Recent study of nanomaterials prepared by inert gas condensation using ultra high vacuum chamber

The ultra high vacuum chamber was developed in the Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras with the funding from DST, India. This UHV chamber is used to prepare nanocrystalline materials by inert gas condensation technique (IGCT). Nanocrystalline materials such as PbF₂, Mn²⁺-doped PbF₂, Sn-doped In₂O₃ (ITO), ZnO, Al₂O₃, Ag₂O, CdO, CuO, ZnSe:ZnO etc., were prepared by this technique and characterized. Results of some of these materials will be presented in this paper. In solid-state²⁰⁷Pb NMR on PbF₂ a separate signal due to the presence of grain boundary has been observed. The structural phase transition pressure during the phase transformation from the cubic phase to orthorhombic phase under high pressure shows an increase with the decrease in grain size. Presence of electronic centres in nanocrystalline PbF₂ is observed from Raman studies and the same has been confirmed by photoluminescence studies. Al₂O₃ was prepared and⁵⁶Fe ions were implanted. After implantation segregation of⁵⁶Fe ions was examined by SEM. The oxidation properties of ITO were studied by HRTEM. As against the expectation of oxide coating on individual nanograins of In-Sn alloy, ITO nanograins grew into faceted nanograins on heat treatment in air and O₂ atmosphere. The growth of ITO under O₂ atmosphere showed pentagon symmetry. The PMN was initially prepared by solid-state reaction. Further, this PMN relaxor material will be used to convert into nanocrystalline PMN by IGCT with sputtering and will be studied     

Combination of LFP‐TRIR spectroscopy and DFT computation as a tool to determine the intermediate during the photooxidation of triarylphosphine

Laser flash photolysis‐time‐resolved infrared spectroscopy (LFP‐TRIR) was performed on an acetonitrile or dichloromethane solution of triarylphosphines, Ar₃P, in air. A transient spectrum consisting of several absorption bands appeared in the region of 1050–1300 cm^?1 on the TRIR on a microsecond timescale, which disappeared on a millisecond timescale. To identify the observed transient intermediate, the IR spectra of possible intermediates of the photoreaction were simulated by theoretical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). The IR spectrum simulated for the phosphine peroxidic radical cation, Ar₃P⁺OO^?, well predicted the observed IR spectrum, showing that Ar₃P⁺OO^? is formed as a transient intermediate upon the LFP of Ar₃P in air. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 on a copper electrode in 1‐n‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMI.BF4) monitored by surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)

The electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into value‐added products using room temperature ionic liquids as solvent/electrolyte has been proposed as an alternative to minimize the environmental effects of CO₂ emissions. A key issue in the design of electrochemical systems for the reduction of CO₂ is the in situ identification of intermediate surface species as well as reaction products. Copper electrodes, besides being used as cathodes in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂, present surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) when properly activated. In this sense, the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ over a copper electrode in the room temperature ionic liquids 1‐n‐butyl‐3‐methyl imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMI.BF₄) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and by in situ SERS. The cyclic voltammetries have shown that the presence of CO₂ on the BMI.BF₄ anticipates the reduction of BMI⁺ to the corresponding carbene. Fourier‐transform‐SERS spectra excited at 1064 nm and SERS spectra excited at 632.8 nm have shown vibrational signals from adsorbed CO. These SERS results indicated that CO adsorbs on the copper surface at two different surface sites. The observation of a 2275 cm⁻¹ vibration in the SERS spectra also confirmed the presence of chemically adsorbed CO₂. Other products of CO₂ reduction in BMI.BF₄, besides CO, were identified, including BMI carbene and the BMI‐CO₂ adduct. The SERS results also suggest that the presence of a thin film of Cu₂O on the copper surface anticipates the reduction of CO₂ to CO, an important component of syngas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

