Publications

The sol-gel deposition method has been successfully applied to obtain Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)03 thin films on platinized silicon wafers. Addition of different amounts (7-15 wt.%) of organic macromolecular polyvinylpyrrolidone in the precursor solution prior to spin coating proves to be an excellent method for obtaining porous films. The crystal structure of as deposited films was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The porous films show perovskite phase after annealing at 650 degrees C. The surface morphology has been studied by Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The surface profile indicates a roughness of the film of 5 nm and no microcracks on the surface. The ferroelectric behavior was proved for each film, by hysteresis loops and by the "butterfly" shape of the capacitance-voltage characteristics. The remnant polarization and the coercive field decrease while the amount of added PVP increases. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Small particles of iron - based magnetic spinel oxide are technologically interesting because of their magnetic properties. The synthesis from solution, generally achieved by coprecipitation, offers some advantages: simple and rapid preparation, control of particle size and composition, various possibilities to modify the particle surface state allowing to make homogeneous and stable dispersion in liquid or solid media. This work reports the thermal studies of magnetic iron spinel oxide nanoparticles. For this study, the Fe2+-Fe3+ mixture (Fe2+/Fe3+=0.5) was introduced in an alkaline solutions of which the pH was kept constant. The influence of the particles sizes on the Y -> aFe(2)O(3) transformation is analyzed.

Magnesium doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 material has been prepared by solid state reaction and characterized. The samples were sintered in the temperature range of 1270 divided by 1315 degrees C for 2 hours. The effect of sintering temperature on structural and dielectric properties was investigated. The 0.2 wt.% MgO addition improves the sintering process and well sintered samples with a high value of bulk density were achieved. The material exhibits a dielectric constant epsilon(r) similar to 36.6 and high values of the Qxf product, greater than 61000 at microwave frequencies. The dielectric properties make the magnesium doped (Zr0.8Sn0.2)TiO4 material very attractive for such microwave applications as dielectric resonators, filters, dielectric antennas, substrates for hybrid microwave integrated circuits, etc.

High harmonics ac susceptibility measurements joint with neutron irradiations on quasi-bi-dimensional high temperature superconductor (quasi-2D-HTSC) are good tools to study the flux dynamics and its interaction with pinning processes in these superconductors. Flux neutron intensity of 5 * 10(17) n * cm(-2) shows a deep change in the flux pinning dynamics in Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) system. Third harmonic susceptibility signal increases in amplitude after the neutron irradiation, followed by a rise of the pinning and critical current. Moreover, after the irradiation, the measurements underline the demise of the anomalous peak effect (PE) associated with a three-dime.nsional/two-dimensionaI (3D/2D) flux lattice transition.

Simple investigation of the electrical resistance does not permit to draw up the conduction mechanism of thin SnSe2 layers. The presence of reducing gas atmospheres, respectively CH4, CO and H2O could change the concentration of the free charge carriers, beside electron affinity changes induced by the appearance of surface dipoles. Work function and electrical resistance were simultaneous investigated for thin SnSe2 films. The experimental results permit the evaluation of electron affinity and band-bending behavior. Conduction mechanism can be discussed in terms of surface or bulk contribution.

We determined the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperature T-KT at the superconducting layer level and the mean-field critical temperature T-c0 in oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3Oy films (y similar to 6.5, 6.55, and 6.65). We used the T dependence of the quasi-two-dimensional I-V exponent for T T-KT. Both procedures give essentially the same results, with T-c0 remaining in the domain of the electrical resistivity drop.

Exchange-coupled Nd2Fe14B/alpha-Fe nanocomposite magnets receives considerable research interest, because these are regarded as promising candidate materials for permanent magnets, with an adequate performance while keeping the content of relatively expensive Nd low. The advantage of these new magnetic materials are the lower rare earth content (and consequently, cheaper magnets with better corrosion resistance). The Nd2Fe14B/alpha-Fe nanocomposites were obtained by recrystallisation treatment from an amorphous phase prepared by melt-spinning. For Fe contents, between 83 and 85 at. %, we have obtained the hardening of the alpha-Fe phase by exchange interactions between the hard Nd2Fe14B phase and the soft alpha-Fe phase. The evolution of the structure and main magnetic characteristics after different annealing conditions was studied. For all isotropic permanent magnets obtained from the prepared nanocomposites was measured a remanence ratio higher than 0.5, which confirm the existence of the mentioned exchange interactions.

