Related papers: Photo-mechanical energy conversion using polymer b…
We review some recent coarse-graining and multi-scale methods, but also put forward some new ideas for addressing such issues. We find that, if one is guided by nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, it is possible to…
Ellipsometry is a powerful and well-established optical technique used in the characterisation of materials. It works by combining the components of elliptically polarized light in order to draw information about the optical system. We…
Molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work while operating in an environment dominated by Brownian motion. The aim of this paper is to explore the flow of energy between the molecular motors and its surroundings, in…
Shear responsive surfaces offer potential advances in a number of applications. Surface functionalisation using polymer brushes is one route to such properties, particularly in the case of entangled polymers. We report on neutron…
We report on the dynamics of photodegradation and subsequent recovery of two-photon fluorescence in a dye-doped polymer. The energy dependence suggests that photo-degradation is a linear process while recovery is entropic. Such recovery…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is a key process for accelerating charged particles and producing high-energy radiation. We study this process using relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics simulations. Starting with Harris sheet…
A momentum conservation approach is introduced to manipulate light at distance using metasurfaces. Given a specified field existing on one side of the metasurface and specified desired field transmitted from the opposite side, a general…
Accurate free-energy estimation is essential in molecular simulation, yet the periodic boundary conditions (PBC) commonly used in computer simulations have rarely been explicitly exploited. Equilibrium methods such as umbrella sampling,…
Concepts of everyday use like energy, heat, and temperature have acquired a precise meaning after the development of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics provides the basis for understanding how heat and work are related and with the general…
Brush-like structures emerge from stretching of long polymer chains, densely grafted on to the surface of an impermeable substrate. They arise due to the competition between conformational entropic elasticity of polymer chains and excluded…
We present a theoretical approach to scale the artificially fast dynamics of simulated coarse-grained polymer liquids down to its realistic value. As coarse-graining affects entropy and dissipation, two factors enter the rescaling:…
We describe a strategy for conversion of optical power into DC electrical power using resonant absorption in plasmonic nanostructures. A thermodynamic analysis of the underlying mechanism motivates our description of the phenomenon, which…
Polymer light-emitting devices were fabricated utilizing plasma polymerized thin films as emissive layers. These conjugated polymer films were prepared by RF Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) using naphthalene as monomer.…
Future long-duration space missions will require in-situ, on-demand manufacturing of tools and components. Photopolymer-based processes are attractive for this purpose due to their low energy requirements, volume efficiency, and precise…
A general theory of optical forces on moving bodies is here developed in terms of generalized/4x4 transfer and scattering matrices. Results are presented for a planar dielectric multilayer of arbitrary refractive index placed in an…
Tweezer arrays of polarizable objects are a promising platform for assembling quantum matter and building next-generation quantum sensors. Light-induced dipolar interactions have emerged as a method to couple their motion, thereby…
We analyse the process of conversion of near-field thermal radiation into usable work by considering the radiation emitted between two planar sources supporting surface phonon-polaritons. The maximum work flux that can be extracted from the…
Photophoretic force due to the optically-induced thermal effect provides an effective way to manipulate the light-absorbing particles suspended in ambient gases. However, how this force temporally responds to the intensity modulation of the…
The generation of energetic electrons in laser fusion in an important issue. The electrons may either arise from a laser plasma instability, or from the uncoupled high temperature tail of a Maxwellian distribution. To study these in a laser…
In this experimental study, a flowing dielectric barrier discharge operating at atmospheric pressure is used for the splitting of CO2 into O2 and CO. The influence of the applied frequency and plasma power on the microdischarge properties…