TY - JOUR A1 - Jordan, Grace A1 - McCarthy, Denis N. A1 - Schlepple, N. A1 - Krissler, Jan A1 - Schroeder, H. A1 - Kofod, Guggi T1 - Actuated micro-optical submount using a dielectric elastomer actuator JF - IEEE ASME transactions on mechatronics N2 - Analysis of the operating characteristics of a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) submount for the high-precision positioning of optical components in one dimension is presented. Precise alignment of a single-mode fiber is demonstrated and variation of the sensitivity of the submount motion by changing the bias voltage is confirmed. A comparison of the performance of the DEA submount with a piezoelectric alignment stage is made, which demonstrates that DEAs could present a very attractive, low-cost alternative to currently used manual technologies in overcoming the hurdle of expensive packaging of single-mode optical components. KW - Actuators KW - manufacturing automation KW - optical interconnections KW - packaging KW - position control Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2010.2089991 SN - 1083-4435 VL - 16 IS - 1 SP - 98 EP - 102 PB - Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Kuznetsov, Alexey A1 - Rychkov, Andrey T1 - Electret properties of polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene films with chemically modified surface JF - IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation N2 - This paper investigates the effect of chemical surface modification of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) films on their electret properties. PTFE films were subjected to wet treatment with three different chemicals: orthophosphoric acid, tetrabutyl titanate and tetraethoxysilane. The technique based on the principles of molecular layer deposition (MLD) method was used to modify the surface of LDPE films with phosphorus trichloride vapors. The surfaces of the films were then corona charged, and the electret charge stability was studied by means of isothermal and thermally stimulated surface potential decay. Both PTFE and LDPE films, after the surface treatment, displayed a considerable enhancement in the charge stability compared to the virgin samples. It is important to note that the enhancement of the charge stability was achieved in the positively charged PTFE films, a result important to practical applications. We attribute this effect of charge stabilization to the formation of new energetically deep traps on the modified surface. Decrease in molecular mobility, due to attachment of new chemical structures to the surface macromolecules, may also contribute to the overall growth of the charge stability. KW - Electrets KW - surface treatment KW - charge stability KW - charge carrier processes KW - polytetrafluoroethylene KW - polyethylene Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2011.5704487 SN - 1070-9878 VL - 18 IS - 1 SP - 8 EP - 14 PB - Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mellinger, Axel A1 - Mellinger, Olena T1 - Breakdown threshold of dielectric barrier discharges in ferroelectrets where Paschen's law fails JF - IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation N2 - The piezoelectric activity of charged cellular foams (so-called ferroelectrets) is compared against simulations based on a multi-layer electromechanical model and Townsend's model of Paschen breakdown, with the distribution of void heights determined from scanning electron micrographs. While the calculated space charge hysteresis curves are in good agreement with experimental data, the onset of piezoelectric activity is observed at significantly higher electric fields than predicted by Paschen's law. One likely explanation is that the commonly accepted Paschen curve for electric breakdown in air poorly describes the critical electric field for dielectric barrier discharges in micrometer-size cavities. KW - Ferroelectrets KW - dielectric barrier discharges KW - piezoelectricity KW - Paschen's law Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2011.5704491 SN - 1070-9878 VL - 18 IS - 1 SP - 43 EP - 48 PB - Inst. of Electr. and Electronics Engineers CY - Piscataway ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fiehler, Katja A1 - Bannert, Michael M. A1 - Bischoff, Matthias A1 - Blecker, Carlo A1 - Stark, Rudolf A1 - Vaitl, Dieter A1 - Franz, Volker H. A1 - Roesler, Frank T1 - Working memory maintenance of grasp-target information in the human posterior parietal cortex JF - NeuroImage : a journal of brain function N2 - Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was applied to identify cortical areas involved in maintaining target information in working memory used for an upcoming grasping action. Participants had to grasp with their thumb and index finger of the dominant right hand three-dimensional objects of different size and orientation. Reaching-to-grasp movements were performed without visual feedback either immediately after object presentation or after a variable delay of 2-12 s. The right inferior parietal cortex demonstrated sustained neural activity throughout the delay, which overlapped with activity observed during encoding of the grasp target. Immediate and delayed grasping activated similar motor-related brain areas and showed no differential activity. The results suggest that the right inferior parietal cortex plays an important functional role in working memory maintenance of grasp-related information. Moreover, our findings confirm the assumption that brain areas engaged in maintaining information are also involved in encoding the same information, and thus extend previous findings on working memory function of the posterior parietal cortex in saccadic behavior to reach-to-grasp movements. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.09.080 SN - 1053-8119 VL - 54 IS - 3 SP - 2401 EP - 2411 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Seiss, Martin A1 - Spahn, Frank T1 - Hydrodynamics of saturn's dense rings JF - Mathematical modelling of natural phenomena N2 - The space missions Voyager and Cassini together with earthbound observations revealed a wealth of structures in Saturn's rings. There are, for example, waves being excited at ring positions which are in orbital resonance with Saturn's moons. Other structures can be assigned to embedded moons like empty gaps, moon induced wakes or S-shaped propeller features. Furthermore, irregular radial structures are observed in the range from 10 meters until kilometers. Here some of these structures will be discussed in the frame of hydrodynamical modeling of Saturn's dense rings. For this purpose we will characterize the physical properties of the ring particle ensemble by mean field quantities and point to the special behavior of the transport coefficients. We show that unperturbed rings can become unstable and how diffusion acts in the rings. Additionally, the alternative streamline formalism is introduced to describe perturbed regions of dense rings with applications to the wake damping and the dispersion relation of the density waves. KW - granular gas KW - instabilities KW - hydrodynamics KW - planetary rings Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/mmnp/20116409 SN - 0973-5348 SN - 1760-6101 VL - 6 IS - 4 SP - 191 EP - 218 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kollosche, Matthias A1 - Stoyanov, Hristiyan A1 - Laflamme, Simon A1 - Kofod, Guggi T1 - Strongly enhanced sensitivity in elastic capacitive strain sensors JF - Journal of materials chemistry N2 - Strain sensors based on dielectric elastomer capacitors function by the direct coupling of mechanical deformations with the capacitance. The coupling can be improved by enhancing the relative permittivity of the dielectric elastomer. Here, this is carried out through the grafting of conducting polymer (poly-aniline) to the elastomer backbone, leading to molecular composites. An enhancement in capacitance response of 46 times is observed. This could help to extend the possible range of miniaturization towards even smaller device features. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c0jm03786a SN - 0959-9428 VL - 21 IS - 23 SP - 8292 EP - 8294 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sepp, T. A1 - Tempel, E. A1 - Gramann, M. A1 - Nurmi, P. A1 - Haupt, Michael T1 - Studying the patterns of the universe JF - Baltic astronomy N2 - The SDSS galaxy catalog is one of the best databases for galaxy distribution studies. The SDSS DR8 data is used to construct the galaxy cluster catalog. We construct the clusters from the calculated luminosity density field and identify denser regions. Around these peak regions we construct galaxy clusters. Another interesting question in cosmology is how observable galaxy structures are connected to underlying dark matter distribution. To study this we compare the SDSS DR7 galaxy group catalog with galaxy groups obtained from the semi-analytical Millennium N-Body simulation. Specifically, we compare the group richness, virial radius, maximum separation and velocity dispersion distributions and find a relatively good agreement between the mock catalog and observations. This strongly supports the idea, that the dark matter distribution and galaxies in the semi-analytical models and observations are very closely linked. KW - galaxies: groups, clusters KW - cosmology: dark matter, large-scale structure of the Universe Y1 - 2011 SN - 1392-0049 VL - 20 IS - 2 SP - 309 EP - 312 PB - Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy CY - Moletai ER - TY - THES A1 - Krey, Olaf T1 - Zur Rolle der Mathematik in der Physik : Wissenschaftstheoretische Aspekte und Vorstellungen Physiklernender T1 - The role of mathematics in physics : considerations from the philosophy of science and learners' conceptions N2 - Mathematik spielt im Physikunterricht eine nicht unerhebliche Rolle - wenn auch eine zwiespältige. Oft wird sie sogar zum Hindernis beim Lernen von Physik und kann ihr emanzipatorisches Potenzial nicht entfalten. Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt zwei Bausteine für eine begründete Konzeption zum Umgang mit Mathematik beim Lernen von Physik zur Verfügung. Im Theorieteil der Arbeit werden zum Einen wissenschaftstheoretische Aspekte der Rolle der Mathematik in der Physik aufgearbeitet und der physikdidaktischen Forschungsgemeinschaft im Zusammenhang zugänglich gemacht. Zum anderen werden Forschungsergebnisse zu Vorstellungen Lernender über Physik und Mathematik sowie im Bereich der Epistemologie zusammengestellt. Im empirischen Teil der Arbeit werden Vorstellungen zur Rolle der Mathematik in der Physik von Schülerinnen und Schülern der Klassenstufen 10 und 12 sowie Physik-Lehramtstudierenden im Grundstudium mit Hilfe eines Fragebogens erhoben und unter Verwendung inhaltsanalytischer bzw. statistischer Methoden ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen unter Anderem, dass Mathematik im Physikunterricht entgegen gängiger Meinungen bei den Lernenden nicht negativ, aber zumindest bei jüngeren Lernenden formal und algorithmisch konnotiert ist. N2 - Mathematics plays an important, but ambivalent role in the physics classroom. Often mathematics becomes an obstacle in learning physics and cannot reveal its emancipatory potential. This thesis provides two components of a well-grounded conception for handling mathematics in the learning of physics. In the theoretical part of the thesis epistemological aspects of the role of mathematics in physics are being processed and made accessible to the community of physics education researchers. At the same time, research data on learners’ epistemological beliefs about physics and mathematics are compiled. In the empirical part of the thesis a questionnaire was designed to collect data on beliefs about the role of mathematics in physics from pupils of grade 10 and 12 as well as undergraduate physics teacher students. Content-analytical and statistical methods have been applied in the processing of the questionnaires. The results revealed, among others, that mathematics in the physics classroom is not, against common belief, evaluated negatively by learners. Yet, at least younger learners perceive the use of mathematics in physics to be mainly formal and algorithmic. KW - Physik KW - Wissenschaftstheorie KW - Vorstellungen KW - Mathematikdidaktik KW - Physikdidaktik KW - physics KW - philosophy of science KW - conceptions KW - mathematics education KW - science education Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-59412 ER - TY - THES A1 - Döring, Sebastian T1 - Oberflächengitter in azobenzenhaltigen Schichten für organische DFB-Laser T1 - Surface relief gratings in azobenzene containing layers for organic DFB lasers N2 - Ein neuentwickeltes azobenzenhaltiges Material, das auf einem supramolekularen Konzept basiert, wird bezüglich seiner Strukturbildung während einer holografischen Belichtung bei 488 nm untersucht. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei eindimensionale, sinusförmige Reliefs mit Periodizitäten kleiner 500 nm. Es wird gezeigt, wie der Grad der Vernetzung der photosensitiven Schicht die Strukturbildung in diesem Größenbereich beeinflusst. Zur Maximierung der Strukturtiefe werden gezielt Prozessparameter der Belichtung sowie Materialparameter variiert. Unter Standardbedingungen und moderaten Belichtungsintensitäten von ca. 200 mW/cm² bilden sich innerhalb weniger Minuten bei einer Periode von 400 nm Strukturtiefen von bis zu 80nm aus. Durch die Beeinflussung von Materialparametern, wie Oberflächenspannung und Viskosität, wird die maximale Strukturtiefe auf 160nm verdoppelt. Durch Mehrfachbelichtungen wird auch die Bildung von zweidimensionalen Gittern untersucht. Die Originalstrukturen werden in einem Abformverfahren kopiert und in Schichten von unter UV-Licht aushärtenden Polymeren übertragen. Durch das Abformen kommt es zu einer geringfügigen Verschlechterung der Oberflächenqualität sowie Abnahme der Strukturtiefe. Dieser Verlust wird durch eine Verringerung der Prozesstemperatur verringert. Mithilfe kopierter Oberflächengitter werden organische Distributed Feedback-(DFB)-Laser zweiter Ordnung hergestellt, um den Einfluss von Gitterparametern auf die Emissionseigenschaften dieser Laser zu untersuchen. Dazu erfolgt zunächst die Charakterisierung der optischen Verstärkungseigenschaften ausgewählter organischer Emittermaterialien mittels der Variablen Strichlängenmethode. Das mit dem Laserfarbstoff Pyrromthen567 (PM567) dotierte Polystyrol (PS) zeigt dabei trotz konzentrationsbedingter geringer Absorption eine vergleichsweise geringe Gewinnschwelle von 50µJ/cm² bei ca. 575 nm. Das aktive Gast-Wirt-System der konjugierten Polymere MEH-PPV und F8BT* weist eine hohe Absorption und eine kleine Gewinnschwelle von 2,5 µJ/cm² bei 630 nm auf. Dieses Verhalten spiegelt sich auch in den Emissionseigenschaften der damit hergestellten DFB-Laser wieder. Die Dicke der aktiven Schichten liegen im Bereich hunderter Nanometer und wird so eingestellt, dass sich nur die transversalen Grundmoden im Wellenleiter ausbreiten können. Die Gitterperiode sind so gewählt, dass ein Lichtmode im Verstärkungsbereich des Emittermaterials liegt. Die Emissionslinien der Laser sind mit FWHM-Werten von bis zu 0,3 nm spektral sehr schmalbandig und weisen auf eine sehr gute Gitterqualität hin. Die Untersuchungen liefern minimale Laserschwellen und maximale differentielle Effizienzen von 4,0µJ/cm² und 8,4% für MEH-PPV in F8BT* (bei ca. 640nm) sowie 80 µJ/cm² und 0,9% für PM567 in PS (bei ca. 575 nm). Die Vergrößerung der Strukturtiefe von 40nm auf 80nm in mit MEH-PPV dotierten F8BT*-Lasern zu einem deutlichen Anstieg der ausgekoppelten Energie sowie der differentiellen Effizienz und einem geringen Absinken der Laserschwelle. Dies ist ein Resultat der erhöhten Kopplung von Lasermode und Gitter. Die Emission von DFB-Lasern mit zweidimensionalen Oberflächengittern zeigen eine Verringerung der Divergenz aber kein Einfluss auf die Laserschwelle. Abschließend erfolgt eine Vermessung der Photostabilität von DFB-Lasern unter verschiedenen Bedingungen. Das Einbringen eines konjugierten Polymers in eine aktive Matrix sowie der Betrieb in einer Stickstoffatmosphäre führen dabei zu einer Erhöhung der Lebensdauer auf über eine Million Pulse. Durch die Kombination von Oberflächengittern in PDMS-Filmen mit elektroaktiven Substraten wird eine elektrisch steuerbare Deformation des Beugungsgitters erreicht und auf einen DFB-Laser übertragen. Die spannungsinduzierte Verformung wird zunächst in Beugungsexperimenten charakterisiert und ein optimaler Arbeitspunkt bestimmt. Mit den beiden Elastomeren SEBS12 und VHB4910 werden in den Gittern maximale Periodenänderungen von 1,3% bzw. 3,4% bei einer Steuerspannung von 2 kV erreicht. Der Unterschied resultiert aus den verschiedenen Elastizitätsmoduln der Materialien. Übertragen auf DFB-Laser resultiert eine Variation der Gitterperiode senkrecht zu den Gitterlinien in einer kontinuierlichen Verschiebung der Emissionswellenlänge. Mit einem Spannungssignal von 3,25 kV wird die schmalbandige Emission eines elastischen DFB-Lasers kontinuierlich um fast 50nm von 604 nm zu 557 nm hin verschoben. Aus dem Deformationsverhalten sowohl der reinen Beugungsgitter als auch der Laser werden Rückschlüsse auf die Elastizität der verwendeten Materialien gezogen und erlauben Verbesserungen der Bauteile. N2 - The photoinduced surface relief formation in a newly developed azobenzene containing material is investigated. A photosensitive film based on a supramolecular material concept is illuminated in a holographic setup with light at 488 nm leading to sinusoidal surface structures. It can be shown how the degree of network formation within the material influences structure formation at periods below 500nm. Different material and process parameters are varied to determine maximum possible structure amplitude. At moderate recording conditions and illumination intensities of 200 mW/cm² maximum structure amplitudes of 80 nm are formed within several minutes at periods of approximately 400 nm. Changing material parameters like surface tension and viscosity leads to an increase of maximum amplitude to 160 nm. Additionally, twodimensional structures are fabricated by multiple recording steps. Original surface structures are copied by soft lithography methods into films of UV cured polymers. This replication leads to a decrease of structure contrast and increase of surface roughness. It is shown that structure contrast is preserved by reduction of process temperature. Organic second order distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are prepared with the help of replicated surface gratings covered with organic active layers with thicknesses of several hundred nanometers. The lasers are investigated regarding the influence of grating amplitude on laser threshold and slope efficiency. For this, the optical gain of two green/red emitter materials, polystyrene (PS) doped with laser dye pyrromethene567 (PM567) and active guest host system of conjugated polymers MEH-PPV and F8BT*, is measured. PS doped with PM567 shows relatively low gain threshold of 50 µJ/cm² at 575 nm caused by the low dye concentration while F8BT* doped with MEH-PPV shows threshold gain of 2.5 µJ/cm² at 630 nm. Similar behavior is observed during laser action. Following Bragg-condition grating periods at approximately 400nm lead to laser emission within the gain spectra of the materials. DFB lasers show single mode narrow line emission with FWHMs of down to 0.3nm. This is a result of high grating quality. Lasers based on MEH-PPV-F8BT* exhibit laser thresholds and slope efficiencies of 4.0µJ/cm² and 8.4%, respectively. PM567-PS lasers exhibit 80 µJ/cm² and 0.9%. An increase of grating amplitude of a MEH-PPV-F8BT*-DFB laser from 40nm to 80nm leads to a considerable increase of energy output and a slight decrease of laser threshold. This is a result of an increase of coupling between light mode and grating which relates to an increase of reflectivity. The use of a two dimensional grating leads to a decrease of divergence angle of laser emission but shows no influence on laser threshold. Finally, laser lifetime is observed under different conditions. Doping the conjugated polymer MEH-PPV in an active matrix in combination with the allocation of nitrogen atmosphere leads to an prolongation of half life time to several million pulses. The combination of elastic surface relief gratings with electro active substrates enables electrical controlled deformation of the surface structure. This deformation is characterized by diffraction measurements. At optimal working conditions electro active substrates based on elastomers SEBS12 and VHB4910 show maximum grating deformation of 1.3% und 3.4% at actuation voltages of 2kV, respectively. The different results are caused by the different elastic modulus of the elastomer materials. The transfer of deformation principle to elastic DFB lasers leads to a continuously shift of emission wavelength. At an actuation voltage of 3.25kV an elastic DFB laser based on polyvinylacetate doped with PM567 shows a shift of nearly 50 nm, from 604 nm to 557 nm. Deformation behavior of grating and laser allow to draw conclusions on elasticity of the material and with this is tool for the improvement of the device. KW - Oberflächengitter KW - Azobenzen KW - Holografie KW - DFB-Laser KW - Wellenlängenverschiebung KW - surface relief grating KW - azobenzene KW - holography KW - DFB laser KW - wavelength shift Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-59211 ER - TY - THES A1 - Theilmann, Florian T1 - Die Kunst der Untersuchung : Essays zu einem erscheinungsorientierten Physikunterricht T1 - The art of inquiry : essays on phenomenological science teaching N2 - Die vorliegende Arbeit versammelt zwei einleitende Kapitel und zehn Essays, die sich als kritisch-konstruktive Beiträge zu einem "erlebenden Verstehen" (Buck) von Physik lesen lassen. Die traditionelle Anlage von Schulphysik zielt auf eine systematische Darstellung naturwissenschaftlichen Wissens, das dann an ausgewählten Beispielen angewendet wird: Schulexperimente beweisen die Aussagen der Systematik (oder machen sie wenigstens plausibel), ausgewählte Phänomene werden erklärt. In einem solchen Rahmen besteht jedoch leicht die Gefahr, den Bezug zur Lebenswirklichkeit oder den Interessen der Schüler zu verlieren. Diese Problematik ist seit mindestens 90 Jahren bekannt, didaktische Antworten - untersuchendes Lernen, Kontextualisierung, Schülerexperimente etc. - adressieren allerdings eher Symptome als Ursachen. Naturwissenschaft wird dadurch spannend, dass sie ein spezifisch investigatives Weltverhältnis stiftet: man müsste gleichsam nicht Wissen, sondern "Fragen lernen" (und natürlich auch, wie Antworten gefunden werden...). Doch wie kann dergleichen auf dem Niveau von Schulphysik aussehen, was für einen theoretischen Rahmen kann es hier geben? In den gesammelten Arbeiten wird einigen dieser Spuren nachgegangen: Der Absage an das zu modellhafte Denken in der phänomenologischen Optik, der Abgrenzung formal-mathematischen Denkens gegen wirklichkeitsnähere