Colloidal crystal films: advances in universality and perfection

For three-dimensional photonic crystals, made either by top-down microfabrication or by bottom-up self-assembly approaches, to comply with the stringent requirements of optical telecommunication applications, their degree of structural perfection and optical quality must meet an exceptionally high standard. Only with such superior quality photonic crystals can their unique optical properties be harnessed in optical devices and circuits constructed from micrometer-sized optical components. In this paper, we present a new strategy for making silica colloidal crystal films with a sufficiently high level of structural perfection and optical quality to make it competitive as a practical route to photonic crystal optical components. The attainment of this goal takes due cognizance of three key synergistic factors in the film formation process. The first recognizes the necessity to prepare high-quality silica spheres, which are highly monodisperse, with a polydispersity index significantly better than 2%, and the second recognizes that the population of spheres must be devoid of even the smallest fraction of substantially smaller or larger spheres or sphere doublets. The latter turns out to have a minimal effect on the polydispersity index, and yet a major detrimental effect on the overall structural order of the film. The third concerns the film-forming method itself, which necessitated the development of a novel process founded upon isothermal heating evaporation-induced self-assembly (IHEISA) of spheres on a planar substrate. This new method has several advantages over previously reported ones. It is able to deposit very high-quality silica colloidal crystal film rapidly over large areas, with a controlled thickness and without any restrictions on sphere sizes.     

Formation of aminotetrazines and triazoles by alkaline hydrolysis of thiosemicarbazide

3,6-Diamino-1,2,4,5-tetrazine is formed by alkaline hydrolysis of thiosemicarbazide in the presence of oxidizing agents (oxygen, silver ions). 3,4,5-Triamino-1, 2,4-triazole is formed when the temperature is raised and when oxidizing agents are absent.     

Discrete Painlevé equations and their appearance in quantum gravity

We discuss an algorithmic approach for both deriving discrete analogues of Painlevé equations as well as using such equations to characterize similarity reductions of spatially discrete integrable evolution equations. As a concrete example we show that a discrete analogue of Painlevé I can be used to characterize similarity solutions of the Kac-Moerbeke equation. It turns out that these similarity solutions also satisfy a special case of Painlevé IV equation. In addition we discuss a methodology for obtaining the relevant continuous limits not only at the level of equations but also at the level of solutions. As an example we use the WKB method in the presence of two turning points of the third order to parametrize (at the continuous limit) the solution of Painlevé I in terms of the solution of discrete Painlevé I. Finally we show that these results are useful for investigating the partition function of the matrix model in 2D quantum gravity associated with the measure exp [–t ₁ z ² –t ₂ z ⁴ –t ₃ z ⁶].     

Photochemically and thermally tunable planar defects in colloidal photonic crystals

We report a bottom-up synthesis of a photochemically and thermally active azobenzene-based polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) planar defect embedded in a colloidal photonic crystal (CPC). Both photoisomerization and thermal cycling lead to a precise tuning of an intragap transmitting state induced by the PEM structural defect.     

Improvement of the Composition of Detergent Solutions for the Removal of Deposits on the Axial-Compressor Blades of Gas-Turbine Units

During the operation of gas-turbine units deposits, which have the form of a conglomerate of hydraulic oil and contaminations from atmosphere air, are accumulated on the axial-compressor blades. Deposits are occasionally removed using solid abrasive or detergent solutions. Only detergent solutions are employed on modern units, because abrasive substances damage the protective sputtering of blades. The detergent solutions that are used have a high cost and are unsafe in use. In this work, a high-performance detergent solution is suggested, which is able to dissolve deposits on the axial-compressor blades of gas-turbine units.     

Structure refinement of cadmium cerium(IV) phosphate Cd<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Ce<Subscript>2</Subscript>(PO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Cadmium cerium orthophosphate Cd_0.5Ce₂(PO₄)₃ is synthesized by precipitation from aqueous solutions. The structure refinement from powder X-ray diffraction data is preceded by the sample preparation and structure solution. The refinement is carried out by the Rietveld method (ADP-2 diffractometer, Cu _Kα radiation, Ni filter, 15° < 2θ < 120°, 2θ-scan step 0.02°, counting time 10 s per step). All calculations are carried out using the WYRIET program (version 3.3) within the sp. gr. P2₁/n. The structure is refined with anisotropic displacement parameters for cations and isotropic displacement parameters for oxygen atoms.