Effect of the size of nanoparticles on the properties of a capacitive high-frequency discharge

The properties of a capacitive HF discharge with growing nanoparticles are studied with the use of kinetic PIC-MCC simulation. At the initial stage of growth, the nanoparticles are shown to be localized at the interface between the near-electrode layer and quasi-neutral plasma, where the rate of ionization by electron impact has the maximum value. At the beginning of formation of particles, plasma parameters change rapidly and a transition between the capacitive and spatial discharge burning modes is observed for a certain critical size of the particles. If the growth of the dust particles continues, their distribution over the discharge becomes more uniform and the steady-state parameters of the gas-discharge plasma hardly change.     

On the relation between plasma rotation induced by low-frequency resonant magnetic perturbations and transport in ergodic magnetic fields

The penetration of low-frequency resonant magnetic perturbations into a tokamak plasma and their influence on the plasma rotation are analyzed in linear and quaslisinear kinetic approaches. There are two explanations of experimentally observed acceleration of plasma rotation in the direction of the plasma current. First, it is a result of the resonant absorption of the momentum of the perturbation field by the plasma. Second, it is a result of a change in the radial electric field due to the ergodization of the magnetic field and the corresponding increase in the radial electron transport. It is shown that there is no contradiction between these two explanations. These are just two different interpretations of the same phenomenon. Published in Russian in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 6, pp. 420–423. The article was translated by the authors.     

Alternative method of the opening of cavities in small icosahedral electrolytic-metal particles

Results of an experiment on the opening of cavities in small icosahedral electrolytic-copper particles by means of an experimental technique alternative to the chemical etching of their surface are presented. This experimental technique is theoretically justified. Original Russian Text ? I.S. Yasnikov, A.A. Vikarchuk, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 9, pp. 699–701.     

Cosmic ray spectrum obtained from the energy scattered by the particles of extensive air showers in the atmosphere and the galactic model

The differential energy spectrum of cosmic rays that is obtained on the basis of the measurements of Cherenkov radiation from extensive air showers in an energy range of 10¹⁵–10²⁰ eV is compared with the model of the propagation of primary particles in the interstellar medium with fractal properties. It is found that the shape of the experimental spectrum is in good agreement with the shape of the calculated spectrum of “all particles” at 10¹⁵–10¹⁸ eV. The average mass composition of cosmic rays that is calculated on the basis of five components does not contradict the average mass composition obtained from the experimental data for several parameters in this energy range. Original Russian Text ? S.P. Knurenko, A.A. Ivanov, A.V. Saburov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 10, pp. 709–712.     

Stimulated radiation pressure acting on an atom nonadiabatically interacting with the field of counterpropagating frequency-modulated waves

The stimulated radiation pressure acting on an atom nonadiabatically interacting with the field of counterpropagating frequency-modulated waves is shown to reach high values typical for the rapid adiabatic passage of the instantaneous frequency of the field of the counterpropagating waves through resonance with an atomic transition. Under the appropriate choice of interaction parameters, the radiation pressure changes insignificantly in a wide range of atomic velocities. Original Russian Text ? V.I. Romanenko, L.P. Yatsenko, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 12, pp. 868–872.     

Optical control of the anisotropy of the orientation of molecules in a liquid

The control of the anisotropy of the orientation of molecules in pure 1,2-dichlorobenzene, C₆H₄Cl₂ at room temperature is demonstrated experimentally. To accomplish the optical control, the medium is exposed to non-resonant excitation with two successive linearly polarized laser pulses with a duration of 60 fs. The state of transient anisotropy is probed with the third pulse by detecting the ultrafast optical Kerr effect via optical heterodyne detection and synchronous demodulation. It is shown that variations in the two parameters, the delay time between two pump pulses, and the angle between the polarization directions of the pump pulses ensure the control of the anisotropy of the orientation of molecules in the subpicosecond region. Original Russian Text ? V.G. Nikiforov, G.M. Safiullin, A.G. Shmelev, A.V. Leont’ev, V.S. Lobkov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 10, pp. 757–761.     

Emissivity of the pulsed capacitive discharge in helium-iodine and neon-iodine mixtures

The emission parameters of a pulsed capacitive discharge initiated in helium-iodine and neon-iodine mixtures are reported. The discharge plasma emits at wavelengths of 183.0 and 206.2 nm, which correspond to iodine atom spectral lines. The capacitive discharge is initiated in a cylindrical quartz tube with an electrode distance of 10 cm. The discharge radiation is optimized in exciting pulse repetition rate and helium and neon pressures in He(Ne)-I₂ mixtures. The optimal pressures of helium, neon, and iodine vapor fall into the ranges 0.8–2.0 kPa, 0.5–1.0 Pa, and ≤60 Pa, respectively.     

