Glass-embedded two-dimensional silicon photonic crystal devices with a broad bandwidth waveguide and a high quality nanocavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Seung-Woo; Han, Jin-Kyu; Song, Bong-Shik; Noda, Susumu

2010-08-30

To enhance the mechanical stability of a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab structure and maintain its excellent performance, we designed a glass-embedded silicon photonic crystal device consisting of a broad bandwidth waveguide and a nanocavity with a high quality (Q) factor, and then fabricated the structure using spin-on glass (SOG). Furthermore, we showed that the refractive index of the SOG could be tuned from 1.37 to 1.57 by varying the curing temperature of the SOG. Finally, we demonstrated a glass-embedded heterostructured cavity with an ultrahigh Q factor of 160,000 by adjusting the refractive index of the SOG.

Traceable atomic force microscopy of high-quality solvent-free crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazzerini, Giovanni Mattia; Yacoot, Andrew; Paternò, Giuseppe Maria; Tregnago, Giulia; Cacialli, Franco; Treat, Neil; Stingelin, Natalie

2016-01-01

We report high-resolution, traceable atomic force microscopy measurements of high-quality, solvent-free single crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These were grown by drop-casting PCBM solutions onto the spectrosil substrates and by removing the residual solvent in a vacuum. A home-built atomic force microscope featuring a plane mirror differential optical interferometer, fiber-fed from a frequency-stabilized laser (emitting at 632.8 nm), was used to measure the crystals' height. The optical interferometer together with the stabilized laser provides traceability (via the laser wavelength) of the vertical measurements made with the atomic force microscope. We find that the crystals can conform to the surface topography, thanks to their height being significantly smaller compared to their lateral dimensions (namely, heights between about 50 nm and 140 nm, for the crystals analysed, vs. several tens of microns lateral dimensions). The vast majority of the crystals are flat, but an isolated, non-flat crystal provides insights into the growth mechanism and allows identification of “molecular terraces” whose height corresponds to one of the lattice constants of the single PCBM crystal (1.4 nm) as measured with X-ray diffraction

Surface quality inspection of PbWO4 crystals by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mengucci, P.; Di Cristoforo, A.; Lebeau, M.; Majni, G.; Paone, N.; Pietroni, P.; Rinaldi, D.

2005-01-01

High-quality scintillating crystals are required for applications in radiographic systems and high-energy physics detectors to achieve the specified optical properties. In order to study the state of the single crystals surface we propose the use of the grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) technique. This technique allows performing a depth profiling of the sample by changing the incidence angle of the X-ray beam with respect to the sample surface. In this work, two samples of a large PbWO 4 (PWO) single crystal exhibiting different surface roughness values have been studied. Results have shown that GID is a suitable technique for surface quality inspection

Large-surface-area diamond (111) crystal plates for applications in high-heat-load wavefront-preserving X-ray crystal optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoupin, Stanislav; Antipov, Sergey; Butler, James E; Kolyadin, Alexander V; Katrusha, Andrey

2016-09-01

Fabrication and results of high-resolution X-ray topography characterization of diamond single-crystal plates with large surface area (10 mm × 10 mm) and (111) crystal surface orientation for applications in high-heat-load X-ray crystal optics are reported. The plates were fabricated by laser-cutting of the (111) facets of diamond crystals grown using high-pressure high-temperature methods. The intrinsic crystal quality of a selected 3 mm × 7 mm crystal region of one of the studied samples was found to be suitable for applications in wavefront-preserving high-heat-load crystal optics. Wavefront characterization was performed using sequential X-ray diffraction topography in the pseudo plane wave configuration and data analysis using rocking-curve topography. The variations of the rocking-curve width and peak position measured with a spatial resolution of 13 µm × 13 µm over the selected region were found to be less than 1 µrad.

Active Photonic crystal fibers for high power applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olausson, Christina Bjarnal Thulin

The photonic crystal ber technology provides means to realize bers optimized for high power operation, due to the large single-mode cores and the unique design exibility of the microstructure. The work presented in this thesis focuses on improving the properties of active photonic crystal bers...... contributed to the compounding of new and improved material compositions. The second part is an investigation of pump absorption in photonic crystal bers, demonstrating that the microstructure in photonic crystal bers improves the pump absorption by up to a factor of two compared to step-index bers....... This plays an important role in high power lasers and ampliers with respect to efficiency, packaging, and thermal handling. The third part of the work has involved developing tools for characterizing the mode quality and stability of large core bers. Stable, single-mode bers with larger cores are essential...

Terahertz gas sensing based on a simple one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity with high-quality factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, T.; Han, Z. H.; Liu, J. J.

2014-01-01

We report in this paper terahertz gas sensing using a simple 1D photonic crystal cavity. The resonant frequencies of the cavity depend linearly on the refractive index of the ambient gas, which can then be measured by monitoring the resonance shift. Although quite easy to manufacture, this cavity...... exhibits high-quality factors, facilitating the realization of high sensitivity in the gas refractive index sensing. In our experiment, 6% of the change of hydrogen concentration in air, which corresponds to a refractive index change of 1.4 x 10(-5), can be steadily detected, and different gas samples can...

The Stanford Automated Mounter: Enabling High-Throughput Protein Crystal Screening at SSRL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, C.A.; Cohen, A.E.

2009-01-01

The macromolecular crystallography experiment lends itself perfectly to high-throughput technologies. The initial steps including the expression, purification, and crystallization of protein crystals, along with some of the later steps involving data processing and structure determination have all been automated to the point where some of the last remaining bottlenecks in the process have been crystal mounting, crystal screening, and data collection. At the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, a National User Facility that provides extremely brilliant X-ray photon beams for use in materials science, environmental science, and structural biology research, the incorporation of advanced robotics has enabled crystals to be screened in a true high-throughput fashion, thus dramatically accelerating the final steps. Up to 288 frozen crystals can be mounted by the beamline robot (the Stanford Auto-Mounting System) and screened for diffraction quality in a matter of hours without intervention. The best quality crystals can then be remounted for the collection of complete X-ray diffraction data sets. Furthermore, the entire screening and data collection experiment can be controlled from the experimenter's home laboratory by means of advanced software tools that enable network-based control of the highly automated beamlines.

Traceable atomic force microscopy of high-quality solvent-free crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C{sub 61}-butyric acid methyl ester

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazzerini, Giovanni Mattia; Yacoot, Andrew [National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW (United Kingdom); Paternò, Giuseppe Maria; Tregnago, Giulia; Cacialli, Franco [Department of Physics and Astronomy and London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Treat, Neil; Stingelin, Natalie [Department of Materials Science, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2016-02-01

We report high-resolution, traceable atomic force microscopy measurements of high-quality, solvent-free single crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These were grown by drop-casting PCBM solutions onto the spectrosil substrates and by removing the residual solvent in a vacuum. A home-built atomic force microscope featuring a plane mirror differential optical interferometer, fiber-fed from a frequency-stabilized laser (emitting at 632.8 nm), was used to measure the crystals' height. The optical interferometer together with the stabilized laser provides traceability (via the laser wavelength) of the vertical measurements made with the atomic force microscope. We find that the crystals can conform to the surface topography, thanks to their height being significantly smaller compared to their lateral dimensions (namely, heights between about 50 nm and 140 nm, for the crystals analysed, vs. several tens of microns lateral dimensions). The vast majority of the crystals are flat, but an isolated, non-flat crystal provides insights into the growth mechanism and allows identification of “molecular terraces” whose height corresponds to one of the lattice constants of the single PCBM crystal (1.4 nm) as measured with X-ray diffraction.

Large and high-quality single-crystal growth of cuprate superconductor Bi-2223 using the traveling-solvent floating-zone (TSFZ) method

Science.gov (United States)

Adachi, Shintaro; Usui, Tomohiro; Kosugi, Kenta; Sasaki, Nae; Sato, Kentaro; Fujita, Masaki; Yamada, Kazuyoshi; Fujii, Takenori; Watanabe, Takao

In high superconducting transition temperature (high-Tc) cuprates, it is empirically known that Tc increases on increasing the number of CuO2 planes in a unit cell n from 1 to 3. Bi-family cuprates are ideal for investigating the microscopic mechanism involved. However, it is difficult to grow tri-layered Bi-2223, probably owing to its narrow crystallization field. Here, we report improved crystal growth of this compound using the TSFZ method under conditions slightly different from those in an earlier report [J. Cryst. Growth 223, 175 (2001)]. A Bi-rich feed-rod composition of Bi2.2Sr1.9Ca2Cu3Oy and a slightly oxygen-reduced atmosphere (mixed gas flow of O2 (10%) and Ar (90%)) were adopted for the crystal growth. In addition, to increase the supersaturation of the melts, we applied a large temperature gradient along the solid-liquid interface by shielding a high-angle light beam using Al foil around the quartz tube. In this way, we succeeded in preparing large (2 × 2 × 0 . 05 mm3) and high-quality (almost 100% pure) Bi-2223 single crystals. Hirosaki University Grant for Exploratory Research by Young Scientists and Newly-appointed Scientists.

Quality inspection of anisotropic scintillating crystals through measurement of interferometric fringe pattern parameters

CERN Document Server

Cocozzella, N; Majni, G; Paone, N; Rinaldi, D T

2001-01-01

Scintillating crystals are widely used as detectors in radiographic systems, computerized axial tomography devices and in calorimeters employed in high-energy physics. This paper results from a project motivated by the development of the CMS calorimeter at CERN, which will make use of a large number of scintillating crystals. In order to prevent crystals from breaking because of internal residual stress, a quality control system based on optic inspection of interference fringe patterns was developed. The principle of measurement procedures was theoretically modelled, and then a dedicated polariscope was designed and built, in order to observe the crystals under induced stresses or to evaluate the residual internal stresses. The results are innovative and open a new perspective for scintillating crystals quality control: the photoelastic constant normal to the optic axis of the lead tungstate crystals (PbWO sub 4) was measured, and the inspection procedure developed is applicable to mass production, not only t...

Dramatic Improvement of Crystal Quality for Low-temperature-grown Rabbit Muscle Aldolase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, H.; Rangarajan, E; Sygusch, J; Izard, T

2010-01-01

Rabbit muscle aldolase (RMA) was crystallized in complex with the low-complexity domain (LC4) of sorting nexin 9. Monoclinic crystals were obtained at room temperature that displayed large mosaicity and poor X-ray diffraction. However, orthorhombic RMA-LC4 crystals grown at 277 K under similar conditions exhibited low mosaicity, allowing data collection to 2.2 {angstrom} Bragg spacing and structure determination. It was concluded that the improvement of crystal quality as indicated by the higher resolution of the new RMA-LC4 complex crystals was a consequence of the introduction of new lattice contacts at lower temperature. The lattice contacts corresponded to an increased number of interactions between high-entropy side chains that mitigate the lattice strain incurred upon cryocooling and accompanying mosaic spread increases. The thermodynamically unfavorable immobilization of high-entropy side chains used in lattice formation was compensated by an entropic increase in the bulk-solvent content owing to the greater solvent content of the crystal lattice.

Dramatic improvement of crystal quality for low-temperature-grown rabbit muscle aldolase.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hajeung; Rangarajan, Erumbi S; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-05-01

Rabbit muscle aldolase (RMA) was crystallized in complex with the low-complexity domain (LC4) of sorting nexin 9. Monoclinic crystals were obtained at room temperature that displayed large mosaicity and poor X-ray diffraction. However, orthorhombic RMA-LC4 crystals grown at 277 K under similar conditions exhibited low mosaicity, allowing data collection to 2.2 A Bragg spacing and structure determination. It was concluded that the improvement of crystal quality as indicated by the higher resolution of the new RMA-LC4 complex crystals was a consequence of the introduction of new lattice contacts at lower temperature. The lattice contacts corresponded to an increased number of interactions between high-entropy side chains that mitigate the lattice strain incurred upon cryocooling and accompanying mosaic spread increases. The thermodynamically unfavorable immobilization of high-entropy side chains used in lattice formation was compensated by an entropic increase in the bulk-solvent content owing to the greater solvent content of the crystal lattice.

Seeded growth of boron arsenide single crystals with high thermal conductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Fei; Song, Bai; Lv, Bing; Sun, Jingying; Huyan, Shuyuan; Wu, Qi; Mao, Jun; Ni, Yizhou; Ding, Zhiwei; Huberman, Samuel; Liu, Te-Huan; Chen, Gang; Chen, Shuo; Chu, Ching-Wu; Ren, Zhifeng

2018-01-01

Materials with high thermal conductivities are crucial to effectively cooling high-power-density electronic and optoelectronic devices. Recently, zinc-blende boron arsenide (BAs) has been predicted to have a very high thermal conductivity of over 2000 W m-1 K-1 at room temperature by first-principles calculations, rendering it a close competitor for diamond which holds the highest thermal conductivity among bulk materials. Experimental demonstration, however, has proved extremely challenging, especially in the preparation of large high quality single crystals. Although BAs crystals have been previously grown by chemical vapor transport (CVT), the growth process relies on spontaneous nucleation and results in small crystals with multiple grains and various defects. Here, we report a controllable CVT synthesis of large single BAs crystals (400-600 μm) by using carefully selected tiny BAs single crystals as seeds. We have obtained BAs single crystals with a thermal conductivity of 351 ± 21 W m-1 K-1 at room temperature, which is almost twice as conductive as previously reported BAs crystals. Further improvement along this direction is very likely.

Dramatic improvement of crystal quality for low-­temperature-grown rabbit muscle aldolase

Science.gov (United States)

Park, HaJeung; Rangarajan, Erumbi S.; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-01-01

Rabbit muscle aldolase (RMA) was crystallized in complex with the low-complexity domain (LC4) of sorting nexin 9. Monoclinic crystals were obtained at room temperature that displayed large mosaicity and poor X-ray diffraction. However, orthorhombic RMA–LC4 crystals grown at 277 K under similar conditions exhibited low mosaicity, allowing data collection to 2.2 Å Bragg spacing and structure determination. It was concluded that the improvement of crystal quality as indicated by the higher resolution of the new RMA–LC4 complex crystals was a consequence of the introduction of new lattice contacts at lower temperature. The lattice contacts corresponded to an increased number of interactions between high-entropy side chains that mitigate the lattice strain incurred upon cryocooling and accompanying mosaic spread increases. The thermodynamically unfavorable immobilization of high-entropy side chains used in lattice formation was compensated by an entropic increase in the bulk-solvent content owing to the greater solvent content of the crystal lattice. PMID:20445268

Traceable atomic force microscopy of high-quality solvent-free crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester

OpenAIRE

Lazzerini, GM; Paterno, GM; Tregnago, G; Treat, N; Stingelin, N; Yacoot, A; Cacialli, F

2016-01-01

We report high-resolution, traceable atomic force microscopymeasurements of high-quality, solvent-free single crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These were grown by drop-casting PCBM solutions onto the spectrosil substrates and by removing the residual solvent in a vacuum. A home-built atomic force microscope featuring a plane mirror differential optical interferometer, fiber-fed from a frequency-stabilized laser (emitting at 632.8???nm), was used to measure the cr...

Traceable atomic force microscopy of high-quality solvent-free crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C-61-butyric acid methyl ester

OpenAIRE

Lazzerini, G. M.; Paterno, G. M.; Tregnago, G.; Treat, N.; Stingelin, N.; Yacoot, A.; Cacialli, F.

2016-01-01

We report high-resolution, traceable atomic force microscopymeasurements of high-quality, solvent-free single crystals of [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). These were grown by drop-casting PCBM solutions onto the spectrosil substrates and by removing the residual solvent in a vacuum. A home-built atomic force microscope featuring a plane mirror differential optical interferometer, fiber-fed from a frequency-stabilized laser (emitting at 632.8 nm), was used to measure the crys...

Recent developments of high quality synthetic diamond single crystals for synchrotron X-ray monochromators

CERN Document Server

Freund, A K; Sellschop, J P Friedel; Burns, R C; Rebak, M

2001-01-01

For several years now, the ESRF, the University of the Witwatersrand and Messrs. De Beers Industrial Diamonds (Pty) Ltd. through their Diamond Research Laboratory, have pursued a development programme to assess and improve the quality of synthetic diamonds. Recently, in an effort to study the influence of nitrogen impurities on the defect structure, X-ray excited optical luminescence and spatially resolved double-crystal diffractometry were employed as new techniques. The correlation between nitrogen impurities and the raw defect structure was clearly visible. It was confirmed that concentration variations are related to lattice imperfections, where tilts are much more important than lattice constant variations. High reflectivity was observed and quite large zones of a sample bigger than 1 cm sup 2 showed to be perfect to within better than 0.5 arcsec.

Dramatic improvement of crystal quality for low-temperature-grown rabbit muscle aldolase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, HaJeung; Rangarajan, Erumbi S.; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-01-01

Rabbit muscle aldolase (RMA) was crystallized in complex with the low-complexity domain (LC4) of sorting nexin 9. Monoclinic crystals were obtained at room temperature that displayed large mosaicity and poor X-ray diffraction. However, orthorhombic RMA–LC4 crystals grown at 277 K under similar conditions exhibited low mosaicity, allowing data collection to 2.2 Å Bragg spacing and structure determination. Rabbit muscle aldolase (RMA) was crystallized in complex with the low-complexity domain (LC4) of sorting nexin 9. Monoclinic crystals were obtained at room temperature that displayed large mosaicity and poor X-ray diffraction. However, orthorhombic RMA–LC4 crystals grown at 277 K under similar conditions exhibited low mosaicity, allowing data collection to 2.2 Å Bragg spacing and structure determination. It was concluded that the improvement of crystal quality as indicated by the higher resolution of the new RMA–LC4 complex crystals was a consequence of the introduction of new lattice contacts at lower temperature. The lattice contacts corresponded to an increased number of interactions between high-entropy side chains that mitigate the lattice strain incurred upon cryocooling and accompanying mosaic spread increases. The thermodynamically unfavorable immobilization of high-entropy side chains used in lattice formation was compensated by an entropic increase in the bulk-solvent content owing to the greater solvent content of the crystal lattice

Quality inspection of anisotropic scintillating lead tungstate (PbWO4) crystals through measurement of interferometric fringe pattern parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cocozzella, N.; Lebeau, M.; Majni, G.; Paone, N.; Rinaldi, D.

2001-01-01

Scintillating crystals are widely used as detectors in radiographic systems, computerized axial tomography devices and in calorimeters employed in high-energy physics. This paper results from a project motivated by the development of the CMS calorimeter at CERN, which will make use of a large number of scintillating crystals. In order to prevent crystals from breaking because of internal residual stress, a quality control system based on optic inspection of interference fringe patterns was developed. The principle of measurement procedures was theoretically modelled, and then a dedicated polariscope was designed and built, in order to observe the crystals under induced stresses or to evaluate the residual internal stresses. The results are innovative and open a new perspective for scintillating crystals quality control: the photoelastic constant normal to the optic axis of the lead tungstate crystals (PbWO 4 ) was measured, and the inspection procedure developed is applicable to mass production, not only to optimize the crystal processing, but also to establish a quality inspection procedure

Quality inspection of anisotropic scintillating lead tungstate (PbWO 4) crystals through measurement of interferometric fringe pattern parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Cocozzella, N.; Lebeau, M.; Majni, G.; Paone, N.; Rinaldi, D.

2001-08-01

Scintillating crystals are widely used as detectors in radiographic systems, computerized axial tomography devices and in calorimeters employed in high-energy physics. This paper results from a project motivated by the development of the CMS calorimeter at CERN, which will make use of a large number of scintillating crystals. In order to prevent crystals from breaking because of internal residual stress, a quality control system based on optic inspection of interference fringe patterns was developed. The principle of measurement procedures was theoretically modelled, and then a dedicated polariscope was designed and built, in order to observe the crystals under induced stresses or to evaluate the residual internal stresses. The results are innovative and open a new perspective for scintillating crystals quality control: the photoelastic constant normal to the optic axis of the lead tungstate crystals (PbWO 4) was measured, and the inspection procedure developed is applicable to mass production, not only to optimize the crystal processing, but also to establish a quality inspection procedure.

Quality evaluation of resistivity-controlled silicon crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jong Hoe

2006-01-01

The segregation phenomenon of dopants causes a low production yield of silicon crystal that meets the resistivity tolerance required by device manufacturers. In order to control the macroscopic axial resistivity distribution in bulk crystal growth, numerous studies including continuous Czochralski method and double crucible technique have been studied. The simple B-P codoping method for improving the productivity of p-type silicon single-crystal growth by controlling axial specific resistivity distribution was proposed by Wang [Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 43 (2004) 4079]. In this work, the quality of Czochralski-grown silicon single crystals with a diameter 200 mm using B-P codoping method was studied from the chemical and structural points of view. It was found that the characteristics of B-P codoped wafers including the oxygen precipitation behavior and the grown-in defects are same as that of conventional B-doped Czochralski crystals.

Highly resistive C-doped hydride vapor phase epitaxy-GaN grown on ammonothermally crystallized GaN seeds

Science.gov (United States)

Iwinska, Malgorzata; Piotrzkowski, Ryszard; Litwin-Staszewska, Elzbieta; Sochacki, Tomasz; Amilusik, Mikolaj; Fijalkowski, Michal; Lucznik, Boleslaw; Bockowski, Michal

2017-01-01

GaN crystals were grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) and doped with C. The seeds were high-structural-quality ammonothermally crystallized GaN. The grown crystals were highly resistive at 296 K and of high structural quality. High-temperature Hall effect measurements revealed p-type conductivity and a deep acceptor level in the material with an activation energy of 1 eV. This is in good agreement with density functional theory calculations based on hybrid functionals as presented by the Van de Walle group. They obtained an ionization energy of 0.9 eV when C was substituted for N in GaN and acted as a deep acceptor.

Fast high-pressure freezing of protein crystals in their mother liquor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burkhardt, Anja; Warmer, Martin; Panneerselvam, Saravanan; Wagner, Armin; Zouni, Athina; Glöckner, Carina; Reimer, Rudolph; Hohenberg, Heinrich; Meents, Alke

2012-01-01

Protein crystals were vitrified using high-pressure freezing in their mother liquor at 210 MPa and 77 K without cryoprotectants or oil coating. The method was successfully applied to photosystem II, which is representative of a membrane protein with a large unit cell and weak crystal contacts. High-pressure freezing (HPF) is a method which allows sample vitrification without cryoprotectants. In the present work, protein crystals were cooled to cryogenic temperatures at a pressure of 210 MPa. In contrast to other HPF methods published to date in the field of cryocrystallography, this protocol involves rapid sample cooling using a standard HPF device. The fast cooling rates allow HPF of protein crystals directly in their mother liquor without the need for cryoprotectants or external reagents. HPF was first attempted with hen egg-white lysozyme and cubic insulin crystals, yielding good to excellent diffraction quality. Non-cryoprotected crystals of the membrane protein photosystem II have been successfully cryocooled for the first time. This indicates that the presented HPF method is well suited to the vitrification of challenging systems with large unit cells and weak crystal contacts

High-throughput crystal-optimization strategies in the South Paris Yeast Structural Genomics Project: one size fits all?

Science.gov (United States)

Leulliot, Nicolas; Trésaugues, Lionel; Bremang, Michael; Sorel, Isabelle; Ulryck, Nathalie; Graille, Marc; Aboulfath, Ilham; Poupon, Anne; Liger, Dominique; Quevillon-Cheruel, Sophie; Janin, Joël; van Tilbeurgh, Herman

2005-06-01

Crystallization has long been regarded as one of the major bottlenecks in high-throughput structural determination by X-ray crystallography. Structural genomics projects have addressed this issue by using robots to set up automated crystal screens using nanodrop technology. This has moved the bottleneck from obtaining the first crystal hit to obtaining diffraction-quality crystals, as crystal optimization is a notoriously slow process that is difficult to automatize. This article describes the high-throughput optimization strategies used in the Yeast Structural Genomics project, with selected successful examples.

Optical microcavities based on surface modes in two-dimensional photonic crystals and silicon-on-insulator photonic crystals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xiao, Sanshui; Qiu, M.

2007-01-01

Surface-mode optical microcavities based on two-dimensional photonic crystals and silicon-on-insulator photonic crystals are studied. We demonstrate that a high-quality-factor microcavity can be easily realized in these structures. With an increasing of the cavity length, the quality factor is gr...... is gradually enhanced and the resonant frequency converges to that of the corresponding surface mode in the photonic crystals. These structures have potential applications such as sensing.......Surface-mode optical microcavities based on two-dimensional photonic crystals and silicon-on-insulator photonic crystals are studied. We demonstrate that a high-quality-factor microcavity can be easily realized in these structures. With an increasing of the cavity length, the quality factor...

The accuracy of the crystal chemical parameters at high-pressure conditions from single-crystal X-ray diffraction in diamond-anvil cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Periotto, Benedetta

-ray instruments. At the same time, the high-pressure experiments have benefited by the strong improvements on the high-pressure devices, in particular the diamond-anvil cell (DAC). The aim of this research project is to assess the quality of the data obtained by means of the single-crystal X-ray diffraction...... technique through the study of different mineral phases. The procedure for setting up an experiment under high-pressure conditions, using a single crystal as sample held within a DAC, are presented here with all the details of the in situ measurements at high-pressure conditions. The research project...... started with a comparison between two different DACs, in order to define the capabilities of one of the most common types of pressure device, the ETH-type DAC. Application examples of data quality analysis have been conducted on pyroxenes (NaInSi2O6, orthoenstatite MgSiO3 and LiCrSi2O6), which...

Comparison of the quality of single-crystal diamonds grown on two types of seed substrates by MPCVD

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Yun; Guo, Yanzhao; Lin, Liangzhen; Zheng, Yuting; Hei, Lifu; Liu, Jinlong; Wei, Junjun; Chen, Liangxian; Li, Chengming

2018-06-01

Microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) was used to grow single-crystal diamonds on two types of single-crystal diamond seed substrates prepared by high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. The quality of diamonds grown on the different seed substrates was compared. Fluorescence characteristics showed that the sectors of the HPHT seed substrates were obviously partitioned. Raman and absorption spectra showed that the CVD seed substrate produced higher-quality crystals with fewer nitrogen impurities. X-ray topography showed that the HPHT seed substrate had obvious growth sector boundaries, inclusions, dislocations, and stacking faults. The polarization characteristics of HPHT seed substrate were obvious, and the stress distribution was not uniform. When etching HPHT and CVD seed substrates using the same parameters, the etching morphology and extent of different growth sectors of the two substrates differed. Although extended defects were inevitably formed at the interface and propagated in the CVD layer, the dislocation density of a 1 mm-thick CVD layer grown on a CVD seed substrate was only half that of a 1 mm-thick CVD layer grown on an HPHT seed substrate. Therefore, the use of CVD seed substrate enabled the growth of a relatively higher-quality CVD single-crystal diamond.

Improvement of seawater salt quality by hydro-extraction and re-crystallization methods

Science.gov (United States)

Sumada, K.; Dewati, R.; Suprihatin

2018-01-01

Indonesia is one of the salt producing countries that use sea water as a source of raw materials, the quality of salt produced is influenced by the quality of sea water. The resulting average salt quality contains 85-90% NaCl. The Indonesian National Standard (SNI) for human salt’s consumption sodium chloride content is 94.7 % (dry base) and for industrial salt 98,5 %. In this study developed the re-crystallization without chemical and hydro-extraction method. The objective of this research to choose the best methods based on efficiency. The results showed that re-crystallization method can produce salt with NaCl content 99,21%, while hydro-extraction method content 99,34 % NaCl. The salt produced through both methods can be used as a consumption and industrial salt, Hydro-extraction method is more efficient than re-crystallization method because re-crystallization method requires heat energy.

Anti-Solvent Crystallization Strategies for Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Konstantakou

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Solution-processed organic-inorganic halide perovskites are currently established as the hottest area of interest in the world of photovoltaics, ensuring low manufacturing cost and high conversion efficiencies. Even though various fabrication/deposition approaches and device architectures have been tested, researchers quickly realized that the key for the excellent solar cell operation was the quality of the crystallization of the perovskite film, employed to assure efficient photogeneration of carriers, charge separation and transport of the separated carriers at the contacts. One of the most typical methods in chemistry to crystallize a material is anti-solvent precipitation. Indeed, this classical precipitation method worked really well for the growth of single crystals of perovskite. Fortunately, the method was also effective for the preparation of perovskite films by adopting an anti-solvent dripping technique during spin-coating the perovskite precursor solution on the substrate. With this, polycrystalline perovskite films with pure and stable crystal phases accompanied with excellent surface coverage were prepared, leading to highly reproducible efficiencies close to 22%. In this review, we discuss recent results on highly efficient solar cells, obtained by the anti-solvent dripping method, always in the presence of Lewis base adducts of lead(II iodide. We present all the anti-solvents that can be used and what is the impact of them on device efficiencies. Finally, we analyze the critical challenges that currently limit the efficacy/reproducibility of this crystallization method and propose prospects for future directions.

Anomalous magnetotransport properties of high-quality single crystals of Weyl semimetal WTe2: Sign change of Hall resistivity

Science.gov (United States)

Jha, Rajveer; Higashinaka, Ryuji; Matsuda, Tatsuma D.; Ribeiro, Raquel A.; Aoki, Yuji

2018-05-01

We report on a systematic study of Hall effect using high quality single crystals of type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2 with the applied magnetic field B//c. The residual resistivity ratio of 1330 and the large magnetoresistance of 1.5 × 106 % in 9 T at 2 K, being in the highest class in the literature, attest to their high quality. Based on a simple two-carrier model, the densities (ne and nh) and mobilities (μe and μh) for electron and hole carriers have been uniquely determined combining both Hall- and electrical-resistivity data. The difference between ne and nh is 1% at 2 K, indicating that the system is in an compensated condition. The negative Hall resistivity growing rapidly below 20 K is due to a rapidly increasing μh/μe approaching one. Below 3 K in a low field region, we found the Hall resistivity becomes positive, reflecting that μh/μe finally exceeds one in this region. These anomalous behaviors of the carrier densities and mobilities might be associated with the existence of a Lifshitz transition and/or the spin texture on the Fermi surface.

Development of longer Nd:LGGG crystal for high power laser application

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yanru; Tian, Hanlin; Zhang, Jian; Mu, Wenxiang; Zhang, Baitao; Jia, Zhitai; He, Jingliang; Tao, Xutang

2017-11-01

In order to further improve the Nd3+:(LuxGd1-x)3Ga5O12 (Nd:LGGG) crystal performance in high power laser field, a long Nd:LGGG crystal with dimensions of Φ 23 × 112 mm3 has been grown successfully by the Czochralski (Cz) method for laser rod fabrication. Compared with the normal size LGGG crystals (like 30-50 mm in length), we overcame several difficulties in the growth of longer ones, including crystal cracking by a large longitudinal temperature gradient, spiral growth by a small radial temperature gradient, and growth instability and even constitutional super cooling by Ga2O3 volatilizing continuously. The doping concentrations of Nd3+ and Lu3+ in the as-grown crystal and the crystal optical quality have been measured. The performance of diode-side-pumped Nd:LGGG rod laser has been preliminarily tested for the first time, simply by replacing the Nd:YAG crystal rod inside a commercial laser module. Under an incident pump power of 160 W, the maximum continuous wave output power of 38 W has been obtained, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 23.8% and a slope efficiency of 40.8%, respectively.

High-Q silicon-on-insulator slot photonic crystal cavity infiltrated by a liquid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caër, Charles; Le Roux, Xavier; Cassan, Eric

2013-01-01

We report the experimental realization of a high-Q slot photonic crystal cavity in Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) configuration infiltrated by a liquid. Loaded Q-factor of 23 000 is measured at telecom wavelength. The intrinsic quality factor inferred from the transmission spectrum is higher than 200 000, which represents a record value for slot photonic crystal cavities on SOI, whereas the maximum of intensity of the cavity is roughly equal to 20% of the light transmitted in the waveguide. This result makes filled slot photonic crystal cavities very promising for silicon-based light emission and ultrafast nonlinear optics

A flow-free droplet-based device for high throughput polymorphic crystallization.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shih-Mo; Zhang, Dapeng; Chen, Wang; Chen, Shih-Chi

2015-06-21

Crystallization is one of the most crucial steps in the process of pharmaceutical formulation. In recent years, emulsion-based platforms have been developed and broadly adopted to generate high quality products. However, these conventional approaches such as stirring are still limited in several aspects, e.g., unstable crystallization conditions and broad size distribution; besides, only simple crystal forms can be produced. In this paper, we present a new flow-free droplet-based formation process for producing highly controlled crystallization with two examples: (1) NaCl crystallization reveals the ability to package saturated solution into nanoliter droplets, and (2) glycine crystallization demonstrates the ability to produce polymorphic crystallization forms by controlling the droplet size and temperature. In our process, the saturated solution automatically fills the microwell array powered by degassed bulk PDMS. A critical oil covering step is then introduced to isolate the saturated solution and control the water dissolution rate. Utilizing surface tension, the solution is uniformly packaged in the form of thousands of isolating droplets at the bottom of each microwell of 50-300 μm diameter. After water dissolution, individual crystal structures are automatically formed inside the microwell array. This approach facilitates the study of different glycine growth processes: α-form generated inside the droplets and γ-form generated at the edge of the droplets. With precise temperature control over nanoliter-sized droplets, the growth of ellipsoidal crystalline agglomerates of glycine was achieved for the first time. Optical and SEM images illustrate that the ellipsoidal agglomerates consist of 2-5 μm glycine clusters with inner spiral structures of ~35 μm screw pitch. Lastly, the size distribution of spherical crystalline agglomerates (SAs) produced from microwells of different sizes was measured to have a coefficient variation (CV) of less than 5%, showing

High-purity germanium crystal growing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, W.L.; Haller, E.E.

1982-10-01

The germanium crystals used for the fabrication of nuclear radiation detectors are required to have a purity and crystalline perfection which is unsurpassed by any other solid material. These crystals should not have a net electrically active impurity concentration greater than 10 10 cm - 3 and be essentially free of charge trapping defects. Such perfect crystals of germanium can be grown only because of the highly favorable chemical and physical properties of this element. However, ten years of laboratory scale and commercial experience has still not made the production of such crystals routine. The origin and control of many impurities and electrically active defect complexes is now fairly well understood but regular production is often interrupted for long periods due to the difficulty of achieving the required high purity or to charge trapping in detectors made from crystals seemingly grown under the required conditions. The compromises involved in the selection of zone refining and crystal grower parts and ambients is discussed and the difficulty in controlling the purity of key elements in the process is emphasized. The consequences of growing in a hydrogen ambient are discussed in detail and it is shown how complexes of neutral defects produce electrically active centers

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert; Battaile, Kevin P.; Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y.

2011-01-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); Battaile, Kevin P. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y., E-mail: nchirgad@uhnresearch.ca [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8 (Canada)

2011-06-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

High-birefringent photonic crystal fiber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Libori, Stig E. Barkou; Broeng, Jes; Knudsen, Erik

2001-01-01

A highly birefringent photonic crystal fiber design is analysed. Birefringence up to 10-3 is found. Random fluctuations in the cladding design are analysed, and the fiber is found to be a feasible polarization maintaining fiber.......A highly birefringent photonic crystal fiber design is analysed. Birefringence up to 10-3 is found. Random fluctuations in the cladding design are analysed, and the fiber is found to be a feasible polarization maintaining fiber....

Precision crystal alignment for high-resolution electron microscope imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, G.J.; Beeching, M.J.

1990-01-01

One of the more difficult tasks involved in obtaining quality high-resolution electron micrographs is the precise alignment of a specimen into the required zone. The current accepted procedure, which involves changing to diffraction mode and searching for symmetric point diffraction pattern, is insensitive to small amounts of misalignment and at best qualitative. On-line analysis of the fourier space representation of the image, both for determining and correcting crystal tilt, is investigated. 8 refs., 42 figs

High-Q Defect-Free 2D Photonic Crystal Cavity from Random Localised Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelvin Chung

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We propose a high-Q photonic crystal cavity formed by introducing random disorder to the central region of an otherwise defect-free photonic crystal slab (PhC. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations determine the frequency, quality factor, Q, and modal volume, V, of the localized modes formed by the disorder. Relatively large Purcell factors of 500–800 are calculated for these cavities, which can be achieved for a large range of degrees of disorders.

Super high precision 200 ppi liquid crystal display series; Chokoseido 200 ppi ekisho display series

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

In mobile equipment, in demand is a high precision liquid crystal display (LCD) having the power of expression equivalent to printed materials like magazines because of the necessity of displaying a large amount of information on a easily potable small screen. In addition, with the spread and high-quality image of digital still cameras, it is strongly desired to display photographed digital image data in high quality. Toshiba Corp., by low temperature polysilicone (p-Si) technology, commercialized the liquid crystal display series of 200 ppi (pixels per inch) precision dealing with the rise of the high-precision high-image quality LCD market. The super high precision of 200 ppi enables the display of smooth beautiful animation comparable to printed sheets of magazines and photographs. The display series are suitable for the display of various information services such as electronic books and electronic photo-viewers including internet. The screen sizes lined up are No. 4 type VGA (640x480 pixels) of a small pocket notebook size and No. 6.3 type XGA (1,024x768 pixels) of a paperback size, with a larger screen to be furthered. (translated by NEDO)

The influence of magnetic fields on protein crystal growth and quality; Zum Einfluss magnetischer Felder auf das Wachstum und die Qualitaet von Proteinkristallen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meents, Alke

2005-08-01

Magnetic fields can affect protein crystal growth in several ways. In homogeneous magnetic fields molecules and crystallites line up themselves along the magnetic field direction due to their magnetic anisotropy. Inhomogeneous magnetic fields exert a force on diamagnetic and paramagnetic compounds towards regions of lower or higher field strength. This effect can be used to create a microgravity-like environment for diamagnetic proteins and an environment comparable to hypergravity for paramagnetic proteins. Crystallization in homogeneous magnetic fields and a microgravity-like environment are reported to have a positive effect on crystal quality. The aim of this work was to systematically investigate the effect of protein crystallization in magnetic fields on the crystal quality by comparing a large number of crystals grown under identical conditions with- and without magnetic fields. Crystal quality was determined by means of high resolution rocking-curve measurements. Furthermore in certain cases complete diffraction datasets were collected. Any possible influence of magnetic fields on the mosaicity and the quality of the diffraction data was evaluated statistically by applying Wilcoxon-Ranksum tests. To investigate the effect of protein crystallization in homogeneous magnetic fields the diamagnetic proteins Thaumatin, Trypsin, and Lysozyme and paramagnetic Myoglobin were crystallized in magnetic fields of 5 T, 8.8 T, and 15.8 T. The analysis of crystal mosaicity and quality of the diffraction data of the diamagnetic proteins did not reveal a significant influence on the crystal quality. In contrast the crystals of paramagnetic Myoglobin grew up to 14 times larger than the ones in the control experiment. In addition they had a significant lower mosaicity, and diffracted to a higher resolution than ever reported before. Special pole pieces for an existing magnet were designed and build to grow protein crystals in an inhomogeneous magnetic field The experimental

Acoustic transfer of protein crystals from agarose pedestals to micromeshes for high-throughput screening

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuttitta, Christina M.; Ericson, Daniel L.; Scalia, Alexander; Roessler, Christian G.; Teplitsky, Ella; Joshi, Karan; Campos, Olven; Agarwal, Rakhi; Allaire, Marc; Orville, Allen M.; Sweet, Robert M.; Soares, Alexei S.

2015-01-01

An acoustic high-throughput screening method is described for harvesting protein crystals and combining the protein crystals with chemicals such as a fragment library. Acoustic droplet ejection (ADE) is an emerging technology with broad applications in serial crystallography such as growing, improving and manipulating protein crystals. One application of this technology is to gently transfer crystals onto MiTeGen micromeshes with minimal solvent. Once mounted on a micromesh, each crystal can be combined with different chemicals such as crystal-improving additives or a fragment library. Acoustic crystal mounting is fast (2.33 transfers s −1 ) and all transfers occur in a sealed environment that is in vapor equilibrium with the mother liquor. Here, a system is presented to retain crystals near the ejection point and away from the inaccessible dead volume at the bottom of the well by placing the crystals on a concave agarose pedestal (CAP) with the same chemical composition as the crystal mother liquor. The bowl-shaped CAP is impenetrable to crystals. Consequently, gravity will gently move the crystals into the optimal location for acoustic ejection. It is demonstrated that an agarose pedestal of this type is compatible with most commercially available crystallization conditions and that protein crystals are readily transferred from the agarose pedestal onto micromeshes with no loss in diffraction quality. It is also shown that crystals can be grown directly on CAPs, which avoids the need to transfer the crystals from the hanging drop to a CAP. This technology has been used to combine thermolysin and lysozyme crystals with an assortment of anomalously scattering heavy atoms. The results point towards a fast nanolitre method for crystal mounting and high-throughput screening

Protein crystal growth on board Shenzhou 3: a concerted effort improves crystal diffraction quality and facilitates structure determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, Y.; Cang, H.-X.; Zhou, J.-X.; Wang, Y.-P.; Bi, R.-C.; Colelesage, J.; Delbaere, L.T.J.; Nahoum, V.; Shi, R.; Zhou, M.; Zhu, D.-W.; Lin, S.-X.

2004-01-01

The crystallization of 16 proteins was carried out using 60 wells on board Shenzhou 3 in 2002. Although the mission was only 7 days, careful and concerted planning at all stages made it possible to obtain crystals of improved quality compared to their ground controls for some of the proteins. Significantly improved resolutions were obtained from diffracted crystals of 4 proteins. A complete data set from a space crystal of the PEP carboxykinase yielded significantly higher resolution (1.46 A vs. 1.87 A), I/sigma (22.4 vs. 15.5), and a lower average temperature factor (29.2 A 2 vs. 42.9 A 2 ) than the best ground-based control crystal. The 3-D structure of the enzyme is well improved with significant ligand density. It has been postulated that the reduced convection and absence of macromolecule sedimentation under microgravity have advantages/benefits for protein crystal growth. Improvements in experimental design for protein crystal growth in microgravity are ongoing

Effect of leucine-to-methionine substitutions on the diffraction quality of histone chaperone SET/TAF-Ibeta/INHAT crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Senda, Miki; Muto, Shinsuke; Horikoshi, Masami; Senda, Toshiya

2008-10-01

One of the most frequent problems in crystallization is poor quality of the crystals. In order to overcome this obstacle several methods have been utilized, including amino-acid substitutions of the target protein. Here, an example is presented of crystal-quality improvement by leucine-to-methionine substitutions. A variant protein with three amino-acid substitutions enabled improvement of the crystal quality of the histone chaperone SET/TAF-Ibeta/INHAT when combined with optimization of the cryoconditions. This procedure improved the resolution of the SET/TAF-Ibeta/INHAT crystals from around 5.5 to 2.3 A without changing the crystallization conditions.

HPHT growth and x-ray characterization of high-quality type IIa diamond.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, R C; Chumakov, A I; Connell, S H; Dube, D; Godfried, H P; Hansen, J O; Härtwig, J; Hoszowska, J; Masiello, F; Mkhonza, L; Rebak, M; Rommevaux, A; Setshedi, R; Van Vaerenbergh, P

2009-09-09

The trend in synchrotron radiation (x-rays) is towards higher brilliance. This may lead to a very high power density, of the order of hundreds of watts per square millimetre at the x-ray optical elements. These elements are, typically, windows, polarizers, filters and monochromators. The preferred material for Bragg diffracting optical elements at present is silicon, which can be grown to a very high crystal perfection and workable size as well as rather easily processed to the required surface quality. This allows x-ray optical elements to be built with a sufficient degree of lattice perfection and crystal processing that they may preserve transversal coherence in the x-ray beam. This is important for the new techniques which include phase-sensitive imaging experiments like holo-tomography, x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, coherent diffraction imaging and nanofocusing. Diamond has a lower absorption coefficient than silicon, a better thermal conductivity and lower thermal expansion coefficient which would make it the preferred material if the crystal perfection (bulk and surface) could be improved. Synthetic HPHT-grown (high pressure, high temperature) type Ib material can readily be produced in the necessary sizes of 4-8 mm square and with a nitrogen content of typically a few hundred parts per million. This material has applications in the less demanding roles such as phase plates: however, in a coherence-preserving beamline, where all elements must be of the same high quality, its quality is far from sufficient. Advances in HPHT synthesis methods have allowed the growth of type IIa diamond crystals of the same size as type Ib, but with substantially lower nitrogen content. Characterization of this high purity type IIa material has been carried out with the result that the crystalline (bulk) perfection of some of the HPHT-grown materials is approaching the quality required for the more demanding applications such as imaging applications and imaging

Transient Plasma Photonic Crystals for High-Power Lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehmann, G; Spatschek, K H

2016-06-03

A new type of transient photonic crystals for high-power lasers is presented. The crystal is produced by counterpropagating laser beams in plasma. Trapped electrons and electrically forced ions generate a strong density grating. The lifetime of the transient photonic crystal is determined by the ballistic motion of ions. The robustness of the photonic crystal allows one to manipulate high-intensity laser pulses. The scheme of the crystal is analyzed here by 1D Vlasov simulations. Reflection or transmission of high-power laser pulses are predicted by particle-in-cell simulations. It is shown that a transient plasma photonic crystal may act as a tunable mirror for intense laser pulses. Generalizations to 2D and 3D configurations are possible.

Macrodefect-free, large, and thick GaN bulk crystals for high-quality 2–6 in. GaN substrates by hydride vapor phase epitaxy with hardness control

Science.gov (United States)

Fujikura, Hajime; Konno, Taichiro; Suzuki, Takayuki; Kitamura, Toshio; Fujimoto, Tetsuji; Yoshida, Takehiro

2018-06-01

On the basis of a novel crystal hardness control, we successfully realized macrodefect-free, large (2–6 in.) and thick +c-oriented GaN bulk crystals by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Without the hardness control, the introduction of macrodefects including inversion domains and/or basal-plane dislocations seemed to be indispensable to avoid crystal fracture in GaN growth with millimeter thickness. However, the presence of these macrodefects tended to limit the applicability of the GaN substrate to practical devices. The present technology markedly increased the GaN crystal hardness from below 20 to 22 GPa, thus increasing the available growth thickness from below 1 mm to over 6 mm even without macrodefect introduction. The 2 and 4 in. GaN wafers fabricated from these crystals had extremely low dislocation densities in the low- to mid-105 cm‑2 range and low off-angle variations (2 in.: <0.1° 4 in.: ∼0.2°). The realization of such high-quality 6 in. wafers is also expected.

