Size‐Dependent Room Temperature Oxidation of Tin Particles

Using transmission electron microscopy, the size‐dependent room temperature oxidation of tin nanoparticles is studied. The oxide that forms during room temperature oxidation of Sn particles is amorphous SnO, and it retains this stoichiometry and structure over extended time periods. From the investigation of arrays of Sn nanoparticles with broad size distribution, under identical conditions, the Sn oxide thickness is evaluated as a function of size and oxidation time. The oxide thickness depends strongly on the size of the Sn nanoparticles, which is in excellent agreement with predictions for a Mott–Cabrera model corrected for a non‐uniform electric field. The results demonstrate the accelerated oxidation kinetics of nanoscale particles with high curvature, due to the amplified electric field at the interface to a continuously shrinking metal core.     

High‐mobility solution‐processed zinc oxide thin films on silicon nitride

A high effective electron mobility of 33 cm² V^–1 s^–1 was achieved in solution‐processed undoped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films. The introduction of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) as growth substrate resulted in a mobility improvement by a factor of 2.5 with respect to the commonly used silicon oxide (SiO₂). The solution‐processed ZnO thin films grown on Si₃N₄, prepared by low‐pressure chemical vapor deposition, revealed bigger grain sizes, lower strain and better crystalline quality in comparison to the films grown on thermal SiO₂. These results show that the nucleation and growth mechanisms of solution‐processed films are substrate dependent and affect the final film structure accordingly. The substantial difference in electron mobilities suggests that, in addition to the grain morphology and crystalline structure effects, defect chemistry is a contributing factor that also depends on the particular substrate. In this respect, interface trap densities measured in high‐κ HfO₂/ZnO MOSCAPs were about ten times lower in those fabricated on Si₃N₄ substrates. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

     

Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) as an approach for nanoparticle detection inside cells

When developing new nanoparticles for bio-applications, it is important to fully characterize the nanoparticle's behavior in biological systems. The most common techniques employed for mapping nanoparticles inside cells include transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). These techniques entail passing an electron beam through a thin specimen. STEM or TEM imaging is often used for the detection of nanoparticles inside cellular organelles. However, lengthy sample preparation is required (i.e., fixation, dehydration, drying, resin embedding, and cutting). In the present work, a new matrix (FTO glass) for biological samples was used and characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) to generate images comparable to those obtained by TEM. Using FE-SEM, nanoparticle images were acquired inside endo/lysosomes without disruption of the cellular shape. Furthermore, the initial steps of nanoparticle incorporation into the cells were captured. In addition, the conductive FTO glass endowed the sample with high stability under the required accelerating voltage. Owing to these features of the sample, further analyses could be performed (material contrast and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)), which confirmed the presence of nanoparticles inside the cells. The results showed that FE-SEM can enable detailed characterization of nanoparticles in endosomes without the need for contrast staining or metal coating of the sample. Images showing the intracellular distribution of nanoparticles together with cellular morphology can give important information on the biocompatibility and demonstrate the potential of nanoparticle utilization in medicine.     

皮秒脉冲功率技术理论模型及其优化设计

为了产生100~500 ps,200~500 kV,1~10 kA数量级的皮秒放电脉冲,建立了一个皮秒脉冲发生器理论模型,并提出利用增益系数极值法,确定其最大兼容工作点,相对于纳秒脉冲成形线,皮秒脉冲成形线实现了90%,70%,85%的归一化电压增益、能量增益和放电功率增益。为了最大限度地降低皮秒脉冲成形线的载压时间,提高系统的绝缘安全因子,利用华罗庚0.618优算法,设计了电压传输系数。在纳秒脉冲成形线与皮秒脉冲成形线阻抗比值等于1.63条件下,在4倍和6倍皮秒脉冲成形线时间之内,归一化电压增益、能量增益和放电功率增益就可以分别达到94%,72%,89%与99%,53%,97%。     

Simultaneous two color image capture for sub-diffraction localization fluorescence microscopy

A sub-diffraction limit fluorescence localization microscope was constructed using a standard cooled 1.4 mega-pixel fluorescence charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to simultaneously resolve closely adjacent paired quantum dots on a flat surface with emissions of 540 and 630 nm. The images of the overlapping Airy discs were analyzed to determine the center of the point spread function after noise reduction using Fourier transformation analysis. The Cartesian coordinates of the centers of the point spread functions were compared in serial images. Histograms constructed from serial images fit well to Gaussian functions for resolving two quantum dots separated by as little as 10 nm in the x–y coordinates. Statistical analysis of multiple pairs validated discrimination of inter-fluorophore distances that vary by 10 nm. The method is simple and developed for x–y resolution of dilute fluorophores on a flat surface, not serial z sectioning.     

HT-7托卡马克slide-away放电充气对等离子体行为的影响

本文研究了slide-away放电条件下的等离子体约束性能;分析了充气对等离子体约束性能以及反常多普勒共振不稳定性的影响.研究了等离子体密度的提升对slide-away放电过程中逃逸电子辐射行为的影响.研究结果发现:slide-away放电充气可以抑制逃逸电子反常多普勒不稳定性,但是使得等离子体约束状态变差,逃逸电子辐射增强.     

The TEM characterization of the lamellar structure of osteoporotic human trabecular bone

The lamellar structure of osteoporotic human trabecular bone was characterized experimentally by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). More specifically, the TEM was used to determine if trabecular bone exhibits similar lamellar structural motifs as cortical bone by analyzing unmineralized, mineralized and demineralized bone, and to study the influence of the osteocyte network on the lamellar structure of osteoporotic trabecular bone. Comparison with normal trabecular bone is included. This paper summarizes partial results of a larger study, which addressed the characterization of the hierarchical structure of normal versus osteoporotic human trabecular bone [Rubin, M.A., 2001. Multiscale characterization of the ultrastructure of trabecular bone in osteoporotic and normal humans and in two inbred strains of mice. MS Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology.] at several structural scales.     

有限长双壁碳纳米管的电子输运性质

基于Landauer公式，研究了有限长的非公度和公度双壁碳纳米管的电子输运性顾，结果表明 ，双壁管的几何结构对其电子输运性质有显著的影响：非公度的双壁碳管的电导随能量的不 同，既可以是弹道型的，也可以是非弹道型的；由armchair管组成的公度的双壁碳管的电导 随能量变化呈现快速的电导振荡，并且此快速振荡叠加在背景慢振荡上，而zigzag管组成的 公度双壁管的电导随能量变化只有快速振荡、没有规则的慢振荡背景. 关键词： 碳纳米管 电子输运性质     

Self-assembly formation of the ordered nanostructure arrays induced by Be interaction with Si(1 1 1) surface

Formation of the beryllium (Be) submonolayers on the Si(1 1 1)7 × 7 surface has been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. It has been found that Be interaction with Si(1 1 1) at 500-700 °C results in a self-assembly formation of the four various types of the highly-ordered nanostructure arrays. The nanostructure arrays develop on top of the “soft” silicide layer, which period and orientation alter with the nanostructure growth: the shorter the nanostructure period, the larger the rotation angle. The main structural parameters of the silicide layer and nanostructure arrays have been established.     

High-performance optics for thermal microscopy

We have developed a thermal microscope which has an InSb detector and optics optimized for the camera. Using this system, we evaluated maximum resolution of a 30×/numerical aperture 0.71 lens made of silicon and germanium, and achieved the cutoff frequency of around 300 line pairs/mm, which is almost a diffraction-limited performance. The thermal microscope is installed on the THEMOS-1000, a product of Hamamatsu Photonics, for thermal emission analysis.