Functional Groups Assisted Tunable Dielectric Permittivity of Guest-Free Zn-Based Coordination Polymers for Gate Dielectrics

The dielectric properties of coordination polymers has been a topic of recent interest, but the role of different functional groups on the dielectric properties of these polymers has not yet been fully addressed. Herein, the effects of electron-donating (R=NH₂) and electron-withdrawing (R=NO₂) groups on the dielectric behavior of such materials were investigated for two thermally stable and guest-free Zn-based coordination polymers, [Zn(L₁)(L₂)]_n ( 1 ) and [Zn(L₁)(L₃)]_n ( 2 ) [L₁=2-(2-pyridyl) benzimidazole (Pbim), L₂=5-aminoisophthalate (Aip), and L₃=5-nitroisophthalate (Nip)]. The results of dielectric studies of 1 revealed that it possesses a high dielectric constant (κ=65.5 at 1 kHz), while compound 2 displayed an even higher dielectric constant (κ=110.3 at 1 kHz). The electron donating and withdrawing effects of the NH₂ and NO₂ substituents induce changes in the polarity of the polymers, which is due to the inductive effect from the aryl ring for both NO₂ and NH₂. Theoretical results from density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which also support the experimental findings, show that both compounds have a distinct electronic behavior with diverse wide bandgaps. The significance of the current work is to provide information about the structure-dielectric property relationships. So, this study promises to pave the way for further research on the effects of different functional groups on coordination polymers on their dielectric properties.     

Status of heavy element research using a gas-filled recoil separator at RIKEN

A gas-filled type of recoil separator for heavy element research was installed at an experimental hall of RIKEN Linear Accelerator facility to realize getting higher intensity of primary beam and long beam time. Performance of the separator was studied using target recoils and various nuclear reactions. The results show the high performance of the separator for heave element research. As an application of the GARIS, production and identification of an isotope of the 110th element ²⁷¹[110] have been performed using the ²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,1n)²⁷¹[110] reaction. Three decay chains coincide well both in decay times and energies with the ones reported by the group of SHIP experiment at GSI, Germany. Our results provide a confirmation of the synthesis of an isotope ²⁷¹[110] of element 110.     

Modification of the physical properties of chemical vapor-deposited nanostructure diamond by argon-hydrogen plasma surface treatment

Nanostructure diamond (NSD) film with a hardness as high as 70 GPa and an average surface roughness of 10 nm has been synthesized by the two-step negative substrate bias method combined with post-growth Ar-H₂ plasma irradiation. The Ar-H₂ plasma irradiation has been confirmed to improve the uniformity of grain size and shape and increase the hardness of the NSD film.     

Distributions of major-to-ultratrace elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions in natural water as studied by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after sequential fractionation.

In order to elucidate the distributions of the elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions in pond water, major-to-ultratrace elements in different sizes of particles as well as in the filtrate passed through the 0.05 microm filter were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The different sizes of particle samples (ca. 100-300 microg each) were collected on the membrane filters with pore sizes of 10, 3.0, 1.2, 0.4, 0.2 and 0.05 microm, respectively, by sequential fractionation. As a result, about 40 elements in different sizes of particles could be determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS, after acid digestion using HNO3/HF/HClO4. Then, the fractional distribution factors of major-to-ultratrace elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions were estimated from the analytical results. The total contents of Al, Fe, Ti, REEs (rare earth elements), Bi, Pb and Ag in the particulate fractions (larger than 0.05 microm) were more than 80-90%, while those of Ca, Sr, Cs, W, Ba, Mn and Co in the dissolved fraction, which corresponded to the filtrate passed through the 0.05 microm membrane filter, were more than 80%. It was further found that the fractional distributions of Cu and Zn in the dissolved fraction were ca. 50%. In addition, the enrichment factors (EFs) of the elements in the particulate fractions with particle sizes of 3.0-10 microm and 0.05-0.2 microm were estimated to elucidate their geochemical characteristics in natural water.     

Photoinduced intramolecular electron-transfer reactions in carbazole-fullerene and phenothiazine-fullerene linked compounds in benzene and benzonitrile as studied by fluorescence, transient absorption, time-resolved EPR, and magnetic field effects

Photoinduced intramolecular electron-transfer reactions in carbazole (Cz)-fullerene (C₆₀) (Cz(8)C₆₀) and phenothiazine (Ph)-C₆₀ (Ph(n)C₆₀ (n=8, 10, 12)) linked compounds have been investigated in benzene and benzonitrile by fluorescence, transient absorption, and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance measurements, and by magnetic field effects on the decay rate constants of the photogenerated biradicals. In benzonitrile, photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer from Cz to the singlet excited state of C₆₀ (¹C₆₀ ^*) occurred in Cz(8)C₆₀, but not to the triplet excited state (³C₆₀ ^*), while the intramolecular electron-transfer to both¹C₆₀ ^* and³C₆₀ ^* occurred in Ph(n)C₆₀ (n=8, 10, 12). In benzene, on the other hand, no electron transfer to both¹C₆₀ ^* and³C₆₀ ^* took place in all linked compounds. These results were interpreted in terms of the different Gibbs free energy changes in the two solvents.     

Phase rotation scheme of laser-produced ions for reduction of the energy spread

In order to widely spread out particle beams utilized in cancer therapy, laser-produced ions are developed as the injection beam for an ion synchrotron dedicated for cancer therapy. Such a laser ion source is expected to contribute largely to the realization of compactness of the size and low cost of the cancer therapy accelerator. The energy spectrum of the laser-produced ions, however, has no peak, but their intensities decrease exponentially according to the increase of the energy. For the purpose of modifying such a situation, we have proposed a scheme to rotate the beam in the longitudinal phase space with the use of the RF electric field, which is phase-adjusted with the pulse laser. We aim for a reduction of the energy spread of ± 5% selected by an energy analyzer and slits to ±1% by such phase rotation. For this purpose, a quarter wavelength resonator with two gaps with the same resonant frequency as the source laser has already been fabricated, together with its RF power source. The above phase rotation system and its recent experimental realization are presented.     

How is chiral symmetry restored at finite density?

Taking into account pseudoscalar as well as scalar condensates, we reexamine the chiral restoration path on the chiral manifold. We shall see both condensates coherently produce a density wave at a certain density, which delays chiral restoration as density or temperature is increased.