Microstructured metallic devices will play a vital role in the continuing search to manipulate the passage of electromagnetic radiation relevant to optical, microwave, and communication technologies. Here, we investigate the electromagnetic response of a completely novel and ultrathin (<< wavelength) structure within which is buried a metal-clad waveguiding layer ("core") of subwavelength width...

The principal objective of this work is to contribute to the development of effective remote autonomous mine countermeasure operations by providing pertinent flow, heat flux and sediment transport characteristics in the benthic boundary layer to missions engaged in sea mine reconnaissance and hunting. These environmental characteristics govern acoustic and light propagation, chemical and biogen...

A strategy is proposed to reduce surface tensile stresses that develop in ceramic microlaminate structures. As a specific example, surface stresses, which can lead to unwanted edge cracking, appear within a thin alumina/mullite layer bounded by thicker alumina layers after fabrication at some elevated temperature and subsequent cooling. A stress analysis is performed using the finite element me...

Close to the triple point, surface of ice is covered by a thin liquid layer (so-called quasi-liquid layer) which crucially impacts growth and melting rates. Experimental probes cannot observe processes below this layer, classical models vapor deposition do not account for formation premelting films. Here, we develop mesoscopic model liquid-film mediated growth, identify various resulting regime...

We demonstrate the imaging of buried features in a microstructure—a tiny hole in an aluminum thin film covered by a chromium layer—with nanometer lateral resolution using a transient temperature distribution restricted to within ;0.5 mm of the sample surface. This is achieved by mapping photothermally induced megahertz surface vibrations in an atomic force microscope. Local thermal probing with...

Strain-induced quenching of optical transitions has been found in capped self-assembled quantum dot structures. Light absorption at the E1 and E1 1 D1 critical points of InSb islands buried in InP disappears for nominal InSb thicknesses lower than 10 monolayers as a consequence of the strain produced inside the islands by the cap layer. Certainly, this strain increases as the InSb deposition di...

The knife-edge method is a commonly used technique to characterize the optical profiles of laser beams or focused spots. In this paper, we present a micro knife-edge scanner fabricated in a silicon-on-insulator substrate using the micro-electromechanical-system technology. A photo detector can be fabricated in the device to allow further integration with on-chip signal conditioning circuitry. A...

Global distributions of thermal, epithermal, and fast neutron fluxes have been mapped during late southern summer/northern winter using the Mars Odyssey Neutron Spectrometer. These fluxes are selectively sensitive to the vertical and lateral spatial distributions of H and CO2 in the uppermost meter of the martian surface. Poleward of +/-60 degrees latitude is terrain rich in hydrogen, probably ...

The 2006/07 and 2007/08 US-ITASE traverses from Taylor Dome to South Pole in East Antarctica provided opportunities to survey the subglacial and englacial environments using 3MHz and 200MHz radar. We present first results of these new ground-based radar data. A prominent basal deformation layer indicates different ice-flow regimes for the northern and southern halves of the Byrd Glacier drainag...

We review the influence of rare-gas layers on image-potential states at metal surfaces. Experiments on Xe, Kr, and Ar on Cu(100) and on Xe/Ru(0001) that use the technique of time-resolved two-photon photoemission are discussed. The energetic position of the electron affinity, the geometry of the adsorbate layer, and dielectric screening are the factors that influence the dynamical and energetic...