Modeling of single- and multimode photonic-crystal planar waveguides with the plane-wave admittance method

One-foil targets emit most transition radiation (TR) power in storage ring synchrotrons. Such one-foil TR emitting targets (OFTRTs) are optimized, with respect to the foil material and the foil thickness, for use as X-ray lithography (XRL) sources. The best possible elemental material and the foil thickness of OFTRTs for XRL are determined for our storage ring synchrotrons MIRROIRCLE-20SX and MIRRORCLE-6X, which operate with electrons accelerated to 20 MeV and 6 MeV, respectively. It is shown that the XRL efficiency of a OFTRT, with an optimum thickness, increases when the elemental foil material has a lower atomic number Z. The best elemental OFTRT, for performing XRL by MIRRORCLE-20SX, should contain one Be foil with a thickness of d≅240 nm, while the second best OFTRT should be made of one C foil with d≅220 nm. The best elemental OFTRT, for performing XRL by MIRRORCLE-6X, should contain one C foil with d≅35 nm, while the second best OFTRT should be made of one Be foil with d≅100 nm, because there are no thinner Be foils. The XRL efficiency of a C-foil OFTRT increases when a higher-density foil is used. A OFTRT containing one foil of a given material with optimum thickness, in MIRRORCLE-20SX, has approximately 100 times larger XRL efficiency in comparison with such a target in MIRRORCLE-6X. PACS 41.50.+h; 29.25.-t; 81.16.Nd; 41.60.Ap; 29.20.Dh     

TEM investigation of formation mechanism of monocrystal-thick b-oriented pure silica zeolite MFI film

The first direct transmission electron microscopic (TEM) observation has been carried out on the continuous monocrystal-thick b-oriented pure silica zeolite MFI films produced by in situ crystallization. The self-supporting film samples for TEM study were fabricated by dissolving the steel substrate with acid. This TEM study is free of those artifacts that are typically associated with TEM sample preparations, and allows us to investigate the "true" structure and texture of a very large area of the film and at the same time to focus at will on each individual zeolite crystal in the film. Abundant TEM information including crystallographic orientation relationships among crystals in the film (both out-of-plane and in-plane), grain boundaries, and each crystal grain was obtained. This TEM investigation provides direct unambiguous new evidence to support the homogeneous nucleation mechanism, by which the films form through homogeneous nucleation and crystal growth in the bulk to form equal-sized disk-shape crystals, followed by self-assembly of these crystals onto the substrate to produce a two-dimensional close-packed structure. The last stage of the film formation involves simultaneous space-limited growth and rotation of the individual crystals to realize the in-plane crystallographic control within the film.     

Evidences for zeolite nucleation at the solid-liquid interface of gel cavities

The entire sequence of crystallization events, starting with formation of the initial organic-cation-free gel, proceeding through the zeolite nucleation stage, and finishing with complete transformation into LTA-type zeolite crystals, has been monitored by means of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Formation and development of voids, containing highly hydrated material transformed later into negative crystals, has been discovered in the solid part of the system. The evolution of these areas has been found to be an integral and noteworthy part of the chemical transformation of the gel that preceded the nucleation in the system. These void structures and, in particular, their solid-liquid interfaces have been identified as the specific locations where the formation of protozeolite nuclei took place. Further development of the system followed the classical for zeolite-yielding systems of crystallization that could be described by the autocatalytic model.     

Interactions between particles with an undulated contact line at a fluid interface: capillary multipoles of arbitrary order

