Characterization of BCN films synthesized by radiofrequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Boron carbonitride (BCN) films have been synthesized on Si(1 0 0) substrate by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using tris-(dimethylamino)borane (TDMAB) as a precursor. The deposition was performed at the different RF powers of 400-800 W, at the working pressure of 2×10⁻¹ Torr. The formation of the sp²-bonded BCN phase was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed that B atoms were bonded to C and N atoms to form the BCN atomic hybrid configurations with the chemical compositions of B₅₂C₁₂N₃₆ (sample 1; prepared at the RF power of 400 W), B₅₂C₁₀N₃₈ (sample 2; at 500 W) and B₄₆C₁₈N₃₆ (sample 3; at 800 W), respectively. Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) measurements indicated that B atoms were bonded not only to N atoms but also to C atoms to form various configurations of sp²-BCN atomic hybrids. The polarization dependence of NEXAFS suggested that the predominant hybrid configuration of sp²-BCN films oriented in the direction perpendicular to the Si substrate.     

Fluorescence characteristics of Dy/CdS nanocrystals doped silica xerogel

Cadmium sulfide semiconductor nanocrystals along with dysprosium ions were incorporated in silica xerogels through sol-gel route. The fluorescence properties were analyzed for samples annealed at different temperatures. The incorporation of the CdS semiconductors as nanocrystallites was confirmed from the HRTEM measurements. The fluorescence intensities were compared for Dy³⁺, CdS and Dy³⁺/CdS-doped silica xerogels. Enhanced blue emission was observed for codoped samples annealed up to 100 °C.     

Elastic behaviour of strontium-doped lanthanum calcium manganites in the vicinity of TC

Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) manganites with compositional formula, La_0.67Ca_0.33−xSr_xMnO₃ (where x=0, 0.09, 0.11, 0.13, 0.33) were prepared by citrate gel route mainly to understand the elastic behaviour in the vicinity of their magnetic transition temperature T_C. The structural characterizations of all the materials clearly indicate that samples upto x=0.13 doping, are having orthorhombic structure with Pbnm space group and sample with x=0.33 is having rhombohedral structure with space group. The magnetic transition temperatures (T_C) are determined by AC susceptibility measurements and are found to increase continuously with increasing strontium concentration. Finally, a systematic investigation of the ultrasonic longitudinal velocities of all the samples was carried out. Further, all the samples are found to exhibit anomalous behaviour in the vicinity of their magnetic transition temperatures and the observed behaviour is explained using Landau's theory.     

Preparation of organic acid anion-modified magnesium hydroxides by coprecipitation: A novel material for the uptake of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions

New layered magnesium hydroxides whose brucite layers had been bridged with malate²⁻ and tartrate²⁻ were prepared by dropwise addition of Mg(NO₃)₂ to malate and tartrate solutions at a constant pH of 10.5. Malate²⁻ and tartrate²⁻ may have been also absorbed on the surfaces of hydroxides. In the case of using citrate solution, Mg(OH)₂ absorbed with citrate³⁻ was produced. These materials were found to take up Cu²⁺ rapidly from an aqueous solution at pH 5.0. Copper uptake by precipitates is attributed to the formation of chelate complexes of Cu²⁺ with citrate³⁻, malate²⁻, and tartrate²⁻.     

Zigzag边纳米石墨带超导结中的可控0-π相变

文章作者利用实空间格林函数方法研究了超导体-zigzag边纳米石墨带-超导体(SGS)约瑟夫森结中的超导输运行为.结果发现：（1）通过一个外加横向电场可以使该超导结的超流方向发生翻转,即发生超导0-π相变;（2）通过改变纳米石墨带的长度或者其上的门电压,同样也可以使它发生0-π相变.由于可以用外电场方便地控制该超导结0-π相变的发生,使得它有可能在未来的量子计算以及超导电子学中发挥巨大的作用.     

