Effect of preliminary low-temperature annealing on the kinetics of nucleation

The changes observed in the kinetics of CuCl nucleation in glass due to preliminary low-temperature annealing have been investigated using optical spectroscopy. The influence of the number of nuclei formed at a temperature of 500°C on the growth rate of the CuCl phase at 650°C has been examined. The amount of the CuCl phase in the sample is determined from the optical absorption coefficient in the range of band-to-band transitions in the CuCl nanocrystals. The average radius of CuCl particles is calculated from the position of the maximum of the exciton band. It has been demonstrated that the preliminary formation of CuCl nuclei at 500°C for 3 h makes it possible to increase the growth rate of the CuCl phase by a factor of 6. In the sample with preliminarily formed nuclei, there occur two opposite processes: thermal decomposition of part of the small nuclei, which have become subcritical at 650°C; and the growth of larger nuclei, which have become supercritical at 650°C due to the diffusive inflow of the components of the new phase. When the equilibrium concentration is reached, the new phase contains particles with a smaller radius but at a higher concentration as compared to those in the case of the conventional nucleation at 650°C.     

Exciton absorption at the initial stages of the formation of the CuCl phase in a glass

The fundamental absorption spectra of CuCl nanocrystals in glass samples are investigated in the energy range 3–4 eV at a temperature of 300 K with the aim of elucidating the kinetics of the initial stage of the formation of the CuCl phase in the glass. The CuCl phase is grown in the glass under stepwise annealing at temperatures of 500, 615, and 707°C. The kinetics of variation in the intensity and the shift of the maximum in the exciton absorption spectra of CuCl nanocrystals are studied in the course of annealing of the glass samples. It is established that, for all the temperatures under investigation, the formation of the CuCl phase begins with the transient stage that involves the fluctuation formation of supercritical nuclei of the CuCl nanomelt. At a temperature of 500°C, the transient stage gives way to the stage of a rapid increase in the number of supercritical nuclei of the CuCl phase. At temperatures of 615 and 707°C, the transient stage gives way to the stage of an intensive growth of nuclei without a considerable increase in their number. The number of nuclei formed during the transient stage at 707°C is smaller than that observed after the transient stage at 500°C by a factor of 24. However, the sizes of the nuclei formed at 707°C are larger than those observed after the transient stage at 500°C. This difference is explained by the fact that the diffusion length of Cu⁺ ions controlling the formation of the CuCl phase increases with increasing temperature. The experimental data on the kinetics of the formation of the new phase in the glass are in good agreement with the Zel’dovich-Frenkel classical theory of the formation of a new phase, which accounts for the stage of the formation of critical nuclei.     

Formation of two distributions of nanoparticles of a new phase in a solid solution

Processes of the formation of the double distribution of CuCl nanoparticles in glass in two-stage annealing have been analyzed. The distribution of CuCl nanoparticles with the average radius R ₁ = 14 and 18 nm appears in 20 and 40 min at temperature T ₁ = 700°C in samples 1 and 2, respectively. By this time, the formation of new clusters ends, and only the growth of previously formed clusters occurs (the second stage of nucleation). Then, the formation of the CuCl phase continues at T ₂ = 500°C. A decrease in the temperature is accompanied by a decrease in the critical radius of particles of a new phase. For this reason, the formation and growth of new CuCl nuclei begin again and the second distribution with a mean radius of 1 nm or larger is formed. As a result, double distributions of CuCl nanoparticles with significantly different mean radii are formed in samples 1 and 2. The concentration and mean radius of CuCl particles in distributions have been determined from the optical absorption spectra of CuCl nanocrystals at 80 K in the wavelength range of 300–500 nm.     

Production and decay of subcritical nuclei in a solid solution

The decay of “subcritical” nuclei in a solid solution has been revealed in the investigation of the CuCl phase nucleation kinetics in glass. As soon as “supercritical” nuclei with an average radius R = 1.1 nm are created at 500°C, a sharp temperature increase up to 650°C transforms most nuclei created in the first annealing stage into “subcritical” ones, and this results in the decay of 80% of the nuclei in 5 min, while the remaining 20% of the nuclei grow in size to 2.4 nm. Their growth provides a sixfold increase in the CuCl phase growth rate against that in conventional annealing at 650°C. The kinetic dependences of the nucleation parameters—the amount of the phase and the average radius and concentration of the particles—were determined by the intrinsic absorption spectra of the CuCl nanocrystals. The critical radius of the CuCl nanomelt at 650°C has been estimated as 1.3 nm and the evaporation heat of the CuCl phase molecules in glass, as 13 kJ/mol. It is shown that multistage annealing makes it possible not only to control the parameters of the particles of the new phase, but also to determine the critical parameters of the initial nucleation stage.     