A colloidal particle adsorbed at a fluid interface could have an undulated, or irregular contact line in the presence of surface roughness and/or chemical inhomogeneity. The contact-line undulations produce distortions in the surrounding liquid interface, whose overlap engenders capillary interaction between the particles. The convex and concave local deviations of the meniscus shape from planarity can be formally treated as positive and negative "capillary charges," which form "capillary multipoles." Here, we derive theoretical expressions for the interaction between two capillary multipoles of arbitrary order. Depending on the angle of mutual orientation, the interaction energy could exhibit a minimum, or it could represent a monotonic attraction. For undulation amplitudes larger than 5 nm, the interaction energy is typically much greater than the thermal energy kT. As a consequence, a monolayer from capillary multipoles exhibits considerable shear elasticity, and such monolayer is expected to behave as a two-dimensional elastic solid. These theoretical results could be helpful for the understanding of phenomena related to aggregation and ordering of particles adsorbed at a fluid interface, and for the interpretation of rheological properties of particulate monolayers. Related research fields are the particle-stabilized (Pickering) emulsions and the two-dimensional self-assembly of microscopic particles.     

On the Viscosity of Dilute Emulsions

The slow motion of a liquid droplet in a shear flow in the presence of surfactants is studied. The effects of the interfacial viscosity, Gibbs elasticity, surface diffusion and bulk diffusion of surfactants in both phases are taken into account. The analytical solution of the problem for small Reynolds and Peclet numbers gives a simple criterion for estimation of the tangential mobility of the droplet interface. By applying the standard procedure for averaging of the stress tensor flux at an arbitrary surface of the dilute emulsion, an analytical formula for the viscosity of emulsions in the presence of surfactants is derived. The result is a natural generalization of the well-known formula of Einstein for the viscosity of monodisperse dilute suspensions and of the expressions derived by Taylor and Oldroyd for the viscosity of monodisperse dilute emulsions taking into account the Marangoni effect. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.     

The Mosaic Structure of Zeolite Crystals

Zeolites are widely used in many commercial processes, mostly as catalysts or adsorbents. Understanding their intimate structure at the nanoscale is the key to control their properties and design the best materials for their ever increasing uses. Herein, we report a new and controllable fluoride treatment for the non‐discriminate extraction of zeolite framework cations. This sheds new light on the sub‐structure of commercially relevant zeolite crystals: they are segmented along defect zones exposing numerous nanometer‐sized crystalline domains, separated by low‐angle boundaries, in what were apparent single‐crystals. The concentration, morphology, and distribution of such domains analyzed by electron tomography indicate that this is a common phenomenon in zeolites, independent of their structure and chemical composition. This is a milestone to better understand their growth mechanism and rationally design superior catalysts and adsorbents.     

3D Study of the Morphology and Dynamics of Zeolite Nucleation

The principle aspects and constraints of the dynamics and kinetics of zeolite nucleation in hydrogel systems are analyzed on the basis of a model Na‐rich aluminosilicate system. A detailed time‐series EMT‐type zeolite crystallization study in the model hydrogel system was performed to elucidate the topological and temporal aspects of zeolite nucleation. A comprehensive set of analytical tools and methods was employed to analyze the gel evolution and complement the primary methods of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. TEM tomography reveals that the initial gel particles exhibit a core–shell structure. Zeolite nucleation is topologically limited to this shell structure and the kinetics of nucleation is controlled by the shell integrity. The induction period extends to the moment when the shell is consumed and the bulk solution can react with the core of the gel particles. These new findings, in particular the importance of the gel particle shell in zeolite nucleation, can be used to control the growth process and properties of zeolites formed in hydrogels.     

Optical switching applications of ZnSe/MgF2 photonic band gap structures based on thermal nonlinearities

We investigate a thermo-optical device based on a ZnSe/MgF₂ multilayer and demonstrate the modulation of its optical reflectance around the band edge. An electrically induced temperature increase is responsible for the change of the refractive indices of the layers. As a result, the reflection spectrum shifts and the reflected signal decreases. The structure was grown using a thermal evaporation technique, and was designed in such a way that a band edge appears at 632.8 nm, i.e. accessible to a low-power He–Ne laser. The reflection characteristics were investigated as a function of the applied voltage and we found that the photonic band edge shifts by a maximum of 7 nm for an applied voltage of 90 V. Furthermore, different sets of measurements have shown that the spectral shift depends on the voltage squared, thus allowing experimental data analysis in terms of the thermally driven optical nonlinearity.