Synthesis of nanoparticles in an atmospheric pressure glow discharge

Nanopowders are produced in a low temperature, non-equilibrium plasma jet (APPJ), which produces a glow discharge at atmospheric pressure, for the first time. Amorphous carbon and iron nanoparticles have been synthesized from Acetylene and Ferrocene/H₂, respectively. High generation rates are achieved from the glow discharge at near-ambient temperature (40–80°C), and rise with increasing plasma power and precursor concentration. Fairly narrow particle size distributions are measured with a differential mobility analyzer (DMA) and an aerosol electrometer (AEM), and are centered around 30–35 nm for carbon and 20–25 nm for iron. Particle characteristics analyzed by TEM and EDX reveal amorphous carbon and iron nanoparticles. The Fe particles are highly oxidized on exposure to air. Comparison of the mobility and micrograph diameters reveal that the particles are hardly agglomerated or unagglomerated. This is ascribed to the unipolar charge on particles in the plasma. The generated particle distributions are examined as a function of process parameters.     

Proton and light-ion acceleration to relativistic GeV energies by the superstrong laser radiation interacting with a structured plasma target

A new scheme is proposed for proton and light-ion acceleration to relativistic energies by superstrong laser radiation interacting with a structured plasma target. The proposal consists in the use of two-component targets consisting of heavy and light ions, where an ambipolar field is formed under the action of the ponderomotive force of incident radiation, and, in contrast to the traditional schemes, acceleration starts from the front boundary of the layer. It is shown that, for the optimized target parameters, monoenergetic GeV ion beams can be produced for radiation pulse intensities on the order of 10²¹−10²² W/cm². Original Russian Text ? A.V. Korzhimanov, A.A. Gonoskov, A.V. Kim, A.M. Sergeev, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 9, pp. 662–669.     

Kinetics of the growth of domain blocks in KDP-type ferroelectric crystals

The process of the domain-block structure formation at the ferroelectric phase transition in KDP-type crystals is investigated. An effective Hamiltonian of the system is constructed; the growth of domain blocks in the vicinity of the Curie point is numerically simulated using the Monte Carlo method, and the temperature interval of the domain block growth is determined. It is shown that the asymptotic dependence of the mean block size on time has the form R(t) ∼ √t/lnt. In the framework of an equivalent mathematical model combining the Ising and Kosterlitz-Thouless two-dimensional models, a kinetic equation that approximately describes the evolution of the domain-block size distribution function is derived. Original Russian Text ? P.A. Prudkovskiĭ, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 10, pp. 741–745.     

On the simultaneous measurement of the energy and arrival time of a photon

The simultaneous measurement of the energy and arrival time of a single-photon packet, as well as the experimental implementation of such a measurement with the use of a parametric transformation upward in the energy (up conversion), is proposed. Original Russian Text ? S.N. Molotkov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 12, pp. 901–906.     

Preparation of magnetic nanoparticles by pulsed plasma chemical vapor synthesis

FePt nanoparticle is expected as a candidate for the magnetic material of the high density recording media. We attempted to synthesize FePt alloy nanoparticles using 13.56 MHz glow discharge plasma with the pulse operation of a square-wave on/off cycle of plasma discharge to control the size of nanoparticles. Vapors of metal organics, Biscyclopentadienyl iron (ferrocene) for Fe and (Methylcyclopentadienyl) trimethyl platinum for Pt, were introduced into the capacitively coupled flow-through plasma chamber, which consisted of shower head RF electrode and grounded mesh electrode. Synthesis experiments were conducted at room temperature under the conditions of pressure 0.27 Pa, source gas concentration 0.005 Pa, gas residence time 0.5 s and plasma powers 60 watts. Pulse width for plasma duration was chosen from 0.5 to 30 s and plasma off period was 4 s to each pulse operation. Visual observations during the particle growth showed plasma emission in the bulk region was increased with the particle growth. These were theoretically explained by using the model for both transient particle charging in the plasma and single particle behavior in the stationary plasma as well as assuming the similarity between the negative charged particle and negative gas containing plasma. Synthesized nanoparticles were directly collected onto TEM grid, which was placed just below the grounded mesh electrode in the plasma reactor downstream. TEM pictures showed two kinds of particles in size, one of which was nanometer size and isolated with crystal structures and the other appeared agglomerate of nanometer size particles. The size of agglomerated particle was controlled in the 10–120 nm range by varying the plasma-on time from 0.5 to 30 s, although the nanometer size particles did not change. The composition of FePt alloy particles could be altered by adjusting the source gas feed ratio. Also magnetization of FePt nanoparticles was measured by use of SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device) magnetometry measurements. As-synthesized FePt nanoparticles did not exhibit loop-shape characteristic, which indicated superpamagnetic property. Annealed nanoparticles with the composition of Fe₅₈Pt₄₂ at 650°C in atmospheric hydrogen showed clear hysterisis loop with the coercivity as large as 10 KOe.     

