Acoustic study of the melting and solidification of gallium incorporated in an opal matrix

An acoustic study is reported of the crystallization and melting of gallium embedded in an opal-like matrix. The variations of the velocity and absorption of longitudinal ultrasonic waves during phase transitions in the α and β modifications have been found to be hysteretic in nature. It is shown that acoustic methods do not detect gallium melting and crystallization in the tetragonal phase forming in a restricted geometry. Experimental evidence for heterogeneous crystallization of gallium in pores has been obtained.     

Peculiarities of melting and crystallization of n-decane in a porous glass

Melting and crystallization of n-decane embedded into porous glass with the mean pore size of about 6.4 nm were studied using acoustic and DSC methods. Smearing of the phase transitions, decrease of melting and freezing temperatures, pronounced hysteresis between melting and crystallization were revealed by both methods. In DSC measurements for the pore filling factors 70% and higher double peaks were observed upon cooling while only single peaks were present upon heating. Also a high reduction of the corresponding phase transition heats was revealed. Melting and freezing intervals determined by acoustic and DSC methods strongly differed from each other. A model which qualitatively explains the observed anomalies is proposed. It supposes the formation of liquid layers on the surface of the pores.     

Acoustic studies of melting and crystallization of indium-gallium alloy in porous glass

Temperature dependences of the velocity of the longitudinal ultrasonic waves in a nanocomposite on the basis of porous glass filled with gallium-indium alloy have been measured. Acoustic anomalies due to crystallization and melting of the alloy in nanopores have been revealed for the complete and partial cooling-heating cycles. A two-step temperature hysteresis loop between the curves of the velocity change upon cooling and heating has been found, the existence of which is related to the formation in pores of two types of mixtures, with α- and β-Ga. Stabilization of β-Ga in nanopores has been observed. It was shown that the conditions of confined geometry lead to a shift to low temperature of the melting regions for both mixtures in comparison with the regions of the coexistence of the liquid and solid phases in bulk alloy.     

碳纳米管中α-Ga和β-Ga纳米线相对稳定性的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论研究了碳纳米管中填充的金属镓纳米线的稳定性.结果表明,无论是在碳纳米管内的受限空间,还是在自由空间,较大尺寸的β-Ga纳米线都要比α-Ga纳米线稳定.通过对镓纳米线的平均能量和镓纳米线与碳纳米管间的结合能的分析,揭示了实验中观测到碳纳米管中金属镓会存在β-Ga相而无α-Ga相的物理原因. 关键词： 碳纳米管 纳米线 密度泛函理论     

Phase transitions of fluids confined in porous silicon: A differential calorimetry investigation

The phase transitions of non-polar organic fluids and of water, confined in the pores of porous silicon samples, were investigated by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Two types of PS samples (p^- and p⁺ type) with different pore size and morphology were used (with spherical pores with a radius of about 1.5 nm and cylindrical shape with a radius of about 4 nm respectively). The DSC results clearly show that the smaller the pores are, the larger is the decrease in the transition temperature. Moreover, a larger hysteresis between melting and freezing is observed for p⁺ type than for p^- type samples. A critical review of the thermodynamical properties of small particles and confined fluids is presented and used to interpret and discuss our DSC results. The effects of the chemical dissolution as well as the influence of anodization time are presented, showing that thick p⁺ type porous silicon layers are non-homogeneous. The DSC technique which was used for the first time to investigate fluids confined in porous silicon, enables us to deduce original information, such as the pore size distribution, the decrease in the freezing temperature of confined water, and the thickness of non-freezing liquid layer at the pore wall surface. Received: 11 May 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 29 July 1998     

Metastable phases in Gallium-Indium eutectic alloy particles and their size dependence

In this paper, submicrometer-sized Ga-In eutectic alloy particles were dispersed into polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) matrix by ultrasonic vibration and sedimentation method. The solidification and melting processes of Ga-In eutectic alloy particles were studied by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Four endothermal peaks with the onset temperature located at 16, −11, −22, and −27 °C were observed in DSC heating curves, which corresponded to the melting process of the stable Ga-In phase α-Ga(In) and three metastable phases of β-Ga(In), δ-Ga(In) and γ-Ga(In), respectively. The stable phase α-Ga(In) can only be formed when the size of alloy particle was larger than 0.58 μm. Conversely, metastable phases β-Ga(In), δ-Ga(In) and γ-Ga(In) are mainly formed. The result shows that phase structures in Ga-In eutectic alloy are size dependent.     