Mean oscillation of functions and the Paley-Wiener space

The oscillatory behavior of functions with compactly supported Fourier transform is characterized in a quantified way using various function spaces. In particular, the results in this article show that the oscillations of a function at large scale are comparable to the oscillations of its samples on an appropriate discrete set of points. Several open questions about spaces of sequences are answered and applications in the study of commutator operators on the Paley-Wiener space are shown. Acknowledgements and Notes. Supported in part by NSF grants DMS 9303363 and DMS 9623251.     

Oxidation state characterization in Cr oxides by means of Cr-Kβ emission spectroscopy

High-resolution Kβ spectra of Cr oxide were measured using a non-conventional spectrometer. Theoretical spectra were obtained using the DV-Xα method in order to interpret the Kβ spectrum structures. Kβ spectrum structures were analyzed and spectral parameters show a great sensitivity to the oxidation state and to the Cr-O distance. High-purity samples of CrO₂ were obtained by means of thermal treatment at 513 °C under oxygen pressure of 200 bar. X-ray diffraction patterns show a typical rutile structure, without spurious phases. The CrO₂ data allowed to confirm the linear dependency of the Kβ_1,3 and Kβ_2,5 energy positions with the oxidation state. The energy of the Kβ_2,5 line relative to the Kβ_1,3 line seems to be a suitable parameter for characterization of the oxidation state. The relative Kβ″ transition probability per Cr-O falls exponentially with Cr-O increasing distance. This behaviour was not found in the literature for Cr oxides.     

Microstructural study of different LDH morphologies obtained via different synthesis routes

In order to better understand the relationship between LDH synthesis parameters and their particle sizes, diverse carbonate intercalated NiAl-LDH phases were prepared using different coprecipitation conditions and their structure, microstructure and morphology were characterized. The samples were synthesized by coprecipitation either at constant pH, in strong alkaline medium or using urea decomposition. The influence of a post-synthesis hydrothermal treatment was also investigated. A well crystalline NiAl-CO₃ phase but containing a high stacking fault density was obtained by combining a strong basic medium and hydrothermal treatment at 120 °C for 24 h. Interestingly, the hydrothermal treatment increases the crystallinity of the samples but does not eliminate stacking faults. The crystallite sizes determined by modeling X-ray diffraction peak broadening with linear combinations of spherical harmonics are fully consistent with TEM observations confirming the validity of the approach used and indicating that the particles are probably small single crystals.     

Preparation and characterization of carbamoylphosphonate(CMPO) silane grafted on various mesoporous silicas

The carbamoylphosphosphonate silane (CMPO analogue; 2-(diphenylphosphoryl)-N-(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl) acetamide) modified mesoporous silica was prepared via a post-synthesis grafting method for the effective purification of rare earth elements. The guest CMPO analogue was synthesized by direct coupling reaction of 2-(diphenylphosphoryl) acetic acid and 3-(triethoxysilyl)propan-1-amine. Various mesoporous silicates such as MCM-41, SBA-15, or amorphous silica nanoparticles were adopted as host materials. The resulting surface-modified mesoporous materials were characterized with respect to their structural integrity, surface area, and pore size and the concentration of the CMPO silane species. These CMPO functionalized periodic mesostructured silicates offer the potential of applications as catalysts, sensors, or environmental sorbents.     

Properties of In2S3 thin films deposited onto ITO/glass substrates by chemical bath deposition

In₂S₃ films have been chemically deposited on ITO coated glass substrates by chemical bath deposition, using different deposition times and precursor concentrations. The bilayers are intended for photovoltaic applications. Different characterization methods have been employed: optical properties of the films were investigated from transmittance measurements, structural properties by XRD and micro-Raman, and surface morphology by SEM microscopy analysis. Also, the direct and indirect band-gaps and the surface gap states were studied with surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS). We proposed that electronic properties of the In₂S₃ samples are controlled by two features: shallow tail states and a broad band centred at 1.5 eV approximately. Their relation with the structure is discussed, suggesting that their origin is related to defects created on the S sub-lattice, and then both defects are intrinsic to the material.