CMS is a general purpose experiment, designed to study the physics of pp collisions at 14 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC). It currently involves more than 2000 physicists from more than 150 institutes and 37 countries. The LHC will provide extraordinary opportunities for particle physics based on its unprecedented collision energy and luminosity when it begins operation in 2007. The principal aim of this report is to present the strategy of CMS to explore the rich physics programme offered by the LHC. This volume demonstrates the physics capability of the CMS experiment. The prime goals of CMS are to explore physics at the TeV scale and to study the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking - through the discovery of the Higgs particle or otherwise. To carry out this task, CMS must be prepared to search for new particles, such as the Higgs boson or supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model particles, from the start- up of the LHC since new physics at the TeV scale may manifest itself with modest data samples of the order of a few fb(-1) or less. The analysis tools that have been developed are applied to study in great detail and with all the methodology of performing an analysis on CMS data specific benchmark processes upon which to gauge the performance of CMS. These processes cover several Higgs boson decay channels, the production and decay of new particles such as Z\' and supersymmetric particles, B-s production and processes in heavy ion collisions. The simulation of these benchmark processes includes subtle effects such as possible detector miscalibration and misalignment. Besides these benchmark processes, the physics reach of CMS is studied for a large number of signatures arising in the Standard Model and also in theories beyond the Standard Model for integrated luminosities ranging from 1 fb(-1) to 30 fb(-1). The Standard Model processes include QCD, B-physics, diffraction, detailed studies of the top quark properties, and electroweak physics topics such as the W and Z(0) boson properties. The production and decay of the Higgs particle is studied for many observable decays, and the precision with which the Higgs boson properties can be derived is determined. About ten different supersymmetry benchmark points are analysed using full simulation. The CMS discovery reach is evaluated in the SUSY parameter space covering a large variety of decay signatures. Furthermore, the discovery reach for a plethora of alternative models for new physics is explored, notably extra dimensions, new vector boson high mass states, little Higgs models, technicolour and others. Methods to discriminate between models have been investigated. This report is organized as follows. Chapter 1, the Introduction, describes the context of this document. Chapters 2-6 describe examples of full analyses, with photons, electrons, muons, jets, missing E-T, B-mesons and tau\'s, and for quarkonia in heavy ion collisions. Chapters 7-15 describe the physics reach for Standard Model processes, Higgs discovery and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Silicon detectors will be used in the next generation of experiments in high energy physics and bulk damage is the main limitation in their utilisation. Although silicon is the most studied semiconductor, and the studies of defects in silicon have a long history, until now it is not completely established what are all primary defects in silicon, and what are their properties. In this contribution we investigate the new perspective in understanding fundamental phenomena in silicon and implications for the damage of detector characteristics due to the existence of the new primary fourfold coordinated defect, with a lower value of the formation energy in respect to the "classically" known vacancies and interstitials. The effects of its existence at device level are investigated, and possible consequences for the detectors in the next generation of experiments are discussed.

The effect of ammonium polymolybdate (APM) on the corrosion of carbon steel in a solution of 1M HC1 was studied by weight loss, electrochemical measurement and Mossbauer Spectrometry. Inhibition efficiencies (P) were obtained from weight measurement and galvanostatic polarization. The inhibition efficiencies increased with concentration, but decreased with temperature. Free energies of activation (E-a for the inhibition processes were estimated from rate constant data obtained at different temperatures and different concentration of APM. Mossbauer spectrometry shows that a superficial compound is formed on the electrode surface as a result of corrosion.