Multifunctional Sulfur-Hyperdoped Silicon Nanoparticles with Engineered Mid-Infrared Sulfur-Impurity and Free-Carrier Absorption

Si nanoparticles (NPs), which are innovative promising light-harvesting components of thin-film solar cells and key-enabling biocompatible theranostic elements of infrared-laser and radiofrequency hyperthermia-based therapies of cancer cells in tumors and metastases, are significantly advanced in their near/mid-infrared band-to-band and free-carrier absorption via donor sulfur-hyperdoping during high-throughput facile femtosecond-laser ablative production in liquid carbon disulfide. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman microscopy reveal their mixed nanocrystalline/amorphous structure, enabling the extraordinary sulfur content of a few atomic percents and very minor surface oxidation/carbonization characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A 200-nm thick layer of the nanoparticles exhibits near−mid-infrared absorbance, comparable to that of the initial 380-micron thick n-doped Si wafer (phosphor-dopant concentration ≈10¹⁵ cm⁻³), with the corresponding extinction coefficient for the hyperdoped NPs being 4–7 orders higher over the broadband spectral range of 1–25 micrometers. Such ultimate, but potentially tunable mid-IR structured, multi-band absorption of various sulfur-impurity clusters and smooth free-carrier absorption are break through advances in mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser and radiofrequency (RF) hyperthermia-based therapies, as envisioned in the RF-heating tests, and in fabrication of higher-efficiency thin-film and bulk photovoltaic devices with ultra-broad (UV−mid-IR) spectral response.     

DIFFERENTIAL-ALGEBRAIC APPROACH TO COUPLED PROBLEMS OF DYNAMIC THERMOELASTICITY

An efficient numerical approach for the general thermomechanical problems was developed and it was tested for a two-dimensional thermoelasticity problem. The main idea of our numerical method is based on the reduction procedure of the original system of PDEs describing coupled thermomechanical behavior to a system of Differential Algebraic Equations (DAEs) where the stress-strain relationships are treated as algebraic equations. The resulting system of DAEs was then solved with a Backward Differentiation Formula (BDF) using a fully implicit algorithm. The described procedure was explained in detail, and its effectiveness was demonstrated on the solution of a transient uncoupled thermoelastic problem, for which an analytical solution is known, as well as on a fully coupled problem in the two-dimensional case.     

Light emission from nanocrystalline silicon clusters embedded in silicon dioxide: Role of the suboxide states

Silicon clusters embedded in a silicon dioxide matrix were prepared by ultrasound-assisted implantation resulting in a modified concentration of suboxide states as revealed by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy. It is suggested that ultrasound treatment results in formation of different interface structure between silicon cluster and silicon dioxide matrix which is characterized by a distinctly reduced concentration of the suboxide states. It is observed that photoluminescence properties are strongly correlated with the concentration of the suboxide states thereby providing an evidence that besides a quantum confinement effect a closer look at the chemical composition of the nc-Si/SiO₂ system is important.     

Analysis of crystallographic and structural data of polymeric FeM (M = transition metals, lanthanides) complexes

This review covers crystallographic and structural data for almost fifty polymeric FeM complexes (M = transition Cu, Ag, Au, Mo, W, Mn, Co, Ni and Pt and lanthanide elements Sm, Er and Yb) where iron is involved in polymeric chains. The complexes are for the most part yellow or black, but there are complexes of brown, orange, red, purple, blue and green colour. The complexes crystallized in the monoclinic (by far prevails), triclinic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, trigonal, hexagonal and rhombohedral crystal classes. The iron atoms are found in oxidation states 0, +2 and +3, of which +3 by far prevails. The inner coordination spheres about the Fe(0) atom are tetrahedral (FeC₄) or sandwiched (FeC₁₀), Fe(II) atoms are six-coordinated, and Fe(III) are six or even seven-coordinated. The inner coordination about M atoms range from four- through six- to eight-coordinated. The shortest Fe-Fe, Fe-M (transition) and Fe-M (lanthanide) and M-M separations are: 8.08 Å, 3.033 Å for Fe-Cu, 3.010 Å for Fe-Yb and 2.505 Å for Mo-Mo.     

First passage time for multivariate jump‐diffusion processes in finance and other areas of applications

The first passage time (FPT) problem is an important problem with a wide range of applications in science, engineering, economics, and industry. Mathematically, such a problem can be reduced to estimating the probability of a stochastic process first to reach a boundary level. In most important applications in the financial industry, the FPT problem does not have an analytical solution and the development of efficient numerical methods becomes the only practical avenue for its solution. Most of our examples in this contribution are centered around the evaluation of default correlations in credit risk analysis, where we are concerned with the joint defaults of several correlated firms, the task that is reducible to a FPT problem. This task represents a great challenge for jump‐diffusion processes (JDP). In this contribution, we develop further our previous fast Monte Carlo method in the case of multivariate (and correlated) JDP. This generalization allows us, among other things, to evaluate the default events of several correlated assets based on a set of empirical data. The developed technique is an efficient tool for a number of financial, economic, and business applications, such as credit analysis, barrier option pricing, macroeconomic dynamics, and the evaluation of risk, as well as for a number of other areas of applications in science and engineering, where the FPT problem arises. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

EFFECT OF INTERNAL VISCOSITY OF POLYMERIC FLUIDS UNDER STRONG EXTENSIONAL FLOWS

The dumbbell model with internal viscosity for a dilute polymer solution is investigated based on a balance of viscous drag and restoring Brownian forces.An approximate method is used to obtain the solution of extensional stress in closed form in the case of steady flow.For different internal viscosities,this parametric study shows different asymptotic regimes of the extensional viscosity as a function of strain rate.This analysis may explain the attenuation of pressure drop in strong flows from a phenom...     

Formation of J-Aggregates of 21-thia-5,10,15,20-tetra-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin in Acidified Aqueous Solutions

Journal of Applied Spectroscopy - The formation of Jaggregates of 21-thia-5,10,15,20-(tetra-4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin in acidified aqueous solutions is reported for the first time. The...