Publications

TiO2:Fe thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition exhibit in some case light dependent saturation magnetization, as determined from Kerr magnetometry measurements performed in dark or by illuminating the sample. This phenomenon is Studied in correlation with local atomic Structure investigated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure, composition and chemical state analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by Xray absorption near-edge structure. It is found that light-controllable magnetism is a property of a mixture of Fe and oxidized Fe clusters embedded in the anatase TiO2 matrix.

The existence of Strange Quark Matter as a new stable or metastable form of existence of matter has been postulated by various authors quite a few years ago. Because until now a theory to predict the existence and the properties of these strangelets does not exist, it is absolutely necessary to investigate the peculiarities of their interactions with matter versus ordinary nuclear matter interactions. In the present contribution, some peculiarities of the ionization and nuclear energy loss of strangelets with matter are investigated in comparison with ordinary ions, as a useful tool for their search. The rescattering mechanism could produce sub-threshold reactions and thus it is suggested as a possibility to discriminate between ordinary isotopes and very heavy (candidates for) strangelets with the same charge number.

Nanostructured intrinsic and doped titania materials have long been subject to both basic and applied research, in connection with environment and energy related applications. Apart from beneficial effects. such as widening the wavelength range for surface photocatalytic activation, doping TiO2 materials with 3d ferromagnetic cations is a main route to develop ail important class of diluted semiconductors, with potential applications in spintronics. In all the previous investigations the concentration of the ferromagnetic dopant was limited to a few percents. Here, we initiate ail extended investigation of Ti1-xFexO2 within a, wider iron composition range (x = 0 - 0.55) and discuss the magnetic and optical properties of these materials in thin films in relation with their elemental composition, nano-structure and local atomic ordering.

In this paper the problem of designing simple low-cost planar microwave band-pass filters with strongly asymmetric characteristics, filters that can very efficiently attenuate an adjacent channel, is investigated. For a fourth-order filter, the usual quadruplet structure leads to two transmission zeros, located one on each side of the passband For one of the two adjacent channels, a higher attenuation can be obtained by designing filters with two transmission zeros with prescribed positions in the same stopband (upper or lower). The new topology investigated in this paper offers the possibility of designing such quadruplets with two transmission zeroes situated both on the same side of the passband, in prescribed and controlled positions. Filters with this novel structure can provide very high attenuation not only at a single frequency, but in a larger adjacent frequency band.

The influence of Pb2+ doping on the optical properties of LiF crystals before and after irradiation with X-ray was studied by using optical absorption and photoluminescence measurements. After irradiation it was observed an increase of the absorption due to primary and aggregate electronic defects together with a higher photoluminescence signals associated with the F-2 and F-3(+) colour centres in doped samples compared with the undoped ones.

In this paper a bandpass planar filter, with cross-couplings and with a pair of attenuation poles, is investigated. The equi-ripple in-band response and the location of the poles on the frequency axis can be precisely controlled by using a new technique which combines accurate electromagnetic field simulations and fast linear circuit optimization, allowing the design of bandpass filters with improved performances. To illustrate the procedure, a microstrip bandpass filter was designed, verified by em-field simulation, fabricated and tested. The response of the designed filter is in good agreement with the specification, confirming the possibilities of realizing microwave bandpass filters with rigorously controlled characteristics, with reduced design time and non-prohibitive computational effort.

Nanometric powders in the TiO2-CeO2 System were synthesized using sol-gel methods aiming at corrosion inhibitor preparation. The precursors employed were Ti(OiPr)(4) as TiO2 source and Ce(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O or Ce(CH3CO2)(3)center dot xH(2)O as CeO2 source. Several parameters were varied, like the cerium precursor (cerium nitrate or cerium acetate) and the TiO2:CeO2 molar ratios. For both cerium sources binary powders with TiO2:CeO2 = 4:1 or 1:1 molar ratios were prepared. The obtained materials were dried 12 h in an oven at 100 degrees C and then thermally treated for 1 h at 400 degrees C with a heating rate of 1 degrees C.min(-1) in order to eliminate the water and organic residues. In all cases, nanometric - predominantly amorphous - powders have been obtained which crystallized after the I h thermal treatment at 400 degrees C. The only exception was recorded for the TiO2:CeO2 = 4:1 composition prepared from the Ce(NO3)(3)-6H(2)O precursor which remained amorphous after the thermal treatment. Even though the primary particle sizes were similar to 4-5 nm, the material is constituted from aggregates larger than 50 nm. The desired presence of cerium in two valence states, necessary in active corrosion protection, was achieved and it was put into evidence by XPS and DTA/TGA for the TiO2:CeO2 = 4:1 binary compositions. Future studies have to be performed in order to reduce the agglomeration of the material.

