Magnetic properties of oxygenated carbon nitride films from RF-discharge in an acetylene, nitrogen, and oxygen mixture environments

Properties of oxygenated carbon nitride films have attracted the attention of physics researchers due to their magnetic and physical properties, as well as for their usefulness in the industry. The free radicals were investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance applied in the study of spin concentration due to the different mechanism of preparation of carbon nitride films by RF-discharge with different kinds of plasma. Unpaired spin concentrations, in the order of 10²⁰ per cm³, were measured and their time recombination dependency was important in those films. The films were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using mixtures of hydrocarbons, N₂ and O₂ in different proportions.     

Cosmic dust and our origins

The small solid particles in the space between the stars provide the surfaces for the production of many simple and complex molecules. Processes involving the effects of ultraviolet irradiation of the thin (hundredth micron) mantles are shown to produce a wide range of molecules and ions also seen in comets. Some of the more complex ones inferred from laboratory experiments are expected to play an important role in the origin of life. An outline of the chemical evolution of interstellar dust as observed and as studied in the laboratory is presented. Observations of comets are shown to provide substantial evidence for their being fluffy aggregates of interstellar dust as it was in the protosolar nebula, i.e. the interstellar cloud which collapsed to form the solar system. The theory that comets may have brought the progenitors of life to the earth is summarized.     

Laser induced copper electroless plating on polyimide with Q-switch Nd:YAG laser

The results of laser induced deposition of copper on polyimide substrate from copper electrolyte solution are reported. Unlike most work reported in the literatures where CW Ar⁺ lasers were used, a second harmonic (532 nm wavelength) Q-switch Nd:YAG laser was used for our experiments. The deposition process was conducted by laser-catalyzing of the polyimide surface and subsequent photothermal-accelerated reduction of copper-complex ions in an alkaline reducing environment. The characteristics of the deposited copper line were investigated in terms of laser beam scanning speed, and the number of scans. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the deposited copper were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDX). The optimum processing conditions have been identified. The copper deposit was found to adhere well to the substrate.     

Time delay as a key to apoptosis induction in the p53 network

A feedback mechanism that involves the proteins p53 and mdm2, induces cell death as a controlled response to severe DNA damage. A minimal model for this mechanism demonstrates that the response may be dynamic and connected with the time needed to translate the mdm2 protein. The response takes place if the dissociation constant k between p53 and mdm2 varies from its normal value. Although it is widely believed that it is an increase in k that triggers the response, we show that the experimental behaviour is better described by a decrease in the dissociation constant. The response is quite robust upon changes in the parameters of the system, as required by any control mechanism, except for few weak points, which could be connected with the onset of cancer. Received 8 May 2002 / Received in final form 9 July 2002 Published online 17 September 2002     

不同入射角度下强流脉冲电子束能量沉积剖面和束流传输系数模拟计算

 强流脉冲电子束在材料中的能量沉积剖面、能量沉积系数和束流传输系数受其入射角的影响很大，理论计算了0.5~2.0MeV的电子束以不同的入射角在Al材料中的能量沉积剖面和能量沉积系数，并且还计算了0.4~1.4MeV电子束以不同入射角穿透不同厚度C靶的束流传输系数。计算结果表明，随着入射角的增大，靶材表面层单位质量中沉积的能量增大，电子在靶材料中穿透深度减小，能量沉积系数减小，相应的束流传输系数也减小；能量为0.5~2.0MeV的电子束当入射角在60°~70°时在材料表面层单位质量中沉积的能量较大。     

An AFM, XPS and electrochemical study of molecular electroactive monolayers formed by wet chemistry functionalization of H-terminated Si(1 0 0) with vinylferrocene

