ASIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS

Editorial

Asian Journal of Physics, a peer reviewed international quarterly research journal has completed seventeen years of its existence since the first volume appeared in the year 1992. During this period of approximately two decades more than one thousand articles in different fields have been published by experts in those areas. It is reasonable to believe that the journal has in some measures met the desire of beginning students, teachers, experts and scientists working in different domains.

In this year of 2009, it is reasonable to express satisfaction on the fact that there has been gradual improvement in the quality of the research papers following its inception in the year 1992. It appears appropriate to remark here with some comments on the so called "impact factors" generally attributed to the peer reviewed journals. Impact factor was devised by Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information, now part of Thomson, a large worldwide US-based publisher. Impact factors are generally viewed as measuring scale to gauge the standard of a journal. But this view needs to be qualified.

Today impact factors have a big, but controversial influence. The impact factor now is not infallible measures of journal quality. It was introduced when most of journals were published as "paper" journals. But today's global Net and Online "virtual" realities introduce many changes. A high impact factor does not mean reaching a wide reader auditorium and big number of readers for particular article. Eugene Garfield warns about the "misuse in evaluating individuals" because there is a "wide variation from article to article within a single journal" (Sensors & Transducers Journal, Vol 87, No 1, 2008).

We must emphasize that a good work always remains a good work irrespective of the journal where it is published. This is universally true. The Raman-Nath theory is one example. It may be noted that all the papers concerning Raman-Nath theory were published in the proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science but they did not suffer on that account. Ultimate recognition always depends on the quality of work. Even Sir CV Raman published his paper on Raman Effect in the Indian Journal of Physics (Vol.2, p387, 1928). Even after long eight decades of its continuous publication the impact factor of Indian Journal of Physics is less than 0.5. Can anybody comment on this? What a contrast to present tendencies.

This issue, in addition to regular papers contains an special section dedicated to Prof SP Ojha, former Vice Chancellor, CCS University, Meerut, India. Prof Ojha was elected President of Physical Science Section of Indian Science Congress Association for 2010-11. He has carried out extensive research work in several fields. He has published over 200 papers in journals of National and International repute. Prof Ojha developed a theory of narrow band-pass Infrared filter which was published in The Optical Society of America (Vol 6, 1007, 1992). In recent years, the concepts of filters developed by Prof Ojha in 1992 have become the basis of the well known " Photonic Band Gap Materials". His current field of interest is negative refractive index and superluminosity in Photonic Crystals.

We are grateful to Prof Kehar Singh, Physics Department, IIT Delhi, for editing the special section at a very short notice. We are also thankful to the authors who contributed their articles to this special section.

G.D Baruah

V K Rastogi

Prof. Willis Eugene Lamb Jr.  (1913-2008)

The greatest laser physicist of twentieth century Prof. Willis E. Lamb Jr died at the age of 95 on May 15, 2008. He was born on July 13, 1913 in Los Angeles. Before his death he was working as Emeritus Professor in physics at University of Arizona, in the field which he called as Quantum Universe and Light. Though he and his students were working in the field of laser physics during last five decades his name is well known for the famous "Lamb-shift" which he discovered along with Retherford in 1947. This Lamb shift is a small energy difference between two levels designated as ²S_1/2 and ²p_1/2. To explain this small energy difference, quantum electrodynamics had to be renormalized and it was done by the US physicists Richard Feynman, Seymour Schwinger and the Japanese physicist Sinitiro Tomonaga. Willis Lamb Jr was awarded Nobel prize in physics in the year 1955, with Prof Polykarp Kusch.

As an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley he studied chemistry and afterward he was attracted to physics. In his doctoral thesis he predicted Mössbaur effect, nineteen years before it was actually discovered. He completed his thesis in 1938 under the guidance of Prof. J. R. Oppenheimer.

Prof. Lamb Jr is also well known for the semi classical theory of Laser which he published in the year 1964 (W. E. Lamb Jr. phys. Rev 134, A 1429, 1964). In this theory he showed that for in homogeneously broadened medium running waves in a resonant field interact with the same ensemble, thereby burning a single hole. This hole burning (or so-call Lamb dip) on and off line centre can have a profound effect on the detuning dependence of the intensity. The Lamb dip and its counterpart in absorptive media have enabled the fabrication of frequency stable devices that are used to measure time and distance with unbelievable precision. Lamb dip spectroscopy, Doppler free spectroscopy and saturation spectroscopy, are the consequences of Lamb dip.

