Surface plasmon polariton and mode transformation in a nanoscale lossy metallic cylindrical cable

A theoretical investigation on the surface plasmon polariton in a gold cylindrical nanocable is presented. By solving a complete set of Maxwell＇s equations in the nanocable （with a 50 nm radius gold nanocore, 10-300 nm silica layer, and 30-200nm gold nanocladding）, the dispersion relations on the optical frequency and on the silica thickness are discussed. When the silica thickness varies from 50 to 250 nm, at a fixed waveleltgth, the strong coupling between the gold nanocore and the nanocladding leads to a symmetric-like surface mode and an antisymmetric-like surface mode in the nanocable. The transformation between the surface mode and the waveguide mode in this structure is also investigated. The results will be helpful for understanding the surface waves in the subwavelength structures.     

ZnO micro-nano composite hydrophobic film prepared bythree-step method

<正>The hydrophobicity of the lotus leaf is mainly due to its surface micro—nano composite structure.In order to mimic the lotus structure,ZnO micro-nano composite hydrophobic films were prepared via the three-step method.On thin buffer films of SiO₂,which were first fabricated on glass substrates by the sol—gel dip-coating method,a ZnO seed layer was deposited via RF magnetron sputtering.Then two different ZnO films,micro-nano and micro-only flowerlike structures,were grown by the hydrothermal method.The prepared films have different hydrophobic properties after surface modification.The structures of the obtained ZnO films were characterized using x-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy.A conclusion that a micro-nano composite structure is more beneficial to hydrophobicity than a micro-only structure was obtained through research into the effect of structure on hydrophobic properties.     

Substrate tuned reconstructed polymerization of naphthalocyanine on Ag(110)

The linkage structures between monomers make great influence on the properties of polymers.The synthesis of some special linkage structures can be challenging,which is often overcome by employing special reaction conditions.Here,we build dihydropentalene linkage in poly-naphthalocyanine on Ag(110)surface.Scanning tunneling microscopy(STM)and non-contact atomic force microscopy(nc-AFM)measurements confirm the dihydropentalene linkage structure and a possible formation path with reconstruction steps is proposed.The controlled experiment on Ag(100)surface shows no dihydropentalene structures formed,which indicates the grooved substrate is necessary for the reconstruction.This work provides insights into the surface restricted reactions that can yield special structures in organic polymers.     

The equivalent potential of water molecules for electronic structure of lysine

In order to get more reliable electronic structures of proteins in aqueous solution, it is necessary to construct a potential of water molecules for protein’s electronic structure calculation. The lysine is a hydrophilic amino acid. It is positively charged (Lys+) in neutral water solution. The first-principles, all-electron, ab initio calcula-tions, based on the density functional theory, have been performed to construct such an equivalent potential of water molecules for lysine (Lys+). The process consists of three parts. First, the electronic structure of the cluster containing Lys+ and water molecules is calculated. By adjusting the positions of water molecules, the geometric structure of the cluster having minimum total energy is determined. Then, based on the structure, the electronic structure of Lys+ with the potential of water molecules is calculated using the self-consistent cluster-embedding (SCCE) method. Finally, the electronic structure of Lys+ with the potential of dipoles is calculated. The dipoles are adjusted so that the electronic structure of Lys+ with the potential of dipoles is close to that of water molecules. Thus the equivalent potential of water molecules for the electronic structure of lysine is obtained. The major effect of water molecules on lysine’s electronic structure is raising the occupied eigenvalues about 0.5032 eV, and broadening energy gap 89%. The effect of water molecules on the electronic structure of lysine can be simulated by dipoles potential.     

Silica-covered Au nanoresonators for fluorescence modulating of a graphene quantum dot

We synthesize Au@SiO2composite particles with a core-shell structure, and utilize the Au@SiO2nanoparticles to modulate the fluorescence emission of the graphene quantum dot(GQD) through varying the silica shell thickness. The silica shell thickness can be easily controlled by varying the coating time. After silica coating, we investigate the influence of the silica thickness on the fluorescence emission of the GQD and find that the fluorescence property of the GQD can be changed as expected by varying the thickness of the silica shell. We propose an optimized coating time for the silica shell under the interaction of fluorescence quenching and enhancement.     

