Analytical method for parameterizing the random profile components of nanosurfaces imaged by atomic force microscopy

The functional properties of many technological surfaces in biotechnology, electronics, and mechanical engineering depend to a large degree on the individual features of their nanoscale surface texture, which in turn is a function of the surface manufacturing process. Among these features, the surface irregularities and self-similarity structures at different spatial scales, especially in the range of 1 to 100 nm, are of high importance because they greatly affect the surface interaction forces acting at a nanoscale distance. An analytical method for parameterizing the surface irregularities and their correlations in nanosurfaces imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) is proposed. In this method, flicker noise spectroscopy--a statistical physics approach--is used to develop six nanometrological parameters characterizing the high-frequency contributions of jump- and spike-like irregularities into the surface texture. These contributions reflect the stochastic processes of anomalous diffusion and inertial effects, respectively, in the process of surface manufacturing. The AFM images of the texture of corrosion-resistant magnetite coatings formed on low-carbon steel in hot nitrate solutions with coating growth promoters at different temperatures are analyzed. It is shown that the parameters characterizing surface spikiness are able to quantify the effect of process temperature on the corrosion resistance of the coatings. It is suggested that these parameters can be used for predicting and characterizing the corrosion-resistant properties of magnetite coatings.     

Efficient light-driven carbon-free cobalt-based molecular catalyst for water oxidation

The abundant-metal-based polyoxometalate complex [Co(4)(H(2)O)(2)(PW(9)O(34))(2)](10-) is a hydrolytically and oxidatively stable, homogeneous, and efficient molecular catalyst for the visible-light-driven catalytic oxidation of water. Using a sacrificial electron acceptor and photosensitizer, it exhibits a high (30%) photon-to-O(2) yield and a large turnover number (>220, limited solely by depletion of the sacrificial electron acceptor) at pH 8. The photocatalytic performance of this catalyst is superior to that of the previously reported precious-metal-based polyoxometalate water oxidation catalyst [{Ru(4)O(4)(OH)(2)(H(2)O)(4)}(γ-SiW(10)O(36))(2)](10-).     

Drift of excitons in an inhomogeneous electric field in silicon at 4.2K

The results are presented of the experimental detection and investigation of the phenomenon of the drift of excitons in an inhomogeneous electric field. The investigations were performed on silicon structures with Shottky barriers at 4.2 K. A study was made of the influence of the photoexcitation intensity and electric field strength on the breakdown dynamics of the structure. The experimental results were used to show that breakdown of a reverse-biased Shottky barrier involves a narrowing of the width of the space-charge region due to a drift of excitons in the inhomogeneous electric field and to recombination of electrons on ionized impurity centers of the barrier. Kh. I. Amirkhanov Physics Institute, Dagestan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 67–69, May, 1997.     

Theoretical study of structure and stability of ion-molecule clusters of the type Be2+(H2)n (n=1–6)

Institute of New Chemical Problems, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 8–16, March–April, 1990.