Acoustic studies of melting and crystallization of sodium nitrite nanocrystals in the pores of mesoporous silicate matrices

A conventional phase-pulse acoustic method was used to study melting and crystallization of sodium nitrite embedded in the pores of mesoporous silicate matrices. The pore diameter was 20, 37, and 52 Å. The measurements were performed at a frequency of 3–8 MHz in the temperature interval 290–560 K. The temperature dependence of ultrasonic velocity was found to exhibit anomalies corresponding to phase transitions of sodium nitrite. The transitions were smeared in temperature and shifted to lower temperatures from the melting point T _b of bulk sodium nitrite; the shift in crystallization temperature was greater than that of the melting temperature. The irreversible character of melting was revealed. The size dependence of the melting temperature of sodium nitrite was obtained. Phenomena observed in the experiments were discussed with the use of different size effect models.     

固态镓的电子结构

本文采用第一性原理分子动力学方法,在让原子得到充分弛豫后,计算了固体镓的电子结构。结果与实验相符合。通过计算总能随体积的变化,讨论了零温下固体镓的相稳定性。结果表明在α-Ga中,最近邻原子之间存在共价性从而导致电阻各向异性,而镓的其它相均为良好的金属。 关键词：     

Acoustic and NMR investigations of melting and crystallization of indium–gallium alloys in pores of synthetic opal matrices

The paper presents the results of studying the crystallization and melting processes of Ga–In eutectic alloys, which are embedded in opal matrices, using acoustic and NMR methods. The indium concentrations in the alloys were 4, 6, 9, and 15 at %. Measurements were performed upon cooling from room temperature to complete crystallization of the alloys and subsequent heating. It is revealed how the size effects and alloy composition influence the formation of phases with α- and β-Ga structures and on changes in the melting-temperature ranges. A difference was observed between the results obtained using acoustic and NMR methods, which was attributed to different temperature measurement conditions.     

Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的制备和特性研究（英文）

β-Ga2O3是一种宽带隙半导体材料,能带宽度Eg≈5.0eV,在光学和光电子学领域有广泛的应用.用射频磁控溅射方法在Si衬底和远紫外光学石英玻璃衬底制备了本征β-Ga2O3薄膜及Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜,用紫外-可见分光光度计、X射线衍射仪、荧光分光光度计对本征β-Ga2O3薄膜及Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的光学透过、光学吸收、结构和光致发光进行了测量,研究了Zn掺杂和热退火对薄膜结构和光学性质的影响.退火后的β-Ga2O3薄膜为多晶结构,与本征β-Ga2O3薄膜相比,Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的β-Ga2O3(111)衍射峰强度变小,结晶性变差,衍射峰位从35.69°减小至35.66°.退火后的Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜的光学带隙变窄,光学透过降低,光学吸收增强,出现了近边吸收,薄膜的紫外、蓝光及绿光发射增强.表明退火后Zn掺杂β-Ga2O3薄膜中的Zn原子被激活充当受主.     

