Characterization of Submicron Sized Josephson Junction Fabricated in a Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ (Bi-2223) Single Crystal Whisker

To study the detailed characteristics of a nano-periodic Josephson junction array in a Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_10+δ (Bi-2223) single crystal whisker without shunted grain boundaries, we fabricate a submicron stack with an area of 0.5 μm×0.5 μm and height of approximately 200 nm using a focused ion beam (FIB) etching technique. The stack has several hundreds of elementary Josephson junctions along the c-axis. We fabricate the stack by rotation and tilt of the sample stage in the FIB. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics give a well-defined superconducting gap (V _g) and we notice suppression of the critical current in submicron junction with respect to big sized junction. We believe that the suppression of critical current in submicron junction is due to the normal resistance of the junction which belongs to the quantum resistance range.     

Milk Derived Antimicrobial Bioactive Peptides: A Review

In recent decades, bioactive peptides have attracted increasing interest as health promoting functional foods. A variety of naturally formed bioactive peptides have been found in fermented dairy products such as yogurt, sour milk, and cheese. Initially these peptides are inactive within the sequence of the parent protein molecule and can be generated by gastrointestinal digestion of milk, fermentation of milk with proteolytic starter cultures, and/or hydrolysis by proteolytic enzymes. Milk derived peptides exert a number of health beneficial activities, even upon oral administration. Bioactive peptides have a great impact on major body systems including the digestive, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, diabetes type II, obesity, and immune systems. Antimicrobial peptides are also an important ingredient of innate immunity, especially at mucosal surfaces such as lungs and small intestine that are constantly exposed to a range of potential pathogens. Therefore, it plays an important role in boosting natural immune protection by reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Bioactive peptides are considered as potent drugs with well-defined pharmacological residues and also used to formulate health-enhancing nutraceuticals.     

Electrical and mechanical properties of PMMA/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites prepared via in situ polymerization

We report the effect of filler incorporation techniques on the electrical and mechanical properties of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-filled poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposites. Composites were prepared by three different techniques, viz. in situ polymerisation of MMA monomer in presence of RGO, bulk polymerization of MMA in presence of PMMA beads/RGO and by in situ polymerization of MMA in presence of RGO followed by sheet casting. In particular, the effect of incorporation of varying amounts (i.e. ranging from 0.1 to 2 % w/w) of RGO on the electrical, thermal, morphological and mechanical properties of PMMA was investigated. The electrical conductivity was found to be critically dependent on the amount of RGO as well as on the method of its incorporation. The electrical conductivity of 2 wt% RGO-loaded PMMA composite was increased by factor of 10⁷, when composites were prepared by in situ polymerization of MMA in the presence of RGO and PMMA beads, whereas, 10⁸ times increase in conductivity was observed at the same RGO content when composites were prepared by casting method. FTIR and Raman spectra suggested the presence of chemical interactions between RGO and PMMA matrix, whereas XRD patterns, SEM and HRTEM studies show that among three methods, the sheet-casting method gives better exfoliation and dispersion of RGO sheets within PMMA matrix. The superior thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of composites prepared by sheet-casting method provided a facile and logical route towards ultimate target of utilizing maximum fraction of intrinsic properties of graphene sheets.     

Structural details, electrical properties, and electromagnetic interference shielding response of processable copolymers of aniline

Processable copolymers of aniline with 2-alkylanilines were prepared by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization route. Formation of copolymers was confirmed by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), UV–Vis, and solubility measurements. XRD revealed that copolymerization leads to increase in inter-chain spacing and reduction of doping levels. UV–vis results showed that incorporation of substituted anilines in copolymeric backbone leads to decrease in conjugation, the extent of which is directly related to size of alkyl substituent. The electrical conductivities of these copolymers were slightly less than pure polyaniline, but noticeable improvement in the solution processability was observed. In addition, these copolymers also provided shielding against electromagnetic interference (EMI) with ~99 % attenuation of incident energy. Among various copolymers, 95:5 copolymer of aniline with 2-isopropyl aniline (CP95Ip) gave best performance in terms of electrical conductivity (12.8 S/cm), solubility (4.9 g/L in N-methyl pyrrolidone), and EMI shielding effectiveness (?23.2 dB) values.     

