Publications

Dielectric materials with a high permittivity (epsilon(r)), a high quality factor (Q) and a low temperature coefficient of the resonant frequency (tau(f)) have become very important for the miniaturization of microwave devices, such as filters or antennas. In this work, Ba(Zn1/3Ta2/3)O-3 (BZT) ceramics doped with Nb2O5, MnO2 or V2O3 were obtained by the conventional solid-state reaction method. We report on the compositional, structural and morphological characterization of BZT resonators, as well as on the influence of the dopant (type and quantity) and sintering temperature on their dielectric properties. The best microwave dielectric properties (epsilon(r) similar to 28.4 and Q x f similar to 236 THz) were achieved in the case of 1% V2O3 doping and 1600 C sintering temperature. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon nanowalls were synthesised by downstream deposition in an expanding radiofrequency argon plasma beam discharge injected with acetylene and hydrogen. The obtained layers have been investigated by Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, Selected Area Electron Diffraction, and Raman Spectroscopy. We present the influence of the substrate type on the material characteristics and report on the possibility to obtain free standing carbon nanowall layers. Also, the importance of pressure values and argon carrier mass flow rate during the deposition process is discussed in relation to the quality of the nanostructured material. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this paper we investigate the quantum phase transition from magnetic Bose Glass to magnetic Bose-Einstein condensation induced by amagnetic field in NiCl2 center dot 4SC(NH2)(2) (dichloro-tetrakis-thiourea-nickel, or DTN), doped with Br (Br-DTN) or site diluted. Quantum Monte Carlo simulations for the quantum phase transition of the model Hamiltonian for Br-DTN, as well as for site-diluted DTN, are consistent with conventional scaling at the quantum critical point and with a critical exponent z verifying the prediction z = d; moreover the correlation length exponent is found to be nu = 0.75(10), and the order parameter exponent to be beta = 0.95(10). We investigate the low-temperature thermodynamics at the quantum critical field of Br-DTN both numerically and experimentally, and extract the power-law behavior of the magnetization and of the specific heat. Our results for the exponents of the power laws, as well as previous results for the scaling of the critical temperature to magnetic ordering with the applied field, are incompatible with the conventional crossover-scaling Ansatz proposed by Fisher et al. [Phys. Rev. B 40, 546 (1989)]. However they can all be reconciled within a phenomenological Ansatz in the presence of a dangerously irrelevant operator.

The aim of this study was to obtain saccharide (dextran and sucrose)-coated maghemite nanoparticles with antibacterial activity. The polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles were synthesized by an adapted coprecipitation method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrate that the obtained polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles can be indexed into the spinel cubic lattice with a lattice parameter of 8.35 angstrom. The refinement of XRD spectra indicated that no other phases except the maghemite are detectable. The characterization of the polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles by various techniques is described. The antibacterial activity of these polysaccharide-coated maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) was tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1397, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Candida krusei 963, and Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and was found to be dependent on the polysaccharide type. The antibacterial activity of dextran-coated maghemite was significantly higher than that of sucrose-coated maghemite. The antibacterial studies showed the potential of dextran-coated iron oxide NPs to be used in a wide range of medical infections.

The usual experimental set-up for measuring the wave function phase shift of electrons tunneling through a quantum dot (QD) embedded in a ring (i.e., the transmittance phase) is the so-called 'open' interferometer as first proposed by Schuster et al. in 1997, in which the electrons back-scattered at source and the drain contacts are absorbed by additional leads in order to exclude multiple interference. While in this case one can conveniently use a simple two-path interference formula to extract the QD transmittance phase, the open interferometer has also a number of draw-backs, such as a reduced signal and some uncertainty regarding the effects of the extra leads. Here we present a meaningful theoretical study of the QD transmittance phase in 'closed' interferometers (i.e., connected only to source and drain leads). By putting together data from existing literature and giving some new proofs, we show both analytically and by numerical simulations that the existence of phase lapses between consecutive resonances of the 'bare' QD is related to the signs of the corresponding Fano parameters - of the QD + ring system. More precisely, if the Fano parameters have the same sign, the transmittance phase of the QD exhibits a I lapse. Therefore, closed mesoscopic interferometers can be used to address the 'universal phase lapse' problem. Moreover, the data from already existing Fano interference experiments from Kobayashi et al. in 2003 can be used to infer the phase lapses.