Formen naturwissenschaftlicher Denkbewegungen und Evidenz, dem Potential alternativer Interpretationen von "Physikunterricht", der Frage nach dem "Verstehen" u.a. Dabei werden nicht nur Bezüge zum modernen bildungstheoretischen Paradigma der Kompetenz sichtbar, sondern es wird auch versucht, eine ganze Reihe konkrete (schul-)physikalische Beispiele dafür zu geben, was passiert, wenn nicht schon gewusste Antworten Thema werden, sondern Expeditionen, die sich der physischen Welt widmen: Die Schlüsselbegriffe des Fachs, die Methoden der Datenerhebung und Interpretation, die Such- und Denkbewegungen kommen dabei auf eine Weise zur Sprache, die sich nicht auf die Fachsystematik abstützen möchte, sondern diese motivieren, konturieren und verständlich machen will. N2 - This book is a collection of two introductory chapters and ten essays that address questions concerning "experiential learning" in physics. Traditionally, physics education has been trying to convey a systematic picture of salient scientific knowledge, which would then be applied to selected experiments and phenomena. However, within such a framework, students' real life experiences and interests can hardly be related to. This problem is well known, but typical solutions within science education address merely the methods and conditions of learning, thereby treating symptoms and missing the underlying problem. For our discussion we have chosen a different point of departure: The fascination of science arises from its investigative nature, which allows us to relate to our world in novel ways. Accordingly, we should teach how to inquire nature, rather than giving canonical answers. What would be the practical consequences of such an approach, and what would the theoretical framework look like? These collected essays investigate a number of approaches toward this issue: phenomenological optics and its rejection of kinematic pictures, the distinction between mathematical reasoning and scientific evidence, the potential of non-conventional interpretations of science teaching, the meaning of "understanding" etc. This discussion merges into the current discourse about competence, while illustrating a kind of physics teaching that encourages "expeditions" into the realm of physics. Here, the key concepts, methods of investigation, and ways of reasoning are not simply based on the established edifice of physics, but rather serve to motivate, clarify, and elucidate its structures and practices. KW - Physikdidaktik KW - Phänomenologie KW - Verstehen KW - Unterrichtsvorschläge KW - Wissenschaftstheorie KW - Physics Education KW - Phenomenology KW - Understanding KW - Science Curriculum KW - Philosophy of Science Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-56145 ER - TY - THES A1 - Husemann, Bernd T1 - The AGN-host galaxy connection : new insights from the extended ionised gas T1 - Die AGN-Galaxien Verbindung : neue Erkenntnisse durch das ausgedehnte ionisierte Gas N2 - Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are powered by gas accretion onto supermassive Black Holes (BH). The luminosity of AGN can exceed the integrated luminosity of their host galaxies by orders of magnitude, which are then classified as Quasi-Stellar Objects (QSOs). Some mechanisms are needed to trigger the nuclear activity in galaxies and to feed the nuclei with gas. Among several possibilities, such as gravitational interactions, bar instabilities, and smooth gas accretion from the environment, the dominant process has yet to be identified. Feedback from AGN may be important an important ingredient of the evolution of galaxies. However, the details of this coupling between AGN and their host galaxies remain unclear. In this work we aim to investigate the connection between the AGN and their host galaxies by studying the properties of the extendend ionised gas around AGN. Our study is based on observations of ~50 luminous, low-redshift (z<0.3) QSOs using the novel technique of integral field spectroscopy that combines imaging and spectroscopy. After spatially separating the emission of AGN-ionised gas from HII regions, ionised solely by recently formed massive stars, we demonstrate that the specific star formation rates in several disc-dominated AGN hosts are consistent with those of normal star forming galaxies, while others display no detectable star formation activity. Whether the star formation has been actively suppressed in those particular host galaxies by the AGN, or their gas content is intrinsically low, remains an open question. By studying the kinematics of the ionised gas, we find evidence for non-gravitational motions and outflows on kpc scales only in a few objects. The gas kinematics in the majority of objects however indicate a gravitational origin. It suggests that the importance of AGN feedback may have been overrated in theoretical works, at least at low redshifts. The [OIII] line is the strongest optical emission line for AGN-ionised gas, which can be extended over several kpc scales, usually called the Narrow-Line Region (NLR). We perform a systematic investigation of the NLR size and determine a NLR size-luminosity relation that is consistent with the scenario of a constant ionisation parameter throughout the NLR. We show that previous narrow-band imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope underestimated the NLR size by a factor of >2 and that the continuum AGN luminosity is better correlated with the NLR size than the [OIII] luminosity. These affects may account for the different NLR size-luminosity relations reported in previous studies. On the other hand, we do not detect extended NLRs around all QSOs, and demonstrate that the detection of extended NLRs goes along with radio emission. We employ emission line ratios as a diagnostic for the abundance of heavy elements in the gas, i.e. its metallicity, and find that the radial metallicity gradients are always flatter than in inactive disc-dominated galaxies. This can be interpreted as evidence for radial gas flows from the outskirts of these galaxies to the nucleus. Recent or ongoing galaxy interactions are likely responsible for this effect and may turn out to be a common prerequisite for QSO activity. The metallicity of bulge-dominated hosts are systematically lower than their disc-dominated counterparts, which we interpret as evidence for minor mergers, supported by our detailed study of the bulge-dominated host of the luminous QSO HE 1029-1401, or smooth gas accretion from the environment. In this line another new discovery is that HE 2158-0107 at z=0.218 is the most metal poor luminous QSO ever observed. Together with a large (30kpc) extended structure of low metallicity ionised gas, we propose smooth cold gas accretion as the most likely scenario. Theoretical studies suggested that this process is much more important at earlier epochs of the universe, so that HE 2158-0107 might be an ideal laboratory to study this mechanism of galaxy and BH growth at low redshift more detailed in the furture. N2 - Aktive Galaxienkerne (AGN) entstehen durch die Akkretion von Gas auf massive Schwarze Löcher, welche im Zentrum jeder Galaxie mit einer spherodialen Komponente vermutet werden. Die Leuchtkraft eines AGN kann die seiner gesamten Muttergalaxie um Größenordnungen übersteigen. In diesem Fall werden AGN oft als Quasi-Stellare Objekte (Quasare) bezeichnet. Spezielle Mechanismen müssen für das Auslösen dieser Kernaktivität in Galaxien verantwortlich sein. Verschiedene Prozesse wurden bereits identifiziert, aber der entscheidende Mechanismus wurde bisher noch nicht entdeckt. Die Wechselwirkung mit einem AGN könnte außerdem einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Entwicklung von Galaxien haben. Es ist noch unklar wie diese Wechselwirkung genau abläuft und ob es die Sternentstehung in Galaxien beeinflusst. In dieser Arbeit studieren wir die Eigenschaften des ausgedehnten ionisierten Gases in AGN-Muttergalaxien, um mögliche Wechselwirkungen zu untersuchen. Wir benutzen dazu eine Stichprobe von ~50 Quasaren bei geringer Rotverschiebung (z<0.3), die mit der neuartigen Technik der Integralfeld-Spektroskopie beobachtet wurden. Diese Technik kombiniert bildgebende und spektroskopische Verfahren. Wir können mit unserer Analyse zeigen, dass die spezifische Sternentstehungsrate in einigen Scheiben-dominierten AGN-Muttergalaxien vergleichbar mit denen von normalen Galaxien ohne Kernaktivität ist. Allerdings können wir in einigen AGN-Muttergalaxien keine Anzeichen von Sternentstehung feststellen. Ob Sternentstehung in diesen Galaxien momentan durch die Wechselwirkung mit dem AGN unterdrückt wird, ist daher nicht eindeutig. Hinweise auf Gasausflüsse liefert die Kinematik des ionisierten Gases für einige wenige Objekte, doch die Kinematik für die meisten AGN-Muttergalaxien kann allein durch das Wirken der Gravitation erklärt werden. Daraus schließen wir, dass der Einfluss von AGN auf ihre Muttergalaxien geringer sein könnte als theoretisch angenommen wird. Die [OIII] Emissionslinie ist die stärkste optische Linie für AGN-ionisiertes Gas und kann sich über eine Region von mehreren kpc vom Kern erstrecken, die als "Narrow-Line Region" (NLR) bezeichnet wird. Durch eine systematische Untersuchung der NLR-Ausdehnung können wir eine Beziehung zwischen NLR-Radius und AGN-Leuchtkraft bestimmen. Diese Relation ist konsistent mit einem konstanten Ionisationsparameter über die gesamte Ausdehnung der NLR. Frühere Studien mit dem Hubble Weltraumteleskop unterschätzten die Größe der NLR um mehr als einen Faktor 2. Andererseits können wir nicht für alle Quasare eine ausgedehnte NLR nachweisen, wobei eine NLR-Detektion bei einer höheren Radioleuchtkraft des Quasars wahrscheinlicher ist. Dies deutet auf eine Wechselwirkung eines Radio-Jets mit dem kernumgebenden Gas hin. Wir benutzen Emissionslinien des ionisierten Gases, um den Anteil von schweren Elementen im Gas, die so genannte Metallizität, zu bestimmen. Dabei finden wir, dass die radialen Metallizitätsgradienten in Scheiben-dominierten AGN-Muttergalaxien deutlich flacher sind als in vergleichbaren Galaxien ohne Kernaktivität, was wir als Anzeichen für radialen Gastransport vom Rand der Galaxien zum Kern interpretieren. Dies könnte durch kürzliche oder immer noch andauernde gravitative Wechselwirkungen zwischen Nachbargalaxien entstanden sein und stellt eventuell eine Voraussetzung für Kernaktivität dar. Sehr interessant ist unser Ergebnis, dass die ellptischen AGN-Muttergalaxien eine geringere Metallizität aufweisen als die Spiralgalaxien. Dies könnte z.B. durch das Verschmelzen mit kleinen Nachbargalaxien induziert werden, welche eine intrinsisch geringe Metallizität aufweisen. Am Beispiel der elliptischen Muttergalaxie des Quasars HE 1029-1401 können wir durch eine detaillierte Analyse des ionisierten Gases verschiedene Indizien für einen solchen Prozess nachweisen. Eine weiteres Resultat dieser Arbeit ist die Entdeckung eines leuchtkräftigen Quasars mit der geringsten Metallizität, die bisher für solche Objekte nachgewiesen werden konnte. Wir interpretieren die geringe Metallizität und die Ausdehnung des ionisierten Gases über 30kpc als deutliche Indizien für die Akkretion von intergalaktischem Gas. Dieser Prozess findet viel häufiger im frühen Universum statt. HE 2158-0107 könnte daher ein ideales Objekt sein, um diesen Prozess im nahen Universum detaillierter studieren zu können. KW - Quasare KW - Integralfeld-Spectroskopie KW - Galaxien KW - Interstellares Medium KW - Quasars KW - Integral field spectroscopy KW - Galaxies KW - Interstellar medium Y1 - 2011 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-55556 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blaha, Karen A. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Rosenblum, Michael A1 - Clark, Matthew T. A1 - Rusin, Craig G. A1 - Hudson, John L. T1 - Reconstruction of two-dimensional phase dynamics from experiments on coupled oscillators JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - Phase models are a powerful method to quantify the coupled dynamics of nonlinear oscillators from measured data. We use two phase modeling methods to quantify the dynamics of pairs of coupled electrochemical oscillators, based on the phases of the two oscillators independently and the phase difference, respectively. We discuss the benefits of the two-dimensional approach relative to the one-dimensional approach using phase difference. We quantify the dependence of the coupling functions on the coupling magnitude and coupling time delay. We show differences in synchronization predictions of the two models using a toy model. We show that the two-dimensional approach reveals behavior not detected by the one-dimensional model in a driven experimental oscillator. This approach is broadly applicable to quantify interactions between nonlinear oscillators, especially where intrinsic oscillator sensitivity and coupling evolve with time. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.046201 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 84 IS - 4 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mulansky, Mario A1 - Ahnert, Karsten A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Shepelyansky, Dima L. T1 - Strong and weak chaos in weakly nonintegrable many-body hamiltonian systems JF - Journal of statistical physics N2 - We study properties of chaos in generic one-dimensional nonlinear Hamiltonian lattices comprised of weakly coupled nonlinear oscillators by numerical simulations of continuous-time systems and symplectic maps. For small coupling, the measure of chaos is found to be proportional to the coupling strength and lattice length, with the typical maximal Lyapunov exponent being proportional to the square root of coupling. This strong chaos appears as a result of triplet resonances between nearby modes. In addition to strong chaos we observe a weakly chaotic component having much smaller Lyapunov exponent, the measure of which drops approximately as a square of the coupling strength down to smallest couplings we were able to reach. We argue that this weak chaos is linked to the regime of fast Arnold diffusion discussed by Chirikov and Vecheslavov. In disordered lattices of large size we find a subdiffusive spreading of initially localized wave packets over larger and larger number of modes. The relations between the exponent of this spreading and the exponent in the dependence of the fast Arnold diffusion on coupling strength are analyzed. We also trace parallels between the slow spreading of chaos and deterministic rheology. KW - Lyapunov exponent KW - Arnold diffusion KW - Chaos spreading Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-011-0335-3 SN - 0022-4715 VL - 145 IS - 5 SP - 1256 EP - 1274 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Komarov, Maxim A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Effects of nonresonant interaction in ensembles of phase oscillators JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We consider general properties of groups of interacting oscillators, for which the natural frequencies are not in resonance. Such groups interact via nonoscillating collective variables like the amplitudes of the order parameters defined for each group. We treat the phase dynamics of the groups using the Ott-Antonsen ansatz and reduce it to a system of coupled equations for the order parameters. We describe different regimes of cosynchrony in the groups. For a large number of groups, heteroclinic cycles, corresponding to a sequential synchronous activity of groups and chaotic states where the order parameters oscillate irregularly, are possible. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.016210 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 84 IS - 1 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lueck, S. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Dynamics of multi-frequency oscillator ensembles with resonant coupling JF - Modern physics letters : A, Particles and fields, gravitation, cosmology, nuclear physics N2 - We study dynamics of populations of resonantly coupled oscillators having different frequencies. Starting from the coupled van der Pol equations we derive the Kuramoto-type phase model for the situation, where the natural frequencies of two interacting subpopulations are in relation 2 : 1. Depending on the parameter of coupling, ensembles can demonstrate fully synchronous clusters, partial synchrony (only one subpopulation synchronizes), or asynchrony in both subpopulations. Theoretical description of the dynamics based on the Watanabe-Strogatz approach is developed. KW - Oscillator populations KW - Kuramoto model KW - Resonant interaction Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2011.06.016 SN - 0375-9601 VL - 375 IS - 28-29 SP - 2714 EP - 2719 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kralemann, Björn A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Rosenblum, Michael T1 - Reconstructing phase dynamics of oscillator networks JF - Chaos : an interdisciplinary journal of nonlinear science N2 - We generalize our recent approach to the reconstruction of phase dynamics of coupled oscillators from data [B. Kralemann et al., Phys. Rev. E 77, 066205 (2008)] to cover the case of small networks of coupled periodic units. Starting from a multivariate time series, we first reconstruct genuine phases and then obtain the coupling functions in terms of these phases. Partial norms of these coupling functions quantify directed coupling between oscillators. We illustrate the method by different network motifs for three coupled oscillators and for random networks of five and nine units. We also discuss nonlinear effects in coupling. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3597647 SN - 1054-1500 VL - 21 IS - 2 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Burylko, Oleksandr A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Desynchronization transitions in nonlinearly coupled phase oscillators JF - Physica :D, Nonlinear phenomena N2 - We consider the nonlinear extension of the Kuramoto model of globally coupled phase oscillators where the phase shift in the coupling function depends on the order parameter. A bifurcation analysis of the transition from fully synchronous state to partial synchrony is performed. We demonstrate that for small ensembles it is typically mediated by stable cluster states, that disappear with creation of heteroclinic cycles, while for a larger number of oscillators a direct transition from full synchrony to a periodic or a quasiperiodic regime occurs. KW - Coupled oscillators KW - Oscillator ensembles KW - Kuramoto model KW - Nonlinear coupling KW - Bifurcations Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physd.2011.05.016 SN - 0167-2789 VL - 240 IS - 17 SP - 1352 EP - 1361 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Levnajic, Zoran A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Network reconstruction from random phase resetting JF - Physical review letters N2 - We propose a novel method of reconstructing the topology and interaction functions for a general oscillator network. An ensemble of initial phases and the corresponding instantaneous frequencies is constructed by repeating random phase resets of the system dynamics. The desired details of network structure are then revealed by appropriately averaging over the ensemble. The method is applicable for a wide class of networks with arbitrary emergent dynamics, including full synchrony. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.034101 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 107 IS - 3 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Rosenblum, Michael T1 - Dynamics of heterogeneous oscillator ensembles in terms of collective variables JF - Physica :D, Nonlinear phenomena N2 - We consider general heterogeneous ensembles of phase oscillators, sine coupled to arbitrary external fields. Starting with the infinitely large ensembles, we extend the Watanabe-Strogatz theory, valid for identical oscillators, to cover the case of an arbitrary parameter distribution. The obtained equations yield the description of the ensemble dynamics in terms of collective variables and constants of motion. As a particular case of the general setup we consider hierarchically organized ensembles, consisting of a finite number of subpopulations, whereas the number of elements in a subpopulation can be both finite or infinite. Next, we link the Watanabe-Strogatz and Ott-Antonsen theories and demonstrate that the latter one corresponds to a particular choice of constants of motion. The approach is applied to the standard Kuramoto-Sakaguchi model, to its extension for the case of nonlinear coupling, and to the description of two interacting subpopulations, exhibiting a chimera state. With these examples we illustrate that, although the asymptotic dynamics can be found within the framework of the Ott-Antonsen theory, the transients depend on the constants of motion. The most dramatic effect is the dependence of the basins of attraction of different synchronous regimes on the initial configuration of phases. KW - Coupled oscillators KW - Oscillator ensembles KW - Kuramoto model KW - Nonlinear coupling KW - Watanabe-Strogatz theory KW - Ott-Antonsen theory Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physd.2011.01.002 SN - 0167-2789 VL - 240 IS - 9-10 SP - 872 EP - 881 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Straube, Arthur V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Pattern formation induced by time-dependent advection JF - Mathematical modelling of natural phenomena N2 - We study pattern-forming instabilities in reaction-advection-diffusion systems. We develop an approach based on Lyapunov-Bloch exponents to figure out the impact of a spatially periodic mixing flow on the stability of a spatially homogeneous state. We deal with the flows periodic in space that may have arbitrary time dependence. We propose a discrete in time model, where reaction, advection, and diffusion act as successive operators, and show that a mixing advection can lead to a pattern-forming instability in a two-component system where only one of the species is advected. Physically, this can be explained as crossing a threshold of Turing instability due to effective increase of one of the diffusion constants. KW - pattern formation KW - reaction-advection-diffusion equation Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/mmnp/20116107 SN - 0973-5348 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - 138 EP - 148 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhirov, O. V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Shepelyansky, Dima L. T1 - Quantum vacuum of strongly nonlinear lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We study the properties of classical and quantum strongly nonlinear chains by means of extensive numerical simulations. Due to strong nonlinearity, the classical dynamics of such chains remains chaotic at arbitrarily low energies. We show that the collective excitations of classical chains are described by sound waves whose decay rate scales algebraically with the wave number with a generic exponent value. The properties of the quantum chains are studied by the quantum Monte Carlo method and it is found that the low-energy excitations are well described by effective phonon modes with the sound velocity dependent on an effective Planck constant. Our results show that at low energies the quantum effects lead to a suppression of chaos and drive the system to a quasi-integrable regime of effective phonon modes. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.016202 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 83 IS - 1 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Turukina, L. V. A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Hyperbolic chaos in a system of resonantly coupled weakly nonlinear oscillators JF - Modern physics letters : A, Particles and fields, gravitation, cosmology, nuclear physics N2 - We show that a hyperbolic chaos can be observed in resonantly coupled oscillators near a Hopf bifurcation, described by normal-form-type equations for complex amplitudes. The simplest example consists of four oscillators, comprising two alternatively activated, due to an external periodic modulation, pairs. In terms of the stroboscopic Poincare map, the phase differences change according to an expanding Bernoulli map that depends on the coupling type. Several examples of hyperbolic chaos for different types of coupling are illustrated numerically. KW - Coupled oscillators KW - Hyperbolic chaos Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2011.02.017 SN - 0375-9601 VL - 375 IS - 11 SP - 1407 EP - 1411 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij A1 - Fishman, Shmuel T1 - Scaling properties of weak chaos in nonlinear disordered lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We study the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a random potential in one dimension. It is characterized by the length, the strength of the random potential, and the field density that determines the effect of nonlinearity. Following the time evolution of the field and calculating the largest Lyapunov exponent, the probability of the system to be regular is established numerically and found to be a scaling function of the parameters. This property is used to calculate the asymptotic properties of the system in regimes beyond our computational power. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.025201 SN - 1539-3755 SN - 1550-2376 VL - 83 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mulansky, Mario A1 - Ahnert, Karsten A1 - Pikovskij, Arkadij T1 - Scaling of energy spreading in strongly nonlinear disordered lattices JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - To characterize a destruction of Anderson localization by nonlinearity, we study the spreading behavior of initially localized states in disordered, strongly nonlinear lattices. Due to chaotic nonlinear interaction of localized linear or nonlinear modes, energy spreads nearly subdiffusively. Based on a phenomenological description by virtue of a nonlinear diffusion equation, we establish a one-parameter scaling relation between the velocity of spreading and the density, which is confirmed numerically. From this scaling it follows that for very low densities the spreading slows down compared to the pure power law. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.83.026205 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 83 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Y. -P. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Berglund, Martin A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Aidas, K. A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. A1 - Odelius, Michael A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander T1 - Intramolecular soft modes and intermolecular interactions in liquid acetone JF - Physical review : B, Condensed matter and materials physics N2 - Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra excited at the O1s(-1)pi* resonance of liquid acetone are presented. Scattering to the electronic ground state shows a resolved vibrational progression where the dominant contribution is due to the C-O stretching mode, thus demonstrating a unique sensitivity of the method to the local potential energy surface in complex molecular systems. For scattering to electronically excited states, soft vibrational modes and, to a smaller extent, intermolecular interactions give a broadening, which blurs the vibrational fine structure. It is predicted that environmental broadening is dominant in aqueous acetone. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.132202 SN - 1098-0121 VL - 84 IS - 13 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Sun, Y. -P. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rinkevicius, Z. A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. T1 - Spatial quantum beats in vibrational resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering at dissociating states in oxygen JF - Physical review letters N2 - Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra excited at the 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O-2 show excitations due to the nuclear degrees of freedom with up to 35 well-resolved discrete vibronic states and a continuum due to the kinetic energy distribution of the separated atoms. The RIXS profile demonstrates spatial quantum beats caused by two interfering wave packets with different momenta as the atoms separate. Thomson scattering strongly affects both the spectral profile and the scattering anisotropy. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.153004 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 106 IS - 15 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arhammar, C. A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Bock, Nicolas A1 - Holmstroem, Erik A1 - Araujo, C. Moyses A1 - Grasjo, Johan A1 - Zhao, Shuxi A1 - Green, Sara A1 - Peery, T. A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Amerioun, Shahrad A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Schlappa, Justine A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Niklasson, Gunnar A. A1 - Wallace, Duane C. A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik A1 - Johansson, Borje A1 - Ahuja, Rajeev C. T1 - Unveiling the complex electronic structure of amorphous metal oxides JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America N2 - Amorphous materials represent a large and important emerging area of material's science. Amorphous oxides are key technological oxides in applications such as a gate dielectric in Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor devices and in Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon and TANOS (TaN-Al2O3-Si3N4-SiO2-Silicon) flash memories. These technologies are required for the high packing density of today's integrated circuits. Therefore the investigation of defect states in these structures is crucial. In this work we present X-ray synchrotron measurements, with an energy resolution which is about 5-10 times higher than is attainable with standard spectrometers, of amorphous alumina. We demonstrate that our experimental results are in agreement with calculated spectra of amorphous alumina which we have generated by stochastic quenching. This first principles method, which we have recently developed, is found to be superior to molecular dynamics in simulating the rapid gas to solid transition that takes place as this material is deposited for thin film applications. We detect and analyze in detail states in the band gap that originate from oxygen pairs. Similar states were previously found in amorphous alumina by other spectroscopic methods and were assigned to oxygen vacancies claimed to act mutually as electron and hole traps. The oxygen pairs which we probe in this work act as hole traps only and will influence the information retention in electronic devices. In amorphous silica oxygen pairs have already been found, thus they may be a feature which is characteristic also of other amorphous metal oxides. KW - stochastic quench KW - X-ray absorption spectroscopy KW - ab initio KW - coating Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1019698108 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 108 IS - 16 SP - 6355 EP - 6360 PB - National Acad. of Sciences CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Y-P A1 - Pietzsch, Annette A1 - Hennies, Franz A1 - Rinkevicius, Z. A1 - Karlsson, Hans O. A1 - Schmitt, Thorsten A1 - Strocov, Vladimir N. A1 - Andersson, Joakim A1 - Kennedy, B. A1 - Schlappa, J. A1 - Föhlisch, Alexander A1 - Gel'mukhanov, F. A1 - Rubensson, Jan-Erik T1 - Internal symmetry and selection rules in resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering JF - Journal of physics : B, Atomic, molecular and optical physics N2 - Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering spectra excited at the dissociative 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O(2) are presented and discussed in terms of state-of-the-art molecular theory. A new selection rule due to internal spin coupling is established, facilitating a deep analysis of the valence excited final states. Furthermore, it is found that a commonly accepted symmetry selection rule due to orbital parity breaks down, as the core hole and excited electron swap parity, thereby opening the symmetry forbidden 3 sigma(g) decay channel. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/44/16/161002 SN - 0953-4075 VL - 44 IS - 16 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Douce, Laurent A1 - Suisse, Jean-Moise A1 - Guillon, Daniel A1 - Taubert, Andreas T1 - Imidazolium-based liquid crystals a modular platform for versatile new materials with finely tuneable properties and behaviour JF - Liquid crystals : an international journal of science and technology N2 - Ionic liquid Crystals constitute highly versatile materials that have drawn much interest these past few years in the fields of academic research and industrial development. In this respect, the present article is intended as an update of K. Binnemans review published in 2005, but focusing exclusively on the imidazolium cation - the most widely studied. Herein, imidazolium-containing thermotropic liquid crystalline materials will be sorted by molecular structure (mono-, bis-, poly-imidazolium compounds, with symmetrical and non-symmetrical structures) and discussed. Their physico-chemical properties will be exposed in order to adduce the relevancy and potential of the imidazolium platform in various fields of research. KW - imidazolium KW - liquid crystal KW - ionic liquid Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2011.610474 SN - 0267-8292 VL - 38 IS - 11-12 SP - 1653 EP - 1661 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gagne, Marc A1 - Fehon, Garrett A1 - Savoy, Michael R. A1 - Cohen, David H. A1 - Townsley, Leisa K. A1 - Broos, Patrick S. A1 - Povich, Matthew S. A1 - Corcoran, Michael F. A1 - Walborn, Nolan R. A1 - Evans, Nancy Remage A1 - Moffat, Anthony F. J. A1 - Naze, Yael A1 - Oskinova, Lida T1 - Carina ob stars: x-ray signatures of wind shocks and magnetic FIELDS JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Supplement series N2 - The Chandra Carina Complex contains 200 known O- and B-type stars. The Chandra survey detected 68 of the 70 O stars and 61 of 127 known B0-B3 stars. We have assembled a publicly available optical/X-ray database to identify OB stars that depart from the canonical