Formation and growth of CuCl phase nuclei in glass

In glass, the CuCl phase starts to form a certain time after the onset of supersaturation. As the temperature is increased, the transient period (stage of formation of critical nuclei) shortens and the growth kinetics of the CuCl phase switches from the first to second stage. The observed pattern of the CuCl phase growth kinetics is fully consistent with the Zel’dovich-Frenkel classical theory of new-phase formation. The delay time is determined by the radius of the critical nucleus (CuCl nanomelt) and the diffusion coefficient of the limiting component, the Cu⁺ ions. The radius of the critical nucleus is about 1 nm and does not vary within a broad temperature range. The activation energy for the CuCl phase growth process does not change in the transition from the formation of critical nuclei to the first and, subsequently, second stage.     

Nonisothermal nucleation in the CuCl solid solution in glass: Dissolution of subcritical CuCl nuclei with a positive jump of the nucleation temperature

The processes of nucleation in a CuCl solid solution in glass with a positive temperature jump from T ₁ = 500°C to T ₂ = 550, 600, and 650°C have been investigated using optical spectroscopy and exciton-thermal analysis. The dissolution of a part of the particles of the CuCl nanomelt formed previously at T ₁ has been observed at T ₂. Variations in the shape of the radius distribution curve of the CuCl particles due to the dissolution of initial nuclei have been determined from the melting kinetics of CuCl particles during linear heating of the sample. The nonisothermal nucleation of CuCl in glass under conditions of the temperature jump has been simulated numerically. The results of calculations of the variations in the radius distribution of CuCl particles are in agreement with the experiment. The calculated data on the variation in time of the critical radius r _c and the concentration of CuCl monomers in glass after the temperature jump have been obtained.     

Change in the Crystallization Features of Supercooled Liquid Metal with an Increase in the Supercooling Level

The process of homogeneous crystal nucleation has been considered in a model liquid, where the interparticle interaction is described by a short-range spherical oscillatory potential. Mechanisms of initiating structural ordering in the liquid at various supercooling levels, including those corresponding to an amorphous state, have been determined. The sizes and shapes of formed crystal grains have been estimated statistically. The results indicate that the mechanism of nucleation occurs throughout the entire considered temperature range. The crystallization of the system at low supercooling levels occurs through a mononuclear scenario. A high concentration of crystal nuclei formed at high supercooling levels (i.e., at temperatures comparable to and below the glass transition temperature T_g) creates the semblance of the presence of branched structures, which is sometimes erroneously interpreted as a signature of phase separation. The temperature dependence of the maximum concentration of crystal grains demonstrates two regimes the transition between which occurs at a temperature comparable to the glass transition temperature T_g.     

Phase transitions in condensed media at a finite rate of formation of a metastable state

The influence of the finite rate of formation of a metastable state on the kinetics of the first-order phase transition is analyzed. The conditions determined by the thermodynamic parameters and the cooling rate of the system under consideration are derived. Under these conditions, the formation of the metastable state can be treated either as an instantaneous process, when nucleation occurs at the end of the cooling stage, or as a slow process, when intensive nucleation of a new phase proceeds within the cooling stage. An equation describing the time and temperature that correspond to intensive nucleation of new-phase particles is obtained. The nucleation stage of the new phase takes place in the immediate vicinity of the temperature determined from this equation. All the other parameters, which determine the kinetics of the initial and transient stages of the phase transition, are calculated with respect to this temperature. As an example, all the relationships for a weak solid solution are presented.     

Nonisothermal nucleation in the CuCl solid solution in glass: Formation of two distributions of nanoparticles of a new phase in the solid solution with a negative jump of the nucleation temperature

The processes of nonisothermal nucleation in the CuCl solid solution in glass with a negative jump of the nucleation temperature have been investigated using optical spectroscopy and exciton-thermal analysis. Two distributions of CuCl nanoparticles differing in the average radii R (2.3 and 14.0 nm) have been obtained for the temperature drop from T ₁ = 700°C to T ₂ = 500°C. The formation of two distributions of CuCl particles has been numerically simulated and the agreement between the experimental and calculated radius distributions of CuCl particles has been obtained.     

