Effect of ZnO on phase emergence, microstructure and surface modifications of calcium phosphosilicate glass/glass-ceramics having iron oxide

The effect of ZnO on phase emergence and microstructure properties of glass and glass-ceramics with composition 25SiO₂-50CaO-15P₂O₅-(10 − x)Fe₂O₃-xZnO (where x = 0, 2, 5, 7 mol%) has been studied. They have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface modifications of these glass-ceramics in simulated body fluid have been studied using Fourier transform infrared reflection spectroscopy (FTIR), XPS and SEM. Results have shown a decrease in the fraction of non-bridging oxygen with increase in zinc oxide content. Emergence of crystalline phases in glass-ceramics at different heat treatment temperatures was studied using XRD. When glass is heat treated at 800 °C calcium phosphate, hematite and magnetite are developed as major phases in the glass-ceramics samples with ZnO up to 5 mol%. In addition to these, calcium silicate (Ca₃Si₂O₇) phase is also observed when glass is heat treated at 1000 °C. The microstructure of the glass-ceramics heat treated at 800 °C exhibits the formation of nano-size (40-50 nm) grains. On heat treatment at 1000 °C crystallites grow to above 50 nm size and more than one phase are observed in the microstructure. The formation of thin flake-like structure with coarse particles is observed at high zinc oxide concentration (x = 7 mol%). In vitro studies have shown the surface modifications and formation of Ca-P-rich layer on the glass-ceramics when immersed in simulated body fluids (SBF) for different durations. The bioactive response was found to depend on ZnO content.     

WDM-OTDM based spectral efficient hybrid multiplexing technique inherent with properties of bandwidth elasticity and scalability

In this paper a hybrid multiplexing technique has been presented that merges WDM and OTDM multiplexing technologies. The WDM-OTDM hybrid realizes wavelength parallel bus architecture and is inherent with features of high spectral efficiency, high scalability and bandwidth elasticity. Simulations and experiments were carried out to investigate the selection of most suitable modulation format, dispersion compensation technique and erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) noise figure for WDM-OTDM hybrid, where link lengths exceeding 500 km at high Q-values was achieved.     

Effect of Y3+ substitution on the structural,dielectric, and electrical properties of nanosized ZnAl 2 O 4 spinel

In the present work, we have studied the structural, dielectric, and electrical properties of a series of nanosized $\mathrm{ZnAl}_{2-2x}\mathrm{Y}_{2x}\mathrm{O}_{4}$ ( $x = 0.00$ , 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.10) system prepared by chemical coprecipitation method. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) was carried out to study the influence of $\mathrm{Y}^{3+}$ substitution on the crystal structure of these samples. High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) images reveal the nanocrystalline nature of the samples. The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the preference of $\mathrm{Y}^{3+}$ ions at the octahedral B site. The variation of dielectric constant and loss tangent (1 kHz to 1 MHz) at room temperature for all the samples show the normal behavior of spinel compounds. AC conductivity study reveals that the conduction is due to small polaron hopping. The electrical modulus analysis shows that nanocrystalline $\mathrm{ZnAl}_{2-2x}\mathrm{Y}_{2x}\mathrm{O}_{4}$ system exhibits non-Debye-type relaxation. The DC electrical resistivity measured in the temperature range 303–373 K was found to increase with temperature and yttrium content.     

Measurement of στ product of solid state laser materials by an alternative method: Application to Nd3+ doped YVO4 crystal for 4 F 3/2→4 I 11/2 transition

In this paper an alternative approach for measurement of στ product for ⁴ F _3/2→⁴ I _11/2 transition of Nd³⁺ doped YVO₄ crystal is reported. In this method a microchip laser is formed by keeping a small piece of the sample in plane-plane resonator and a diode laser (808 nm) is used for pumping. The pump power induced thermal lensing effect is used to make the cavity stable. The cavity mode area is estimated by measuring the thermal lens focal length at the threshold and the average pump area is measured by Gaussian fit to the intensity profiles of the pump beam. The value of στ product of Nd:YVO₄ crystal obtained by this method is within 10% of the reported values. The advantage of this method is that it is a simple method for direct measurement of στ product of laser crystals.     

Direct observation of large electronic domains with memory effect in doped manganites

We use a spatially resolved, direct spectroscopic probe for electronic structure with an additional sensitivity to chemical compositions to investigate high-quality single crystal samples of La(1/4)Pr(3/8)Ca(3/8)MnO3, establishing the formation of distinct insulating domains embedded in the metallic host at low temperatures. These domains are found to be at least an order of magnitude larger in size compared to previous estimates and exhibit memory effects on temperature cycling in the absence of any perceptible chemical inhomogeneity, suggesting long-range strains as the probable origin.     

Size dependent structural and magnetic behaviour of CaFe2O4

CaFe₂O₄ nanocrystalline powders were synthesized through sol–gel treatment in which the stoichiometric mixing of various nitrates involving calcium and iron in presence of citric acid was performed. Subsequently, the as prepared sample was annealed at various temperatures in order to obtain the fine distribution of size including the bulk counterpart. The samples were then characterized using powder X-ray diffraction followed by ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, SQUID as well as vibrating sample magnetometry. The results of spectroanalyses revealed that the samples were formed in single phase cubic spinel structure and exhibits room temperature superparamagnetism, except the bulk one, which crystallizes in characteristic orthorhombic structure of CaFe₂O₄ and displays trivial coercivity and remanent magnetization at room temperature.     

Polymer–ion–clay interaction based model for ion conduction in intercalation-type polymer nanocomposite

A series of polymer nanocomposite films based on intercalation of (PAN)₈LiCF₃SO₃ into the nanometric clay channels of an organomodified clay has been prepared using the standard solution-casting technique. The role of organoclay concentration on polymer–ion interaction, ion–ion interaction, and ion–clay interaction in clay-based nanocomposite films has been analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. Substantial ion dissociation is observed even at a very low clay loading (1–2 wt.%) in the nanocomposites. FTIR results suggest the presence of both uncoordinated CF₃SO₃ ⁻ (free-anions) and ion pairs in the nanocomposite evidenced by changes in CF₃SO₃ ⁻ symmetry from C3ν to Cs and marked asymmetry in the profile of degenerate δ_d(CF₃ ⁻) mode. The experimental results suggest a direct correlation of clay-assisted ion dissociation process with variation in conductivity (σ _dc) and glass transition temperature (T _g) as a function of clay concentration. A model has been proposed to explain the observed correlation on the basis of polymer–ion–clay interaction. The proposed scheme of ion transport mechanism appears to be consistent with the experimental observation.     

Bianchi Type-V Magnetized String Cosmological Model with Variable Magnetic Permeability for Viscous Fluid distribution

We investigate the Bianchi type-V magnetized string cosmological model with variable magnetic permeability for viscous fluid distribution. The magnetic field is due to an electric current produced along the x-axis. Thus the magnetic field is in yz-plane and F23 is the only non-vanishing component of electromagnetic field tensor Fij. To obtain the deterministic model in terms of cosmic time t, we assume the condition ξθ const where ξ is the coefficient of bulk viscosity and θ the expansion in the model.