High-j proton alignments in 101Pd

High-spin states in ¹⁰¹Pd have been investigated by means of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopic techniques via the ⁷⁶Ge(²⁸Si, 3n) reaction at beam energies of 85 and 95 MeV. The previously known d _5/2 and 1/2^?[550] bands were extended to higher spins, and the unfavored signature branch of the 1/2^?[550] band was built. The band crossings observed experimentally are explained by the alignment of g _9/2 protons. The band properties in ¹⁰¹Pd are compared with those in the neighboring nuclei and are discussed within the framework of the cranked shell model (CSM).     

Electronic transport properties of carbon chains between Au and Ag electrodes: A first-principles study

We report first-principles calculations of the current-voltage characteristic and the conductance of carbon-based molecular wires with different length capped with sulfur ends between two metallic electrodes made of different metals. The optimized molecular structure of carbon chain in the junction is presented on the structure of polyyne. The conductance of the polyyne wires shows oscillatory behavior depending on the number of carbon atoms (triple bonds). Current rectification is found and rectification direction presents inversion with the odd and even number of carbon atoms.     

纳米Ce1-x(Fe0.5La0.5)xO2-δ固溶体的水热合成及光谱分析

采用水热方法合成Ce1-x(Fe0.5 La0.5)xO2-δ固溶体.利用X射线衍射技术(X-ray diffraction technique,XRD)表征样品的相结构,并对固溶体的晶胞参数进行拟合,通过紫外可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis diffraction spectrum)及拉曼光谱(Raman spectru...     

Large-scale synthesis of Ag<Subscript>1.8</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>8</Subscript>O<Subscript>16</Subscript> nanorods and their electrochemical lithium-storage properties

Ag_1.8Mn₈O₁₆ nanorods have been synthesized on a large scale by a facile hydrothermal route. The effects of experimental conditions including reaction time and reactant concentration on the phase and morphology of the final products were investigated systematically. The products were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Electrochemical lithium-storage capabilities of the as-formed nanostructured Ag_1.8Mn₈O₁₆ were also evaluated. Interestingly, the as-formed Ag_1.8Mn₈O₁₆ nanorods possess the unique one-dimensional structure and in situ silver loading, which are beneficial features for electrochemical lithium-storage applications. The results suggest their potential use as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.     

Comparing nanoparticle risk perceptions to other known EHS risks

Over the last decade social scientific researchers have examined how the public perceives risks associated with nanotechnology. The body of literature that has emerged has been methodologically diverse. The findings have confirmed that some publics perceive nanotechnology as riskier than others, experts feel nanotechnology is less risky than the public does, and despite risks the public is optimistic about nanotechnology development. However, the extant literature on nanotechnology and risk suffers from sometimes widely divergent findings and has failed to provide a detailed picture of how the public actually feels about nanotechnology risks when compared to other risks. This study addresses the deficiencies in the literature by providing a comparative approach to gauging nanotechnology risks. The findings show that the public does not fear nanotechnology compared to other risks. Out of 24 risks presented to the participants, nanotechnology ranked 19th in terms of overall risk and 20th in terms of “high risk.”     

Extension of Planck’s law to steady heat flux across nanoscale gaps

Recent experiments report that the radiative heat conductance through a narrow vacuum gap between two flat surfaces increases as the inverse square of the width of the gap. Such a significant increase of thermal conductivity has attracted much interest because of numerous promising applications in nanoscale heat transfer and because of the lack of its theoretical explanation. It is shown here that the radiative heat transport across narrow layers can be described in terms of conventional theory adjusted to non-equilibrium structures with a steady heat flux.     

A wet chemical preparation of transparent conducting thin films of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles

A wet chemical deposition method for preparing transparent conductive thin films on the base of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) nanoparticles has been demonstrated. AZO nanoparticles with a size of 7 nm have been synthesised by a simple precipitation method in refluxed conditions in ethanol using zinc acetate and Al-isopropylate. The presence of Al in ZnO was revealed by the EDX elemental analysis (1.8 at.%) and UV–Vis spectroscopy (a blue shift due to Burstein–Moss effect). The obtained colloid solution with the AZO nanoparticles was used for preparing by spin-coating thin films on glass substrates. The film demonstrated excellent homogeneity and transparency (T > 90%) in the visible spectrum after heating at 400 °C. Its resistivity turned to be excessively high (ρ = 2.6 Ω cm) that we ascribe to a poor charge percolation due to a high film porosity revealed by SEM observations. To improve the percolation via reducing the porosity, a sol–gel solution was deposited “layer-by-layer” in alternation with layers derived from the AZO colloid followed by heating. As it was shown by optical spectroscopy measurements, the density of thus prepared film was increased more than twice leading to a significant decrease in resistivity to 1.3 × 10⁻² Ω cm.     

Weak Convergence and Banach Space-Valued Functions: Improving the Stability Theory of Feynman’s Operational Calculi

In this paper we investigate the relation between weak convergence of a sequence \(\left\{ \mu_{n}\right\} \) of probability measures on a Polish space S converging weakly to the probability measure μ and continuous, norm-bounded functions into a Banach space X. We show that, given a norm-bounded continuous function f:S→X, it follows that \(\lim_{n\to\infty}\int_{S}f\, d\mu_{n}=\int_{S}f\, d\mu\)—the limit one has for bounded and continuous real (or complex)—valued functions on S. This result is then applied to the stability theory of Feynman’s operational calculus where it is shown that the theory can be significantly improved over previous results.     

Improvement of <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-ZnO/<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Si photodiodes by embedding of silver nanoparticles

The photo-current of n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction photodiodes was improved by embedding Ag nanoparticles in the interface (ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si), and the ratio between photo- and dark-current increased by about three orders more than that of a n-ZnO/p-Si specimen. The improvement in the photo-current resulted from the light scattering of embedded Ag nanoparticles. The I–V curve of n-ZnO/p-Si degraded after thermal treatment (A-ZnO/p-Si) because the silicon robbed the oxygen from ZnO to form amorphous silicon dioxide and left an oxygen vacancy. Notably, the properties of ZnO/nano-P_Ag/p-Si were better in the time-dependent photoresponse under 10 V bias. Ag nanoparticles (15–20 nm) scattered the UV light randomly and increased the probability for the absorption of ZnO to enhance the properties of the photodiode.     

Dirac particles in a gravitational field

The semiclassical approximation for the Hamiltonian of Dirac particles interacting with an arbitrary gravitational field is investigated. The time dependence of the metric leads to new contributions to the in-band energy operator in comparison to previous works in the static case. In particular we find a new coupling term between the linear momentum and the spin, as well as couplings that contribute to the breaking of the particle–antiparticle symmetry.