Single crystalline boron carbide nanobelts: synthesis and characterization

This paper reports that the large-scale single crystalline boron carbide nanobelts have been fabricated through a simple carbothermal reduction method with B/B2O3/C/Fe powder as precursors at 1100℃. Transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction characterizations show that the boron carbide nanobelt has a B4C rhomb-centred hexagonal structure with good crystallization. Electron energy loss spectroscopy analysis indicates that the nanobelt contains only B and C, and the atomic ratio of B to C is close to 4：1. High resolution transmission electron microscopy results show that the preferential growth direction of the nanobelt is [101]. A possible growth mechanism is also discussed.     

Self-organization effect in poly（3-hexylthiophene）： methanofullerenes solar cells

This paper studies the self-organization of the polymer in solar cells based on poly（3-hexylthiophene）： [6, 6]-phenyl C61-butyric acid methyl ester by controlling the growth rate of active layer. These blend films are characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, charge-transport dark J - V curve, x-ray diffraction pattern curve, and atomic force microscopy. The results indicate that slowing down the drying process of the wet films leads to an enhanced selforganization, which causes an increased hole transport. Increased incident light absorption, higher carrier mobility, and balanced carrier transport in the active layer explain the enhancement in the device performance, the power conversion efficiency of 3.43% and fill factor up to 64.6% are achieved under Air Mass 1.5, 100 mW/cm^2.     

Influence of patterned TiO2/SiO2 dielectric multilayers for back and front mirror facetson GaN-based laser diodes

Ridge InGaN multi-quantum-well-structure （MQW） edge-emitting laser diodes （LDs） were grown on （0001） sapphire substrates by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition （MOCVD）. The dielectric TiO2/SiO2 front and back facet coatings as cavity mirror facets of the LDs have been deposited with electron-beam evaporation method. The reflectivity of the designed front coating is about 50% and that of the back high reflective coating is as high as 99.9%. Under pulsed current injection at room temperature, the influences of the dielectric facets were discussed. The threshold current of the ridge GaN-based LDs was decreased after the deposition of the back high reflective dielectric mirrors and decreased again after the front facets were deposited. Above the threshold, the slope efficiency of the LDs with both reflective facets was larger than those with only back facets and without any reflective facets. It is important to design the reflectivity of the front facets for improving the performance of GaN-based LDs.     

First-principles study of interphase Ni3Sn in Sn--Ni alloy for anode of lithium ion battery

This paper investigates the mechanism of Li insertion into interphase Ni3Sn in Ni-Sn alloy for the anode of lithium ion battery by means of the first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential. Compared with other phases, it is found that the Ni3Sn has larger relative expansion ratio and lower electrochemical potential, with its specific plateaus voltage around 0.3 eV when lithium atoms are filled in all octahedral interstitial sites, and the relative expansion ratio increasing dramatically when the lithiated phase transits from octahedral interstitial sites to tetrahedral interstitial sites. So this phase is a devastating phase for whole alloy electrode materials.     

Superconductivity without dependence on valenceelectron density in Zn doped YBCO systems

This paper reports that the YBa2Cu3-xZnxO7-δ （x = 0-0.4） samples are researched by means of x-ray diffraction, calculations of binding energy, the positron experiments and variations of oxygen content. The results of simulated calculations, positron experiments and variations of oxygen content support the existence of cluster effect. Moreover, it is concluded that the cluster effect is an important factor on suppression of high-Tc cuprate superconductivity and the Tc does not depend on the density of valence electron directly.     

The effect of doped ions on single-molecule magnets of the Mn12-Ac family

This paper investigates the single-molecule magnets of pure and Cr/Fe-doped Mn12-Ac. The components of the mixed crystals are identified by AC susceptibility technique. The ground-state spin and anisotropy parameters of doped Mn12-Ac are obtained： （i） MnllCr-Ac （S=19/2, D=0.62K, B=0.0009K, A=63K）, and （ii） Mn11Fe-Ac （S=21/2, D=0.39 K, B=0.001 K, △=55 K）. The single-ion origin of the magnetic anisotropy is discussed.     