Size-dependent freezing of n-alcohols in silicon nanochannels

We present a study on the phase behavior of several linear n-alcohols (heptanol, nonanol and undecanol) in their bulk state as well as confined in mesoporous silicon. We were able to vary the mean pore radii of the nanochannels from r = 3.5  nm to 7 nm and to determine the respective temperatures of the freezing and melting transitions using infrared and dielectric spectroscopy. The smaller the chain length the lower the freezing point, both in the bulk and in the confined state. Under confinement the freezing temperature decreases by up to 28 K compared to the bulk value. In accordance with the Gibbs-Thompson model the lowering is proportional to the inverse pore radius, ΔT _fr ∝ 1/r. Moreover, the ratio of freezing temperature depression to melting temperature depression is close to the theoretical value of ΔT _fr /ΔT _melt = 3/2. The spectra also indicate a structural change: while the solid bulk alcohols are a polycrystalline mixture of the orthorhombic β- and monoclinic γ-form, geometrical confinement forces the alcohol-chains into the more simple orthorhombic structure. In addition, a part of the material does not crystallize. Such an additional amorphous phase seems to be a logical consequence of the size mismatch between molecular crystals and irregular shaped pores.     

Melting of ice in porous glass: why water and solvents confined in small pores do not crystallize?

The melting of ice in porous glass having different distribution of pores sizes is analyzed in details. One shows that confined water crystallizes only partially and that an interface layer, between the ice crystallites and the surface of the pore, remains liquid. Properties of this non crystalline interface at low temperature is studied by NMR and DSC. Both methods lead to an interface thickness h of the order of 0.5 nm, this explains why water do not crystallize when the dimension of confinement is less than a critical length nm. The variation of the melting enthalpy per gram of total amount of water with the confinement length is explained taking into account two effects: a) the presence of this layer of water at the interface and b) the linear variation of the melting enthalpy with the melting temperature T_m. From the data of the literature one draws the same conclusions concerning other solvents in similar porous materials. Also one points out the important role of the glass temperature T_g in preventing the crystallization of the liquids confined in small pores and/or between the crystallites and the surface of the pores.Received: 20 September 2003, Published online: 30 January 2004PACS: 64.70.Dv Solid-liquid transitions - 64.70.Pf Glass transitions - 81.05.Rm Porous materials; granular materials     

Simulation of the melting and crystallization processes in monocrystalline silicon exposed to nanosecond laser radiation

Numerical simulation of the melting and crystallization processes of monocrystalline silicon exposed to the nanosecond radiation of a ruby laser was carried out with the kinetics of the phase transformations accounted for on the basis of Kolmogorov equations. A two-dimensional mechanism of nucleation and growth of the new phase was invoked to describe the phase transitions. It was shown that the temporal dependences of monocrystal overheating and liquid phase supercooling in the melting and crystallization stages, respectively, are nonmonotonic and determined by the kinetics of the phase transitions. The maximum values of the overheating and supercooling were ∼100 K.     

NMR of mercury in porous carbon and silica gel

The temperature dependences of the integrated intensity and of the Knight shift of ¹⁹⁹Hg NMR signals are measured for liquid and solid mercury introduced into porous carbon and silica gel. A decrease in the temperature of completion of crystallization and a small temperature hysteresis (from 4 to 9 K) between melting and crystallization are observed. The melting temperature of mercury in pores coincides with that in the bulk. The ¹⁹⁹Hg NMR signal from crystalline mercury under the condition of restricted geometry is observed for the first time. It is established that the Knight shift for liquid and crystalline mercury in pores is smaller than in the bulk.     

Effect of stress on melting and freezing in nanopores

A thermodynamic treatment of the freezing of fluids confined to nanosized closed pores is presented. The model includes the effects of pressure in the liquid, the volume change on solidification, and the strain energy in both the solidifying material and the wall material. When applied to the system of Pb droplets in Al, the model predicts an elevation of the melting point, in agreement with experiment.     

Bonding in the metallic molecular solid α-Gallium

ABSTRACT

Solid, liquid and alloyed phases of gallium play a role in a variety of important technological applications. While many of the gallium phases involved in these applications are metallic, some have been proposed or are known to contain covalently bound Ga dimers. Thus, understanding the nature of bonding in Ga is crucial to the development of Ga-based materials. The solid phase of gallium at ambient conditions, α-Ga, is metallic and composed of molecular dimers, and can serve as a testing ground for studying gallium bonding with electronic structure calculations. We use density functional theory-based molecular dynamics simulations in conjunction with maximally localised Wannier functions to examine the nature of chemical bonding in α-Ga. We propose a geometric criterion for defining various bonding environments, which enables the quantification of covalent and weak bonds in solid gallium. We additionally connect the bonding structure of α-Ga to its phonon density of states and discuss similarities and differences with diatomic halogen crystals.     