Evidence for strain glass in the ferroelastic-martensitic system Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x)

We report here "strain glass," a new glassy phenomenon in ferroelastic-martensitic system of Ni-rich intermetallic Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x) (x > 1), where local strain is frozen in disordered configuration below a critical temperature Tg. The ac elastic modulus shows a minimum at Tg, which exhibits logarithmic frequency dependence following Vogel-Fulcher relationship, and the corresponding internal friction shows a frequency-dependent peak located at a lower temperature. In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations reveal uncorrelated nanoclusters of martensiticlike phase, randomly frozen in the otherwise untransformed parentlike matrix. Being parallel to spin glass and relaxor, strain glass may shed new light on the fundamental physics of glass and lead to the discovery of novel properties.     

Nucleation kinetics in a CuCl solid solution in glass: Calculation and comparison with experiment

The kinetics of formation of CuCl nanoparticles in a glass has been studied. The experimental results obtained have been compared with the results of calculations. A method has been developed for calculating the nucleation kinetics, which decreases the time of calculations by a factor of several tens. This has been achieved using the joint kinetic equation for distributions of clusters over the number of particles and over the radius. The distributions over the number of particles and over the radius have been used for small and large clusters, respectively. The concentration of molecules near the surface of clusters has been determined from the asymptotic solution of the diffusion equation. For subcritical clusters, the concentration of molecules near the cluster surface has been taken to be equal to the average concentration in the solid solution. This method has been used to calculate the nucleation kinetics of CuCl nanoparticles in a glass. The results obtained from the calculation of the time dependences of the increase in the concentration and average radius of clusters agree well with experiment.     

金属玻璃Ni30Zr70的动态粘度和稳态粘度

本文测量了金属玻璃Ni₃₀Zr₇₀的动态粘度和稳态粘度,结果表明,由于结构弛豫的影响,动态粘度随升温速率的减小而线性增加,在玻璃转变温度T_g以下,动态粘度与温度的关系可以用Arrhenius方程进行描述,稳态粘度与温度的依赖关系满足Fulcher-Vogel方程。从4种不同升温速率的高温(结晶开始温度T_x)动态粘度值,给出金属玻璃Ni₃₀Zr₇₀的平衡粘度。在630—670K     

Fixation of silane coupling agents to glass fiber in silane treatment process

Fixation of silane coupling agents to glass fiber was quantitatively determined using pyrolysis-GC/FT-IR to explore the formation of chemical-bonded and physisorbed silanes. The silane coupling agent used was N-phenyl-1-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (AnPS). In silane treatment, E-glass fiber was dipped into acetic acid solution containing AnPS and was cured under different temperature and time. The fixation of silane was obtained by determining the amount of AnPS at the glass surface after and before washing the treated fiber with methanol. The silane fixation increased with decrease in the silane concentration, but it fell significantly below a lower silane concentration. The change of fixation in curing temperature gave an optimum temperature for the fixing. The dependence of curing time on the fixing ratio showed that the fixation was depressed below the curing temperature of 100°C. These results suggested that more than a specific amount of AnPS deposit on glass fiber was necessary to form silane networks fixed to glass fiber through siloxane bonds. The networks formation was interpreted in terms of the competitive reaction of the silanol group of silane to hydroxyl of glass fiber and to other silane molecules.     

Ferroelectricity in nanocomposites based on porous glass with inclusions of NaNO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The dielectric nonlinearity and pyroeffect in matrix composite based on porous glass with inclusions of sodium nitrite are investigated. It is found that the composite polarization turns to zero at a temperature below that of the phase transition in the bulk NaNO₂. The obtained dependence of the pyrocoefficient on temperature also corroborates the existence of the phase transition in sodium nitrite nanoparticles included in the porous matrix.     

Nucleation of the titanium α and β phases. in situ study of the dislocation role by synchrotron X-ray topography

This “in situ” and real time study is an approach to the role of matrix dislocations in the nucleation of the α or β phases in titanium single crystals. When the dislocations interact, forming tangles, subboundaries…, the residual stresses, present at the transformation temperature, trigger the new phase. If the dislocations are isolated at the transformation temperature they are destabilized by the large crystalline anisotropy resulting from the vibrational entropy dependence with the temperature. These dislocations disappear and do no act as preferential nucleation sites.     