The book Laser Physics (1974) written by Lamb and his coworkers must be studied thoroughly by student who desire to learn the subject Laser Physics.

Prof. Lamb was a great physicist. He will be remembered by everybody for his great discoveries.

G.D Baruah

News

It is unbelievable but true Firefly bioluminescence pulses consist of microsecond pulses instead of millisecond. It has been experimentally demonstrated by Prof. G. II Baruah of Dibrugarh University and Dr. A. Gohain Baruah and his co-workers in the Department of Physics, Gauhati University. They have found for the first time that one firefly Pulse consist of about 30,000 pulses. If this is so this new discovery will have applications in various fields like biological science, environmental science and laser physics. The paper entitled "Bioluminescence emission of fireflies" has been accepted for publication in the international journal Bio-Science in the issue of June, 2009. It is a matter of speculation how this fact could not be discovered during last several decades.

 

Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                                Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 1-6

 

Special Section dedicated to Prof S P Ojha

Photonic gaps in one-dimensional PBG materials containing dispersive single or double negative metamaterials

 

Munazza Zulfiqar Ali

Department of Physics
Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Punjab University, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

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The conventional photonic band gap (PBG) materials are characterized by the Bragg gaps. With the experimental realization of double negative (also known as left handed) and single negative metamaterials, mechanisms other than Bragg reflections can produce photonic gaps in PBG materials. In this article, the origin of these new gaps i.e. the zero-n gap, the zero-feff gap and the angular gaps is briefly discussed. Some of their properties are also described. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

Total Refs : 30

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                              Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 7-16

 

Plasmonic superlenses: theory, practice and recent developments

 

Ciaran P Moore and Richard J Blaikie

MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury

Christchurch, New Zealand

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The phenomenon of plasmonic resonance has been identified in recent times as a means of breaking the diffraction limit that hinders high performance lithography systems in use today. Experimental results based on interleaved silver and dielectric layers have shown that resolution as low as l/6 can be achieved and that ‘superlenses’ are indeed realisable. However, examples of ‘perfect’ lenses, predicted to have true, diffraction-free performance, have yet to be fabricated. This paper uses numerical models of silver-dielectric superlenses to explore performance around and beyond the diffraction limit, examining different superlens designs and the reasons behind their specific performance enhancements and limitations. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

Total Refs : 23

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 17-56

Negative refraction metamaterials, geometrical transformations, cloaking, and related areas – A qualitative bibliographic review for the year 2008

 

K N Chopra, Joby Joseph  and  Kehar Singh

Photonics Group, Department of Physics

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi-110 016, India

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The negative refractive materials (NRMs) exhibit a number of interesting properties e.g. refraction of light entering the material, on the same side of the normal; reversal of Doppler shift, and the time-averaged Poynting vector being antiparallel to phase velocity,  implying that the wavefronts move in the direction opposite to the flow of energy. Because of the interesting properties associated with these materials, many researchers are engaged in the investigations on various related topics like superlenses, superresolution, reduced beam-squinting on printed leaky-wave antennas, wave propagation, equivalent circuit models, polaritons, solitons, plasmonic waveguides, Goos-Hanchen shift, and cloaking etc. A qualitative review of the studies made in the field of negative refraction in the year 2008 has been given in this paper. Although an attempt has been made to include as many papers as possible, no claim is made as to the completeness. Inadvertent omission in citing of the work by other researchers is very much regretted.© Anita Publications. All rights reserved.

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 57-62

Binary–aware high performance static random access memory cell

 

CMR Prabhu and Ajay Kumar Singh

Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Multimedia University, Melaka, Malaysia

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Low power SRAM cell is a critical component in modern VLSI systems. The write power is usually larger than the read power due to large power dissipation in driving the cell long bit-lines to full swing. A new binary-aware SRAM cell is proposed in this paper for simultaneously minimizing the write power consumption and reducing the write access delay. The proposed BA cell contains two extra tail transistors in the respective inverter to avoid charging/discharging of the bit-lines. The simulated result shows at least 57.22% write power saving and lower write delay with additional 34.3% silicon area.© Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Total Refs : 15

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Regular Papers

Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 63-66

Spectroscopic characterisation of Schiff base complexes of cobalt(II), nickel(II) and

copper(II) with 1-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole hydrazone

 