Recent advances on “ordered water monolayer that does not completely wet water” at room temperature

The molecular scales behavior of interfacial water at the solid/liquid interfaces is of a fundamental significance in a diverse set of technical and scientific contexts,ranging from the efficiency of oil mining to the activity of biological molecules.Recently,it has become recognized that,both the physical interactions and the surface morphology have significant impact on the behavior of interfacial water,including the water structures as well as the wetting properties of the surface.In this review,we summarize some of recent advances in the atom-level pictures of the interfacial water,which exhibits the ordered character on various solid surfaces at room or cryogenic temperature.Special focus has been devoted to the wetting phenomenon of"ordered water monolayer that does not completely wet water"and the underlying mechanism on model and some real solid surfaces at room temperature.The possible applications of this phenomenon are also discussed.     

Broadband asymmetric transmission for linearly and circularly polarization based on sand-clock structured metamaterial

We proposed a sandwich structure to realize broadband asymmetric transmission(AT) for both linearly and circularly polarized waves in the near infrared spectral region. The structure composes of a silica substrate and two sand-clock-like gold layers on the opposite sides of the substrate. Due to the surface plasmons of gold, the structure shows that the AT parameters of linearly and circularly polarized waves can reach 0.436 and 0.403, respectively. Meanwhile, a broadband property is presented for the AT parameter is over 0.3 between 320 THz and 340 THz. The structure realizes a diode-like AT for linearly wave in forward and circularly wave in backward, respectively. The magnetic dipoles excited by current in the two gold layers contribute to the broadband AT. The current density in top and bottom metallic layers illustrates the mechanism of the polarization conversion for broadband AT in detail.     

Liquid water structure from X-ray absorption and emission,NMR shielding and X-ray diffraction

Here we investigate to what extent X-ray absorption(XAS) and emission(XES) spectroscopy, the oxygen-oxygen radial distribution function and σ(~1H) and σ(~(17)O) NMR shielding can be represented by a common set of model structures of liquid water. This is done by using a Monte Carlo-based fitting technique which fits the spectra based on a library of ～1400 precomputed spectra and assigns weights to contributions from different model structures. These are then used to reweight the contributions from the structures in the library to reveal classes of structures that are over-or under-represented in the library. The goal is to include different experimental data sets which are sensitive to different aspects of liquid water structure and thus narrow down which types of structures must exist in the real liquid.     

Layering of confined water between two graphene sheets and its liquid-liquid transition

Molecular dynamics(MD) simulations are performed to explore the layering structure and liquid–liquid transition of liquid water confined between two graphene sheets with a varied distance at different pressures. Both the size of nanoslit and pressure could cause the layering and liquid–liquid transition of the confined water. With increase of pressure and the nanoslit's size, the confined water could have a more obvious layering. In addition, the neighboring water molecules firstly form chain structure, then will transform into square structure, and finally become triangle with increase of pressure. These results throw light on layering and liquid–liquid transition of water confined between two graphene sheets.     

Optical property of nanocomposite of mesoporous silica thin films incorporated with gold nanoparticles

Amino-functionalized mesoporous silica thin films (MTFs) are produced using surface active agent F127,and then gold nanoparticles are introduced into the pore channels to prepare the Au/SiO 2 nanocomposite.After assembling the gold,the amino-functionalized MTF undergoes some shrinkage but remains a periodic structure as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns.The nanocomposite shows an acute characteristic diffraction peak assigned to (111) plane of the face-centered-cubic structure of gold,indicating that gold nanoparticles crystallize well and grow in a preferred orientation in the pore channels.The surface plasma resonance (SPR) absorption peak near 570 nm undergoes a red-shift accompanied by a strengthening of intensity when HAuCl 4 is used to react with the amino groups on the internal pore surfaces for 4,6,and 8 h.The simulative results are consistent with the experimental ones shows that the absorption property of the Au/SiO 2 nanocomposite is influenced by the dipping time,which affects the size and volume fraction of embedded gold nanoparticles.     