Molecular electroactive monolayers have been produced from vinylferrocene (VFC) via light-assisted surface anchoring to H-terminated n- and p-Si(1 0 0) wafers prepared via wet chemistry, in a controlled atmosphere. The resulting Si-C bound hybrids have been characterized by means of XPS and AFM. Their performance as semiconductor functionalized electrodes and their surface composition have been followed by combining electrochemical and XPS measurements on the same samples, before and after use in an electrochemical cell. White-light photoactivated anchoring at short (1 h) exposure times has resulted in a mild route, with a very limited impact on the initial quality of the silicon substrate. In fact, the functionalized Si surface results negligibly oxidized, and the C/Fe atomic ratio is close to the value expected for the pure molecular species. The VFC/Si hybrids can be described as (η⁵-C₅H₅)Fe²⁺(η⁵-C₅H₄)-CH₂-CH₂-Si species, on the basis of XPS results. Electrochemical methods have been applied in order to investigate the role played by a robust, covalent Si-C anchoring mode towards substrate-molecule electronic communication, a crucial issue for a perspective development of molecular electronics devices. The response found from cyclic voltammograms for p-Si(1 0 0) functionalized electrodes, run in the dark and under illumination, has shown that the electron transfer is not limited by the number of charge carriers, confirming the occurrence of electron transfer via the Si valence band. The hybrids have shown a noticeable electrochemical stability and reversibility under cyclic voltammetry (cv), and the trend in peak current intensity vs. the scan rate was linear. The molecule-Si bond is preserved even after thousands of voltammetric cycles, although the surface coverage, evaluated from cv and XPS, decreases in the same sequence. An increasingly larger surface concentration of Fe³⁺ at the expenses of Fe²⁺ redox centers has been found at increasing number of cv’s, experimentally associated with the growth of silicon oxide. Surface SiO⁻ groups from deprotonated silanol termination, induced by the electrochemical treatments, are proposed as the associated counterions for the Fe³⁺ species. They could be responsible for the observed decrease in the electron transfer rate constant with electrode ageing.     

Approaches to improving critical current density of YBCO superconducting thick films deposited by electrophoresis

The irreversibility field (Hirr) of Y-based superconductor is much higher than that of Bi-based superconductor. Y-based superconductor is capable of maintaining stable electrical currents in high magnetic field and electric field, so it is a better suited mate-rial for electric-current applications. Commonly, the Y-based tapes comprise a YBCO thick film deposited on a flexible substrate, typically with an intermediate buffer layer, and an overcoat of noble metal. In this process, the interm…     

纳米氧化钛-乙二醇溶胶溶液的研究

选用了钛酸丁酯、硬脂酸和乙二醇作为表面活性剂，采用表面化学修饰和表面物理修饰2种方法修饰纳米氧化钛，然后分散在乙二醇溶剂中形成溶胶溶液．并通过红外光谱仪、紫外分光计、原子力显微镜，分析了表面化学修饰后的纳米氧化钛表面化学结构的变化，观测了纳米氧化钛溶胶在乙二醇溶剂中稳定性．试验结果表明表面活性剂与纳米氧化钛的表面的不饱和键之间形成了新的化学结构，粒子表面可能接枝上有机长链，提高了纳米粒子在溶剂中的相容性．表面化学修饰后的纳米氧化钛与乙二醇溶剂形成了较稳定的溶胶体系，而且纳米溶胶粒径较小．表面活性剂添加量与纳米粒子添加量控制在(1～1．2)：1时，可以获得纳米溶胶粒径较小，同时溶胶稳定性较好的纳米氧化钛-乙二醇溶胶体系．     

Numerical simulation of thermally and chemically nonequilibrium flows and heat transfer in underexpanded induction plasmatron jets

The results of numerical simulation are presented for thermally and chemically nonequilibrium air plasma flows in a plasmatron discharge channel and underexpanded dissociated and partially ionized air jets flowing past a cylindrical model with a blunt leading edge and cooled copper surface under the experimental conditions realized in a VGU-4 100 kW induction plasmatron (Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences) (see, for example, [1, 2]). The nonequilibrium excitation of the vibrational degrees of freedom of the molecules in the modal approximation and the difference between the electron and translational heavy-particle temperatures are taken into account in the calculations. The calculated data on the heat transfer and pressure at the stagnation point are compared with the results obtained within the framework of the thermally equilibrium model. Comparison with the experimental data obtained in the Institute for Problem in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Laboratory for interaction between plasma and radiation and materials) and kindly provided for comparison purposes gives satisfactory agreement.     

Fabrication and characterization of a PbTe quantum dots multilayer structure

Multilayer PbTe quantum dots (QDs) and SiO₂ were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) techniques. The crystalline structure, QD size and size dispersion were observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements. This technique allows one to grow PbTe QDs as small as 1.8 nm diameter and 0.6 nm size dispersion. The whole structure can be used in a Fabry–Perot cavity for an optical device operating at the mid-infrared region.