The Influence of Molecular Weight of Synthetic Hydrophilic Colloids on their Protective Action and on the Ripening of Silver Halide Crystals

The protective action and the influence on physical ripening for silver halides crystals of a number of water soluble polymers of acrylamide and N-mono and bis-methyl substitutes are investigated. Viscosity and solubility of polymers are considered in order to explain the experimental results obtained.     

Nanoscale structure and atomic disorder in the iron-based chalcogenides

The multiband iron-based superconductors have layered structure with a phase diagram characterized by a complex interplay of charge, spin and lattice excitations, with nanoscale atomic structure playing a key role in their fundamental electronic properties. In this paper, we briefly review nanoscale structure and atomic disorder in iron-based chalcogenide superconductors. We focus on the Fe(Se,S)_1−xTe_x (11-type) and K_0.8Fe_1.6Se₂ (122-type) systems, discussing their local structure obtained by extended x-ray absorption fine structure. Local structure studies on the Fe(Se,S)_1−xTe_x system reveal clear nanoscale phase separation characterized by coexisting components of different atomic configurations, similar to the case of random alloys. In fact, the Fe–Se/S and Fe–Te distances in the ternary Fe(Se,S)_1−xTe_x are found to be closer to the respective distances in the binary FeSe/FeS and FeTe systems, showing significant divergence of the local structure from the average one. The observed features are characteristic of ternary random alloys, indicating breaking of the local symmetry in these materials. On the other hand, K_0.8Fe_1.6Se₂ is known for phase separation in an iron-vacancy ordered phase and an in-plane compressed lattice phase. The local structure of these 122-type chalcogenides shows that this system is characterized by a large local disorder. Indeed, the experiments suggest a nanoscale glassy phase in K_0.8Fe_1.6Se₂, with the superconductivity being similar to the granular materials. While the 11-type structure has no spacer layer, the 122-type structure contains intercalated atoms unlike the 1111-type REFeAsO (RE = rare earth) oxypnictides, having well-defined REO spacer layers. It is clear that the interlayer atomic correlations in these iron-based superconducting structures play an important role in structural stability as well as superconductivity and magnetism.     

Organic Solar Cells: A Review of Materials,Limitations, and Possibilities for Improvement

Significant attention has been given during the last few years to overcome technological and material barriers in order to develop organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs) with comparable cost efficiency similar to the inorganic photovoltaics (PVs) and to make them commercially viable. To take advantage of the low cost for such devices, major improvements are necessary which include: an efficiency of around 10%, high stability from degradation under real-world conditions, novel optically active materials, and development of novel fabrication approaches. In order to meet such stringent requirements, the research and development in OPVs need to improve upon the short diffusion length of excitons, which is one of the factors that are responsible for their low power conversion efficiency. This review discusses some of the most significant technological developments that were presented in the literature and helped improve photovoltaic performance, such as tandem architectures, plasmonics, and use of graphitic nanostructural materials, among others.

Tandem organic solar cells with embedded plasmonics are a promising approach to further increase the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells, by harvesting complementary spectral regions with high quantum efficiencies. Polymeric nanocomposites incorporating graphitic nanostructures were extensively investigated for the next generation of efficient and low-cost solar cells, since such nanomaterials show excellent electrical and mechanical properties, excellent carrier transport capabilities, and provide an efficient pathway to the dissociated charge carriers.     

Space–Time/Space–Frequency/Space–Time–Frequency Block Coded MIMO-OFDM System with Equalizers in Quasi Static Mobile Radio Channels Using Higher Tap Order

In 4G broadband wireless communications, multiple transmit and receive antennas are used to form multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channels to increase the capacity (by a factor of the minimum number of transmit and receive antennas) and data rate. In this paper, the combination of MIMO technology and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is analyzed for wideband transmission which mitigates the intersymbol interference and hence enhances system capacity. In MIMO-OFDM systems, the coding is done over space, time, and frequency domains to provide reliable and robust transmission in harsh wireless environment. Also, the performance of space time frequency (STF) coded MIMO-OFDM is analyzed with space time and space frequency coding as special cases. The maximum achievable diversity of STF coded MIMO-OFDM is analyzed and bit error rate performance improvement is verified by simulation results. Simulations are carried out in harsh wireless environment, whose effect is mitigated by using higher tap order channels. The complexity is resolved by employing sphere decoder at the receiver.