Enhanced mechanical behaviour of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers

This paper reports that the lead zirconate titanate （PZT） piezoelectric composites incorporating zinc oxide nanowhiskers （ZnOw） were prepared by the conventional solid state processing. The whisker-dispersed PZT composites （PZT/ZnOw） presented a significant enhancement in the mechanical properties such as Young＇s modulus, tensile strength and compressive strength. Especially, the compressive strength increased from 153 MPa for the PZT to 228 MPa for the PZT/ZnOw composites. The reinforcement mechanism in strength of the composites was discussed. The me- chanical quality factors of the PZT/ZnOw composites increased considerably, while the piezoelectric constants and electromechanical coupling coefficient decreased slightly. The composites with good electrical and excellent mechanical properties are promising for further applications.     

Multiferroic behaviour of epitaxial NiFe2O4--BaTiO3 heterostructures

Multiferroic NiFe2O4 （NFO）-BaTiO3 （BTO） bilayered thin films are epitaxially grown on （001） Nb-doped SrTiO3 （STO） substrates by pulsed-laser deposition （PLD）. Different growth sequences of NFO and BTO on the substrate yield two kinds of epitaxial heterostructures with （001）-orientation, i.e. （001）-NFO/（001）-BTO/substrate and （001）- BTO/（001）-NFO/substrate. Microstructure studies from x-ray diffraction （XRD） and electron microscopies show differences between these two heterostructures, which result in different multiferroic behaviours. The heterostructured composite films exhibit good coexistence of both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties, in particular, obvious magnetoelectric （ME） effect on coupling response.     

First-principles investigation of BAs and BxGa1-xAs alloys

First-principles investigation of BAs and BxGa1-xAs alloys Using first-principles calculations in the generalized gradient approximation, the electronic properties of BAs and BxGa1-xAs alloys are studied. At the Brillouin-zone centre, the lowest conduction band is the three-degenerate p-like Г15c state rather than s-like Г1c state, and the conduction band minimum （CBM） is along the A line between the Г and X points-at approximately 11/14（1,0,0）2π/a. With boron content at 0%-18.75%, BxGa1-xAs alloys have a small （2.6 eV） and relatively composition-independent band-gap bowing parameter, the band-gap increases monotonically by -18meV/B% with increasing boron content. In addition, the formation enthalpies of mixing for BxGa1-xAs alloys with boron content at 6.25% and 12.5% are calculated, and the large formation enthalpies may explain the difficulty in alloying boron to GaAs.     

Effect of Dy substitution on magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects of Tb6Co1.67Si3 compounds

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of(Tb1-xDyx) 6 Co 1.67 Si 3(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) have been experimentally investigated.The compounds exhibit a Ce6Ni2Si3-type hexagonal structure and undergo a second-order magnetic transition.The Curie temperature decreases from ～ 187 K to 142 K as the content of Dy grows from 0 to 0.8.The maximal magnetic entropy change,for a field change of 0-5 T,varies between ～ 6.2 and ～ 7.4 J/kg.K,slightly decreasing when Dy is introduced.The substitution of Dy leads to a remarkable increase in refrigeration capacity(RC).A large RC value of ～ 626 J/kg is achieved for x = 0.4 under a field change of 0-5 T.     

Infrared-to-visible and infrared-to-violet upconversion fluorescence of rare earth doped LaF3 nanocrystals

This paper reports that hexagonal-phase LaF3：Yb0.20^3＋,Er0.02^3＋ and LaF3：Yb0.20^3＋, Tm0.02^3＋ nanocrystals （NCs） were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. The transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, powder x-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis are used to characterize the NCs. Under 980 nm excitation, the Yb^3＋/Er^3＋ and Yb^3＋/Tm^3＋ codoped NCs colloidal solutions present bright green and blue upconversion fluorescence, respectively. These NCs show efficient infrared-to-violet and infrared-to-visible upconversion. The upconversion fluo- rescence mechanisms of LaF2：Yb0.20^3＋, Er0.02^3＋ and LaF3：Yb0.20^3＋,Tm0.02^3＋ NCs are investigated with a 980-nm diode laser as excitation source.     