BK Rai, Anukul Prasad¹, Vinayak², Arvind Kumar³ and Shaktidhar Jha Sunit⁴

Department of Chemistry

LNT College (BRA Bihar University), Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

¹Department of Chemistry, MM Das Mahila College, Sirsia, Muzaffarpur, India

²Kendriya Vidyalaya, Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

³Department  of Chemistry, SN Sahay College, Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

⁴Brajesh Bhawan, Speaker Chowk, Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

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A number of new transition metal complexes of the general formula [M(OTCH)2X2] have been synthesized, where M = Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II), OTCH = 1-oxo-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydrocarbazole hydrazone and X = Cl–,  Br– and I– . The newly synthesised complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, electronic and IR spectra, magnetic susceptibility and molar conductance measurements. OTCH acts as neutral bidentate ligand and coordination takes place through amino N and azomethine N. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Total Refs : 21

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 67-72

Spectroscopic studies on some complexes of cobalt(II), nickel(II) and
copper(II) with a Schiff base

 

BK Rai, Vineeta Singh, Vinayak¹, Shiv Pujan Singh²¹ and Shaktidhar Jha Sunit³

Department of Chemistry

LNT College (BRA Bihar University), Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

¹Kendriya Vidyalaya, Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

²Department  of Physics, RSS College, Chochahan, Muzaffarpur, India

³Brajesh Bhawan, Speaker Chowk, Muzaffarpur-842 002, India

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Stable complexes of the type [M(MQSC)2X2], where M = cobalt(II), nickel(II) and copper(II), MQSC = Methaqualone semicarbazone and X = Cl^–,  Br^–, I^–, NO₃^– and ClO₄^–  have been prepared. The ligand and complexes have been characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, electronic spectral, magnetic moment and molar conductance data. MQSC acts as a neutral bidentate ligand and coordination is proposed through azomethine N and carbonyl O atoms of semicarbazone moiety. The complexes are proposed to be monomeric octahedral in geometry on the basis of electronic spectral and magnetic moment values. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Total Refs : 21

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 73-78

On the conversion of phase-mixed Alfv´en wave energy into thermal energy

 

Lalan Prasad, Manish Kumar Pandey and Sandeep Kumar

 Department of Physics

M.B. Govt. (P.G.) College Haldwani, Nainital-263 141, India

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Alfv´en wave propagation is considered along the magnetic field lines in inhomogeneous and resistive plasma. In the presence of dissipative factor perturbation of the physical quantity is responsible for phase-mixing of the linear plane Alfv´en wave. Sink of Alfv´en wave energy leads to the strong transverse gradients in the wave amplitude. Decay of the phase-mixed Alfv´en wave energy is cause of generation of acoustic wave, which propagates along magnetic field direction. Fast and slow magnetosonic waves emerged from the non-linear solution of considered MHD model. The fast magnetosonic waves, originated from the coronal base, can propagate upwards into the corona and dissipates its mechanical energy as heat. It is conversion of phase-mixed Alfv´en wave energy into thermal energy via magnetosonic waves. The fast magnetosonic waves prove to be a likely candidate to heat the solar corona. We studied phase mixing of a three dimensional MHD wave in the compressive, three dimensional regime. Coupling of its compressive part does not alter the behavior of the Alfv´enic part of a compressible MHD wave. The dependence upon resistivity of the Alfv´enic part of the MHD wave and decay of its amplitude is shown using 3d numerical code simulation. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Total Refs : 27

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Asian Journal of Physics                                                                                                            Vol. 18, No.1(2009) 79-88

Power law and hydrodynamical approach of nanoflare heating

 

Lalan Prasad and VK Joshi

Department of Physics

MB Govt. PG College, Haldwani

Nainital-263141, India

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The concept of coronal heating by nanoflare is shown to be the characteristic of active regions which results presumably from a large number of more or less random heating agents. The flare associated with small impulsive events of magnetic energy dissipation from 5 ´ 1023 to 1026 ergs are called nanoflares and are treated as heating agents. The analysis of these agents is represented by a power law distribution as a function of their energies with a negative slope of 1.5 and  more. We discussed the physical characteristics and features of nanoflare heating process in respect of power law distribution and formulated  the coronal luminosity. We estimated the radiation energy and generation rate of nanoflares and discussed the hydrodynamical simulation results of nanoflare with the variation of power law index α . © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Total Refs : 36

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