Optical properties of in situ doped and undoped titania nanocatalysts and doped titania sol-gel nanofilms

In this paper we present spectroscopic properties of doped and undoped titanium dioxide (TiO₂) as nanofilms prepared by the sol-gel process with rhodamine 6G doping and studied by photoacoustic absorption, excitation and emission spectroscopy. The absorption spectra of TiO₂ thin films doped with rhodamine 6G at very low concentration during their preparation show two absorption bands, one at 2.3 eV attributed to molecular dimmer formation, which is responsible for the fluorescence quenching of the sample and the other at 3.0 eV attributed to TiO₂ absorption, which subsequently yields a strong emission band at 600 nm. The electronic band structure and optical properties of the rutile phase of TiO₂ are calculated employing a fully relativistic, full-potential, linearized, augmented plane-wave (FPLAPW) method within the local density approximation (LDA). Comparison of this calculation with experimental data for TiO₂ films prepared for undoped sol-gels and by sputtering is performed.     

Dirac constraint analysis and symplectic structure of anti-self-dual Yang-Mills equations

We present the explicit form of the symplectic structure of anti-self-dual Yang-Mills (ASDYM) equations in Yang’s J- and K-gauges in order to establish the bi-Hamiltonian structure of this completely integrable system. Dirac’s theory of constraints is applied to the degenerate Lagrangians that yield the ASDYM equations. The constraints are second class as in the case of all completely integrable systems which stands in sharp contrast to the situation in full Yang-Mills theory. We construct the Dirac brackets and the symplectic 2-forms for both J- and K-gauges. The covariant symplectic structure of ASDYM equations is obtained using the Witten-Zuckerman formalism. We show that the appropriate component of the Witten-Zuckerman closed and conserved 2-form vector density reduces to the symplectic 2-form obtained from Dirac’s theory. Finally, we present the Bäcklund transformation between the J- and K-gauges in order to apply Magri’s theorem to the respective two Hamiltonian structures.     

Magnetic,electrical transport and electron spin resonance studies of ferromagnetic insulating manganites Nd0.85Na0.15MnO3

We have investigated the magnetic, electrical transport and electron spin resonance (ESR) properties of polycrystalline Nd_0.85Na_0.15MnO₃ prepared by sol–gel method. A ferromagnetic–paramagnetic (FM–PM) transition is observed around 110 K, which is not accompanied by a metal–insulator transition. The sample displays the complete PM state associated with the ESR spectra fitted by single Lorentzian line shape above 130 K. Below 130 K, ESR spectra become distorted and then linewidth increases rapidly, where short-range magnetic order develops and coexists with PM phase due to the inhomogeneous magnetic state. In addition, the large difference between the activation energies obtained from the resistivity and ESR parameters (peak-to-peak linewidth and line intensity) at the frame of adiabatic small polaron hopping model is pointed out for Nd_0.85Na_0.15MnO₃.     

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic liquid crystal fibers

Tunable properties of light propagation in photonic crystal fibers filled with liquid crystals, called photonic liquid crystal fibers (PLCFs) are presented. The propagation properties of PLCFs strongly depend on contrast between refractive indices of the solid core (pure silica glass) and liquid crystals (LCs) filing the holes of the fiber. Due to relatively strong thermo-optical effect, we can change the refractive index of the LC by changing its temperature. Numerical analysis of light propagation in PLCF, based on two simulation methods, such as finite difference (FD) and multipole method (MM) is presented. The numerical results obtained are in good agreement with our earlier experimental results presented elsewhere [1].     

Experimental study of convection in a model Czochralski crucible using liquid crystal thermography

Steady state temperature distribution in a model Czochralski crucible has been mapped by liquid crystal thermography (LCT). The crucible is a water-filled glass beaker. Water is used as the test fluid because of ease of experimentation, as well as the availability of correct thermo-physical properties. In addition, the Prandtl number of water matches those of molten oxides. A copper cylinder whose diameter is smaller than that of the beaker is placed centrally at the water surface. Convection patterns are set up by applying constant temperature difference between the crucible wall and the cylinder surface, in the temperature range of the liquid crystals. The cylinder is given a fixed rotation, thus creating mixed convection conditions in the test fluid. The LCT images recorded in the present study clearly reveal convective rolls, and the interaction of buoyancy-driven convection in the crucible with cylinder rotation. The resulting temperature distributions match numerical simulation quite well. The pure buoyancy and pure rotation experiments result in axisymmetric temperature fields, while in mixed convection, the field is unsteady and three dimensional.     