激光击穿光谱技术监测固土过程中阳离子交换

为了实时探测离子土固化剂(ISS)在固土过程中的阳离子交换量(CEC),采用激光击穿光谱技术(LIBS),对ISS处理后的土壤溶液中的K、Ca、Na、Mg、Al、Si这6种离子含量进行探测。分别对由不同配比(1∶100、1∶200和1∶300)的ISS处理过的高岭土、膨胀土、红粘土等5种标准土壤进行了研究,结果表明:同一土壤中的各种离子随ISS配比的变化趋势各不相同;不同土壤与ISS作用的效果各不相同;ISS的配比并非越高越好。这些工作为ISS固化机理的研究提供实验依据,而利用激光击穿光谱技术进行探测的方式为ISS固化机理的研究提供了新的思路。     

Measuring the performance of the coaxial HOM coupler on a 2-cell TESLA-shape copper cavity

Coaxial High Order Mode (HOM) couplers have been fabricated at Peking University and their RF performance has been measured on a test device consisting of a coaxial transmission line and a 2-cellTESLA-shape copper cavity. The test results on the 2-cell TESLA-shape copper cavity with HOM couplers indicate that the coupler can cut off the fundamental mode TM010 and absorb HOMs effectively after a careful adjustment. The optimal angle of the HOM coupler with the beam tube is found. The initial test results of HOM couplers are presented in this paper.     

Thermal stability and photoluminescence property of hexagonal MoO3·0.55H2O microrods

The metastable phase of well-faceted, hexagonal, prism-like molybdenum oxide hydrate (MoO₃·0.55H₂O) was successfully synthesized by evaporating molybdic acid solution prepared through cation membrane electrolysis of Na₂MoO₄·2H₂O aqueous solution. The obtained crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric (TG), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometry. The as-prepared MoO₃·0.55H₂O rods were of 2–4 μm in width and 5–12 μm in length. The MoO₃·0.55H₂O microrods displayed photoluminescence properties at room temperature and were transformed into stable orthorhombic α-MoO₃ after air annealing at 380 °C. Moreover, the influence of temperature factor on the phase transformation process, morphology and photoluminescence properties of MoO₃·0.55H₂O was investigated in detail.     

点缺陷对硼掺杂直拉硅单晶p/p~+外延片中铜沉淀的影响

系统研究了点缺陷对晶体硅中氧沉淀生成的影响,及点缺陷和氧沉淀对重掺硼直拉硅单晶p/p⁺外延片中铜沉淀的影响.样品先在不同的气氛下进行1250℃/60 s快速热处理,随后在750℃/8 h+1050℃/16 h常规热处理过程中引入铜沾污.通过腐蚀结合光学显微镜研究发现,以O₂作为保护气氛时,p⁺衬底中的沉淀密度较小,以Ar和N₂作为保护气氛时,重掺硼p⁺衬底中生成了高密度的沉淀,且在上述所有样品的外延层中均无缺陷生成.研究认为,以O₂作为保护气时引入的自间隙硅原子（Si_I）可以抑制沉淀的形成,而以Ar和N₂作为保护气氛时引入的空位则会促进沉淀的生成,这是导致此差异的主要原因.另外,研究还发现,p/p⁺外延结构能很好地吸除硅片中的铜杂质,从而保持了外延层的洁净.     

Subpicosecond laser ablation of copper and fused silica: Initiation threshold and plasma expansion

We investigated the subpicosecond laser ablation of copper and fused silica under 100 fs laser irradiation at 800 nm in vacuum by means of fast plume imaging and time- and space-resolved optical emission spectroscopy. We found that, to the difference of copper ablation, the laser-generated plasma from a fused silica target exhibited one “main” component only. The “slow” plasma component, observed during copper ablation and usually assigned to optical emission from nanoparticles was not detected by either plasma fast imaging or optical emission spectroscopy even when fused silica targets were submitted to the highest incident fluences used in our experiments. The characteristic expansion velocity of this unique component was about three times larger than the velocity of the fast plume component observed during copper ablation. The dependence of laser fluence on both plasma expansion and ablation rate was investigated and discussed in terms of ablation efficiency and initiation mechanisms.