Salvage and storage of infectious disease protein targets in the SSGCID high-throughput crystallization pathway using microfluidics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christensen, Jeff; Gerdts, Cory J.; Clifton, Mathew C.; Stewart, Lance

2011-01-01

SSGCID protein crystals were salvaged and stored using the MPCS Plug Maker and CrystalCards when high-throughput traditional sitting-drop vapor diffusion initially failed. The MPCS Plug Maker is a microcapillary-based protein-crystallization system for generating diffraction-ready crystals from nanovolumes of protein. Crystallization screening using the Plug Maker was used as a salvage pathway for proteins that failed to crystallize during the initial observation period using the traditional sitting-drop vapor-diffusion method. Furthermore, the CrystalCards used to store the crystallization experiments set up by the Plug Maker are shown be a viable container for long-term storage of protein crystals without a discernable loss of diffraction quality with time. Use of the Plug Maker with SSGCID proteins is demonstrated to be an effective crystal-salvage and storage method

Hypersonic phononic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorishnyy, T; Ullal, C K; Maldovan, M; Fytas, G; Thomas, E L

2005-03-25

In this Letter we propose the use of hypersonic phononic crystals to control the emission and propagation of high frequency phonons. We report the fabrication of high quality, single crystalline hypersonic crystals using interference lithography and show that direct measurement of their phononic band structure is possible with Brillouin light scattering. Numerical calculations are employed to explain the nature of the observed propagation modes. This work lays the foundation for experimental studies of hypersonic crystals and, more generally, phonon-dependent processes in nanostructures.

Structural characterization of bulk GaN crystals grown under high hydrostatic pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Liliental-Weber, Zuzanna; Kisielowski, C.; Ruvimov, S.; Chen, Y.; Washburn, J.; Grzegory, I.; Bockowski, M.; Jun, J.; Porowski, S.

1996-09-01

This paper describes TEM characterization of bulk GaN crystals grown at 1500-1800Kin the form of plates from a solution of atomic nitrogen in liquid gallium under high nitrogen pressure (up to 20 kbars). The x-ray rocking curves for these crystals were in the range of 20-30 arc-sec. The plate thickness along the c axis was about 100 times smaller than the nonpolar growth directions. A substantial difference in material quality was observed on the opposite sides of the plates normal to the c direction. On one side the surface was atomically flat, while on the other side the surface was rough, with pyramidal features up to 100 nm high. The polarity of the crystals was determined using convergent-beam electron diffraction. The results showed that, regarding the long bond between Ga and N along the c-axis, Ga atoms were found to be closer to the flat side of the crystal, while N atoms were found to be closer to the rough side. Near the rough side, within 1/10 to 1/4 of the plate thickness, there was a high density of planar defects (stacking faults and dislocation loops decorated by Ga/void precipitates). A model explaining the defect formation is proposed.

Monolayer-crystal streptavidin support films provide an internal standard of cryo-EM image quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, Bong-Gyoon [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Watson, Zoe [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Cate, Jamie H. D. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Glaeser, Robert M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2017-03-01

Analysis of images of biotinylated Escherichia coli 70S ribosome particles, bound to streptavidin affinity grids, demonstrates that the image-quality of particles can be predicted by the image-quality of the monolayer crystalline support film. Also, the quality of the Thon rings is a good predictor of the image-quality of particles, but only when images of the streptavidin crystals extend to relatively high resolution. When the estimated resolution of streptavidin was 5 Å or worse, for example, the ribosomal density map obtained from 22,697 particles went to only 9.5 Å, while the resolution of the map reached 4.0 Å for the same number of particles, when the estimated resolution of streptavidin crystal was 4 Å or better. It thus is easy to tell which images in a data set ought to be retained for further work, based on the highest resolution seen for Bragg peaks in the computed Fourier transforms of the streptavidin component. The refined density map obtained from 57,826 particles obtained in this way extended to 3.6 Å, a marked improvement over the value of 3.9 Å obtained previously from a subset of 52,433 particles obtained from the same initial data set of 101,213 particles after 3-D classification. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that interaction with the air-water interface can damage particles when the sample becomes too thin. Finally, streptavidin monolayer crystals appear to provide a good indication of when that is the case.

Performance of ACCOS, an automatic crystal quality control system for the PWO crystals of the CMS calorimeter

CERN Document Server

Auffray, Etiennette; Freire, M; Lecoq, P; Le Goff, J M; Marcos, R; Drobychev, G Yu; Missevitch, O V; Oskine, A; Zouevski, R F; Peigneux, J P; Schneegans, M

2001-01-01

Nearly 80000 PWO crystals for the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter will arrive at CERN/Geneva and INFN-ENEA/Rome between now and year 2004. The stringent specifications on their dimensions and optical quality have to be verified prior to their formal acceptation. Automatic systems for measuring the critical parameters of each crystal and recording them in a database have been designed and constructed. The first machine is now in stable operation at CERN. In this note, the performance of each instrument, based on the measurements on ~1000 pre-production crystals, is analysed in terms of stability and compared to the results of conventional benches. (9 refs).

Sodium Chloride Crystal-Induced SERS Platform for Controlled Highly Sensitive Detection of Illicit Drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Borong; Li, Pan; Zhou, Binbin; Tang, Xianghu; Li, Shaofei; Yang, Liangbao

2018-04-03

A sodium chloride crystal-driven spontaneous 'hot spot' structure was demonstrated as a SERS-active platform, to get reproducible SERS signals, and eliminate the need for mapping large areas, in comparison with solution phase testing. During the process of solvent evaporation, the crystals produced induced silver aggregates to assemble around themselves. The micro-scale crystals can also act as a template to obtain an optical position, such that the assembled hot area is conveniently located during SERS measurements. More importantly, the chloride ions added in colloids can also replace the citrate and on the surface of the silver sol, and further decrease the background interference. High quality SERS spectra from heroin, methamphetamine (MAMP), and cocaine have been obtained on the crystal-driven hot spot structure with high sensitivity and credible reproducibility. This approach can not only bring the nanoparticles to form plasmonic hot spots in a controlled way, and thus provide high sensitivity, but also potentially be explored as an active substrate for label-free detection of other illicit drugs or additives. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Acoustic transfer of protein crystals from agarose pedestals to micromeshes for high-throughput screening

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuttitta, Christina M. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); The City University of New York, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10314 (United States); Ericson, Daniel L. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); University at Buffalo, SUNY, 12 Capen Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260 (United States); Scalia, Alexander [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Binghamton University, 4400 Vestal Parkway East, Binghamton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Roessler, Christian G. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Teplitsky, Ella [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215 (United States); Joshi, Karan [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh (India); Campos, Olven [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33414 (United States); Agarwal, Rakhi; Allaire, Marc [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Orville, Allen M. [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States); Sweet, Robert M.; Soares, Alexei S., E-mail: soares@bnl.gov [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000 (United States)

2015-01-01

An acoustic high-throughput screening method is described for harvesting protein crystals and combining the protein crystals with chemicals such as a fragment library. Acoustic droplet ejection (ADE) is an emerging technology with broad applications in serial crystallography such as growing, improving and manipulating protein crystals. One application of this technology is to gently transfer crystals onto MiTeGen micromeshes with minimal solvent. Once mounted on a micromesh, each crystal can be combined with different chemicals such as crystal-improving additives or a fragment library. Acoustic crystal mounting is fast (2.33 transfers s{sup −1}) and all transfers occur in a sealed environment that is in vapor equilibrium with the mother liquor. Here, a system is presented to retain crystals near the ejection point and away from the inaccessible dead volume at the bottom of the well by placing the crystals on a concave agarose pedestal (CAP) with the same chemical composition as the crystal mother liquor. The bowl-shaped CAP is impenetrable to crystals. Consequently, gravity will gently move the crystals into the optimal location for acoustic ejection. It is demonstrated that an agarose pedestal of this type is compatible with most commercially available crystallization conditions and that protein crystals are readily transferred from the agarose pedestal onto micromeshes with no loss in diffraction quality. It is also shown that crystals can be grown directly on CAPs, which avoids the need to transfer the crystals from the hanging drop to a CAP. This technology has been used to combine thermolysin and lysozyme crystals with an assortment of anomalously scattering heavy atoms. The results point towards a fast nanolitre method for crystal mounting and high-throughput screening.

Ferroelectric InMnO{sub 3}: Growth of single crystals, structure and high-temperature phase transitions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bekheet, Maged F., E-mail: maged.bekheet@ceramics.tu-berlin.de [Fachbereich Material‐ und Geowissenschaften, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Fachgebiet Keramische Werkstoffe / Chair of Advanced Ceramic Materials, Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaften und -technologien, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 40, 10623 Berlin (Germany); Svoboda, Ingrid; Liu, Na [Fachbereich Material‐ und Geowissenschaften, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Bayarjargal, Lkhamsuren [Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität, Altenhöferallee 1, d-60438 Frankfurt a.M. (Germany); Irran, Elisabeth [Institut für Chemie, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17, Juni 135, 10623 Berlin (Germany); Dietz, Christian; Stark, Robert W.; Riedel, Ralf [Fachbereich Material‐ und Geowissenschaften, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Alarich-Weiss-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt (Germany); Gurlo, Aleksander [Fachgebiet Keramische Werkstoffe / Chair of Advanced Ceramic Materials, Institut für Werkstoffwissenschaften und -technologien, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 40, 10623 Berlin (Germany)

2016-09-15

To understand the origin of the ferroelectricity in InMnO{sub 3}, single crystals with average size of 1 mm were grown in PbF{sub 2} flux at 950 °C. The results of single crystal X-ray diffraction, second harmonic generation and piezoresponse force microscopy studies of high-quality InMnO{sub 3} single crystals reveal that the room-temperature state in this material is ferroelectric with P6{sub 3}cm symmetry. The polar InMnO{sub 3} specimen undergoes a reversible phase transition from non-centrosymmetric P6{sub 3}cm structure to a centrosymmetric P6{sub 3}/mmc structure at 700 °C as confirmed by the in situ high-temperature Raman spectroscopic and synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments. - Graphical abstract: Piezoresponse fore microscopy (PFM) studies of high quality InMnO{sub 3} single crystal revealed that the room-temperature state of this material is ferroelectric with a clear cloverleaf pattern corresponding to six antiphase ferroelectric domains with alternating polarization ±P{sub z}. Display Omitted - Highlights: • InMnO{sub 3} single crystals with average size of 1 mm were grown in PbF{sub 2} flux at 950 °C. • The room-temperature state of InMnO{sub 3} is ferroelectric with polar P6{sub 3}cm structure. • PolarInMnO{sub 3} reversibly transforms to a centrosymmetric P6{sub 3}/mmc structure above 700 °C.

Development of high quality large laser crystals for a CPA laser system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, Akira; Fukuyama, Hiroyasu; Nagai, Shiro; Katsurayama, Masamichi; Anzai, Yutaka

2000-01-01

Uniform doped concentration along growth direction of Nd 3+ :YAG crystal with 110 mm length was successfully grown by the Czochralski furnace with a double crucible. The fluctuation of doped concentration was less than 4%, nearly 1/4 of the Nd 3+ :YAG crystal grown by a conventional method. We also demonstrated direct bonding without the use of adhesive materials on Ti:sapphire laser crystals with a bonding surface dimension of 12 mm x 6 mm. The bonding surfaces were treated with chemical processes to clean up and to create a hydrophilic layer for hydrogen bonding in an atmospheric furnace. Successive heat treatment in a vacuum furnace transformed the hydrogen bonding into the direct bonding. From the observation by a transmission electron microscope (Hitachi: HF-2000), atomic level bonding was succeeded in the bonding surface. The performance of the bonded crystal was also tested by laser oscillation with a second harmonics of Q-switched Nd 3+ :YAG at a 20 Hz repetition rate. In comparison with a normal laser crystal, there were no difference in output power or spatial profile in an input condition of 30 mJ. The optical damaged threshold on the bonding surface was estimated over 660 MW/cm 2 . (author)

Self-assembled hierarchical nanostructures for high-efficiency porous photonic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Passoni, Luca; Criante, Luigino; Fumagalli, Francesco; Scotognella, Francesco; Lanzani, Guglielmo; Di Fonzo, Fabio

2014-12-23

The nanoscale modulation of material properties such as porosity and morphology is used in the natural world to mold the flow of light and to obtain structural colors. The ability to mimic these strategies while adding technological functionality has the potential to open up a broad array of applications. Porous photonic crystals are one such technological candidate, but have typically underachieved in terms of available materials, structural and optical quality, compatibility with different substrates (e.g., silicon, flexible organics), and scalability. We report here an alternative fabrication method based on the bottom-up self-assembly of elementary building blocks from the gas phase into high surface area photonic hierarchical nanostructures at room temperature. Periodic refractive index modulation is achieved by stacking layers with different nanoarchitectures. High-efficiency porous Bragg reflectors are successfully fabricated with sub-micrometer thick films on glass, silicon, and flexible substrates. High diffraction efficiency broadband mirrors (R≈1), opto-fluidic switches, and arrays of photonic crystal pixels with size<10 μm are demonstrated. Possible applications in filtering, sensing, electro-optical modulation, solar cells, and photocatalysis are envisioned.

Single-crystal-like GdNdOx thin films on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing for crystal seed layer application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ziwei Wang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Single-crystal-like rare earth oxide thin films on silicon (Si substrates were fabricated by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing processes. A 30-nm-thick high-quality GdNdOx (GNO film was deposited using a high-temperature sputtering process at 500°C. A Gd2O3 and Nd2O3 mixture was used as the sputtering target, in which the proportions of Gd2O3 and Nd2O3 were controlled to make the GNO’s lattice parameter match that of the Si substrate. To further improve the quality of the GNO film, a post-deposition annealing process was performed at a temperature of 1000°C. The GNO films exhibited a strong preferred orientation on the Si substrate. In addition, an Al/GNO/Si capacitor was fabricated to evaluate the dielectric constant and leakage current of the GNO films. It was determined that the single-crystal-like GNO films on the Si substrates have potential for use as an insulator layer for semiconductor-on-insulator and semiconductor/insulator multilayer applications.

Synthesis of single-crystal perovskite PbCrO3 through a new reaction route at high pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Yunxia; Wang, Shanmin; Liu, Yinjuan; Ma, Dejiang; He, Duanwei; Zhao, Yusheng

2018-04-01

As a new member in the family of Mott system, perovskite PbCrO3 has recently been uncovered to exhibit fantastic structural transition under pressure, coupled with magnetic, electronic, and ferromagnetic transitions, which provide many opportunities for understanding of correlated system. However, it is still challenging to synthesize high-quality single-crystal PbCrO3, leading to the limited exploration of this Mott compound. In this work, we formulate a new high-pressure reaction route for preparation of high-quality PbCrO3 crystals between PbCl2 and Na2CrO4 at high pressure of 5-10 GPa and at high temperature of 750-1500°C. Because of the formation of reaction byproduct NaCl, the final product can readily be separated by washing with water. The obtained sample is in the form of single crystal with crystallite size up to 200 μm. In addition, combined with X-ray diffraction measurement, a tentative pressure-temperature synthesis diagram of PbCrO3 is mapped out from the reaction between PbCl2 and Na2CrO4 and the reaction mechanism is also explored in detail.

Measuring Beam Quality of Hollow Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shephard, J.D.; Roberts, John; Jones, J.D.C.

2006-01-01

In this paper, the authors measure the quality of the delivered beam from hollow core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs). The$M^2$parameter is determined, and the near- to far-field transition is examined. The influence on these properties due to the presence of a core surround mode is evaluated.......17 for the same output beam. This highlights the need for careful consideration when measuring and describing the beam quality delivered by these novel photonic fibers....

Effect of leucine-to-methionine substitutions on the diffraction quality of histone chaperone SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senda, Miki; Muto, Shinsuke; Horikoshi, Masami; Senda, Toshiya

2008-01-01

The combination of leucine-to-methionine substitutions and optimization of cryoconditions improved the resolution of histone chaperone SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT crystals from around 5.5 to 2.3 Å without changing the crystallization conditions, allowing successful structure determination of SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT by the multiwavelength anomalous diffraction method. One of the most frequent problems in crystallization is poor quality of the crystals. In order to overcome this obstacle several methods have been utilized, including amino-acid substitutions of the target protein. Here, an example is presented of crystal-quality improvement by leucine-to-methionine substitutions. A variant protein with three amino-acid substitutions enabled improvement of the crystal quality of the histone chaperone SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT when combined with optimization of the cryoconditions. This procedure improved the resolution of the SET/TAF-Iβ/INHAT crystals from around 5.5 to 2.3 Å without changing the crystallization conditions

Direct synthesis of highly textured Ge on flexible polyimide films by metal-induced crystallization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oya, N.; Toko, K., E-mail: toko@bk.tsukuba.ac.jp; Suemasu, T. [Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan); Saitoh, N.; Yoshizawa, N. [Electron Microscope Facility, TIA, AIST, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569 (Japan)

2014-06-30

The highly (111)-textured Ge thin film (50-nm thickness) is demonstrated on a flexible polyimide film via the low-temperature crystallization (325 °C) of amorphous Ge using Al as a catalyst. Covering the polyimide with insulators significantly improved the crystal quality of the resulting Ge layer. In particular, SiN covering led to 97% (111)-oriented Ge with grains 200 μm in size, two orders larger than the grain size of polycrystalline Ge directly formed on the polyimide film. This achievement will give a way to realize advanced electronic and optical devices simultaneously allowing for high performance, inexpensiveness, and flexibility.

Production of polarizing Heusler crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Courtois, P. [Institut Max von Laue - Paul Langevin (ILL), 38 - Grenoble (France)

1999-11-01

Heusler crystals simultaneously produce monochromatized and polarized neutrons. However, in the past, it was difficult to produce these crystals. In collaboration with the neutron scattering group of CEA Grenoble and LLB Saclay, the production of high quality Heusler crystals has been established at ILL. (author) 3 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

Improvement in the quality of hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase crystals in a microgravity environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Hiroaki; Tsurumura, Toshiharu; Aritake, Kosuke; Furubayashi, Naoki; Takahashi, Sachiko; Yamanaka, Mari; Hirota, Erika; Sano, Satoshi; Sato, Masaru; Kobayashi, Tomoyuki; Tanaka, Tetsuo; Inaka, Koji; Urade, Yoshihiro

2011-01-01

Crystals of hematopoietic prostaglandin D synthase grown in microgravity show improved quality. Human hematopoietic prostaglandin synthase, one of the better therapeutic target enzymes for allergy and inflammation, was crystallized with 22 inhibitors and in three inhibitor-free conditions in microgravity. Most of the space-grown crystals showed better X-ray diffraction patterns than the terrestrially grown ones, indicating the advantage of a microgravity environment on protein crystallization, especially in the case of this protein

Cross-Calibration of Two Automatic Quality Control Systems for the CMS ECAL Crystals

CERN Document Server

Auffray, Etiennette; Chevenier, Guy; Lecoq, Paul; Perez-Prado, P; Schneegans, Marc; Sempere-Roldan, P

2003-01-01

The barrel part of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter consists of about 60000 PWO crystals and will be assembled in two Regional Centers, nearby Rome and at CERN. Two automatic machines have been designed to check the crystal quality before assembly. The main crystal characteristics are compared to a set of specifications included in the contract with the crystal producers. The stability and intercalibration between the two is a fundamental issue, which has to be controlled during the whole construction phase. This paper describes the checks that were made in order to cross calibrate the measurements and to guarantee a proper selection of crystals for the detector.

Improved crystal quality of a-plane GaN with high- temperature 3-dimensional GaN buffer layers deposited by using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Sung Hyun; Moon, Dae Young; Kim, Bum Ho; Kim, Dong Uk; Chang, Ho Jun; Jeon, Heon Su; Yoon, Eui Joon; Joo, Ki Su; You, Duck Jae; Nanishi, Yasushi

2012-01-01

a-plane GaN on r-plane sapphire substrates suffers from high density defects and rough surfaces. To obtain pit-free a-plane GaN by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, we intentionally grew high-temperature (HT) 3-dimensional (3D) GaN buffer layers on a GaN nucleation layer. The effects of the HT 3D GaN buffer layers on crystal quality and the surface morphology of a-plane GaN were studied. The insertion of a 3D GaN buffer layer with an optimum thickness was found to be an effective method to obtain pit-free a-plane GaN with improved crystalline quality on r-plane sapphire substrates. An a-plane GaN light emitting diode (LED) at an emission wavelength around 480 nm with negligible peak shift was successfully fabricated.

Method for solid state crystal growth

Science.gov (United States)

Nolas, George S.; Beekman, Matthew K.

2013-04-09

A novel method for high quality crystal growth of intermetallic clathrates is presented. The synthesis of high quality pure phase crystals has been complicated by the simultaneous formation of both clathrate type-I and clathrate type-II structures. It was found that selective, phase pure, single-crystal growth of type-I and type-II clathrates can be achieved by maintaining sufficient partial pressure of a chemical constituent during slow, controlled deprivation of the chemical constituent from the primary reactant. The chemical constituent is slowly removed from the primary reactant by the reaction of the chemical constituent vapor with a secondary reactant, spatially separated from the primary reactant, in a closed volume under uniaxial pressure and heat to form the single phase pure crystals.

A high compression crystal growth system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nieman, H.F.; Walton, A.A.; Powell, B.M.; Dolling, G.

1980-01-01

This report describes the construction and operating procedure for a high compression crystal growth system, capable of growing single crystals from the fluid phase over the temperature range of 4.2 K to 300 K, at pressures up to 900 MPa. Some experimental results obtained with the system are given for solid β-nitrogen. (auth)

Crystal Growth and Characterization of (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-BaTiO3 Single Crystals Obtained by a Top-Seeded Solution Growth Method under High-Pressure Oxygen Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Onozuka, Hiroaki; Kitanaka, Yuuki; Noguchi, Yuji; Miyayama, Masaru

2011-09-01

A single crystal of ferroelectric 0.88(Bi,Na)TiO3-0.12BaTiO3 (BNT-BT) solid solution with tetragonal P4mm structure was grown by a top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method at a high oxygen pressure (PO2 ) of 0.9 MPa. The crystals exhibited a large remanent polarization (Pr) of 54 µC/cm2, which leads to a spontaneous polarization estimated to be 54 µC/cm2. The large Pr compared with that of crystals grown at PO2 = 0.1 MPa is suggested to originate from a low oxygen vacancy concentration. The high-PO2 TSSG method is demonstrated to be effective for obtaining large-sized, high-quality BNT-BT crystals.

Organic semiconductor crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chengliang; Dong, Huanli; Jiang, Lang; Hu, Wenping

2018-01-22

Organic semiconductors have attracted a lot of attention since the discovery of highly doped conductive polymers, due to the potential application in field-effect transistors (OFETs), light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and photovoltaic cells (OPVs). Single crystals of organic semiconductors are particularly intriguing because they are free of grain boundaries and have long-range periodic order as well as minimal traps and defects. Hence, organic semiconductor crystals provide a powerful tool for revealing the intrinsic properties, examining the structure-property relationships, demonstrating the important factors for high performance devices and uncovering fundamental physics in organic semiconductors. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular packing, morphology and charge transport features of organic semiconductor crystals, the control of crystallization for achieving high quality crystals and the device physics in the three main applications. We hope that this comprehensive summary can give a clear picture of the state-of-art status and guide future work in this area.

Crystal Growth of High-Quality Protein Crystals under the Presence of an Alternant Electric Field in Pulse-Wave Mode, and a Strong Magnetic Field with Radio Frequency Pulses Characterized by X-ray Diffraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adela Rodríguez-Romero

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The first part of this research was devoted to investigating the effect of alternate current (AC using four different types of wave modes (pulse-wave at 2 Hz on the crystal growth of lysozyme in solution. The best results, in terms of size and crystal quality, were obtained when protein crystals were grown under the influence of electric fields in a very specific wave mode (“breathing” wave, giving the highest resolution up to 1.34 Å in X-ray diffraction analysis compared with controls and with those crystals grown in gel. In the second part, we evaluated the effect of a strong magnetic field of 16.5 Tesla combined with radiofrequency pulses of 0.43 μs on the crystal growth in gels of tetragonal hen egg white (HEW lysozyme. The lysozyme crystals grown, both in solution applying breathing-wave and in gel under the influence of this strong magnetic field with pulses of radio frequencies, produced the larger-in-size crystals and the highest resolution structures. Data processing and refinement statistics are very good in terms of the resolution, mosaicity and Wilson B factor obtained for each crystal. Besides, electron density maps show well-defined and distinctly separated atoms at several selected tryptophan residues for the crystal grown using the “breathing wave pulses”.

Automation in biological crystallization.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Patrick Shaw; Mueller-Dieckmann, Jochen

2014-06-01

Crystallization remains the bottleneck in the crystallographic process leading from a gene to a three-dimensional model of the encoded protein or RNA. Automation of the individual steps of a crystallization experiment, from the preparation of crystallization cocktails for initial or optimization screens to the imaging of the experiments, has been the response to address this issue. Today, large high-throughput crystallization facilities, many of them open to the general user community, are capable of setting up thousands of crystallization trials per day. It is thus possible to test multiple constructs of each target for their ability to form crystals on a production-line basis. This has improved success rates and made crystallization much more convenient. High-throughput crystallization, however, cannot relieve users of the task of producing samples of high quality. Moreover, the time gained from eliminating manual preparations must now be invested in the careful evaluation of the increased number of experiments. The latter requires a sophisticated data and laboratory information-management system. A review of the current state of automation at the individual steps of crystallization with specific attention to the automation of optimization is given.

Defects of diamond single crystal grown under high temperature and high pressure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Su, Qingcai, E-mail: suqc@sdu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Liquid Structure and Heredity of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan, P. R. China, 250061 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, P. R. China, 250061 (China); Shandong Engineering Research Center for Superhard Materials, Zoucheng, P. R. China 273500 (China); Zhang, Jianhua [School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, P. R. China, 250061 (China); Li, Musen [Key Laboratory of Liquid Structure and Heredity of Materials (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan, P. R. China, 250061 (China); School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, P. R. China, 250061 (China); Shandong Engineering Research Center for Superhard Materials, Zoucheng, P. R. China 273500 (China)

2013-11-01

The diamond single crystal, synthesized with Fe–Ni–C–B system of catalyst under high temperature and high pressure, had been observed by field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The presence of a cellular structure suggested that the diamond grew from melted catalyst solution and there existed a zone of component supercooling zone in front of the solid–liquid interface. The main impurities in the diamond crystal was (FeNi){sub 23}C{sub 6}. The triangle screw pit revealed on the (111) plane was generated by the screw dislocation meeting the diamond (111) plane at the points of emergence of dislocations. A narrow twin plane was formed between the two (111) plane. - Highlights: • High pressure, high temperature synthesis of diamond single crystal. • Fe–Ni–C–B used as catalyst, graphite as carbon source. • The main impurity in the diamond crystal was (FeNi){sub 23}C{sub 6}. • Surface defects arose from screw dislocations and stacking faults.

Photonic crystal fiber technology for compact fiber-delivered high-power ultrafast fiber lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Triches, Marco; Michieletto, Mattia; Johansen, Mette M.; Jakobsen, Christian; Olesen, Anders S.; Papior, Sidsel R.; Kristensen, Torben; Bondue, Magalie; Weirich, Johannes; Alkeskjold, Thomas T.

2018-02-01

Photonic crystal fiber (PCF) technology has radically impacted the scientific and industrial ultrafast laser market. Reducing platform dimensions are important to decrease cost and footprint while maintaining high optical efficiency. We present our recent work on short 85 μm core ROD-type fiber amplifiers that maintain single-mode performance and excellent beam quality. Robust long-term performance at 100 W average power and 250 kW peak power in 20 ps pulses at 1030 nm wavelength is presented, exceeding 500 h with stable performance in terms of both polarization and power. In addition, we present our recent results on hollow-core ultrafast fiber delivery maintaining high beam quality and polarization purity.

Clean Transfer of Large Graphene Single Crystals for High-Intactness Suspended Membranes and Liquid Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jincan; Lin, Li; Sun, Luzhao; Huang, Yucheng; Koh, Ai Leen; Dang, Wenhui; Yin, Jianbo; Wang, Mingzhan; Tan, Congwei; Li, Tianran; Tan, Zhenjun; Liu, Zhongfan; Peng, Hailin

2017-07-01

The atomically thin 2D nature of suspended graphene membranes holds promising in numerous technological applications. In particular, the outstanding transparency to electron beam endows graphene membranes great potential as a candidate for specimen support of transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, major hurdles remain to be addressed to acquire an ultraclean, high-intactness, and defect-free suspended graphene membrane. Here, a polymer-free clean transfer of sub-centimeter-sized graphene single crystals onto TEM grids to fabricate large-area and high-quality suspended graphene membranes has been achieved. Through the control of interfacial force during the transfer, the intactness of large-area graphene membranes can be as high as 95%, prominently larger than reported values in previous works. Graphene liquid cells are readily prepared by π-π stacking two clean single-crystal graphene TEM grids, in which atomic-scale resolution imaging and temporal evolution of colloid Au nanoparticles are recorded. This facile and scalable production of clean and high-quality suspended graphene membrane is promising toward their wide applications for electron and optical microscopy. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Quality Assurance on Undoped CsI Crystals for the Mu2e Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Atanov, N.; Baranov, V.; Budagov, J.; Davydov, Yu. I.; Glagolev, V.; Tereshchenko, V.; Usubov, Z.; Cervelli, F.; Di Falco, S.; Donati, S.; Morescalchi, L.; Pedreschi, E.; Pezzullo, G.; Raffaelli, F.; Spinella, F.; Colao, F.; Cordelli, M.; Corradi, G.; Diociaiuti, E.; Donghia, R.; Giovannella, S.; Happacher, F.; Martini, M.; Miscetti, S.; Ricci, M.; Saputi, A.; Sarra, I.; Echenard, B.; Hitlin, D. G.; Hu, C.; Miyashita, T.; Porter, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhu, R.-Y.; Grancagnolo, F.; Tassielli, G.; Murat, P.

2018-02-01

The Mu2e experiment is constructing a calorimeter consisting of 1,348 undoped CsI crystals in two disks. Each crystal has a dimension of 34 x 34 x 200 mm, and is readout by a large area silicon PMT array. A series of technical specifications was defined according to physics requirements. Preproduction CsI crystals were procured from three firms: Amcrys, Saint-Gobain and Shanghai Institute of Ceramics. We report the quality assurance on crystal's scintillation properties and their radiation hardness against ionization dose and neutrons. With a fast decay time of 30 ns and a light output of more than 100 p.e./MeV measured with a bi-alkali PMT, undoped CsI crystals provide a cost-effective solution for the Mu2e experiment.

Tension-controlled single-crystallization of copper foils for roll-to-roll synthesis of high-quality graphene films

Science.gov (United States)

Jo, Insu; Park, Subeom; Kim, Dongjin; San Moon, Jin; Park, Won Bae; Kim, Tae Hyeong; Hyoun Kang, Jin; Lee, Wonbae; Kim, Youngsoo; Lee, Dong Nyung; Cho, Sung-Pyo; Choi, Hyunchul; Kang, Inbyeong; Park, Jong Hyun; Lee, Jeong Soo; Hong, Byung Hee

2018-04-01

It has been known that the crystalline orientation of Cu substrates plays a crucial role in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of high-quality graphene. In particular, Cu (1 1 1) surface showing the minimum lattice mismatch with graphene is expected to provide an ideal catalytic reactivity that can minimize the formation of defects, which also induces larger single-crystalline domain sizes of graphene. Usually, the Cu (1 1 1) substrates can be epitaxially grown on single-crystalline inorganic substrates or can be recrystallized by annealing for more than 12 h, which limits the cost and time-effective synthesis of graphene. Here, we demonstrate a new method to optimize the crystalline orientations of vertically suspended Cu foils by tension control during graphene growth, resulting in large-area recrystallization into Cu (1 1 1) surface as the applied tension activates the grain boundary energy of Cu and promotes its abnormal grain growth to single crystals. In addition, we found a clue that the formation of graphene cooperatively assists the recrystallization into Cu (1 1 1) by minimizing the surface energy of Cu. The domain sizes and charge carrier mobility of graphene grown on the single-crystalline Cu (1 1 1) are 5 times and ~50% increased, respectively, in comparison with those of graphene from Cu (1 0 0), indicating that the less lattice mismatch and the lower interaction energy between Cu (1 1 1) and graphene allows the growth of larger single-crystalline graphene with higher charge carrier mobility. Thus, we believe that our finding provides a crucial idea to design a roll-to-roll (R2R) graphene synthesis system where the tension control is inevitably involved, which would be of great importance for the continuous production of high-quality graphene in the future.

Growth and characterization of high-purity SiC single crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Augustine, G.; Balakrishna, V.; Brandt, C. D.

2000-04-01

High-purity SiC single crystals with diameter up to 50 mm have been grown by the physical vapor transport method. Finite element analysis was used for thermal modeling of the crystal growth cavity in order to reduce stress in the grown crystal. Crystals are grown in high-purity growth ambient using purified graphite furniture and high-purity SiC sublimation sources. Undoped crystals up to 50 mm in diameter with micropipe density less than 100 cm -2 have been grown using this method. These undoped crystals exhibit resistivities in the 10 3 Ω cm range and are p-type due to the presence of residual acceptor impurities, mainly boron. Semi-insulating SiC material is obtained by doping the crystal with vanadium. Vanadium has a deep donor level located near the middle of the band gap, which compensates the residual acceptor resulting in semi-insulating behavior.

Design of a high-resolution high-stability positioning mechanism for crystal optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shu, D.; Toellner, T. S.; Alp, E. E.

1999-01-01

The authors present a novel miniature multi-axis driving structure that will allow positioning of two crystals with better than 50-nrad angular resolution and nanometer linear driving sensitivity.The precision and stability of this structure allow the user to align or adjust an assembly of crystals to achieve the same performance as does a single channel-cut crystal, so they call it an artificial channel-cut crystal. In this paper, the particular designs and specifications, as well as the test results,for a two-axis driving structure for a high-energy-resolution artificial channel-cut crystal monochromator are presented

Deterministic patterned growth of high-mobility large-crystal graphene: a path towards wafer scale integration

Science.gov (United States)

Miseikis, Vaidotas; Bianco, Federica; David, Jérémy; Gemmi, Mauro; Pellegrini, Vittorio; Romagnoli, Marco; Coletti, Camilla

2017-06-01

We demonstrate rapid deterministic (seeded) growth of large single-crystals of graphene by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) utilising pre-patterned copper substrates with chromium nucleation sites. Arrays of graphene single-crystals as large as several hundred microns are grown with a periodicity of up to 1 mm. The graphene is transferred to target substrates using aligned and contamination- free semi-dry transfer. The high quality of the synthesised graphene is confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and transport measurements, demonstrating room-temperature carrier mobility of 21 000 cm2 V-1 s-1 when transferred on top of hexagonal boron nitride. By tailoring the nucleation of large single-crystals according to the desired device geometry, it will be possible to produce complex device architectures based on single-crystal graphene, thus paving the way to the adoption of CVD graphene in wafer-scale fabrication.

Single-crystal-like GdNdO{sub x} thin films on silicon substrates by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing for crystal seed layer application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Ziwei; Xiao, Lei; Liang, Renrong, E-mail: wang-j@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: liangrr@tsinghua.edu.cn; Shen, Shanshan; Xu, Jun; Wang, Jing, E-mail: wang-j@tsinghua.edu.cn, E-mail: liangrr@tsinghua.edu.cn [Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology, Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2016-06-15

Single-crystal-like rare earth oxide thin films on silicon (Si) substrates were fabricated by magnetron sputtering and high-temperature annealing processes. A 30-nm-thick high-quality GdNdO{sub x} (GNO) film was deposited using a high-temperature sputtering process at 500°C. A Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3} mixture was used as the sputtering target, in which the proportions of Gd{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Nd{sub 2}O{sub 3} were controlled to make the GNO’s lattice parameter match that of the Si substrate. To further improve the quality of the GNO film, a post-deposition annealing process was performed at a temperature of 1000°C. The GNO films exhibited a strong preferred orientation on the Si substrate. In addition, an Al/GNO/Si capacitor was fabricated to evaluate the dielectric constant and leakage current of the GNO films. It was determined that the single-crystal-like GNO films on the Si substrates have potential for use as an insulator layer for semiconductor-on-insulator and semiconductor/insulator multilayer applications.

High-quality EuO thin films the easy way via topotactic transformation

Science.gov (United States)

Mairoser, Thomas; Mundy, Julia A.; Melville, Alexander; Hodash, Daniel; Cueva, Paul; Held, Rainer; Glavic, Artur; Schubert, Jürgen; Muller, David A.; Schlom, Darrell G.; Schmehl, Andreas

2015-07-01

Epitaxy is widely employed to create highly oriented crystalline films. A less appreciated, but nonetheless powerful means of creating such films is via topotactic transformation, in which a chemical reaction transforms a single crystal of one phase into a single crystal of a different phase, which inherits its orientation from the original crystal. Topotactic reactions may be applied to epitactic films to substitute, add or remove ions to yield epitactic films of different phases. Here we exploit a topotactic reduction reaction to provide a non-ultra-high vacuum (UHV) means of growing highly oriented single crystalline thin films of the easily over-oxidized half-metallic semiconductor europium monoxide (EuO) with a perfection rivalling that of the best films of the same material grown by molecular-beam epitaxy or UHV pulsed-laser deposition. As the technique only requires high-vacuum deposition equipment, it has the potential to drastically improve the accessibility of high-quality single crystalline films of EuO as well as other difficult-to-synthesize compounds.

New Crystal-Growth Methods for Producing Lattice-Matched Substrates for High-Temperature Superconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boatner, L.A.

2008-06-24

This effort addressed the technical problem of identifying and growing, on a commercial scale, suitable single-crystal substrates for the subsequent deposition of epitaxial thin films of high temperature semiconductors such as GaN/AlN. The lack of suitable lattice-matched substrate materials was one of the major problem areas in the development of semiconducting devices for use at elevated temperatures as well as practical opto-electronic devices based on Al- and GaN technology. Such lattice-matched substrates are necessary in order to reduce or eliminate high concentrations of defects and dislocations in GaN/AlN and related epitaxial thin films. This effort concentrated, in particular, on the growth of single crystals of ZnO for substrate applications and it built on previous ORNL experience in the chemical vapor transport growth of large single crystals of zinc oxide. This combined expertise in the substrate growth area was further complemented by the ability of G. Eres and his collaborators to deposit thin films of GaN on the subject substrates and the overall ORNL capability for characterizing the quality of such films. The research effort consisted of research on the growth of two candidate substrate materials in conjunction with concurrent research on the growth and characterization of GaN films, i.e. the effort combined bulk crystal growth capabilities in the area of substrate production at both ORNL and the industrial partner, Commercial Crystal Growth Laboratories (CCL), Naples, Florida, with the novel thin-film deposition techniques previously developed in the ORNL SSD.

Dual-Readout Calorimetry for High-Quality Energy Measurements. Final Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wigmans, Richard; Nural, Akchurin

2013-01-01

This document constitutes the final report on the project Dual-Readout Calorimetry for High-Quality Energy Measurements. The project was carried out by a consortium of US and Italian physicists, led by Dr. Richard Wigmans (Texas tech University). This consortium built several particle detectors and tested these at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. The idea arose to use scintillating crystals as dual-readout calorimeters. Such crystals were of course already known to provide excellent energy resolution for the detection of particles developing electromagnetic (em) showers. The efforts to separate the signals from scintillating crystals into scintillation and Cerenkov components led to four different methods by which this could be accomplished. These methods are based on a) the directionality, b) spectral differences, c) the time structure, and d) the polarization of the signals

CH3NH3PbCl3 Single Crystals: Inverse Temperature Crystallization and Visible-Blind UV-Photodetector

KAUST Repository

Maculan, Giacomo

2015-09-02

Single crystals of hybrid perovskites have shown remarkably improved physical properties compared to their polycrystalline film counterparts, underscoring their importance in the further development of advanced semiconductor devices. Here we present a new method of sizeable CH3NH3PbCl3 single crystal growth based on retrograde solubility behavior of hybrid perovskites. We show, for the first time, the energy band structure, charge-carrier recombination and transport properties of single crystal CH3NH3PbCl3. The chloride-based perovskite crystals exhibit trap-state density, charge carriers concentration, mobility and diffusion length comparable with the best quality crystals of methylammonium lead iodide or bromide perovskites reported so far. The high quality of the crystal along with its suitable optical bandgap enabled us to design and build an efficient visible-blind UV-photodetector, demonstrating the potential of this material to be employed in optoelectronic applications.

Crystals channel high-energy beams in the LHC

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2015-01-01

Bent crystals can be used to deflect particle beams, as suggested by E. Tsyganov in 1976. Experimental demonstrations have been carried out for four decades in various laboratories worldwide. In recent tests, a bent crystal inserted into the LHC beam halo successfully channelled and deflected 6.5 TeV protons into an absorber, with reduced secondary irradiation.    Quasimosaic crystal for the LHC (developed by PNPI). Bent crystal technology was introduced at CERN and further developed for the LHC by the UA9 Collaboration. For about ten years, experts from CERN, INFN (Italy), Imperial College (UK), LAL (France), and PNPI, IHEP and JINR (Russia) have been investigating the advantages of using bent crystals in the collimation systems of high-energy hadron colliders. A bent crystal replacing the primary collimator can deflect the incoming halo deeply inside the secondary collimators, improving their absorption efficiency. “The bent crystals we have just tested at the world-record en...

Radio frequency regenerative oscillations in monolithic high-Q/V heterostructured photonic crystal cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jinghui; Gu, Tingyi; Zheng, Jiangjun; Wei Wong, Chee; Yu, Mingbin; Lo, Guo-Qiang; Kwong, Dim-Lee

2014-01-01

We report temporal and spectral domain observation of regenerative oscillation in monolithic silicon heterostructured photonic crystals cavities with high quality factor to mode volume ratios (Q/V). The results are interpreted by nonlinear coupled mode theory (CMT) tracking the dynamics of photon, free carrier population, and temperature variations. We experimentally demonstrate effective tuning of the radio frequency tones by laser-cavity detuning and laser power levels, confirmed by the CMT simulations with sensitive input parameters

The MORPHEUS II protein crystallization screen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorrec, Fabrice, E-mail: fgorrec@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk [MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge CB2 0QH (United Kingdom)

2015-06-27

MORPHEUS II is a 96-condition initial crystallization screen formulated de novo. The screen incorporates reagents selected from the Protein Data Bank to yield crystals that are not observed in traditional conditions. In addition, the formulation facilitates the optimization and cryoprotection of crystals. High-quality macromolecular crystals are a prerequisite for the process of protein structure determination by X-ray diffraction. Unfortunately, the relative yield of diffraction-quality crystals from crystallization experiments is often very low. In this context, innovative crystallization screen formulations are continuously being developed. In the past, MORPHEUS, a screen in which each condition integrates a mix of additives selected from the Protein Data Bank, a cryoprotectant and a buffer system, was developed. Here, MORPHEUS II, a follow-up to the original 96-condition initial screen, is described. Reagents were selected to yield crystals when none might be observed in traditional initial screens. Besides, the screen includes heavy atoms for experimental phasing and small polyols to ensure the cryoprotection of crystals. The suitability of the resulting novel conditions is shown by the crystallization of a broad variety of protein samples and their efficiency is compared with commercially available conditions.

The MORPHEUS II protein crystallization screen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorrec, Fabrice

2015-01-01

MORPHEUS II is a 96-condition initial crystallization screen formulated de novo. The screen incorporates reagents selected from the Protein Data Bank to yield crystals that are not observed in traditional conditions. In addition, the formulation facilitates the optimization and cryoprotection of crystals. High-quality macromolecular crystals are a prerequisite for the process of protein structure determination by X-ray diffraction. Unfortunately, the relative yield of diffraction-quality crystals from crystallization experiments is often very low. In this context, innovative crystallization screen formulations are continuously being developed. In the past, MORPHEUS, a screen in which each condition integrates a mix of additives selected from the Protein Data Bank, a cryoprotectant and a buffer system, was developed. Here, MORPHEUS II, a follow-up to the original 96-condition initial screen, is described. Reagents were selected to yield crystals when none might be observed in traditional initial screens. Besides, the screen includes heavy atoms for experimental phasing and small polyols to ensure the cryoprotection of crystals. The suitability of the resulting novel conditions is shown by the crystallization of a broad variety of protein samples and their efficiency is compared with commercially available conditions

Lab-on-a-Chip Based Protein Crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

vanderWoerd, Mark J.; Brasseur, Michael M.; Spearing, Scott F.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We are developing a novel technique with which we will grow protein crystals in very small volumes, utilizing chip-based, microfluidic ("LabChip") technology. This development, which is a collaborative effort between NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Caliper Technologies Corporation, promises a breakthrough in the field of protein crystal growth. Our initial results obtained from two model proteins, Lysozyme and Thaumatin, show that it is feasible to dispense and adequately mix protein and precipitant solutions on a nano-liter scale. The mixtures have shown crystal growth in volumes in the range of 10 nanoliters to 5 microliters. In addition, large diffraction quality crystals were obtained by this method. X-ray data from these crystals were shown to be of excellent quality. Our future efforts will include the further development of protein crystal growth with LabChip(trademark) technology for more complex systems. We will initially address the batch growth method, followed by the vapor diffusion method and the liquid-liquid diffusion method. The culmination of these chip developments is to lead to an on orbit protein crystallization facility on the International Space Station. Structural biologists will be invited to utilize the on orbit Iterative Biological Crystallization facility to grow high quality macromolecular crystals in microgravity.

