On the potentiality of a cluster-beam source to produce free-standing one-dimensional and two-dimensional FeAg nanostructures: mechanisms underlying their shape genesis

Controlling the morphology and composition of one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) assemblies of matter is essential to design and create nanostructures with exceptional material properties, for applications ranging from nanoelectronics to nanomedicine. Within this latter, a great interest is placed on assembling magnetoplasmonic nanostructures to enable multimodal biosensing and bioimaging for early diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. To date, the synthesis of such complex nanostructures is mostly relying on wet chemistry and templates. Herein, we employed a templateless physical method to generate FeAg-based anisotropic nanostructures, using a modified cluster source. Under tuned experimental conditions, we demonstrated the successful magnetic-assisted assembly of Fe nanoclusters (Fe NCs), to form stable and permanent branched Fe nanorods (Fe NRs), core@shell Fe@Ag-NRs, Fe nanosheets (Fe NSs), and Fe/Ag-NSs. This assembly is driven by the need to reduce their magnetic interaction energy on one hand and their overall surface energy on the other hand. When NCs and NRs are magnetically brought into intimate contact, they undergo a coalescence process, through the interfacial diffusion of the surface atoms, resulting in the formation of 1D and 2D nanostructures. For Fe@Ag NRs, the advantage conferred by the Ag shell is to protect Fe NRs from oxidation and prevent them from aggregation at the same time. The observed contrast reversal in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of Fe NRs and Fe NSs is discussed.     

Versatile gold-polymer nanointerfaces probed by GISAXS

An increasing trend toward integration of polymers in microelectronics and organic electronics has recently boosted research focusing in metal-polymer interfaces. These two materials differ vastly, with the former forming dense, crystalline, cohesive structures and the latter forming open structures bound together by weak van der Waals forces. As a result, there is dire need to assess their surface features (e.g., roughness) and correlate them with corresponding growth parameters, as metal-polymer interfaces are mainly determined by the preparation process. Here, we report a laboratory-based grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) study on distinct gold-polymer interfaces fabricated with different growth mechanisms, utilizing in-plane and oblique sputter geometries. GISAXS provided an improved analytic scheme for the buried surface in free-standing 2D gold-polymer nanosheets (with 19% porosity) revealing their fractal structure (Porod slope: ?1.71). Two quantitative approaches (Height-Height Correlation and Power Spectral Density functions) were used to describe rough surfaces characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in consort with GISAXS data; different correlation length dependencies on growth time were revealed for gold rough surfaces grown on bare and polymerized Si. The results are considered pertinent to interfacial nanoscience and engineering, enabling statistical data collection from large surface areas, in a fast and nondestructive manner.     

Alfvén waves in temperature anisotropic Cairns distributed plasma

The dispersion relations and Landau damping of Alfven waves in kinetic and inertial limits are studied in temperature anisotropic Cairns distributed plasma.In the case of kinetic Alfven waves(KAWs),it is found that the real frequency is enhanced when either the electron perpendicular temperature or the non-thermal parameter A increases.For inertial Alfven waves(IAWs),the real frequency is slightly affected by the electron temperature anisotropy and A.Besides the real frequency,the damping rate of KAWs is reduced when the electron perpendicular temperature or A increases.In the case of IAWs,the temperature anisotropy and A either enhance or reduce the damping rate depending upon the perpendicular wavelength.These results may be helpful to understand the dynamics of KAWs and IAWs in space plasmas where the non-Maxwellian distribution of particles are routinely observed.     

Magnetoelectronic properties of ferromagnetic compounds Rb2TaZ6 (Z = Cl,Br) for possible spintronic applications

Highly spin-polarized ferromagnetic materials are essential for efficient spintronic devices. Here, 100% spin-polarized compounds Rb₂TaZ₆ (Z = Cl, Br) studied via density functional theory are reported. These compounds show stability in the ferromagnetic phase with cubic symmetry and half metallic behavior, thereby exhibiting a nonzero direct band gap in the spin-down channel and zero band gap in the spin-up configuration. The Ta-d sates contribute mainly to the net magnetic moments as explained by the crystal field theory and density of states. High Curie temperatures of 960.35 and 1021.74 K for Ra₂TaCl₆ and Rb₂TaBr₆, along with maximum spin polarizability, make these compounds favorable for efficient spintronic applications.     