Analytic model of nanoparticle formation and growth in a SiH<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Ar plasma

A kinetic model of formation and growth of nanoparticles in a low-pressure plasma-chemical reactor with an rf capacitive discharge in a SiH₄-Ar mixture is presented. Analytic formulas are derived for calculating the concentration of monomers, as well as the concentration and average size of nanoparticles. The results are compared with the results of numerical calculations and experimental data for nanoparticles in a SiH₄-Ar plasma.     

Diagnostics of the atmospheric-pressure plasma parameters using the method of near-field microwave sounding

A method of resonant near-field microwave probing is developed for contactless diagnostics of a high-pressure plasma. The efficiency of this method in measuring the parameters of the plasma of an rf capacitive discharge in argon under atmospheric pressure is demonstrated. The experimental results are compared with the data obtained using the independent method, the microwave radiation “cutoff,” and with theoretical estimates.     

Order-disorder phase transition in CoPd thin films

The thin films of a CoPd alloy in the equiatomic composition region are prepared by condensation at different substrate temperatures. The substrate temperature is varied from the liquid nitrogen temperature to +280°C. At low substrate temperatures, the crystal structure of the condensed films is the single-crystal blocks of the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase. As the substrate temperature is further increased, the domains characterized in the initial state by the microdiffraction patterns in the form of a diffuse halo appear in the films, and these domains have a clear-cut boundary with the regions indicated by point reflections in the electron diffraction patterns. At substrate temperatures from +150 to 160°C, the CoPd alloy films in the equiatomic composition region are fully amorphous. The given state is a polymorphic transformation of the martensitic type. It arises in the martensitic transformation of the low-temperature hcp phase to the high-temperature fcc phase. Original Russian Text ? E.M. Artem’ev, M.E. Artem’ev, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 11, pp. 838–840.     

Magnetorotational instability in a nonuniform magnetic field

It is shown that the characteristics of the magnetorotational instability noticeably change in the presence of the inhomogeneity of a magnetic field in which rotation occurs. A decrease in the magnetic field with an increase in the distance from the rotation center, which is typical for astrophysical objects, can lead to a significant decrease in the threshold velocity of the object medium rotation, as well as to mitigation of the requirements on a rotation velocity profile that are necessary for the development of instability. Other examples that demonstrate the indicated effects are given. Original Russian Text ? V.I. Ilgisonis, I.V. Khalzov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 11, pp. 815–818.     

Formation of a high-current discharge plasma in metal vapor

A method of converting the energy of a capacitive store into the energy of a high-current gas discharge in aluminum vapor is investigated. The spatial and temporal characteristics of the gas-discharge plasma are studied. The electron temperature, density of charged particles, and conductivity of the plasma are determined. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 134–137 (November 1999)     

On the instability of a homogeneous state of a weakly interacting Bose gas under external cooling

The behavior of a weakly interacting Bose gas with a finite particle lifetime has been studied in the framework of hydrodynamic equations under the conditions of a constant mass and energy inflow in the presence of external cooling. A spatially homogeneous state of such a gas is shown to be unstable with respect to the formation of an inhomogeneous density structure. A possible connection of the present results with experiments [3, 4] is discussed. Original Russian Text ? R.B. Saptsov, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal éksperimental’noĭ i Teoreticheskoĭ Fiziki, 2007, Vol. 86, No. 10, pp. 779–784.     

A Method of Separation of Polydisperse Particles in the Plasma of Radio‐Frequency Discharge

A method of separation of polydisperse dust particles in the plasma of radio‐frequency (RF) capacitive discharge is considered. Investigations of plasma equipotential field enabled us to determine conditions for separation of polydisperse dust particles. The simplicity of the technology made it possible to obtain small dispersed particles of different materials. Samples of small dispersed microparticles of silica and alumina were obtained. The size and chemical composition of samples were examined using a Quanta 3D 200i scanning electron microscope (SEM, FEI, USA). The average size of separated silica nanoparticles was 600 nm, that of silica and alumina microparticles was 5 μm. Two separation methods were developed: the first one used a special trap and shape of the bottom electrode of RF discharge (for separation of microparticles) and the second used an electrical trap (for separation of nanoparticles). The graphs of particle size distribution were constructed using graphical and mathematical calculations. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)