Crystallization Behavior of Amorphous Poly(l-Lactide)

Amorphous poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) was annealed in two different ways: amorphous samples were heated at a given temperature to induce crystallization (one-step annealing); and amorphous samples were first crystallized at a low temperature and subsequently annealed at a higher temperature than the crystallization temperature. Samples thus prepared were measured by DSC. The original amorphous sample exhibited an exothermic peak at about 100°C (exothermic peak I), an exothermic peak just below the melting point (exothermic peak II), and an endothermic peak when it was melted. Exothermic peak I was caused by cold crystallization. When the melting points of PLLA samples, heat-treated in various ways, were plotted as a function of annealing temperature, there was discontinuity at about 120°C. From analyses of wide-angle X-ray diffraction patterns, it was found that when amorphous PLLA was crystallized at a temperature below 120°C, crystallites of the β-form formed, and when annealed at a temperature above 120°C, crystallites of the α-form grew. Thus, exothermic peak I was attributed to cold crystallization of the β-form, and peak II was caused by the phase transition of the β-form to a more stable form.     

Unusual role of the substrate in droplet‐induced GaAs/AlGaAs quantum‐dot pairs

The structural complexity of GaAs quantum‐dot pairs has been revealed by cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy. As a result of high‐temperature droplet epitaxy, the AlGaAs substrate beneath the quantum‐dot pairs is no longer immobile and its reconstruction is observed to define the crystallization of gallium droplets under an arsenic flux. The GaAs quantum‐dot pairs are immersed into the substrate and further confined by the re‐distributed AlGaAs materials above the substrate plane. There are two underlying mechanisms responsible for the final nanostructure configuration, melt‐back etching by the gallium droplets and preferential crystallization of gallium around reconstructed sidewalls. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Phase transitions and kinetic properties of gold nanoparticles confined between two-layer graphene nanosheets

The thermodynamic and kinetic behaviors of gold nanoparticles confined between two-layer graphene nanosheets (two-layer-GNSs) are examined and investigated during heating and cooling processes via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique. An EAM potential is applied to represent the gold–gold interactions while a Lennard–Jones (L–J) potential is used to describe the gold–GNS interactions. The MD melting temperature of 1345 K for bulk gold is close to the experimental value (1337 K), confirming that the EAM potential used to describe gold–gold interactions is reliable. On the other hand, the melting temperatures of gold clusters supported on graphite bilayer are corrected to the corresponding experimental values by adjusting the ε_Au–C value. Therefore, the subsequent results from current work are reliable. The gold nanoparticles confined within two-layer GNSs exhibit face center cubic structures, which is similar to those of free gold clusters and bulk gold. The melting points, heats of fusion, and heat capacities of the confined gold nanoparticles are predicted based on the plots of total energies against temperature. The density distribution perpendicular to GNS suggests that the freezing of confined gold nanoparticles starts from outermost layers. The confined gold clusters exhibit layering phenomenon even in liquid state. The transition of order–disorder in each layer is an essential characteristic in structure for the freezing phase transition of the confined gold clusters. Additionally, some vital kinetic data are obtained in terms of classical nucleation theory.     

Hot and solid gallium clusters: too small to melt

A novel multicollision induced dissociation scheme is employed to determine the energy content for mass-selected gallium cluster ions as a function of their temperature. Measurements were performed for Ga(+)(n) (n=17 39, and 40) over a 90-720 K temperature range. For Ga+39 and Ga+40 a broad maximum in the heat capacity-a signature of a melting transition for a small cluster-occurs at around 550 K. Thus small gallium clusters melt at substantially above the 302.9 K melting point of bulk gallium, in conflict with expectations that they will remain liquid to below 150 K. No melting transition is observed for Ga+17.