Smooth and adherent bioactive coatings with similar to 0.5 mu m thickness were deposited onto Si substrates by the radiofrequency-magnetron sputtering method at 150 degrees C under 0.4 Pa of Ar atmosphere using a bioglass powder as target with a composition in the SiO2-CaO-MgO-P2O5-CaF2-B2O3-Na2O system. The bioactivity of the as-prepared bioglass samples was assessed by immersion in simulated body fluid for different periods of time up to 30 days. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infra-red spectrometry and energy dispersive spectroscopy revealed that important structural and compositional changes took place upon immersing the samples in SBF. Whilst the excellent biomineralisation capability of the BG thin films was demonstrated by the in vitro induction of extensive and homogenous crystalline hydroxyapatite in-growths on their surfaces, a series of bioactivity process kinetics peculiarities (derogations from the classical model) were emphasised and thoroughly discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

We investigate the connection between the asymmetry of the Fano resonances in a mesoscopic interferometer with an embedded quantum dot and the pi lapses in the phase of the "bare" dot transmittance. Consecutive Fano resonances with the same (opposite) sign of the Fano parameter imply the presence (absence) of a phase lapse with pi between the corresponding resonances of the dot. Our results suggest that the famous "phase lapse" problem, first reported by Schuster et al. [R. Schuster, E. Buks, M. Heiblum, D. Mahalu, V. Umansky, H. Shtrikman, Nature 385 (1997) 417], can therefore be experimentally addressed in closed interferometers. It is also proposed that the Fano effect can be used to extract the phase distributions of the eigenfunctions for a mesoscopic 20 shape, via the parity of the resonances. In the presence of electron-electron interaction, one can calculate the phases of the T-matrix elements. The numerical results lead to the same conclusions as for the non-interacting case. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bi1.5-xZn0.92-yNb1.5O6.92-delta thin films have the potential to be implemented in microwave devices. This work aims to establish the effect of the substrate and of the grain size on the optical and dielectric properties. Bi1.5-xZn0.92-yNb1.5O6.92-delta thin films were grown at 700 degrees C via pulsed-laser deposition on R-plane sapphire and (100)(pc) LaAlO3 substrates at various oxygen pressures (30, 50, and 70 Pa). The structure, morphology, dielectric and optical properties were investigated. Despite bismuth and zinc deficiencies, with respect to the Bi1.5Zn0.92Nb1.5O6.92 stoichiometry, the films show the expected cubic pyrochlore structure with a (100) epitaxial-like growth. Different morphologies and related optical and dielectric properties were achieved, depending on the substrate and the oxygen pressure. In contrast to thin films grown on (100)(pc) LaAlO3, the films deposited on R-plane sapphire are characterized by a graded refractive index along the layer thickness. The refractive index (n) at 630 nm and the relative permittivity (epsilon(t)) measured at 10 GHz increase with the grain size: on sapphire, n varies from 2.29 to 2.39 and epsilon(r) varies from 85 to 135, when the grain size increases from 37 nm to 77 nm. On the basis of this trend, visible ellipsometry can be used to probe the characteristics in the microwave range quickly, nondestructively, and at a low cost.

The neutron field parameters (fluence and energy distribution) at a specific location outside the JET Torus Hall have been measured by means of super-heated fluid detectors (or "bubble detectors") in combination with an independent, time-of-flight, technique. The bubble detector assemblies were placed at the end of a vertical line of sight at about 16 m from the tokamak mid plane. Spatial distributions of the neutron fluence along the radial and toroidal directions have been obtained using two-dimensional arrays of bubble detectors. Using a set of three bubble detector spectrometers the neutron energy distribution was determined over a broad energy range, from about 10 keV to above 10 MeV, with an energy resolution of about 30% at 2.5 MeV. The very broad energy response allowed for the identification of energy features far from the main fusion component (around 2.45 MeV for deuterium discharges). [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4739410]