A high-speed data-collection system for large-unit-cell crystals using an imaging plate as a detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Mamoru; Yamamoto, Masaki; Imada, Katsumi; Katsube, Yukiteru; Tanaka, Nobuo; Higashi, Tsuneyuki

1992-01-01

A high-speed data-collection system for large-unit-cell crystals is presented, using the Fuji Imaging Plate as an X-ray detector and a rotating-anode generator as the X-ray source. It is an automatic data-acquisition system that requires almost no manual intervention. The quality of data collected on the system is discussed. Merging R values ranged from 0.04 to 0.05. Compared with a four-circle diffractometer, data reproducibility was better, isomorphous/anomalous Patterson maps were almost identical in quality and data from a small-molecule crystal, cytidine, were of almost the same quality. Protein structures were refinable using the data measured on the system, the final crystallographic R value of the 2.2 A 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase structure being 0.185 and that of the 1.88 A Flammulina veltipes agglutinin structure being 0.199. (orig.)

Quality control on pre-serial Bridgman production of PbWO{sub 4} scintillating crystals by means of photoelasticity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rinaldi, D., E-mail: d.rinaldi@univpm.i [Dipartimento di Fisica e Ingegneria dei Materiali e del Territorio, Universita Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy); INFN section of Perugia (Italy); Ciriaco, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica e Ingegneria dei Materiali e del Territorio, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy); Lebeau, M. [CERN PH department, 1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Paone, N. [Dipartimento di Meccanica, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona (Italy)

2010-04-11

Residual internal stresses in PbWO{sub 4} (PWO) scintillating crystals grown by Bridgman method have been systematically studied. Residual stresses induced during growth play an important role in production yield. Cracking probability during mechanical processing as well as stable mechanical properties in finished crystal are closely related to internal stress levels. A regular production of good-quality crystals requires a fast and easy feed-back on growth parameters. Samples from a pre-serial production were analyzed in order to give the producer a quality feed-back for process optimization. By means of photoelasticity, we measured residual stress distribution in several sections along the growth axis and for typical positions in every section. The stress analysis revealed defects occurring during the crystallization process, attributed to dislocations, lattice disorientation and poly-crystallinity. This work had been prompted by the need for quality monitoring of a pre-serial production of PWO for the CMS experiment at CERN's LHC. Mapping stress levels inside the ingot volume and proposing a synthetic parameter to be used as a quality indicator, the resulting analysis should contribute to parameter optimization and improve the growth performance. The proposed method may be useful in conventional crystal production.

Rapid continuous flow synthesis of high-quality silver nanocubes and nanospheres

KAUST Repository

Mehenni, Hakim

2013-01-01

We report a biphasic-liquid segmented continuous flow method for the synthesis of high-quality plasmonic single crystal silver nanocubes and nanospheres. The nanocubes were synthesized with controllable edge lengths from 20 to 48 nm. Single crystal nanospheres with a mean size of 29 nm were obtained by in-line continuous-flow etching of as-produced 39 nm nanocubes with an aqueous solution of FeNO3. In comparison to batch synthesis, the demonstrated processes represent highly scalable reactions, in terms of both production rate and endurance. The reactions were conducted in a commercially available flow-reactor system that is easily adaptable to industrial-scale production, facilitating widespread utilization of the procedure and the resulting nanoparticles. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013.

Single crystal growth, characterization and high-pressure Raman spectroscopy of impurity-free magnesite (MgCO3)

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Wen; Li, Zeming; Yin, Yuan; Li, Rui; Chen, Lin; He, Yu; Dong, Haini; Dai, Lidong; Li, Heping

2018-05-01

The understanding of the physical and chemical properties of magnesite (MgCO3) under deep-mantle conditions is highly important to capture the essence of deep-carbon storage in Earth's interior. To develop standard rating scales, the impurity-free magnesite single crystal, paying particular attention to the case of avoiding adverse impacts of Ca2+, Fe2+, and Mn2+ impurities in natural magnesite, is undoubtedly necessary for all research of magnesite, including crystalline structural phase transitions, anisotropic elasticity and conductivity, and equation of state (EoS). Thus, a high-quality single crystal of impurity-free magnesite was grown successfully for the first time using the self-flux method under high pressure-temperature conditions. The size of the magnesite single crystal, observed in a plane-polarized microscope, exceeds 200 μm, and the crystal exhibits a rhombohedral structure to cleave along the (101) plane. In addition, its composition of Mg0.999 ± 0.001CO3 was quantified through electron probing analysis. The structural property was investigated by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction and the unit cell dimensions obtained in the rhombohedral symmetry of the R\\bar {3}c space group are a = 4.6255 (3) and c = 14.987 (2), and the final R = 0.0243 for 718 reflections. High-pressure Raman spectroscopy of the magnesite single crystal was performed up to 27 GPa at ambient temperature. All Raman active bands, ν i, without any splitting increased almost linearly with increasing pressure. In combination with the high-pressure Raman results {{d/ν _i}}{{{d}P}} and the bulk modulus K T (103 GPa) reported from magnesite EoS studies, the mode Grüneisen parameters (1.49, 1.40, 0.26, and 0.27) of each vibration ( T, L, ν 4, and ν 1) were calculated.

Multiphysical simulation analysis of the dislocation structure in germanium single crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Podkopaev, O. I.; Artemyev, V. V.; Smirnov, A. D.; Mamedov, V. M.; Sid'ko, A. P.; Kalaev, V. V.; Kravtsova, E. D.; Shimanskii, A. F.

2016-09-01

To grow high-quality germanium crystals is one of the most important problems of growth industry. The dislocation density is an important parameter of the quality of single crystals. The dislocation densities in germanium crystals 100 mm in diameter, which have various shapes of the side surface and are grown by the Czochralski technique, are experimentally measured. The crystal growth is numerically simulated using heat-transfer and hydrodynamics models and the Alexander-Haasen dislocation model in terms of the CGSim software package. A comparison of the experimental and calculated dislocation densities shows that the dislocation model can be applied to study lattice defects in germanium crystals and to improve their quality.

High-Q microwave resonators with a photonic crystal structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuster, M.

2001-08-01

The localisation of electromagnetic energy at a defect in a photonic crystal is similar to a well known effect employed to construct high-Q microwave resonators: In a whispering gallery (WHG-) mode resonator the high Q-factor is achieved by localisation of the electromagnetic field energy by total reflection inside a disk made of dielectric material. The topic of this work is to demonstrate, that WHG-like modes can exist in an air defect in a photonic crystal that extends over several lattice periods; and that a high-Q microwave resonator can be made, utilizing these resonant modes. In numerical simulations, the transmission properties of a photonic crystal structure with hexagonal lattice symmetry have been investigated with a transfer-matrix-method. The eigenmodes of a defect structure in a photonic crystal have been calculated with a quasi-3d finite element integration technique. Experimental results confirm the simulated transmission properties and show the existence of modes inside the band gap, when a defect is introduced in the crystal. Resonator measurements show that a microwave resonator can be operated with those defect modes. It was found out that the main losses of the resonator were caused by bad microwave properties of the used dielectric material and by metal losses on the top and bottom resonator walls. Furthermore, it turned out that the detection of the photonic crystal defect mode was difficult because of a lack of simulation possibilities and high housing mode density in the resonator. (orig.)

Analysis of an industrial production suspension of Bacillus lentus subtilisin crystals by powder diffraction: a powerful quality-control tool

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frankær, Christian Grundahl; Moroz, Olga V.; Turkenburg, Johan P.

2014-01-01

. A controlled crystallization experiment with a highly purified Savinase sample allowed the growth of single crystals of the form identified by XRPD; their structure was solved and refined to a resolution of 1.17 Å with an R of 9.2% and an Rfree of 11.8%. Thus, there are at least three polymorphs present...... in the production suspension, albeit with the 1ndq -like microcrystals predominating. It is shown how the two techniques can provide invaluable and complementary information for such a production suspension and it is proposed that XRPD provides an excellent quality-control tool for such suspensions....

Growth and Characterization of ZnTe Crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nann Thazin

2011-12-01

High quality ZnTe crystals have been synthesized by vapor Transport method. The grown crystals were p-type. The concentration and mobility were 2.5 x 10 16 cm-3 and 23 cm2/Vs at 300K, according to Hall effect measurements. Surface morphology of the crystal was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Crystal orientation and lattice parameters of the crystals were also analysed by XRD. From X-ray diffraction studies the structure of the grown crystals were found to be zinc-blende. The crystal emitted light in the visible range at room temperature.

High Resolution Displays Using NCAP Liquid Crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Macknick, A. Brian; Jones, Phil; White, Larry

1989-07-01

Nematic curvilinear aligned phase (NCAP) liquid crystals have been found useful for high information content video displays. NCAP materials are liquid crystals which have been encapsulated in a polymer matrix and which have a light transmission which is variable with applied electric fields. Because NCAP materials do not require polarizers, their on-state transmission is substantially better than twisted nematic cells. All dimensional tolerances are locked in during the encapsulation process and hence there are no critical sealing or spacing issues. By controlling the polymer/liquid crystal morphology, switching speeds of NCAP materials have been significantly improved over twisted nematic systems. Recent work has combined active matrix addressing with NCAP materials. Active matrices, such as thin film transistors, have given displays of high resolution. The paper will discuss the advantages of NCAP materials specifically designed for operation at video rates on transistor arrays; applications for both backlit and projection displays will be discussed.

Applications of thin-film sandwich crystallization platforms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Axford, Danny, E-mail: danny.axford@diamond.ac.uk; Aller, Pierre; Sanchez-Weatherby, Juan; Sandy, James [Diamond Light Source, Harwell Oxford, Didcot OX11 0DE (United Kingdom)

2016-03-24

Crystallization via sandwiches of thin polymer films is presented and discussed. Examples are shown of protein crystallization in, and data collection from, solutions sandwiched between thin polymer films using vapour-diffusion and batch methods. The crystallization platform is optimal for both visualization and in situ data collection, with the need for traditional harvesting being eliminated. In wells constructed from the thinnest plastic and with a minimum of aqueous liquid, flash-cooling to 100 K is possible without significant ice formation and without any degradation in crystal quality. The approach is simple; it utilizes low-cost consumables but yields high-quality data with minimal sample intervention and, with the very low levels of background X-ray scatter that are observed, is optimal for microcrystals.

High quality single crystal Ge nano-membranes for opto-electronic integrated circuitry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shah, V. A., E-mail: vishal.shah@warwick.ac.uk; Gammon, P. M. [Department of Engineering, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Department of Physics, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Rhead, S. D.; Halpin, J. E.; Trushkevych, O.; Wilson, N. R.; Myronov, M.; Edwards, R. S.; Patchett, D. H.; Allred, P. S.; Prest, M. J.; Whall, T. E.; Parker, E. H. C.; Leadley, D. R. [Department of Physics, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Chávez-Ángel, E. [ICN2-Institut Catala de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Department of Physics, UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Shchepetov, A.; Prunnila, M. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT, Espoo (Finland); Kachkanov, V.; Dolbnya, I. P. [Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0DE (United Kingdom); Reparaz, J. S. [ICN2-Institut Catala de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); and others

2014-04-14

A thin, flat, and single crystal germanium membrane would be an ideal platform on which to mount sensors or integrate photonic and electronic devices, using standard silicon processing technology. We present a fabrication technique compatible with integrated-circuit wafer scale processing to produce membranes of thickness between 60 nm and 800 nm, with large areas of up to 3.5 mm{sup 2}. We show how the optical properties change with thickness, including appearance of Fabry-Pérot type interference in thin membranes. The membranes have low Q-factors, which allow the platforms to counteract distortion during agitation and movement. Finally, we report on the physical characteristics showing sub-nm roughness and a homogenous strain profile throughout the freestanding layer, making the single crystal Ge membrane an excellent platform for further epitaxial growth or deposition of materials.

High quality single crystal Ge nano-membranes for opto-electronic integrated circuitry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, V. A.; Gammon, P. M.; Rhead, S. D.; Halpin, J. E.; Trushkevych, O.; Wilson, N. R.; Myronov, M.; Edwards, R. S.; Patchett, D. H.; Allred, P. S.; Prest, M. J.; Whall, T. E.; Parker, E. H. C.; Leadley, D. R.; Chávez-Ángel, E.; Shchepetov, A.; Prunnila, M.; Kachkanov, V.; Dolbnya, I. P.; Reparaz, J. S.

2014-01-01

A thin, flat, and single crystal germanium membrane would be an ideal platform on which to mount sensors or integrate photonic and electronic devices, using standard silicon processing technology. We present a fabrication technique compatible with integrated-circuit wafer scale processing to produce membranes of thickness between 60 nm and 800 nm, with large areas of up to 3.5 mm 2 . We show how the optical properties change with thickness, including appearance of Fabry-Pérot type interference in thin membranes. The membranes have low Q-factors, which allow the platforms to counteract distortion during agitation and movement. Finally, we report on the physical characteristics showing sub-nm roughness and a homogenous strain profile throughout the freestanding layer, making the single crystal Ge membrane an excellent platform for further epitaxial growth or deposition of materials

Screening and Crystallization Plates for Manual and High-throughput Protein Crystal Growth

Science.gov (United States)

Thorne, Robert E. (Inventor); Berejnov, Viatcheslav (Inventor); Kalinin, Yevgeniy (Inventor)

2010-01-01

In one embodiment, a crystallization and screening plate comprises a plurality of cells open at a top and a bottom, a frame that defines the cells in the plate, and at least two films. The first film seals a top of the plate and the second film seals a bottom of the plate. At least one of the films is patterned to strongly pin the contact lines of drops dispensed onto it, fixing their position and shape. The present invention also includes methods and other devices for manual and high-throughput protein crystal growth.

Test of a high-heat-load double-crystal diamond monochromator at the advanced photon source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, P.B.; Graber, T.; Lee, W.-K.; Mills, D.M.; Rogers, C.S.; Assoufid, L.

1997-01-01

We have tested the first diamond double-crystal monochromator at the advanced photon source (APS). The monochromator consisted of two synthetic type 1b (111) diamond plates in symmetric Bragg geometry. The single-crystal plates were 6 mm x 5 mm x 0.25 mm and 6 mm x 5 mm x 0.37 mm and showed a combination of mosaic spread/strain of the order of 2-4 arcsec over a central 1.4 mm-wide strip. The monochromator first crystal was indirectly cooled by edge contact with a water-cooled copper holder. We studied the performance of the monochromator under the high-power X-ray beam delivered by the APS undulator A. By changing the undulator gap, we varied the power incident on the first crystal and found no indication of thermal distortions or strains even at the highest incident power (200 W) and power density (108 W/mm 2 in normal incidence). The calculated maximum power and power density absorbed by the first crystal were 14.5 W and 2.4 W/mm 2 , respectively. We also compared the maximum intensity delivered by this monochromator and by a silicon (111) cryogenically cooled monochromator. For energies in the range 6-10 keV, the flux through the diamond monochromator was about a factor of two less than through the silicon monochromator, in good agreement with calculations. We conclude that water-cooled diamond monochromators can handle the high-power beams from the undulator beamlines at the APS. As single-crystal diamond plates of larger size and better quality become available, the use of diamond monochromators will become a very attractive option. (orig.)

ESR studies of high-energy phosphorus-ion implanted synthetic diamond crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Isoya, J [University of Library and Information Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan); Kanda, H; Morita, Y; Ohshima, T

1997-03-01

Phosphorus is among potential n-type dopants in diamond. High pressure synthetic diamond crystals of type IIa implanted with high energy (9-18 MeV) phosphorus ions have been studied by using electron spin resonance (ESR) technique. The intensity and the linewidth of the ESR signal attributed to the dangling bond of the amorphous phase varied with the implantation dose, suggesting the nature of the amorphization varies with the dose. The ESR signals of point defects have been observed in the low dose as-implanted crystals and in the high dose crystals annealed at high temperature and at high pressure. (author)

Liquid crystals: high technology materials for potential applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saeed, M.A.; Badaruddin; Rizvi, T.Z.

1993-01-01

Liquid crystals have very rapidly emerged as a basis of many high technology fields within the last few decades. These materials because of their intriguing physical properties are regarded as the fourth state of matter. At present the applications of liquid crystals are established in digital display devices, electro-optical switches, optical computing, acousto-optics, thermo-indicators, laser thermo-recording, photo-chemical image recording and optical communication networks. More recently due to the concept of molecularly based electronics (MBE): the logical extreme for miniaturization of electronic device, liquid crystals are foreseen to play a vital role in the future optics based technologies. This paper gives a brief introduction to liquid crystals, the types of meso phases found in these materials together with their applications in research and industry. Some technical details of the construction liquid crystal cells for some typical applications in digital displays and other electro optical devices have also been discussed with special emphasis on relevant physical processes occurring at molecular level. (author)

Hydrogen concentration and distribution in high-purity germanium crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, W.L.; Haller, E.E.; Luke, P.N.

1981-10-01

High-purity germanium crystals used for making nuclear radiation detectors are usually grown in a hydrogen ambient from a melt contained in a high-purity silica crucible. The benefits and problems encountered in using a hydrogen ambient are reviewed. A hydrogen concentration of about 2 x 10 15 cm -3 has been determined by growing crystals in hydrogen spiked with tritium and counting the tritium β-decays in detectors made from these crystals. Annealing studies show that the hydrogen is strongly bound, either to defects or as H 2 with a dissociation energy > 3 eV. This is lowered to 1.8 eV when copper is present. Etching defects in dislocation-free crystals grown in hydrogen have been found by etch stripping to have a density of about 1 x 10 7 cm -3 and are estimated to contain 10 8 H atoms each

Crystallization, optimization and preliminary X-ray characterization of a metal-dependent PI-PLC from Streptomyces antibioticus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, Michael R.; Selby, Thomas L.

2012-01-01

Crystallization and diffraction analysis of a Ca 2+ -dependent PI-PLC from Streptomyces is reported. Optimization of crystals was completed using a drop-pinning technique and heavy-atom soaks to achieve high-quality diffraction to 1.23 Å. A recombinant metal-dependent phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC) from Streptomyces antibioticus has been crystallized by the hanging-drop method with and without heavy metals. The native crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P222, with unit-cell parameters a = 41.26, b = 51.86, c = 154.78 Å. The X-ray diffraction results showed significant differences in the crystal quality of samples soaked with heavy atoms. Additionally, drop pinning, which increases the surface area of the drops, was also used to improve crystal growth and quality. The combination of heavy-metal soaks and drop pinning was found to be critical for producing high-quality crystals that diffracted to 1.23 Å resolution

Organic nonlinear crystals and high power frequency conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velsko, S.P.; Davis, L.; Wang, F.; Monaco, S.; Eimerl, D.

1987-01-01

The authors are searching for new second and third harmonic generators among the salts of organic acids and bases. They discuss the relevant properties of crystals from this group of compounds, including their nonlinear and phasematching characteristics, linear absorption, damage threshold and crystal growth. In addition, they summarize what is known concerning other nonlinear optical properties of these crystals, such as two-photon absorption, nonlinear refractive index, and stimulated Raman thresholds. A preliminary assessment is made of the potential of these materials for use in future high power, large aperture lasers such as those used for inertial confinement fusion experiments

Ultra-high tunable liquid crystal-plasmonic photonic crystal fiber polarization filter.

Science.gov (United States)

Hameed, Mohamed Farhat O; Heikal, A M; Younis, B M; Abdelrazzak, Maher; Obayya, S S A

2015-03-23

A novel ultra-high tunable photonic crystal fiber (PCF) polarization filter is proposed and analyzed using finite element method. The suggested design has a central hole infiltrated with a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) that offers high tunability with temperature and external electric field. Moreover, the PCF is selectively filled with metal wires into cladding air holes. Results show that the resonance losses and wavelengths are different in x and y polarized directions depending on the rotation angle φ of the NLC. The reported filter of compact device length 0.5 mm can achieve 600 dB / cm resonance losses at φ = 90° for x-polarized mode at communication wavelength of 1300 mm with low losses of 0.00751 dB / cm for y-polarized mode. However, resonance losses of 157.71 dB / cm at φ = 0° can be achieved for y-polarized mode at the same wavelength with low losses of 0.092 dB / cm for x-polarized mode.

High resolution crystal calorimetry at LHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneegans, M.; Ferrere, D.; Lebeau, M.; Vivargent, M.

1991-01-01

The search for Higgs bosons above Lep200 reach could be one of the main tasks of the future pp and ee colliders. In the intermediate mass region, and in particular in the range 80-140 GeV/c 2 , only the 2-photon decay mode of a Higgs produced inclusively or in association with a W, gives a good chance of observation. A 'dedicated' very high resolution calorimeter with photon angle reconstruction and pion identification capability should detect a Higgs signal with high probability. A crystal calorimeter can be considered as a conservative approach to such a detector, since a large design and operation experience already exists. The extensive R and D needed for finding a dense, fast and radiation hard crystal, is under way. Guide-lines for designing an optimum calorimeter for LHC are discussed and preliminary configurations are given. (author) 7 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs

Modeling the Color Image and Video Quality on Liquid Crystal Displays with Backlight Dimming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korhonen, Jari; Mantel, Claire; Burini, Nino

2013-01-01

Objective image and video quality metrics focus mostly on the digital representation of the signal. However, the display characteristics are also essential for the overall Quality of Experience (QoE). In this paper, we use a model of a backlight dimming system for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD......) and show how the modeled image can be used as an input to quality assessment algorithms. For quality assessment, we propose an image quality metric, based on Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) computation in the CIE L*a*b* color space. The metric takes luminance reduction, color distortion and loss...

High-quality photonic crystals with a nearly complete band gap obtained by direct inversion of woodpile templates with titanium dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Marichy, Catherine; Muller, Nicolas; Froufe-Pérez, Luis S; Scheffold, Frank

2016-02-25

Photonic crystal materials are based on a periodic modulation of the dielectric constant on length scales comparable to the wavelength of light. These materials can exhibit photonic band gaps; frequency regions for which the propagation of electromagnetic radiation is forbidden due to the depletion of the density of states. In order to exhibit a full band gap, 3D PCs must present a threshold refractive index contrast that depends on the crystal structure. In the case of the so-called woodpile photonic crystals this threshold is comparably low, approximately 1.9 for the direct structure. Therefore direct or inverted woodpiles made of high refractive index materials like silicon, germanium or titanium dioxide are sought after. Here we show that, by combining multiphoton lithography and atomic layer deposition, we can achieve a direct inversion of polymer templates into TiO2 based photonic crystals. The obtained structures show remarkable optical properties in the near-infrared region with almost perfect specular reflectance, a transmission dip close to the detection limit and a Bragg length comparable to the lattice constant.

5,5'-Dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) modification of cysteine improves the crystal quality of human chloride intracellular channel protein 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mi Wei; Li Lanfen; Su Xiaodong

2008-01-01

Structural studies of human chloride intracellular channel protein 2 (CLIC2) had been hampered by the problem of generating suitable crystals primarily due to the protein containing exposed cysteines. Several chemical reagents were used to react with the cysteines on CLIC2 in order to modify the redox state of the protein. We have obtained high quality crystals that diffracted to better than 2.5 A at a home X-ray source by treating the protein with 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB). After solving the crystal structure of CLIC2, we found that the DTNB had reacted with the Cys 114 , and made CLIC2 in a homogenous oxidized state. This study demonstrated that the DTNB modification drastically improved the crystallization of CLIC2, and it implied that this method may be useful for other proteins containing exposed cysteines in general

Structural and compositional characterization of LiNbO{sub 3} crystals implanted with high energy iron ions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sada, C., E-mail: cinzia.sada@unipd.i [Universita di Padova and CNISM, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova (Italy); Argiolas, N.; Bazzan, M.; Ciampolillo, M.V.; Zaltron, A.M.; Mazzoldi, P. [Universita di Padova and CNISM, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova (Italy); Agarwal, D.C.; Avastshi, D.K. [Inter-University Accelerator Centre, Post Box-10502, New Delhi 110067 (India)

2010-10-01

Iron ions were implanted with a total fluence of 6 x 10{sup 17} ions/m{sup 2} into lithium niobate crystals by way of a sequential implantation at different energies of 95, 100 and 105 MeV respectively through an energy retarder Fe foil to get a uniform Fe doping of about few microns from the surface. The implanted crystals were then annealed in air in the range 200-400 {sup o}C for different durations to promote the crystalline quality that was damaged by implantation. In order to understand the basic phenomena underlying the implantation process, compositional in-depth profiles obtained by the secondary ion mass spectrometry were correlated to the structural properties of the implanted region measured by the high resolution X-ray diffraction depending on the process parameters. The optimised preparation conditions are outlined in order to recover the crystalline quality, essential for integrated photorefractive applications.

Progress in the Development of the Lead Tungstate Crystals for EM-Calorimetry in High-Energy Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Novotny, R. W.; Brinkmann, K.-T.; Borisevich, A.; Dormenev, V.; Houzvicka, J.; Korjik, M.; Zaunick, H.-G.

2017-11-01

Even at present time there is a strong interest and demand for high quality lead tungstate crystals (PbWO4, PWO) for electromagnetic (EM) calorimetry. PWO is implemented into the EM calorimeter of the CMS-ECAL detector at LHC [1] and required for the completion of the PANDA EMC [2] and various ongoing detector projects at Jefferson Lab. The successful mass production of PWO using the Czochralski method was stopped after bankruptcy of the Bogoroditsk Technical Chemical Plant (BTCP) in Russia as major producer so far. The Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Science (China) was considered as an alternative producer using the modified Bridgman method. The company CRYTUR (Turnov, Czech Republic) with good experience in the development and production of different types of inorganic oxide crystals has restarted at the end of 2014 the development of lead tungstate for mass production based on the Czochralski method. An impressive progress was achieved since then. The growing technology was optimized to produce full size samples with the quality meeting the PANDA-EMC specifications for PWO-II. We will present a detailed progress report on the research program in collaboration with groups at Orsay and JLab. The full size crystals will be characterized with respect to optical performance, light yield, kinetics and radiation hardness.

Crystal structure of actinide metals at high compression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fast, L.; Soederlind, P.

1995-08-01

The crystal structures of some light actinide metals are studied theoretically as a function of applied pressure. The first principles electronic structure theory is formulated in the framework of density functional theory, with the gradient corrected local density approximation of the exchange-correlation functional. The light actinide metals are shown to be well described as itinerant (metallic) f-electron metals and generally, they display a crystal structure which have, in agreement with previous theoretical suggestions, increasing degree of symmetry and closed-packing upon compression. The theoretical calculations agree well with available experimental data. At very high compression, the theory predicts closed-packed structures such as the fcc or the hcp structures or the nearly closed-packed bcc structure for the light actinide metals. A simple canonical band picture is presented to explain in which particular closed-packed form these metals will crystallize at ultra-high pressure

High-resolution X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein using the high-pressure cryocooling method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higashiura, Akifumi; Ohta, Kazunori; Masaki, Mika; Sato, Masaru; Inaka, Koji; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Nakagawa, Atsushi

2013-01-01

Using the high-pressure cryocooling method, the high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein was determined at 0.86 Å resolution. This is the first ultra-high-resolution structure obtained from a high-pressure cryocooled crystal. Recently, many technical improvements in macromolecular X-ray crystallography have increased the number of structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank and improved the resolution limit of protein structures. Almost all high-resolution structures have been determined using a synchrotron radiation source in conjunction with cryocooling techniques, which are required in order to minimize radiation damage. However, optimization of cryoprotectant conditions is a time-consuming and difficult step. To overcome this problem, the high-pressure cryocooling method was developed (Kim et al., 2005 ▶) and successfully applied to many protein-structure analyses. In this report, using the high-pressure cryocooling method, the X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein was determined at 0.86 Å resolution. Structural comparisons between high- and ambient-pressure cryocooled crystals at ultra-high resolution illustrate the versatility of this technique. This is the first ultra-high-resolution X-ray structure obtained using the high-pressure cryocooling method

Crystal Structure of the 30S Ribosomal Subunit from Thermus Thermophilus: Purification, Crystallization and Structure Determination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemons, William M. Jr.; Brodersen, Ditlev E.; McCutcheonn, John P.; May, Joanna L.C.; Carter, Andrew P.; Morgan-Warren, Robert J.; Wimberly, Brian T.; Ramakrishnan, Venki

2001-01-01

We describe the crystallization and structure determination of the 30 S ribosomal subunit from Thermus thermophilus. Previous reports of crystals that diffracted to 10 (angstrom) resolution were used as a starting point to improve the quality of the diffraction. Eventually, ideas such as the addition of substrates or factors to eliminate conformational heterogeneity proved less important than attention to detail in yielding crystals that diffracted beyond 3 (angstrom) resolution. Despite improvements in technology and methodology in the last decade, the structure determination of the 30 S subunit presented some very challenging technical problems because of the size of the asymmetric unit, crystal variability and sensitivity to radiation damage. Some steps that were useful for determination of the atomic structure were: the use of anomalous scattering from the LIII edges of osmium and lutetium to obtain the necessary phasing signal; the use of tunable, third-generation synchrotron sources to obtain data of reasonable quality at high resolution; collection of derivative data precisely about a mirror plane to preserve small anomalous differences between Bijvoet mates despite extensive radiation damage and multi-crystal scaling; the pre-screening of crystals to ensure quality, isomorphism and the efficient use of scarce third-generation synchrotron time; pre-incubation of crystals in cobalt hexaammine to ensure isomorphism with other derivatives; and finally, the placement of proteins whose structures had been previously solved in isolation, in conjunction with biochemical data on protein-RNA interactions, to map out the architecture of the 30 S subunit prior to the construction of a detailed atomic-resolution model.

Liquid gallium cooling of silicon crystals in high intensity photon beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smither, R.K.; Forster, G.A.; Bilderback, D.H.; Bedzyk, M.; Finkelstein, K.; Henderson, C.; White, J.; Berman, L.E.; Stefan, P.; Oversluizen, T.

1989-01-01

The high-brilliance, insertion-device-based photon beams of the next generation of synchrotron sources (Argonne's APS and Grenoble's ESRF) will deliver large thermal loads (1--10 kW) to the first optical elements. Considering the problems that present synchrotron users are experiencing with beams from recently installed insertion devices, new and improved methods of cooling these first optical elements, particularly when they are diffraction crystals, are clearly needed. A series of finite element calculations were performed to test the efficiency of new cooling geometries and various cooling fluids. The best results were obtained with liquid Ga metal flowing in channels just below the surface of the crystal. Ga was selected because of its good thermal conductivity and thermal capacity, low melting point, high boiling point, low kinetic viscosity, and very low vapor pressure. Its very low vapor pressure, even at elevated temperatures, makes it especially attractive in UHV conditions. A series of experiments were conducted at CHESS in February of 1988 that compared liquid gallium-cooled silicon diffraction crystals with water-cooled crystals. A six-pole wiggler beam was used to perform these tests on three different Si crystals, two with new cooling geometries and the one presently in use. A special high-pressure electromagnetic induction pump, recently developed at Argonne, was used to circulate the liquid gallium through the silicon crystals. In all experiments, the specially cooled crystal was used as the first crystal in a two crystal monochromator. An infrared camera was used to monitor the thermal profiles and correlated them with rocking curve measurements. A second set of cooling experiments were conducted in June of 1988 that used the intense, highly collimated beam from the newly installed ANL/CHESS undulator

High-quality AlN films grown on chemical vapor-deposited graphene films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Bin-Hao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We report the growth of high-quality AlN films on graphene. The graphene films were synthesized by CVD and then transferred onto silicon substrates. Epitaxial aluminum nitride films were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on both graphene as an intermediate layer and silicon as a substrate. The structural characteristics of the AlN films and graphene were investigated. Highly c-axis-oriented AlN crystal structures are investigated based on the XRDpatterns observations.

Organic nonlinear crystals and high power frequency conversion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velsko, S.P.; Davis, L.; Wang, F.; Monaco, S.; Eimerl, D.

1987-12-01

We are searching for a new second- and third-harmonic generators among the salts of chiral organic acids and bases. We discuss the relevant properties of crystals from this group of compounds, including their nonlinear and phasematching characteristics, linear absorption, damage threshold and crystal growth. In addition, we summarize what is known concerning other nonlinear optical properties of these crystals, such as two-photon absorption, nonlinear refractive index, and stimulated Raman thresholds. A preliminary assessment is made of the potential of these materials for use in future high power, large aperture lasers such as those used for inertial confinement fusion experiments. 14 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Reliable Exfoliation of Large-Area High-Quality Flakes of Graphene and Other Two-Dimensional Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yuan; Sutter, Eli; Shi, Norman N; Zheng, Jiabao; Yang, Tianzhong; Englund, Dirk; Gao, Hong-Jun; Sutter, Peter

2015-11-24

Mechanical exfoliation has been a key enabler of the exploration of the properties of two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, by providing routine access to high-quality material. The original exfoliation method, which remained largely unchanged during the past decade, provides relatively small flakes with moderate yield. Here, we report a modified approach for exfoliating thin monolayer and few-layer flakes from layered crystals. Our method introduces two process steps that enhance and homogenize the adhesion force between the outermost sheet in contact with a substrate: Prior to exfoliation, ambient adsorbates are effectively removed from the substrate by oxygen plasma cleaning, and an additional heat treatment maximizes the uniform contact area at the interface between the source crystal and the substrate. For graphene exfoliation, these simple process steps increased the yield and the area of the transferred flakes by more than 50 times compared to the established exfoliation methods. Raman and AFM characterization shows that the graphene flakes are of similar high quality as those obtained in previous reports. Graphene field-effect devices were fabricated and measured with back-gating and solution top-gating, yielding mobilities of ∼4000 and 12,000 cm(2)/(V s), respectively, and thus demonstrating excellent electrical properties. Experiments with other layered crystals, e.g., a bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide (BSCCO) superconductor, show enhancements in exfoliation yield and flake area similar to those for graphene, suggesting that our modified exfoliation method provides an effective way for producing large area, high-quality flakes of a wide range of 2D materials.

High (1 1 1) orientation poly-Ge film fabricated by Al induced crystallization without the introduction of AlOx interlayer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Peng; Li, Xin; Liu, Hanhui; Lai, Shumei; Chen, Yuye; Xu, Yihong; Chen, Songyan; Li, Cheng; Huang, Wei; Tang, Dingliang

2015-01-01

High (1 1 1) orientation poly-Ge film was fabricated by Al induced crystallization (AIC), where Al and amorphous Ge (a-Ge) layers were continuously deposited by magnetron sputtering, avoiding the deliberate introduction of an AlO x interlayer. To improve the quality of poly-Ge film, the ratio of thicknesses of Al and a-Ge was adjusted. Electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) results revealed that the (1 1 1) fraction of poly-Ge film reached 97% and the average crystal grain size surpassed 100 μm.

Growth of high-temperature superconductor crystals from flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demianets, L.N.; Bykov, A.B.; Melnikov, O.K.; Stishov, S.M.

1991-01-01

Crystallization of high-temperature superconductors was studied in La-Sr-Cu-O, Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O systems. Platelet crystals YBa 2 Cu 3 Osub(6.5+x) were obtained by spontaneous crystallization from homogeneous nonstoichiometric melts enriched in barium and copper oxides. Lasub(2-x)Sr x CuO 4 was prepared by slow cooling of melts enriched in copper oxide. Bi 2 (Sr, Ca)sub(n+1)Cu n O y , (n=1;2) was obtained by melting zone travelling. The crystals show transition to superconducting state at T=93K, ΔT 0.2-0.5 K (Y, Ba cuprate), T=87K, ΔT 2K (Bi, Sr, Ca-cuprate). La, Sr-cuprate single crystals obtained by Czochralski method did not show transition to superconducting state. For flux-grown crystals T c was 5-26 K depending on the composition, growth and heat treatment. The short characterization of some accessory phases (Ba 3 Y 2 Cu 3 PtO 10 , Casub(1.75)Srsub(1.5)Cusub(0.75)PtO 6 , BaCuO 2 , Ba 41 Cu 44 O 84 Cl 2 ) is reported. (author). 15 ref s., 8 figs

Correlation Between Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Mobility and Crystal Quality in AlGaN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistor Structure Grown on 4H-SiC.

Science.gov (United States)

Heo, Cheon; Jang, Jongjin; Lee, Kyngjae; So, Byungchan; Lee, Kyungbae; Ko, Kwangse; Nam, Okhyun

2017-01-01

We investigated the correlation between the crystal quality and two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) mobility of an AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) structure grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. For the structure with an AlN nucleation layer grown at 1100 °C, the 2DEG mobility and sheet carrier density were 1627 cm²/V·s and 3.23 × 10¹³ cm⁻², respectively, at room temperature. Further, it was confirmed that the edge dislocation density of the GaN buffer layer was related to the 2DEG mobility and sheet carrier density in the AlGaN/GaN HEMT.

Isothermal crystallization kinetics in simulated high-level nuclear waste glass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vienna, J.D.; Hrma, P.; Smith, D.E.

1997-01-01

Crystallization kinetics of a simulated high-level waste (HLW) glass were measured and modelled. Kinetics of acmite growth in the standard HW39-4 glass were measured using the isothermal method. A time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram was generated from these data. Classical glass-crystal transformation kinetic models were empirically applied to the crystallization data. These models adequately describe the kinetics of crystallization in complex HLW glasses (i.e., RSquared = 0.908). An approach to measurement, fitting, and use of TTT diagrams for prediction of crystallinity in a HLW glass canister is proposed

High Performance Relaxor-Based Ferroelectric Single Crystals for Ultrasonic Transducer Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Chen

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT have drawn much attention in the ferroelectric field because of their excellent piezoelectric properties and high electromechanical coupling coefficients (d33~2000 pC/N, kt~60% near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB. Ternary Pb(In1/2Nb1/2O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3-PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT single crystals also possess outstanding performance comparable with PMN-PT single crystals, but have higher phase transition temperatures (rhombohedral to tetragonal Trt, and tetragonal to cubic Tc and larger coercive field Ec. Therefore, these relaxor-based single crystals have been extensively employed for ultrasonic transducer applications. In this paper, an overview of our work and perspectives on using PMN-PT and PIN-PMN-PT single crystals for ultrasonic transducer applications is presented. Various types of single-element ultrasonic transducers, including endoscopic transducers, intravascular transducers, high-frequency and high-temperature transducers fabricated using the PMN-PT and PIN-PMN-PT crystals and their 2-2 and 1-3 composites are reported. Besides, the fabrication and characterization of the array transducers, such as phased array, cylindrical shaped linear array, high-temperature linear array, radial endoscopic array, and annular array, are also addressed.

Proceedings of the Flat-Plate Solar Array Project Workshop on Crystal Gowth for High-Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, K. A. (Editor)

1985-01-01

A Workshop on Crystal Growth for High-Efficiency Silicon Solar Cells was held December 3 and 4, 1984, in San Diego, California. The Workshop offered a day and a half of technical presentations and discussions and an afternoon session that involved a panel discussion and general discussion of areas of research that are necessary to the development of materials for high-efficiency solar cells. Topics included the theoretical and experimental aspects of growing high-quality silicon crystals, the effects of growth-process-related defects on photovoltaic devices, and the suitability of various growth technologies as cost-effective processes. Fifteen invited papers were presented, with a discussion period following each presentation. The meeting was organized by the Flat-Plate Solar Array Project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These Proceedings are a record of the presentations and discussions, edited for clarity and continuity.

Crystal growth and physical properties of Ferro-pnictides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aswartham, Saicharan

2012-11-08

The thesis work presented here emphasizes important aspects of crystal growth and the influence of chemical substitution in Fe-As superconductors. High temperature solution growth technique is one of most powerful and widely used technique to grow single crystals of various materials. The biggest advantage of high temperature solution growth technique is the, possibility of growing single crystals from both congruently and incongruently melting materials. Solution growth technique has the potential to control high vapour pressures, given the fact that, in Fe-based superconductors elements with high vapour pressure like As, K, Li and Na have to be handled during the crystal growth procedure. In this scenario high temperature solution growth is the best suitable growth technique to synthesize sizable homogeneous single crystals. Using self-flux high temperature solution growth technique, large centimeter-sized high quality single crystals of BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} were grown. This pristine compound BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2} undergoes structural and magnetic transition at T{sub S/N} = 137 K. By suppressing this magnetic transition and stabilizing tetragonal phase with chemical substitution, like Co-doping and Na-doping, bulk superconductivity is achieved. Superconducting transitions of as high as T{sub c} = 34 K with Na substitution and T{sub c} = 25 K with Co-doping were obtained. A combined electronic phase diagram has been achieved for both electron doping with Co and hole doping with Na in BaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}. Single crystals of LiFe{sub 1-x}Co{sub x}As with x = 0, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.075 were grown by a self-flux high temperature solution growth technique. The charge doping in LiFeAs is achieved with the Co-doping in Fe atoms. The superconducting properties investigated by means of temperature dependent magnetization and resistivity revealed that superconductivity is shifted to lower temperatures and with higher amount of charge carriers superconductivity is killed

Crystallization of high-strength nano-scale leucite glass-ceramics.

Science.gov (United States)

Theocharopoulos, A; Chen, X; Wilson, R M; Hill, R; Cattell, M J

2013-11-01

Fine-grained, high strength, translucent leucite dental glass-ceramics are synthesized via controlled crystallization of finely milled glass powders. The objectives of this study were to utilize high speed planetary milling of an aluminosilicate glass for controlled surface crystallization of nano-scale leucite glass-ceramics and to test the biaxial flexural strength. An aluminosilicate glass was synthesized, attritor or planetary milled and heat-treated. Glasses and glass-ceramics were characterized using particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Experimental (fine and nanoscale) and commercial (Ceramco-3, IPS Empress Esthetic) leucite glass-ceramics were tested using the biaxial flexural strength (BFS) test. Gaussian and Weibull statistics were applied. Experimental planetary milled glass-ceramics showed an increased leucite crystal number and nano-scale median crystal sizes (0.048-0.055 μm(2)) as a result of glass particle size reduction and heat treatments. Experimental materials had significantly (p0.05) strength difference. All other groups' mean BFS and characteristic strengths were found to be significantly different (pglass-ceramics with high flexural strength. These materials may help to reduce problems associated with brittle fracture of all-ceramic restorations and give reduced enamel wear. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Overview of Hardware for Protein Crystallization in a Magnetic Field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Er-Kai Yan

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Protein crystallization under a magnetic field is an interesting research topic because a magnetic field may provide a special environment to acquire improved quality protein crystals. Because high-quality protein crystals are very useful in high-resolution structure determination using diffraction techniques (X-ray, neutron, and electron diffraction, research using magnetic fields in protein crystallization has attracted substantial interest; some studies have been performed in the past two decades. In this research field, the hardware is especially essential for successful studies because the environment is special and the design and utilization of the research apparatus in such an environment requires special considerations related to the magnetic field. This paper reviews the hardware for protein crystallization (including the magnet systems and the apparatus designed for use in a magnetic field and progress in this area. Future prospects in this field will also be discussed.

High power single-frequency and frequency-doubled laser with active compensation for the thermal lens effect of terbium gallium garnet crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Qiwei; Lu, Huadong; Su, Jing; Peng, Kunchi

2016-05-01

The thermal lens effect of terbium gallium garnet (TGG) crystal in a high power single-frequency laser severely limits the output power and the beam quality of the laser. By inserting a potassium dideuterium phosphate (DKDP) slice with negative thermo-optical coefficient into the laser resonator, the harmful influence of the thermal lens effect of the TGG crystal can be effectively mitigated. Using this method, the stable range of the laser is broadened, the bistability phenomenon of the laser during the process of changing the pump power is completely eliminated, the highest output power of an all-solid-state continuous-wave intracavity-frequency-doubling single-frequency laser at 532 nm is enhanced to 30.2 W, and the beam quality of the laser is significantly improved.

An adaptive crystal bender for high power synchrotron radiation beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berman, L.E.; Hastings, J.B.

1992-01-01

Perfect crystal monochromators cannot diffract x-rays efficiently, nor transmit the high source brightness available at synchrotron radiation facilities, unless surface strains within the beam footprint are maintained within a few arcseconds. Insertion devices at existing synchrotron sources already produce x-ray power density levels that can induce surface slope errors of several arcseconds on silicon monochromator crystals at room temperature, no matter how well the crystal is cooled. The power density levels that will be produced by insertion devices at the third-generation sources will be as much as a factor of 100 higher still. One method of restoring ideal x-ray diffraction behavior, while coping with high power levels, involves adaptive compensation of the induced thermal strain field. The design and performance, using the X25 hybrid wiggler beam line at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), of a silicon crystal bender constructed for this purpose are described

Automating the application of smart materials for protein crystallization.

Science.gov (United States)

Khurshid, Sahir; Govada, Lata; El-Sharif, Hazim F; Reddy, Subrayal M; Chayen, Naomi E

2015-03-01

The fabrication and validation of the first semi-liquid nonprotein nucleating agent to be administered automatically to crystallization trials is reported. This research builds upon prior demonstration of the suitability of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs; known as `smart materials') for inducing protein crystal growth. Modified MIPs of altered texture suitable for high-throughput trials are demonstrated to improve crystal quality and to increase the probability of success when screening for suitable crystallization conditions. The application of these materials is simple, time-efficient and will provide a potent tool for structural biologists embarking on crystallization trials.

Studies on growth, crystal structure and characterization of novel organic nicotinium trifluoroacetate single crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dhanaraj, P.V. [Centre for Crystal Growth, SSN College of Engineering, Kalavakkam 603 110 (India); Rajesh, N.P., E-mail: rajeshnp@hotmail.com [Centre for Crystal Growth, SSN College of Engineering, Kalavakkam 603 110 (India); Sundar, J. Kalyana; Natarajan, S. [Department of Physics, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625 021 (India); Vinitha, G. [Department of Physics, Crescent Engineering College, Chennai 600 048 (India)

2011-09-15

Highlights: {yields} Good quality crystals of nicotinium trifluoroacetate in monoclinic system were grown for first time. {yields} Nicotinium trifluoroacetate crystal exhibits third order nonlinear optical properties. {yields} The optical spectrum of nicotinium trifluoroacetate crystal reveals the wide transmission in the entire range with cutoff wavelength at 286 nm. {yields} Nicotinium trifluoroacetate is a low dielectric constant material. - Abstract: An organic material, nicotinium trifluoroacetate (NTF) was synthesized and single crystals in monoclinic system were grown from aqueous solution for the first time. Its solubility and metastable zone width were estimated. The crystal structure of NTF was analyzed to reveal the molecular arrangements and the formation of hydrogen bonds in the crystal. High-resolution X-ray diffraction rocking curve measurements were performed to analyze the structural perfection of the grown crystals. Functional groups in NTF were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis. Thermal behaviour and stability of NTF were studied by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Mechanical and dielectric properties of NTF crystals were analyzed. Optical studies reveal that NTF crystals are transparent in the wavelength range 286-1100 nm. The third order nonlinear optical parameters of NTF were derived by the Z-scan technique.

