Behavior of zirconium in the ZrOW(100) system at high temperature, studied by ISS, AES and work-function measurements

The behavior of zirconium atoms at the W(100) surface associated with oxygen adsorption at different sample temperatures has been studied by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS), and the relative change of the work function (Δф) measured by the onset of the secondary electron energy distribution. The results have revealed: (i) adsorption of zirconium onto the W(100) surface followed by the elevation of the sample temperature up to 1710 K in an oxygen partial pressure of 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ induces complete diffusion of zirconium atoms into the W(100) substrate; (ii) further exposure of oxygen induces co-existence of oxygen and tungsten on the surface at 1710 K, resulting in a work function of 4.37 eV; (iii) keeping the sample temperature at 1710 K, simple evacuation of the system has resulted in surface segregation of zirconium atoms to the surface to form a zirconium atomic layer on the top-most surface, reducing the work function to 2.7 eV. The results have revealed that this specific behavior of zirconium atoms at high temperature assures, with very good reproducibility, the highly stable performance and long service life of Zr---O/W(100)-emitters in practical use, even in a low vacuum of 10⁻⁶ Pa.     

Development of Oxidation Sources in Preparation of High-Tc Oxide Superconductor Thin Films Using the Molecular Beam Epitaxy Method

Film preparation of oxide superconductors, mainly of the 1-2-3 (RBa₂Cu₃O_x) and Bi-containing (Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O) systems, by evaporation of either metals or metal compounds by low pressure is summarized, with a particular focus on the development of oxidation sources essential to the technique. Oxidizing reagents that enable the oxidation of metal evaporates to take place in high (0·1 to 10_?3 Pa) or even ultra-high (<10_?5 Pa) vacuum are summarized using the experiments of those who tried to apply the molecular beam epitaxy method to atomically controlled fabrication of thin films of the material, especially for device processing. The evaporation in various kinds of oxidizing atmosphere, including the simple method of in situ annealing of the metal layers in oxygen to the more advanced in situ preparation of the films with strong oxidizing reagents such as atomic oxygen, ozone, nitric oxide, etc. along with the thermochemistry of the oxidation of metals by low pressure with these reagents is reviewed.     

Fourier domain optical coherence tomography using optical demultiplexers imaging at 60,000,000 lines/s

We describe high-speed Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using optical demultiplexers (ODs) for spectral dispersion. The OD enables separation of a narrow spectral band of 14 GHz (0.11 nm) from a broadband incident light at 256 different frequencies in 25.0 GHz intervals centered at 192.2 THz (1559.8 nm). OCT imaging of 60,000,000 axial scans per second was achieved through parallel signal acquisition using 256 balanced photoreceivers to simultaneously detect all the output signals from the ODs in a Fourier domain OCT system. OCT imaging at a 16 kHz frame rate, 1100 A-lines per frame, 3 mm depth range, and 23 microm resolution was demonstrated using a resonant scanner for lateral scanning.     

Fabrication of oxide base nanostructures using pulsed laser ablation in aqueous solutions

Nanoparticles of TiO₂ and SnO₂ were obtained by laser ablation of Ti and Sn targets in both deionized water and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions. The crystallinity of the nanoparticles strongly depended on the SDS concentration in the solution. Well-crystallized oxide nanoparticles were most abundantly fabricated in SDS solution with around the critical micelle concentration. An inorganic/organic layered nanocomposite consisting of a zinc hydroxide layer and a SDS lamellar interlayer was obtained by the ablation of Zn in SDS solutions. The oxide and/or hydroxide can be formed by the rapid reactive quenching with water in the liquid–plasma interface, where ablated species can be oxidized by aqueous oxidation. The surfactant in the liquid medium could affect the aggregation and growth of nuclei after the oxidation. The preparation of Pt/TiO₂ nanocomposite particles by PLA of the bi-combinant target of Pt and TiO₂ is also reported. PACS 81.16.Mk; 81.10.Dn; 81.07.Bc     

Dual Emission from Precious Metal-Free Luminophores Consisting of C,H, O,Si, and S/P at Room Temperature

Fluorescence–phosphorescence dual-emissive compounds are valuable tools for ratiometric luminescence sensing. Herein, it is reported that 2,5-bis(phenylsulfonyl)- and 2,5-bis[bis(4-methoxyphenyl)phosphinyl]-1,4-disiloxybenzenes exhibit dual emission with emission peaks that were easily identified without performing time-gated measurement. The disiloxybenzenes in powder simultaneously fluoresced and phosphoresced at 358–374 and 457–470 nm, respectively, under vacuum. The intensity ratios of the phosphorescence/fluorescence maxima of the disiloxybenzenes in powder and in a thin film of poly(methyl methacrylate) were sensitive to temperature and molecular oxygen, respectively. The plots of the relative intensity versus temperature or partial pressure of molecular oxygen were well fitted with calibration curves defined by an exponential approximation with excellent correlation coefficients R² (0.9708–0.9921), demonstrating the high potential of the disiloxybenzenes as precious metal-free probes applicable to ratiometric luminescence sensing.     

ESR of Ni doped amorphous chalcogenide semiconductors

ESR signals with g = 2.08 and 2.13 due to Ni were observed for evaporated (Ge_0.32Se_0.32Te_0.32As_0.4) 100_-xNi_x and $\text{(Ge}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{Se}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>2</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{100}{}_{\mathrm{-x}}\text{Ni}{}_{\mathrm{x}}$ films respectively. The large increase of the electrical conductivity by the addition of Ni is discussed in connection with the ESR signal. Bulk glasses prepared by melt-quenching are also investigated for comparison.     

Achievement of a 920-MHz high resolution NMR

We have developed a 920-MHz NMR system and performed the proton NMR measurement of H(2)O and ethylbenzene using the superconducting magnet operating at 21.6 T (920 MHz for proton), which is the highest field produced by a superconducting NMR magnet in the persistent mode. From the NMR measurements, it is verified that both homogeneity and stability of the magnet have a specification sufficient for a high resolution NMR.     

Surface-enhanced emission from single semiconductor nanocrystals

The fluorescence behavior of single CdSe(ZnS) core-shell nanocrystal (NC) quantum dots is dramatically affected by electromagnetic interactions with a rough metal film. Observed changes include a fivefold increase in the observed fluorescence intensity of single NCs, a striking reduction in their fluorescence blinking behavior, complete conversion of the emission polarization to linear, and single NC exciton lifetimes that are >10(3) times faster. The enhanced excited state decay process for NCs coupled to rough metal substrates effectively competes with the Auger relaxation process, allowing us to observe both charged and neutral exciton emission from these NC quantum dots.     

The inverse scattering problem and the equivalent local potential

We examine the role of the non-locality of the potential in the two-body scattering by taking the nucleon-Σ system as an example. We employ a non-local potential for the nucleon-Σ channel which has the characteristic features of the quark model and reproduces the phase shifts of widely used local potentials. We use inverse scattering methods to obtain the equivalent local potential from the non-local potential, and show that the obtained local potential has a strong short range repulsion.