National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Pure EuFeO3 and ceria were prepared via a sol-gel citrate route and were calcined at 700 degrees C. Separately, a 20 wt% EuFeO3/CeO2 was prepared via incipient wetness impregnation of calcined ceria with citrate precursors and calcined in the same conditions. SBET, XRD, toluene chemisorption, toluene-TPD and in situ Eu-151 and Fe-57 Mossbauer investigations were performed. All characterization data indicate the formation of a well-dispersed EuFeO3 at the surface of CeO2. During the oxidation of toluene Eu-151 and Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy suggested a cooperative effect of the cations. The catalysts were tested in total oxidation of toluene. In terms of intrinsic activity for toluene combustion, supported catalysts were more active than bulk EuFeO3. All structural changes during operation time were reversible. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We report on the deposition of Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films on unheated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique using a UV excimer laser and Al2O3:ZnO ceramic targets (1.5 and 2 wt% Al2O3). The deposited AZO films have been investigated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical spectrophotometry. Films present excellent optical and electrical properties (transmission in the visible range T > 85%; resistivity at room temperature rho = 1.3 x 10(-3) Omega cm) as electrodes for plastic solar cells. A good correlation was found between deposition conditions (laser fluence) and structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The surface of a ferroelectric BaTiO3(001) single crystal was studied using synchrotron radiation induced x-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). AFM, XPS, and LEED show that the surface is BaO terminated with a (1 x 1) reconstruction. The Ba 4d, Ti 2p, and O 1s XPD results were compared with multiple scattering simulations for out-of- (P+, P) and in-plane (P-in) polarizations using a genetic algorithm to determine atomic rumpling and interlayer relaxation. Linear combinations of the XPD simulations of the surface structure of each polarization state allow determination of the domain ordering. The best agreement with experiment is found for 55% P+, 38% P-, and 7% P-in. The rumpling is smaller at the surface than in the bulk, suggesting that both domain ordering and surface structural changes contribute to screening of the polarization.

The influence of milling type on the structural and magnetic behaviour of mechanically milled SmCo5/Fe65Co35 has been studied. By adjusting the mill speed parameters, (Omega/omega), three types of milling have been performed: shock mode process (SMP), friction mode process (FMP) and a combined shock followed by a friction mode process. It was found that in SMP conditions the remanent magnetization and composite coercivity increase with increasing milling time. The best exchange coupling, with a coercivity of 1.05 T, was obtained for samples milled for 8 h in SMP and annealed for 2 h at 550 degrees C. On the other hand, the low energy of FMP does not succeed in producing a microstructure adapted to favour the interphase exchange interactions between the soft and hard magnetic phases. A combined milling process does not change significantly the microstructure obtained previously after 8 h of SMP. This indicates that the microstructure of the composite is formed primarily during SMP while FMP, less energetic, does not drastically affect the crystallite size and crystallite shape of SMP samples. X-ray diffraction patterns were used to follow the evolution of the structure and microstructure. The diffusion of Fe and Co from Fe65Co35 to SmCo5 phase leads to the formation of Sm-2(Co,Fe)(17)/Fe-Co composite. The magnetic behaviour was checked from hysteresis curves and dM/dH vs. H plots. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The growth of gold layers on Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 (PZT) deposited on SrTiO3 is investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in the Au thickness range 2-100 angstrom. Two phases are identified, with compositions close to nominal PZT. The 'standard' phase is represented by all binding energies (Pb 4f, Ti 2p, Zr 3d, O 1s) sensibly equal to the nominal values for PZT, whereas the 'charged' phase exhibits all core levels are shifted by similar to 1 eV toward higher binding energies. By taking into account also scanning probe microscopy images together with recent photoemission results, the 'charged' phase belongs to P(+) regions of PZT, whereas the 'normal' phase corresponds to regions with no net ferroelectric polarization perpendicular to the surface. Au deposition proceeds in a band bending of Phi(PZT) - Phi(Au) similar to 0.4-0.5 eV for both phases, identified as similar shifts toward higher binding energies of all Pb, Ti, Zr, O core levels with Au deposition. The Au 4f core level exhibits also an unusually low binding energy component 1 eV below the 'nominal' Au 4f binding energy position (metal Au). This implies the existence of negatively charged gold, or electron transfer from PZT to Au, although the 'normal' PZT phase have a higher work function, as it is derived from the band bending. Most probably this charge transfer occurs toward Au nanoparticles, which have even higher ionization energies. High resolution transmission electron microscopy evidenced the formation of such isolated nanoparticles. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We investigated the influence of rare earth (RE) additions on the structural, dielectric, magnetic and magnetostrictive properties of cobalt ferrite bulk materials. Three lanthanide ions with different ionic radii and magnetic properties were used as dopants: Dy, Gd, La. The structural properties of the sintered samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The room temperature hysteresis loops were obtained using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The frequency dependence of dielectric permittivity and tangent loss was investigated in the 20 Hz-20 kHz range. The variation of the magnetoelectric response with applied dc magnetic field was analyzed. The insertion of rare earth elements influenced the structural characteristics of the samples (density, cell edge, porosity) and the magnetic and electric properties. An increase in coercive field and a decrease in saturation magnetization and magnetostriction coefficient were observed. These results can be partially explained by the weaker nature of the RE3+-Fe3+ interaction compared to Fe3+-Fe3+ interaction and to the antiferromagnetic alignment of the REFeO3 second phase observed in the diffraction patterns after sintering process. (C) 2012 Elsevier BY. All rights reserved.