Technical and radiological image quality comparison of different liquid crystal displays for radiology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dams FE

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Francina EM Dams,2 KY Esther Leung,1 Pieter HM van der Valk,2 Marc CJM Kock,2 Jeroen Bosman,1 Sjoerd P Niehof1 1Medical Physics and Technology, 2Department of Radiology, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Dordrecht, The Netherlands Background: To inform cost-effective decisions in purchasing new medical liquid crystal displays, we compared the image quality in displays made by three manufacturers. Methods: We recruited 19 radiologists and residents to compare the image quality of four liquid crystal displays, including 3-megapixel Barco®, Eizo®, and NEC® displays and a 6-megapixel Barco display. The evaluators were blinded to the manufacturers' names. Technical assessments were based on acceptance criteria and test patterns proposed by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Radiological assessments were performed on images from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 18. They included X-ray images of the thorax, knee, and breast, a computed tomographic image of the thorax, and a magnetic resonance image of the brain. Image quality was scored on an analog scale (range 0–10. Statistical analysis was performed with repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: The Barco 3-megapixel display passed all acceptance criteria. The Eizo and NEC displays passed the acceptance criteria, except for the darkest pixel value in the grayscale display function. The Barco 6-megapixel display failed criteria for the maximum luminance response and the veiling glare. Mean radiological assessment scores were 7.8±1.1 (Barco 3-megapixel, 7.8±1.2 (Eizo, 8.1±1.0 (NEC, and 8.1±1.0 (Barco 6-megapixel. No significant differences were found between displays. Conclusion: According to the tested criteria, all the displays had comparable image quality; however, there was a three-fold difference in price between the most and least expensive displays. Keywords: data display, humans, radiographic image enhancement, user-computer interface

High-speed imaging polarimetry using liquid crystal modulators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ambs P.

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with dynamic polarimetric imaging techniques. The basics of modern polarimetry have been known for one and a half century, but no practical high-speed implementation providing the full polarization information is currently available. Various methods are reviewed which prove to be a trade-off between the complexity of the optical set-up and the amount of polarimetric information they provide (ie the number of components of the Stokes vector. Techniques using liquid crystal devices, incepted in the late 1990's, are emphasized. Optical set-ups we implemented are presented. We particularly focus on high-speed techniques (i.e. faster than 200 Hz using ferroelectric liquid crystal devices.

Protein crystal nucleation in pores.

Science.gov (United States)

Nanev, Christo N; Saridakis, Emmanuel; Chayen, Naomi E

2017-01-16

The most powerful method for protein structure determination is X-ray crystallography which relies on the availability of high quality crystals. Obtaining protein crystals is a major bottleneck, and inducing their nucleation is of crucial importance in this field. An effective method to form crystals is to introduce nucleation-inducing heterologous materials into the crystallization solution. Porous materials are exceptionally effective at inducing nucleation. It is shown here that a combined diffusion-adsorption effect can increase protein concentration inside pores, which enables crystal nucleation even under conditions where heterogeneous nucleation on flat surfaces is absent. Provided the pore is sufficiently narrow, protein molecules approach its walls and adsorb more frequently than they can escape. The decrease in the nucleation energy barrier is calculated, exhibiting its quantitative dependence on the confinement space and the energy of interaction with the pore walls. These results provide a detailed explanation of the effectiveness of porous materials for nucleation of protein crystals, and will be useful for optimal design of such materials.

Structural properties, crystal quality and growth modes of MOCVD-grown AlN with TMAl pretreatment of sapphire substrate

KAUST Repository

Sun, Haiding; Wu, Feng; Altahtamouni, Talal Mohammed Ahmad; Alfaraj, Nasir; Li, Kun; Detchprohm, Theeradetch; Dupuis, Russell; Li, Xiaohang

2017-01-01

The growth of high quality AlN epitaxial films relies on precise control of the initial growth stages. In this work, we examined the influence of the trimethylaluminum (TMAl) pretreatment of sapphire substrates on the structural properties, crystal quality and growth modes of heteroepitaxial AlN films on (0001) sapphire substrates. Without the pretreatment, the AlN films nucleated on the smooth surface but exhibited mixed crystallographic Al- (N-) polarity, resulting in rough AlN film surfaces. With increasing the pretreatment time from 1 to 5 s, the N-polarity started to be impeded. However, small islands were formed on sapphire surface due to the decompostion of TMAl. As a result, small voids became noticeable at the nucleation layer (NL) because the growth started as quasi three-dimensional (3D) but transformed to 2D mode as the film grew thicker and got coalesced, leading to smoother and Al-polar films. On the other hand, longer pretreatment time of 40 s formed large 3D islands on sapphire, and thus initiated a 3D-growth mode of the AlN film, generating Al-polar AlN nanocolumns with different facets, which resulted into rougher film surfaces. The epitaxial growth modes and their correlation with the AlN film crystal quality under different TMAl pretreatments are also discussed.

Structural properties, crystal quality and growth modes of MOCVD-grown AlN with TMAl pretreatment of sapphire substrate

KAUST Repository

Sun, Haiding

2017-08-08

The growth of high quality AlN epitaxial films relies on precise control of the initial growth stages. In this work, we examined the influence of the trimethylaluminum (TMAl) pretreatment of sapphire substrates on the structural properties, crystal quality and growth modes of heteroepitaxial AlN films on (0001) sapphire substrates. Without the pretreatment, the AlN films nucleated on the smooth surface but exhibited mixed crystallographic Al- (N-) polarity, resulting in rough AlN film surfaces. With increasing the pretreatment time from 1 to 5 s, the N-polarity started to be impeded. However, small islands were formed on sapphire surface due to the decompostion of TMAl. As a result, small voids became noticeable at the nucleation layer (NL) because the growth started as quasi three-dimensional (3D) but transformed to 2D mode as the film grew thicker and got coalesced, leading to smoother and Al-polar films. On the other hand, longer pretreatment time of 40 s formed large 3D islands on sapphire, and thus initiated a 3D-growth mode of the AlN film, generating Al-polar AlN nanocolumns with different facets, which resulted into rougher film surfaces. The epitaxial growth modes and their correlation with the AlN film crystal quality under different TMAl pretreatments are also discussed.

High-brightness tapered laser diodes with photonic crystal structures

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yi; Du, Weichuan; Kun, Zhou; Gao, Songxin; Ma, Yi; Tang, Chun

2018-02-01

Beam quality of tapered laser diodes is limited by higher order lateral mode. On purpose of optimizing the brightness of tapered laser diodes, we developed a novel design of tapered diodes. This devices based on InGaAs/AlGaAs asymmetry epitaxial structure, containing higher order lateral mode filtering schemes especially photonic crystal structures, which fabricated cost effectively by using standard photolithography and dry etch processes. Meanwhile, the effects of photonic crystal structures on mode control are also investigated theoretically by FDBPM (Finite-Difference Beam Propagation Method) calculation. We achieved a CW optical output power of 6.9W at 940nm for a single emitter with 4 mm cavity length. A nearly diffraction limited beam of M2 ≍1.9 @ 0.5W has been demonstrated, and a highest brightness of β =75MW/(cm2 ·sr) was reached.

High mobility In2O3:H transparent conductive oxides prepared by atomic layer deposition and solid phase crystallization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Macco, B.; Wu, Y.; Vanhemel, D.; Kessels, W.M.M.

2014-01-01

The preparation of high-quality In2O3:H, as transparent conductive oxide (TCO), is demonstrated at low temperatures. Amorphous In2O3:H films were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 100 °C, after which they underwent solid phase crystallization by a short anneal at 200 °C. TEM analysis has shown

High-Mobility, Ultrathin Organic Semiconducting Films Realized by Surface-Mediated Crystallization.

Science.gov (United States)

Vladimirov, I; Kellermeier, M; Geßner, T; Molla, Zarah; Grigorian, S; Pietsch, U; Schaffroth, L S; Kühn, M; May, F; Weitz, R T

2018-01-10

The functionality of common organic semiconductor materials is determined by their chemical structure and crystal modification. While the former can be fine-tuned via synthesis, a priori control over the crystal structure has remained elusive. We show that the surface tension is the main driver for the plate-like crystallization of a novel small organic molecule n-type semiconductor at the liquid-air interface. This interface provides an ideal environment for the growth of millimeter-sized semiconductor platelets that are only few nanometers thick and thus highly attractive for application in transistors. On the basis of the novel high-performance perylene diimide, we show in as-grown, only 3 nm thin crystals electron mobilities of above 4 cm 2 /(V s) and excellent bias stress stability. We suggest that the established systematics on solvent parameters can provide the basis of a general framework for a more deterministic crystallization of other small molecules.

In situ high-pressure measurement of crystal solubility by using neutron diffraction

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ji; Hu, Qiwei; Fang, Leiming; He, Duanwei; Chen, Xiping; Xie, Lei; Chen, Bo; Li, Xin; Ni, Xiaolin; Fan, Cong; Liang, Akun

2018-05-01

Crystal solubility is one of the most important thermo-physical properties and plays a key role in industrial applications, fundamental science, and geoscientific research. However, high-pressure in situ measurements of crystal solubility remain very challenging. Here, we present a method involving high-pressure neutron diffraction for making high-precision in situ measurements of crystal solubility as a function of pressure over a wide range of pressures. For these experiments, we designed a piston-cylinder cell with a large chamber volume for high-pressure neutron diffraction. The solution pressures are continuously monitored in situ based on the equation of state of the sample crystal. The solubility at a high pressure can be obtained by applying a Rietveld quantitative multiphase analysis. To evaluate the proposed method, we measured the high-pressure solubility of NaCl in water up to 610 MPa. At a low pressure, the results are consistent with the previous results measured ex situ. At a higher pressure, more reliable data could be provided by using an in situ high-pressure neutron diffraction method.

Enhanced magnetoresistance in the binary semimetal NbAs2 due to improved crystal quality

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoi, K.; Murakawa, H.; Komada, M.; Kida, T.; Hagiwara, M.; Sakai, H.; Hanasaki, N.

2018-02-01

We have observed an extremely large magnetoresistance exceeding 1.9 million at 1.7 K at 40 T for a single crystal of the binary semimetal NbAs2. The magnetoresistive behavior for this compound is quantitatively reproduced by a semiclassical two-carrier model in which the significant enhancement of magnetoresistance is attributed to the almost full compensation of the hole and electron densities (0.994 6 ×105cm2 /V .s ). Our results indicate that binary semimetals with higher carrier densities have a great potential for exhibiting a further divergent increase in magnetoresistance merely through an improvement in crystal quality.

Semiconducting icosahedral boron arsenide crystal growth for neutron detection

Science.gov (United States)

Whiteley, C. E.; Zhang, Y.; Gong, Y.; Bakalova, S.; Mayo, A.; Edgar, J. H.; Kuball, M.

2011-03-01

Semiconducting icosahedral boron arsenide, B12As2, is an excellent candidate for neutron detectors, thermoelectric converters, and radioisotope batteries, for which high quality single crystals are required. Thus, the present study was undertaken to grow B12As2 crystals by precipitation from metal solutions (nickel) saturated with elemental boron (or B12As2 powder) and arsenic in a sealed quartz ampoule. B12As2 crystals of 10-15 mm were produced when a homogeneous mixture of the three elements was held at 1150 °C for 48-72 h and slowly cooled (3.5 °C/h). The crystals varied in color and transparency from black and opaque to clear and transparent. X-ray topography (XRT), and elemental analysis by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed that the crystals had the expected rhombohedral structure and chemical stoichiometry. The concentrations of residual impurities (nickel, carbon, etc.) were low, as measured by Raman spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Additionally, low etch-pit densities (4.4×107 cm-2) were observed after etching in molten KOH at 500 °C. Thus, the flux growth method is viable for growing large, high-quality B12As2 crystals.

Ce-doped LuAG single-crystal fibers grown from the melt for high-energy physics

CERN Document Server

Xu, X; Moretti, F; Pauwels, K; Lecoq, P; Auffray, E; Dujardin, C

2014-01-01

Under a stationary stable regime undoped and Ce-doped LuAG (Lu3Al5O12) single-crystal fibers were grown by a micro-pulling-down technique. The meniscus length corresponding to the equilibrium state was <200 mu m. Fluctuations in the fiber composition and pulling rate were found to have a significant effect on the properties of the fibers grown. A great improvement in the performance was found in samples containing low Ce concentrations (<= 0.1 at.\\%) and produced using pulling rates <0.5 mm min(-1). Under such conditions a good lateral surface fiber quality was obtained and light propagation was significantly improved. Conversely, a high Ce concentration and a high pulling rate resulted in a strong degradation of the fiber surface quality causing defects to appear and a decrease in light output. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heteroplasmon hybridization in stacked complementary plasmo-photonic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanaga, Masanobu; Choi, Bongseok

2015-03-11

We constructed plasmo-photonic crystals in which efficient light-trapping, plasmonic resonances couple with photonic guided resonances of large density of states and high-quality factor. We have numerically and experimentally shown that heteroplasmon hybrid modes emerge in stacked complementary (SC) plasmo-photonic crystals. The resonant electromagnetic-field distributions evidence that the two hybrid modes originate from two different heteroplasmons, exhibiting a large energy splitting of 300 meV. We further revealed a series of plasmo-photonic modes in the SC crystals.

Low propagation loss in a one-port SAW resonator fabricated on single-crystal diamond for super-high-frequency applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Satoshi; Odawara, Tatsuya; Yamada, Haruya; Omori, Tatsuya; Hashimoto, Ken-Ya; Torii, Hironori; Umezawa, Hitoshi; Shikata, Shinichi

2013-05-01

Diamond has the highest known SAW phase velocity, sufficient for applications in the gigahertz range. However, although numerous studies have demonstrated SAW devices on polycrystalline diamond thin films, all have had much larger propagation loss than single-crystal materials such as LiNbO3. Hence, in this study, we fabricated and characterized one-port SAW resonators on single-crystal diamond substrates synthesized using a high-pressure and high-temperature method to identify and minimize sources of propagation loss. A series of one-port resonators were fabricated with the interdigital transducer/ AlN/diamond structure and their characteristics were measured. The device with the best performance exhibited a resonance frequency f of 5.3 GHz, and the equivalent circuit model gave a quality factor Q of 5509. Thus, a large fQ product of approximately 2.9 × 10(13) was obtained, and the propagation loss was found to be only 0.006 dB/wavelength. These excellent properties are attributed mainly to the reduction of scattering loss in a substrate using a single-crystal diamond, which originated from the grain boundary of diamond and the surface roughness of the AlN thin film and the diamond substrate. These results show that single-crystal diamond SAW resonators have great potential for use in low-noise super-high-frequency oscillators.

High quality aluminium doped zinc oxide target synthesis from nanoparticulate powder and characterisation of sputtered thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Isherwood, P.J.M., E-mail: P.J.M.Isherwood@lboro.ac.uk [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Neves, N. [Innovnano, S. A., Rua Coimbra Inovação Parque, IParque Lote 13, 3040-570 Antanhol, Coimbra (Portugal); Bowers, J.W. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom); Newbatt, P. [Innovnano, S. A., Rua Coimbra Inovação Parque, IParque Lote 13, 3040-570 Antanhol, Coimbra (Portugal); Walls, J.M. [Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

2014-09-01

Nanoparticulate aluminium-doped zinc oxide powder was synthesised through detonation and subsequent rapid quenching of metallic precursors. This technique allows for precise compositional control and rapid nanoparticle production. The resulting powder was used to form sputter targets, which were used to deposit thin films by radio frequency sputtering. These films show excellent sheet resistance and transmission values for a wide range of deposition temperatures. Crystal structure analysis shows that crystals in the target have a random orientation, whereas the crystals in the films grow perpendicular to the substrate surface and propagate preferentially along the (002) axis. Higher temperature deposition reduces crystal quality with a corresponding decrease in refractive index and an increase in sheet resistance. Films deposited between room temperature and 300 °C were found to have sheet resistances equivalent to or better than indium tin oxide films for a given average transmission value. - Highlights: • Nanoparticulate AZO powder was used to produce sputter targets. • The powder synthesis technique allows for precise compositional control. • Sputtered films show excellent optical, electronic and structural properties. • High temperature films show reduced electrical and structural quality. • For a given transmission, films show equivalent sheet resistances to ITO.

Direct Growth of High-Quality InP Layers on GaAs Substrates by MOCVD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. F. Yarn

2003-01-01

group V partial pressure, growth rate and V/III ratios. A mirror-like, uniform surface and high crystal quality of the metamorphic buffer layer directly grown on a GaAs substrate can be achieved. Finally, to investigate the performance of the metamorphic microwave devices, we also fabricate the InAlAs/InGaAs metamorphic HEMT on GaAs substrates.

Retrofit of a high power Nd:glass laser system with liquid crystal polarizers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobs, S.D.; Cerqua, K.A.; Kessler, T.J.; Seka, W.; Bahr, R.

1985-03-01

The glass development laser (GDL), has been operating at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics since 1978. This Nd:phosphate glass system produces high peak power optical radiation at lambda = 1054 nm or lambda = 351 nm for use in studying the interaction physics of intense laser beams with matter. The amplifier staging incorporates the propagation of linearly and circularly polarized light in rod amplifiers which vary in diameter from 16 mm to 90 mm. Numerous quartz or mica quarter waveplates and Brewster angle dielectric thin film polarizers are required to limit accumulated phase retardation between amplification stages and to accommodate interstage Pockels' cell isolation switches. We have recently replaced most of the waveplate-dielectric polarizer combinations in GDL with liquid crystal polarizers. Comprised of 11 μm thick cholesteric fluids sandwiched between optical quality glass plates, liquid crystal polarizers provide excellent polarization properties, low insertion loss, angular insensitivity, and laser damage resistance at lambda = 1054 nm. The design, fabrication, and performance of left-handed and right-handed circular polarizers will be discussed

Surface Restructuring of Hybrid Perovskite Crystals

KAUST Repository

Banavoth, Murali

2016-11-07

Hybrid perovskite crystals have emerged as an important class of semiconductors because of their remarkable performance in optoelectronics devices. The interface structure and chemistry of these crystals are key determinants of the device\\'s performance. Unfortunately, little is known about the intrinsic properties of the surfaces of perovskite materials because extrinsic effects, such as complex microstructures, processing conditions, and hydration under ambient conditions, are thought to cause resistive losses and high leakage current in solar cells. We reveal the intrinsic structural and optoelectronic properties of both pristinely cleaved and aged surfaces of single crystals. We identify surface restructuring on the aged surfaces (visualized on the atomic-scale by scanning tunneling microscopy) that lead to compositional and optical bandgap changes as well as degradation of carrier dynamics, photocurrent, and solar cell device performance. The insights reported herein clarify the key variables involved in the performance of perovskite-based solar cells and fabrication of high-quality surface single crystals, thus paving the way toward their future exploitation in highly efficient solar cells.

X-ray spectroscopic study of high-temperature plasmas by curved crystal spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morita, Shigeru.

1983-07-01

Extensive studies have been carried out on the structure of X-ray spectra from the highly stripped ions of first transition elements and their behavior in high temperature plasma, using a high resolution crystal spectrometer. Calculation was made on the design and the use of a curved crystal spectrometer for plasma diagnostics. A Johann type crystal spectrometer for measuring X-ray lines was constructed on the basis of the calculation. The characteristics of curved crystals of LiF, Ge and quartz used for the measurement of Kα lines from first transition elements were investigated. Vacuum sparks have been formed for producing high temperature plasma which emits X-ray lines from highly stripped ions. Two different structures of vacuum spark plasma were shown, that is, thermalized point plasma and extended plasma associated with non-thermal electrons. The X-ray lines from the extended plasma, those associated with the K shell from the point plasma and the Kα lines of Ti through Zn from the point plasma have been observed. (Kako, I.)

Crystal collimator systems for high energy frontier

Science.gov (United States)

Sytov, A. I.; Tikhomirov, V. V.; Lobko, A. S.

2017-07-01

Crystalline collimators can potentially considerably improve the cleaning performance of the presently used collimator systems using amorphous collimators. A crystal-based collimation scheme which relies on the channeling particle deflection in bent crystals has been proposed and extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. However, since the efficiency of particle capture into the channeling regime does not exceed ninety percent, this collimation scheme partly suffers from the same leakage problems as the schemes using amorphous collimators. To improve further the cleaning efficiency of the crystal-based collimation system to meet the requirements of the FCC, we suggest here a double crystal-based collimation scheme, to which the second crystal is introduced to enhance the deflection of the particles escaping the capture to the channeling regime in its first crystal. The application of the effect of multiple volume reflection in one bent crystal and of the same in a sequence of crystals is simulated and compared for different crystal numbers and materials at the energy of 50 TeV. To enhance also the efficiency of use of the first crystal of the suggested double crystal-based scheme, we propose: the method of increase of the probability of particle capture into the channeling regime at the first crystal passage by means of fabrication of a crystal cut and the method of the amplification of nonchanneled particle deflection through the multiple volume reflection in one bent crystal, accompanying the particle channeling by a skew plane. We simulate both of these methods for the 50 TeV FCC energy.

The CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter: Results on Crystal Measurements, Quality Control and Data Management in the Rome Regional Center

CERN Document Server

Costantini, S

2004-01-01

The barrel of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter is currently under construction and will contain 61200 PbWO4 crystals. Half of them are being fully characterized for dimensions, optical properties and light yield in the INFN-ENEA Regional Center near Rome. We describe the setup of an automatic quality control system for the crystal measurements and the present results on their qualification, as well as the REDACLE project, which has been developed to control and ease the production process. As it will not be possible to precalibrate the whole calorimeter,the crystal measurements and quality checks performed at the Regional Center will be crucial to provide a basis for fast in-situ calibration with particles. REDACLE is at the same time a fast database and a data management system, where the database and the workflow structures are decoupled, in order to obtain the best flexibility.

Controllable Growth of Monolayer MoS2 and MoSe2 Crystals Using Three-temperature-zone Furnace

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Binjie; Chen, Yuanfu

2017-12-01

Monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) have attracted a great attention for their exceptional electronic and optoelectronic properties among the two dimensional family. However, controllable synthesis of monolayer crystals with high quality needs to be improved urgently. Here we demonstrate a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of monolayer MoS2 and MoSe2 crystals using three-temperature-zone furnace. Systematical study of the effects of growth pressure, temperature and time on the thickness, morphology and grain size of crystals shows the good controllability. The photoluminescence (PL) characterizations indicate that the as-grown monolayer MoS2 and MoSe2 crystals possess excellent optical qualities with very small full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of 96 me V and 57 me V, respectively. It is comparable to that of exfoliated monolayers and reveals their high crystal quality. It is promising that our strategy should be applicable for the growth of other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) monolayer crystals.

The effect of thermal de-phasing on the beam quality of a high-power single-pass second harmonic generation

Science.gov (United States)

Sadat Hashemi, Somayeh; Ghavami Sabouri, Saeed; Khorsandi, Alireza

2018-04-01

We present a theoretical model in order to study the effect of a thermally loaded crystal on the quality of a second-harmonic (SH) beam generated in a high-power pumping regime. The model is provided based on using a particular structure of oven considered for MgO:PPsLT nonlinear crystal to compensate for the thermal de-phasing effect that as the pumping power reaches up to 50 W degrades the conversion efficiency and beam quality of the interacting beams. Hereupon, the quality of fundamental beam is involved in the modeling to investigate the final effect on the beam quality of generated SH beam. Beam quality evaluation is subsequently simulated using Hermite-Gaussian modal decomposition approach for a range of fundamental beam qualities varied from 1 to 3 and for different levels of input powers. To provide a meaningful comparison numerical simulation is correlated with real data deduced from a high-power SH generation (SHG) experimental device. It is found that when using the open-top oven scheme and fixing the fundamental M 2-factor at nearly 1, for a range of input powers changing from 15 to 30 W, the M 2-factor of SHG beam is degraded from 9% to 24%, respectively, confirming very good consistency with the reported experimental results.

Electrical conductivity of high-purity germanium crystals at low temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Gang; Kooi, Kyler; Wang, Guojian; Mei, Hao; Li, Yangyang; Mei, Dongming

2018-05-01

The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity of single-crystal and polycrystalline high-purity germanium (HPGe) samples has been investigated in the temperature range from 7 to 100 K. The conductivity versus inverse of temperature curves for three single-crystal samples consist of two distinct temperature ranges: a high-temperature range where the conductivity increases to a maximum with decreasing temperature, and a low-temperature range where the conductivity continues decreasing slowly with decreasing temperature. In contrast, the conductivity versus inverse of temperature curves for three polycrystalline samples, in addition to a high- and a low-temperature range where a similar conductive behavior is shown, have a medium-temperature range where the conductivity decreases dramatically with decreasing temperature. The turning point temperature ({Tm}) which corresponds to the maximum values of the conductivity on the conductivity versus inverse of temperature curves are higher for the polycrystalline samples than for the single-crystal samples. Additionally, the net carrier concentrations of all samples have been calculated based on measured conductivity in the whole measurement temperature range. The calculated results show that the ionized carrier concentration increases with increasing temperature due to thermal excitation, but it reaches saturation around 40 K for the single-crystal samples and 70 K for the polycrystalline samples. All these differences between the single-crystal samples and the polycrystalline samples could be attributed to trapping and scattering effects of the grain boundaries on the charge carriers. The relevant physical models have been proposed to explain these differences in the conductive behaviors between two kinds of samples.

About Small Streams and Shiny Rocks: Macromolecular Crystal Growth in Microfluidics

Science.gov (United States)

vanderWoerd, Mark; Ferree, Darren; Spearing, Scott; Monaco, Lisa; Molho, Josh; Spaid, Michael; Brasseur, Mike; Curreri, Peter A. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We are developing a novel technique with which we have grown diffraction quality protein crystals in very small volumes, utilizing chip-based, microfluidic ("LabChip") technology. With this technology volumes smaller than achievable with any laboratory pipette can be dispensed with high accuracy. We have performed a feasibility study in which we crystallized several proteins with the aid of a LabChip device. The protein crystals are of excellent quality as shown by X-ray diffraction. The advantages of this new technology include improved accuracy of dispensing for small volumes, complete mixing of solution constituents without bubble formation, highly repeatable recipe and growth condition replication, and easy automation of the method. We have designed a first LabChip device specifically for protein crystallization in batch mode and can reliably dispense and mix from a range of solution constituents. We are currently testing this design. Upon completion additional crystallization techniques, such as vapor diffusion and liquid-liquid diffusion will be accommodated. Macromolecular crystallization using microfluidic technology is envisioned as a fully automated system, which will use the 'tele-science' concept of remote operation and will be developed into a research facility aboard the International Space Station.

XPS analysis for cubic boron nitride crystal synthesized under high pressure and high temperature using Li3N as catalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo, Xiaofei; Xu, Bin; Zhang, Wen; Cai, Zhichao; Wen, Zhenxing

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The cBN was synthesized by Li 3 N as catalyst under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). • The film coated on the as-grown cBN crystals was studied by XPS. • The electronic structure variation in the film was investigated. • The growth mechanism of cubic boron nitride crystal was analyzed briefly. - Abstract: Cubic boron nitride (cBN) single crystals are synthesized with lithium nitride (Li3N) as catalyst under high pressure and high temperature. The variation of electronic structures from boron nitride of different layers in coating film on the cBN single crystal has been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Combining the atomic concentration analysis, it was shown that from the film/cBN crystal interface to the inner, the sp 2 fractions are decreasing, and the sp 3 fractions are increasing in the film at the same time. Moreover, by transmission electron microscopy, a lot of cBN microparticles are found in the interface. For there is no Li 3 N in the film, it is possible that Li 3 N first reacts with hexagonal boron nitride to produce Li 3 BN 2 during cBN crystals synthesis under high pressure and high temperature (HPHT). Boron and nitrogen atoms, required for cBN crystals growth, could come from the direct conversion from hexagonal boron nitride with the catalysis of Li 3 BN 2 under high pressure and high temperature, but not directly from the decomposition of Li 3 BN 2

Membrane crystallization for recovery of salts from produced water

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quist-Jensen, Cejna Anna; Jensen, Henriette Casper; Ali, Aamer

Membrane Crystallization (MCr) is a novel technology able to recover freshwater and high-purity salts from complex solutions and therefore, is suggested for a better exploitation of wastewater streams. Unlike other membrane processes, MCr is not limited by high concentrations and, therefore, the ......, the membrane maintained its hydrophobic nature despite that produced water contained oil residues. Conductivity and HPLC was utilized to analyze the quality of the permeate stream......., the solutions can be treated to achieve saturation level. Hereby different salts can be precipitated and directly recovered from various streams. In this study, it is shown that MCr is able to treat produced water by producing clean water and simultaneously NaCl crystals. The recovered crystals exhibited high...

Effect of Te atmosphere annealing on the properties of CdZnTe single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Pengfei; Jie Wanqi; Wang Tao

2011-01-01

Low-resistivity CdZnTe:In (CZT:In) single crystals were annealed under Te atmosphere according to the behaviors of deep-donor Te antisite. The results indicated that the star-like Cd inclusions were completely eliminated after 120 h annealing. Meanwhile, the resistivity is greatly enhanced. The resistivity of the slice annealed after 240 h was achieved as high as 1.8x10 11 Ω cm, five orders of magnitude higher than that of as-grown slice. It suggested that the deep-donor level Te antisites were successfully introduced to pin the Fermi level at the mid band-gap position. The IR transmittances of the slices were also improved, which increased as the annealing time increased. PL measurement revealed that the (D 0 ,X) peak representing high quality of CZT crystal appeared. It can be concluded that the quality of CZT crystals is obviously improved after annealing under Te atmosphere. - Highlights: → High resistivity is due to deep-donor level Te Cd . → The resistivity achieved was as high as 1.8x10 11 Ω cm. → Star-like inclusions are Cd inclusions. → (D 0 ,X) peak represents the improvement of the crystal quality.

Sharp Absorption Peaks in THz Spectra Valuable for Crystal Quality Evaluation of Middle Molecular Weight Pharmaceuticals

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Tetsuo; Sakamoto, Tomoaki; Otsuka, Makoto

2018-05-01

Middle molecular weight (MMW) pharmaceuticals (MW 400 4000) are attracting attention for their possible use in new medications. Sharp absorption peaks were observed in MMW pharmaceuticals at low temperatures by measuring with a high-resolution terahertz (THz) spectrometer. As examples, high-resolution THz spectra for amoxicillin trihydrate, atorvastatin calcium trihydrate, probucol, and α,β,γ,δ-tetrakis(1-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin p-toluenesulfonate (TMPyP) were obtained at 10 K. Typically observed as peaks with full width at half-height (FWHM) values as low as 5.639 GHz at 0.96492 THz in amoxicillin trihydrate and 8.857 GHz at 1.07974 THz for probucol, many sharp peaks of MMW pharmaceuticals could be observed. Such narrow absorption peaks enable evaluation of the crystal quality of MMW pharmaceuticals and afford sensitive detection of impurities.

A technique for measuring the quality of an elliptically bent pentaerythritol [PET(002)] crystal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haugh, M. J., E-mail: haughmj@nv.doe.gov; Jacoby, K. D. [National Security Technologies, LLC, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Barrios, M. A.; Thorn, D.; Emig, J. A.; Schneider, M. B. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

2016-11-15

We present a technique for determining the X-ray spectral quality from each region of an elliptically curved PET(002) crystal. The investigative technique utilizes the shape of the crystal rocking curve which changes significantly as the radius of curvature changes. This unique quality information enables the spectroscopist to verify where in the spectral range that the spectrometer performance is satisfactory and where there are regions that would show spectral distortion. A collection of rocking curve measurements for elliptically curved PET(002) has been built up in our X-ray laboratory. The multi-lamellar model from the XOP software has been used as a guide and corrections were applied to the model based upon measurements. But, the measurement of R{sub I} at small radius of curvature shows an anomalous behavior; the multi-lamellar model fails to show this behavior. The effect of this anomalous R{sub I} behavior on an X-ray spectrometer calibration is calculated. It is compared to the multi-lamellar model calculation which is completely inadequate for predicting R{sub I} for this range of curvature and spectral energies.

A technique for measuring the quality of an elliptically bent pentaerythritol [PET(002)] crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haugh, M. J.; Jacoby, K. D.; Barrios, M. A.; Thorn, D.; Emig, J. A.; Schneider, M. B.

2016-01-01

We present a technique for determining the X-ray spectral quality from each region of an elliptically curved PET(002) crystal. The investigative technique utilizes the shape of the crystal rocking curve which changes significantly as the radius of curvature changes. This unique quality information enables the spectroscopist to verify where in the spectral range that the spectrometer performance is satisfactory and where there are regions that would show spectral distortion. A collection of rocking curve measurements for elliptically curved PET(002) has been built up in our X-ray laboratory. The multi-lamellar model from the XOP software has been used as a guide and corrections were applied to the model based upon measurements. But, the measurement of R I at small radius of curvature shows an anomalous behavior; the multi-lamellar model fails to show this behavior. The effect of this anomalous R I behavior on an X-ray spectrometer calibration is calculated. It is compared to the multi-lamellar model calculation which is completely inadequate for predicting R I for this range of curvature and spectral energies.

Highly-efficient mid-infrared CW laser operation in a lightly-doped 3 at.% Er:SrF2 single crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Liangbi; Guo, Xinsheng; Jiang, Dapeng; Wu, Qinghui; Qin, Zhipeng; Xie, Guoqiang

2018-03-05

3 at.% Er:SrF 2 laser crystals with high optical quality were successfully grown using the temperature gradient technique (TGT). The intense mid-infrared emission was observed around 2.7 μm with excitation by a 970 nm LD. Based on the Judd-Ofelt theory, the emission cross-sections of the 4 I 13/2 - 4 I 11/2 transition were calculated by using the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg (FL) method. Efficient continuous-wave laser operation at 2.8 µm was achieved with the lightly-doped 3 at.% Er:SrF 2 crystal pumped by a 970 nm laser diode. The laser output power reached up to 1.06 W with a maximum slope efficiency of 26%.

Heterogeneous Monolithic Integration of Single-Crystal Organic Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Kyung Sun; Baek, Jangmi; Park, Yoonkyung; Lee, Lynn; Hyon, Jinho; Koo Lee, Yong-Eun; Shrestha, Nabeen K; Kang, Youngjong; Sung, Myung Mo

2017-02-01

Manufacturing high-performance organic electronic circuits requires the effective heterogeneous integration of different nanoscale organic materials with uniform morphology and high crystallinity in a desired arrangement. In particular, the development of high-performance organic electronic and optoelectronic devices relies on high-quality single crystals that show optimal intrinsic charge-transport properties and electrical performance. Moreover, the heterogeneous integration of organic materials on a single substrate in a monolithic way is highly demanded for the production of fundamental organic electronic components as well as complex integrated circuits. Many of the various methods that have been designed to pattern multiple heterogeneous organic materials on a substrate and the heterogeneous integration of organic single crystals with their crystal growth are described here. Critical issues that have been encountered in the development of high-performance organic integrated electronics are also addressed. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Compact TXRF system using doubly curved crystal optics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Z.W.

2000-01-01

Doubly curved crystal optics can provide large collection solid angle from a small x-ray source but were difficult to be fabricated in the past. The recent innovative doubly curved crystal optic technology provides accurate bending figure of thin crystal and produces high performance doubly curved crystal optics. The high quality doubly curved crystal can increase the intensity of the primary beam significantly for total reflection x-ray fluorescence application based on a low power x-ray source. In this report, toroidal Si(220) crystals are used to focused Cu Kα and Mo Kα x-rays from low power compact x-ray tubes that have maximum power setting at 50 kV and 1 mA. With a slit aperture to control the convergent angle, a fan Cu Kα1 beam with 15 degree x 0.2 degree convergent angles is obtained for TXRF excitation. Similarly, a fan Mo Kα1 beam with 6 degree x 0.1 degree convergent angles is used for high energy excitation. Si wafer based TXRF samples will be prepared and measured using this technique and the experimental data. (author)

Characterization of PbWO4 crystals for high-energy physics experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, M. J.; Park, H.; Kim, H. J.

2016-09-01

High-energy physics (HEP) experiments have employed many new types of scintillators. Specifically, bismuth germanate, thallium-doped cesium iodide, and lead tungstate (PbWO4, PWO) have been used for the L3 experiment; CLEO II, Belle and BES-III; and CMS, respectively. PWO has particularly beneficial properties, such as high density, fast decay time, short radiation length and radiation hardness. In this study, we tested the PWO crystals at low temperatures to determine their applicability in future calorimeters. Various crystals from the Proton Antiproton Annihilations at Darmstadt (PANDA) experiment in Giessen, the Bogoroditsk Techno-Chemical Plant (BTCP) in Russia and by Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SICCAS) in China were investigated. We studied the scintillation properties of PWO crystals, such as their X-ray luminescence, relative light yields, absolute light yields, energy resolutions, decay times and longitudinal uniformities of their light yields. In addition, we measured the temperature dependences of the light yields and decay times by using a 137Cs γ-ray source. The emission spectra of the PWO crystals consisted of a broad band from 350 nm to 700 nm, and the peak emission wavelength in each spectrum was 420 nm. The emission spectra of the PWO crystals from SICCAS were slightly shifted to longer wavelengths compared with those of the crystals from the other institutions.

Crystal collimator systems for high energy frontier

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2100516; Tikhomirov, Viktor; Lobko, Alexander

2017-01-01

Crystalline collimators can potentially considerably improve the cleaning performance of the presently used collimator systems using amorphous collimators. A crystal-based collimation scheme which relies on the channeling particle deflection in bent crystals has been proposed and extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. However, since the efficiency of particle capture into the channeling regime does not exceed ninety percent, this collimation scheme partly suffers from the same leakage problems as the schemes using amorphous collimators. To improve further the cleaning efficiency of the crystal-based collimation system to meet the requirements of the FCC, we suggest here a double crystal-based collimation scheme, to which the second crystal is introduced to enhance the deflection of the particles escaping the capture to the channeling regime in its first crystal. The application of the effect of multiple volume reflection in one bent crystal and of the same in a sequence of crystals is simu...

Automating the application of smart materials for protein crystallization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khurshid, Sahir; Govada, Lata; EL-Sharif, Hazim F.; Reddy, Subrayal M.; Chayen, Naomi E.

2015-01-01

The first semi-liquid, non-protein nucleating agent for automated protein crystallization trials is described. This ‘smart material’ is demonstrated to induce crystal growth and will provide a simple, cost-effective tool for scientists in academia and industry. The fabrication and validation of the first semi-liquid nonprotein nucleating agent to be administered automatically to crystallization trials is reported. This research builds upon prior demonstration of the suitability of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs; known as ‘smart materials’) for inducing protein crystal growth. Modified MIPs of altered texture suitable for high-throughput trials are demonstrated to improve crystal quality and to increase the probability of success when screening for suitable crystallization conditions. The application of these materials is simple, time-efficient and will provide a potent tool for structural biologists embarking on crystallization trials

Crystallization and evaluation of hen egg-white lysozyme crystals for protein pH titration in the crystalline state

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwai, Wakari; Yagi, Daichi; Ishikawa, Takuya; Ohnishi, Yuki; Tanaka, Ichiro; Niimura, Nobuo

2008-01-01

Hen egg-white lysozyme was crystallized over a wide pH range (2.5–8.0) and the quality of the crystals was characterized. Crystallization phase diagrams at pH 2.5, 6.0 and 7.5 were determined To observe the ionized status of the amino acid residues in proteins at different pH (protein pH titration in the crystalline state) by neutron diffraction, hen egg-white lysozyme was crystallized over a wide pH range (2.5–8.0). Crystallization phase diagrams at pH 2.5, 6.0 and 7.5 were determined. At pH < 4.5 the border between the metastable region and the nucleation region shifted to the left (lower precipitant concentration) in the phase diagram, and at pH > 4.5 the border shifted to the right (higher precipitant concentration). The qualities of these crystals were characterized using the Wilson plot method. The qualities of all crystals at different pH were more or less equivalent (B-factor values within 25–40). It is expected that neutron diffraction analysis of these crystals of different pH provides equivalent data in quality for discussions of protein pH titration in the crystalline state of hen egg-white lysozyme

Synthesis and Characterization of Mass Produced High Quality Few Layered Graphene Sheets via a Chemical Method

KAUST Repository

Khenfouch, Mohammed

2014-04-01

Graphene is a two-dimensional crystal of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice. It is a zero band gap semimetal with very unique physical and chemical properties which make it useful for many applications such as ultra-high-speed field-effect transistors, p-n junction diodes, terahertz oscillators, and low-noise electronic, NEMS and sensors. When the high quality mass production of this nanomaterial is still a big challenge, we developed a process which will be an important step to achieve this goal. Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Scanning tunneling microscopy, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray system were investigated to characterize and examine the quality of this product.

High-quality ZnO growth, doping, and polarization effect

Science.gov (United States)

Kun, Tang; Shulin, Gu; Jiandong, Ye; Shunming, Zhu; Rong, Zhang; Youdou, Zheng

2016-03-01

The authors have reported their recent progress in the research field of ZnO materials as well as the corresponding global advance. Recent results regarding (1) the development of high-quality epitaxy techniques, (2) the defect physics and the Te/N co-doping mechanism for p-type conduction, and (3) the design, realization, and properties of the ZnMgO/ZnO hetero-structures have been shown and discussed. A complete technology of the growth of high-quality ZnO epi-films and nano-crystals has been developed. The co-doping of N plus an iso-valent element to oxygen has been found to be the most hopeful path to overcome the notorious p-type hurdle. High mobility electrons have been observed in low-dimensional structures utilizing the polarization of ZnMgO and ZnO. Very different properties as well as new physics of the electrons in 2DEG and 3DES have been found as compared to the electrons in the bulk. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 61025020, 61274058, 61322403, 61504057, 61574075), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Nos. BK2011437, BK20130013, BK20150585), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Nanosecond X-ray detector based on high resistivity ZnO single crystal semiconductor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Xiaolong; He, Yongning, E-mail: yongning@mail.xjtu.edu.cn; Peng, Wenbo; Huang, Zhiyong; Qi, Xiaomeng; Pan, Zijian; Zhang, Wenting [School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Chen, Liang; Liu, Jinliang; Zhang, Zhongbing; Ouyang, Xiaoping [Radiation Detection Research Center, Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi' an 710024 (China)

2016-04-25

The pulse radiation detectors are sorely needed in the fields of nuclear reaction monitoring, material analysis, astronomy study, spacecraft navigation, and space communication. In this work, we demonstrate a nanosecond X-ray detector based on ZnO single crystal semiconductor, which emerges as a promising compound-semiconductor radiation detection material for its high radiation tolerance and advanced large-size bulk crystal growth technique. The resistivity of the ZnO single crystal is as high as 10{sup 13} Ω cm due to the compensation of the donor defects (V{sub O}) and acceptor defects (V{sub Zn} and O{sub i}) after high temperature annealing in oxygen. The photoconductive X-ray detector was fabricated using the high resistivity ZnO single crystal. The rise time and fall time of the detector to a 10 ps pulse electron beam are 0.8 ns and 3.3 ns, respectively, indicating great potential for ultrafast X-ray detection applications.

Crystal quality of two-dimensional gallium telluride and gallium selenide using Raman fingerprint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jannatul Susoma

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We have established Raman fingerprint of GaTe and GaSe to investigate their crystal quality. As unencapsulated, they both oxidise in ambient conditions which can be detected in their Raman analysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS analysis shows a good agreement with Raman analysis. 50-nm-thick Al2O3 encapsulation layer deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD inhibits degradation in ambient conditions.

Analysis of ultra-high sensitivity configuration in chip-integrated photonic crystal microcavity bio-sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakravarty, Swapnajit; Hosseini, Amir; Xu, Xiaochuan; Zhu, Liang; Zou, Yi; Chen, Ray T.

2014-01-01

We analyze the contributions of quality factor, fill fraction, and group index of chip-integrated resonance microcavity devices, to the detection limit for bulk chemical sensing and the minimum detectable biomolecule concentration in biosensing. We analyze the contributions from analyte absorbance, as well as from temperature and spectral noise. Slow light in two-dimensional photonic crystals provide opportunities for significant reduction of the detection limit below 1 × 10 −7 RIU (refractive index unit) which can enable highly sensitive sensors in diverse application areas. We demonstrate experimentally detected concentration of 1 fM (67 fg/ml) for the binding between biotin and avidin, the lowest reported till date

A High-Rate, Single-Crystal Model including Phase Transformations, Plastic Slip, and Twinning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Addessio, Francis L. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division; Bronkhorst, Curt Allan [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division; Bolme, Cynthia Anne [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Explosive Science and Shock Physics Division; Brown, Donald William [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division; Cerreta, Ellen Kathleen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division; Lebensohn, Ricardo A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division; Lookman, Turab [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division; Luscher, Darby Jon [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division; Mayeur, Jason Rhea [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division; Morrow, Benjamin M. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division; Rigg, Paulo A. [Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA (United States). Dept. of Physics. Inst. for Shock Physics

2016-08-09

An anisotropic, rate-­dependent, single-­crystal approach for modeling materials under the conditions of high strain rates and pressures is provided. The model includes the effects of large deformations, nonlinear elasticity, phase transformations, and plastic slip and twinning. It is envisioned that the model may be used to examine these coupled effects on the local deformation of materials that are subjected to ballistic impact or explosive loading. The model is formulated using a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. A plate impact experiment on a multi-­crystal sample of titanium was conducted. The particle velocities at the back surface of three crystal orientations relative to the direction of impact were measured. Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the details of the high-­rate deformation and pursue issues related to the phase transformation for titanium. Simulations using the single crystal model were conducted and compared to the high-­rate experimental data for the impact loaded single crystals. The model was found to capture the features of the experiments.

