Structural Analysis of Electroplated Amorphous-Nanocrystalline Ni-W

 Ductile nickel-tungsten (Ni-W) alloys containing about 20–21 at.%W were electroplated onto copper substrates. The development of the amorphous/nanocrystalline microstructure towards a complete crystallization by isochronal heat treatments in vacuum was monitored by different methods. For medium annealing temperatures a solid-solution of W in the fcc-Ni lattice was achieved resulting in an increased hardness. For temperatures of 600 °C and upward recrystallization started and thermodynamically stable intermetallic compounds like Ni₄W and NiW were formed. A third phase, containing more than 80 at.%W was also detected but could not be identified so far. Only by combination of different methods and especially by use of analytical TEM structural analysis and phase identification in these amorphous-nanocrystalline Ni-W alloys were successful.     

On the analysis of intermediate–energy Coulomb excitation experiments

In a recent publication [C.A. Bertulani, G. Cardella, M. De Napoli, G. Raciti, E. Rapisarda, Phys. Lett. B 650 (2007) 233] the validity of analysis methods used for intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation experiments was called into question. Applying a refined theory large corrections of results in the literature seemed needed. We show that this is not the case and that the large deviations observed in above mentioned reference are due to the use of the wrong experimental parameters in that publication. We furthermore show that an approximate expression derived in above mentioned reference is in fact equivalent to the theory of Winther and Alder, an analysis method often used in the literature.     

Instanton solution in tachyon cosmology

We find an exact classical solution in Euclidean gravity coupled to a scalar field with a particular form of potential commonly used in tachyon cosmology. This solution represents a tunneling between two vacua.     

Experimental evaluation of the pressure and temperature dependence of ion-induced nucleation

An experimental system for the study of ion-induced nucleation in a SO(2)/H(2)O/N(2) gas mixture was developed, employing a soft x-ray at different pressure and temperature levels. The difficulties associated with these experiments included the changes in physical properties of the gas mixture when temperature and pressure were varied. Changes in the relative humidity (RH) as a function of pressure and temperature also had a significant effect on the different behaviors of the mobility distributions of particles. In order to accomplish reliable measurement and minimize uncertainties, an integrated on-line control system was utilized. As the pressure decreased in a range of 500-980 hPa, the peak concentration of both ions and nanometer-sized particles decreased, which suggests that higher pressure tended to enhance the growth of particles nucleated by ion-induced nucleation. Moreover, the modal diameters of the measured particle size distributions showed a systematic shift to larger sizes with increasing pressure. However, in the temperature range of 5-20 °C, temperature increases had no significant effects on the mobility distribution of particles. The effects of residence time, RH (7%-70%), and SO(2) concentration (0.08-6.7 ppm) on ion-induced nucleation were also systematically investigated. The results show that the nucleation and growth were significantly dependent on the residence time, RH, and SO(2) concentration, which is in agreement with both a previous model and previous observations. This research will be inevitable for a better understanding of the role of ions in an atmospheric nucleation mechanism.     

Biradical character of linear π-conjugated oligomer dications composed of thiophene, pyrrole, and methylthio end-capping units

Combined DFT calculations and UV-vis-NIR, ESR, and SQUID measurements revealed that the ground-state electronic structure of a linear π-conjugated oligomer dication composed of two pyrrole and six or seven thiophene rings and methylthio end-capping units is dominated by a singlet biradical character.     

Test compounds for detecting the silanol effect on the elution of ionized amines in reversed‐phase LC

The effectiveness of several basic compounds for testing silica‐based stationary phases was reviewed by applying them to recent columns for reversed‐phase HPLC. Most octadecylsilylated (C18) stationary phases, prepared as a base‐deactivated material from high‐purity silica gel with endcapping, provided excellent peak shape and column efficiency for the bases including benzylamine and amitriptyline that once caused problems and were subsequently employed for testing silanol activities. However, a cyclic tertiary amine, dextrometorphan, was eluted as an acceptable peak from only a few columns at neutral pH. Such a more sensitive probe is expected to contribute to further improvement of the stationary phase for reversed‐phase HPLC.     

Thin films of peroxopolytungstic acids: applications to optical waveguide components

Thin films of peroxohetero(carbon)polytungstic acid (CW-HPA) and carbon-free isopolytungstic acid (W-IPA) were prepared, and examined in terms of optical and etching properties. Thermal decomposition was found to give good results in removing excess hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) during the preparation of CW-HPA and W-IPA. It was shown for the first time that thin films of CW-HPA and W-IPA have very high refractive indices (larger than 2.0) when sufficiently dried. Optical waveguide (OWG) characteristics of these films were examined using a slab-type OWG structure and ARROW (Antiresonance Reflection Optical Waveguide)-type structures. An embossing technique was applied to make diffractional grating couplers.