal composite can be applied to the microwiring of flexible electronic devices.

Role of re-growth interface preparation process for spectral line-width reduction of single InAs site-controlled quantum dots

We present growth and optical characterization measurements of single InAs site-controlled quantum dots (SCQDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001) patterned substrates by atomic force microscopy oxidation lithography. InAs SCQDs directly grown on the patterned surface were used as a seed layer and strain template for the nucleation of optically active single InAs SCQDs. The preservation of the initial geometry of the engraved pattern motifs after the re-growth interface preparation process, the lack of buffer layer growth prior to InAs seed layer deposition and the development of suitable growth conditions provide us an improvement of the SCQDs’ active layer optical properties while retaining a high ratio of single occupation (89%). In this work a fivefold reduction of the average optical line-width from 870 μeV to 156 μeV for InAs SCQDs located 15 nm from the re-growth interface is obtained by increasing the temperature of the initial thermal treatment step of the re-growth interface from 490 °C to 530 °C.

Maskless laser direct imaging lithography using a 355-nm UV light source in manufacturing of flexible fine dies

This paper describes the results of the application of laser direct imaging (LDI) lithography for dimensional tolerance improvement through surface treatment of cutting edge in the flexible fine dies (FFD). Laser direct imaging lithography was successfully performed on AISI W1-8 substrates by a specifically designed laser system using UV 355 nm light source. The characteristics of patterned line width according to conditions such as scan speed and multi pass were investigated by optical microscope. The average line width of LDIed patterns was observed to be about 1 mm. The experimental results show that the line width of patterned samples was reduced with increasing scan speed and decreasing repetition number (R/N) of scanning. This conclusion proves the feasibility in the selectively application for manufacturing flexible fine die.

Observational Signatures of Waves and Flows in the Solar Corona

Propagating perturbations have been observed in extended coronal loop structures for a number of years, but the interpretation in terms of slow (propagating) magneto-acoustic waves and/or as quasi-periodic upflows remains unresolved. We used forward-modelling to construct observational signatures associated with a simple slow magneto-acoustic wave or periodic flow model. Observational signatures were computed for the 171 {\AA} Fe ix and the 193 {\AA} Fe xii spectral lines. Although there are many differences between the flow and wave models, we did not find any clear, robust observational characteristics that can be used in isolation ( i.e. that do not rely on a comparison between the models). For the waves model, a relatively rapid change of the average line widths as a function of (shallow) line-of-sight angles was found, whereas the ratio of the line width amplitudes to the Doppler velocity amplitudes is relatively high for the flow model. The most robust observational signature found is that the ratio of the mean to the amplitudes of the Doppler velocity is always higher than one for the flow model. This ratio is substantially higher for flows than for waves, and for the flows model used in the study is exactly the same in the 171 {\AA} Fe ix and the 193 {\AA} Fe xii spectral lines. However, these potential observational signatures need to be treated cautiously because they are likely to be model-dependent.

Split-probe hybrid femtosecond/picosecond rotational CARS for time-domain measurement of S-branch Raman linewidths within a single laser shot

We introduce a multiplex technique for the single-laser-shot determination of S-branch Raman linewidths with high accuracy and precision by implementing hybrid femtosecond (fs)/picosecond (ps) rotational coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) with multiple spatially and temporally separated probe beams derived from a single laser pulse. The probe beams scatter from the rotational coherence driven by the fs pump and Stokes pulses at four different probe pulse delay times spanning 360 ps, thereby mapping collisional coherence dephasing in time for the populated rotational levels. The probe beams scatter at different folded BOXCARS angles, yielding spatially separated CARS signals which are collected simultaneously on the charge coupled device camera. The technique yields a single-shot standard deviation (1σ) of less than 3.5% in the determination of Raman linewidths and the average linewidth values obtained for N(2) are within 1% of those previously reported. The presented technique opens the possibility for correcting CARS spectra for time-varying collisional environments in operando.

Quality of 186 child brain spectra using motion and B0 shim navigated single voxel spectroscopy.

To evaluate B0 shim and motion navigated single voxel spectroscopy in children. Assess the repeatability of metabolite concentrations in three regions: medial frontal grey matter, peritrigonal white matter, and basal ganglia. Determine the extent of intra- and interacquisition movement in this population. Linewidth and signal to noise ratio were calculated to assess spectral quality of 186 spectra at 3 Tesla. Repeatability was assessed on 31 repeat scans. Navigator images were used to assess localization errors, while navigator motion and shim logs were used to demonstrate the efficacy of correction needed during the scans. Average linewidths ± standard deviations of N-acetyl aspartate are 3.8 ± 0.6 Hz, 4.4 ± 0.5 Hz, and 4.7 ± 0.8 Hz in each region, respectively. Scan-to-scan measurement variance in metabolite concentrations closely resembled the expected variance. A total of 73% and 32% of children moved before and during the acquisition, causing a voxel shift of more than 10% of the voxel volume, 1.5 mm. The predominant movement directions were sliding out of the coil and nodding (up-down rotation). First-order B0 corrections were significant (>10 μT/m) in 18 % of acquisitions. Prospective motion and B0 correction provides high quality repeatable spectra. The study found that most children moved between acquisitions and a substantial number moved during acquisitions.

