Analysis of the imperfection of opal-like photonic crystals synthesized on conducting substrates

The type and degree of imperfection for opal-like photonic crystals on conducting substrates have been investigated using synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering with a microradian resolution. It has been demonstrated that self-assembly of poly(styrene) spheres by the vertical deposition method leads to the formation of a face-centered cubic structure on a mica/Au substrate and a random hexagonal close packing on a glass substrate with the In₂O₃(SnO₂) conducting coating.     

Polarization singularities in partially coherent combined beams

Vector singularities are predicted and discovered experimentally in partially polarized combined fields formed by incoherent superposition of orthogonally polarized beams. Such singularities are U contours with zero degree of polarization and isolated P points with unit degree of polarization centered at vortices of the orthogonally polarized component of the combined beam. Crossing a U contour switches the polarization state to the orthogonal one. The above-mentioned singularities are adequately described in terms of the complex degree of polarization in the Stokes-space representation. It is shown that the field elements corresponding to the extrema of the complex degree of polarization form the vector skeleton of a partially coherent nonuniformly polarized field.     

An <Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> cell for investigation of the catalyst structure using synchrotron radiation

Design of a cell for in situ characterization of heterogeneous catalysts by X-ray absorption spectroscopy EXAFS/XANES and X-ray diffraction on synchrotron radiation at high temperatures in a controllable gas medium, which was implemented at the Structural Materials Science end-station installed at KCSRNT, is presented. First results on nanostructural evolution of Pt/γ-Al₂O₃, Pd/γ-Al₂O₃ and other catalysts during various treatments — oxidation in oxygen, reduction in H₂/N₂, and annealing in vacuum — are reported.     

Growth of single crystals of B28 at high pressures and high temperatures

A method of the high-pressure high-temperature synthesis of single crystals of orthorhombic high-pressure boron B₂₈ from metal solutions is presented. The method is based on the high-pressure multi-anvil technique. The feasibility of single-crystal growth was demonstrated in a number of experiments conducted at various pressure–temperature conditions with various precursors including β-boron of 99.99% purity and various metals (Cu, Au, and Pt) used as fluxes and capsule materials. It was found that after dissolution in metals at high pressures and high temperatures, boron crystallizes in the form of single crystals at low temperature. The process is accompanied by chemical reactions resulting in the formation of borides. The maximum length of the B₂₈ crystals achieved is ∼100 μm.     

On a method for detection of subsurface objects from ultrabroadband GPR data

An approach is presented, which allows determination of size and shape of subsurface low-contrast objects from their dielectric properties and location of people and things present inside the buildings from the echo ultrabroadband electromagnetic signals. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 94–99, November, 2008.     

A Room-Temperature Verwey-type Transition in Iron Oxide,Fe5O6

Functional oxides whose physicochemical properties may be reversibly changed at standard conditions are potential candidates for the use in next-generation nanoelectronic devices. To date, vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is the only known simple transition-metal oxide that demonstrates a near-room-temperature metal–insulator transition that may be used in such appliances. In this work, we synthesized and investigated the crystals of a novel mixed-valent iron oxide with an unconventional Fe₅O₆ stoichiometry. Near 275 K, Fe₅O₆ undergoes a Verwey-type charge-ordering transition that is concurrent with a dimerization in the iron chains and a following formation of new Fe−Fe chemical bonds. This unique feature highlights Fe₅O₆ as a promising candidate for the use in innovative applications. We established that the minimal Fe−Fe distance in the octahedral chains is a key parameter that determines the type and temperature of charge ordering. This model provides new insights into charge-ordering phenomena in transition-metal oxides in general.     

Revisiting van der Waals Radii: From Comprehensive Structural Analysis to Knowledge-Based Classification of Interatomic Contacts

Weak noncovalent interactions are responsible for structure and properties of almost all supramolecular systems, such as nucleic acids, enzymes, and pharmaceutical crystals. However, the analysis of their significance and structural role is not straightforward and commonly requires model studies. Herein, we describe an efficient and universal approach for the analysis of noncovalent interactions and determination of van der Waals radii using the line-of-sight (LoS) concept. The LoS allows to unambiguously identify and classify the “direct” interatomic contacts in complex molecular systems. This approach not only provides an improved theoretical base to molecular “sizes” but also enables the quantitative analysis of specificity, anisotropy, and steric effects of intermolecular interactions.     

On the solution of boundary value problems of mechanics for the Poisson equation and related equations

To a boundary value problem, we assign an auxiliary problem of determining the spectrum of eigenfunctions and eigenvalues (EFV). After the main problem has been reduced to a form with homogeneous boundary conditions, it becomes possible to prove theorems about the formulas for the solution of the boundary value problem with linear equations of elliptic type for multidimensional multiply connected domains by using the spectral expansion in the Fourier series. We find conditions under which the action of second-order differential operators on the obtained solutions in the Fourier series can be computed not only in the interior of the domain but also on its boundary. But if these conditions are not satisfied, then the series for second-order differential operators do not converge on the boundary. The proposed method for the expansion in the EFV can be used not only in plane but also in spatial problems if the domain of complicated shape can be represented as a combination of bounded domains with known EFV spectra. As one of the examples, we consider the problem of torsion of an elastic rod whose cross-section consists of a rectangle and a half-disk.