Metastable Face-Centered Cubic Structure and Structural Transition of Sn on 2H-NbSe_2(0001)

Surface structures and properties of Sn islands grown on superconducting substrate 2H-NbSe_2(0001)are studied using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy.The pure face-centered cubic(fee)structure of Sn surface is obtained.Superconductivity is also detected on the fcc-Sn(111)surface,and the size of superconducting gap on the Sn surface is nearly the same as that on the superconducting substrate.Furthermore,phase transition occurs from fcc-Sn(111)toβ-Sn(001)by keeping the sample at room temperature for a certain time.Due to the strain relaxation on theβ-Sn islands,both the in-plane unit cell and out-of-plane structures distort,and the height of surface atoms varies periodically to form a universal ripple structure.     

Femtosecond laser-induced surface wettability modification of polystyrene surface

In this paper, we demonstrated a simple method to create either a hydrophilic or hydrophobic surface. With femtosecond laser irradiation at different laser parameters, the water contact angle (WCA) on polystyrene’s surface can be modified to either 12.7° or 156.2° from its original WCA of 88.2°. With properly spaced micro-pits created, the surface became hydrophilic probably due to the spread of the water droplets into the micro-pits. While with properly spaced micro-grooves created, the surface became rough and more hydrophobic. We investigated the effect of laser parameters on WCAs and analyzed the laser-treated surface roughness, profiles and chemical bonds by surface profilometer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). For the laser-treated surface with low roughness, the polar (such as C—O, C=O, and O—C=O bonds) and non-polar (such as C—C or C—H bonds) groups were found to be responsible for the wettability changes. While for a rough surface, the surface roughness or the surface topography structure played a more significant role in the changes of the surface WCA. The mechanisms involved in the laser surface wettability modification process were discussed.     

Cu原子掺杂调控三聚氰胺在Au(111)表面自组装结构

The doping effect of Cu on the self-assembly film of melamine on an Au(111) surface has been investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The evaporated Cu adatoms occupy the positions underneath the amino groups and change the hydrogen bonding pattern between the melamine molecules. Accordingly, the self-assembly structure has changed stepwise from a well-defined honeycomb into a track-like and then a triangular structure depending on the amount of Cu adatoms. The interaction between Cu adatom and melamine is moderate thus the Cu adatoms can be released upon mild heating to around 100℃. These findings are different from previous observations of either the coordination assembly or the physically trapped metal adatoms.     

Adsorptions and diffusions of carbon atoms on the surface and in the subsurface of Co （200）： A first-principles density-functional study

First-principles calculations based on density functional theory are used to investigate the adsorptions and diffusions of carbon atoms on the surface and in the subsurface of Co(200). The preferred site for the carbon atom on the surface is the hollow site, and the preferred site in the subsurface is the octahedral site. There is charge transfer from the surface to the adsorbed carbon atom, and for the most favorable adsorbed structure the charge transfer is largest. Moreover, the energy barriers for the diffusions of carbon atoms on the surface and from the surface into the subsurface and then back to the surface are calculated in detail. The results indicate that the energy barrier for the diffusion of carbon atoms on the surface is comparable to that from the subsurface to the surface. The results imply that both the direct surface nucleation and the surface segregation from Co bulk can be observed in the chemical vapor deposition growth of graphene on Co(200)substrate, which can gain a new insight into the growth mechanism of graphene.     

Research of photolithography technology based on surface plasmon

This paper demonstrates a new process of the photolithography technology,used to fabricate simply fine patterns,by employing surface plasmon character.The sub-wavelength periodic silica structures with uniform silver film are used as the exposure mask.According to the traditional semiconductor process,the grating structures are fabricated at exposing wavelength of 436 nm.At the same time,it provides additional and quantitative support of this technique based on the finite-difference time-domain method.The results of the research show that surface plasmon characteristics of metals can be used to increase the optical field energy distribution differences through the silica structures with silver film,which directly impact on the exposure of following photosensitive layer in different regions.     

