An aqueous route to organically functionalized silica diatom skeletons

Diatomaceous earth was functionalized by grafting organotrialkoxysilane precursors onto the surface of the porous silica cell walls of this biomineral. Vinyl- and mercapto-containing structures were prepared in aqueous media without disruption of the diatomic architecture. Successful grafting of the organic moieties was confirmed using solid state <sup>29</sup>Si MAS NMR spectroscopy, and the presence of the intact diatom framework by scanning electron microscopy. The sorption properties of mercaptopropyl-functionalized diatoms towards heavy metals was studied by measuring the accessibility and diffusion rates of mercury(II) species to the binding sites (-SH) by the means of electrochemical methods.     

Analytical formulas for complex permittivity of periodic composites. Estimation of gain and loss enhancement in active and passive composites

<b>ABSTRACT</b></p> The asymptotic homogenization method is applied to complex dielectric periodic composites. An equivalence to coupled dielectric problems with real coefficients is shown. This is similar to a piezoelectric problem: an out-plane mechanical displacement and an in-plane electric potential establishing a correspondence principle. Closed-form formulas for the complex dielectric effective tensor in the case of a square array of circular inclusions embedded in a matrix are given. These formulas are written in terms of a real and symmetric matrix which facilitates the implementation of the computational scheme. We also get similar formulas for multilayered complex dielectric composites. The real closed-form formulas are advantageous for estimating gain and loss enhancement properties of active and passive composites in certain volume fraction intervals. Numerical computations are performed and the results are compared with other approaches showing the usefulness of the obtained formulas. This may be of interest in the context of metamaterials.     

Theoretical Study of Endohedral Fullerenes M@C60 (M = Li,Na, or K) in Periodic Boundary Conditions

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics - Density functional calculations in periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) were performed to investigate the structural and electronic properties of...     

Shaping of picosecond pulses for pumping optical parametric amplification

The use of temporally shaped pump pulses for optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification can increase the efficiency and suppress possible spectral distortions in this process. With this goal in mind a novel method for shaping narrowband picosecond pulses has been developed. The method is based on the pulse stacking principle, where replicas of the incoming pulse are created in a specially designed four-beam interferometer. The replicas are recombined with appropriate relative delays. The interferometer design allows for a unique flexibility in varying the pulse shape, since all relevant degrees of freedom, such as relative intensities and delays between the pulse replicas are independently adjustable. Here we describe the design of our device in detail and report on the experimental demonstration of its pulse-shaping capabilities. PACS 42.65.Yj; 42.65.Re; 42.81.Gs     

Optical properties of a new IR converter for laser beam analysis

This work presents the temporal and spacial resolution of a new infrared (IR) converter based on thermal radiation emission. Using this converter, it is possible to measure the intensity distribution of laser beams with a wavelength between 1 and 20 μm. For this purpose, the laser radiation (for example, 10.6 μm) is converted into a wavelength coverage of 800–1100 nm. In the actual converter thin metal foils provide the basis of this method. The metal foils are heated to a temperature of 600–800 K. The emitted radiation of the foils defers into the near-infrared (NIR) area, thus enabling detection by camera systems based on silicate. Additional heat input of the laser results in a local temperature increase, and then the increase in radiation intensity can be measured. Typical thicknesses of converter metal foils are <5μm. Foil materials with a low thermal conductivity, good absorption of the measured laser beams, and a high melting temperature are particularly suitable. These parameters are well shown by using stainless steels, such as INOX (stainless steel 1.4310 CrNi steel). Using this material, it is possible to gain a maximum spatial resolution of 250 μm and a temporal resolution of 12.5 Hz, by a measurement range from 1 to 100 W/cm<sup>2</sup>. The maximum measured intensity is 125 W/cm<sup>2</sup>.     

Quantum-confined electronic states in atomically well-defined graphene nanostructures

Despite the enormous interest in the properties of graphene and the potential of graphene nanostructures in electronic applications, the study of quantum-confined states in atomically well-defined graphene nanostructures remains an experimental challenge. Here, we study graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with well-defined edges in the zigzag direction, grown by chemical vapor deposition on an Ir(111) substrate by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We measure the atomic structure and local density of states of individual GQDs as a function of their size and shape in the range from a couple of nanometers up to ca. 20 nm. The results can be quantitatively modeled by a relativistic wave equation and atomistic tight-binding calculations. The observed states are analogous to the solutions of the textbook "particle-in-a-box" problem applied to relativistic massless fermions.     

Form factors in the “point form” of relativistic quantum mechanics: Single- and two-particle currents

Electromagnetic and Lorentz-scalar form factors are calculated for a bound system of two spin-less particles exchanging a zero-mass scalar particle. Different approaches are considered including solutions of a Bethe-Salpeter equation, a <img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8220.gif" alt="ldquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">point form<img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8221.gif" alt="rdquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0"> approach to relativistic quantum mechanics and a non-relativistic one. The comparison of the Bethe-Salpeter results, which play the role of an <img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8220.gif" alt="ldquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">experiment<img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8221.gif" alt="rdquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0"> here, with the ones obtained in <img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8220.gif" alt="ldquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">point form<img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8221.gif" alt="rdquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0"> in single-particle approximation, evidences sizable discrepancies, pointing to large contributions from two-body currents in the latter approach. These ones are constructed using two constraints: ensuring current conservation and reproducing the Born amplitude. The two-body currents so obtained are qualitatively very different from standard ones. Quantitatively, they turn out not to be sufficient to remedy all the shortcomings of the <img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8220.gif" alt="ldquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">point form<img src="/content/4cj6pl72e9016hew/xxlarge8221.gif" alt="rdquo" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0"> form factors evidenced in impulse approximation.Received: 3 July 2003, Revised: 28 October 2003, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 11.10.St Bound and unstable states; Bethe-Salpeter equations - 13.40.Gp Electromagnetic form factors - 12.39.Ki Relativistic quark modelL. Theußl: <i>Present address</i>: TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 2A3     

Universal additive effect of temperature on the rheology of amorphous solids

Extensive measurements of macroscopic stress in a 2D Lennard-Jones glass, over a broad range of temperatures (T) and strain rates (γ), demonstrate a very significant decrease of the flowing stress with T, even much below the glass transition. A detailed analysis of the interplay between loading, thermal activation, and mechanical noise leads us to propose that over a broad (γ, T) region, the effect of temperature amounts to a mere lowering of the strains at which plastic events occur, while the athermal avalanche dynamics remains essentially unperturbed. Up to the vicinity of the glass transition, temperature is then shown to correct the athermal stress by a (negative) additive contribution which presents a universal form, thus bringing support to and extending an expression proposed by Johnson and Samwer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 195501 (2005)].     

Coherent dissociation of relativistic 9C nuclei

Results on the coherent dissociation of relativistic <sup>9</sup>C nuclei in a nuclear track emulsion are described. These results include the charge topology and kinematical features of final states. Events of <sup>9</sup>C → 3<sup>3</sup>He coherent dissociation are identified.     

Influence of gold nanoparticles on optically stimulated effects in TeO2-ZnO and GeO2-PbO amorphous thin films

We have found photoinduced second harmonic generation at wavelength 1064 nm during bicolor Nd:YAG laser coherent treatment of TeO<sub>2</sub>-ZnO and GeO<sub>2</sub>-PbO amorphous films. The maximally achieved second order susceptibility was equal to about 1.02 pm/V. Correlation of the induced second order susceptibility with local sample heating and induced birefringence may indicate an occurrence of local phase transitions from amorphous glass-like phase to non-centrosymmetry metastable phases.