Superconducting SiC and B4C-doped MgB2 samples containing up to three layers of pure Fe have been prepared by Field-Assisted-Sintering Technique (FAST). The adhesion between the Fe and doped-MgB2 layers is excellent due to the enhanced local interdiffusion and increased solubility of Fe into MgB2 grains that are typical for the non-equilibrium processes. Magnetic measurements showed the largest irreversibility, hence, the largest critical current density in the B4C-doped sandwich with one Fe foil. Additionally, the drawback of flux jumps at low temperatures is almost absent for one Fe-layer sandwiches. However, the irreversibility is smaller than in pure MgB2 and SiC-doped MgB2 samples prepared by the same technique, but without the insertion of Fe foil. When the number of Fe foils is increased to three and an excess of 5 % wt. Mg is added, the SiC-doped sandwiches show almost similar irreversibility values and field dependence (at 5 K and at 20 K) as the pristine MgB2 samples without Fe. But, the flux jump is recovered at the same level found for the pristine MgB2 without Fe. An explanation in terms of doping dependence of the ratio between the thermal and magnetic diffusion constants is proposed.

This work is focusing on the investigation of those radiation induced defects causing degradation effects of Silicon detector performance. Comparative studies of the defects induced by irradiation with Co-60- gamma rays, 23 GeV protons and I MeV equivalent reactor neutrons revealed the existence of some point defects and cluster related centers having a strong impact to damage properties of Si diodes. The detailed relation between the "microscopic" reasons as based on defect analysis and their "macroscopic" consequences for detector performance are presented. In particular, it is shown that the changes in the Si device properties (depletion voltage and leakage current) after exposing to high levels of Co-60- gamma irradiation can be completely understood by the microscopically investigated formation of two point defects: i) a defect formed via a second order process (I-p) that can be associated with the long searched for V2O complex or with a Carbon related center and is the cause for the observed type inversion effect in Oxygen lean material; ii) a bistable donor (BD) created during irradiation that is strongly generated in Oxygen rich material, associated with one of the earlier thermal donors in Si. It is the cause for the observed positive space charge induced by irradiation in oxygenated Si diodes. Specific for hadron irradiation are the annealing effects which decrease resp. increase the originally observed damage effects as seen by the changes of the depletion voltage (effects known as "beneficial" and "reverse" annealing, respectively). A group of four cluster related defects proved to be responsible for these annealing effects. Their formation is not affected by the Oxygen content or Si growth procedure suggesting that they are complexes of multivacancies located inside extended disordered regions.

The corrosion and behavior of carbon steel in 2M HCl in the presence of N-(2-hydroxybenzilidene) thiosemicarbazide (HBTC) was investigated using weight loss and electrochemical studies. The morphology of carbon steel surface was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Mossbauer spectrometry. The corrosion current was determined using Tafel polarization. The inhibition efficiency increased with HBTC concentration; the experimental results suggest that the presence of HBTC in the solution increases the surface coverage (); a decrease in the corrosion spot with the increase of the HBTC concentration indicates good adsorbability of HBTC on the metal surface. The adsorption of this compound on the metal surface is found to obey Langmuir's adsorption isotherm. Mossbauer spectroscopy showed at this stage the main product of corrosion is a non-stoichiometric amorphous Fe3+ oxyhydroxide, consisting of a mixture of , , and -FeOOH, where -FeOOH is the main phase.