First-principle investigation of XSrH3 (X = K and Rb) perovskite-type hydrides for hydrogen storage

Hydrogen can be utilized as an energy source; therefore, hydrogen storage has received the most appealing examination interest in recent years. The investigations of hydrogen storage applications center fundamentally around the examination of hydrogen capacity abilities of recently presented compounds. XSrH₃ (X = K and Rb) compounds have been examined by density functional theory (DFT) calculations to uncover their different characteristics, as well as hydrogen capacity properties, for the first time. Studied compounds are optimized in the cubic phase, and optimized lattice constants are obtained as 4.77 and 4.99 Å for KSrH₃ and RbSrH₃, respectively. These hydrides have shown negative values of formation enthalpies as they are stable thermodynamically. XSrH₃ might be used in hydrogen storage applications because of high gravimetric hydrogen storage densities, which are 2.33 and 1.71 wt% for KSrH₃ and RbSrH₃, respectively. Moreover, electronic properties confirm the semiconductor nature of these compounds having indirect band gaps of values 1.41 and 1.23 eV for KSrH₃ and RbSrH₃, respectively. In addition, mechanical properties from elastic constants such as Young modulus and Pugh's ratio, also have been investigated, and these compounds were found to satisfy born stability conditions. Furthermore, Pugh's ratio and Cauchy pressure show that these hydrides have a brittle nature. Furthermore, thermodynamic properties such as entropy and Debye temperature have been examined using the quasiharmonic Debye model for different temperatures and pressures.     

Direct current and impedance spectroscopic studies on MoO3 modified ZnPc/ITO Schottky diodes

We use experimental results of direct current and low signal impedance spectroscopy to investigate the conduction mechanism in organic semiconductor ZnPc. The experimental results demonstrate an increase in current and holes mobility by the introduction of a thin MoO₃ film at the ITO/ZnPc interface. This significantly improves the device performance. The improvement is explained in terms of the reduction in the effective barrier for charge transfer from ZnPc to ITO.     

Study of Sm-doped ZnO samples sintered in a nitrogen atmosphere and deposited on n-Si(1 0 0) by evaporation technique

The samarium doping zinc oxide (Zn_1-xSm_xO) with (x=0.0, 0.04, 0.05 and 0.17) polycrystalline thin films have been deposited on n-Si(1 0 0) substrate using thermal evaporation technique. Ceramic targets for deposition were prepared by the standard solid-state reaction method and sintered in nitrogen atmospheres. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses show that the bulk and films features reveal wurtzite crystal structure with a preferential (1 0 1) crystallographic orientation and grows as hexagonal shape grains. According to the results of the Hall effect measurements, all the films show p-type conductivity, possibly a result of nitrogen incorporation into the Sm-doped ZnO samples. Magnetic measurements show that ferromagnetic behavior depends on the Sm³⁺ concentration. For a film with lower Sm₂O₃ contents (x=0.04), a phenomenon of paramagnetism has been observed. While, with further increase of Sm³⁺ contents (x=0.05) the ferromagnetic behavior has been observed at room temperature. However, at higher doping content of Sm³⁺, the ferromagnetic behavior was suppressed. The decrease of ferromagnetism with increasing doping concentration demonstrates that ferromagnetism observed at room temperature is an intrinsic property of Zn_1-xSm_xO films.     

Syntheses and characterization of a new class of zirconia precursors of oxime-modified zirconium(IV) isopropoxide

Some oxime modified complexes of the type [Zr{OPrⁱ}_4?n{L}_n] {where, n = 1–4 and LH=(CH₃)₂C=NOH (1–4) and C₉H₁₆C=NOH (5–8)} have been synthesized by the reaction of [Zr(OPrⁱ)₄·PrⁱOH] with oximes, in anhydrous refluxing benzene. These synthesized complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, molecular weight measurements, ESI-mass, FT-IR and NMR (¹H and ¹³C{¹H}) spectral studies. The ESI-mass spectral studies indicate dimeric nature for [Zr{OPrⁱ}₂{ONC(CH₃)₂}₂] (2), [Zr{OPrⁱ}₃{ONC₁₀H₁₆}] (5) and [Zr{OPrⁱ}{ONC₁₀H₁₆}₃] (7) and monomeric nature for [Zr{ONC₁₀H₁₆}₄] (8). Oximato ligands appear to bind the zirconium in side on manner in all the complexes. Thermogravimetric curves of (2) and (8) exhibit multi-step decomposition with the formation of ZrO₂, under nitrogen atmosphere. Sol–gel transformations of precursors (5), (6), (7) and (8) in organic medium, yielded nano-sized tetragonal phase of zirconia samples (a), (b), (c) and (d), respectively, on sintering at ~600 °C. All these samples were characterized by Powder XRD patterns and EDX analyses. Surface morphologies of these samples were investigated by SEM images.