In situ observation of NaBi(WO4)2 dendrite growth and the study on microstructure of solidification

The dendrite growth process of transparent NaBi(WO₄)₂ with small prandtl and high melting point was studied by using the in-situ observation system. According to the dynamic images and detailed information, there are two kinds of restriction effect on the dendrite growth, the competition between arms and branches and the convection in the melt. The dendrite growth rate was time dependent, and the rate of arm growth reached the maximum 5.8 mm/s in the diffusive-advective region and rapidly decreased in the diffusive-convective region. The growth rate of branch had the same change trends as the arm’s. Based on the EPMA-EDS data of solidification structure of quenched NaBi(WO₄)₂ melt, it was found that there were component differences from stoichiometric concentration in the melt near the interface during the growth process. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50331040) and the Innovation Funds from Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. SCX0623)     

Nanoparticle composites: FePt with wide-band-gap semiconductor

We present a simple way to synthesize FePt and ZnO (wide-band-gap semiconductor) nanoparticle composites. The FePt nanoparticles were fabricated using the method reported by Sun et al. By controlling the heating rate, 3 nm FePt nanoparticles were synthesized. Well-dispersed FePt and ZnO nanoparticle composites were prepared by further adding zinc acetate and oleyl amine into the 3 nm FePt nanoparticle dispersion. By controlling the molar ratio of the FePt and zinc acetate, FePt and ZnO nanoparticle composites with different FePt particle fractions were obtained. The intensity of photo luminescence spectra of the nanoparticle composites increases very much with decreasing FePt particle fraction, whereas the peak position shifts a little. After annealing at 550 °C for half an hour, the nanoparticle composites become magnetically hard or semi-hard with coercivity much dependent on the FePt particle volume fraction. The coercivity of the composites increases with annealing temperature. The composites hold the promise of applications in new generation recording and/or optical devices.     

Influence of silicon on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Zr-Si-N composite films

A series of Zr-Si-N composite films with different Si contents were synthesized in an Ar and N₂ mixture atmosphere by the bi-target reactive magnetron sputtering method. These films’ composition, microstructure and mechanical properties were characterized by energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and nanoindentation. Experimental results revealed that after the addition of silicon, Si₃N₄ interfacial phase formed on the surface of ZrN grains and prevented them from growing up. Zr-Si-N composite films were strengthened at low Si content with the hardness and elastic modulus reaching their maximum values of 29.8 and 352 GPa at 6.2 at% Si, respectively. With a further increase of Si content, the crystalline Zr-Si-N films gradually transformed into amorphous, accompanied with a remarkable fall of films’ mechanical properties. This limited enhancement of mechanical properties in the Zr-Si-N films may be due to the low wettability of Si₃N₄ on the surface of ZrN grains.     

On the hydrogen etching mechanism in plasma nitriding of metals

Iron alloys and aluminum were nitrogen implanted in a controlled oxygen atmosphere and the role of hydrogen on the surface etching mechanisms studied. The surface composition was analyzed by in situ photoemission electron spectroscopy (XPS). In iron alloys, hydrogen strongly etches oxygen, improving nitrogen retention on the surface. On the other hand, hydrogen removes nitrogen from aluminum surfaces, with a deleterious effect on the nitriding effectiveness. The oxygen removal in iron alloys is associated with the catalytic effect of electrons in d-orbitals and the nitrogen removal in aluminum is associated with a steric effect.     

Instability of Solitary Waves in Nonlinear Composite Media

In this paper,we investigate a class of Hamiltonian systems arising in nonlinear composite media.By detailed analysis and computation we obtain a decaying estimates on the semigroup and prove the orbitalinstability of two families of explicit solitary wave solutions (slow family in anisotropic case and solitary wavesin isotropic case),which theoretically verify the related guess and numerical results.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of multilayer Ni/Cu and NiFe/Cu nanowires

Highly ordered composite nanowires with multilayer Ni/Cu and NiFe/Cu have been fabricated by pulsed electrodeposition into nanoporous alumina membrane. The diameter of wires can be easily varied by pore size of alumina, ranging from 30 to 100 nm. The applied potential and the duration of each potential square pulse determine the thickness of the metal layers. The nanowires have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), magnetic force microscopy (MFM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. The MFM images indicate that every ferromagnetic layer separated by Cu layer was present as single isolated domain-like magnet. This technique has potential use in the measurement and application of magnetic nanodevices.     

ZnSe/SiO2复合薄膜光学常数与荧光光谱的研究

采用溶胶-凝胶工艺与原位生长技术，制备了ZnSe/SiO₂复合薄膜.X射线衍射分 析表明薄膜中ZnSe晶体呈立方闪锌矿结构.X射线荧光分析结果显示薄膜中Zn与Se摩尔比为1 ∶1.01—1∶1.19.利用场发射扫描电子显微镜观察了复合薄膜的表面形貌，结果表明复合薄 膜表面既存在尺寸约为400nm的ZnSe晶粒，也存在尺寸小于100nm的ZnSe晶粒.利用椭偏仪测 量了薄膜椭偏角Ψ，Δ与波长λ的关系，采用Maxwell-Garnett有效介质理论对薄膜的光学 常数、厚度、气孔率、ZnS 关键词： 2复合薄膜')" href="#">ZnSe/SiO₂复合薄膜 光学性质 椭偏光度法 荧光光谱     

Co-Orthogonal Codes

We define, construct and sketch possible applications of a new class of non-linear codes: co-orthogonal codes, with possible applications in cryptography and parallel processing. We also describe a fast and general method for generating (non-linear) codes with prescribed dot-products with the help of multi-linear polynomials.     

Microstructure array on Si and SiOx generated by micro-contact printing, wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching

A method, combining micro-contact printing (μCP), wet chemical etching and reactive ion etching (RIE), is reported to fabricate microstructures on Si and SiOx. Positive and negative structures were generated based on different stamps used for μCP. The reproducibility of the obtained microstructures shows the methodology reported herein could be useful in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), optical and biological sensing applications.     

57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopic study of (25−x)MnO–xZnO–15Fe2O3–60B2O3 glasses

The ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer technique has been used to investigate the effect of zinc oxide substitution in (25???x)MnO–xZnO–15Fe₂O₃–60B₂O₃ glass system (x?=?0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mol% of ZnO ). Mössbauer absorption spectra for all the samples recorded at room temperature suggest the existence of the two paramagnetic quadrupole doublets. The observed variations in hyperfine parameters have been explained on the basis of cations distribution and exchange interaction at the lattice sites and it is concluded that B–B interaction increases while the metal–metal interaction decreases due to replacement of manganese oxide by zinc oxide. These results suggest that the present glass system exhibits a paramagnetic behaviour that changes towards the weak paramagnetic when manganese oxide was replaced with zinc oxide.