Within the framework of density functional theory, the electronic structure and magnetic properties have been studied for the Ti2FeSn full-Heusler compound. The ferromagnetic state is found to be energetically more favorable than paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states. The spin-polarized results show that Ti2FeSn compound has half-metallic ferromagnetic character with a total spin moment of 2 mu(B) and a band gap in the minority spin channel of 0.489 eV, at the equilibrium lattice constant a = 6.342 angstrom. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We propose a new laser configuration in which the pump radiation is coupled into the laser crystal through a prism. The laser medium is square shaped and the prism is attached on one of its lateral sides, near one of the crystal extremities. The diode-laser fiber end is placed close to the prism hypotenuse, the pump radiation is coupled into the laser crystal through the opposite surface of the prism and propagates into the crystal through total internal reflections. This laser geometry is simple to align and permits the realization of compact diode-pumped laser systems, as well as power scaling. A diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser yielding pulses of 2.1 mJ energy under a pump with pulses of 9.9 mJ is demonstrated. The laser slope efficiency is 0.22. Furthermore, this geometry enables one to obtain passively Q-switched lasers with the saturable absorber crystal placed between the resonator high-reflectivity mirror and the laser crystal. A Nd: YAG laser, passively Q-switched by a Cr4+:YAG crystal with initial transmission T-0 = 0.90, delivering laser output with a pulsed energy of 93 mu J, a duration of 26 ns and a pump threshold of 1.9 mJ, is realized in order to prove the concept.

The recent revolution in modern optical techniques revealed that light interaction with matter generates a force, known as optical force, which produces material properties known in physics as optical matter. The basic technique of the domain uses forces exerted by a strongly focused beam of light to trap small objects and subsequently to manipulate their local structures. The purpose of this paper is to develop an alternative approach, using irradiations with high-density-green-photons, which induce electric dipoles by polarization effects. The materials used for the experiments were long carbon chains which represent the framework of biological macromolecules. The physical techniques used to reveal the locally induced molecular arrangements were: dynamic viscosity, zeta potential, chemiluminescence, liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry, and Raman and infrared spectroscopy. The principal result of our experiments was the detection of different molecular arrangements within the mixture of alkane chains, generated by our optical manipulations. This induced "optical matter" displayed two material properties: antioxidant effects and large molecular aggregation effects. In order to bring the experimental results in relation with theory, we developed a physical model and the interacting force between polarizable bodies was computed. By numerical calculations stable structures for N = 6 and N = 8 particles were obtained.

Bi2O3 and Bi-metal powders were mixed with MgB2 powder. Starting compositions were (MgB2)(Bi2O3) x, x = 0.0025, 0.005, 0.015, and (MgB2)(Bi)(y), y = 0.01. Mixtures were processed by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique. As obtained composite samples show high density, above 94 % of the theoretical density. Samples with Bi2O3 for x = 0.0025 and 0.005 show higher critical current densities, J(c), at high fields and at 20 K than for the pristine sample. Their irreversibility field, H-irr, is also higher. On the other hand, sample added with Bi-metal has lower J(c) and H-irr at any temperature than for the pristine sample.