Freeze-Vulnerable Plastic Crystal to Cryogenic Liquid Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries by Deep Freezing-Point Depression.

Low-T solvents (T = freezing point) are considered and employed for low-temperature lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrolytes to keep electrolytes in the liquid phase at low temperatures. Unfortunately, T is synchronized with T (boiling point) so low T brings T down and therefore discourages the thermal stability of electrolytes using low-T solvents. In this work, 1) the hot wing of LIB-working temperature by employing a high-T (inevitably high-T) solvent and 2) the cold wing by using a significant T depression is secured.

Optical EUS Activation to Relax Sensitized Micturition Response.

This study aims to activate the external urethral sphincter (EUS), which plays a critical role in micturition control, through optogenetics and to determine its potential contribution to the stabilization of sensitized micturition activity. The viral vector () is utilized to introduce light-gated ion channels (hChR2/H134R) into the EUS of wild-type mice. Following the induction of sensitized micturition activity using weak acetic acid (0.

An Ultralow Power Mixed Dimensional Heterojunction Transistor Based on the Charge Plasma pn Junction.

Development of a reliable doping method for 2D materials is a key issue to adopt the materials in the future microelectronic circuits and to replace the silicon, keeping the Moore's law toward the sub-10 nm channel length. Especially hole doping is highly required, because most of the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) among the 2D materials are electron-doped by sulfur vacancies in their atomic structures. Here, hole doping of a TMDC, tungsten disulfide (WS ) using the silicon substrate as the dopant medium is demonstrated.

Performance Comparison of CdTe:Na, CdTe:As, and CdTe:P Single Crystals for Solar Cell Applications.

We compared thermal stability, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and fill factor values of single-crystal Cadmium telluride (CdTe) grown using the vertical Bridgman (VB) technique and doped with group V elements (phosphorus and arsenic), and group Ⅰ element (sodium), followed by an annealing process. The sodium-doped CdTe maintained a hole density of 10 cm or higher; after annealing for a long time, this decreased to 10 cm or less. The arsenic-doped CdTe maintained a hole density of approximately 10 cm even after the annealing process; however its bulk minority carrier lifetime decreased by approximately 10%.

Plasmon-enhanced performance of CdS/CdTe solar cells using Au nanoparticles.

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) are incorporated in solar cells during the formation of front or back contacts to improve light absorption via the scattering of excitation light at their surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or localized SPR (LSPR). Here, we demonstrate LSPR-promoted improvement in the efficiency of CdS/CdTe solar cells fabricated by physical vapor deposition by incorporating different quantities of chemically synthesized 200-nm Au NPs in the CdTe layer. The J-V characteristics, external quantum efficiencies, absorption spectra, and cell efficiencies of these devices are compared.

Double-pulse laser illumination method for measuring fast cerebral blood flow velocities in the deep brain using a fiber-bundle-based endomicroscopy system.

We present a new fiber-bundle-based endomicroscopy system to measure the fast cerebral blood flow (CBF) velocity in blood vessels located between the surface and the deep brain of living animals. The CBF velocity is obtained by measuring the displacement of the partially overlapped red blood cell images directly, using double-pulse 532-nm laser illumination. The proposed method could measure CBF in blood vessels with diameters ranging from 4 μm to 42 μm and could measure CBF velocities up to 3.

A possible superconductor-like state at elevated temperatures near metal electrodes in an LaAlO/SrTiO interface.

We experimentally investigated the transport properties near metal electrodes installed on a conducting channel in a LaAlO/SrTiO interface. The local region around the Ti and Al electrodes has a higher electrical conductance than that of other regions, where the upper limits of the temperature and magnetic field can be well defined. Beyond these limits, the conductance abruptly decreases, as in the case of a superconductor.

Fiber bundle-based integrated platform for wide-field fluorescence imaging and patterned optical stimulation for modulation of vasoconstriction in the deep brain of a living animal.

We report a fiber optics-based intravital fluorescence imaging platform that includes epi-fluorescence microscopy and laser patterned-light stimulation system. The platform can perform real-time fluorescence imaging with a lateral resolution of ~4.9 μm while directly inserted into the intact mouse brain, optically stimulate vasoconstriction during real-time imaging, and avoid vessel damage in the penetration path of imaging probe.

Conductance Change Induced by the Rashba Effect in the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Interface.

The LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) heterostructure has an inherent space inversion asymmetry causing an internal electric field near the interface. The Rashba spin-orbit coupling arising from this structural characteristic has a considerable influence on spin transport. With application of an external magnetic field, we observed conductance change in the LAO/STO interface which depends on the sign and magnitude of the field.

Magnetic-field-controlled reconfigurable semiconductor logic.

Logic devices based on magnetism show promise for increasing computational efficiency while decreasing consumed power. They offer zero quiescent power and yet combine novel functions such as programmable logic operation and non-volatile built-in memory. However, practical efforts to adapt a magnetic device to logic suffer from a low signal-to-noise ratio and other performance attributes that are not adequate for logic gates.