Multi-reference calculations of the photodissociation of HSCH3 molecule

This paper performs multi-reference second-order perturbation theory calculations on the ground state and a number of low-lying excited states of HSCH3 molecule, and calculates the vertical excitation energies and low-energy potential-energy curves, based on which the photodissociation channels of HSCH3 at 193,222,248 nm are clarified.     

First-principles calculations for elastic properties of rutile TiO2 under pressure

This paper studies the equilibrium structure parameters and the dependences of the elastic properties on pressure for rutile TiO2 by using the Cambridge Serial Total Energy Package （CASTEP） program in the frame of density functional theory. The obtained equilibrium structure parameters, bulk modulus B0 and its pressure derivative B′0 are in good agreement with experiments and the theoretical results. The six independent elastic constants of rutile TiO2 under pressure are theoretically investigated for the first time. It is found that, as pressure increases, the elastic constants C11, C33, C66, C12 and C13 increase, The variation of elastic constant C44 is not obvious and the anisotropy will weaken.     

Preparation and luminescence characteristics of Eu^2＋ activated silicate phosphor

This paper synthesizes the Sr2SiO4：Eu^2＋ phosphor by high temperature solid-state reaction. The emission spectrum of Sr2SiO4 ： Eu^2＋ shows two bands centred at 480 and 547 nm, which agree well with the calculation values of emission spectrum, and the location of yellow emission of Sr2SiO4 ： Eu^2＋ is influenced by the Eu^2＋ concentration. The excitation spectrum for 547 nm emission has two bands at 363 and 402 nm. The emission spectrum of white light emitting diodes （w-LEDs） based on Sr2SiO4 ： Eu^2＋ phosphor ＋ InGaN LED was investigated.     

Theoretical investigation on near-infrared and visible absorption spectra of nanometallic aluminium with oxide coating in nanoenergetic materials: size and shape effects

The effects of metal core dimension, oxide shell thickness and ellipsoid aspect ratio of Al-Al2O3 core-shell nanoparticles on the near-infrared and visible absorption spectra of nanocomposite Al-Al2O3/nitrocellulose（NC） film are investigated by numerical calculations. Both the size-dependent interband transitions and frequency-dependent free electron damping of the nanometallic aluminium are taken into account in the calculations. Oxidation effect of nanoaluminium is also analysed. It is shown that oxidation may enhance but may also reduce the optical absorption, depending on the excited light energy and initial dimension of nanoparticle. Metal core size and excited light energy dominate the absorption characteristic. The absorption ability of ellipsoidal nanoparticles is larger than that of spheroidal nanoparticles and increases by the square index as the aspect ratio increases. These calculations will provide some significant theoretical guidance for the preparation and laser ignition of nanoenergetic materials.     

Dephasing of quantum tunnelling in molecular nanomagnets

Dephasing mechanism of quantum tunnelling in molecular magnets has been studied by means of the spin-coherentstate path integral in a mean field approximation. It is found that the fluctuating uncompensated transverse field from the dipolar-dipolar interaction between molecular magnets contributes a random phase to the quantum interference phase. The resulting transition rate is determined by the average tunnel splitting over the random phase. Such a dephasing process leads to the suppression of quenching due to the quantum phase interference, and to the steps due to odd resonances in hysteresis loop survived, which is in good agreement with experimental observations in molecular nanomagnets Fes and Mn12.     

Compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser with periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3

This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVOquasi-phase-matching, intracavity optical parametric generator, periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgLN)Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10474071 and 60671036).4265K, 4260F, 4270This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVOquasi-phase-matching, intracavity optical parametric generator, periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgLN)Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10474071 and 60671036).4265K, 4260F, 4270This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVOquasi-phase-matching, intracavity optical parametric generator, periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgLN)Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10474071 and 60671036).4265K, 4260F, 4270This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVOquasi-phase-matching, intracavity optical parametric generator, periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgLN)Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10474071 and 60671036).4265K, 4260F, 4270This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVOquasi-phase-matching, intracavity optical parametric generator, periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate (PPMgLN)Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 10474071 and 60671036).4265K, 4260F, 4270This paper demonstrates a compact efficient optical parametric generator internal to a Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO$_{4}$ laser with periodically poled MgO:LiNbO₃(PPMgLN). With the Q-switch set at a repetition rate of 25kHz and the PPMgLN crystal operated at room temperature (25\du\,), the intracavity optical parametric generator threshold was reached as a diode pump power of 0.9\,W. A maximum signal output power of 0.34W with a pulse width of 25\,ns and a beam quality factor of 1.4 was obtained at an incident diode power of 3.4\,W, leading to a conversion efficiency of 10{\%} with a slope efficiency of 14.4{\%}. By varying the crystal temperature from 25 to 200\du, the output signal wavelengths were tuned in range of 1506--1565\,nm. Over a 30-minutes interval, the instability of the signal power was measured to be less than 1{\%}. In addition, the threshold pump intensity for the intracavity optical parametric generator is theoretically investigated, and the obtained result is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Structures and electronic properties of SimN8-m（0 〈 m 〈 8） clusters： a density functional theory study

The geometries, electronic structures and related properties of SimN8-m（0 〈 m 〈 8） clusters are studied using density functional theory （DFT） with hybrid functional B3LYP. The calculated results reveal several trends. For any stoichiometric clusters, the lowest energy isomers with an alteration of N and Si atoms are favourable in energy if the numbers of Si and N atoms are large enough to form ... Si N-Si-N... alternative chains. The bond lengths of single Si-N bonds are very close to the corresponding values of the bulk and other SiN clusters. The geometries for N-rich and Si4N4 clusters are planar structures, but three-dimensional structures are favourable in energy for Si-rich clusters. With the increase of m, the isotropic polarizability and average polarizability increase, the total binding energies generally decrease, the HOMO-LUMO gap and vertical ionization potential oscillate with increasing number of valence electrons, and their values with even valence electrons are larger than those with odd valence electrons. The atomic charges, IR and Raman properties are also reported.     

Deceleration of a continuous-wave （CW） molecular beam with a single quasi-CW semi-Gaussian laser beam

We propose a promising scheme to decelerate a CW molecular beam by using a red-detuned quasi-cw semi-Gaussian laser beam （SGB）. We study the dynamical process of the deceleration for a CW deuterated ammonia （ND3） molecular beam by Monte-Carlo simulation method. Our study shows that we can obtain a ND3 molecular beam with a relative average kinetic energy loss of about 10% and a relative output molecular number of more than 90% by using a single quasi-cw SGB with a power of 1.5kW and a maximum optical well depth of 7.33mK.     

Spontaneous magnetization and resistivity jumps in bilayered manganite （La0.8Eu0.2）4/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 single crystals

Owing to the inhomogeneous state resulting from the doping of a small number of Eu ions into Laa/3Sr5/3Mn2O7, from the resulting single crystal （La0.8Eu0.2）a/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 we have observed the magnetization jump, the resistivity jump, as well as the relaxation phenomena. For （Lao.sEuo.2）a/3Sr5/3Mn2O7, it has a very delicate ground state due to the interplays among spin, charge, orbital, lattice degrees of freedom. Consequently, the magnetization state is sensitive to temperature, magnetic field, as well as time. Meanwhile, the evolution of the magnetization with time shows a spontaneous jump when both the temperature and the magnetic field are constant. Similar step-like behaviours are also observed in resistivity. All these results suggest that Eu doping can greatly modulate the physical properties of Laa/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 and cause such interesting behaviours.