Using europium as sensitive probe for both fluorescence and Mossbauer spectroscopy the morphological changes (local symmetry, covalence, ionicity) induced by the thermal treatments in the YVO(4) nanocrystals (synthesized by direct precipitation method) are put into evidence.
Silicon wafers have been submitted to hydrogen RF-plasma treatment in various experimental conditions The hydrogen RF-plasma treatment on Si wafers induces two kinds of effects surface corrugation and formation of structural defects below the wafer surface The structural defects resulted after the plasma treatments have been investigated by conventional and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (CTEM and HRTEM) techniques The specificity of the induced extended defects due to hydrogen decoration has been emphasized
New distributed multilayer microstrip structures are investigated in microwaves. The amplitude and phase responses are analyzed for different geometrical parameters, number of cells and dielectric constants of the dielectric layers. It is shown that the proposed structures exhibit left-handed properties in a frequency range near the resonance.
In this paper we present new results concerning the optical and morphologic properties of YVO4:Eu red nanophosphor prepared by a precipitation method and subsequently annealed in air at various temperatures. We monitored the morphologic changes induced by the thermal treatments using the optical spectroscopy (reflectance and luminescence spectra), XRD and electron microscopy. The annealing leads to an increase of the particle size and improvement of the order of the crystalline lattice of YVO4. The annealing at 800 degrees C produces the sample with the highest luminescence intensity.
In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) in Attenuated Total Reflectance mode was employed as main characterization technique to investigate the reaction mechanisms in vitro (SBF) of bioglass and glass-ceramic sputtered coatings. Two bioglass compositional systems are compared in order to gain more information regarding their in vitro bioreactivity. Important correlations between the concentration of non-bridging silicon-oxygen (Si-O-NBO) groups and the content of network modifiers were found. FTIR revealed that the high concentrations of Si-O-NBO groups are promoting the enhancing of coatings' reactivity. This information could be very useful for the development and tailoring of new bioactive glasses with an optimum biological behaviour. By varying the compositional features and the structural state, the sputtered glassy coatings exhibited different in vitro behaviour: inertness, resorbability and bioactivity.
The application area of piezoceramic materials and devices based on such materials is continuously extended. The working conditions for such devices and structures may be sometimes very hard such as low and high temperatures, nuclear radiation, high pressure and so on. Such conditions may affect to some extent the transducer performances due to the changes of the basic properties of piezoceramic materials used as sensors. In this regard we have investigated the changes of the main piezoelectric properties of two typically hard and soft piezoceramics within a large temperature range from 2 to 600 K. All parameters measured showed a rather steady increase or decrease with increasing temperature. The results were discussed in terms of intrinsic and domain wall contribution to the dielectric and piezoelectric response of materials.
Zeolites NaY and ZSM-5 were used as hosts for styrene polymerization after ion-exchange with europium ions. The parent and hybrid, polystyrene coated Eu-NaY (Eu-NaY/PS) and Eu-ZSM-5 (Eu-ZSM-5/PS) zeolites were investigated by using thermal analysis, SEM, PXRD, FT-IR, DR-UV/Vis, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. FT-IR spectra evidenced for the interaction between the zeolitic hosts and polystyrene while the PXRD spectra supported for the presence of the polymer inside the channels/pores of Eu-NaY/PS and Eu-ZSM-5/PS materials. The optical properties of Eu-NaY/PS and Eu-ZSM-5/PS were significantly changed relative to those of the parent zeolites, giving further evidence for the presence of polymer inside zeolites. An interesting case is presented by NaY zeolite: following styrene polymerization, the polymer interacted selectively with one of the two main species co-existing inside zeolite while for ZSM-5 a similar effect was not observed.
DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-3293-5_5
This paper discusses the quantum confinement effects in nanometric structures that form low dimensional systems. In such systems, each surface/interface acts like a potential barrier, i.e. the wall of a quantum well, generating new energy levels. These levels are computed in a model that uses the approximation of the infinite rectangular quantum wells. The model is adapted for 2D, 1D and 0D systems, respectively. Different applications are discussed. The differences between the model results and the experimental data are proved to be of the same order of magnitude as the differences between the levels computed within the frame of infinite and finite quantum well approximations.
Optical and electrical behavior of Giant Magnetoresistivc (GMR)/Tunneling Magnetoresistive (TMR) multilayer thin films were controlled adjusting thermionic vacuum arc plasma parameters. Smooth, dense and adherent films were prepared using optimized plasma conditions. A new setup for simultaneous depositions of pure materials was made, having inside the vacuum chamber three simultaneous discharges. To obtain the discharge all of the tungsten filaments of the thermionic vacuum arc guns were heated by a 45-55 A current. The emitted electrons were focused on a tungsten coated carbon crucible anode, filled with Cu, and the others crucible anodes filed with MgO, Co and Ag, respectively. The anode applied voltages for Cu, MgO Co and Ag were up to 1500 V, 1700V 1800V and 820V respectively. An optimization of the geometrical parameters as the distance between the cathode and the anode, and of the external parameters as the discharge voltage and the heating current of tungsten current filament was performed. Structural and morphological properties of the prepared films were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The behavior of the obtained films was first analyzed in a Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) experiment. The electrical resistance behavior of the prepared films was determined in a magnetic field which values varied from 0.4 T to 0.4 T. The important changes in the values of the electrical resistance of the films were observed and correlated to the plasma conditions.