L-X/L-bol relation or whose average X-ray temperatures exceed 1 keV. Among the single O stars with high kT we identify two candidate magnetically confined wind shock sources: Tr16-22, O8.5 V, and LS 1865, O8.5 V((f)). The O4 III(fc) star HD 93250 exhibits strong, hard, variable X-rays, suggesting that it may be a massive binary with a period of > 30 days. The visual O2 If* binary HD 93129A shows soft 0.6 keV and hard 1.9 keV emission components, suggesting embedded wind shocks close to the O2 If* Aa primary and colliding wind shocks between Aa and Ab. Of the 11 known O-type spectroscopic binaries, the long orbital-period systems HD 93343, HD 93403, and QZ Car have higher shock temperatures than short-period systems such as HD 93205 and FO 15. Although the X-rays from most B stars may be produced in the coronae of unseen, low-mass pre-main-sequence companions, a dozen B stars with high L-X cannot be explained by a distribution of unseen companions. One of these, SS73 24 in the Treasure Chest cluster, is a new candidate Herbig Be star. KW - open clusters and associations: individual (Cl Bochum 10, Cl Bochum 11, Cl Collinder 228, Cl Trumpler 14, Cl Trumpler 15, Cl Trumpler 16) KW - stars: early-type KW - stars: individual (HD 93250, HD 93129A, HD 93403, HD 93205, HD 93343, QZ Car, SS73 24, FO 15, Cl Trumpler 16 22, CPD-59 2610, HD 93501) KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/194/1/5 SN - 0067-0049 VL - 194 IS - 1 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hubrig, Swetlana A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Schoeller, M. T1 - First detection of a magnetic field in the fast rotating runaway Oe star zeta Ophiuchi JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes N2 - The star zeta Ophiuchi is one of the brightest massive stars in the northern hemisphere and was intensively studied in various wavelength domains. The currently available observational material suggests that certain observed phenomena are related to the presence of a magnetic field. We acquired spectropolarimetric observations of zeta Oph with FORS 1 mounted on the 8-m Kueyen telescope of the VLT to investigate if a magnetic field is indeed present in this star. Using all available absorption lines, we detect a mean longitudinal magnetic field < B(z)>(all) = 141 +/- 45 G, confirming the magnetic nature of this star. We review the X-ray properties of zeta Oph with the aim to understand whether the X-ray emission of zeta Oph is dominated by magnetic or by wind instability processes. KW - stars: mass-loss KW - stars: early-type KW - stars: magnetic field KW - stars: kinematics and dynamics KW - X-rays: stars KW - stars: individual: zeta Ophiuchi Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201111516 SN - 0004-6337 VL - 332 IS - 2 SP - 147 EP - 152 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Ignace, Richard A1 - Brown, John C. A1 - Cassinelli, Joseph P. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer T1 - Early magnetic B-type stars X-ray emission and wind properties JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - We present a comprehensive study of X-ray emission by, and wind properties of, massive magnetic early B-type stars. Dedicated XMM-Newton observations were obtained for three early-type B-type stars, xi(1) CMa, V2052 Oph and zeta Cas, with recently discovered magnetic fields. We report the first detection of X-ray emission from V2052 Oph and zeta Cas. The latter is one the softest X-ray sources among the early-type stars, while the former is one of the X-ray faintest. The observations show that the X-ray spectra of our programme stars are quite soft with the bulk of X-ray emitting material having a temperature of about 1 MK. We compile the complete sample of early B-type stars with detected magnetic fields to date and existing X-ray measurements, in order to study whether the X-ray emission can be used as a general proxy for stellar magnetism. We find that the X-ray properties of early massive B-type magnetic stars are diverse, and that hard and strong X-ray emission does not necessarily correlate with the presence of a magnetic field, corroborating similar conclusions reached earlier for the classical chemically peculiar magnetic Bp-Ap stars. We analyse the ultraviolet (UV) spectra of five non-supergiant B stars with magnetic fields (tau Sco, beta Cep, xi(1) CMa, V2052 Oph and zeta Cas) by means of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) iron-blanketed model atmospheres. The latter are calculated with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) code, which treats the photosphere as well as the wind, and also accounts for X-rays. With the exception of t Sco, this is the first analysis of these stars by means of stellar wind models. Our models accurately fit the stellar photospheric spectra in the optical and the UV. The parameters of X-ray emission, temperature and flux are included in the model in accordance with observations. We confirm the earlier findings that the filling factors of X-ray emitting material are very high. Our analysis reveals that the magnetic early-type B stars studied here have weak winds with velocities not significantly exceeding upsilon(esc). The mass-loss rates inferred from the analysis of UV lines are significantly lower than predicted by hydrodynamically consistent models. We find that, although the X-rays strongly affect the ionization structure of the wind, this effect is not sufficient in reducing the total radiative acceleration. When the X-rays are accounted for at the intensity and temperatures observed, there is still sufficient radiative acceleration to drive a stronger mass-loss than we empirically infer from the UV spectral lines. KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - stars: magnetic field KW - stars: massive KW - stars: mass loss KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19143.x SN - 0035-8711 VL - 416 IS - 2 SP - 1456 EP - 1474 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Evans, Nancy Remage A1 - DeGioia-Eastwood, Kathleen A1 - Gagne, Marc A1 - Townsley, Leisa A1 - Broos, Patrick S. A1 - Wolk, Scott J. A1 - Naze, Yael A1 - Corcoran, Michael A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Moffat, Anthony F. J. A1 - Wang, Junfeng A1 - Walborn, Nolan R. T1 - The search for low-mass companions of b stars in the Carina Nebula cluster trumpler 16 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Supplement series N2 - We have developed lists of likely B3-A0 stars (called "late B" stars) in the young cluster Trumpler 16. The following criteria were used: location within 3' of eta Car, an appropriate V and B - V combination, and proper motion (where available). Color and magnitude cuts have been made assuming an E(B - V) = 0.55 mag +/- 0.1, which is a good approximation close to the center of Trumpler 16. These lists have been cross-correlated with X-ray sources found in the Chandra Carina Complex Project. Previous studies have shown that only very rarely (if at all) do late main-sequence B stars produce X-rays. We present evidence that the X-ray-detected sources are binaries with low-mass companions, since stars less massive than 1.4 M-circle dot are strong X-ray sources at the age of the cluster. Both the median X-ray energies and X-ray luminosities of these sources are in good agreement with values for typical low-mass coronal X-ray sources. We find that 39% of the late B stars based on a list with proper motions have low-mass companions. Similarly, 32% of a sample without proper motions have low-mass companions. We discuss the X-ray detection completeness. These results on low-mass companions of intermediate-mass stars are complementary to spectroscopic and interferometric results and probe new parameter space of low-mass companions at all separations. They do not support a steeply rising distribution of mass ratios to low masses for intermediate-mass (5 M-circle dot) primaries, such as would be found by random pairing from the initial mass function. KW - open clusters and associations: individual (Trumpler 16) KW - stars: massive Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0067-0049/194/1/13 SN - 0067-0049 VL - 194 IS - 1 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Cassinelli, Joseph P. A1 - Brown, John C. A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias T1 - X-ray emission from massive stars with magnetic fields JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes N2 - We investigate the connections between the magnetic fields and the X-ray emission from massive stars. Our study shows that the X-ray properties of known strongly magnetic stars are diverse: while some comply to the predictions of the magnetically confined wind model, others do not. We conclude that strong, hard, and variable X-ray emission may be a sufficient attribute of magnetic massive stars, but it is not a necessary one. We address the general properties of X-ray emission from "normal" massive stars, especially the long standing mystery about the correlations between the parameters of X-ray emission and fundamental stellar properties. The recent development in stellar structure modeling shows that small-scale surface magnetic fields may be common. We suggest a "hybrid" scenario which could explain the X-ray emission from massive stars by a combination of magnetic mechanisms on the surface and shocks in the stellar wind. The magnetic mechanisms and the wind shocks are triggered by convective motions in sub-photospheric layers. This scenario opens the door for a natural explanation of the well established correlation between bolometric and X-ray luminosities. KW - stars: magnetic fields KW - stars: mass-loss KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - stars: Wolf-Rayet KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201111602 SN - 0004-6337 VL - 332 IS - 9-10 SP - 988 EP - 993 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schoeller, M. A1 - Hubrig, Swetlana A1 - Ilyin, Ilya A1 - Kharchenko, N. V. A1 - Briquet, Maryline A1 - Gonzalez, J. F. A1 - Langer, Norbert A1 - Oskinova, Lida T1 - Magnetic field studies of massive main sequence stars JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes N2 - We report on the status of our spectropolarimetric observations of massive stars. During the last years, we have discovered magnetic fields in many objects of the upper main sequence, including Be stars, beta Cephei and Slowly Pulsating B stars, and a dozen O stars. Since the effects of those magnetic fields have been found to be substantial by recent models, we are looking into their impact on stellar rotation, pulsation, stellar winds, and chemical abundances. Accurate studies of the age, environment, and kinematic characteristics of the magnetic stars are also promising to give us new insight into the origin of the magnetic fields. Furthermore, longer time series of magnetic field measurements allow us to observe the temporal variability of the magnetic field and to deduce the stellar rotation period and the magnetic field geometry. Studies of the magnetic field in massive stars are indispensable to understand the conditions controlling the presence of those fields and their implications on the stellar physical parameters and evolution. KW - stars: early-type KW - stars: magnetic fields KW - stars: kinematics KW - techniques: polarimetric Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201111606 SN - 0004-6337 VL - 332 IS - 9-10 SP - 994 EP - 997 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zakrevskyy, Yuriy A1 - Kopyshev, Alexey A1 - Lomadze, Nino A1 - Morozova, Elena A1 - Lysyakova, Liudmila A1 - Kasyanenko, Nina A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - DNA compaction by azobenzene-containing surfactant JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - We report on the interaction of cationic azobenzene-containing surfactant with DNA investigated by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and atomic force microscopy. The properties of the surfactant can be controlled with light by reversible switching of the azobenzene unit, incorporated into the surfactant tail, between a hydrophobic trans (visible irradiation) and a hydrophilic cis (UV irradiation) configuration. The influence of the trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene on the compaction process of DNA molecules and the role of both isomers in the formation and colloidal stability of DNA-surfactant complexes is discussed. It is shown that the trans isomer plays a major role in the DNA compaction process. The influence of the cis isomer on the DNA coil configuration is rather small. The construction of a phase diagram of the DNA concentration versus surfactant/DNA charge ratio allows distancing between three major phases: colloidally stable and unstable compacted globules, and extended coil conformation. There is a critical concentration of DNA above which the compacted globules can be hindered from aggregation and precipitation by adding an appropriate amount of the surfactant in the trans configuration. This is because of the compensation of hydrophobicity of the globules with an increasing amount of the surfactant. Below the critical DNA concentration, the compacted globules are colloidally stable and can be reversibly transferred with light to an extended coil state. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.84.021909 SN - 1539-3755 VL - 84 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koenig, Tobias A1 - Goldenberg, Leonid M. A1 - Kulikovska, Olga A1 - Kulikovsky, Lazar A1 - Stumpe, Joachim A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Reversible structuring of photosensitive polymer films by surface plasmon near field radiation JF - Soft matter N2 - We report on the fabrication and characterisation of a novel type of hybrid azo-modified photosensitive polymer film with a nanoscale metallic structuring integrated into the substrate. The metal structures permit to generate surface plasmon near fields when irradiated by UV-light from the rear without directly illuminating the polymer. This allows establishment of a localized, complex-shape intensity distribution at sub-wavelength resolution with a corresponding impact on the photosensitive polymer. The possibilities of exploiting this setup are manifold. We find that just by using the change of polarization of the incident light as means of control, the topography can be driven to change between various patterns reversibly. These results are confirmed by numerical simulations and compared with in situ recorded topography changes. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c0sm01164a SN - 1744-683X VL - 7 IS - 9 SP - 4174 EP - 4178 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schuh, Christian A1 - Lomadze, Nino A1 - Rühe, Jürgen A1 - Kopyshev, Alexey A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Photomechanical degrafting of Azo-functionalized Poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) brushes JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - We report on the preparation and characterization of photosensitive polymer brushes. The brushes are synthesized through polymer analogous attachment of azobenzene groups to surface-attached poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) chains. The topography of the photosensitive brushes shows a strong reaction upon irradiation with UV light. While homogeneous illumination leaves the polymer topography unchanged, irradiation of the samples with interference patterns with periodically varying light intensity leads to the formation of surface relief gratings (SRG). The height of the stripes of the grating can be controlled by adjusting the irradiation time. The SRG pattern can be erased through solvent treatment when the periodicity of the stripe pattern is less than the length of the fully stretched polymer chains. In the opposite case, photomechanical scission of receding polymer chains is observed during SRG formation, and the inscribed patterns are permanent. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp2041229 SN - 1520-6106 VL - 115 IS - 35 SP - 10431 EP - 10438 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lomadze, Nino A1 - Kopyshev, Alexey A1 - Rühe, Jürgen A1 - Santer, Svetlana T1 - Light-Induced chain scission in photosensitive polymer brushes JF - Macromolecules : a publication of the American Chemical Society N2 - We report on a process inducing photomechanical fracture of chemical bonds in photosensitive PMAA polymer brushes. The photosensitive PMAA polymer brushes were prepared by covalent attachment of azobenzene groups to poly(methylacrylic acid) (PMAA) chains generated by surface-initiated polymerization. While homogeneous irradiation leaves the polymer topography unchanged, the azo-PMAA brushes show a strong response upon irradiation with UV interference patterns. The photoisomerization process in the surface-attached polymer films results in the irreversible formation of surface relief gratings (SRG), which are strongly enhanced upon washing with a good solvent for the polymer. The photomechanical forces during mass transport induced by the irradiation lead to the scission of covalent bounds and accordingly to a degrafting of the polymer chains in areas where the polymer is receding from. It is observed that the number of ruptured chains depends strongly on the amount of azo side chains in the polymer. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/ma201016q SN - 0024-9297 VL - 44 IS - 18 SP - 7372 EP - 7377 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Filimon, Marlena A1 - Kopf, Ilona A1 - Schmidt, Dietrich A. A1 - Bruendermann, Erik A1 - Rühe, Jürgen A1 - Santer, Svetlana A1 - Havenith, Martina T1 - Local chemical composition of nanophase-separated polymer brushes JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Using scattering scanning nearfield infrared microscopy (s-SNIM), we have imaged the nanoscale phase separation of mixed polystyrene-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-PMMA) brushes and investigated changes in the top layer as a function of solvent exposure. We deduce that the top-layer of the mixed brushes is composed primarily of PMMA after exposure to acetone, while after exposure to toluene this changes to PS. Access to simultaneously measured topographic and chemical information allows direct correlation of the chemical morphology of the sample with topographic information. Our results demonstrate the potential of s-SNIM for chemical mapping based on distinct infrared absorption properties of polymers with a high spatial resolution of 80 nm x 80 nm. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c0cp02756a SN - 1463-9076 VL - 13 IS - 24 SP - 11620 EP - 11626 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tremblay, Jean Christophe A1 - Monturet, Serge A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - The Effects of electron-hole pair coupling on the infrared laser-controlled vibrational excitation of NO on Au(111) JF - The journal of physical chemistry : A, Molecules, spectroscopy, kinetics, environment & general theory N2 - In this work, we present theoretical simulations of laser-driven vibrational control of NO adsorbed on a gold surface. Our goal is to tailor laser pulses to selectively excite specific modes and vibrational eigenstates, as well as to favor photodesorption of the adsorbed molecule. To this end, various control schemes and algorithms are applied. For adsorbates at metallic surfaces, the creation of electron hole pairs in the substrate is known to play a dominant role in the transfer of energy from the system to the surroundings. These nonadiabatic couplings are included perturbatively in our reduced density matrix simulations using a generalization of the state-resolved position-dependent anharmonic rate model we recently introduced. An extension of the reduced density matrix is also proposed to provide a sound model for photodesorption in dissipative systems. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp205902k SN - 1089-5639 VL - 115 IS - 39 SP - 10698 EP - 10707 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Malic, E. A1 - Weber, C. A1 - Richter, M. A1 - Atalla, V. A1 - Klamroth, Tillmann A1 - Saalfrank, Peter A1 - Reich, Sebastian A1 - Knorr, A. T1 - Microscopic model of the optical absorption of carbon nanotubes functionalized with molecular spiropyran photoswitches JF - Physical review letters N2 - The adsorption of molecules to the surface of carbon nanostructures opens a new field of hybrid systems with distinct and controllable properties. We present a microscopic study of the optical absorption in carbon nanotubes functionalized with molecular spiropyran photoswitches. The switching process induces a change in the dipole moment leading to a significant coupling to the charge carriers in the nanotube. As a result, the absorption spectra of functionalized tubes reveal a considerable redshift of transition energies depending on the switching state of the spiropyran molecule. Our results suggest that carbon nanotubes are excellent substrates for the optical readout of spiropyran-based molecular switches. The gained insights can be applied to other noncovalently functionalized one-dimensional nanostructures in an externally induced dipole field. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.097401 SN - 0031-9007 VL - 106 IS - 9 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Floss, Gereon A1 - Klamroth, Tillmann A1 - Saalfrank, Peter T1 - Laser-controlled switching of molecular arrays in an dissipative environment JF - Physical review : B, Condensed matter and materials physics N2 - The optical switching of molecular ensembles in a dissipative environment is a subject of various fields of chemical physics and physical chemistry. Here we try to switch arrays of molecules from a stable collective ground state to a state in which all molecules have been transferred to another stable higher-energy configuration. In our model switching proceeds through electronically excited intermediates which are coherently coupled to each other through dipolar interactions, and which decay incoherently within a finite lifetime by coupling to a dissipative environment. The model is quite general, but parameters are chosen to roughly resemble the all-trans -> all-cis isomerization of an array of azobenzene molecules on a surface. Using analytical and optimal control pulses and the concept of "laser distillation," we demonstrate that for various aggregates (dimers up to hexamers), controlled and complete switching should be possible. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.104301 SN - 1098-0121 VL - 83 IS - 10 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fang, Peng A1 - Wang, Feipeng A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Basso, Heitor Cury T1 - Three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films JF - Applied physics : A, Materials science & processing N2 - A process for preparing three-layer piezoelectrets from fluorinated ethylene-propylene (FEP) copolymer films is introduced. Samples are made from commercial FEP films by means of laser cutting, laser bonding, electrode evaporation, and high-field poling. The observed dielectric-resonance spectra demonstrate the piezoelectricity of the FEP sandwiches. Piezoelectric d (33) coefficients up to a few hundred pC/N are achieved. Charging at elevated temperatures can increase the thermal stability of the piezoelectrets. Isothermal experiments for approximately 15 min demonstrate that samples charged at 140A degrees C keep their piezoelectric activity up to at least 120A degrees C and retain 70% of their initial d (33) even at 130A degrees C. Acoustical measurements show a relatively flat frequency response in the range between 300 Hz and 20 kHz. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-6008-2 SN - 0947-8396 SN - 1432-0630 VL - 103 IS - 2 SP - 455 EP - 461 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Zhuanlan A1 - Zhang, Xiaoqing A1 - Xia, Zhongfu A1 - Qiu, Xunlin A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund A1 - Zeng, Changchun A1 - Zhang, Chuck A1 - Wang, Ben T1 - Polarization and piezoelectricity in polymer films with artificial void structure JF - Applied physics : A, Materials science & processing N2 - Laminated polymer-film systems with well-defined void structures were prepared from fluoroethylenepropylene (FEP) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layers. First the PTFE films were patterned and then fusion-bonded with the FEP films. The laminates were subjected to either corona or contact charging in order to obtain the desired piezoelectricity. The build-up of the "macro-dipoles" in the laminated films was studied by recording the electric hysteresis loops. The resulting electro-mechanical properties were investigated by means of dielectric resonance spectroscopy (DRS) and direct measurements of the stress-strain relationship. Moreover, the thermal stability of the piezoelectric d (33) coefficient was investigated at elevated temperatures and via thermally stimulated discharge (TSD) current measurements in short circuit. For 150 mu m thick laminated films, consisting of one 25 mu m thick PTFE layer, two 12.5 mu m thick FEP layers, and a void of 100 mu m height, the critical voltage necessary for the build-up of the "macro-dipoles" in the inner voids was approximately 1400 V, which agrees with the value calculated from the Paschen Law. A quasi-static piezoelectric d (33) coefficient up to 300 pC/N was observed after corona charging. The mechanical properties of the film systems are highly anisotropic. At room temperature, the Young's moduli of the laminated film system are around 0.37 MPa in the thickness direction and 274 MPa in the lateral direction, respectively. Using these values, the theoretical shape anisotropy ratio of the void was calculated, which agrees well with experimental observation. Compared with films that do not exhibit structural regularity, the laminates showed improved thermal stability of the d (33) coefficients. The thermal stability of d (33) can be further improved by pre-aging. E.g., the reduction of the d (33) value in the sample pre-aged at 150A degrees C for 5 h was less than 5% after annealing for 30 h at a temperature of 90A degrees C. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-011-6481-2 SN - 0947-8396 VL - 105 IS - 1 SP - 197 EP - 205 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kappel, Marcel A1 - Abel, Markus A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Characterization and calibration of piezoelectric polymers in situ measurements of body vibrations JF - Review of scientific instruments : a monthly journal devoted to scientific instruments, apparatus, and techniques N2 - Piezoelectric polymers are known for their flexibility in applications, mainly due to their bending ability, robustness, and variable sensor geometry. It is an optimal material for minimal-invasive investigations in vibrational systems, e.g., for wood, where acoustical impedance matches particularly well. Many applications may be imagined, e. g., monitoring of buildings, vehicles, machinery, alarm systems, such that our investigations may have a large impact on technology. Longitudinal piezoelectricity converts mechanical vibrations normal to the polymer-film plane into an electrical signal, and the respective piezoelectric coefficient needs to be carefully determined in dependence on the relevant material parameters. In order to evaluate efficiency and durability for piezopolymers, we use polyvinylidene fluoride and measure the piezoelectric coefficient with respect to static pressure, amplitude of the dynamically applied force, and long-term stability. A known problem is the slow relaxation of the material towards equilibrium, if the external pressure changes; here, we demonstrate how to counter this problem with careful calibration. Since our focus is on acoustical measurements, we determine accurately the frequency response curve - for acoustics probably the most important characteristic. Eventually, we show that our piezopolymer transducers can be used as a calibrated acoustical sensors for body vibration measurements on a wooden musical instrument, where it is important to perform minimal-invasive measurements. A comparison with the simultaneously recorded airborne sound yields important insight of the mechanism of sound radiation in comparison with the sound propagating in the material. This is especially important for transient signals, where not only the long-living eigenmodes contribute to the sound radiation. Our analyses support that piezopolymer sensors can be employed as a general tool for the determination of the internal dynamics of vibrating systems. KW - acoustic transducers KW - calibration KW - durability KW - electric sensing devices KW - piezoelectricity KW - polymers Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3607435 SN - 0034-6748 VL - 82 IS - 7 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kussmaul, Bjoern A1 - Risse, Sebastian A1 - Kofod, Guggi A1 - Wache, Remi A1 - Wegener, Michael A1 - McCarthy, Denis N. A1 - Krüger, Hartmut A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Enhancement of dielectric permittivity and electromechanical response in silicone elastomers molecular grafting of organic dipoles to the macromolecular Network JF - Advanced functional materials N2 - A novel method is established for permittivity enhancement of a silicone matrix for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) by molecular level modifications of the elastomer matrix. A push-pull dipole is synthesized to be compatible with the silicone crosslinking chemistry, allowing for direct grafting to the crosslinker molecules in a one-step film formation process. This method prevents agglomeration and yields elastomer films that are homogeneous down to the molecular level. The dipole-to-silicone network grafting reaction is studied by FTIR. The chemical, thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of films with dipole contents ranging from 0 wt% to 13.4 wt% were thoroughly characterized. The grafting of dipoles modifies the relative permittivity and the stiffness, resulting in the actuation strain at a given electrical field being improved by a factor of six. KW - dipole grafting KW - silicone based dielectric elastomer actuators KW - permittivity enhancement Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201100884 SN - 1616-301X VL - 21 IS - 23 SP - 4589 EP - 4594 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Qiu, Xunlin A1 - Wirges, Werner A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Beneficial and detrimental fatigue effects of dielectric barrier discharges on the piezoelectricity of polypropylene ferroelectrets JF - Journal of applied physics N2 - Cellular polypropylene (PP) ferroelectrets combine a large piezoelectricity with mechanical flexibility and elastic compliance. Their charging process represents a series of dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) that generate a cold plasma with numerous active species and thus modify the inner polymer surfaces of the foam cells. Both the threshold for the onset of DBDs and the piezoelectricity of ferroelectrets are sensitive to repeated DBDs in the voids. It is found that the threshold voltage is approximately halved and the charging efficiency is clearly improved after only 10(3) DBD cycles. However, plasma modification of the inner surfaces from repeated DBDs deteriorates the chargeability of the voids, leading to a significant reduction of the piezoelectricity in ferroelectrets. After a significant waiting period, the chargeability of previously fatigued voids shows a partial recovery. The plasma modification is, however, detrimental to the stability of the deposited charges and thus also of the macroscopic dipoles and of the piezoelectricity. Fatigue from only 10(3) DBD cycles already results in significantly less stable piezoelectricity in cellular PP ferroelectrets. The fatigue rate as a function of the number of voltage cycles follows a stretched exponential. Fatigue from repeated DBDs can be avoided if most of the gas molecules inside the voids are removed via a suitable evacuation process. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3610507 SN - 0021-8979 SN - 1089-7550 VL - 110 IS - 2 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kofod, Guggi A1 - Stoyanov, Hristiyan A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Multilayer coaxial fiber dielectric elastomers for actuation and sensing JF - Applied physics : A, Materials science & processing N2 - A simple dip-coating technique was employed to manufacture coaxial actuators with multiple layers of alternating dielectric and conducting layers. A thin rubber string was coated with an electrode-insulator-electrode structure, giving rise to a thin, fiber-like actuator with coaxial geometry. The process was repeated to achieve a compact multilayer actuator with up to three coaxial dielectric layers. Mechanical and electromechanical characterization of the actuators is presented, showing actuation strains up to 8% and proper voltage-thickness scaling behavior. Also presented is a capacitance vs. extension plot, demonstrating that these structures can be used for compact and accurate capacitive strain sensing. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-6066-5 SN - 0947-8396 SN - 1432-0630 VL - 102 IS - 3 SP - 577 EP - 581 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Stabilization of positive charge on polytetrafluoroethylene electret films treated with titanium-tetrachloride vapor JF - Applied physics letters N2 - The surface of polytetrafluoroethylene films was treated with titanium-tetrachloride vapor. The treatment was carried out in a flow reactor by means of molecular-layer deposition, a method from the arsenal of chemical nanotechnology. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that such a treatment results in considerable changes in the chemical composition at and near the surface of the fluoropolymer film. Both, defluorination and oxidation of the surface were observed. At the same time, samples treated with titanium tetrachloride show a significant enhancement in the thermal stability of the positive homocharge. The thermally stimulated surface-potential-decay curves were observed to shift to higher temperatures by more than 100 degrees C. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3565166 SN - 0003-6951 VL - 98 IS - 12 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER -