For powers exceeding a sharp threshold in the vicinity of several hundred watts the beam quality from some narrow bandwidth fiber amplifiers is severely degraded. We show that this can be caused by ...transverse thermal gradients induced by the amplification process.
High-pressure metallic β−Sn silicon (Si-II), depending on temperature, decompression rate, stress, etc., may transform to diverse metastable forms with promising semiconducting properties under ...decompression. However, the underlying mechanisms governing the different transformation paths are not well understood. Here, two distinctive pathways, viz., a thermally activated crystal-crystal transition and a mechanically driven amorphization, were characterized under rapid decompression of Si-II at various temperatures using in situ time-resolved x-ray diffraction. Under slow decompression, Si-II transforms to a crystalline bc8/r8 phase in the pressure range of 4.3–9.2 GPa through a thermally activated process where the overdepressurization and the onset transition strain are strongly dependent on decompression rate and temperature. In comparison, Si-II collapses structurally to an amorphous form at around 4.3 GPa when the volume expansion approaches a critical strain via rapid decompression beyond a threshold rate. The occurrence of the critical strain indicates a limit of the structural metastability of Si-II, which separates the thermally activated and mechanically driven transition processes. The results show the coupled effect of decompression rate, activation barrier, and thermal energy on the adopted transformation paths, providing atomistic insight into the competition between equilibrium and nonequilibrium pathways and the resulting metastable phases.
We show by numerical modeling that saturation of the population inversion reduces the stimulated thermal Rayleigh gain relative to the laser gain in large mode area fiber amplifiers. We show how to ...exploit this effect to raise mode instability thresholds by a substantial factor. We also demonstrate that when suppression of stimulated Brillouin scattering and the population saturation effect are both taken into account, counter-pumped amplifiers have higher mode instability thresholds than co-pumped amplifiers for fully Yb3+ doped cores, and confined doping can further raise the thresholds.
Based on 45 in-depth interviews, textual analysis, and participant observation with seven different atheist organizations, this article investigates the collective identity work of atheists in the ...United States. It explores the social psychological and interactional dynamics of atheist organizations as well as how they contribute to the construction and maintenance of atheist identities. I discuss the various strategies atheists employ as they collectively manage a stigmatized identity and negotiate the meaning of their atheism with one another and with the nonatheist public. This is accomplished in part through an analysis of the identity politics and minority discourse contemporary atheists currently engage. In addition, and more broadly, this study explores the relationship between collective identity and social action through an analysis and description of contemporary atheist activism.
Mislocated enzymatic activity of DOT1L has been proposed as a driver of leukemogenesis in mixed lineage leukemia (MLL). The characterization of EPZ004777, a potent, selective inhibitor of DOT1L is ...reported. Treatment of MLL cells with the compound selectively inhibits H3K79 methylation and blocks expression of leukemogenic genes. Exposure of leukemic cells to EPZ004777 results in selective killing of those cells bearing the
MLL gene translocation, with little effect on non-
MLL-translocated cells. Finally, in vivo administration of EPZ004777 leads to extension of survival in a mouse MLL xenograft model. These results provide compelling support for DOT1L inhibition as a basis for targeted therapeutics against MLL.
► A potent and selective inhibitor of DOT1L enzymatic activity has been designed ► The inhibitor blocks H3K79 methylation and selectively kills
MLL-rearranged cells ► The inhibitor demonstrates antileukemia activity in a xenograft model of MLL ► These data validate the use of DOT1L inhibitors as targeted therapeutics for MLL
Ice amorphization, low- to high-density amorphous (LDA-HDA) transition, as well as (re)crystallization in ice, under compression have been studied extensively due to their fundamental importance in ...materials science and polyamorphism. However, the nature of the multiple-step “reverse” transformation from metastable high-pressure ice to the stable crystalline form under reduced pressure is not well understood. Here, we characterize the rate and temperature dependence of the structural evolution from ice VII to ice I recovered at low pressure (∼5 mTorr) using in situ time-resolved X-ray diffraction. Unlike previously reported ice VII (or ice VIII)→LDA→ice I transitions, we reveal three temperature-dependent successive transformations: conversion of ice VII into HDA, followed by HDA-to-LDA transition, and then crystallization of LDA into ice I. Significantly, the temperature-dependent characteristic times indicate distinctive thermal activation mechanisms above and below 110–115 K for both ice VIII-to-HDA and HDA-to-LDA transitions. Large-scale molecular-dynamics calculations show that the structural evolution from HDA to LDA is continuous and involves substantial movements of the water molecules at the nanoscale. The results provide a perspective on the interrelationship of polyamorphism and unravel its underpinning complexities in shaping ice-transition kinetic pathways
Most of the studied two-dimensional (2D) materials are based on highly symmetric hexagonal structural motifs. In contrast, lower-symmetry structures may have exciting anisotropic properties leading ...to various applications in nanoelectronics. In this work we report the synthesis of nickel diazenide NiN2 which possesses atomic-thick layers comprised of Ni2N3 pentagons forming Cairo-type tessellation. The layers of NiN2 are weakly bonded with the calculated exfoliation energy of 0.72 J/m2, which is just slightly larger than that of graphene. The compound crystallizes in the space group of the ideal Cairo tiling (P4/mbm) and possesses significant anisotropy of elastic properties. The single-layer NiN2 is a direct-band-gap semiconductor, while the bulk material is metallic. This indicates the promise of NiN2 to be a precursor of a pentagonal 2D material with a tunable direct band gap.
We use a detailed numerical model of stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering to compute mode instability thresholds in Tm(3+)-doped fiber amplifiers. The fiber amplifies 2040 nm light using a 790 nm ...pump. The cross-relaxation process is strong, permitting power efficiencies of 60%. The predicted instability thresholds are compared with those in similar Yb(3+)-doped fiber amplifiers with 976 nm pump and 1060 nm signal, and are found to be higher, even though the heat load is much higher in Tm-doped amplifiers. The higher threshold in the Tm-doped fiber is attributed to its longer signal wavelength, and to stronger gain saturation, due in part to cross-relaxation heating.
Understanding the ultralow velocity zones (ULVZs) places constraints on the chemical composition and thermal structure of deep Earth and provides critical information on the dynamics of largescale ...mantle convection, but their origin has remained enigmatic for decades. Recent studies suggest that metallic iron and carbon are produced in subducted slabs when they sink beyond a depth of 250 km. Here we show that the eutectic melting curve of the iron–carbon system crosses the current geotherm near Earth’s core−mantle boundary, suggesting that dense metallic melt may form in the lowermost mantle. If concentrated into isolated patches, such melt could produce the seismically observed density and velocity features of ULVZs. Depending on the wetting behavior of the metallic melt, the resultant ULVZs may be short-lived domains that are replenished or regenerated through subduction, or long-lasting regions containing both metallic and silicate melts. Slab-derived metallic melt may produce another type of ULVZ that escapes core sequestration by reacting with the mantle to form iron-rich postbridgmanite or ferropericlase. The hypotheses connect peculiar features near Earth’s core−mantle boundary to subduction of the oceanic lithosphere through the deep carbon cycle.
As part of our investigations into the Lewis acidic behavior of antimony derivatives, we have decided to study the properties of 5-phenyl-5,5-dichloro-λ5-dibenzostibole (1), a dichlorostiborane with ...an antimony atom confined to a five-membered heterocycle. Our work shows that the resulting geometrical constraints elevate the Lewis acidity of the antimony atom, as confirmed by the crystal structure of 1-THF and the solution study of the interaction of 1 with Ph3PO. The enhanced Lewis acidic properties of 1, which exceed those of simple dichlorostiboranes such as Ph3SbCl2, also become manifest in pnictogen bonding catalysis experiments involving the reductions of imines with Hantzsch ester. The influence of geometrical constraints in the chemistry of this compound is also supported by a computational activation strain analysis as well as by an energy decomposition analysis of a model Me3PO adduct.
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