Search results for "100"
showing 10 items of 9033 documents
Economic Support during the COVID Crisis. Quantitative Easing and Lending Support Schemes in the UK
2021
Abstract We investigate how UK bank business lending responded to the simultaneous use of quantitative easing, leverage ratio capital requirements, and government COVID lending support schemes. We find no evidence that the Brexit wave increased lending to nonfinancial businesses, compared to the previous waves, except for QE-banks subject to the UK leverage ratio, suggesting that the ratio incentivised QE-banks to lend to businesses. The government schemes helped expand lending especially to SMEs post the COVID wave, indicating that complementing QE with other credit easing programmes can reinforce its impact on lending to the real economy. During COVID-stress, changes to the UK leverage ra…
Dynamical learning of a photonics quantum-state engineering process
2021
Abstract. Experimental engineering of high-dimensional quantum states is a crucial task for several quantum information protocols. However, a high degree of precision in the characterization of the noisy experimental apparatus is required to apply existing quantum-state engineering protocols. This is often lacking in practical scenarios, affecting the quality of the engineered states. We implement, experimentally, an automated adaptive optimization protocol to engineer photonic orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. The protocol, given a target output state, performs an online estimation of the quality of the currently produced states, relying on output measurement statistics, and determine…
Use of Density Functional Based Tight Binding Methods in Vibrational Circular Dichroism.
2018
Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) is a spectroscopic technique used to resolve the absolute configuration of chiral systems. Obtaining a theoretical VCD spectrum requires computing atomic polar and axial tensors on top of the computationally demanding construction of the force constant matrix. In this study we evaluated a VCD model in which all necessary quantities are obtained with density functional based tight binding (DFTB) theory. The analyzed DFTB parametrizations fail at providing accurate vibrational frequencies and electric dipole gradients but yield reasonable normal modes at a fraction of the computational cost of density functional theory (DFT). Thus, by applying DFTB in comp…
“Sweet” ionic liquid gels: materials for sweetening of fuels
2018
The search for new materials to be used in desulfurisation (sweetening) of fuels is one of the main topics of current research. In this paper, we explored the possibility of using supramolecular gels obtained from the gelation of ionic liquid binary mixtures. Indeed, some ionic liquids are generally known as efficient extraction phases for desulfurisation of fuels. In rare cases, one of their main drawbacks is their partial solubility in the fuel, leading to contamination. Then, their immobilisation due to the formation of a gelatinous network may be a challenge. Ionic liquid gels were obtained by mixing certain [NTf2]−-based ionic liquids (solvents) with the ones of gluconate-based ionic l…
Erratum to: Methods of Electron Microdiffraction and X-Ray Analysis in Structure Study of Nanodisperse Partially Stabilized ZrO2 Powders
2019
Analytical electron microscopy (AEM) has been used to study both structure and morphology of partially yttria-stabilized zirconia dioxide nanopowders (YSZ) obtained by wet-chemical methods (glycine and azeotropic distillation) and ceramics produced from them. Both morphological and structural inhomogeneity of nanopowders obtained by glycine (glc) method has been estimated. Besides the tetragonal ZrO2 phase (results of X-ray analyses) the cubic phase of ZrO2 with different degree of crystallinity has been estimated by Electron Microdiffraction (EMD) methods. In powders obtained by azeotropic distillation (dest) method besides the amorphous phase (identified in X-ray investigations) the high …
Optical detection of paramagnetic centres in activated oxyfluoride glass-ceramics
2018
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and EPR detected via MCD (MCD-EPR) investigations have been performed on rare-earth activated oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics. Er3+, Gd3+, and Mn2+ activators in oxyfluoride glass-ceramics show paramagnetic MCD behaviour and the MCD-EPR has been detected. The results of the MCD-EPR measurements for the Er-doped oxyfluoride glass-ceramics showed that Er3+ ions in the CaF2 crystallites in these ceramics embed only in the cubic symmetry environment, similarly to the previous observations of cubic Gd3+ centres in the glass-ceramics containing CaF2. Finally, the correlation of optics and paramagnetic centres is discu…
Effect of space charge on the negative oxygen flux during reactive sputtering
2017
Negative ions often play a distinctive role in the phase formation during reactive sputter deposition. The path of these high energetic ions is often assumed to be straight. In this paper, it is shown that in the context of reactive magnetron sputtering space charge effects are decisive for the energetic negative ion trajectories. To investigate the effect of space charge spreading, reactive magnetron sputter experiments were performed in compound mode with target materials that are expected to have a high secondary ion emission yield (MgO and CeO2). By the combination of energy flux measurements, and simulations, a quantitative value for the negative oxygen ion yield can be derived.
Determination of an empirical law of aluminium and magnesium alloys absorption coefficient during Nd :YAG laser interaction
2007
International audience; Welding laser modelling requires knowledge about relative changes of many thermo-physical parameters involved in the interaction. The absorptivity of the material is one of the most important. In this study, experimental measurements of absorptivity with an integrating sphere on two alloys (aluminium and magnesium) were made. These results were compared with an analytical calculation that takes into account the trapping of the beam by multiple reflections inside the keyhole. Based on a statistical method, an empirical law is proposed connecting absorptivity with the peak power of the laser and the duration of interaction. During the interaction, two distinct phenomen…
Molecular association of cryptand 221D in NaCl-water solutions. A small-angle neutron scattering study
1993
Molecules of 5-Decyl-4,7,13,16,21-pentaoxa-1,10-diaza-bicyclo-[8.8.5.]tricosan (221D) and its sodium complex, with both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic portion, are expected to form aggregates in water solutions. This was confirmed by surface tension measurements. The aggregation behaviour was studied by small-angle neutron scattering at two different [NaCl]/[221D] molar ratios, such as to obtain, in one case, aggregates entirely made up of ionic monomers, and in the other, mixed micelles constituted by both ionic and non-ionic units. The variation of the aggregation number and number of aggregates indicated that, in the former case, smaller micelles were formed, as a consequence of repulsi…
Coloration mechanism of electrochromic Na x WO3 thin films
2019
International audience; The coloration mechanism of tungsten trioxide (WO3) upon insertion of alkali ions is still under debate after several decades of research. This Letter provides new insights into the reversible insertion and coloration mechanisms of Na+ ions in WO3 thin films sputter-deposited on ITO/glass substrates. A unique model based on a constrained spline approach was developed and applied to draw out ε1+iε2 from spectroscopic ellipsometry data from 0.6 to 4.8 eV whatever the state of the electrochromic active layer, i.e. as-deposited, colored or bleached. It is shown that electrochemically intercalated sodium-tungsten trioxide, NaxWO3 (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.35), exhibits an absorption…