Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si

Optical properties of Fe-doped silica films on Si were investigated by ellipsometric technique in the region 1-5 eV. Samples were produced by sol-gel method. Precursors were prepared by mixing tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) solution in ethanol and water with aqueous solution of Fe-chloride or Fe-acetate. The coating solution was deposited on Si substrates by spin on technique. The size of Fe-containing nanometric-sized particles depended on technology and varied from 20 to 100 nm. Optical response of complex hybrid samples SiO₂:Fe/Si was interpreted in a multi-layer model. In the inverse problem, the Maxwell equations were solved by transfer matrix technique. Dielectric function of Fe-doped silica layers was calculated in the model of effective media. Analysis of optical data has shown that various Fe-oxides formed. Experimental data for films obtained from precursors with Fe-acetate and annealed in hydrogen were well described by the model calculations taking into account a small contribution 1-5% of metal Fe imbedded in silica. The Fe/Fe-O contribution to optical response increased for samples grown from FeCl₃-precursor. Ellipsometric data for Fe-doped silica films on Si were interpreted taking into account the structural AFM studies as well as the results of magnetic measurements.     

Feasibility study for the preparation of certified reference materials part I – mineral oil contaminated soils

The international joint project HYCREF (Contract No. G6RD-CT-2002-00854), funded by the European Commission in the 5th Framework programme, aimed to develop methods to prepare homogeneous and stable reference materials of water, soil, and waste contaminated with mineral oil hydrocarbons and to certify the mineral oil content by gas chromatographic methods. The results of a feasibility study for the preparation of three soil reference materials are discussed in this paper, and for the preparation of three waste reference materials in the second part (Koch et al., Accred Qual Assur submitted for publication). The soil materials were selected to represent different soil types and contamination levels. The project plan set three requirements for these reference materials: uncertainty in the mineral oil content resulting from the certification exercise <5%, a sample inhomogeneity of <3% and a minimum long-term stability of 5 years. For the most part, these requirements were met within this project.     

The effect of the external lateral electric field on the luminescence intensity of InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We report on low-temperature microphotoluminescence (μ-PL) measurements of InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) exposed to a lateral external electric field. It is demonstrated that the QDs’ PL signal could be increased severalfold by altering the external and/or the internal electric field, which could be changed by an additional infrared laser. A model which accounts for a substantially faster lateral transport of the photoexcited carriers achieved in an external electric field is employed to explain the observed effects. The results obtained suggest that the lateral electric fields play a major role for the dot luminescence intensity measured in our experiment—a finding which could be used to tailor the properties of QD-based optoelectronic applications. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

High-Throughput Screening of Ten Microcystins and Nodularins, Cyanobacterial Peptide Hepatotoxins, by Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionisation Mass Spectrometry

Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry was evaluated in the high-throughput analysis of microcystins and nodularins, cyanobacterial peptide hepatotoxins. Extracts originating from cyanobacterial strains and field material were separated on a 30 mm × 4 mm I.D. Merck Purospher STAR RP-18e column using a rapid gradient of aqueous formic acid and acetonitrile, ionised by electrospray technique and analysed on a Micromass Quattro II triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer operated in the selected ion recording (SIR) mode. The total analysis time per sample was 2.8 min corresponding to 514 samples a day. The system showed good robustness during a series of 320 repetitive injections of a field sample containing three major microcystins.     

Modelling of a city canyon problem in a turbulent atmosphere using an equivalent sources approach

The sound propagation into a courtyard shielded from direct exposure is predicted using an equivalent sources approach. The problem is simplified into that of a two-dimensional city canyon. A set of equivalent sources are used to couple the free half-space above the canyon to the cavity inside the canyon. Atmospheric turbulence causes an increase in the expected value of the sound pressure level compared to a homogeneous case. The level increase is estimated using a von Kármán turbulence model and the mutual coherences of all equivalent sources' contributions. For low frequencies the increase is negligible, but at 1.6 kHz it reaches 2-5 dB for the geometries and turbulence parameters used here. A comparison with a ray-based model shows reasonably good agreement.     

Mg 2p shallow core-level and local atomic structure of i-ZnMgRE quasicrystals

We present a detailed analysis of the Mg 2p shallow core-levels measured on icosahedral single-grain ZnMgY, ZnMgHo, and ZnMgEr quasicrystals during a photoelectron microscopy study. The synchrotron radiation photoemission measurements were performed on in situ cleaved samples at a pressure of 10⁻¹⁰ mbar and at low temperature, typically 90-150 K. The Mg 2p photoemission lines are essentially broadened as compared to those of the Mg 2p spin-orbit doublet recorded on the Zn₂Mg crystalline Laves phase. The broadening is associated to the coordination shifts of the Mg 2p level due to the inequivalent magnesium sites in the quasicrystalline lattice. The coordination shifts are calculated on the basis of i-ZnMg(Ho, Y) atomic structure data, recently determined from the pair distribution function analysis. The coordination shifts obtained are up to 0.2 eV. The Mg 2p experimental spectral intensity is nicely reproduced by a superposition of coordination-shifted Mg 2p spin-orbit doublets.     

Quantum correlations in dual quantum measurements

 We analyze the quantum measurement properties of dual non-degenerate parametric amplifers in the twin-beam configuration, in the cascaded back-action-evasion configuration, and in Kerr-type photon-number quantum non-demolition measurements. It is found that Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations can be obtained between the quadrature components of an idler mode and the sum of the readout of two signal modes. Furthermore, we discuss dual-mode quantum non-demolition measurements on the combination of two light modes, and the generation of number-state entanglement. Received: 12 April 1996/Revised version: 2 July 1996