Influence of exciton spin relaxation on the photoluminescence spectra of semimagnetic quantum dots

We present a comprehensive experimental and theoretical studies of photoluminescence of single CdMnTe quantum dots with Mn content x ranging from 0.01 to 0.2. We distinguish three stages of the equilibration of the exciton-Mn ion spin system and show that the intermediate stage, in which the exciton spin is relaxed, while the total equilibrium is not attained, gives rise to a specific asymmetric shape of the photoluminescence spectrum. From an excellent agreement between the measured and calculated spectra we are able to evaluate the exciton localization volume, number of paramagnetic Mn ions, and their temperature for each particular dot. We discuss the values of these parameters and compare them with results of other experiments. Furthermore, we analyze the dependence of average Zeeman shifts and transition linewidths on the Mn content and point out specific processes, which control these values at particular Mn concentrations.

Direct probe of spectral inhomogeneity reveals synthetic tunability of single-nanocrystal spectral linewidths

The spectral linewidth of an ensemble of fluorescent emitters is dictated by the combination of single-emitter linewidths and sample inhomogeneity. For semiconductor nanocrystals, efforts to tune ensemble linewidths for optical applications have focused primarily on eliminating sample inhomogeneities, because conventional single-molecule methods cannot reliably build accurate ensemble-level statistics for single-particle linewidths. Photon-correlation Fourier spectroscopy in solution (S-PCFS) offers a unique approach to investigating single-nanocrystal spectra with large sample statistics and high signal-to-noise ratios, without user selection bias and at fast timescales. With S-PCFS, we directly and quantitatively deconstruct the ensemble linewidth into contributions from the average single-particle linewidth and from sample inhomogeneity. We demonstrate that single-particle linewidths vary significantly from batch to batch and can be synthetically controlled. These findings delineate the synthetic challenges facing underdeveloped nanomaterials such as InP and InAs core-shell particles and introduce new avenues for the synthetic optimization of fluorescent nanoparticles.

Two-photon pumped lasing in a single CdS microwire

We report the two-photon absorption induced lasing performance in a single CdS microwire under the excitation of a femtosecond pulse laser with a wavelength of 800 nm. Sharp lasing peaks are centered at 523 nm with an average linewidth of 0.4 nm, indicating a high quality factor of 1300. The lasing emission is highly dependent on the polarization direction of the excitation light and the optimized lasing threshold is estimated to be 3.3 mJ/cm2 as the polarization direction is parallel to the microwire axis. Furthermore, the polarization-dependent lasing effect is confirmed by performing the finite-difference time-domain method.

Pattern Placement Accuracy in Block Copolymer Directed Self-Assembly Based on Chemical Epitaxy

The realization of viable designs for circuit patterns using the dense features formed by block copolymer directed self-assembly (DSA) will require a precise and quantitative understanding of self-assembled feature registration to guiding templates or chemical prepatterns. Here we report measurements of DSA placement error for lamellar block copolymer domains indexed to specific lines in the surface chemical prepattern for spatial frequency tripling and quadrupling. These measurements are made possible by the use of an inorganic domain-selective prepattern material that may be imaged upon polymer removal after DSA and a prepattern design incorporating a single feature serving as an in situ registration mark that is identifiable by pattern symmetry in both the prepattern and resulting self-assembled pattern. The results indicate that DSA placement error is correlated with average prepattern line width as well as prepattern pitch uniformity. Finally, the magnitude of DSA placement error anticipated for a uniform, optimized prepattern is estimated.

In(Ga)As/GaAs site‐controlled quantum dots with tailored morphology and high optical quality

AbstractIn this article, we describe epitaxial growth and investigations of optical properties of In(Ga)As/GaAs site‐controlled quantum dots (QDs) fabricated on (001)‐oriented GaAs substrates. The QD nucleation is directed by pre‐patterning planar GaAs surfaces with shallow nanoholes. The focus of this work lies on the realization of arrays of site‐controlled QDs (SCQDs) with a tailored morphology and optical properties comparable to QDs fabricated on planar substrates. By maximizing the migration length during QD deposition, we were able to increase the QD pitches to values exceeding device dimensions of typical semiconductor microresonators. The introduction of a seeding layer in our growth scheme allows us to extend the vertical distance between the QDs and the etched nucleation centres to about 20 nm without suffering from nanoholes being occupied by multiple QDs. Furthermore, the extended distance between the QD layer and the re‐growth interface allows us to preserve excellent optical properties of the single QDs as probed in photoluminescence with an average single QD related linewidth of 133 µeV and minimum values as low as 25 µeV for non‐resonant excitation. The high yield of optically active QDs on the pre‐defined nucleation positions is studied by cathodoluminescence (CL) with high spatial resolution. We find emission from single SCQDs on more than 90% of the nucleation centres, which is a pre‐requisite for any scalable QD‐device fabrication scheme.

