Pixel-selected ray tracing

An acceleration method based on an idea that T. Whitted (Commun. ACM, vol.23, no.6 pp.343-349, June 1980) presented on ray tracing is discussed. He proposed making antialiased images by hierarchical adaptive oversampling. The present authors use hierarchical adaptive undersampling to reduce the number of pixels whose intensity must be calculated by ray tracing. To implement pixel-selected ray tracing (PSRT), homogeneous regions in images must first be found. Generally, adaptive undersampling can result in some image-quality defects, because small objects and parts of thin or wedge-shaped objects may disappear when they are located between the initially sampled pixels. PSRT has an improved algorithm that uses pixels with the correct object information from among the sampled pixels to find pixels with erroneous color and correct them. Moreover, PRST uses ray-object intersection trees for precise classification of the homogeneity of regions and for fast intensity calculation in homogeneous regions. Experimental results are presented. They show that PSRT is two to nine times faster than standard ray tracing     

Interfacial Reactions between Sapphire and Silver—Copper—Titanium Thin Film Filler Metal

Wetting and brazing studies of sputtering-deposited, submicrometer thin film filler metal in an Ag—Cu—Ti/Al₂O₃ system were performed. The interfacial reaction layer between the filler metal and Al₂O₃ was investigated. It is possible to make a brazing joint even with a reaction layer of less than 100 nm thickness. Different types of interfacial reaction layers were observed when the Ti content in the filler metal was varied. The Cu—Ti—O system compounds were observed in the samples with high wetting capabilities, but not in the sample with low wetting characteristics. It was found that these compounds are substances that promote effective brazing.     

Catalytic activity and solid acidity of vanadium oxide thin layer loaded on TiO2, ZrO2, and SnO2

Vanadium oxide spread highly on TiO₂ (anatase, A) and SnO₂, and rather densely on TiO₂ (rutile, R) and ZrO₂ to make the monolayer in less than 4–5 V nm⁻². Profile of acid site of the monolayer was measured by temperature programmed desorption of ammonia, and its relation with the surface oxidation state was studied. The acid site density was high on the V₂O₅/TiO₂ (A) independent of the degree of oxidation. On the other hand, that of V₂O₅/TiO₂ (R) and V₂O₅/ZrO₂ depended on the oxidation state, and the high value of the concentration was observed on the oxidized one. The strength of acid site generated on the V₂O₅ monolayer on TiO₂ was as high as on the HZSM-5 zeolite. Turnover frequency (TOF) of propane conversion, and product selectivity were measured in propane oxidation. Among tested oxides, the V₂O₅/TiO₂ (A) showed the high TOF and selectivity to form propylene, while those loaded on TiO₂ (R) and ZrO₂ the small TOF and poor selectivity. Therefore, the reaction profile of activity and selectivity could be related with the extent of spreading and solid acidity. An idea of limit of the acid site density ca. 1.5 nm⁻² on the monolayer was elucidated.     

Morphology Engineering in Monolayer MoS2‐WS2 Lateral Heterostructures

In recent years, heterostructures formed in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant attention due to their unique physical properties beyond the individual components. Atomically thin TMD heterostructures, such as MoS₂‐WS₂, MoS₂‐MoSe₂, MoS₂‐WSe₂, and WSe₂‐WS₂, are synthesized so far via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Engineering the morphology of domains including size and shape, however, still remains challenging. Here, a one‐step CVD strategy on the morphology engineering of MoS₂ and WS₂ domains within the monolayer MoS₂‐WS₂ lateral heterostructures through controlling the weight ratio of precursors, MoO₃ and WO₃, as well as tuning the reaction temperature is reported. Not only can the size ratio in terms of area between WS₂ and MoS₂ domains be easily controlled from less than 1 to more than 20, but also the overall heterostructure size can be tuned from several to hundreds of micrometers. Intriguingly, the quantum well structure, a WS₂ stripe embedded in the MoS₂ matrix, is also observed in the as‐synthesized heterostructures, offering opportunities to study quantum confinement effects and quantum well applications. This approach paves the way for the large‐scale fabrication of MoS₂‐WS₂ lateral heterostructures with controllable domain morphology, and shall be readily extended to morphology engineering of other TMD heterostructures.     

Metal‐Free Growth of Nanographene on Silicon Oxides for Transparent Conducting Applications

Conventional methods to prepare large‐area graphene for transparent conducting electrodes involve the wet etching of the metal catalyst and the transfer of the graphene film, which can degrade the film through the creation of wrinkles, cracks, or tears. The resulting films may also be obscured by residual metal impurities and polymer contaminants. Here, it is shown that direct growth of large‐area flat nanographene films on silica can be achieved at low temperature (400 °C) by chemical vapor deposition without the use of metal catalysts. Raman spectroscopy and TEM confirm the formation of a hexagonal atomic network of sp²‐bonded carbon with a domain size of about 3–5 nm. Further spectroscopic analysis reveals the formation of SiC between the nanographene and SiO₂, indicating that SiC acts as a catalyst. The optical transmittance of the graphene films is comparable with transferred CVD graphene grown on Cu foils. Despite the fact that the electrical conductivity is an order of magnitude lower than CVD graphene grown on metals, the sheet resistance remains 1–2 orders of magnitude better than well‐reduced graphene oxides.