Suspended penetration wetting state of droplets on microstructured surfaces

When a water droplet on a micropillar-structured hydrophobic surface is submitted to gradually increased pressure, the CassieBaxter wetting state transforms into the Wenzel wetting state once the pressure exceeds a critical value. It has been assumed that the reverse transition(Wenzel-to-Cassie-Baxter wetting state) cannot happen spontaneously after the pressure has been removed.In this paper, we report a new wetting-state transition. When external pressure is exerted on a droplet in the Cassie-Baxter wetting state on textured surfaces with high micropillars to trigger the breakdown of this wetting state, the droplet penetrates the micropillars but does not touch the base of the surface to trigger the occurrence of the Wenzel wetting state. We have named this state the suspended penetration wetting state. Spontaneous recovery from the suspended penetration wetting state to the initial Cassie-Baxter wetting state is achieved when the pressure is removed. Based on the experimental results, we built models to establish the penetration depth that the suspended penetration wetting state could achieve and to understand the energy barrier that influences the equilibrium position of the liquid surface. These results deepen our understanding of wetting states on rough surfaces subjected to external disturbances and shed new light on the design of superhydrophobic materials with a robust wetting stability.     

Wavefront modulation of water surface wave by a metasurface

We design a planar metasurface to modulate the wavefront of a water surface wave(WSW) on a deep sub-wavelength scale. The metasurface is composed of an array of coiling-up-space units with specially designed parameters, and can take on the work of steering the wavefront when it is pierced into water. Like their acoustic counterparts, the modulation of WSW is ascribed to the gradient phase shift of the coiling-up-space units, which can be perfectly tuned by changing the coiling plate length and channel number inside the units. According to the generalized Snell's law, negative refraction and ‘driven' surface mode of WSW are also demonstrated at certain incidences. Specially, the transmitted WSW could be efficiently guided out by linking a symmetrically-corrugated channel in ‘driven' surface mode. This work may have potential applications in water wave energy extraction and coastal protection.     

Sessile droplet freezing and ice adhesion on aluminum with different surface wettability and surface temperature

This paper focused on the sessile droplet freezing and ice adhesion on aluminum with different wettability(hydrophilic, common hydrophobic, and superhydrophobic surfaces, coded as HIS, CHS, SHS, respectively) over a surface temperature range of ?9°C to ?19°C. It was found that SHS could retard the sessile droplet freezing and lower the ice adhesion probably due to the interfacial air pockets(IAPs) on water/SHS interface. However, as surface temperature decreasing, some IAPs were squeezed out and such freezing retarding and adhesion lowering effect for SHS was reduced greatly. For a surface temperature of ?19°C, ice adhesion on SHS was even greater than that on CHS. To discover the reason for the squeezing out of IAPs, forces applied to the suspended water on IAPs were analyzed and it was found that the stability of IAPs was associated with surface micro-structures and surface temperature. These findings might be helpful to designing of SHS with good anti-icing properties.     

Numerical study of contacts between a flat-ended punch and a half-space embedded with inhomogeneities

This paper presented a numerical approach to solving the problem of a flat-ended punch in contact with a half-space matrix embedded with multiple three dimensional arbitrary-shaped inhomogeneities.Based on the semi-analytical method(SAM)and the equivalent inclusion method,numerical procedures were developed and the effects of inclusion shape and distribution were analyzed.Fast Fourier transform technique was implemented to accelerate the calculation of surface deformation and subsurface stress.Interactions of inter-inclusions and inclusion-matrix were taken into account.Numerical results showed the presence of inhomogeneities(i.e.,microstructures in solids)indeed had a great effect on local contact pressure and a strong disturbance to the subsurface stress field in the vicinity of inclusions.The effects were dependent on the shape and distribution of inclusions and inter-inclusion interactions.The physical significance of this study is to provide an insight into the relation between the material microstructure and its response to the external load,and the solution approach and procedures may find useful applications,for example,the analysis of fatigue and crack propagation for composite materials,prediction of stress field in solids containing material defects,and study of the mechanism of chemical-mechanical polish(CMP)for inhomogeneous materials,etc.