Optical and RF stability transfer in a monolithic coupled-cavity colliding pulse mode-locked quantum dot laser

We report a novel quantum dot based laser design where a stable high-Q master laser is used to injection lock a passively mode-locked monolithic colliding pulse slave laser. Coupling between the crossed orthogonal laser cavities is achieved through a common monolithically integrated saturable absorber, which results in the locking and hence reduction of the timing jitter as well as the long-term frequency drift of the slave laser. A stable 30 GHz optical pulse train is generated with more than 10 dB reduction in the RF noise level at 20 MHz offset and close to 3 times reduction in the 10 dB average optical linewidth of the slave laser.

Site-controlled InP/GaInP quantum dots emitting single photons in the red spectral range

We report on site-controlled growth of InP/GaInP quantum dots (QDs) on GaAs substrates. The QD nucleation sites are defined by shallow nanoholes etched into a GaInP layer. Optimized growth conditions allow us to realize QD arrays with excellent long range ordering on nanohole periods as large as 1.25 µm. Single QD lines with an average linewidth of 553 µeV and best values below 200 µeV are observed. Photoluminescence spectroscopy reveals excitonic and biexcitonic emission in the wavelength range of about 670 nm (1.85 eV) with an exciton-biexciton splitting of 1.8 meV. Second-order photon-autocorrelation measurements show clear single photon emission with g(2)(0) = 0.13 ± 0.01.

Abnormal Low Linewidth Temperature Broadening Observed for YVO4:Eu Nanocrystals

Since the temperature broadening of spectral lines is determined by the phonon scattering by impurity centers, a modification of the phonon spectrum can affect the temperature broadening suppression. So, by controlling the nanocrystal size, the effect of "cluster freezing", namely, the abnormal temperature broadening of weak spectral lines up to room temperature, can be achieved. The spectral lines of impurity ions in YVO4:Eu3+ nanocrystals remain abnormally narrow (10 cm–1) even at room temperature, whereas, for the bulk crystals, the average linewidth at room temperature is 70 cm–1. This narrowness of spectral lines can be clearly explained by the manifestation of the phonon spectrum depletion in nanocrystals. The temperature dependences of linewidths obtained for nanocrystals with various sizes exhibit the strong dependence of the spectral line width on the sizes of a nanocrystal and differ from those for a bulk crystal.

DETAILED X-RAY LINE PROPERTIES OF θ2Ori A IN QUIESCENCE

We investigate X-ray emission properties of the peculiar X-ray source Theta2 Ori A in the Orion trapezium region using more than 500 ksec of HETGS spectral data in the quiescent state. The amount of exposure provides tight constraints on several important diagnostics involving O, Ne, Mg, and Si line flux ratios from He-like ion triplets, resonance line ratios of the H- and He-like lines and line widths. Accounting for the influence of the strong UV radiation field of the O9.7V star we can now place the He-like line origin well within two stellar radii of the O-star's surface. The lines are resolved with average line widths of 341+-38 km/s confirming a line origin relatively close to the stellar surface. In the framework of standard wind models this implies a rather weak, low opacity wind restricting wind shocks to temperatures not much larger than 2x10^6 K. The emission measure distribution of the X-ray spectrum, as reported previously, includes very high temperature components which are not easily explained in this framework. The X-ray properties are also not consistent with coronal emissions from an unseen low-mass companion nor with typical signatures from colliding wind interactions. The properties are more consistent with X-ray signatures observed in the massive Trapezium star Theta1 Ori C which has recently been successfully modeled with a magnetically confined wind model.

SOLAR-LIKE OSCILLATIONS IN KIC 11395018 AND KIC 11234888 FROM 8 MONTHS OFKEPLERDATA

We analyze the photometric short-cadence data obtained with the Kepler Mission during the first eight months of observations of two solar-type stars of spectral types G and F: KIC 11395018 and KIC 11234888 respectively, the latter having a lower signal-to-noise ratio compared to the former. We estimate global parameters of the acoustic (p) modes such as the average large and small frequency separations, the frequency of the maximum of the p-mode envelope and the average linewidth of the acoustic modes. We were able to identify and to measure 22 p-mode frequencies for the first star and 16 for the second one even though the signal-to-noise ratios of these stars are rather low. We also derive some information about the stellar rotation periods from the analyses of the low-frequency parts of the power spectral densities. A model-independent estimation of the mean density, mass and radius are obtained using the scaling laws. We emphasize the importance of continued observations for the stars with low signal-to-noise ratio for an improved characterization of the oscillation modes. Our results offer a preview of what will be possible for many stars with the long data sets obtained during the remainder of the mission.