Laser-induced site-selective silver seeding on polyimide for electroless copper plating

Ag particles were generated on Ag⁺-doped polyimide film by laser direct writing, followed by selective copper deposition using the metallic silver particles as seeds. Laser irradiation caused in situ reduction and agglomeration of silver on the polyimide film. The copper lines were less uniform and compact with higher scanning velocity and the width of the deposited copper line could reach 25 μm. Equations of the relationship between scanning velocity and connectivity of the deposited copper patterns have been derived. The process was characterised by AFM, XPS, SEM, and semiconductor characterisation system.     

Growth and characterization of model oxide catalysts

Oxide catalysts are frequently used to convert toxic species to environmentally benign molecules, and to prevent the formation of toxic species in the first place. In this paper, growth and characterization of model oxide systems employed in both approaches is discussed. An example of the former approach is the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO emitted from power plants by NH₃, which employs tungsten and vanadium oxides supported on the anatase polymorph of TiO₂. To model SCR catalysts, epitaxial titanium, vanadium and tungsten oxide films were grown using molecular beam epitaxy and magnetron sputtering. Two different anatase orientations were grown on LaAlO₃ substrates and their interactions with vanadia were characterized. On LaAlO₃ (0 0 1), anatase exposed a (4 × 1) reconstructed (0 0 1) surface. Vanadia lifted the reconstruction and at 1 ML a (1 × 1) surface with mostly V⁵⁺ was observed. Continued V₂O₅ growth led to loss of order, but at high temperatures epitaxial VO₂ could be grown; vanadia behaved similarly on anatase films on LaAlO₃ (1 1 0). Results suggested that the monolayer is pseudomorphic with O adsorption oxidizing the surface V to 5+, since the anatase structure cannot accommodate more bulk oxygen, only a monolayer can be pseudomorphic and have only V⁵⁺. Thus the vanadia monolayer has unique structural and chemical properties that can help explain why vanadia monolayers on TiO₂ are much more active than bulk V₂O₅. For WO₃, a series of added row reconstructions were observed as the epitaxial films were reduced. The effect of these structures on surface chemistry was characterized by studying 1-propanol adsorption. The results indicated that the structure of the WO₃ surface did not alter its catalytic function but had a strong effect on reaction kinetics. As an example of a system where catalysts prevent the formation of toxic species, the reactivity of oxidized Pd surfaces used in CH₄ catalytic combustion were studied. An ordered PdO-like monolayer was found to be less reactive towards CO than adsorbed O on Pd. On the other hand, the PdO layer favored a lower activation energy C₃H₆ oxidation pathway. The results indicated that Pd oxidation reduces the sticking coefficient of reactive species but once molecules adsorb, the oxide surface can reduce the activation energy for subsequent reaction.     

On diquark clustering in quark—gluon plasma

The possibility that pairs of quarks will form diquark clusters in the regime above deconfinement transition for hadron matter at finite density is revisited. Here we present the results on the diquark-diquark (dq-dq) interaction in the framework of constituent quark model taking account of spin, isospin and color degrees of freedom in the spirit of generalized Pauli principle. By constructing the appropriate spin and color states of the dq-dq clusters we compute the expectation values of the interaction Hamiltonian involving pairwise quark—quark interaction. We find that the effective interaction between two diquark clusters is quite sensitive to different configurations characterized by color and spin states, obtained after the coupling of two diquark states. The value of the coupling parameter for a particular color—spin state, i.e., -3, 1 is compared to the one obtained earlier by Donoghue and Sateesh,Phys. Rev. D38, 360 (1988) based on the effective Φ⁴-theory. This new value of λ derived for different color-spin dq-dq states, may lead to several important implications in the studies of diquark star and diquark gas.