Synthesis, thermal treatment and characterization of cobalt ferrite-based nanocomposites

We have used time-differential perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy with ¹⁸¹Ta-probes to study the electric field gradient at Zr-sites in synthetic zircon and hafnon between room temperature and 1,200°C. PAC spectra are similar to those obtained from naturally occurring zircons. In particular, a change in slope of the quadrupole coupling vs. temperature is observed in the synthetic zircon at the same temperature as seen in natural zircons from the Mud Tank carbonatite (Australia). The synthetic hafnon data also shows this feature but at somewhat higher temperature. Low-temperature PAC spectra of both synthetic zircon and hafnon have a clearly reduced anisotropy. We believe that the cause for this is a electronic defect, possibly created during the β-decay of the probe parent nucleus.     

Mathematical models of innovation diffusion with stage structure

Mathematical models with stage structures are proposed to describe the process of awareness, evaluation and decision-making. First, a system of ordinary differential equations is presented that incorporates the awareness stage and the decision-making stage. If the adoption rate is bilinear and imitations are dominant, we find a threshold above which innovation diffusion is successful. Further, if the adoption rate has a higher nonlinearity, it is shown that there exist bistable equilibria and a region such that an innovation diffusion is successful inside and is unsuccessful outside. Secondly, a model with a time delay is proposed that includes an evaluation stage of a product. It is proved that the system exhibits stability switches. The bifurcation direction of equilibria is also discussed.     

Some non-local problems for the parabolic-hyperbolic type equation with non-characteristic line of changing type

In this work two non-local problems for the parabolic-hyperbolic type equation with non-characteristic line of changing type are considered. Unique solvability of these problems is proven. The uniqueness of the solution is proven by the method of energy integrals and the existence is proven by the method of integral equations.     

Nano-electrochemical detection of hydrogen or protons using palladium nanoparticles: distinguishing surface and bulk hydrogen.

The benefits of using nanoparticle-modified electrodes are exemplified through the electrochemical detection of protons and/or hydrogen. It is shown that a palladium-nanoparticle-modified boron-doped diamond allows voltammetric information relating to the relative roles played by the surface and the bulk metal to be obtained for the proton-hydrogen system at palladium surfaces which is not accessible using palladium macroelectrodes or microelectrodes.     

Transport properties of polyphenylquinoxalines

The correlation between chemical structure and gas transport properties is considered for a new class of membrane materials based on structurally similar polyphenylquinoxalines that are characterized by different numbers of flexible-O-ether bonds in the repeating unit and different chain rigidities. Permeability, diffusion, and solubility coefficients have been estimated for the gases H₂, He, O₂, N₂, CO, CO₂, and CH₄; separation factors for various gas pairs have been determined. For the materials with a similar level of cohesive energy density, which characterizes interchain interactions, permeability decreases with a decrease in chain rigidity, whereas selectivity of gas separation increases.     

Subthreshold ϕ-meson production and medium effects in proton-nucleus reactions

Within the spectral function approach, we study the direct production and decay via the dikaon (dimuon) channel of ϕ mesons in the interactions of 2.4-and 2.7-GeV protons with light and medium target nuclei. It is shown that the K ⁺ K ⁻ (μ⁺ μ⁻) invariant-mass distribution consists of the two components, which correspond to the ϕ decay “outside” and “inside” the target nucleus. The first (narrow) component has the free ϕ width, while the second (broad) component is distorted by the nuclear matter owing to resonance-nucleon scattering and a possible in-medium modification of the kaons and ρ meson at finite baryon density. The relative strength of the “inside” and “outside” components is analyzed in different scenarios for the ϕ width and momentum cut. It is demonstrated that the width of the resulting dimuon invariant-mass distribution on medium nuclei is larger than the free ϕ width by a factor of about 2 if the total ϕ in-medium width is used and the respective cutoff for the ϕ three-momentum is applied, whereas the resulting dikaon invariant-mass distribution has an insignificant sensitivity to the ϕ in-medium properties owing to the strong absorption of the K ⁻ in the surrounding nuclear matter. On the other hand, because of the distortion of the K ⁺ and K ⁻ on their way out of the target nucleus mainly due to the hadronic kaon potentials, the latter distribution is broadened and shifted to higher invariant masses, which means that the measurement of such broadening would give additional evidence for the modification of the kaon and antikaon properties in the nuclear medium. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Nonlinear-optical and micro-Raman diagnostics of thin films and nanostructures of ABO3 ferroelectrics

Ferroelectric composite two-dimensional ferroelectric/aluminum oxide nanostructures were studied. A porous aluminum oxide matrix was used as a template into which a ferroelectric precursor was introduced, followed by annealing. The prepared nanostructures were studied using optical second harmonic generation and micro-Raman scattering.     

Electric currents generated by space-charge waves in high-resistivity semiconductors

Currents in high-resistivity semiconductors arising due to the rectification of space-charge waves are theoretically studied. Attention is primarily focused on the situation where the effective trap concentration is low. It is shown that, in this case, the dispersion law of trap-recharging waves changes from the inverse proportionality to a linear law and the drift waves no longer exist. In crystals with bipolar conduction, there are two modes of trap-recharging waves with a linear dispersion law. The dc and ac currents are found for the first time as functions of the trap concentration, the mobility and lifetime of carriers, the wavenumber of space-charge waves, and the applied electric field.     

Metallic films forming on the surface of alkali-halide crystals during thermal diffusion of intracrystalline immpurities

It was detected for the first time that films consisting of a transition-metal-based structure form (via thermal diffusion of intracrystalline impurities) on the surface of alkali-halide (LiF, NaF) crystals activated by transition metals Co, Ni, or Mn. The thickness, density, and composition of the films are shown to be different, depending on the heat treatment conditions. The crystals were annealed at temperatures varying from 473 to 1073 K in vacuum and air. The surface structures forming upon annealing in vacuum exhibit magnetic properties. The films were studied by optical, x-ray fluorescence, and electron spectroscopy to reveal the mechanisms of transition-metal film formation during thermal annealing.     

On the quantization of solid body rotation

A general method for solving the problem of quantization of a top is proposed that allows for finding the Hamiltonian eigenfunctions in the form of polynomials of various degree n in the Cartesian coordinates with the use of the Lamé functions. All three coordinates x, y, and z are equivalently involved in computations, as well as their relations with ellipsoidal coordinates, which makes the computations symmetric.