Elastic and inelastic processes in the interaction of 1–10 eV ions with solids: ion transport through surface layers

We review the escape depth of secondary ions (or neutrals) desorbing from solid surfaces under the impact of electrons, photons or ions. We survey ion (or neutral) transport through many materials, but most are wide band gap insulators such as rare-gas solids and molecular solids. We address the issue of low-energy (<10 eV) ion—solid interactions, and review experimental and theoretical studies that provide insight into the physical mechanisms of these interactions, such as elastic scattering, charge transfer and ion—molecule reactions. Although it is usually assumed that most of the secondary ions stem from the top surface layer, we show that this is not necessarily the case: In certain instances, 1–10 eV ions are able to transmit solid films which are several monolayers thick. The transport of low-energy ions through materials has very broad implications. We point out the importance of these results for electron or photon stimulated desorption (ESD/PSD), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and ion-sputtering of surfaces, and discuss their relevance to other fields, such as ion beam deposition (IBD), low-energy ion implantation, and electrochemistry.     

A note on a homology sphere

Here we give a solution to a problem of Y.Matsumoto which was posed in ``Kirby's problem list"

     

Electronitiated polymerization of maleic anhydride by direct electron transfer

Controlled potential electrolysis was employed to accomplish homopolymerization of maleic anhydride, by direct electron transfer. The solvent used in the polymerization studies was acetonitrile–dimethylformamide mixture (1 : 1) with the supporting electrolyte tetrabutylammonium tetra fluroborate, A brown paramagnetic polymer was obtained from the catholyte, upon electroreduction of monomer.     

Electroinitiated polymerization of butadiene sulfone

Electroinitiated polymerization of butadiene sulfone was achieved by direct electron transfer in acetonitrile—tetrabutylammonium fluoroborate system by controlled potential electrolysis technique. High conversions were obtained at reasonable temperatures and polymerization times. The polymer was found to be composed of linear segments along with some cyclic units. The effect of monomer concentration, temperature, and polymerization potential on the rate of polymerization was investigated. Temperature and polymerization potential have positive effects on the rate of polymerization. The effect of ultrasonic vibration was also investigated by conducting electrolyses at different monomer concentrations in the presence and absence of ultrasonic vibration. It was observed that the rate of polymerization increases significantly in the presence of ultrasonic vibration. The inverse relationship between the rate of polymerization and monomer concentration was observed in presence and absence of ultrasonic vibration.     

Isolation and identification of a new neo-clerodane diterpenoid from Teucrium chamaedrys L.

Teucrium chamaedrys L. is an aromatic and medicinal plant used as traditional medicine. Aerial parts of the plant material were dried and extracted with hexane–dichloromethane (extract 1), ethyl acetate–dichloromethane (extract 2) and methanol–dichloromethane (extract 3) in a ratio of 1:1 at rt successively. The solvents were evaporated to give crude extracts. Extract 1 was suspended in water at 60°C then partitioned successively with hexane and ethyl acetate to give hexane and ethyl acetate portions. After the column chromatography (silica gel) of ethyl acetate extract, one new and four known compounds were isolated. The new compound was named as 1(12S,18R)-15,16-epoxy-2β,6β-dihydroxy-neo-cleroda-13(16),14-dien-20,l2-olide-l8,l9-hemiacetal (teuchamaedryn D) (4). The known compounds were teucrin A (1), dihydroteugin (2), teucroxide (3), syspirensin A (5). The chromatographic methods were also applied for extract 3 to isolate verbascoside (6) and teucrioside (7). The structure of isolated compounds was elucidated by spectroscopic methods including LC-TOF/MS, 1D NMR and 2D NMR.     

Frictional properties of surfactant-coated rod-shaped nanoparticles in dry and humid dodecane

We have investigated the effects of humidity (water content or activity from 0 to approximately 0.98) on the frictional properties of surfactant-coated ZnS nanoparticles of various shapes, specifically, nanorods and nanowires, dispersed in an organic solvent (dodecane). The friction coefficients were found to be sensitive to even trace amounts of water, increasing logarithmically with time after the systems were exposed to humid air, doubling after 2-4 h of exposure time to air of relative humidity approximately 98%. We also show that increasing the humidity caused noticeable effects on the interactions of the nanoparticles, increasing their adhesion and aggregation through capillary forces. These effects should be considered in the design of organic solvents containing nanoparticles with physisorbed surfactants, for example, lube oils with nanoparticles additives, particularly those exposed to atmospheric conditions.     

Photochemical reactions of M(CO)5THF (M = Cr, Mo, W) with thio Schiff bases

The hitherto unknown complexes, [M₂(CO)₆(μ-CO)(μ-L)], [M = Cr; 1, Mo; 2, W; 3] and [M₂(CO)₆(μ-CO)(μ-L′)], [M = Cr; 4, Mo; 5, W; 6] have been synthesized by the photochemical reactions of photogenerated intermediate, M(CO)₅THF (M = Cr, Mo, W) with thio Schiff base ligands, N,N′-bis(2-aminothiophenol)-1,4-bis(2-carboxaldehydephenoxy)butane (H ₂ L) and N,N′-bis(2-aminothiophenol)-1,7-bis(2-formylphenyl)-1,4,7-trioxaheptane (H ₂ L′). The complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, LC-mass spectrometry, magnetic studies, FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The spectroscopic studies show that H ₂ L and H ₂ L′ ligands are converted to benzothiazole derivatives, L and L′ after UV irradiation and coordinated to the central metal as bridging ligands via the central azomethine nitrogen and sulphur atoms in 1–6.     

Wideband all-order polarization mode dispersion compensation via pulse shaping

We demonstrate the application of ultrafast pulse-shaping techniques for experimental wideband all-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensation, for the first time to our knowledge. PMD is treated as arbitrary variations of state of polarization and phase versus wavelength, in an all-order sense. Consequently, two pulse shapers are implemented in a serial manner to compensate for the polarization and the phase spectra independently. We report compensation of subpicosecond pulses (14 nm bandwidth around 1550 nm) that are anomalously spread to more than 2 ps as a result of PMD. This PMD compensation scheme can potentially be a powerful and cost-effective solution for fiber optic telecommunication networks.