Self-organized ZnAl2O4 nanostructures grown on -sapphire

Self-organized ZnAl₂O₄ nanostructures with the appearance (in SEM) of high aspect ratio horizontal nanowires are grown on uncatalysed c-sapphire by vapour phase transport. The nanostructures grow as three equivalent crystallographic variants on c-sapphire. Raman and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy confirm that the nanostructures are not ZnO and TEM shows that they are the cubic spinel, zinc aluminate, ZnAl₂O₄, formed by the reaction of Zn and O with the sapphire substrate.     

Angle-resolved thermal desorption of atoms from solid surfaces: one-phonon mechanism

A model for one-phonon thermal desorption is presented in which the structure of the substrate phonons, expressed as a projection on a surface atom of the phonon density of states, appears as a separate factor in the angle- and energy-resolved desorption rate. Desorption from both localized, and delocalized initioladatom states is considered. Under certain circumstances one can obtain the cosine-distribution of the equilibrium theory, but in general, the desorption flux from delocalized states deviates from the cosine law by being peaked away from the surface normal, whereas for localized initiol states, the flux is concentrated more in the normal direction.     

Amending cultures of selenium-resistant bacteria with dimethyl selenone

A possible biological intermediate in the reduction and methylation of selenium oxyanions, dimethyl selenone, was synthesized, and the first experiments involving the amendment of selenium resistant bacterial cultures with this compound are reported. The amount of volatile, reduced selenium-containing species released from these cultures into the headspace is significantly more than that produced in analogous experiments involving sodium selenate amended cultures. Dimethyl selenone is reduced in the presence of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in a complex growth medium, trypticase soy broth with 0.1% nitrate. This reduction occurs whether or not the reduced sulfur compounds are biologically produced.