Formulation for XPS spectral change of oxides by ion bombardment as a function of sputtering time

XPS measurement revealed that the original state of TiO₂ was changed to Ti₂O₃ and TiO by ion bombardment. TiO₂ decreased and Ti₂O₃ increased at the initial stage. TiO increased at a later stage than Ti₂O₃. Each of them saturated after enough sputtering time.A formulation was proposed in order to explain the change of XPS spectra for oxides as a function of ion sputtering time. This formulation was based on reaction equations that contain two reduction processes (from TiO₂ to Ti₂O₃ and from Ti₂O₃ to TiO), and sputtering effects. Using four fitting parameters (two reduction coefficients, sputtering yield and information depth), the present formula was fitted to the experimental results. The fitting results agree satisfactorily with the experimental results. The calculation shows that the reduction coefficient from TiO₂ to Ti₂O₃ is about ten times larger than that from Ti₂O₃ to TiO. This calculation predicts that surface composition of an oxide that is changed by ion bombardment will reach a different value depending on its bulk composition. Moreover, the present formulation can determine the chemical states of compounds changed by ion bombardment.     

Numerical reconstruction of an infrared wavefront utilizing an optical phase modulation device

We utilize nitroanisole, that absorbs infrared (IR) radiation as heat, as an optical modulation device based on a thermal process. The nitroanisole exhibits a thermal lens effect, i.e. a temperature dependent refractive index. Hence, the nitroanisole can induce phase modulation to visible light, in direct response to intensity of the incident IR radiation. The proposed method can be used to obtain the phase modulation distribution that corresponds to the IR intensity distribution, i.e. the IR hologram itself, on the nitroanisole by examining the phase map of visible light that is modulated upon passing through the nitroanisole. The IR wavefront can be reconstructed by calculating extracted IR holograms through the Fresnel transform. It is verified that both the amplitude and the phase of the IR wavefront can be reconstructed accurately by proposed method.     

Electron spin resonance studies of plasma-induced polystyrene radicals

Plasma-induced polystyrene radicals were first studied by electron spin resonance (ESR). The room temperature ESR spectrum was compared with those obtained by γ-irradiation, UV-irradiation, and mechanical fracture. It was found that even less than a few seconds of plasma-irradiation gave rise to a large amount of polystyrene radicals and the ESR spectrum consisted of two types of spectra, a triplet and a single broad line. The spectral feature of the triplet was nearly identical with that of γ-irradiated polystyrene. Thus, it was assigned to the structure of a cyclohexadienyl-type radical formed by a nearly random addition of a hydrogen atom to the aromatic ring. The single broad line, thought to be an outline of multicomponent spectrum, was assigned to an immobilized dangling-bond sites at the plasma-induced crosslinked portion of the polystyrene surface.     

Synthesis of a mechanically linked oligo[2]rotaxane

A bifunctional [2]rotaxane, bearing two free functional groups each in the ring and axial parts, was synthesized, followed by its polycondensation with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate leading to a mechanically linked oligo[2]rotaxane.     

WIDE RANGE DETECTOR USING PARABOLIC CYLINDRICAL MIRROR FOR THz APPLICATIONS

A new, wide-band, high-speed and high-sensitivity THz detector has been developed. The prototype detector consists of a parabolic cylindrical mirror, a long wire antenna and a Schottky barrier diode. Direct detection measurements have shown a stable sensitivity of 150 ± 50 V/W for 1–2 THz without any adjustments. The long wire antenna was fixed at the focus of parabolic cylindrical mirror then it has been realized less operation steps, easy coupling to the external THz signals and a dramatic enhancement in the practicality of this system. The optically polished mirror and frosted surface one showed comparable sensitivities, thus easy polishing and less cost mirror fabrication can be applied for this system. The radiation pattern showed a maximum radiation angle of approximately 23° with its dominant main lobe, which was attributed to the wire antenna character and confirmed good agreements with classical antenna theory.     

Preparation and certification of the new reference materials; plastics (disk form, JSAC 0621-0625) for determination of mercury using x-ray fluorescent analysis.

The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry has developed some new plastic certified reference materials (CRMs) for the analysis of mercury in polyester disks using XRF analysis. These CRMs (named as JSAC 0621-0625) were prepared by casting polyesters including a toluene solution of organometallic compounds as a standard. Concentrations of the five levels of mercury ranged from 0 to 250 mg/kg. Homogeneity tests of prepared disks had shown excellent results. Interlaboratory comparison study for the certification was performed by 15 laboratory participants. The z-scores in robust statistical method was applied for the evaluation of outliers. The certified values were assigned after discarding outliers. The uncertainties of certified values were determined as the confidence levels of 95%.     

Near-Field and Polarized Evanescent Field Excited Fluorescence of Self-Organized Particle Arrays of Organic Dye

A wetting/dewetting process was utilized to prepare self-organized organic dye particles of micrometer and submicrometer size. Near-field scanning optical microscopy successfully identified near-field excited near-field fluorescence from single particles. The majority of the small particles with diameters around 2 mm or less, however, did not show fluorescence under near-field observation. In contrast, far-field fluorescence, when excited by a polarized evanescent field, was observed, with the intensity depending on the excitation polarization, indicating that molecules' transition moment within dye particles was oriented parallel to the substrate surface. Single particle fluorescence spectrum consistently showed an identical sharp peak with a large redshift, indicating that the particles were composed of identical dye aggregates similar to J-aggregates. These observations suggest that the near-field at the probe tip was polarized parallel to the probe axis. Another observation, that molecules were oriented in a similar direction among adjacent particles, suggests that the dewetting process contributed to the alignment of the molecular direction among adjacent particles, which further proves that the present specimen was formed by a self-organizing mechanism.