Mixed polaronic-ionic conduction in lithium borate glasses and glass-ceramics containing copper oxide

The effect of electric field strength on conduction in lithium borate glasses doped with CuO with different concentration was studied and the value of the jump distance of charge carrier was calculated. The conductivity measurements indicate that the conduction is due to non-adiabatic hopping of polarons and the activation energies are found to be temperature and concentration dependent. Lithium borate glasses are subjected to carefully-programmed thermal treatments which cause the nucleation and growth of crystalline phases. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the amorphous nature for the investigated glass sample and the formation of crystalline phase for annealed samples at 650 °C. The main separated crystalline phase is Li₂B₈O₁₃. The scanning electron micrographs of some selected glasses showed a significant change in the morphology of the films investigated due to heat treatment of the glass samples. It was found that the dc-conductivity decreases with an increase of the HT temperature. The decrease of dc conductivity, with an increase of the HT temperature, can be related to the decrease in the number of free ions in the glass matrix. There is deviation from linearity at high temperature regions in the logσ-1/T plots for all investigated doped samples at a certain temperature at which the transition from polaronic to ionic conduction occurs. The hopping of small polarons is dominant at low temperatures, whereas the hopping of Li⁺ ions dominates at high temperatures. PACS 71.55.Jv; 72.60.+g; 72.80.Ng     

Evolution of the optical properties of a silver-doped phosphate glass during thermal treatment

The optical properties of a silver-doped phosphate glass have been monitored during thermal processing at several fixed temperatures by in situ optical microspectroscopy. Silver nanoparticle (NP) formation and growth processes were assessed by analysis of surface plasmon resonance spectral features. Nucleation and growth processes were distinguished, which appeared temperature and time dependent. While nucleation was favored at low temperatures, relatively high temperatures promoted NP growth by silver diffusion. Photoluminescence spectra acquired along with optical absorption data indicated a continuous reduction of Ag⁺-Ag⁰ pairs concomitant with NP precipitation, suggesting their role as nucleation centers. The work of Ag NP formation and the activation energy for silver diffusion were estimated.     

Programming scale-free optics in disordered ferroelectrics

Using the history dependence of a dipolar glass hosted in a compositionally disordered lithium-enriched potassium tantalate niobate (KTN:Li) crystal, we demonstrate scale-free optical propagation at tunable temperatures. The operating equilibration temperature is determined by previous crystal spiralling in the temperature/cooling-rate phase space.     

Exchange bias effect in partially oxidized amorphous Fe-Ni-B based metallic glass nanostructures

The magnetic properties of amorphous Fe-Ni-B based metallic glass nanostructures were investigated. The nanostructures underwent a spin-glass transition at temperatures below 100 K and revealed an irreversible temperature following the linear de Almeida-Thouless dependence. When the nanostructures were cooled below 25 K in a magnetic field, they exhibited an exchange bias effect with enhanced coercivity. The observed onset of exchange bias is associated with the coexistence of the spin-glass phase along with the appearance of another spin-glass phase formed by oxidation of the structurally disordered surface layer, displaying a distinct training effect and cooling field dependence. The latter showed a maximum in exchange bias field and coercivity, which is probably due to competing multiple equivalent spin configurations at the boundary between the two spin-glass phases.     

Comparison of the interaction of Cl2 and Br2 with Cu(100)

The adsorption, reaction and etching of Cu(100) by Cl₂ was studied using temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and the results were compared with recent results for Br₂. Although the general etching mechanism was the same for both gases (adsorption rate limited Cu halide formation followed by halide sublimation), significant differences between the behavior of Cl₂ and Br₂ were observed. The desorption of CuCl was characterized by a single zero order sublimation peak, independent of CuCl coverage, while limiting the CuBr coverage resulted in a desorption peak at temperatures lower than a prediction based on vapor pressure data of all known phases of CuBr. In addition, Cl₂ was found to be at least an order of magnitude less reactive than Br₂ towards halide formation. For both Cl₂ and Br₂, the halide formation rate reversibly decreased with increasing reaction temperature. However, for Br₂, but not Cl₂, annealing a chemisorbed halogen layer prior to further reaction irreversibly increased the halide formation rate. Structural differences between CuCl and CuBr on Cu(100) were also observed. For CuCl, LEED data suggested that highly faceted crystallites form at 325 K and remain stable until desorption, while LEED data for CuBr reveal a compressed epitaxial (111) layer that disorders below 400 K and then desorbs. The implications of these differences on etching and oxidation processes are discussed.