Relationship between structural changes,hydrogen content and annealing in stacks of ultrathin Si/Ge amorphous layers

Hydrogenated multilayers (MLs) of a-Si/a-Ge have been analysed to establish the reasons of H release during annealing that has been seen to bring about structural modifications even up to well-detectable surface degradation. Analyses carried out on single layers of a-Si and a-Ge show that H is released from its bond to the host lattice atom and that it escapes from the layer much more efficiently in a-Ge than in a-Si because of the smaller binding energy of the H-Ge bond and probably of a greater weakness of the Ge lattice. This should support the previous hypothesis that the structural degradation of a-Si/a-Ge MLs primary starts with the formation of H bubbles in the Ge layers.     

New Sex Attractant Composition for the Click Beetle <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agriotes proximus</Emphasis>: Similarity to the Pheromone of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agriotes lineatus</Emphasis>

While testing traps baited with a blend of geranyl octanoate and geranyl butanoate (pheromone components previously identified for Agriotes lineatus, Coleoptera, Elateridae) in Portugal and Bulgaria, large numbers of the closely related Agriotes proximus were captured. In the literature, two different compounds, (E,E)-farnesyl acetate and neryl isovalerate had previously been identified as pheromone components of A. proximus. Subsequent field tests, conducted in several European countries, revealed that A. proximus was weakly attracted to geranyl butanoate on its own, while A. lineatus was weakly attracted to geranyl octanoate on its own. However, the largest catches for both species were observed with a blend of both compounds. No A. proximus was caught in traps baited with the blend of (E,E)-farnesyl acetate and neryl isovalerate at any of the test sites. In electroantennographic studies, antennae of male A. proximus and A. lineatus both gave greater responses to geranyl butanoate than to geranyl octanoate, suggesting that the perception of these two compounds was similar for both species. A 1:1 blend of geranyl octanoate and geranyl butanoate can be used as a bait in traps for the detection and monitoring of both A. lineatus and A. proximus in many European countries.     

Identification of the Female-Produced Sex Pheromone of Tischeria ekebladella, an Oak Leafmining Moth

The native leafmining moth Tischeria ekebladella (Lepidoptera: Tischeriidae) feeds on oaks and recently has become a pest of silviculture and urban green areas in central Europe. The behavioral responses of male moths to hexane extracts of whole bodies of calling females or males were tested under laboratory conditions. Only extracts of females elicited responses from males. Analysis of extracts by coupled gas chromatography/electroantennographic detection revealed the presence of two electroantennogram-active peaks. Structure elucidation of these compounds, by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry and independent synthesis revealed them to be (3Z,6Z,9Z)-tricosa-3,6,9-triene and (3Z,6Z,9Z,19Z)-tricosa-3,6,9,19-tetraene. While the triene was present in both sexes, the tetraene was female-specific. The latter is a new structure for a pheromone component of Lepidoptera and a novel natural product. Field trapping tests, carried out in a mixed oak forest near Budapest (Hungary), using synthetic compounds applied to rubber dispensers, showed that the tetraene per se elicited catches of males in large numbers. When the triene was added to the tetraene in a ratio of 1:1, there was no increase in trap catch; the triene alone did not elicit catches of males. For monitoring this insect, the tetraene, applied to rubber dispensers at a dose of 300?μg, is a potent sex attractant.     

Numerical Simulation in the Field of Geotechnics and Underground Engineering—Examples of Research and Development Projects

The introduction of numerical simulation in underground engineering proved to be a major advancement compared to traditional analytical calculations. However, building an appropriate model of rock or soil is very difficult because some geomaterials show very complex material behaviour. In addition, reliable input parameters of the ground are rarely available because a geological exploration can only give punctual insights of the project area. Hence, results of simulations in geotechnics are never as accurate as in many other disciplines. The combination of exploration, well developed characterisation methods, material models and the right choice of software can however provide good results. The validity of a simulation result always needs to be checked carefully with the help of profound engineering judgement. This paper presents recent research and development projects in the field of numerical simulations in geotechnics carried out at the Chair of Subsurface Engineering and some of its partners.     

Extensions to a lens design program for the ray-optical design of waveguide lenses and prism couplers

Abstract

The design of integrated optical lens systems requires special software because such systems contain both three-dimensional and twodimensional elements (e.g. bulk prisms and planar waveguide lenses), and the waveguides are often anisotropic. We extended the popular optical computer-aided design program OSLO SIX so that it can evaluate and optimize systems that contain coupling prisms and planar waveguide lenses. We describe our software extensions and through examples we demonstrate their usage and benefits. We confirm our computations by measurement results. Finally, we present a ray-optical interpretation of transverse image line inclination and a method for its elimination.     

Multipass acoustically open photoacoustic detector for trace gas measurements

What we believe to be a novel multipass, acoustically open photoacoustic detector designed for fast-response, high-sensitivity detection of trace gases and pollutants in the atmosphere is demonstrated. The acoustic pulses generated by the absorption of the light pulses of a tunable optical parametric oscillator by target molecules are detected by an ultrasonic sensor at 40 kHz. The photoacoustic signal is enhanced by an optical multipass arrangement and by concentration of the acoustic energy to the surface of the ultrasonic sensor. The detection sensitivity, estimated from CO2 measurements around a 2 microm wavelength, is approximately 3.3 x 10(-9) W cm(-1).     

Novel polyurethane elastomer continuous carbon fiber composites: Preparation and characterization

Preparation and characterization of novel polyurethane (PUR)–carbon fiber (CF) composites are reported. The reinforcement of PUR elastomers was achieved using unidirectional continuous CFs with different coatings (uncoated and epoxy and polyester resin coatings) by applying molding for the preparation of PUR‐CF composites. Considerable reinforcement of PUR was attained even at relatively low CF content, e.g., maximum stress and Young's modulus of PUR‐CF composite at CF content 3% (m/m) were found to be 3–5 and 4–10 times higher than those of the PUR‐matrix, respectively. In addition, a linear relationship between the Young's modulus and the CF content was found as well as linear variation of maximum stress with the CF content was also observed. The adhesion of CF to the PUR‐matrix was strong in each case as concluded from the strain–stress and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations. However, the extent of reinforcement of PUR at a given CF content was found to depend greatly on the coatings of CF, and increased in the following order: epoxy resin < polyester resin < uncoated. The effect of the coating of CF on the reinforcement of PUR is also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 287–292, 2007