Strong exciton-photon coupling in organic single crystal microcavity with high molecular orientation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goto, Kaname [Department of Electronics, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585 (Japan); Yamashita, Kenichi, E-mail: yamasita@kit.ac.jp [Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585 (Japan); Yanagi, Hisao [Graduate School of Materials Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), 8916-5 Takayama, Ikoma, Nara 630-0192 (Japan); Yamao, Takeshi; Hotta, Shu [Faculty of Materials Science and Technology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585 (Japan)

2016-08-08

Strong exciton-photon coupling has been observed in a highly oriented organic single crystal microcavity. This microcavity consists of a thiophene/phenylene co-oligomer (TPCO) single crystal laminated on a high-reflection distributed Bragg reflector. In the TPCO crystal, molecular transition dipole was strongly polarized along a certain horizontal directions with respect to the main crystal plane. This dipole polarization causes significantly large anisotropies in the exciton transition and optical constants. Especially the anisotropic exciton transition was found to provide the strong enhancement in the coupling with the cavity mode, which was demonstrated by a Rabi splitting energy as large as ∼100 meV even in the “half-vertical cavity surface emitting lasing” microcavity structure.

Strong exciton-photon coupling in organic single crystal microcavity with high molecular orientation

Science.gov (United States)

Goto, Kaname; Yamashita, Kenichi; Yanagi, Hisao; Yamao, Takeshi; Hotta, Shu

2016-08-01

Strong exciton-photon coupling has been observed in a highly oriented organic single crystal microcavity. This microcavity consists of a thiophene/phenylene co-oligomer (TPCO) single crystal laminated on a high-reflection distributed Bragg reflector. In the TPCO crystal, molecular transition dipole was strongly polarized along a certain horizontal directions with respect to the main crystal plane. This dipole polarization causes significantly large anisotropies in the exciton transition and optical constants. Especially the anisotropic exciton transition was found to provide the strong enhancement in the coupling with the cavity mode, which was demonstrated by a Rabi splitting energy as large as ˜100 meV even in the "half-vertical cavity surface emitting lasing" microcavity structure.

Strong exciton-photon coupling in organic single crystal microcavity with high molecular orientation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goto, Kaname; Yamashita, Kenichi; Yanagi, Hisao; Yamao, Takeshi; Hotta, Shu

2016-01-01

Strong exciton-photon coupling has been observed in a highly oriented organic single crystal microcavity. This microcavity consists of a thiophene/phenylene co-oligomer (TPCO) single crystal laminated on a high-reflection distributed Bragg reflector. In the TPCO crystal, molecular transition dipole was strongly polarized along a certain horizontal directions with respect to the main crystal plane. This dipole polarization causes significantly large anisotropies in the exciton transition and optical constants. Especially the anisotropic exciton transition was found to provide the strong enhancement in the coupling with the cavity mode, which was demonstrated by a Rabi splitting energy as large as ∼100 meV even in the “half-vertical cavity surface emitting lasing” microcavity structure.

An Overview of Biological Macromolecule Crystallization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Russo Krauss

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The elucidation of the three dimensional structure of biological macromolecules has provided an important contribution to our current understanding of many basic mechanisms involved in life processes. This enormous impact largely results from the ability of X-ray crystallography to provide accurate structural details at atomic resolution that are a prerequisite for a deeper insight on the way in which bio-macromolecules interact with each other to build up supramolecular nano-machines capable of performing specialized biological functions. With the advent of high-energy synchrotron sources and the development of sophisticated software to solve X-ray and neutron crystal structures of large molecules, the crystallization step has become even more the bottleneck of a successful structure determination. This review introduces the general aspects of protein crystallization, summarizes conventional and innovative crystallization methods and focuses on the new strategies utilized to improve the success rate of experiments and increase crystal diffraction quality.

Hydrothermal Growth of Polyscale Crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Byrappa, Kullaiah

In this chapter, the importance of the hydrothermal technique for growth of polyscale crystals is discussed with reference to its efficiency in synthesizing high-quality crystals of various sizes for modern technological applications. The historical development of the hydrothermal technique is briefly discussed, to show its evolution over time. Also some of the important types of apparatus used in routine hydrothermal research, including the continuous production of nanosize crystals, are discussed. The latest trends in the hydrothermal growth of crystals, such as thermodynamic modeling and understanding of the solution chemistry, are elucidated with appropriate examples. The growth of some selected bulk, fine, and nanosized crystals of current technological significance, such as quartz, aluminum and gallium berlinites, calcite, gemstones, rare-earth vanadates, electroceramic titanates, and carbon polymorphs, is discussed in detail. Future trends in the hydrothermal technique, required to meet the challenges of fast-growing demand for materials in various technological fields, are described. At the end of this chapter, an Appendix 18.A containing a more or less complete list of the characteristic families of crystals synthesized by the hydrothermal technique is given with the solvent and pressure-temperature (PT) conditions used in their synthesis.

Structural and compositional characterization of X-cut LiNbO3 crystals implanted with high energy oxygen and carbon ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bentini, G.G.; Bianconi, M.; Cerutti, A.; Chiarini, M.; Pennestri, G.; Sada, C.; Argiolas, N.; Bazzan, M.; Mazzoldi, P.; Guzzi, R.

2005-01-01

High energy implantation of medium-light elements such as oxygen and carbon was performed in X-cut LiNbO 3 single crystals in order to prepare high quality optical waveguides. The compositional and damage profiles, obtained by exploiting the secondary ion mass spectrometry and Rutherford back-scattering techniques respectively, were correlated to the structural properties measured by the high resolution X-ray diffraction. This study evidences the development of tensile strain induced by the ion implantation that can contribute to the decrease of the ordinary refractive index variation through the photo-elastic effect

Recent progress in large grain/single crystal high RRR niobium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganapati Rao Myneni; Peter Kneisel; Tadeu Carneiro; S.R. Agnew; F. Stevie

2005-01-01

High RRR bulk niobium Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity technology is chosen for the International Linear Collider (ILC). The SRF community was convinced until now that fine grain polycrystalline RRR niobium sheets obtained via forging and cross rolling are essential for forming the SRF Cavities. However, it was recently discovered under a joint Reference Metals Company, Inc., - JLAB CRADA that large grain/single crystal RRR niobium sliced directly from ingots is highly ductile reaching 100 percent elongation. This discovery led to the successful fabrication of several SRF single and/or multi cell structures, formed with sliced RRR discs from the ingots, operating at 2.3, 1.5 and 1.3 GHz. This new exciting development is expected to offer high performance accelerator structures not only at reduced costs but also with simpler fabrication and processing conditions. As a result there is a renewed interest in the evaluation and understanding of the large grain and single crystal niobium with respect to their mechanical and physical properties as well as the oxidation behavior and the influence of impurities such as hydrogen and Ta. In this paper the results of many collaborative studies on large grain and single crystal high RRR niobium between JLAB, Universities and Industry are presented

Liquid gallium cooling of silicon crystals in high intensity photon beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smither, R.K.; Forster, G.A.; Bilderback, D.H.

1988-11-01

The high-brilliance, insertion-device-based, photon beams of the next generation of synchrotron sources will deliver large thermal loads (1 kW to 10 kW) to the first optical elements. Considering the problems that present synchrotron users are experiencing with beams from recently installed insertion devices, new and improved methods of cooling these first optical elements, particularly when they are diffraction crystals, are clearly needed. A series of finite element calculations were performed to test the efficiency of new cooling geometries and new cooling fluids. The best results were obtained with liquid Ga metal flowing in channels just below the surface of the crystal. Ga was selected because of its good thermal conductivity and thermal capacity, low melting point, high boiling point, low kinetic viscosity, and very low vapor pressure. Its very low vapor pressure, even at elevated temperatures, makes it especially attractive in uhv conditions. A series of experiments were conducted at CHESS in February of 1988 that compared liquid gallium cooled silicon diffraction crystals with water cooled crystals. 2 refs., 16 figs., 1 tab

Macromolecular crystallization in microgravity generated by a superconducting magnet.

Science.gov (United States)

Wakayama, N I; Yin, D C; Harata, K; Kiyoshi, T; Fujiwara, M; Tanimoto, Y

2006-09-01

About 30% of the protein crystals grown in space yield better X-ray diffraction data than the best crystals grown on the earth. The microgravity environments provided by the application of an upward magnetic force constitute excellent candidates for simulating the microgravity conditions in space. Here, we describe a method to control effective gravity and formation of protein crystals in various levels of effective gravity. Since 2002, the stable and long-time durable microgravity generated by a convenient type of superconducting magnet has been available for protein crystal growth. For the first time, protein crystals, orthorhombic lysozyme, were grown at microgravity on the earth, and it was proved that this microgravity improved the crystal quality effectively and reproducibly. The present method always accompanies a strong magnetic field, and the magnetic field itself seems to improve crystal quality. Microgravity is not always effective for improving crystal quality. When we applied this microgravity to the formation of cubic porcine insulin and tetragonal lysozyme crystals, we observed no dependence of effective gravity on crystal quality. Thus, this kind of test will be useful for selecting promising proteins prior to the space experiments. Finally, the microgravity generated by the magnet is compared with that in space, considering the cost, the quality of microgravity, experimental convenience, etc., and the future use of this microgravity for macromolecular crystal growth is discussed.

High-Pressure High-Temperature Phase Diagram of the Organic Crystal Paracetamol

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Spencer; Montgomery, Jeffrey; Vohra, Yogesh

High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) Raman spectroscopy studies have been performed on the organic crystal paracetamol in a diamond anvil cell utilizing boron-doped diamond as heating anvil. The HPHT data obtained from boron-doped diamond heater is cross-checked with data obtained using a standard block heater diamond anvil cell. Isobaric measurements were conducted at pressures up to 8.5 GPa and temperature up to 520 K in a number of different experiments. Solid state phase transitions from monoclinic Form I --> orthorhombic Form II were observed at various pressures and temperatures as well as transitions from Form II --> unknown Form IV. The melting temperature for paracetamol was observed to increase with increasing pressures to 8.5 GPa. Our previous angle dispersive x-ray diffraction studies at the Advanced Photon Source has confirmed the existence of two unknown crystal structures Form IV and Form V of paracetamol at high pressure and ambient temperature. The phase transformation from Form II to Form IV occurs at ~8.5 GPa and from Form IV to Form V occurs at ~11 GPa at ambient temperature. Our new data is combined with the previous ambient temperature high-pressure Raman and X- ray diffraction data to create the first HPHT phase diagram of paracetamol. Doe-NNSA Carnegie DOE Alliance Center (CDAC) under Grant Number DE-NA0002006.

Optical Basicity and Nepheline Crystallization in High Alumina Glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez, Carmen P.; McCloy, John S.; Schweiger, M. J.; Crum, Jarrod V.; Winschell, Abigail E.

2011-02-25

The purpose of this study was to find compositions that increase waste loading of high-alumina wastes beyond what is currently acceptable while avoiding crystallization of nepheline (NaAlSiO4) on slow cooling. Nepheline crystallization has been shown to have a large impact on the chemical durability of high-level waste glasses. It was hypothesized that there would be some composition regions where high-alumina would not result in nepheline crystal production, compositions not currently allowed by the nepheline discriminator. Optical basicity (OB) and the nepheline discriminator (ND) are two ways of describing a given complex glass composition. This report presents the theoretical and experimental basis for these models. They are being studied together in a quadrant system as metrics to explore nepheline crystallization and chemical durability as a function of waste glass composition. These metrics were calculated for glasses with existing data and also for theoretical glasses to explore nepheline formation in Quadrant IV (passes OB metric but fails ND metric), where glasses are presumed to have good chemical durability. Several of these compositions were chosen, and glasses were made to fill poorly represented regions in Quadrant IV. To evaluate nepheline formation and chemical durability of these glasses, quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and the Product Consistency Test were conducted. A large amount of quantitative XRD data is collected here, both from new glasses and from glasses of previous studies that had not previously performed quantitative XRD on the phase assemblage. Appendix A critically discusses a large dataset to be considered for future quantitative studies on nepheline formation in glass. Appendix B provides a theoretical justification for choice of the oxide coefficients used to compute the OB criterion for nepheline formation.

L-tyrosine hydrochloride crystals under high pressures via Raman Spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, C.A.A.S.; Facanha Filho, P.F.; Santos, A.O. dos; Ribeiro, L.H.L.; Victor, F.M.S.; Abreu, D.C.; Carvalho, J.O.; Soares, R.A.; Sousa, J.C.F.; Lima, R.C.; Cavaignac, A.O. [Universidade Federal do Maranhao (UFMA), MA (Brazil)

2016-07-01

Full text: Amino acid single crystals have been attracted researchers in recent years due to their potential applications as second harmonic generator. The goal of this work is to produce semi organic single crystals of L-tyrosine hydrochloride (LTHCl) and verify the behavior of their vibrational normal modes under high pressures and the stability of material in these conditions extremes. The LTHCl single crystals were produced for solubilization of amino acid L-tyrosine in hydrochloric acid by slow evaporation technique of the solvent in room temperature. The technique of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the refinement of structure by the Rietveld method were used to confirm the crystal structure. The LTHCl crystal belongs to the monoclinic crystal system having two molecules per unit cell. The refinement by the Rietveld method showed good results with Rwp = 8.49% and Rp = 6.29% with S = 1.13. Raman scattering measurements as a function of pressure was performed in a piece of crystal from the ambient pressure to 7.2 GPa and Nujol was used as pressure medium. It was observed the appearance of a weak band around 163 cm-1 between pressures of 0.5 and 1.0 GPa, which characterize an phase transition undergone by the crystal. Moreover, this band gains intensity as pressure increases while gradual decreasing relative intensity of the very strong band at 123 cm-1 for all range of pressure also was observed. In fact, almost all bands of the spectra have undergone strong decreasing up to 7.2 GPa. However, on release of pressure the crystal has reached the original phase again. Therefore, the results showed this material cannot be suitable for the application (NLO) in this range of pressure. (author)

Evaluation the microwave heating of spinel crystals in high-level waste glass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christian, J. H. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Ecology Lab. (SREL); Washington, A. L. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River Ecology Lab. (SREL)

2015-08-18

In this report, the microwave heating of a crystal-free and a partially (24 wt%) trevorite-crystallized waste glass simulant were evaluated. The results show that a 500 mg piece of partially crystallized waste glass can be heated from room-temperature to above 1600 °C (as measured by infrared radiometry) within 2 minutes using a single mode, highly focused, 2.45 GHz microwave, operating at 300 W. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the partially crystallized glass experiences an 87 % reduction in trevorite following irradiation and thermal quenching. When a crystal-free analogue of the same waste glass simulant composition is exposed to the same microwave radiation it could not be heated above 450 °C regardless of the heating time.

Observation of higher-order diffraction features in self-assembled photonic crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nair, Rajesh V.; Vijaya, R.

2007-01-01

The optical response of high quality three dimensionally (3D) ordered photonic crystals is analyzed in the high energy region. By tuning the reflectance with the angle of incidence of light, the peaks in the reflection spectrum that correspond to the first, second, and third order photonic stop bands and the van Hove singular point in the photon density of states are clearly distinguished. The high energy features have been observed for photonic crystals made from colloids of different diameters, having different index contrast and fabricated by two different self-assembly routes. The observation of van Hove singularity at near-normal incidence of light and its presence even in low index-contrast photonic crystals provide conclusive evidence that these high energy features are due to the perfect periodic ordering present in the photonic crystals with less defects and disorder

Preparation of high purity yttrium single crystals by electrotransport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volkov, V.T.; Nikiforova, T.V.; Ionov, A.M.; Pustovit, A.N.; Sikharulidse, G.G.

1981-01-01

The possibility of obtaining yttrium crystals of high purity by the method of solid state electrotransport (SSE) was investigated in the present work. The behaviour of low contents of iron, aluminium, silicon, tantalum, copper, silver and vanadium as metallic impurities was studied using mass spectrometry. It is shown that all the impurities investigated, except copper, migrate to the anode. During electrotransfer a purification with respect to these impurities by a factor of 4 - 6 is obtained. It is proposed that the diffusion coefficients of the metallic impurities investigated are anomalously high and that the behaviour of the impurities during SSE in adapters necessitates further investigation. By using a three-stage process with intermediate removal of the anode end yttrium single crystals with a resistance ratio rho 293 /rhosub(4.2)=570 were produced. (Auth.)

Using PXRD to Investigate the Crystallization of Highly ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The process of crystallization of highly concentrated emulsions of ammonium nitrate can be studied using powder X-ray diffraction. The dispersed particles comprise a supercooled aqueous solution of the ammonium nitrate salt and are dispersed in a paraffin-based oil. This results in a thermodynamically unstable system ...

Solvent-induced crystallization for hybrid perovskite thin-film photodetector with high-performance and low working voltage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Wei; Yang, Shuzhen; Fan, Peng; Pan, Anlian; Wu, Runsheng; Yang, Junliang

2017-01-01

Organometal trihalide perovskites have emerged as a class of solution-processed semiconductors exhibiting remarkable optoelectronic properties. Using a high-quality perovskite thin film prepared by solvent-induced crystallization method and adopting a novel device configuration based on photon recycling effect, a perovskite thin-film photodetector has been constructed with the highest external quantum efficiency of 4.1  ×  10 4 % and responsivity of 219 A W −1 at a low bias of 1 V so far. The device working mechanism was further disclosed based on energy band bending model. The high-performance and low working-voltage perovskite thin-film photodetector will find potential applications in photodetection and optoelectronic integrated circuits. (paper)

High-pressure crystal growth and electromagnetic properties of 5d double-perovskite Ca₃OsO₆

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Hai Luke, E-mail: FENG.Hai@nims.go.jp [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810 (Japan); Shi, Youguo [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190 (China); Guo, Yanfeng; Li, Jun [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Sato, Akira [Materials Analysis Station, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Sun, Ying [International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI-MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Wang, Xia; Yu, Shan [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Sathish, Clastin I. [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810 (Japan); Yamaura, Kazunari, E-mail: YAMAURA.Kazunari@nims.go.jp [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810 (Japan)

2013-05-01

Single crystals of the osmium-containing compound Ca₃OsO₆ have been successfully grown under high-pressure conditions, for the first time. The crystal structure of Ca₃OsO₆ atoms being fully ordered at the perovskite B-site. The electromagnetic analysis shows that the crystal exhibits a semiconductor-like behavior below 300 K and undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at 50 K. - Graphical Abstract: Schematic image of crystal structure of Ca₃OsO₆ as determined by X-ray diffraction, where the gray and black octahedrons are occupied by Ca and Os, respectively. Top inset reveals an optic image of a typical Ca₃OsO₆ single crystal. Highlights: • Single crystals of Ca₃OsO₆ have been successfully grown under high-pressure. • Ca₃OsO₆ crystalizes into an ordered double-perovskite structure. • The Ca₃OsO₆ undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at 50 K.

Design of Double PG Crystal Neutron Diffractometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adib, M.; Habib, N.; El-Mesiry, M.S.; Fathallah, M.

2011-01-01

The design of a diffractometer containing two pyrolytic graphite (PG) crystals to select monochromatic neutrons in the range of wavelengths longer than 0.26 nm is given. The first crystal is high oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) set at glancing angle to reflect monochromatic neutrons with a selected wavelength. The second is a low quality PG crystal filter, set at take-off-angle such that, it transmits the selected monochromatic neutrons and rejects the higher order contaminations accompanying the first order reflection. It was shown that, 2 mm thick of PG crystal having 0.30 FWHM on mosaic spread are the optimum parameters of monochromator PG crystal. While the optimum thickness and mosaic spread of the PG crystal filter were selected to have low contamination factor of higher order reflections. The optimum parameters of the PG filter crystal were calculated using the computer package Graphite recently developed in our laboratory. Calculation shows that, 3 cm thick PG filter (20 on mosaic spread) is sufficient to almost eliminate the higher order contaminations accompanying the main monochromatic neutrons with

Vectorial analysis of dielectric photonic crystal VCSEL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chung, Il-Sug; Mørk, Jesper

2009-01-01

A new vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser structure employing a dielectric photonic crystal mirror has been suggested and been numerically investigated. The new structure has a smaller threshold gain, a moderate strength of single-transverse-mode operation, a high quality of emission beam free...

High-pressure growth of NaMn7O12 crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilioli, Edi; Calestani, Gianluca; Licci, Francesca; Paorici, Carlo; Gauzzi, Andrea; Bolzoni, Fulvio; Prodi, Andrea

2006-01-01

With the aim of producing large crystals of metastable NaMn 7 O 12 manganite, suitable for physical measurements (i.e.: RXS, Raman, EPR, STS, single-crystal neutron diffraction), we carried out a systematic investigation of the parameters controlling the growth of crystals, including the thermodynamic variables (T, P, and reagent composition) and the kinetic factors, such as reaction time and heating/cooling rate. By varying each parameter while maintaining constant the other ones, we found the thermodynamic conditions under which an optimum equilibrium is reached between the competing nucleation and growth rates. They were found to range between 400 and 700 o C (T) and between 20 and 60 Kbars (P), respectively. Under these conditions, we further optimized the growth process, by establishing the most appropriate growth duration (several hours), reagent type (pre-reacted precursor) and composition (presence of 0.4 mole% water and of 5% Na excess with respect to the stoichiometric composition). Typical crystals having several hundreds μm in linear sizes were reproducibly obtained, while the largest sample was about 800 μm. A description of the crystal growth mechanism, based on the experimental results, is also presented and discussed. It assumes that two different mechanisms control the crystal growth, depending on whether the crystallization is taking place outside the stability field, i.e. in presence of native reagents, or inside it, i.e. in a polycrystalline NaMn 7 O 12 phase matrix. In the first case, large crystal growth occurs thanks to the low nucleation and high diffusion rates, while in the second one the crystallization is due to the solid-state mechanism based on the free energy reduction caused by grain boundary migration. - Graphical abstract: Optical (a) and SEM images (b) of NaMn 7 O 12 crystals. Note the markers: 300 μm, top-right corner (a) and 40 μm, bottom left (b)

High definition TV projection via single crystal faceplate technology

Science.gov (United States)

Kindl, H. J.; St. John, Thomas

1993-03-01

Single crystal phosphor faceplates are epitaxial phosphors grown on crystalline substrates with the advantages of high light output, resolution, and extended operational life. Single crystal phosphor faceplate industrial technology in the United States is capable of providing a faceplate appropriate to the projection industry of up to four (4) inches in diameter. Projection systems incorporating cathode ray tubes utilizing single crystal phosphor faceplates will produce 1500 lumens of white light with 1000 lines of resolution, non-interlaced. This 1500 lumen projection system will meet all of the currently specified luminance and resolution requirements of Visual Display systems for flight simulators. Significant logistic advantages accrue from the introduction of single crystal phosphor faceplate CRT's. Specifically, the full performance life of a CRT is expected to increase by a factor of five (5); ie, from 2000 to 10,000 hours of operation. There will be attendant reductions in maintenance time, spare CRT requirements, system down time, etc. The increased brightness of the projection system will allow use of lower gain, lower cost simulator screen material. Further, picture performance characteristics will be more balanced across the full simulator.

High-resolution neutron protein crystallography with radically small crystal volumes: Application of perdeuteration to human aldose reductase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazemann, I.; Dauvergne, M.T.; Blakeley, M.P.; Meilleur, Flora; Haertlein, M.; Van Dorsselaer, A.; Mitschler, A.; Myles, Dean A.A.; Podjarny, A.

2005-01-01

Neutron diffraction data have been collected to 2.2 (angstrom) resolution from a small (0.15 mm 3 ) crystal of perdeuterated human aldose reductase (h-AR; MW = 36 kDa) in order to help to determine the protonation state of the enzyme. h-AR belongs to the aldo-keto reductase family and is implicated in diabetic complications. Its ternary complexes (h-AR-coenzyme NADPH-selected inhibitor) provide a good model to study both the enzymatic mechanism and inhibition. Here, the successful production of fully deuterated human aldose reductase (h-AR(D)), subsequent crystallization of the ternary complex h-AR(D)-NADPH-IDD594 and neutron Laue data collection at the LADI instrument at ILL using a crystal volume of just 0.15 mm 3 are reported. Neutron data were recorded to 2 (angstrom) resolution, with subsequent data analysis using data to 2.2 (angstrom). This is the first fully deuterated enzyme of this size (36 kDa) to be solved by neutron diffraction and represents a milestone in the field, as the crystal volume is at least one order of magnitude smaller than those usually required for other high-resolution neutron structures determined to date. This illustrates the significant increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of data collected from perdeuterated crystals and demonstrates that good-quality neutron data can now be collected from more typical protein crystal volumes. Indeed, the signal-to-noise ratio is then dominated by other sources of instrument background, the nature of which is under investigation. This is important for the design of future instruments, which should take maximum advantage of the reduction in the intrinsic diffraction pattern background from fully deuterated samples.

Utilization of High-Temperature Slags From Metallurgy Based on Crystallization Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yongqi; Zhang, Zuotai

2018-05-01

Here, following the principle of modifying crystallization behaviors, including avoidance and optimization, we review recent research on the utilization of hot slags. Because of the high-temperature property (1450-1650°C), the utilization of hot slags are much different from that of other wastes. We approach this issue from two main directions, namely, material recycling and heat utilization. From the respect of material recycling, the utilization of slags mainly follows total utilization and partial utilization, whereas the heat recovery from slags follows two main paths, namely, physical granulation and chemical reaction. The effective disposal of hot slags greatly depends on clarifying the crystallization behaviors, and thus, we discuss some optical techniques and their applicable scientific insights. For the purpose of crystallization avoidance, characterizing the glass-forming ability of slags is of great significance, whereas for crystallization modification, the selection of chemical additives and control of crystallization conditions comprise the central routes.

Systematic Procedure for Generating Operational Policies to Achieve Target Crystal Size Distribution (CSD) in Batch Cooling Crystallization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdul Samad, Noor Asma Fazli; Singh, Ravendra; Sin, Gürkan

2011-01-01

Batch cooling crystallization is one of the important unit operations involving separation of solid-liquid phases. Usually the most common crystal product qualities are directly related to the crystal size distribution (CSD). However the main difficulty in batch crystallization is to obtain a uni...

A diamond-anvil high-pressure cell for X-ray diffraction on a single crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malinowski, M.

1987-01-01

A new diamond-anvil high-pressure cell is described which can be used in single-crystal X-ray diffraction instruments to collect X-ray intensity data from single-crystal samples up to hydrostatic pressures of about 10 GPa. A unique design allows two types of diffraction geometry to be applied in single-crystal high-pressure diffraction experiments. More than 85% of the Ewald sphere is accessible, and a continuous range of 2θ values is available from 0 up to about 160 0 . Pressure may be calibrated by the ruby fluorescence technique or by the use of an internal X-ray-standard single crystal. The design of our diamond-anvil cell would allow, with little or no modification, operation at high and low temperatures, optical studies and powder diffractometer work. (orig.)

Analysis of Indexed-Guided Highly Birefringent Photonic Crystal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper, a comparative study of three geometries of highly birefringent photonic crystal fibers (HB PCF) is presented. The proposed geometries are: V type PCF, Pseudo-Panda PCF and selectively liquid-filled PCF. Based on the famous Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method with the perfectly matched layer ...

New developments in flexible cholesteric liquid crystal displays

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Tod; Davis, Donald J.; Franklin, Sean; Venkataraman, Nithya; McDaniel, Diaz; Nicholson, Forrest; Montbach, Erica; Khan, Asad; Doane, J. William

2007-02-01

Flexible Cholesteric liquid crystal displays have been rapidly maturing into a strong contender in the flexible display market. Encapsulation of the Cholesteric liquid crystal permits the use of flexible plastic substrates and roll-to-roll production. Recent advances include ultra-thin displays, laser-cut segmented displays of variable geometry, and smart card applications. Exciting technologies such as simultaneous laser-edge sealing and singulation enable high volume production, excellent quality control and non-traditional display geometries and formats.

Patterning solution-processed organic single-crystal transistors with high device performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Li

2011-06-01

Full Text Available We report on the patterning of organic single-crystal transistors with high device performance fabricated via a solution process under ambient conditions. The semiconductor was patterned on substrates via surface selective deposition. Subsequently, solvent-vapor annealing was performed to reorganize the semiconductor into single crystals. The transistors exhibited field-effect mobility (μFET of up to 3.5 cm2/V s. Good reliability under bias-stress conditions indicates low density of intrinsic defects in crystals and low density of traps at the active interfaces. Furthermore, the Y function method clearly suggests that the variation of μFET of organic crystal transistors was caused by contact resistance. Further improvement of the device with higher μFET with smaller variation can be expected when lower and more uniform contact resistance is achieved.

The growth of high density network of MOF nano-crystals across macroporous metal substrates - Solvothermal synthesis versus rapid thermal deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Maina, James W.; Gonzalo, Cristina Pozo; Merenda, Andrea; Kong, Lingxue; Schütz, Jürg A.; Dumée, Ludovic F.

2018-01-01

Fabrication of metal organic framework (MOF) films and membranes across macro-porous metal substrates is extremely challenging, due to the large pore sizes across the substrates, poor wettability, and the lack of sufficient reactive functional groups on the surface, which prevent high density nucleation of MOF crystals. Herein, macroporous stainless steel substrates (pore size 44 × 40 μm) are functionalized with amine functional groups, and the growth of ZIF-8 crystals investigated through both solvothermal synthesis and rapid thermal deposition (RTD), to assess the role of synthesis routes in the resultant membranes microstructure, and subsequently their performance. Although a high density of well interconnected MOF crystals was observed across the modified substrates following both techniques, RTD was found to be a much more efficient route, yielding high quality membranes under 1 h, as opposed to the 24 h required for solvothermal synthesis. The RTD membranes also exhibited high gas permeance, with He permeance of up to 2.954 ± 0.119 × 10-6 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1, and Knudsen selectivities for He/N2, Ar/N2 and CO2/N2, suggesting the membranes were almost defect free. This work opens up route for efficient fabrication of MOF films and membranes across macro-porous metal supports, with potential application in electrically mediated separation applications.

Linear, non-linear and thermal properties of single crystal of LHMHCl

Science.gov (United States)

Kulshrestha, Shobha; Shrivastava, A. K.

2018-05-01

The single crystal of amino acid of L-histidine monohydrochloride was grown by slow evaporation technique at room temperature. High optical quality and appropriate size of crystals were grown under optimized growth conditions. The grown crystals were transparent. Crystals are characterized with different characterizations such as Solubility test, UV-Visible, optical band gap (Eg). With the help of optical data to be calculate absorption coefficient (α), extinction coefficient (k), refractive index (n), dielectric constant (ɛ). These optical constants are shows favorable conditions for photonics devices. Second harmonic generation (NLO) test show the green light emission which is confirm that crystal have properties for laser application. Thermal stability of grown crystal is confirmed by TG/DTA.

Re-investigation of the crystal structure of enstatite under high-pressure conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Periotto, Benedetta; Balic Zunic, Tonci; Nestola, Fabrizio

2012-01-01

A synthetic single crystal of pure orthoenstatite (MgSiO3, space group Pbca) has been investigated at high pressure for structural determinations by in situ single-crystal X‑ray diffraction using a diamond-anvil cell. Ten complete intensity data collections were performed up to 9.36 GPa. This study...... with different compositions. The structural evolution determined in this work confirms the high-pressure evolution found previously for other orthopyroxenes and removes some ambiguities originating from the less accurate published data on the MgSiO3 structure at high pressure. The structural compression...

Fabrication of photonic crystals on several kinds of semiconductor materials by using focused-ion beam method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Xingsheng; Chen Hongda; Xiong Zhigang; Jin Aizi; Gu Changzhi; Cheng Bingying; Zhang Daozhong

2007-01-01

In this paper, we introduced the fabrication of photonic crystals on several kinds of semiconductor materials by using focused-ion beam machine, it shows that the method of focused-ion beam can fabricate two-dimensional photonic crystal and photonic crystal device efficiently, and the quality of the fabricated photonic crystal is high. Using the focused-ion beam method, we fabricate photonic crystal wavelength division multiplexer, and its characteristics are analyzed

Analysis of ultra-high sensitivity configuration in chip-integrated photonic crystal microcavity bio-sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chakravarty, Swapnajit, E-mail: swapnajit.chakravarty@omegaoptics.com; Hosseini, Amir; Xu, Xiaochuan [Omega Optics, Inc., Austin, Texas 78757 (United States); Zhu, Liang; Zou, Yi [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758 (United States); Chen, Ray T., E-mail: raychen@uts.cc.utexas.edu [Omega Optics, Inc., Austin, Texas 78757 (United States); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758 (United States)

2014-05-12

We analyze the contributions of quality factor, fill fraction, and group index of chip-integrated resonance microcavity devices, to the detection limit for bulk chemical sensing and the minimum detectable biomolecule concentration in biosensing. We analyze the contributions from analyte absorbance, as well as from temperature and spectral noise. Slow light in two-dimensional photonic crystals provide opportunities for significant reduction of the detection limit below 1 × 10{sup −7} RIU (refractive index unit) which can enable highly sensitive sensors in diverse application areas. We demonstrate experimentally detected concentration of 1 fM (67 fg/ml) for the binding between biotin and avidin, the lowest reported till date.

A crystal chemistry approach for high-power ytterbium doped solid-state lasers: diffusion-bonded crystals and new crystalline hosts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaume, R.

2002-11-01

This work deals with ytterbium based crystals for high-power laser applications. In particular, we focus our interest in reducing crystal heating and its consequences during laser operation following two different ways. First, we review the specific properties of ytterbium doped solid-state lasers in order to define a figure-of-merit which gives the evaluation of laser performances, thermo-mechanical and thermo-optical properties. Bearing in mind this analysis, we propose a set of theoretical tools, based on the crystallographic structure of the crystal and its chemical composition, to predict thermo-mechanical and optical potentials. This approach, used for the seek of new Yb 3+ -doped materials for high-power laser applications, shows that simple oxides containing rare-earths are favorable. Therefore, the spectroscopic properties of six new materials Yb 3+ :GdVO 4 , Yb 3+ :GdAlO 3 , Yb 3+ :Gd 2 O 3 , Yb 3+ :Sc 2 SiO 5 , Yb 3+ :CaSc 2 O 4 and Yb 3+ :SrSc 2 O 4 are described. The second aspect developed in this work deals with thermal properties enhancement of already well characterized laser materials. Two different ways are explored: a) elaboration by diffusion bonding of end-caps lasers with undoped crystals (composite crystals). Thus, different composites were obtained and a fairly lowering of thermal lensing effect was observed during laser operation. b) strengthening of crystalline structures by ionic substitution of one of its constituents. We demonstrate how crystal growth ability can be improved by a cationic substitution in the case of Yb 3+ :BOYS, a largely-tunable laser material which is of great interest for femtosecond pulses generation. (author)

LIGHT INDUCED TELLURIUM ENRICHMENT ON CDZNTE CRYSTAL SURFACES DETECTED BY RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawkins, S; Eliel Villa-Aleman, E; Martine Duff, M; Douglas Hunter, D

2007-01-01

Synthetic CdZnTe or 'CZT' crystals can be grown under controlled conditions to produce high quality crystals to be used as room temperature radiation detectors. Even the best crystal growth methods result in defects, such as tellurium secondary phases, that affect the crystal's performance. In this study, CZT crystals were analyzed by micro Raman spectroscopy. The growth of Te rich areas on the surface was induced by low powered lasers. The growth was observed versus time with low power Raman scattering and was observed immediately under higher power conditions. The detector response was also measured after induced Te enrichment

High-density lipoproteins inhibit urate crystal-induced inflammation in mice

OpenAIRE

Scanu Anna; Luisetto Roberto; Oliviero Francesca; Gruaz Lyssia; Sfriso Paolo; Burger Danielle; Punzi Leonardo

2015-01-01

Objectives To investigate the effects and mechanisms of action of high density lipoproteins (HDL) in monosodium urate (MSU) crystal induced inflammation—that is gouty inflammation in vivo. Methods Air pouches raised on the backs of mice were injected with MSU crystals or tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in the presence or absence of HDL and/or interleukin (IL) 1 receptor antagonist (IL 1Ra) for 3 h. Leucocyte count and neutrophil percentage in pouch fluids were measured using a haemocytometer an...

Crystal growth and characterization of REFeAsO (RE = La, Nd) and LaFePO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adamski, Agnes; Abdel-Hafiez, Mahmoud; Krellner, Cornelius [Physikalisches Institut, Goethe Universitaet, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

2016-07-01

Since the discovery of iron-based superconductors, much effort was put on the crystal growth of the various systems and their characterization. Although, the initial flurry of activities was mainly performed on the 1111 systems, the focus has been rapidly shifted towards other materials, were large high-quality crystals are available. In contrast, the growth of sizeable high-quality single crystals of 1111 compounds is extremely challenging, slowing down the scientific progress in this type of compounds. Here we report on the crystal growth of 1111-type materials under ambient pressure conditions and by using the flux technique. The influence of the material to flux ratio was systematically studied. Subsequently, the obtained samples were analyzed with powder diffractometry, electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Laue diffractometry and magnetic measurements to analyze the structural and magnetic properties.

RNA Crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

Golden, Barbara L.; Kundrot, Craig E.

2003-01-01

RNA molecules may be crystallized using variations of the methods developed for protein crystallography. As the technology has become available to syntheisize and purify RNA molecules in the quantities and with the quality that is required for crystallography, the field of RNA structure has exploded. The first consideration when crystallizing an RNA is the sequence, which may be varied in a rational way to enhance crystallizability or prevent formation of alternate structures. Once a sequence has been designed, the RNA may be synthesized chemically by solid-state synthesis, or it may be produced enzymatically using RNA polymerase and an appropriate DNA template. Purification of milligram quantities of RNA can be accomplished by HPLC or gel electrophoresis. As with proteins, crystallization of RNA is usually accomplished by vapor diffusion techniques. There are several considerations that are either unique to RNA crystallization or more important for RNA crystallization. Techniques for design, synthesis, purification, and crystallization of RNAs will be reviewed here.

Crystal Deflectors for High Energy Ion Beams

CERN Document Server

Scandale, W

2013-01-01

The motion of charged particles entering a crystal at small angles with respect to a crystalline plane is strongly influenced by the average electric field of the ordered nuclei. For sufficiently small angles the particles can be captured in channeling states, thus performing quasi-harmonic oscillations in the potential well between the crystal planes. Channeled particles in a bent crystal are deflected along the bent planes of the crystal. This provides a powerful method to steer and control particle trajectories that has been investigated and occasionally exploited for some decades already.

Semiconductor crystal high resolution imager

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Craig S. (Inventor); Matteson, James (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A radiation imaging device (10). The radiation image device (10) comprises a subject radiation station (12) producing photon emissions (14), and at least one semiconductor crystal detector (16) arranged in an edge-on orientation with respect to the emitted photons (14) to directly receive the emitted photons (14) and produce a signal. The semiconductor crystal detector (16) comprises at least one anode and at least one cathode that produces the signal in response to the emitted photons (14).

Some Aspects of Crystal Centering During X-ray High-throughput Protein Crystallography Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Gaponov, Yu. A.; Matsugaki, N.; Sasajima, K.; Igarashi, N.; Wakatsuki, S.

A set of algorithms and procedures of a crystal loop centering during X-ray high-throughput protein crystallography experiment has been designed and developed. A simple algorithm of the crystal loop detection and preliminary recognition has been designed and developed. The crystal loop detection algorithm is based on finding out the crystal loop ending point (opposite to the crystal loop pin) using image cross section (digital image column) profile analysis. The crystal loop preliminary recognition procedure is based on finding out the crystal loop sizes and position using image cross section profile analysis. The crystal loop fine recognition procedure based on Hooke-Jeeves pattern search method with an ellipse as a fitting pattern has been designed and developed. The procedure of restoring missing coordinate of the crystal loop is described. Based on developed algorithms and procedures the optimal auto-centering procedure has been designed and developed. A procedure of optimal manual crystal centering (Two Clicks Procedure) has been designed and developed. Developed procedures have been integrated into control software system PCCS installed at crystallography beamlines Photon Factory BL5A and PF-AR NW12, KEK.

Crystallization and evaluation of hen egg-white lysozyme crystals for protein pH titration in the crystalline state.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwai, Wakari; Yagi, Daichi; Ishikawa, Takuya; Ohnishi, Yuki; Tanaka, Ichiro; Niimura, Nobuo

2008-05-01

To observe the ionized status of the amino acid residues in proteins at different pH (protein pH titration in the crystalline state) by neutron diffraction, hen egg-white lysozyme was crystallized over a wide pH range (2.5-8.0). Crystallization phase diagrams at pH 2.5, 6.0 and 7.5 were determined. At pH diagram, and at pH > 4.5 the border shifted to the right (higher precipitant concentration). The qualities of these crystals were characterized using the Wilson plot method. The qualities of all crystals at different pH were more or less equivalent (B-factor values within 25-40). It is expected that neutron diffraction analysis of these crystals of different pH provides equivalent data in quality for discussions of protein pH titration in the crystalline state of hen egg-white lysozyme.

Coefficients of sliding friction of single crystals of high explosives under different rubbing conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Y Q; Chaudhri, M Munawar

2013-01-01

The coefficients of sliding friction of single crystals of commonly used high explosives pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (RDX) and beta-cyclotetramethylene tetranitramine (β-HMX) under several rubbing configurations and at a relative sliding speed of 0.22 mm s -1 were measured. The sliding configurations were (1) crystal-polished steel pairs, (2) like-crystal pairs and (3) unlike-crystal pairs. For every rubbing configuration the friction force showed oscillations, which are thought to be caused by the formation and shearing of the adhesive junctions formed at the surface of the rubbing crystals. This shearing of the adhesive junctions led to the formation of microscopic and sub-microscopic particles, which were confirmed by an environmental scanning electron microscope study. For every rubbing configuration and for relatively high normal loads pressing the rubbing crystals together, the coefficient of friction was generally in the range 0.2-0.25 and it has been concluded that the coefficient of friction is controlled by the adhesion with almost negligible contribution from the ploughing component. From a knowledge of the coefficient of friction and the uniaxial yield stress values of single crystals of RDX and β-HMX, the shear strength of these crystals were determined to be ∼13.4 MPa and ∼16.8 MPa, respectively.

High-efficiency transmision neutron polarizer for high-resolution double crystal diffractometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ioffe, A.; Krist, T.; Mezei, F.; Gordeev, G.; Ibrayev, B.

1997-01-01

An efficient transmission geometry neutron polarizer for the high-resolution double crystal diffractometer at HMI (λ=4.8 A) is described. A polarization of about 94% was achieved and the polarized neutron beam intensity amounts to 40% of the nonpolarized beam intensity. This opens up wide possibilities for the study of magnetic small-angle scattering for extremely small momentum transfer (Q∝10 -5 A -1 ). (orig.)

Investigation of the influence of crystal quality on Borrmann spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalaydzhyan, Aram

2012-12-01

The goal of thesis is to apply the dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction for perfect crystals to mosaic crystals, which are composed of slightly misoriented blocks. For this purpose statistical methods were used for the description of crystal defects. This concept was combined with the diffraction theory and implemented in code. This program was used for numerical simulations of diffraction processes in transmission geometry by plane barium titanate crystals. The computed dependencies on defects for Borrmann spectroscopy satisfy the initial expectations for medium orders of crystal defects qualitatively.

Investigation of the influence of crystal quality on Borrmann spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kalaydzhyan, Aram

2012-12-15

The goal of thesis is to apply the dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction for perfect crystals to mosaic crystals, which are composed of slightly misoriented blocks. For this purpose statistical methods were used for the description of crystal defects. This concept was combined with the diffraction theory and implemented in code. This program was used for numerical simulations of diffraction processes in transmission geometry by plane barium titanate crystals. The computed dependencies on defects for Borrmann spectroscopy satisfy the initial expectations for medium orders of crystal defects qualitatively.

High-resolution 3D imaging of polymerized photonic crystals by lab-based x-ray nanotomography with 50-nm resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Leilei; Chen, Ying-Chieh; Gelb, Jeff; Stevenson, Darren M.; Braun, Paul A.

2010-09-01

High resolution x-ray computed tomography is a powerful non-destructive 3-D imaging method. It can offer superior resolution on objects that are opaque or low contrast for optical microscopy. Synchrotron based x-ray computed tomography systems have been available for scientific research, but remain difficult to access for broader users. This work introduces a lab-based high-resolution x-ray nanotomography system with 50nm resolution in absorption and Zernike phase contrast modes. Using this system, we have demonstrated high quality 3-D images of polymerized photonic crystals which have been analyzed for band gap structures. The isotropic volumetric data shows excellent consistency with other characterization results.

Commensurability oscillations in NdBa2Cu3Oy single crystals

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

gated by angular dependent magnetization in very pure twinned and twin-free NdBa2 Cu3 Oy single ... The layered structure and the c-axis coherence length, ξc ≈ 4 ˚A, smaller than the lattice ... The high quality of both crystals is demonstrated by ... Commensurability oscillations in NdBa2Cu3Oy single crystals. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

High-throughput method for optimum solubility screening for homogeneity and crystallization of proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sung-Hou [Moraga, CA; Kim, Rosalind [Moraga, CA; Jancarik, Jamila [Walnut Creek, CA

2012-01-31

An optimum solubility screen in which a panel of buffers and many additives are provided in order to obtain the most homogeneous and monodisperse protein condition for protein crystallization. The present methods are useful for proteins that aggregate and cannot be concentrated prior to setting up crystallization screens. A high-throughput method using the hanging-drop method and vapor diffusion equilibrium and a panel of twenty-four buffers is further provided. Using the present methods, 14 poorly behaving proteins have been screened, resulting in 11 of the proteins having highly improved dynamic light scattering results allowing concentration of the proteins, and 9 were crystallized.

Far-field coupling in nanobeam photonic crystal cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rousseau, Ian, E-mail: ian.rousseau@epfl.ch; Sánchez-Arribas, Irene; Carlin, Jean-François; Butté, Raphaël; Grandjean, Nicolas [Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2016-05-16

We optimized the far-field emission pattern of one-dimensional photonic crystal nanobeams by modulating the nanobeam width, forming a sidewall Bragg cross-grating far-field coupler. By setting the period of the cross-grating to twice the photonic crystal period, we showed using three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations that the intensity extracted to the far-field could be improved by more than three orders of magnitude compared to the unmodified ideal cavity geometry. We then experimentally studied the evolution of the quality factor and far-field intensity as a function of cross-grating coupler amplitude. High quality factor (>4000) blue (λ = 455 nm) nanobeam photonic crystals were fabricated out of GaN thin films on silicon incorporating a single InGaN quantum well gain medium. Micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy of sets of twelve identical nanobeams revealed a nine-fold average increase in integrated far-field emission intensity and no change in average quality factor for the optimized structure compared to the unmodulated reference. These results are useful for research environments and future nanophotonic light-emitting applications where vertical in- and out-coupling of light to nanocavities is required.

Growth of GaN single crystals by a Ca- and Ba-added Na flux method

Science.gov (United States)

Ukegawa, H.; Konishi, Y.; Fujimori, T.; Miyoshi, N.; Imade, M.; Yoshimura, M.; Kitaoka, Y.; Sasaki, T.; Mori, Y.

2011-02-01

GaN substrates are desirable for fabricating ultra-violet LEDs and LDs, and high-power and high-frequency transistors. High-quality GaN single crystals can be obtained by using Na flux method, but the growth habit of bulk crystals must be controlled. In this study, we investigated the effects of additives (Ca, Ba) on the growth habit and impurity concentration in the crystals. The aspect ratio (c/a) of the crystals was increased by increasing the amount of additives, showing that the growth habit could be changed from the pyramidal shape to the prism shape. Ba concentration was below the detection limit (1x1015 atoms/cm3).

Zero-velocity solitons in high-index photonic crystal fibers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lægsgaard, Jesper

2011-01-01

Nonlinear propagation in slow-light states of high-index photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is studied numerically. To avoid divergencies in dispersion and nonlinear parameters around the zero-velocity mode, a time-propagating generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation is formulated. Calculated slow-...

An improved simulation routine for modelling coherent high-energy proton interactions with bent crystals

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2210072; Mirarchi, Daniele; Redaelli, Stefano

The planes in crystalline solids can constrain the directions that charged particles take as they pass through. Physicists can use this "channelling" property of crystals to steer particle beams. In a bent crystal, for example, channelled particles follow the bend and can change their direction. Experiments are being carried out to study in detail this phenomenon. The UA9 collaboration is using high energy protons and heavy ions beams from the SPS accelerator at CERN to verify the possibility of using bent crystals as primary collimators in high energy hadron colliders like the LHC. Simulations have been developed to model the coherent interaction with crystal planes. The goal of the thesis is indeed to analyze the data and develop an improved simulation routine to better describe the data’s subtleties, in particular the transition between the volume reflection and amorphous modes of beam interaction with the crystal.

Measurements of Protein Crystal Face Growth Rates

Science.gov (United States)

Gorti, S.

2014-01-01

Protein crystal growth rates will be determined for several hyperthermophile proteins.; The growth rates will be assessed using available theoretical models, including kinetic roughening.; If/when kinetic roughening supersaturations are established, determinations of protein crystal quality over a range of supersaturations will also be assessed.; The results of our ground based effort may well address the existence of a correlation between fundamental growth mechanisms and protein crystal quality.

Near-diffraction-limited and low-haze electro-optical tunable liquid crystal lens with floating electrodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Liwei; Bryant, Doug; Van Heugten, Tony; Bos, Philip J

2013-04-08

A near-diffraction-limited, low-haze and tunable liquid crystal (LC) lens is presented. Building on an understanding of the key factors that have limited the performance of lenses based on liquid crystals, we show a simple design whose optical quality is similar to a high quality glass lens. It uses 'floating' electrodes to provide a smooth, controllable applied potential profile across the aperture to manage the phase profile.

Sensitivity of the crystal quality of SiGe layers grown at low temperatures by trisilane and germane

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abedin, A., E-mail: aabedin@kth.se; Moeen, M.; Cappetta, C.; Östling, M.; Radamson, H.H., E-mail: rad@kth.se

2016-08-31

This work investigates the crystal quality of SiGe layers grown at low temperatures using trisilane, and germane precursors. The crystal quality sensitivity was monitored for hydrogen chloride and/or minor oxygen amount during SiGe epitaxy or at the interface of SiGe/Si layers. The quality of the epi-layers was examined by quantifying noise parameter, K{sub 1/f} obtained from the power spectral density vs. 1/f curves. The results indicate that while it is difficult to detect small defect densities in SiGe layers by physical material characterization, the noise measurement could reveal the effects of oxygen contamination as low as 0.16 mPa inside and in the interface of the layers. - Highlights: • SiGe layers were grown using trisilane and germane. • Effect of HCl flow on Ge content and growth rate was investigated. • O{sub 2} partial pressures up to 4.3 mPa did not affect x-ray diffraction pattern. • O{sub 2} partial pressures as low as 0.16 mPa increased the noise level. • HCl increased metal contaminations of the layers and the noise level consequently.

Grooved windows for scintillation crystals and light pipes of high refractive index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swinehart, C.F.

1975-01-01

Scintillation crystals are disclosed which have improved resolution and pulse height. An improved crystal has shallow grooves or spot depressions cut in the window, usually an end surface. Typical grooves are about 1.5 mm wide and about .1 mm deep. The grooves may be either horizontal, generally parallel grooves in spaced apart relationship, or concentric rings in radially spaced apart relationship. A light pipe of high refractive index, such as a crystal of pure sodium iodide, may also be improved with shallow grooves or spot depressions cut in an end surface

High Quality GaAs Epilayers Grown on Si Substrate Using 100 nm Ge Buffer Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Cheng Kuo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We present high quality GaAs epilayers that grow on virtual substrate with 100 nm Ge buffer layers. The thin Ge buffer layers were modulated by hydrogen flow rate from 60 to 90 sccm to improve crystal quality by electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD at low growth temperature (180°C. The GaAs and Ge epilayers quality was verified by X-ray diffraction (XRD and spectroscopy ellipsometry (SE. The full width at half maximum (FWHM of the Ge and GaAs epilayers in XRD is 406 arcsec and 220 arcsec, respectively. In addition, the GaAs/Ge/Si interface is observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM to demonstrate the epitaxial growth. The defects at GaAs/Ge interface are localized within a few nanometers. It is clearly showed that the dislocation is well suppressed. The quality of the Ge buffer layer is the key of III–V/Si tandem cell. Therefore, the high quality GaAs epilayers that grow on virtual substrate with 100 nm Ge buffer layers is suitable to develop the low cost and high efficiency III–V/Si tandem solar cells.

Experimental study of micro-milling mechanism and surface quality of a nickel-based single crystal superalloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gao, Qi; Gong, Yadong; Zhou, Yun Guang; Wen, Xue Long [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang (China)

2017-01-15

Micro-milling is widely used as a method for machining of micro-parts with high precision and efficiency. Taking the nickel-based single-crystal superalloy DD98 as the research object, the crystal characteristics of single-crystal materials were analysed, and the removal mechanism of single-crystal micro-milled parts was described. Based on molecular dynamics, a simulation model for nickel-based single-crystal superalloy DD98 micro-milling was established. Based on the response surface method of central composite design, the influences of spindle speed, feed rate, and milling depth on the surface roughness were examined, and a second-order regression model of the DD98 surface roughness was established. Using analysis of variance and the residuals of the model, a significant influence on surface roughness was found in the following order from large to small: Feed rate, spindle speed, and milling depth. Comparisons were conducted between the micro-milling experimental values and the predicted model values for different process parameters. The results show that the model fit is relatively high, and the adaptability is good. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the micro-milling surfaces was performed to verify the slip and the removal mechanism of single-crystal materials. These results offer a theoretical reference and experimental basis for micro-milling of single-crystal materials.

Fabrication of triangular nanobeam waveguide networks in bulk diamond using single-crystal silicon hard masks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bayn, I.; Mouradian, S.; Li, L.; Goldstein, J. A.; Schröder, T.; Zheng, J.; Chen, E. H.; Gaathon, O.; Englund, Dirk; Lu, M.; Stein, A.; Ruggiero, C. A.; Salzman, J.; Kalish, R.

2014-01-01

A scalable approach for integrated photonic networks in single-crystal diamond using triangular etching of bulk samples is presented. We describe designs of high quality factor (Q = 2.51 × 10 6 ) photonic crystal cavities with low mode volume (V m  = 1.062 × (λ/n) 3 ), which are connected via waveguides supported by suspension structures with predicted transmission loss of only 0.05 dB. We demonstrate the fabrication of these structures using transferred single-crystal silicon hard masks and angular dry etching, yielding photonic crystal cavities in the visible spectrum with measured quality factors in excess of Q = 3 × 10 3

Luminescence and scintillation properties of YAG:Ce single crystal and optical ceramics

CERN Document Server

Mihóková, E; Mareš, J A; Beitlerová, A; Vedda, A; Nejezchleb, K; Blažek, K; D’Ambrosio, C

2007-01-01

We use various techniques to study optical and scintillation properties of Ce-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Ce), in the form of a high-quality industrial single crystal. This was compared to optical ceramics prepared from YAG:Ce nanopowders. We present experimental data in the areas of optical absorption, radioluminescence, scintillation decay, photoelectron yield, thermally stimulated luminescence and radiation-induced absorption. The results point to an interesting feature—the absence of antisite (YAl, i.e. Y at the Al site) defects in optical ceramics. The scintillation decay of the ceramics is faster than that of the single crystal, but its photoelectron yield (measured with 1 μs integration time) is about 30–40% lower. Apart from the photoelectron yield value the YAG:Ce optical ceramic is fully comparable to a high quality industrial YAG:Ce single crystal and can become a competitive scintillator material.

High-resolution X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein using the high-pressure cryocooling method.

Science.gov (United States)

Higashiura, Akifumi; Ohta, Kazunori; Masaki, Mika; Sato, Masaru; Inaka, Koji; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Nakagawa, Atsushi

2013-11-01

Recently, many technical improvements in macromolecular X-ray crystallography have increased the number of structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank and improved the resolution limit of protein structures. Almost all high-resolution structures have been determined using a synchrotron radiation source in conjunction with cryocooling techniques, which are required in order to minimize radiation damage. However, optimization of cryoprotectant conditions is a time-consuming and difficult step. To overcome this problem, the high-pressure cryocooling method was developed (Kim et al., 2005) and successfully applied to many protein-structure analyses. In this report, using the high-pressure cryocooling method, the X-ray crystal structure of bovine H-protein was determined at 0.86 Å resolution. Structural comparisons between high- and ambient-pressure cryocooled crystals at ultra-high resolution illustrate the versatility of this technique. This is the first ultra-high-resolution X-ray structure obtained using the high-pressure cryocooling method.

High energy proton-induced radioactivity in HgI2 crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porras, E.; Ferrero, J.L.; Sanchez, F.; Ruiz, J.A.; Lei, F.

1995-01-01

Mercuric iodide (HgI 2 ) semiconductor crystals are generating a lot of interest as room temperature solid state detectors for hard X-ray astronomy observations. For these applications one of the most important background sources is the cosmic proton induced radioactivity in the detector material. In order to study this background noise contribution a 1x1x1 cm HgI 2 crystal was irradiated with high energy protons. The resulting long-lived unstable isotopes and their production rates have been identified and compared with Monte Carlo simulations. ((orig.))

Repeated growth and bubbling transfer of graphene with millimetre-size single-crystal grains using platinum.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Libo; Ren, Wencai; Xu, Huilong; Jin, Li; Wang, Zhenxing; Ma, Teng; Ma, Lai-Peng; Zhang, Zhiyong; Fu, Qiang; Peng, Lian-Mao; Bao, Xinhe; Cheng, Hui-Ming

2012-02-28

Large single-crystal graphene is highly desired and important for the applications of graphene in electronics, as grain boundaries between graphene grains markedly degrade its quality and properties. Here we report the growth of millimetre-sized hexagonal single-crystal graphene and graphene films joined from such grains on Pt by ambient-pressure chemical vapour deposition. We report a bubbling method to transfer these single graphene grains and graphene films to arbitrary substrate, which is nondestructive not only to graphene, but also to the Pt substrates. The Pt substrates can be repeatedly used for graphene growth. The graphene shows high crystal quality with the reported lowest wrinkle height of 0.8 nm and a carrier mobility of greater than 7,100 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) under ambient conditions. The repeatable growth of graphene with large single-crystal grains on Pt and its nondestructive transfer may enable various applications.

High-pressure high-temperature phase diagram of organic crystal paracetamol

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Spencer J.; Montgomery, Jeffrey M.; Vohra, Yogesh K.

2016-01-01

High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) Raman spectroscopy studies have been performed on the organic crystal paracetamol in a diamond anvil cell utilizing boron-doped heating diamond anvil. Isobaric measurements were conducted at pressures up to 8.5 GPa and temperature up to 520 K in five different experiments. Solid state phase transitions from monoclinic Form I  →  orthorhombic Form II were observed at various pressures and temperatures as well as transitions from Form II  →  unknown Form IV. The melting temperature for paracetamol was observed to increase with increasing pressures to 8.5 GPa. This new data is combined with previous ambient temperature high-pressure Raman and x-ray diffraction data to create the first HPHT phase diagram of paracetamol.

High-pressure high-temperature phase diagram of organic crystal paracetamol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Spencer J; Montgomery, Jeffrey M; Vohra, Yogesh K

2016-01-01

High-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) Raman spectroscopy studies have been performed on the organic crystal paracetamol in a diamond anvil cell utilizing boron-doped heating diamond anvil. Isobaric measurements were conducted at pressures up to 8.5 GPa and temperature up to 520 K in five different experiments. Solid state phase transitions from monoclinic Form I  →  orthorhombic Form II were observed at various pressures and temperatures as well as transitions from Form II  →  unknown Form IV. The melting temperature for paracetamol was observed to increase with increasing pressures to 8.5 GPa. This new data is combined with previous ambient temperature high-pressure Raman and x-ray diffraction data to create the first HPHT phase diagram of paracetamol. (paper)

Ultra-High-Efficiency Apodized Grating Coupler Using a Fully Etched Photonic Crystal

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ding, Yunhong; Peucheret, Christophe; Ou, Haiyan

2013-01-01

We demonstrate an apodized fiber-to-chip grating coupler using fully etched photonic crystal holes on the silicon-on-insulator platform. An ultra-high coupling efficiency of 1.65 dB (68%) with 3 dB bandwidth of 60 nm is experimentally demonstrated.......We demonstrate an apodized fiber-to-chip grating coupler using fully etched photonic crystal holes on the silicon-on-insulator platform. An ultra-high coupling efficiency of 1.65 dB (68%) with 3 dB bandwidth of 60 nm is experimentally demonstrated....

Effect of manganese doping on PIN-PMN-PT single crystals for high power applications

Science.gov (United States)

Sahul, Raffi

Single crystals based on relaxor-lead titanate (relaxor-PT) solid solutions have advanced the world of piezoelectric materials for the past two decades with their giant piezoelectric properties achieved by domain engineered configurations. When single crystals of lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) solid solution in the rhombohedral phase were poled along [001]c direction with "4R" domain configuration, they exhibited high piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33 >2000 pC/N) and high electromechanical coupling (k33 >0.9) which led to their widespread use in advanced medical imaging systems and underwater acoustic devices. However, PMN-PT crystals suffer from low phase transition temperature (Trt ˜85-95 °C) and lower coercive field (depolarizing electric field, Ec ˜2-3 kV/cm). Lead indium niobate - lead magnesium niobate - lead titanate (PIN-PMN-PT) ternary single crystals formed by adding indium as another constituent exhibit higher coercive field (E c ˜5kV/cm) and higher Curie temperature (Tc >210 °C) than the binary PMN-PT crystals (Ec ˜2.5 kV/cm and Tc high mechanical Q-factor (Qm >600) compared to the undoped binary crystals (Qm of PMN-PT 2000 pC/N for PMN-PT) occurs in the [001]c poled crystals, which is attributed to the polarization rotation mechanisms. Hence, domain engineering configurations induced by poling these crystals in orientations other than their polarization axis are critical for achieving large piezoelectric effects. Based on the phase diagram of these solid solutions, with the increase in PT content beyond the rhombohedral phase region, orthorhombic/monoclinic and tetragonal phases are formed. In the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases, the spontaneous polarization directions are in the [011]c and [001] c directions respectively. Similar to the "4R" domain configuration achieved in [001]c poled rhombohedral crystals, other domain configurations can be achieved by poling the single crystals in different orientations, leading to

Optical characterization of epitaxial single crystal CdTe thin films on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} (0001) substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jovanovic, S.M.; Devenyi, G.A., E-mail: devenyga@mcmaster.ca; Jarvis, V.M.; Meinander, K.; Haapamaki, C.M.; Kuyanov, P.; Gerber, M.; LaPierre, R.R.; Preston, J.S.

2014-11-03

The optoelectronic properties of single crystal CdTe thin films were investigated by photoluminescence spectroscopy, photoreflectance spectroscopy and variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. The room temperature bandgap was measured to be 1.51 eV and was consistent between spectroscopic measurements and previously reported values. Breadth of bandgap emission was consistent with high quality material. Low temperature photoluminescence spectra indicated a dominant emission consistent with bound excitons. Emissions corresponding to self-compensation defects, doping and contaminants were not found. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements over the near-UV to infrared range demonstrated sharp resonance peaks. All spectroscopic measurements indicate high quality thin film material of comparable or better quality than bulk CdTe. - Highlights: • High quality epitaxial CdTe thin films were grown. • Two dimensional X-ray diffraction characterization confirmed single crystal material. • Photoluminescence indicated low defect density when compared to bulk single crystals. • Optical characterization indicated the presence of room temperature excitons.

A Test of Macromolecular Crystallization in Microgravity: Large, Well-Ordered Insulin Crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Borgstahl, Gloria E. O.; Vahedi-Faridi, Ardeschir; Lovelace, Jeff; Bellamy, Henry D.; Snell, Edward H.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Crystals of insulin grown in microgravity on space shuttle mission STS-95 were extremely well-ordered and unusually large (many > 2 mm). The physical characteristics of six microgravity and six earth-grown crystals were examined by X-ray analysis employing superfine f slicing and unfocused synchrotron radiation. This experimental setup allowed hundreds of reflections to be precisely examined for each crystal in a short period of time. The microgravity crystals were on average 34 times larger, had 7 times lower mosaicity, had 54 times higher reflection peak heights and diffracted to significantly higher resolution than their earth grown counterparts. A single mosaic domain model could account for reflections in microgravity crystals whereas reflections from earth crystals required a model with multiple mosaic domains. This statistically significant and unbiased characterization indicates that the microgravity environment was useful for the improvement of crystal growth and resultant diffraction quality in insulin crystals and may be similarly useful for macromolecular crystals in general.

Physico-mechanical and dissolution behaviours of ibuprofen crystals crystallized in the presence of various additives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Nokhodchi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available "n  "n Background and the purpose of the study: The success of any direct-tableting procedure is strongly affected by the quality of the crystals used in the process. Ibuprofen is a poorly compactible drug with a high tendency for capping. In order to use ibuprofen in direct compression formulations, physico-mechanical properties of ibuprofen should be improved considerably. The aim of the present investigation was to employ crystallization techniques in order to improve the physico-mechanical properties of ibuprofen for direct compression. "nMethods:The experimental methods involved the preparation of ibuprofen crystals by solvent change technique. Ibuprofen was dissolved in ethanol and crystallized out with water in the absence or presence of various hydrophilic additives (PEG 6000, 8000, Brij 98P and polyvinyl alcohol 22000, PVA 22000 with different concentrations. The physico-mechanical properties of the ibuprofen crystals were studied in terms of flow, density, tensile strength and dissolution behaviour. Morphology of ibuprofen crystals was studied by scanning electron microscopic (SEM. Solid state of the recrystallized particles was also investigated using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC and FT-IR. "nResults:Ibuprofen samples crystallized in the presence of PEG 6000 and 8000 and PVA showed remarkable increase in the tensile strengths of the directly compressed tablets, while some other additives, i.e. Brij 98P did not produce improved ibuprofen crystals. Ibuprofen powders made from particles obtained in the presence of PVA and Brij 98P showed similar dissolution profiles to the commercial ibuprofen particles. DSC and FT-IR results ruled out any significant interaction between ibuprofen and additives except for the samples crystallized in the presence of PEG 8000. Conclusion:The crystal habit of ibuprofen can be altered successfully by the crystallization technique which was developed in this study. The crystals developed in the

Application prospects of cadmium-containing crystals based on tungstates and double tungstates

CERN Document Server

Nagornaya, L; Apanasenko, A; Tupitsyna, I; Chernikov, V; Vostretsov, V

2002-01-01

Tungstate and double tungstate crystals of high scintillation efficiency and detectors based on them are applied widely in the medical imaging and radiation monitoring because of their high sensitivity to the ionizing radiation, small radiation length, high radiation hardness, low afterglow level. In this work a possibility to broaden the application field of CWO crystals have been investigated by improvement of their spectrometric quality and decreasing of their afterglow level. CWO crystals with improved characteristics have been obtained (resolution for sup 1 sup 3 sup 7 Cs <8%, afterglow <0.02% after 20 ms). A possibility is considered to use these crystals for spectrometry of thermal and resonance neutrons, which is possible due to the presence of nuclei with large cross-section for these neutrons in the crystal lattice. Compounds of a new type based on Cd, La-containing double tungstates doped with rare earth elements have been synthesized, and their luminescent characteristics have been studied. ...

Analysis of an industrial production suspension of Bacillus lentus subtilisin crystals by powder diffraction: a powerful quality-control tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Frankaer, Christian G; Moroz, Olga V; Turkenburg, Johan P; Aspmo, Stein I; Thymark, Majbritt; Friis, Esben P; Stahl, Kenny; Nielsen, Jens E; Wilson, Keith S; Harris, Pernille

2014-04-01

A microcrystalline suspension of Bacillus lentus subtilisin (Savinase) produced during industrial large-scale production was analysed by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and X-ray single-crystal diffraction (MX). XRPD established that the bulk microcrystal sample representative of the entire production suspension corresponded to space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 47.65, b = 62.43, c = 75.74 Å, equivalent to those for a known orthorhombic crystal form (PDB entry 1ndq). MX using synchrotron beamlines at the Diamond Light Source with beam dimensions of 20 × 20 µm was subsequently used to study the largest crystals present in the suspension, with diffraction data being collected from two single crystals (∼20 × 20 × 60 µm) to resolutions of 1.40 and 1.57 Å, respectively. Both structures also belonged to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), but were quite distinct from the dominant form identified by XRPD, with unit-cell parameters a = 53.04, b = 57.55, c = 71.37 Å and a = 52.72, b = 57.13, c = 65.86 Å, respectively, and refined to R = 10.8% and Rfree = 15.5% and to R = 14.1% and Rfree = 18.0%, respectively. They are also different from any of the forms previously reported in the PDB. A controlled crystallization experiment with a highly purified Savinase sample allowed the growth of single crystals of the form identified by XRPD; their structure was solved and refined to a resolution of 1.17 Å with an R of 9.2% and an Rfree of 11.8%. Thus, there are at least three polymorphs present in the production suspension, albeit with the 1ndq-like microcrystals predominating. It is shown how the two techniques can provide invaluable and complementary information for such a production suspension and it is proposed that XRPD provides an excellent quality-control tool for such suspensions.

High-resolution compact Johann crystal spectrometer with the Livermore electron beam ion trap

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robbins, D.L.; Chen, H.; Beiersdorfer, P.; Faenov, A.Ya.; Pikuz, T.A.; May, M.J.; Dunn, J.; Smith, A.J.

2004-01-01

A compact high-resolution (λ/Δλ≅10 000) spherically bent crystal spectrometer in the Johann geometry was recently installed and tested on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory SuperEBIT electron beam ion trap. The curvature of the mica (002) crystal grating allows for higher collection efficiency compared to the flat and cylindrically bent crystal spectrometers commonly used on the Livermore electron beam ion traps. The spectrometer's Johann configuration enables orientation of its dispersion plane to be parallel to the electron beam propagation. Used in concert with a crystal spectrometer, whose dispersion plane is perpendicular to the electron beam propagation, the polarization of x-ray emission lines can be measured

Direct Photolithography on Molecular Crystals for High Performance Organic Optoelectronic Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yifan; Zhang, Lei; Leydecker, Tim; Samorì, Paolo

2018-05-23

Organic crystals are generated via the bottom-up self-assembly of molecular building blocks which are held together through weak noncovalent interactions. Although they revealed extraordinary charge transport characteristics, their labile nature represents a major drawback toward their integration in optoelectronic devices when the use of sophisticated patterning techniques is required. Here we have devised a radically new method to enable the use of photolithography directly on molecular crystals, with a spatial resolution below 300 nm, thereby allowing the precise wiring up of multiple crystals on demand. Two archetypal organic crystals, i.e., p-type 2,7-diphenyl[1]benzothieno[3,2- b][1]benzothiophene (Dph-BTBT) nanoflakes and n-type N, N'-dioctyl-3,4,9,10-perylenedicarboximide (PTCDI-C8) nanowires, have been exploited as active materials to realize high-performance top-contact organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), inverter and p-n heterojunction photovoltaic devices supported on plastic substrate. The compatibility of our direct photolithography technique with organic molecular crystals is key for exploiting the full potential of organic electronics for sophisticated large-area devices and logic circuitries, thus paving the way toward novel applications in plastic (opto)electronics.

Crystal growth of various ruthenates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kunkemoeller, Stefan; Braden, Markus [II. Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet zu Koeln (Germany); Nugroho, Agung [Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia)

2013-07-01

Ruthenates of the Ruddlesdon-Popper series exhibit a variety of interesting phenomena ranging from unconventional superconductivity to orbitally polarized Mott insulators. Unfortunately the crystal growth of most of these ruthenates is extremely difficult partially due to the high evaporation of ruthenium; this strongly limits the research on these fascinating materials. We have started to grow single crystals of layered and perovskite ruthenates by the travelling floating-zone method using a Canon SC1-MDH mirror furnace. For the layered Ca{sub 2-x}Sr{sub x}RuO{sub 4} series we focused first on the range of concentration where recent My-SR experiments reveal spin-density wave ordering to occur at relatively high temperature and with a sizeable ordered moment. Good quality crystals of Ca{sub 1.5}Sr{sub 0.5}RuO{sub 4} can be obtained, when an excess of 15 percent of ruthenium is added to the initial preparation of the rod and when a high growth speed up to 40mm/h is used. Even slight modifications of the growing conditions result in large amounts of (Sr/Ca)RuO{sub 3} and (Sr/Ca){sub 3}Ru{sub 2}O{sub 7} intergrowth phases. First attempts to grow perovskite and double-layered ruthenates are discussed as well.

High resolution diffraction imaging of mercuric iodide: Demonstration of the necessity for alternate crystal processing techniques for highly purified material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steiner, B.; Berg, L. van den; Laor, U.

1995-01-01

The overall crystalline lattice uniformity in recently available, highly purified mercuric iodide single crystals has been shown to be impacted by crystal handling techniques that were previously satisfactory. High resolution diffraction imaging of the surface regularity of crystals of various levels of purity and growth orientation shows: (1) that the newer materials have a generally lower level of precipitates, (2) that the incidence of these precipitates is now closely correlated with growth direction, and (3) that the deformation resistance and resulting sensitivity to crystal handling procedures are also closely correlated with these factors in this soft material. As a result, gentler cutting and polishing procedures have been developed and are shown to be effective in preserving overall lattice regularity in the new material. The polishing required to remove residual surface scratches affect the lattice orientation of the softer, precipitate-free regions, while not affecting those regions with detectable levels of precipitates. These results correlate closely with the electrical properties of devices made from these crystals. Mercuric iodide single crystals have proved to be particularly useful for x and γ ray detectors because their room temperature operation allow for simple, efficient, and compact instrumentation

Filtering of elastic waves by opal-based hypersonic crystal.

Science.gov (United States)

Salasyuk, Alexey S; Scherbakov, Alexey V; Yakovlev, Dmitri R; Akimov, Andrey V; Kaplyanskii, Alexander A; Kaplan, Saveliy F; Grudinkin, Sergey A; Nashchekin, Alexey V; Pevtsov, Alexander B; Golubev, Valery G; Berstermann, Thorsten; Brüggemann, Christian; Bombeck, Michael; Bayer, Manfred

2010-04-14

We report experiments in which high quality silica opal films are used as three-dimensional hypersonic crystals in the 10 GHz range. Controlled sintering of these structures leads to well-defined elastic bonding between the submicrometer-sized silica spheres, due to which a band structure for elastic waves is formed. The sonic crystal properties are studied by injection of a broadband elastic wave packet with a femtosecond laser. Depending on the elastic bonding strength, the band structure separates long-living surface acoustic waves with frequencies in the complete band gap from bulk waves with band frequencies that propagate into the crystal leading to a fast decay.

High temperature luminescence of ZnSe:Yb crystals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makhniy V. P.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The problem of obtaining of effective edge luminescence with high temperature stability in the zinc selenide crystals is discussed. This task is solved by using as the dopant rare-earth element yttrium, which is introduced into the undoped ZnSe crystal by diffusion method. Doping was carried out in an evacuated to 10 -4 Torr. and a sealed quartz ampoule, in the opposite ends of which is a sample and a mixture of the crushed Yb and Se. It has been found that the diffusion coefficient of yttrium at a temperature of 1400 K is about 5⋅10 -7 cm 2/sec. It is shown that in the luminescence spectra of ZnSe:Yb samples in the temperature range 295-470 K only blue band is observed. Dependencies of parameters of this band from the excitation level are typical for the annihilation of excitons at their inelastic scattering by free carriers. The efficacy of blue radiation at 300 K is about 30% and does not fall more than twice with increasing temperature up to 470 K, indicating its high thermal stability.

A Generic Framework for Systematic Design of Process Monitoring and Control System for Crystallization Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdul Samad, Noor Asma Fazli Bin; Meisler, Kresten Troelstrup; Sin, Gürkan

2012-01-01

Crystallization processes have a wide range of application as a solid-liquid separation technique in the chemical, the pharmaceutical and the food industries, due to the fact that high quality crystalline products can be produced. The main specifications of the crystal product are usually given i...

Controllable optical bistability in photonic-crystal one-atom laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Xiaoyong; Lue Shuchen

2009-01-01

We investigate the property of optical bistability in a photonic-crystal one-atom laser when nonlinear microcavity is present. The physical system consists of a coherently driven two-level light emitter strongly coupled to a high-quality microcavity which is embedded within a photonic crystal and another coherent probing field which has incident into the microcavity. In our case, the microcavity is fabricated by nonlinear material and placed as an impurity in photonic crystal. This study reveals that such a system can exhibit optical bistability. The dependence of threshold value and hysteresis loop on the photonic band gap of the photonic crystal, driving field Rabi frequency and dephasing processes, are studied. Our results clearly illustrate the ability to control optical bistability through suitable photonic-crystal architectures and external coherent driving field, and this study suggests that in a photonic-crystal nonlinear microcavity, the one-atom laser acts as an effective controllable bistable device in the design of all-light digital computing systems in the near future.

Crystal orientation dependent thermoelectric properties of highly oriented aluminum-doped zinc oxide thin films

KAUST Repository

Abutaha, Anas I.; Sarath Kumar, S. R.; Alshareef, Husam N.

2013-01-01

We demonstrate that the thermoelectric properties of highly oriented Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films can be improved by controlling their crystal orientation. The crystal orientation of the AZO films was changed by changing the temperature

High purity and semi-insulating 4H-SiC crystals grown by physical vapor transport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Augustine, G.; Hobgood, H.McD.; Balakrishna, V.; Dunne, G.T.; Hopkins, R.H.; Thomas, R.N. [Northrop Grumman Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Science and Technology Center; Doolittle, W.A.; Rohatgi, A. [Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (United States). School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

1998-06-01

High purity undoped and semi-insulating vanadium doped 4H-SiC single crystals with diameters up to 50 mm were grown by the physical vapor transport method. Undoped crystals exhibiting resistivities in the 10{sup 2} to 10{sup 3} {Omega}-cm range and photoconductive decay (PCD) lifetimes in the 2 to 9 {mu}s range, were grown from high purity SiC sublimation sources. The crystals were p-type due to the presence of residual acceptor impurities, mainly boron. The semi-insulating behavior of the vanadium doped crystals is attributed to compensation of residual acceptors by the deep level vanadium donor located near the middle of the band gap. (orig.) 6 refs.

Curved crystals for high-resolution focusing of X and gamma rays through a Laue lens

Science.gov (United States)

Guidi, Vincenzo; Bellucci, Valerio; Camattari, Riccardo; Neri, Ilaria

2013-08-01

Crystals with curved diffracting planes have been investigated as high-efficiency optical components for the realization of a Laue lens for satellite-borne experiments in astrophysics. At Sensor and Semiconductor Laboratory (Ferrara, Italy) a research and development plan to implement Si and Ge curved crystals by surface grooving technique has been undertaken. The method of surface grooving allows obtaining Si and Ge curved crystals with self-standing curvature, i.e., with no need for external bending device, which is a mandatory issue in satellite-borne experiments. Si and Ge grooved crystals have been characterized by X-ray diffraction at ESRF and ILL to prove their functionality for a high-reflectivity Laue lens.

High-Density Polyethylene and Heat-Treated Bamboo Fiber Composites: Nonisothermal Crystallization Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanjun Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The effect of heat-treated bamboo fibers (BFs on nonisothermal crystallization of high-density polyethylene (HDPE was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry under nitrogen. The Avrami-Jeziorny model was used to fit the measured crystallization data of the HDPE/BF composites and to obtain the model parameters for the crystallization process. The heat flow curves of neat HDPE and HDPE/heat-treated BF composites showed similar trends. Their crystallization mostly occurred within a temperature range between 379 K and 399 K, where HDPE turned from the liquid phase into the crystalline phase. Values of the Avrami exponent (n were in the range of 2.8~3.38. Lamellae of neat HDPE and their composites grew in a three-dimensional manner, which increased with increased heat-treatment temperature and could be attributed to the improved ability of heterogeneous nucleation and crystallization completeness. The values of the modified kinetic rate constant (KJ first increased and then decreased with increased cooling rate because the supercooling was improved by the increased number of nucleating sites. Heat-treated BF and/or a coupling agent could act as a nucleator for the crystallization of HDPE.

Possible Mechanisms for Turbofan Engine Ice Crystal Icing at High Altitude

Science.gov (United States)

Tsao, Jen-Ching; Struk, Peter M.; Oliver, Michael J.

2016-01-01

A thermodynamic model is presented to describe possible mechanisms of ice formation on unheated surfaces inside a turbofan engine compression system from fully glaciated ice crystal clouds often formed at high altitude near deep convective weather systems. It is shown from the analysis that generally there could be two distinct types of ice formation: (1) when the "surface freezing fraction" is in the range of 0 to 1, dominated by the freezing of water melt from fully or partially melted ice crystals, the ice structure is formed from accretion with strong adhesion to the surface, and (2) when the "surface melting fraction" is the range of 0 to 1, dominated by the further melting of ice crystals, the ice structure is formed from accumulation of un-melted ice crystals with relatively weak bonding to the surface. The model captures important qualitative trends of the fundamental ice-crystal icing phenomenon reported earlier (Refs. 1 and 2) from the research collaboration work by NASA and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. Further, preliminary analysis of test data from the 2013 full scale turbofan engine ice crystal icing test (Ref. 3) conducted in the NASA Glenn Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) has also suggested that (1) both types of ice formation occurred during the test, and (2) the model has captured some important qualitative trend of turning on (or off) the ice crystal ice formation process in the tested engine low pressure compressor (LPC) targeted area under different icing conditions that ultimately would lead to (or suppress) an engine core roll back (RB) event.

Ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography for encapsulation quality inspection

KAUST Repository

Czajkowski, Jakub

2011-08-28

We present the application of ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) in evaluation of thin, protective films used in printed electronics. Two types of sample were investigated: microscopy glass and organic field effect transistor (OFET) structure. Samples were coated with thin (1-3 μm) layer of parylene C polymer. Measurements were done using experimental UHR-OCT device based on a Kerr-lens mode locked Ti: sapphire femtosecond laser, photonic crystal fibre and modified, free-space Michelson interferometer. Submicron resolution offered by the UHR-OCT system applied in the study enables registration of both interfaces of the thin encapsulation layer. Complete, volumetric characterisation of protective layers is presented, demonstrating possibility to use OCT for encapsulation quality inspection. © Springer-Verlag 2011.

The single-crystal multinary compound Cu2ZnSnS4 as an environmentally friendly high-performance thermoelectric material

Science.gov (United States)

Nagaoka, Akira; Masuda, Taizo; Yasui, Shintaro; Taniyama, Tomoyasu; Nose, Yoshitaro

2018-05-01

We investigated the thermoelectric properties of high-quality p-type Cu2ZnSnS4 single crystals. This material showed two advantages: low thermal conductivity because of lattice scattering caused by the easily formed Cu/Zn disordered structure, and high conductivity because of high doping from changes to the composition. All samples showed a thermal conductivity of 3.0 W m‑1 K‑1 at 300 K, and the Cu-poor sample showed a conductivity of 7.5 S/cm at 300 K because of the high density of shallow-acceptor Cu vacancies. The figure of merit of the Cu-poor Cu2ZnSnS4 reached 0.2 at 400 K, which is 1.4–45 times higher than those of related compounds.

A liquid-crystal-on-silicon color sequential display using frame buffer pixel circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sangrok

Next generation liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) high definition (HD) televisions and image projection displays will need to be low-cost and high quality to compete with existing systems based on digital micromirror devices (DMDs), plasma displays, and direct view liquid crystal displays. In this thesis, a novel frame buffer pixel architecture that buffers data for the next image frame while displaying the current frame, offers such a competitive solution is presented. The primary goal of the thesis is to demonstrate the LCOS microdisplay architecture for high quality image projection displays and at potentially low cost. The thesis covers four main research areas: new frame buffer pixel circuits to improve the LCOS performance, backplane architecture design and testing, liquid crystal modes for the LCOS microdisplay, and system integration and demonstration. The design requirements for the LCOS backplane with a 64 x 32 pixel array are addressed and measured electrical characteristics matches to computer simulation results. Various liquid crystal (LC) modes applicable for LCOS microdisplays and their physical properties are discussed. One- and two-dimensional director simulations are performed for the selected LC modes. Test liquid crystal cells with the selected LC modes are made and their electro-optic effects are characterized. The 64 x 32 LCOS microdisplays fabricated with the best LC mode are optically tested with interface circuitry. The characteristics of the LCOS microdisplays are summarized with the successful demonstration.

High quality junctions by interpenetration of vapor liquid solid grown nanostructures for microchip integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jebril, Seid; Kuhlmann, Hanna; Adelung, Rainer [Funktionale Nanomaterialien, CAU Kiel (Germany); Mueller, Sven [Nanowires and Thin Films, II. Physikalisches Institut, Goettingen (Germany); Ronning, Carsten [Institute for Solid State Physics, Universitaet Jena (Germany); Kienle, Lorenz [Synthese und Realstruktur, CAU Kiel (Germany); Duppel, Viola [MPI fuer Festkoerperforschung, Stuttgart (Germany)

2009-07-01

The usability of nanostructures in electrical devices like gas sensors depends critically on the ability to form high quality contacts and junctions. For the fabrication of various nanostructures, vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth is a wide spread and very efficient technique. However, forming contacts with the VLS grown structures to utilize them in a device is still tedious, because either the substrate has to be epitaxial to the VLS material or a manual alignment is necessary. Here we demonstrate the contact formation by simply using the ability of individual crystals to interpenetrate each other during the straight forward VLS growth. This allows growing VLS structures directly on two neighboring gold circuit paths of a microchip; bridges over predefined gaps will be formed. Moreover, TEM investigations confirm the high quality of the crystalline junctions that allow demonstrations as UV and hydrogen-sensor. The VLS devices are compared with conventional produced.

Application Of Empirical Phase Diagrams For Multidimensional Data Visualization Of High Throughput Microbatch Crystallization Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Klijn, Marieke E; Hubbuch, Jürgen

2018-04-27

Protein phase diagrams are a tool to investigate cause and consequence of solution conditions on protein phase behavior. The effects are scored according to aggregation morphologies such as crystals or amorphous precipitates. Solution conditions affect morphological features, such as crystal size, as well as kinetic features, such as crystal growth time. Common used data visualization techniques include individual line graphs or symbols-based phase diagrams. These techniques have limitations in terms of handling large datasets, comprehensiveness or completeness. To eliminate these limitations, morphological and kinetic features obtained from crystallization images generated with high throughput microbatch experiments have been visualized with radar charts in combination with the empirical phase diagram (EPD) method. Morphological features (crystal size, shape, and number, as well as precipitate size) and kinetic features (crystal and precipitate onset and growth time) are extracted for 768 solutions with varying chicken egg white lysozyme concentration, salt type, ionic strength and pH. Image-based aggregation morphology and kinetic features were compiled into a single and easily interpretable figure, thereby showing that the EPD method can support high throughput crystallization experiments in its data amount as well as its data complexity. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Synthesis and characterization of L-tyrosine hydrochloride crystals submitted to high and low temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, C.A.A.S.; Facanha Filho, P.F.; Ribeiro, L.H.L.; Victor, F.M.S.; Abreu, D.C.; Santos, A.O. dos; Carvalho, J.O.; Soares, R.A.; Sousa, J.C.F.; Lima, R.C.; Cavaignac, A.O. [Universidade Federal do Maranhao (UFMA), MA (Brazil)

2016-07-01

Full text: New materials are emerging and generate advances in nonlinear optics that studies the phenomena related to changes in optical properties when occurs interaction of light with the matter. Semi organic crystals present such properties. The goal is this work is to produce semi organic single crystal of L-tyrosine hydrochloride (LTHCl) and verify their thermal stability when subjected to high and low temperatures. The single crystals of LTHCl were produced for solubilization of amino acid L-tyrosine in hydrochloric acid using slow solvent evaporation technique at a constant temperature of 25 deg C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and refining by the Rietveld method were used to confirm the structure of the material. The thermal stability was investigated using DSC, TGA-DTA. The LTHCl crystal belongs to the monoclinic system, with two molecules per unit cell. The refinement by the Rietveld method showed good results with Rwp= 8.49% and Rp= 6.29% with S=1.13. Thermal analysis shown an endothermic event at about 160°C, which can be associated with phase transition occurred in LTHCl crystal. It was also observed that the crystal melting point occurs at a temperature of 230°C. No water of crystallization was found in the crystal structure, which was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy and thermal analysis. From the Raman spectroscopy experiments in function of temperature, no significant changes was observe in the behavior of vibrational normal modes between temperatures of -253 and 170 deg C. Finally, a monoclinic crystal system LTHCl is stable up to 160°C at high temperatures and -253°C at low temperatures. Therefore, our investigation has proved that LTHCl crystals can be used in this range of temperature without the lost of their nonlinear optical properties. (author)

Light-Induced Tellurium Enrichment on CdZnTe Crystal Surfaces Detected by Raman Spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawkins, Samantha A.; Villa-Aleman, Eliel; Duff, Martine C.; Hunter, Doug B.; Burger, Arnold; Groza, Michael; Buliga, Vladimir; Black, David R.

2008-01-01

CdZnTe (CZT) crystals can be grown under controlled conditions to produce high-quality crystals to be used as room-temperature radiation detectors. Even the best crystal growth methods result in defects, such as tellurium secondary phases, that affect the crystal's performance. In this study, CZT crystals were analyzed by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The growth of Te rich areas on the surface was induced by low-power lasers. The growth was observed versus time with low-power Raman scattering and was observed immediately under higher-power conditions. The detector response was also measured after induced Te enrichment.

Structural and functional characterization of HPHT diamond crystals used in photoconductive devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pace, E.; Pini, A. [Florence Univ. (Italy). Ist. di Astronomia; Vinattieri, A.; Bogani, F.; Santoro, M.; Messina, G.; Santangelo, S.; Sato, Y.

2000-09-01

Diamond films are extensively studied for applications as functional material for UV photoconductors. CVD-grown polycrystalline diamond films show very interesting performances, but their complete exploitation is actually limited by a slow time response if compared to other materials, by a relatively high concentration of structural defects, impurities and grain boundaries, which may affect the collection length of photogenerated charges. High-quality single crystal diamonds could solve some of these problems. The absence of grain boundaries can produce longer collection lengths. The nitrogen and impurity contents can be reduced and then large type-IIa diamond single-crystals can be obtained. In this work, a detailed structural and functional characterization of type Ib HPHT diamond crystals has been carried out and the results have been compared to similar characterizations of CVD films to evaluate the different behavior, taking also into account that these high pressure high temperature (HPHT) diamond crystals contain several tens ppm of nitrogen. (orig.)

From Modeling of Plasticity in Single-Crystal Superalloys to High-Resolution X-rays Three-Crystal Diffractometer Peaks Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Jacques, Alain

2016-12-01

The dislocation-based modeling of the high-temperature creep of two-phased single-crystal superalloys requires input data beyond strain vs time curves. This may be obtained by use of in situ experiments combining high-temperature creep tests with high-resolution synchrotron three-crystal diffractometry. Such tests give access to changes in phase volume fractions and to the average components of the stress tensor in each phase as well as the plastic strain of each phase. Further progress may be obtained by a new method making intensive use of the Fast Fourier Transform, and first modeling the behavior of a representative volume of material (stress fields, plastic strain, dislocation densities…), then simulating directly the corresponding diffraction peaks, taking into account the displacement field within the material, chemical variations, and beam coherence. Initial tests indicate that the simulated peak shapes are close to the experimental ones and are quite sensitive to the details of the microstructure and to dislocation densities at interfaces and within the soft γ phase.

Epitaxial growth of thin single-crystals and their quality study by Rutherford scattering in channeling conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirsch, Robert.

1975-01-01

Some aspects of thin crystalline layers are reminded: vacuum deposition, epitaxial growth, annealing and interdiffusion ion channeling and scattering of 1-2MeV helium ions are used to study the crystalline quality, the annealing effects and in some cases the interdiffusion in epitaxial multilayers of silver, copper gold and nickel. Thin single-crystals of gold and nickel oriented (III) plan parallel to the surface were obtained by successive epitaxial growth from muscovite mica clivages. The mounting techniques of single crystalline, self-supporting, 300 to 1200 Angstroems thick, gold and nickel targets of 3mm diameter are described. The gold single-crystals have dislocation densities of 10 8 cm -2 and the various epitaxial layers are obtained without twinning [fr

High mobility In{sub 2}O{sub 3}:H transparent conductive oxides prepared by atomic layer deposition and solid phase crystallization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macco, B.; Wu, Y.; Vanhemel, D. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands); Kessels, W.M.M. [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands); Solliance Solar Research, Eindhoven (Netherlands)

2014-12-01

The preparation of high-quality In{sub 2}O{sub 3}:H, as transparent conductive oxide (TCO), is demonstrated at low temperatures. Amorphous In{sub 2}O{sub 3}:H films were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 100 C, after which they underwent solid phase crystallization by a short anneal at 200 C. TEM analysis has shown that this approach can yield films with a lateral grain size of a few hundred nm, resulting in electron mobility values as high as 138 cm{sup 2}/V s at a device-relevant carrier density of 1.8 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -3}. Due to the extremely high electron mobility, the crystallized films simultaneously exhibit a very low resistivity (0.27 mΩ cm) and a negligible free carrier absorption. In conjunction with the low temperature processing, this renders these films ideal candidates for front TCO layers in for example silicon heterojunction solar cells and other sensitive optoelectronic applications. (copyright 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Short review of high-pressure crystal growth and magnetic and electrical properties of solid-state osmium oxides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamaura, Kazunari, E-mail: YAMAURA.Kazunari@nims.go.jp [Superconducting Properties Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044 (Japan); Graduate School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0810 (Japan)

2016-04-15

High-pressure crystal growth and synthesis of selected solid-state osmium oxides, many of which are perovskite-related types, are briefly reviewed, and their magnetic and electrical properties are introduced. Crystals of the osmium oxides, including NaOsO{sub 3}, LiOsO{sub 3}, and Na{sub 2}OsO{sub 4}, were successfully grown under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions at 6 GPa in the presence of an appropriate amount of flux in a belt-type apparatus. The unexpected discovery of a magnetic metal–insulator transition in NaOsO{sub 3}, a ferroelectric-like transition in LiOsO{sub 3}, and high-temperature ferrimagnetism driven by a local structural distortion in Ca{sub 2}FeOsO{sub 6} may represent unique features of the osmium oxides. The high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis and crystal growth has played a central role in the development of solid-state osmium oxides and the elucidation of their magnetic and electronic properties toward possible use in multifunctional devices. - Graphical Abstract: Flux-grown crystals of NaOsO{sub 3} under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions in a belt-type apparatus. The crystal shows a magnetically driven metal–insulator transition at a temperature of 410 K. - Highlights: • Short review of high-pressure crystal growth of solid-state osmium oxides. • Wide variety of magnetic properties of solid-state osmium oxides. • Perovskite and related dense structures stabilized at 3–17 GPa.

Soliton compression to few-cycle pulses with a high quality factor by engineering cascaded quadratic nonlinearities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zeng, Xianglong; Guo, Hairun; Zhou, Binbin

2012-01-01

We propose an efficient approach to improve few-cycle soliton compression with cascaded quadratic nonlinearities by using an engineered multi-section structure of the nonlinear crystal. By exploiting engineering of the cascaded quadratic nonlinearities, in each section soliton compression...... with a low effective order is realized, and high-quality few-cycle pulses with large compression factors are feasible. Each subsequent section is designed so that the compressed pulse exiting the previous section experiences an overall effective self-defocusing cubic nonlinearity corresponding to a modest...... soliton order, which is kept larger than unity to ensure further compression. This is done by increasing the cascaded quadratic nonlinearity in the new section with an engineered reduced residual phase mismatch. The low soliton orders in each section ensure excellent pulse quality and high efficiency...

Single Crystal Synthesis and STM Studies of High Temperature Superconductors

Science.gov (United States)

Barrientos, Alfonso

1997-01-01

This is a final report for the work initiated in September of 1994 under the grant NAG8-1085 - NASA/OMU, on the fabrication of bulk and single crystal synthesis, specific heat measuring and STM studies of high temperature superconductors. Efforts were made to fabricate bulk and single crystals of mercury based superconducting material. A systematic thermal analysis on the precursors for the corresponding oxides and carbonates were carried out to synthesized bulk samples. Bulk material was used as seed in an attempt to grow single crystals by a two-step self flux process. On the other hand bulk samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility, We studied the specific heat behavior in the range from 80 to 300 K. Some preliminary attempts were made to study the atomic morphology of our samples. As part of our efforts we built an ac susceptibility apparatus for measuring the transition temperature of our sintered samples.

Effects of flexible substrate thickness on Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oya, Naoki [Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan); Toko, Kaoru, E-mail: toko@bk.tsukuba.ac.jp [Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan); Saitoh, Noriyuki; Yoshizawa, Noriko [Electron Microscope Facility, TIA, AIST, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569 (Japan); Suemasu, Takashi [Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan)

2015-05-29

Amorphous germanium (a-Ge) thin films were directly crystallized on flexible plastic substrates at 325 °C using Al-induced crystallization. The thickness of the plastic substrate strongly influenced the crystal quality of the resulting polycrystalline Ge layers. Using a thicker substrate lowered the stress on the a-Ge layer during annealing, which increased the grain size and fraction of (111)-oriented grains within the Ge layer. Employing a 125-μm-thick substrate led to 95% (111)-oriented Ge with grains having an average size of 100 μm. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the Ge grains had a low-defect density. Production of high-quality Ge films on plastic substrates allows for the possibility for developing Ge-based electronic and optical devices on inexpensive flexible substrates. - Highlights: • Polycrystalline Ge thin films are directly formed on flexible plastic substrates. • Al-induced crystallization allows the low-temperature growth (325 °C) of amorphous Ge. • The substrate bending during annealing strongly influences the crystal quality of poly-Ge. • A thick substrate (125 μm) leads to 95% (111)-oriented Ge with grains 100 μm in size.

Crystal nucleation initiated by transient ion-surface interactions at aerosol interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Ryan D; Tolbert, Margaret A

2017-07-01

Particle collisions are a common occurrence in the atmosphere, but no empirical observations exist to fully predict the potential effects of these collisions on air quality and climate projections. The current consensus of heterogeneous crystal nucleation pathways relevant to the atmosphere dictates that collisions with amorphous particles have no effect on the crystallization relative humidity (RH) of aqueous inorganic aerosols because there is no stabilizing ion-surface interaction to facilitate the formation of crystal nuclei. In contrast to this view of heterogeneous nucleation, we report laboratory observations demonstrating that collisions with hydrophobic amorphous organic aerosols induced crystallization of aqueous inorganic microdroplets at high RH, the effect of which was correlated with destabilizing water-mediated ion-specific surface interactions. These same organic aerosols did not induce crystallization once internally mixed in the droplet, pointing toward a previously unconsidered transient ion-specific crystal nucleation pathway that can promote aerosol crystallization via particle collisions.

Crystallization mechanisms of acicular crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Puel, François; Verdurand, Elodie; Taulelle, Pascal; Bebon, Christine; Colson, Didier; Klein, Jean-Paul; Veesler, Stéphane

2008-01-01

In this contribution, we present an experimental investigation of the growth of four different organic molecules produced at industrial scale with a view to understand the crystallization mechanism of acicular or needle-like crystals. For all organic crystals studied in this article, layer-by-layer growth of the lateral faces is very slow and clear, as soon as the supersaturation is high enough, there is competition between growth and surface-activated secondary nucleation. This gives rise to pseudo-twinned crystals composed of several needle individuals aligned along a crystallographic axis; this is explained by regular over- and inter-growths as in the case of twinning. And when supersaturation is even higher, nucleation is fast and random. In an industrial continuous crystallization, the rapid growth of needle-like crystals is to be avoided as it leads to fragile crystals or needles, which can be partly broken or totally detached from the parent crystals especially along structural anisotropic axis corresponding to weaker chemical bonds, thus leading to slower growing faces. When an activated mechanism is involved such as a secondary surface nucleation, it is no longer possible to obtain a steady state. Therefore, the crystal number, size and habit vary significantly with time, leading to troubles in the downstream processing operations and to modifications of the final solid-specific properties. These results provide valuable information on the unique crystallization mechanisms of acicular crystals, and show that it is important to know these threshold and critical values when running a crystallizer in order to obtain easy-to-handle crystals.

Preparation of high magneto-optical performance and crystalline quality Ce{sub 1}Gd{sub 2}Fe{sub 5−x}Ga{sub x}O{sub 12} films on CLNGG substrate crystal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fu, Qiu-ping; Zheng, Ze-yuan; Lin, Nan-xi; Liu, Xiao-feng; Hong, Can-huang; Hu, Xiao-lin, E-mail: linamethyst@fzu.edu.cn; Zhuang, Nai-feng; Chen, Jian-zhong, E-mail: j.z.chen@fzu.edu.cn

2016-11-01

Thin films of Ce{sub 1}Gd{sub 2}Fe{sub 5−x}Ga{sub x}O{sub 12} (Ce,Ga:GIG) were prepared on Gd{sub 3}Ga{sub 5}O{sub 12} (GGG) and Ca{sub 2.90}Li{sub 0.30}Nb{sub 1.93}Ga{sub 2.76}O{sub 12} (CLNGG) substrates by using radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The phase, grain orientation, surface morphology, transmittance, magnetism and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) properties of films were analyzed. And the effects of lattice mismatch and non-magnetic Ga{sup 3+}-doping were discussed. The results show that the films with higher crystallized quality and lower stress can be obtained by growing on CLNGG than on GGG. Moreover, the coercive force, magnetization, magneto-optical effect intensity and orientation of film can be effectively regulated by adjusting Ga{sup 3+}-doped concentration. - Highlights: • With excellent magneto-optical performance, Ce,Ga:GIG film has a good application prospect. • Ce,Ga:GIG film with high quality were prepared on CLNGG by RF magnetron sputtering. • Crystalline quality and morphology of films are intently related to the substrate. • Ga{sup 3+} doping obviously affect on magnetism and magneto-optical property of Ce:GIG film.

Anomalous effect of high-frequency ultrasound on radiation diffraction in deformed single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iolin, E.M.; Rajtman, Eh.A.; Kuvaldin, B.V.; Zolotoyabko, Eh.V.

1988-01-01

Results are presented of a theoretical and experimental study of neutron and X-ray diffraction in defromed single crystals on high-frequency ultrasonic excitation. It is demonstrated theoretically that at a frequency exceeding a certain threshold value the ultrasound violates the adiabatic conditions for the excitation point motion on the dispersion surface branches. This leads to an anomalous (compared to diffraction for a perfect crystal) dependence of the diffraction intensity on the ultrasonic wave amplitude. The experimental data for Si crystals are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions

Growth, structural, optical and surface analysis of piperazinium tartrate: A NLO single crystal

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Apurva; Raseel Rahman M., K.; Nair, Lekha

2018-05-01

Single crystal of piperazinium tartrate (PPZT) was grown by the slow evaporation solution growth technique at room temperature. Crystallinity of grown crystal was examined by powder X-ray diffraction. High transparency and wide band gap were observed in the UV-Visible spectroscopic studies. Intense and broad emissions were observed in the blue region, as that is indicated by photoluminescence spectroscopy. The quality of the grown PPZT single crystals were analyzed by the etching studies using the water as the etchant.

EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS CRYSTALLIZER PERFORMANCE ON STRUVITE CRYSTALS PRODUCED IN REACTION CRYSTALLIZATION FROM SOLUTIONS CONTAINING PHOSPHATE(V AND ZINC(II IONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Hutnik

Full Text Available Abstract Continuous reaction crystallization of struvite from aqueous solutions containing phosphate(V (1.0 mass % and zinc(II ions (from 0.1 to 2.0 mg kg-1 in a continuous DT MSMPR crystallizer was investigated. The influence of pH (9 - 11 and mean residence time (900 - 3600 s on the product characteristics and its chemical composition was tested. Struvite crystals of mean size 22-41 µm were produced. An increase in Zn2+ concentration decreased the mean crystal size and homogeneity. An elevation of the pH also decreased the struvite crystal size. Augmenting the mean residence time influenced product quality advantageously. Coexistence of struvite and Zn(OH2 in the product was confirmed analytically.

Upgrades of imaging x-ray crystal spectrometers for high-resolution and high-temperature plasma diagnostics on EAST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lyu, B., E-mail: blu@ipp.ac.cn; Wang, F. D.; Fu, J.; Li, Y. Y. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Pan, X. Y.; Chen, J.; Wan, B. N. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); Bitter, M.; Hill, K. W.; Delgado-Aparicio, L. F.; Pablant, N. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-0451 (United States); Lee, S. G. [National Fusion Research Institute, 52 Eoeun-Dong, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon 305-333 (Korea, Republic of); Shi, Y. J. [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China); WCI for Fusion Theory, National Fusion Research Institute, 52 Eoeun-Dong, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon 305-333 (Korea, Republic of); Ye, M. Y. [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)

2014-11-15

Upgrade of the imaging X-ray crystal spectrometers continues in order to fulfill the high-performance diagnostics requirements on EAST. For the tangential spectrometer, a new large pixelated two-dimensional detector was deployed on tokamaks for time-resolved X-ray imaging. This vacuum-compatible detector has an area of 83.8 × 325.3 mm{sup 2}, a framing rate over 150 Hz, and water-cooling capability for long-pulse discharges. To effectively extend the temperature limit, a double-crystal assembly was designed to replace the previous single crystals for He-like argon line measurement. The tangential spectrometer employed two crystal slices attached to a common substrate and part of He- and H-like Ar spectra could be recorded on the same detector when crystals were chosen to have similar Bragg angles. This setup cannot only extend the measurable Te up to 10 keV in the core region, but also extend the spatial coverage since He-like argon ions will be present in the outer plasma region. Similarly, crystal slices for He-like iron and argon spectra were adopted on the poloidal spectrometer. Wavelength calibration for absolute rotation velocity measurement will be studied using cadmium characteristic L-shell X-ray lines excited by plasma radiation. A Cd foil is placed before the crystal and can be inserted and retracted for in situ wavelength calibration. The Geant4 code was used to estimate X-ray fluorescence yield and optimize the thickness of the foil.

Validation of molecular crystal structures from powder diffraction data with dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van de Streek, Jacco; Neumann, Marcus A

2014-01-01

In 2010 we energy-minimized 225 high-quality single-crystal (SX) structures with dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) to establish a quantitative benchmark. For the current paper, 215 organic crystal structures determined from X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) data and published...

Nanobody mediated crystallization of an archeal mechanosensitive channel.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Löw

Full Text Available Mechanosensitive channels (MS are integral membrane proteins and allow bacteria to survive sudden changes in external osmolarity due to transient opening of their pores. The efflux of cytoplasmic osmolytes reduces the membrane tension and prevents membrane rupture. Therefore these channels serve as emergency valves when experiencing significant environmental stress. The preparation of high quality crystals of integral membrane proteins is a major bottleneck for structure determination by X-ray crystallography. Crystallization chaperones based on various protein scaffolds have emerged as promising tool to increase the crystallization probability of a selected target protein. So far archeal mechanosensitive channels of small conductance have resisted crystallization in our hands. To structurally analyse these channels, we selected nanobodies against an archeal MS channel after immunization of a llama with recombinant expressed, detergent solubilized and purified protein. Here we present the characterization of 23 different binders regarding their interaction with the channel protein using analytical gel filtration, western blotting and surface plasmon resonance. Selected nanobodies bound the target with affinities in the pico- to nanomolar range and some binders had a profound effect on the crystallization of the MS channel. Together with previous data we show that nanobodies are a versatile and valuable tool in structural biology by widening the crystallization space for highly challenging proteins, protein complexes and integral membrane proteins.

Asymmetrically cut crystal pair as x-ray magnifier for imaging at high intensity laser facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Szabo, C. I.; Feldman, U. [Artep Inc., 2922 Excelsior Spring Circle, Ellicott City, Maryland 21042 (United States); Seely, J. F. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375-5352 (United States); Curry, J. J.; Hudson, L. T.; Henins, A. [National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)

2010-10-15

The potential of an x-ray magnifier prepared from a pair of asymmetrically cut crystals is studied to explore high energy x-ray imaging capabilities at high intensity laser facilities. OMEGA-EP and NIF when irradiating mid and high Z targets can be a source of high-energy x-rays whose production mechanisms and use as backlighters are a subject of active research. This paper studies the properties and potential of existing asymmetric cut crystal pairs from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) built in a new enclosure for imaging x-ray sources. The technique of the x-ray magnifier has been described previously. This new approach is aimed to find a design that could be used at laser facilities by magnifying the x-ray source into a screen far away from the target chamber center, with fixed magnification defined by the crystals' lattice spacing and the asymmetry angles. The magnified image is monochromatic and the imaging wavelength is set by crystal asymmetry and incidence angles. First laboratory results are presented and discussed.

Facile growth of a single-crystal pattern: a case study of HKUST-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shaozhou; Lu, Guang; Huang, Xiao; Li, Hai; Sun, Yinghui; Zhang, Hua; Chen, Xiaodong; Huo, Fengwei

2012-12-18

In order to fabricate metal-organic framework (MOF) based devices, it is desirable to precisely position high-quality and mono-sized MOF crystals on supports. In this work, we demonstrate a facile solution procedure for the fabrication of oriented and monodispersed single-crystal MOF pattern. We expect that such capability will expand the scope of applications of MOFs to advanced fields.

Highly oriented Bi-system bulk sample prepared by a decomposition-crystallization process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xi Zhengping; Zhou Lian; Ji Chunlin

1992-01-01

A decomposition-crystallization method, preparing highly oriented Bi-system bulk sample is reported. The effects of processing parameter, decomposition temperature, cooling rate and post-treatment condition on texture and superconductivity are investigated. The method has successfully prepared highly textured Bi-system bulk samples. High temperature annealing does not destroy the growing texture, but the cooling rate has some effect on texture and superconductivity. Annealing in N 2 /O 2 atmosphere can improve superconductivity of the textured sample. The study on the superconductivity of the Bi(Pb)-Sr-Ca-Cu-O bulk material has been reported in numerous papers. The research on J c concentrates on the tape containing the 2223 phase, with very few studies on the J c of bulk sample. The reason for the lack of studies is that the change of superconducting phases at high temperatures has not been known. The authors have reported that the 2212 phase incongruently melted at about 875 degrees C and proceeded to orient the c-axis perpendicular to the surface in the process of crystallization of the 2212 phase. Based on that result, a decomposition-crystallization method was proposed to prepare highly oriented Bi-system bulk sample. In this paper, the process is described in detail and the effects of processing parameters on texture and superconductivity are reported

Creep of crystals: High-temperature deformation processes in metals, ceramics and minerals

Science.gov (United States)

Poirier, J. P.

An introductory text describing high-temperature deformation processes in metals, ceramics, and minerals is presented. Among the specific topics discussed are: the mechanical aspects of crystal deformation; lattice defects; and phenomenological and thermodynamical analysis of quasi-steady-state creep. Consideration is also given to: dislocation creep models; the effect of hydrostatic pressure on deformation; creep polygonization; and dynamic recrystallization. The status of experimental techniques for the study of transformation plasticity in crystals is also discussed.

Combined optical and electrical effects in ferroelectric crystal for high laser intensities

Science.gov (United States)

Kukhtarev, N. V.; Kukhtareva, T. V.; Stargell, G.; Wang, J. C.

2009-08-01

In this study, we have derived equations for the pyroelectric and photogalvanic contribution to the electrical charging of the photosensitive ferroelectric crystal. Standard photorefractive equations are supplemented by the equation of state for the polarization density following the Devonshire-Ginsburg-Landau (DGL) approach. The photogalvanic voltage and current is considered for a wide intensity range, which includes the CW and the pulsed photo-excitation with high intensities when the impurity is fully ionized and when the traditional linear-recombination approach is not valid. The crystal electrostatic accelerators, based on charging of ferroelectric crystals by pyroelectric and photogalvanic effects, are discussed in relation to the generation of the self-focused electron beam, X-rays, and neutrons.

Versatile Collimating Crystal Stage for a Bonse-Hart USAXS Instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilavsky, J.; Shu, D.; Jemian, P. R.; Long, G. G.

2007-01-01

An advanced ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) instrument, using the Bonse-Hart design and installed at APS, is a robust and reliable instrument, providing a scattering vector (q) range of nearly 4 decades (0.00015 to 1 Aa-1), an intensity dynamic range of up to 9 decades, standard-less absolute intensity calibration, and USAXS imaging capabilities. This type of instrument typically uses channel-cut crystals in both the collimating (before sample) and analyzing (after sample) stages. The optical surfaces of these crystals are finished by etching processes, which leave an orange-peel surface texture, which would compromise the USAXS imaging quality. Therefore optics with highly polished surfaces using separated crystals in both collimating and analyzing stages were developed. A novel design of the optics and mechanical stage uses a fixed gap between the two separated collimating crystals in which a triangular section of the first crystal is removed, allowing for a variable number (1, 2, 4, 6, or 8) of crystal reflections for X-ray energies between 7 and 19 keV. The number of reflections is selected by lateral translation of the collimating crystal pair. Rotational alignment of the second crystal in the pair by an artificial channel-cut crystal mechanism, implemented with a novel high-stiffness weak link actuated by both a picomotor and a piezo-electric transducer, provides the capability to align or adjust an assembly of crystals to achieve the same performance as a single channel-cut crystal with integral weak link. The arrangement of both crystals is held on a removable base that can be remounted with precision within the Si(111) rocking curve on a three-point kinematic mount. Additional tilt adjustments are also provided for initial alignment. This monochromator has proven to be highly robust with respect to motions and vibrations, as well as flexible with respect to selection of number of reflections, and its performance directly resulted in the highly

Multi-Fresnel lenses pumping approach for improving high-power Nd:YAG solar laser beam quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Dawei; Almeida, Joana

2013-07-20

To significantly improve the present-day high-power solar laser beam quality, a three-stage multi-Fresnel lenses approach is proposed for side-pumping either a Nd:YAG single-crystal or a core-doped Sm(3+)Nd:YAG ceramic rod. Optimum pumping and laser beam parameters are found through ZEMAX and LASCAD numerical analysis. The proposed scheme offers a uniform absorption profile along the rod. 167 W laser power can be achieved, corresponding to 29.3 W/m(2) collection efficiency. High brightness figure of merit of 8.34 W is expected for the core-doped rod within a convex-concave resonator, which is 1300 times higher than that of the most-recent high-power solar laser.

Synthesis and growth of single crystals of PrCl3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pei, Jen Shieh.

1984-01-01

An efficient method for growth of high optical quality single crystals of PrCl 3 . The method consists in careful drying of the hydrated chloride, PrCl 3 . 7H 2 O, with a protective atmosphere of anhydrous HCl and Ar. A subsequent growth was done by the zone melting technique. The hydrated chloride had prepared from dissolution of the oxide Pr 6 O 11 in hydrochloric acid. The grown crystals had characterized fluorescence and x-ray diffraction measurements. (Author) [pt

Mechanism of the superior mechanical strength of nanometer-sized metal single crystals revealed

KAUST Repository

Afify, N. D.

2013-10-01

Clear understanding of the superior mechanical strength of nanometer-sized metal single crystals is required to derive advanced mechanical components retaining such superiority. Although high quality studies have been reported on nano-crystalline metals, the superiority of small single crystals has neither been fundamentally explained nor quantified to this date. Here we present a molecular dynamics study of aluminum single crystals in the size range from 4.1 nm to 40.5 nm. We show that the ultimate mechanical strength deteriorates exponentially as the single crystal size increases. The small crystals superiority is explained by their ability to continuously form vacancies and to recover them. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

A highly attenuating and frequency tailorable annular hole phononic crystal for surface acoustic waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Ash, B J; Worsfold, S R; Vukusic, P; Nash, G R

2017-08-02

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are widely used for signal processing, sensing and increasingly for lab-on-a-chip applications. Phononic crystals can control the propagation of SAW, analogous to photonic crystals, enabling components such as waveguides and cavities. Here we present an approach for the realisation of robust, tailorable SAW phononic crystals, based on annular holes patterned in a SAW substrate. Using simulations and experiments, we show that this geometry supports local resonances which create highly attenuating phononic bandgaps at frequencies with negligible coupling of SAWs into other modes, even for relatively shallow features. The enormous bandgap attenuation is up to an order-of-magnitude larger than that achieved with a pillar phononic crystal of the same size, enabling effective phononic crystals to be made up of smaller numbers of elements. This work transforms the ability to exploit phononic crystals for developing novel SAW device concepts, mirroring contemporary progress in photonic crystals.The control and manipulation of propagating sound waves on a surface has applications in on-chip signal processing and sensing. Here, Ash et al. deviate from standard designs and fabricate frequency tailorable phononic crystals with an order-of-magnitude increase in attenuation.

Nucleation and Crystal Growth of Organic-Inorganic Lead Halide Perovskites under Different Relative Humidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Hao; Bao, Chunxiong; Li, Faming; Yu, Tao; Yang, Jie; Zhu, Weidong; Zhou, Xiaoxin; Fu, Gao; Zou, Zhigang

2015-05-06

Organic-inorganic lead halide perovskite compounds are very promising materials for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells. But how to fabricate high-quality perovksite films under controlled humidity conditions is still an important issue due to their sensitivity to moisture. In this study, we investigated the influence of ambient humidity on crystallization and surface morphology of one-step spin-coated perovskite films, as well as the performance of solar cells based on these perovskite films. On the basis of experimental analyses and thin film growth theory, we conclude that the influence of ambient humidity on nucleation at spin-coating stage is quite different from that on crystal growth at annealing stage. At the spin-coating stage, high nucleation density induced by high supersaturation prefers to appear under anhydrous circumstances, resulting in layer growth and high coverage of perovskite films. But at the annealing stage, the modest supersaturation benefits formation of perovskite films with good crystallinity. The films spin-coated under low relative humidity (RH) followed by annealing under high RH show an increase of crystallinity and improved performance of devices. Therefore, a mechanism of fast nucleation followed by modest crystal growth (high supersaturation at spin-coating stage and modest supersaturation at annealing stage) is suggested in the formation of high-quality perovskite films.

Facile Formation of High-quality InGaN/GaN Quantum-disks-in-Nanowires on Bulk-Metal Substrates for High-power Light-emitters

KAUST Repository

Zhao, Chao; Ng, Tien Khee; Wei, Nini; Prabaswara, Aditya; Alias, Mohd Sharizal; Janjua, Bilal; Shen, Chao; Ooi, Boon S.

2016-01-01

High-quality nitride materials grown on scalable and low-cost metallic substrates are considerably attractive for high-power light emitters. We demonstrate here, for the first time, the high-power red (705 nm) InGaN/GaN quantum-disks (Qdisks)-in-nanowire light-emitting diodes (LEDs) self-assembled directly on metal-substrate. The LEDs exhibited a low turn-on voltage of ~2 V without efficiency droop up to injection current of 500 mA (1.6 kA/cm2) at ~5 V. This is achieved through the direct growth and optimization of high-quality nanowires on titanium (Ti) coated bulk polycrystalline-molybdenum (Mo) substrates. We performed extensive studies on the growth mechanisms, obtained high-crystal-quality nanowires, and confirmed the epitaxial relationship between the cubic titanium nitride (TiN) transition layer and the hexagonal nanowires. The growth of nanowires on all-metal stack of TiN/Ti/Mo enables simultaneous implementation of n-metal contact, reflector and heat-sink, which greatly simplifies the fabrication process of high-power light emitters. Our work ushers in a practical platform for high-power nanowires light emitters, providing versatile solutions for multiple cross-disciplinary applications that are greatly enhanced by leveraging on the chemical stability of nitride materials, large specific surface of nanowires, chemical lift-off ready layer structures, and reusable Mo substrates.

Facile Formation of High-quality InGaN/GaN Quantum-disks-in-Nanowires on Bulk-Metal Substrates for High-power Light-emitters

KAUST Repository

Zhao, Chao

2016-01-08

High-quality nitride materials grown on scalable and low-cost metallic substrates are considerably attractive for high-power light emitters. We demonstrate here, for the first time, the high-power red (705 nm) InGaN/GaN quantum-disks (Qdisks)-in-nanowire light-emitting diodes (LEDs) self-assembled directly on metal-substrate. The LEDs exhibited a low turn-on voltage of ~2 V without efficiency droop up to injection current of 500 mA (1.6 kA/cm2) at ~5 V. This is achieved through the direct growth and optimization of high-quality nanowires on titanium (Ti) coated bulk polycrystalline-molybdenum (Mo) substrates. We performed extensive studies on the growth mechanisms, obtained high-crystal-quality nanowires, and confirmed the epitaxial relationship between the cubic titanium nitride (TiN) transition layer and the hexagonal nanowires. The growth of nanowires on all-metal stack of TiN/Ti/Mo enables simultaneous implementation of n-metal contact, reflector and heat-sink, which greatly simplifies the fabrication process of high-power light emitters. Our work ushers in a practical platform for high-power nanowires light emitters, providing versatile solutions for multiple cross-disciplinary applications that are greatly enhanced by leveraging on the chemical stability of nitride materials, large specific surface of nanowires, chemical lift-off ready layer structures, and reusable Mo substrates.

Growth and characterization of unidirectional benzil single crystal for photonic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Saranraj, A.; Thirupathy, J.; Dhas, S. Sahaya Jude; Jose, M.; Vinitha, G.; Dhas, S. A. Martin Britto

2018-06-01

Organic nonlinear optical benzil single crystal of fine quality with the dimensions of 168 × 14 mm2 was successfully grown in (100) plane from saturated solution by unidirectional SR method. The structural identity of the grown crystal was confirmed by powder XRD. High-resolution X-ray diffraction analysis indicates the crystalline perfection of the grown benzil crystal. The optical analysis was carried out by UV-visible spectroscopy which shows that the benzil crystal's cut off wavelength is 437 nm. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of benzil crystal are found to be very much depending upon temperature and frequency. Ferroelectric nature of grown crystal was identified by P- E hysteresis analysis and to find the values of spontaneous polarization and coercive field. The laser damage threshold energy was studied with the help of Nd:YAG laser. The presence of third harmonic generation was identified by z-scan techniques.

Bremsstrahlung and pair production in crystals at very high energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikishov, A.I.

1981-01-01

The probabilities for bremsstrahlung and pair production in crystals are discussed under stringent condition when the trajectory of the high-energy electron crosses very many atoms of a crystal row (or plane). It is shown that for sufficiently long path in such conditions the probabilities are described by the formulas for these processes in a strong constant magnetic field exerting on electron the same deflection as the atom row. It turns out that for lead at energy approximately 10 12 eV the radiation length is shortened many hundred times. For greater energies the decrease of probabilities per unit length with increase of energy goes as W varies as Esup(-1/3)

van der Waals epitaxy of SnS film on single crystal graphene buffer layer on amorphous SiO2/Si

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Yu; Yang, Yunbo; Guo, Fawen; Sun, Xin; Lu, Zonghuan; Mohanty, Dibyajyoti; Bhat, Ishwara; Washington, Morris; Lu, Toh-Ming; Wang, Gwo-Ching

2018-03-01

Conventional hetero-epitaxial films are typically grown on lattice and symmetry matched single crystal substrates. We demonstrated the epitaxial growth of orthorhombic SnS film (∼500 nm thick) on single crystal, monolayer graphene that was transferred on the amorphous SiO2/Si substrate. Using X-ray pole figure analysis we examined the structure, quality and epitaxy relationship of the SnS film grown on the single crystal graphene and compared it with the SnS film grown on commercial polycrystalline graphene. We showed that the SnS films grown on both single crystal and polycrystalline graphene have two sets of orientation domains. However, the crystallinity and grain size of the SnS film improve when grown on the single crystal graphene. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction measurements show that the near surface texture has more phases as compared with that of the entire film. The surface texture of a film will influence the growth and quality of film grown on top of it as well as the interface formed. Our result offers an alternative approach to grow a hetero-epitaxial film on an amorphous substrate through a single crystal graphene buffer layer. This strategy of growing high quality epitaxial thin film has potential applications in optoelectronics.

Crystal growth, optical properties, and laser operation of Yb3+-doped NYW single crystal

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Y.; Xu, X. D.; Yang, X. B.; Xin, Z.; Cao, D. H.; Xu, J.

2009-11-01

Laser crystal Yb3+-doped NaY(WO4)2 (Yb:NYW) with excellent quality has been grown by Czochralski technique. The rocking curves from (400) plane of as-grown Yb:NYW crystal was measured and the full-width value at half-maximum was 19.92″. The effective segregation coefficients were measured by the X-ray fluorescence method. The polarized absorption spectra and the fluorescence spectra of Yb:NYW crystal were measured at room temperature. The fluorescence decay lifetime of Yb3+ ion in NYW crystal has been investigated. The spectroscopic parameters of Yb:NYW crystal are calculated and compared with those of Yb:YAG crystal. A continuous wave output power of 3.06 W at 1031 nm was obtained with a slope efficiency of 42% by use of diode pumping.

A decade of crystallization drops: crystallization of the cbb3 cytochrome c oxidase from Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Science.gov (United States)

Buschmann, Sabine; Richers, Sebastian; Ermler, Ulrich; Michel, Hartmut

2014-04-01

The cbb3 cytochrome c oxidases are distant members of the superfamily of heme copper oxidases. These terminal oxidases couple O2 reduction with proton transport across the plasma membrane and, as a part of the respiratory chain, contribute to the generation of an electrochemical proton gradient. Compared with other structurally characterized members of the heme copper oxidases, the recently determined cbb3 oxidase structure at 3.2 Å resolution revealed significant differences in the electron supply system, the proton conducting pathways and the coupling of O2 reduction to proton translocation. In this paper, we present a detailed report on the key steps for structure determination. Improvement of the protein quality was achieved by optimization of the number of lipids attached to the protein as well as the separation of two cbb3 oxidase isoenzymes. The exchange of n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside for a precisely defined mixture of two α-maltosides and decanoylsucrose as well as the choice of the crystallization method had a most profound impact on crystal quality. This report highlights problems frequently encountered in membrane protein crystallization and offers meaningful approaches to improve crystal quality. © 2014 The Protein Society.

Growth of optical-quality anthracene crystals doped with dibenzoterrylene for controlled single photon production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Major, Kyle D., E-mail: kyle.major11@imperial.ac.uk; Lien, Yu-Hung; Polisseni, Claudio; Grandi, Samuele; Kho, Kiang Wei; Clark, Alex S.; Hwang, J.; Hinds, E. A., E-mail: ed.hinds@imperial.ac.uk [Centre for Cold Matter, Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

2015-08-15

Dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules within a crystalline anthracene matrix show promise as quantum emitters for controlled, single photon production. We present the design and construction of a chamber in which we reproducibly grow doped anthracene crystals of optical quality that are several mm across and a few μm thick. We demonstrate control of the DBT concentration over the range 6–300 parts per trillion and show that these DBT molecules are stable single-photon emitters. We interpret our data with a simple model that provides some information on the vapour pressure of DBT.

Metal Halide Perovskite Single Crystals: From Growth Process to Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuigen Li

2018-05-01

Full Text Available As a strong competitor in the field of optoelectronic applications, organic-inorganic metal hybrid perovskites have been paid much attention because of their superior characteristics, which include broad absorption from visible to near-infrared region, tunable optical and electronic properties, high charge mobility, long exciton diffusion length and carrier recombination lifetime, etc. It is noted that perovskite single crystals show remarkably low trap-state densities and long carrier diffusion lengths, which are even comparable with the best photovoltaic-quality silicon, and thus are expected to provide better optoelectronic performance. This paper reviews the recent development of crystal growth in single-, mixed-organic-cation and fully inorganic halide perovskite single crystals, in particular the solution approach. Furthermore, the application of metal hybrid perovskite single crystals and future perspectives are also highlighted.

The construction of a high resolution crystal backscattering spectrometer HERMES I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larese, J.Z.

1998-11-01

There is a need in the United States for a state-of-the-art, cold-neutron, crystal backscattering spectrometer (CBS) designed to investigate the structure and dynamics of condensed matter systems by the simultaneous utilization of long wavelength elastic diffraction and high-energy-resolution inelastic scattering. Cold neutron spectroscopy with CBS-type instruments has already made many important contributions to the study of atomic and molecular diffusion in biomaterials, polymers, semiconductors, liquid crystals, superionic conductors and the like. Such instruments have also been invaluable for ultra high resolution investigations of the low-lying quantum tunneling processes that provide direct insight into the dynamical response of solids at the lowest energies. Until relatively recently, however, all such instruments were located at steady-state reactors. This proposal describes HERMES I (High Energy Resolution Machines I) a CBS intended for installation at the LANSCE pulsed neutron facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory. As explained in detail in the main text, the authors propose to construct an updated, high-performance CBS which incorporates neutron techniques developed during the decade since IRIS was built, i.e., improved supermirror technology, a larger area crystal analyzer and high efficiency wire gas detectors. The instrument is designed in such a way as to be readily adaptable to future upgrades. HERMES I, they believe, will substantially expand the range and flexibility of neutron investigations in the United States and open new and potentially fruitful directions for condensed matter exploration. This document describes a implementation plan with a direct cost range between $4.5 to 5.6 M and scheduled duration of 39--45 months for identified alternatives.

The construction of a high resolution crystal backscattering spectrometer HERMES I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larese, J.Z.

1998-01-01

There is a need in the United States for a state-of-the-art, cold-neutron, crystal backscattering spectrometer (CBS) designed to investigate the structure and dynamics of condensed matter systems by the simultaneous utilization of long wavelength elastic diffraction and high-energy-resolution inelastic scattering. Cold neutron spectroscopy with CBS-type instruments has already made many important contributions to the study of atomic and molecular diffusion in biomaterials, polymers, semiconductors, liquid crystals, superionic conductors and the like. Such instruments have also been invaluable for ultra high resolution investigations of the low-lying quantum tunneling processes that provide direct insight into the dynamical response of solids at the lowest energies. Until relatively recently, however, all such instruments were located at steady-state reactors. This proposal describes HERMES I (High Energy Resolution Machines I) a CBS intended for installation at the LANSCE pulsed neutron facility of Los Alamos National Laboratory. As explained in detail in the main text, the authors propose to construct an updated, high-performance CBS which incorporates neutron techniques developed during the decade since IRIS was built, i.e., improved supermirror technology, a larger area crystal analyzer and high efficiency wire gas detectors. The instrument is designed in such a way as to be readily adaptable to future upgrades. HERMES I, they believe, will substantially expand the range and flexibility of neutron investigations in the United States and open new and potentially fruitful directions for condensed matter exploration. This document describes a implementation plan with a direct cost range between $4.5 to 5.6 M and scheduled duration of 39--45 months for identified alternatives

High sensitivity and high Q-factor nanoslotted parallel quadrabeam photonic crystal cavity for real-time and label-free sensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Daquan [Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (United States); State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, School of Information and Communication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China); School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Kita, Shota; Wang, Cheng; Lončar, Marko [School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Liang, Feng; Quan, Qimin [Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (United States); Tian, Huiping; Ji, Yuefeng [State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, School of Information and Communication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China)

2014-08-11

We experimentally demonstrate a label-free sensor based on nanoslotted parallel quadrabeam photonic crystal cavity (NPQC). The NPQC possesses both high sensitivity and high Q-factor. We achieved sensitivity (S) of 451 nm/refractive index unit and Q-factor >7000 in water at telecom wavelength range, featuring a sensor figure of merit >2000, an order of magnitude improvement over the previous photonic crystal sensors. In addition, we measured the streptavidin-biotin binding affinity and detected 10 ag/mL concentrated streptavidin in the phosphate buffered saline solution.

Nanomechanical control of optical field and quality factor in photonic crystal structures

Science.gov (United States)

Cotrufo, Michele; Midolo, Leonardo; Zobenica, Žarko; Petruzzella, Maurangelo; van Otten, Frank W. M.; Fiore, Andrea

2018-03-01

Actively controlling the properties of localized optical modes is crucial for cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments. While several methods to tune the optical frequency have been demonstrated, the possibility of controlling the shape of the modes has scarcely been investigated. Yet an active manipulation of the mode pattern would allow direct control of the mode volume and the quality factor and therefore of the radiative processes. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a nano-optoelectromechanical device in which a mechanical displacement affects the spatial pattern of the electromagnetic field. The device is based on a double-membrane photonic crystal waveguide which, upon bending, creates a spatial modulation of the effective refractive index, resulting in an effective potential well or antiwell for the optical modes. The change in the field pattern drastically affects the optical losses: large modulations of the quality factors and dissipative coupling rates larger than 1 GHz/nm are predicted by calculations and confirmed by experiments. This concept opens new avenues in solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics in which the field, instead of the frequency, is coupled to the mechanical motion.

Influence of in-situ deposited SiNx interlayer on crystal quality of GaN epitaxial films

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Teng; Jia, Wei; Tong, Guangyun; Zhai, Guangmei; Li, Tianbao; Dong, Hailiang; Xu, Bingshe

2018-05-01

GaN epitaxial films with SiNx interlayers were prepared by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on c-plane sapphire substrates. The influences of deposition times and locations of SiNx interlayers on crystal quality of GaN epitaxial films were studied. Under the optimal growth time of 120 s for the SiNx interlayer, the dislocation density of GaN film is reduced to 4.05 × 108 cm-2 proved by high resolution X-ray diffraction results. It is found that when the SiNx interlayer deposits on the GaN nucleation islands, the subsequent GaN film has the lowest dislocation density of only 2.89 × 108 cm-2. Moreover, a model is proposed to illustrate the morphological evolution and associated propagation processes of TDs in GaN epi-layers with SiNx interlayers for different deposition times and locations.

High-quality LaVO3 films as solar energy conversion material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Hai-Tian; Brahlek, Matthew; Ji, Xiaoyu; Lei, Shiming; Lapano, Jason

2017-01-01

Mott insulating oxides and their heterostructures have recently been identified as potential photovoltaic materials with favorable absorption properties and an intrinsic built-in electric field that can efficiently separate excited electron hole pairs. At the same time, they are predicted to overcome the Shockley-Queisser limit due to strong electron electron interaction present. Despite these premises a high concentration of defects commonly observed in Mott insulating films acting as recombination centers can derogate the photovoltaic conversion efficiency. With use of the self-regulated growth kinetics in hybrid molecular beam epitaxy, this obstacle can be overcome. High-quality, stoichiometric LaVO 3 films were grown with defect densities of in-gap states up to 2 orders of magnitude lower compared to the films in the literature, and a factor of 3 lower than LaVO 3 bulk single crystals. Photoconductivity measurements revealed a significant photoresponsivity increase as high as tenfold of stoichiometric LaVO 3 films compared to their nonstoichiometric counterparts. Furthermore, this work marks a critical step toward the realization of high-performance Mott insulator solar cells beyond conventional semiconductors.

Crystal growth, spectroscopic characterization, and continuous wave laser operation of Nd3+-doped LiLuF4 crystal

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, C. C.; Hang, Y.; Zhang, L. H.; He, X. M.; Yin, J. G.; Li, R.; Yu, T.; Chen, W. B.

2011-04-01

Nd3+-doped LiLuF4 single crystal with high optical quality was grown by Czochralski technique. The segregation coefficient of Nd3+ in LiLuF4 crystal was determined by the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry method. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra were investigated. The peak absorption cross section at 792 nm and peak emission cross section at 1053 nm are 6.94×10-20 and 7.60×10-20 cm2, respectively. With a laser-diode as the pump source, a maximum 6.22 W continuous-wave laser output at 1053 nm has been obtained with a slope efficiency of 37.2% with respect to the pump power.

Effect of H+ implantation on the optical properties of semi-insulating GaAs crystals in the IR spectral region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klyui, N. I.; Lozinskii, V. B.; Liptuga, A. I.; Dikusha, V. N.; Oksanych, A. P.; Kogdas’, M. G.; Perekhrest, A. L.; Pritchin, S. E.

2017-01-01

The optical properties of semi-insulating GaAs crystals subjected to multienergy hydrogen-ion implantation and treatment in a high-frequency electromagnetic field are studied in the infrared spectral region. It is established that such combined treatment provides a means for substantially increasing the transmittance of GaAs crystals to values characteristic of crystals of high optical quality. On the basis of analysis of the infrared transmittance and reflectance data, Raman spectroscopy data, and atomic-force microscopy data on the surface morphology of the crystals, a physical model is proposed to interpret the effects experimentally observed in the crystals. The model takes into account the interaction of radiation defects with the initial structural defects in the crystals as well as the effect of compensation of defect centers by hydrogen during high-frequency treatment.

Simultaneous Synchrotron WAXD and Fast Scanning (Chip) Calorimetry: On the (Isothermal) Crystallization of HDPE and PA11 at High Supercoolings and Cooling Rates up to 200 °C s(-1).

Science.gov (United States)

Baeten, Dorien; Mathot, Vincent B F; Pijpers, Thijs F J; Verkinderen, Olivier; Portale, Giuseppe; Van Puyvelde, Peter; Goderis, Bart

2015-06-01

An experimental setup, making use of a Flash DSC 1 prototype, is presented in which materials can be studied simultaneously by fast scanning calorimetry (FSC) and synchrotron wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD). Accumulation of multiple, identical measurements results in high quality, millisecond WAXD patterns. Patterns at every degree during the crystallization and melting of high density polyethylene at FSC typical scanning rates from 20 up to 200 °C s(-1) are discussed in terms of the temperature and scanning rate dependent material crystallinities and crystal densities. Interestingly, the combined approach reveals FSC thermal lag issues, for which can be corrected. For polyamide 11, isothermal solidification at high supercooling yields a mesomorphic phase in less than a second, whereas at very low supercooling crystals are obtained. At intermediate supercooling, mixtures of mesomorphic and crystalline material are generated at a ratio proportional to the supercooling. This ratio is constant over the isothermal solidification time. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nano crystals-Related Synthesis, Assembly, and Energy Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai, Q.; Hu, M.Z.; Yu, B.Z.; William, W.; Seo, J.

2011-01-01

Fundamental material properties have been dramatically altered in the nano scale regime because of quantum confinement effect. The unique size-tunable functionalities of nano materials make them involved in an extensive variety of energy applications, such as light-emitting diodes and solar cells. These applications have been demonstrated to cut energy consumption. In response to the ever-growing energy demands as well as the concerns of global warming, researchers are actively placing their enormous emphasis on the exploration of energy savings. During this exploration, the primary stage requires the design of appropriate strategies for the synthesis of high-quality nano crystals in terms of size uniformity and superior optical/electronic properties. Especially, there is a need to seek green-chemistry approaches for the synthesis of environmentally benign and user-friendly nano crystals. Another recent area of focus is the use of individual nano crystals as building blocks for self-assembly, providing new opportunities to improve the nano crystal performance

Zerodur polishing process for high surface quality and high efficiency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tesar, A.; Fuchs, B.

1992-08-01

Zerodur is a glass-ceramic composite importance in applications where temperature instabilities influence optical and mechanical performance, such as in earthbound and spaceborne telescope mirror substrates. Polished Zerodur surfaces of high quality have been required for laser gyro mirrors. Polished surface quality of substrates affects performance of high reflection coatings. Thus, the interest in improving Zerodur polished surface quality has become more general. Beyond eliminating subsurface damage, high quality surfaces are produced by reducing the amount of hydrated material redeposited on the surface during polishing. With the proper control of polishing parameters, such surfaces exhibit roughnesses of < l Angstrom rms. Zerodur polishing was studied to recommend a high surface quality polishing process which could be easily adapted to standard planetary continuous polishing machines and spindles. This summary contains information on a polishing process developed at LLNL which reproducibly provides high quality polished Zerodur surfaces at very high polishing efficiencies

Adsorption Device Based on a Langatate Crystal Microbalance for High Temperature High Pressure Gas Adsorption in Zeolite H-ZSM-5.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Wenjin; Baracchini, Giulia; Klumpp, Michael; Schwieger, Wilhelm; Dittmeyer, Roland

2016-08-25

We present a high-temperature and high-pressure gas adsorption measurement device based on a high-frequency oscillating microbalance (5 MHz langatate crystal microbalance, LCM) and its use for gas adsorption measurements in zeolite H-ZSM-5. Prior to the adsorption measurements, zeolite H-ZSM-5 crystals were synthesized on the gold electrode in the center of the LCM, without covering the connection points of the gold electrodes to the oscillator, by the steam-assisted crystallization (SAC) method, so that the zeolite crystals remain attached to the oscillating microbalance while keeping good electroconductivity of the LCM during the adsorption measurements. Compared to a conventional quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) which is limited to temperatures below 80 °C, the LCM can realize the adsorption measurements in principle at temperatures as high as 200-300 °C (i.e., at or close to the reaction temperature of the target application of one-stage DME synthesis from the synthesis gas), owing to the absence of crystalline-phase transitions up to its melting point (1,470 °C). The system was applied to investigate the adsorption of CO2, H2O, methanol and dimethyl ether (DME), each in the gas phase, on zeolite H-ZSM-5 in the temperature and pressure range of 50-150 °C and 0-18 bar, respectively. The results showed that the adsorption isotherms of these gases in H-ZSM-5 can be well fitted by Langmuir-type adsorption isotherms. Furthermore, the determined adsorption parameters, i.e., adsorption capacities, adsorption enthalpies, and adsorption entropies, compare well to literature data. In this work, the results for CO2 are shown as an example.

Mechanism of the superior mechanical strength of nanometer-sized metal single crystals revealed

KAUST Repository

Afify, N. D.; Salem, H. G.; Yavari, A.; El Sayed, Tamer S.

2013-01-01

Clear understanding of the superior mechanical strength of nanometer-sized metal single crystals is required to derive advanced mechanical components retaining such superiority. Although high quality studies have been reported on nano

Controlling Vapor Pressure In Hanging-Drop Crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Daniel C.; Smith, Robbie

1988-01-01

Rate of evaporation adjusted to produce larger crystals. Device helps to control vapor pressure of water and other solvents in vicinity of hanging drop of solution containing dissolved enzyme protein. Well of porous frit (sintered glass) holds solution in proximity to drop of solution containing protein or enzyme. Vapor from solution in frit controls evaporation of solvent from drop to control precipitation of protein or enzyme. With device, rate of nucleation limited to decrease number and increase size (and perhaps quality) of crystals - large crystals of higher quality needed for x-ray diffraction studies of macromolecules.

[Quality management is associated with high quality services in health care].

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Tenna Hassert; Riis, Allan; Mainz, Jan; Jensen, Anne-Louise Degn

2013-12-09

In these years, quality management has been the focus in order to meet high quality services for the patients in Danish health care. This article provides information on quality management and quality improvement and it evaluates its effectiveness in achieving better organizational structures, processes and results in Danish health-care organizations. Our findings generally support that quality management is associated with high quality services in health care.

Proposal of highly sensitive optofluidic sensors based on dispersive photonic crystal waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xiao, Sanshui; Mortensen, Niels Asger

2007-01-01

Optofluidic sensors based on highly dispersive two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides are studied theoretically. Results show that these structures are strongly sensitive to the refractive index of the infiltrated liquid (nl), which is used to tune dispersion of the photonic crystal waveguide....... The waveguide mode-gap edge shifts about 1.2 nm for δnl = 0.002. The shifts can be explained well by band structure theory combined with first-order perturbation theory. These devices are potentially interesting for chemical sensing applications....

PS-HEMA latex fractionation by sedimentation and colloidal crystallization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cardoso André H.

1999-01-01

Full Text Available A poly(styrene-co-hydroxyethylmethacrylate latex underwent sedimentation under gravity followed by an spontaneous and extensive colloidal crystallization. It was then fractionated in three visually distinguishable layers. Latex aliquots layers were sampled at different heigths and the particles were characterized by PCS, microelectrophoresis, infrared spectra and analytical electron microscopy. The major fraction was opalescent and contained the colloidal crystals settled in the bottom of the liquid. Two other latex fractions were obtained, which differed in their chemical compositions, particle sizes and topochemical features from the self-arraying particles. Macrocrystallization of the fractionated latex yielded high quality crystals with a low frequency of defects, which confirms that particle chemical homogeneity is an important factor for particle self-arraying.

Entropy-driven crystal formation on highly strained substrates

KAUST Repository

Savage, John R.

2013-05-20

In heteroepitaxy, lattice mismatch between the deposited material and the underlying surface strongly affects nucleation and growth processes. The effect of mismatch is well studied in atoms with growth kinetics typically dominated by bond formation with interaction lengths on the order of one lattice spacing. In contrast, less is understood about how mismatch affects crystallization of larger particles, such as globular proteins and nanoparticles, where interparticle interaction energies are often comparable to thermal fluctuations and are short ranged, extending only a fraction of the particle size. Here, using colloidal experiments and simulations, we find particles with short-range attractive interactions form crystals on isotropically strained lattices with spacings significantly larger than the interaction length scale. By measuring the free-energy cost of dimer formation on monolayers of increasing uniaxial strain, we show the underlying mismatched substrate mediates an entropy-driven attractive interaction extending well beyond the interaction length scale. Remarkably, because this interaction arises from thermal fluctuations, lowering temperature causes such substrate-mediated attractive crystals to dissolve. Such counterintuitive results underscore the crucial role of entropy in heteroepitaxy in this technologically important regime. Ultimately, this entropic component of lattice mismatched crystal growth could be used to develop unique methods for heterogeneous nucleation and growth of single crystals for applications ranging from protein crystallization to controlling the assembly of nanoparticles into ordered, functional superstructures. In particular, the construction of substrates with spatially modulated strain profiles would exploit this effect to direct self-assembly, whereby nucleation sites and resulting crystal morphology can be controlled directly through modifications of the substrate.

Synthesis and characterization of p-type boron-doped IIb diamond large single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Shang-Sheng; Li Xiao-Lei; Su Tai-Chao; Jia Xiao-Peng; Ma Hong-An; Huang Guo-Feng; Li Yong

2011-01-01

High-quality p-type boron-doped IIb diamond large single crystals are successfully synthesized by the temperature gradient method in a china-type cubic anvil high-pressure apparatus at about 5.5 GPa and 1600 K. The morphologies and surface textures of the synthetic diamond crystals with different boron additive quantities are characterized by using an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope respectively. The impurities of nitrogen and boron in diamonds are detected by micro Fourier transform infrared technique. The electrical properties including resistivities, Hall coefficients, Hall mobilities and carrier densities of the synthesized samples are measured by a four-point probe and the Hall effect method. The results show that large p-type boron-doped diamond single crystals with few nitrogen impurities have been synthesized. With the increase of quantity of additive boron, some high-index crystal faces such as {113} gradually disappear, and some stripes and triangle pits occur on the crystal surface. This work is helpful for the further research and application of boron-doped semiconductor diamond. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

High-field Transport in Low Symmetry β-Ga2O3 Crystal

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Krishnendu; Singisetti, Uttam

High-field carrier transport plays an important role in many disciplines of electronics. Conventional transport theories work well on high-symmetry materials but lacks insight as the crystal symmetry goes down. Newly emerging materials, many of which possess low symmetry, demand more rigorous treatment of charge transport. We will present a comprehensive study of high-field transport using ab initio electron-phonon interaction (EPI) elements in a full-band Monte Carlo (FBMC) algorithm. We use monoclinic β-Ga2O3 as a benchmark low-symmetry material which is also an emerging wide-bandgap semiconductor. β-Ga2O3 has a C2m space group and a 10 atom primitive cell. In this work the EPIs are calculated under density-functional perturbation theory framework. We will focus on the computational challenges arising from many phonon modes and low crystal symmetry. Significant insights will be presented on the details of energy relaxation by the hot electrons mediated by different phonon modes. We will also show the velocity-field curves of electrons in different crystal directions. The authors acknowledge the support from the National Science Foundation Grant (ECCS 1607833). The authors also acknowledge the computing support provided by the Center for Computational Research at the University at Buffalo.

Investigation of melt structure and crystallization processes by high-temperature Raman spectroscopy method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voron'ko, Yu.K.; Kudryavtsev, A.B.; Osiko, V.V.; Sobol', A.A.

1988-01-01

A review of studies dealing with the melts of alkali, rare earth and other element phosphates, gallates, germanates, niobates and tungstates, which are carried out by the method of high-temperature Raman spectroscopy, is given. The effect of the melt structure on the mechanism of the substance cystallization is considered. It is shown that vitrification and supercooling of the melt, as well as its crystallization in the from of metastable structures, are related to the effect of nonconformity between the melt and crystal strucure. The effect of nonconformity between anion motives in the melt and crystal creates obstacles for equilibrium structure nucleation, which results in the formation mainly of metastable forms with lattice structure for from the structure of the melt, though cases of equilibrium phase crystallization are also possible. 37 refs.; 13 figs.; 2 tabs

Vapor Phase Growth of High-Quality Bi-Te Compounds Using Elemental Bi and Te Sources: A Comparison Between High Vacuum and Atmospheric Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Concepción, O.; Escobosa, A.; de Melo, O.

2018-03-01

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3), traditionally used in the industry as thermoelectric material, has deserved much attention recently due to its properties as a topological insulator, a kind of material that might have relevant applications in spintronics or quantum computing, among other innovative uses. The preparation of high-quality material has become a very important technological task. Here, we compare the preparation of Bi2Te3 by physical vapor transport from the evaporation of elemental Bi and Te sources, under either low pressure or atmospheric pressure. The layers were characterized by different techniques to evaluate its structural properties. As a result, it is concluded that, as a consequence of the different transport regimes, films grown at atmospheric pressure present better crystal quality.

Preventing Crystal Agglomeration of Pharmaceutical Crystals Using Temperature Cycling and a Novel Membrane Crystallization Procedure for Seed Crystal Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Simone

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, a novel membrane crystallization system was used to crystallize micro-sized seeds of piroxicam monohydrate by reverse antisolvent addition. Membrane crystallization seeds were compared with seeds produced by conventional antisolvent addition and polymorphic transformation of a fine powdered sample of piroxicam form I in water. The membrane crystallization process allowed for a consistent production of pure monohydrate crystals with narrow size distribution and without significant agglomeration. The seeds were grown in 350 g of 20:80 w/w acetone-water mixture. Different seeding loads were tested and temperature cycling was applied in order to avoid agglomeration of the growing crystals during the process. Focused beam reflectance measurement (FBRM; and particle vision and measurement (PVM were used to monitor crystal growth; nucleation and agglomeration during the seeded experiments. Furthermore; Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor solute concentration and estimate the overall yield of the process. Membrane crystallization was proved to be the most convenient and consistent method to produce seeds of highly agglomerating compounds; which can be grown via cooling crystallization and temperature cycling.

Surface structure modification of single crystal graphite after slow, highly charged ion irradiation

Science.gov (United States)

Alzaher, I.; Akcöltekin, S.; Ban-d'Etat, B.; Manil, B.; Dey, K. R.; Been, T.; Boduch, P.; Rothard, H.; Schleberger, M.; Lebius, H.

2018-04-01

Single crystal graphite was irradiated by slow, highly charged ions. The modification of the surface structure was studied by means of Low-Energy Electron Diffraction. The observed damage cross section increases with the potential energy, i.e. the charge state of the incident ion, at a constant kinetic energy. The potential energy is more efficient for the damage production than the kinetic energy by more than a factor of twenty. Comparison with earlier results hints to a strong link between early electron creation and later target atom rearrangement. With increasing ion fluence, the initially large-scale single crystal is first transformed into μ m-sized crystals, before complete amorphisation takes place.

High-pressure crystal growth and electromagnetic properties of 5d double-perovskite Ca3OsO6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Hai Luke; Shi, Youguo; Guo, Yanfeng; Li, Jun; Sato, Akira; Sun, Ying; Wang, Xia; Yu, Shan; Sathish, Clastin I.; Yamaura, Kazunari

2013-01-01

Single crystals of the osmium-containing compound Ca 3 OsO 6 have been successfully grown under high-pressure conditions, for the first time. The crystal structure of Ca 3 OsO 6 were characterized as an ordered double-perovskite structure of space group P2 1 /n with the Ca and Os atoms being fully ordered at the perovskite B-site. The electromagnetic analysis shows that the crystal exhibits a semiconductor-like behavior below 300 K and undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at 50 K. - Graphical Abstract: Schematic image of crystal structure of Ca 3 OsO 6 as determined by X-ray diffraction, where the gray and black octahedrons are occupied by Ca and Os, respectively. Top inset reveals an optic image of a typical Ca 3 OsO 6 single crystal. Highlights: ► Single crystals of Ca 3 OsO 6 have been successfully grown under high-pressure. ► Ca 3 OsO 6 crystalizes into an ordered double-perovskite structure. ► The Ca 3 OsO 6 undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at 50 K

Single-crystal silicon trench etching for fabrication of highly integrated circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Engelhardt, Manfred

1991-03-01

The development of single crystal silicon trench etching for fabrication of memory cells in 4 16 and 64Mbit DRAMs is reviewed in this paper. A variety of both etch tools and process gases used for the process development is discussed since both equipment and etch chemistry had to be improved and changed respectively to meet the increasing requirements for high fidelity pattern transfer with increasing degree of integration. In additon to DRAM cell structures etch results for deep trench isolation in advanced bipolar ICs and ASICs are presented for these applications grooves were etched into silicon through a highly doped buried layer and at the borderline of adjacent p- and n-well areas respectively. Shallow trench etching of large and small exposed areas with identical etch rates is presented as an approach to replace standard LOCOS isolation by an advanced isolation technique. The etch profiles were investigated with SEM TEM and AES to get information on contathination and damage levels and on the mechanism leading to anisotropy in the dry etch process. Thermal wave measurements were performed on processed single crystal silicon substrates for a fast evaluation of the process with respect to plasma-induced substrate degradation. This useful technique allows an optimization ofthe etch process regarding high electrical performance of the fully processed memory chip. The benefits of the use of magnetic fields for the development of innovative single crystal silicon dry

Dynamical theoretical model of the high-resolution double-crystal x-ray diffractometry of imperfect single crystals with microdefects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Molodkin, V. B.; Olikhovskii, S. I.; Kislovskii, E. N.; Vladimirova, T. P.; Skakunova, E. S.; Seredenko, R. F.; Sheludchenko, B. V.

2008-01-01

The dynamical diffraction model has been developed for the quantitative description of rocking curves (RCs) measured in the Bragg diffraction geometry from single crystals containing homogeneously distributed microdefects of several types and with arbitrary sizes. The analytical expressions for coherent and diffuse RC components, which take self-consistently multiple-scattering effects into account and depend explicitly on microdefect characteristics (radius, concentration, strength, etc.), have been derived with taking into account the instrumental factors. The developed model has been applied to determine the characteristics of oxygen precipitates and dislocation loops in silicon crystals grown by Czochralsky and float-zone methods using RCs measured by the high-resolution double-crystal x-ray diffractometer. It has been shown, particularly, that completely dynamical consideration of Huang as well as Stockes-Wilson diffuse scattering (DS) in both diffuse RC component and coefficient of extinction of coherent RC component due to DS, together with taking asymmetry and thermal DS effects into account, provides the possibility to distinguish contributions into RC from defects of different types, which have equal or commensurable effective radii

A potentiometric titration method for the crystallization of drug-like organic molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Du-Cuny, Lei; Huwyler, Jörg; Fischer, Holger; Kansy, Manfred

2007-09-05

It is generally accepted, that crystalline solids representing a low energy polymorph should be selected for development of oral dosage forms. As a consequence, efficient and robust procedures are needed at an early stage during drug discovery to prepare crystals from drug-like organic molecules. In contrast to the use of supersaturated solutions, we present a potentiometric crystallization procedure where saturated solutions are prepared in a controlled manner by pH-titration. Crystallization is carried out under defined conditions using the sample concentration and experimental pK(a) values as input parameters. Crystals of high quality were obtained for 11 drugs selected to demonstrate the efficiency and applicability of the new method. Technical improvements are suggested to overcome practical limitations and to enhance the possibility of obtaining crystals from molecules in their uncharged form.

Nonlinear phonons in high-Tc superconductors mixed crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadzhiev, B.R.; Dzhavadov, N.A.

1998-01-01

The integrodifferential kinetic equation which is a generalization of the Landau-Ginzburg formalism is introduced. The peculiarities of nonlinear kinetics are investigated by entering the nonlocal function, which is a quantitative measure of time dispersion. The classification nonlocal function is made by its Hausdorff dimensionality d c . It is shown that in the case d c c =1, the relaxation equation is the equation of damping harmonic oscillator. In the case d c >1, the relaxation equation contains the time derivation arbitrary high order. After linearization of the corresponding dynamic equations near the corresponding nonlinear static equations the dispersion and then after spatial averaging, temperature and frequency dependency of corresponding dynamic susceptibility have been determined. It is shown that in the cases d c c >1 the temperature evolution system alongside with the soft mode is accompanied by the modes which depend nonlinearly on the temperature. The physical nature of quasiscattering in the incommensurate phases of layered crystals is studied. The obtained theoretical results are applied to the layered HTSC crystals. (author)

Hierarchical self-assembly of hexagonal single-crystal nanosheets into 3D layered superlattices with high conductivity

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Yulun; Shen, Yuhua; Yang, Liangbao; Han, Bin; Huang, Fangzhi; Li, Shikuo; Chu, Zhuwang; Xie, Anjian

2012-05-01

While the number of man-made nano superstructures realized by self-assembly is growing in recent years, assemblies of conductive polymer nanocrystals, especially for superlattices, are still a significant challenge, not only because of the simplicity of the shape of the nanocrystal building blocks and their interactions, but also because of the poor control over these parameters in the fabrication of more elaborate nanocrystals. Here, we firstly report a facile and general route to a new generation of 3D layered superlattices of polyaniline doped with CSA (PANI-CSA) and show how PANI crystallize and self-assemble, in a suitable single solution environment. In cyclohexane, 1D amorphous nanofibers transformed to 1D nanorods as building blocks, and then to 2D single-crystal nanosheets with a hexagonal phase, and lastly to 3D ordered layered superlattices with the narrowest polydispersity value (Mw/Mn = 1.47). Remarkably, all the instructions for the hierarchical self-assembly are encoded in the layered shape in other non-polar solvents (hexane, octane) and their conductivity in the π-π stacking direction is improved to about 50 S cm-1, which is even higher than that of the highest previously reported value (16 S cm-1). The method used in this study is greatly expected to be readily scalable to produce superlattices of conductive polymers with high quality and low cost.While the number of man-made nano superstructures realized by self-assembly is growing in recent years, assemblies of conductive polymer nanocrystals, especially for superlattices, are still a significant challenge, not only because of the simplicity of the shape of the nanocrystal building blocks and their interactions, but also because of the poor control over these parameters in the fabrication of more elaborate nanocrystals. Here, we firstly report a facile and general route to a new generation of 3D layered superlattices of polyaniline doped with CSA (PANI-CSA) and show how PANI crystallize and

Efficient continuous-wave nonlinear frequency conversion in high-Q gallium nitride photonic crystal cavities on silicon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed Sabry Mohamed

2017-03-01

Full Text Available We report on nonlinear frequency conversion from the telecom range via second harmonic generation (SHG and third harmonic generation (THG in suspended gallium nitride slab photonic crystal (PhC cavities on silicon, under continuous-wave resonant excitation. Optimized two-dimensional PhC cavities with augmented far-field coupling have been characterized with quality factors as high as 4.4 × 104, approaching the computed theoretical values. The strong enhancement in light confinement has enabled efficient SHG, achieving a normalized conversion efficiency of 2.4 × 10−3 W−1, as well as simultaneous THG. SHG emission power of up to 0.74 nW has been detected without saturation. The results herein validate the suitability of gallium nitride for integrated nonlinear optical processing.

Bubble formation upon crystallization of high nitrogen iron base alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svyazhin, A.G.; Sivka, E.; Skuza, Z.

2000-01-01

A study is made into the conditions of nitrogen bubble formation during crystallization of unalloyed iron, alloys of Fe-O, Fe-O-S systems, steels 1Kh13, 0Kh18N9 and a two-phase Fe-11%Cr-1%Mo-0.2%V steel. It is revealed that the amount of bubbles in a high nitrogen steel casting increases with a degree of nitrogen supersaturation and decreases with a cooling rate growth and with a rise of surfactant concentration in the metal. In sound castings a nitrogen content can be increased due to a cooling rate growth, nitrogen dilution with inert gas, an increase of nitrogen pressure during crystallization as well as due to the introduction of such surfactants as sulphur, selenium, tellurium, tin [ru

Reciprocal-Space Engineering of Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum in Photonic Crystal Slabs for High-Q Microcavities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chung, Il-Sug; Taghizadeh, Alireza

2017-01-01

The bound states in the continuum (BICs) in photonic crystal (PhC) slabs presume infinite periodicity in the inplane direction. Thus, a large number of unit cells are typically required to implement the BICs with a high quality (Q) factor. Here, we report on a method to engineer the reciprocal......-space properties of BICs, which enables to keep the effect of the BIC phenomenon strong even for a microcavity of a few unit cells. For example, based on this method, a 3D microcavity of 4 unit cells can attain a Q factor of 18k. This allows for various BIC studies in a very compact platform, as well as novel...

High spatial resolution measurement of depth-of-interaction of a PET LSO crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, A.; Kalinka, G.; Novak, D.; Sipos, A.; Vegh, J.; Molnar, J.

2004-01-01

Complete text of publication follows. A new type of experimental technique to investigate the depth-of-interaction (DOI) dependence in small scintillator elements designed for high-resolution animal PET [1] has been introduced at our institute, recently. A lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystal (2x2x10 mm 3 ) was irradiated with a highly focused 2 MeV He + beam at the ATOMKI nuclear microprobe laboratory. Pulse height spectra from a photomultiplier (PMT) attached to one end of the LSO crystal were collected in list mode. Sequential scans of 1000x1000 μm 2 areas along the 10 mm long crystal were made to get high lateral resolution images of pulse height spectra at different distances from the window of the PMT. A mean pulse height algorithm was applied to each pixel to generate two dimensional intensity images and the corresponding spectra of 100 μmx1 mm areas. Representative pulse height spectra are shown in Fig. 1 for different distances between the position of irradiation and the PMT. The mean value of the pulse height spectrum describing the position of the full energy peak is a way to measure DOI effects. It is seen that the closer the DOI to the PMT-end of the crystal the higher the energy of the peak. The centre of the detected peak varies about 30 % along the lateral side of the crystal. This effect is due to the increasing number of reflections with associated loss of light when the distance between the DOI position and the light collecting PMT grows. Further these results, no difference in the light intensity was found depending on which position across (perpendicular to the length of) the crystal was irradiated with the microbeam. The obtained results of the overall DOI dependence confirm previous measurements on LSO crystals with similar geometry and wrapping but based on collimated gamma-ray irradiation. Since the present experimental setup allows obtaining data with several orders of magnitude better spatial resolution (from μm up to mm) than with

Vapor-transport growth of high optical quality WSe2 monolayers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genevieve Clark

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides are atomically thin direct-gap semiconductors that show a variety of novel electronic and optical properties with an optically accessible valley degree of freedom. While they are ideal materials for developing optical-driven valleytronics, the restrictions of exfoliated samples have limited exploration of their potential. Here, we present a physical vapor transport growth method for triangular WSe2 sheets of up to 30 μm in edge length on insulating SiO2 substrates. Characterization using atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy reveals that they are uniform, monolayer crystals. Low temperature photoluminescence shows well resolved and electrically tunable excitonic features similar to those in exfoliated samples, with substantial valley polarization and valley coherence. The monolayers grown using this method are therefore of high enough optical quality for routine use in the investigation of optoelectronics and valleytronics.

Patterning of Perovskite Single Crystals

KAUST Repository

Corzo, Daniel

2017-06-12

As the internet-of-things hardware integration continues to develop and the requirements for electronics keep diversifying and expanding, the necessity for specialized properties other than the classical semiconductor performance becomes apparent. The success of emerging semiconductor materials depends on the manufacturability and cost as much as on the properties and performance they offer. Solution-based semiconductors are an emerging concept that offers the advantage of being compatible with large-scale manufacturing techniques and have the potential to yield high-quality electronic devices at a lower cost than currently available solutions. In this work, patterns of high-quality MAPbBr3 perovskite single crystals in specific locations are achieved through the modification of the substrate properties and solvent engineering. The fabrication of the substrates involved modifying the surface adhesion forces through functionalization with self-assembled monolayers and patterning them by photolithography processes. Spin coating and blade coating were used to deposit the perovskite solution on the modified silicon substrates. While single crystal perovskites were obtained with the modification of substrates alone, solvent engineering helped with improving the Marangoni flows in the deposited droplets by increasing the contact angle and lowering the evaporation rate, therefore controlling and improving the shape of the grown perovskite crystals. The methodology is extended to other types of perovskites such as the transparent MAPbCl3 and the lead-free MABi2I9, demonstrating the adaptability of the process. Adapting the process to electrode arrays opened up the path towards the fabrication of optoelectronic devices including photodetectors and field-effect transistors, for which the first iterations are demonstrated. Overall, manufacturing and integration techniques permitting the fabrication of single crystalline devices, such as the method in this thesis work, are

Polarized spectroscopic properties of Er3+:Gd2SiO5 crystal and evaluation of Er3+:Yb3+:Gd2SiO5 crystal as a 1.55 μm laser medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, H.; Huang, J.H.; Gong, X.H.; Chen, Y.J.; Lin, Y.F.; Luo, Z.D.; Huang, Y.D.

2016-01-01

An Er 3+ -doped Gd 2 SiO 5 single crystal with high optical quality has been grown by the Czochralski method. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra and fluorescence lifetime of the crystal were measured at room temperature. Intensity parameters, spontaneous emission probabilities, fluorescence branching ratios, and radiative lifetimes were estimated on the basis of the Judd–Ofelt theory. Besides, potentiality of 1.55 μm laser emission in an Er 3+ –Yb 3+ co-doped Gd 2 SiO 5 crystal was evaluated.

Extremely High-Birefringent Asymmetric Slotted-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber in THz Regime

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Islam, Raonaqul; Habib, Selim; Hasanuzzaman, G.K.M.

2015-01-01

We present a thorough numerical analysis of a highly birefringent slotted porous-core circular photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for terahertz (THz) wave guidance. The slot shaped air-holes break the symmetry of the porous-core which offers a very high birefringence whereas the compact geometry of the...

Crystallization of P-type ATPases by the High Lipid-Detergent (HiLiDe) Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sitsel, Oleg; Wang, Kaituo; Liu, Xiangyu

2016-01-01

Determining structures of membrane proteins remains a significant challenge. A technique utilizing high lipid-detergent concentrations ("HiLiDe") circumvents the major bottlenecks of current membrane protein crystallization methods. During HiLiDe, the protein-lipid-detergent ratio is varied in a ...... crystallization techniques. The method has been applied with particular success to P-type ATPases....

Spectrum of a one-atom laser in photonic crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florescu, Lucia

2006-01-01

The emission spectrum of a single-emitter laser in a photonic crystal is presented. We consider a coherently pumped two-level emitter strongly coupled to a high-quality microcavity engineered within a photonic crystal. We show that the cavity spectrum consists of both elastic and inelastic components, for which we derive analytical expressions. Our study reveals enhanced, spectrally narrower emission resulting from the radiation reservoir of the photonic crystal. The cavity field spectral characteristics are fundamentally distinct from those of a corresponding microcavity in ordinary vacuum. At high pump intensities and for large discontinuities in the photon density of states between Mollow spectral components of atomic resonance fluorescence, the emitted intensity originating from the elastic spectral component increases with the intensity of the pump and the elastic component dominates the spectrum. In the case of a vanishing photon density of states in the spectral range surrounding the lower Mollow sideband and no dipolar dephasing, the cavity spectrum is elastic

Pressure cryocooling protein crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Chae Un [Ithaca, NY; Gruner, Sol M [Ithaca, NY

2011-10-04

Preparation of cryocooled protein crystal is provided by use of helium pressurizing and cryocooling to obtain cryocooled protein crystal allowing collection of high resolution data and by heavier noble gas (krypton or xenon) binding followed by helium pressurizing and cryocooling to obtain cryocooled protein crystal for collection of high resolution data and SAD phasing simultaneously. The helium pressurizing is carried out on crystal coated to prevent dehydration or on crystal grown in aqueous solution in a capillary.

Crystallization of uridine phosphorylase from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in the laboratory and under microgravity and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Safonova, Tatyana N.; Mordkovich, Nadezhda N.; Polyakov, Konstantin M.; Manuvera, Valentin A.; Veiko, Vladimir P.; Popov, Vladimir O.

2012-01-01

High-quality crystals of uridine phosphorylase from Shewanella oneidensis were grown under microgravity conditions. X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 0.95 Å. Uridine phosphorylase (UDP, EC 2.4.2.3), a key enzyme in the pyrimidine salvage pathway, catalyses the reversible phosphorolysis of uridine to uracil and ribose 1-phosphate. The gene expression of UDP from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was performed in the recipient strain Escherichia coli. The UDP protein was crystallized on earth (in the free form and in complex with uridine as the substrate) by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 296 K and under microgravity conditions (in the free form) aboard the Russian Segment of the International Space Station by the capillary counter-diffusion method. The data sets were collected to a resolution of 1.9 Å from crystals of the free form grown on earth, 1.6 Å from crystals of the complex with uridine and 0.95 Å from crystals of the free form grown under microgravity. All crystals belong to the space group P2 1 and have similar unit-cell parameters. The crystal of uridine phosphorylase grown under microgravity diffracted to ultra-high resolution and gave high-quality X-ray diffraction data

On dewetting of thin films due to crystallization (crystallization dewetting).

Science.gov (United States)

Habibi, Mehran; Rahimzadeh, Amin; Eslamian, Morteza

2016-03-01

Drying and crystallization of a thin liquid film of an ionic or a similar solution can cause dewetting in the resulting thin solid film. This paper aims at investigating this type of dewetting, herein termed "crystallization dewetting", using PbI2 dissolved in organic solvents as the model solution. PbI2 solid films are usually used in X-ray detection and lead halide perovskite solar cells. In this work, PbI2 films are fabricated using spin coating and the effect of major parameters influencing the crystallization dewetting, including the type of the solvent, solution concentration, drying temperature, spin speed, as well as imposed vibration on the substrate are studied on dewetting, surface profile and coverage, using confocal scanning laser microscopy. Simplified hydrodynamic governing equations of crystallization in thin films are presented and using a mathematical representation of the process, it is phenomenologically demonstrated that crystallization dewetting occurs due to the absorption and consumption of the solution surrounding a growing crystal. Among the results, it is found that a low spin speed (high thickness), a high solution concentration and a low drying temperature promote crystal growth, and therefore crystallization dewetting. It is also shown that imposed vibration on the substrate can affect the crystal size and crystallization dewetting.

Effect of H{sup +} implantation on the optical properties of semi-insulating GaAs crystals in the IR spectral region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klyui, N. I.; Lozinskii, V. B., E-mail: lvb@isp.kiev.ua [Jilin University, College of Physics (China); Liptuga, A. I.; Dikusha, V. N. [National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lashkaryov Institute of Semiconductor Physics (Ukraine); Oksanych, A. P.; Kogdas’, M. G.; Perekhrest, A. L.; Pritchin, S. E. [Kremenchug National University (Ukraine)

2017-03-15

The optical properties of semi-insulating GaAs crystals subjected to multienergy hydrogen-ion implantation and treatment in a high-frequency electromagnetic field are studied in the infrared spectral region. It is established that such combined treatment provides a means for substantially increasing the transmittance of GaAs crystals to values characteristic of crystals of high optical quality. On the basis of analysis of the infrared transmittance and reflectance data, Raman spectroscopy data, and atomic-force microscopy data on the surface morphology of the crystals, a physical model is proposed to interpret the effects experimentally observed in the crystals. The model takes into account the interaction of radiation defects with the initial structural defects in the crystals as well as the effect of compensation of defect centers by hydrogen during high-frequency treatment.

Growth and characterisation of lead iodide single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tonn, Justus

2012-01-01

The work in hand deals with the growth and characterisation of lead iodide (PbI 2 ) single crystals. PbI 2 is regarded as a promising candidate for low-noise X- and gamma ray detection at room temperature. Its benefits if compared to conventional materials like HgI 2 , CdTe, Si, or GaAs lie in a band gap energy of 2.32 eV, an excellent ability to absorb radiation, and a high electrical resistivity. For an application of PbI 2 as detector material the growth and characterisation of crystals with high chemical and structural quality is extremely challenging. In light of this, the effectiveness of zone purification of the PbI 2 used for crystal growth was confirmed by spectroscopic analysis. Furthermore, technological aspects during processing of purified PbI 2 were investigated. With the help of thermal analysis, a correlation was found between the degree of exposing the source material to oxygen from the air and the structural quality of the resulting crystals. A hydrogen treatment was applied to PbI 2 as an effective method for the removal of oxidic pollutions, which resulted in a significant reduction of structural defects like polytypic growth and stress-induced cracking. The growth of PbI 2 single crystals was, among others, carried out by the Bridgman-Stockbarger method. In this context, much effort was put on the investigation of influences resulting from the design and preparation of ampoules. For the first time, crystal growth of PbI 2 was also carried out by the Czochralski method. If compared to the Bridgman-Stockbarger method, the Czochralski technique allowed a significantly faster growth of nearly crack-free crystals with a reproducible predetermination of crystallographic orientation. By an optimised sample preparation of PbI 2 , surface orientations perpendicular to the usually cleaved (0001) plane were realised. It is now possible to determine the material properties along directions which were so far not accessible. Thus, for example, the ratio of

Technological development for super-high efficiency solar cells. Technological development of solar-high efficiency singlecrystalline silicon solar cells (high quality singlecrystalline silicon substrates); Chokokoritsu taiyo denchi no gijutsu kaihatsu. Chokokoritsu tankessho silicon taiyo denchi no gijutsu kaihatsu (kohinshitsu tankessho silicon kiban no gijutsu kaihatsu)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tatsuta, M [New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Tokyo (Japan)

1994-12-01

This paper reports the study results on technological development for high quality efficiency singlecrystalline silicon substrates in fiscal 1994. (1) On electromagnetic casting/once FZ bath method, a Si single crystal of 600mm long was successfully obtained by improvement of power source frequency and furnace parts. High carbon content resulted in no single crystal including solids. In undoped electromagnetic casting ingots, resistivities over 1500ohm-cm were obtained because of effective preventive measures from contaminants. (2) On electromagnetic melting CZ method, since vibration and temperature control of melt surface by magnetic shield was insufficient for stable pulling of single crystals, its practical use was hopeless. (3) On electron beam melting CZ method, a Si single crystal of 25mm in diameter was obtained by preventive measures from evaporation of Si and influence of deposits, and improved uniform deposition distribution in a furnace. The oscillation circuit constant of power source, and water-cooling copper crucible structure were also analyzed for the optimum design of electromagnetic melting furnaces. 3 figs., 1 tab.

Growth and characterization of Bi2Se3 crystals by chemical vapor transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. H. Jiao

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Regularly-shaped high-quality Bi2Se3 crystals were grown by a chemical vapor transport using iodine as the transport agent. In addition to exhibiting a characteristic Dirac cone for a topological insulator, the Bi2Se3 crystals show some outstanding properties including additional crystallographic surfaces, large residual resistance ratio (∼10, and high mobility (∼8000 cm2·V−1·s−1. The low-temperature resistivity abnormally increases with applying pressures up to 1.7 GPa, and no superconductivity was observed down to 0.4 K.

Crystal growth and characterization of CeFe{sub 1-x}Ru{sub x} PO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balle, Tanita; Kliemt, Kristin; Krellner, Cornelius [Goethe Universitaet Frankfurt, Kristall- und Materiallabor (Germany)

2016-07-01

CeRuPO is a one of the few heavy fermion systems, which order ferromagnetically at low temperatures (T{sub C} = 15 K), because of dominant RKKY-interaction. CeFePO on the other hand shows no long-range magnetic order even at low temperatures because of dominant Kondo effect (T{sub K} = 10 K). By substituting CeFePO with ruthenium we can reach a quantum critical point, at which the RKKY-interaction and the Kondo effect are equally strong. To study the quantum critical point, and to enlighten the question if the order stays ferromagnetically down to lowest temperatures, high quality crystals are needed. Here, the growth and characterization of the single crystals will be discussed. We obtained mm-sized single crystals of the unsubstituted CeRuPO and CeFePO by a modified Bridgeman method using tin as a flux. The quality of the crystals was verified by Powder-X-Ray-Diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Laue backscattering.

Monolayer atomic crystal molecular superlattices

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chen; He, Qiyuan; Halim, Udayabagya; Liu, Yuanyue; Zhu, Enbo; Lin, Zhaoyang; Xiao, Hai; Duan, Xidong; Feng, Ziying; Cheng, Rui; Weiss, Nathan O.; Ye, Guojun; Huang, Yun-Chiao; Wu, Hao; Cheng, Hung-Chieh; Shakir, Imran; Liao, Lei; Chen, Xianhui; Goddard, William A., III; Huang, Yu; Duan, Xiangfeng

2018-03-01

Artificial superlattices, based on van der Waals heterostructures of two-dimensional atomic crystals such as graphene or molybdenum disulfide, offer technological opportunities beyond the reach of existing materials. Typical strategies for creating such artificial superlattices rely on arduous layer-by-layer exfoliation and restacking, with limited yield and reproducibility. The bottom-up approach of using chemical-vapour deposition produces high-quality heterostructures but becomes increasingly difficult for high-order superlattices. The intercalation of selected two-dimensional atomic crystals with alkali metal ions offers an alternative way to superlattice structures, but these usually have poor stability and seriously altered electronic properties. Here we report an electrochemical molecular intercalation approach to a new class of stable superlattices in which monolayer atomic crystals alternate with molecular layers. Using black phosphorus as a model system, we show that intercalation with cetyl-trimethylammonium bromide produces monolayer phosphorene molecular superlattices in which the interlayer distance is more than double that in black phosphorus, effectively isolating the phosphorene monolayers. Electrical transport studies of transistors fabricated from the monolayer phosphorene molecular superlattice show an on/off current ratio exceeding 107, along with excellent mobility and superior stability. We further show that several different two-dimensional atomic crystals, such as molybdenum disulfide and tungsten diselenide, can be intercalated with quaternary ammonium molecules of varying sizes and symmetries to produce a broad class of superlattices with tailored molecular structures, interlayer distances, phase compositions, electronic and optical properties. These studies define a versatile material platform for fundamental studies and potential technological applications.

High sensitive photonic crystal multiplexed biosensor array using H0 sandwiched cavities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arafa Safia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We theoretically investigate a high sensitive photonic crystal integrated biosensor array structure which is potentially used for label-free multiplexed sensing. The proposed device consists of an array of three sandwiched H0 cavities patterned above silicon on insulator (SOI substrate; each cavity has been designed for different cavity spacing and different resonant wavelength. Results obtained by performing finite-difference time-domain (FDTD simulations, indicate that the response of each detection unit shifts independently in terms of refractive index variations. The optimized design makes possible the combination of sensing as a function of location, as well as a function of time in the same platform. A refractive index sensitivity of 520nm/RIU and a quality factor over 104 are both achieved with an accompanied crosstalk of less than -26 dB. In addition, the device presents an improved detection limit (DL of 1.24.10-6 RIU and a wide measurement range. These features make the designed device a promising element for performing label-free multiplexed detection in monolithic substrate for medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Entropy-driven crystal formation on highly strained substrates

KAUST Repository

Savage, John R.; Hopp, Stefan F.; Ganapathy, Rajesh; Gerbode, Sharon J.; Heuer, Andreas; Cohen, Itai

2013-01-01

the crucial role of entropy in heteroepitaxy in this technologically important regime. Ultimately, this entropic component of lattice mismatched crystal growth could be used to develop unique methods for heterogeneous nucleation and growth of single crystals

Thermal properties of borate crystals for high power optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification.

Science.gov (United States)

Riedel, R; Rothhardt, J; Beil, K; Gronloh, B; Klenke, A; Höppner, H; Schulz, M; Teubner, U; Kränkel, C; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A; Prandolini, M J; Tavella, F

2014-07-28

The potential of borate crystals, BBO, LBO and BiBO, for high average power scaling of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers is investigated. Up-to-date measurements of the absorption coefficients at 515 nm and the thermal conductivities are presented. The measured absorption coefficients are a factor of 10-100 lower than reported by the literature for BBO and LBO. For BBO, a large variation of the absorption coefficients was found between crystals from different manufacturers. The linear and nonlinear absorption coefficients at 515 nm as well as thermal conductivities were determined for the first time for BiBO. Further, different crystal cooling methods are presented. In addition, the limits to power scaling of OPCPAs are discussed.

Improving NASICON Sinterability through Crystallization under High Frequency Electrical Fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilya eLisenker

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The effect of high frequency (HF electric fields on the crystallization and sintering rates of a lithium aluminum germanium phosphate (LAGP ion conducting ceramic was investigated. LAGP with the nominal composition Li1.5Al0.5Ge1.5(PO43 was crystallized and sintered, both conventionally and under effect of electrical field. Electrical field application, of 300V/cm at 1MHz, produced up to a 40% improvement in sintering rate of LAGP that was crystallized and sintered under the HF field. Heat sink effect of the electrodes appears to arrest thermal runaway and subsequent flash behavior. Sintered pellets were characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM and EIS to compare conventionally and field sintered processes. The as-sintered structure appears largely unaffected by the field as the sintering curves tend to converge beyond initial stages of sintering. Differences in densities and microstructure after 1 hour of sintering were minor with measured sintering strains of 31% vs. 26% with and without field, respectively . Ionic conductivity of the sintered pellets was evaluated and no deterioration due to the use of HF field was noted, though capacitance of grain boundaries due to secondary phases was significantly increased.

Characterization of gypsum crystals exposed to a high CO2 concentration fog using x-ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carreño-Márquez, I. J. A.; Castillo-Sandoval, I.; Esparza-Ponce, H. E.; Fuentes-Cobas, L.; Montero-Cabrera, M. E.

2015-01-01

In Chihuahua State, a little town called Naica has the largest gypsum single crystals in the world. The growth of these structures has been described as a long and stable process developed over thousands of years. Due to the change in the environmental conditions, these crystals could suffer alterations on their surface. In this project we study the cause of possible deterioration of the giant crystals and intend to suggest measures for their preservation. For this sake, our first experiment consists on several gypsum crystals that have been subjected in a climate chamber to a fog at high CO 2 concentration and 51 °C for a period of time of six months, extracting two crystals every 15 days. Then the crystals have been characterized through Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction using a diffractometer PanAlytical X’PertPro with two different detectors; Xe-filled proportional detector and a Pixel 3D detector. The results were compared to determine which technique is the most suitable to study the degradation of gypsum single crystals. In the two cases, we have identified only the gypsum phase, but with different crystal plane orientations

Last crystals for the CMS chandelier

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

In March, the last crystals for CMS’s electromagnetic calorimeter arrived from Russia and China. Like dedicated jewellers crafting an immense chandelier, the CMS ECAL collaborators are working extremely hard to install all the crystals before the start-up of the LHC. One of the last CMS end-cap crystals, complete with identification bar code. Lead tungstate crystals mounted onto one section of the CMS ECAL end caps. Nearly 10 years after the first production crystal arrived at CERN in September 1998, the very last shipment has arrived. These final crystals will be used to complete the end-caps of the electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) at CMS. All in all, there are more than 75,000 crystals in the ECAL. The huge quantity of CMS lead tungstate crystals used in the ECAL corresponds to the highest volume ever produced for a single experiment. The excellent quality of the crystals, both in ter...

Hard photon emission from high energy electrons and positrons in single crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bajer, V.N.; Katkov, V.M.; Strakhovenko, V.M.

1991-01-01

A radiation of electrons and positrons in single crystals in coherent bremsstrahlung (CBS) region has been considered for the case when CBS has the most hard spectrum. Under this condition a particle moves near a crystalline plane (in fcc(d) crystal for axis (001) this is the plane (110)) and influence of the continuous plane potential should be taken into account. This potential gives additional contribution in soft part of the spectrum and affects on hard photon emission. Observation of this phenomena at high energy is discussed. 14 refs.; 5 figs.; 1 tab

Mapping residual stresses in PbWO4 crystals using photo-elastic analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lebeau, M.; Gobbi, L.; Majni, G.; Paone, N.; Pietroni, P.; Rinaldi, D.

2005-01-01

Large scintillating crystals are affected by internal stresses induced by the crystal growth temperature gradient remanence. Cutting boules (ingots) into finished crystal shapes allows for a partial tension relaxation but residual stresses remain the main cause of breaking. Quality control of residual stresses is essential in the application of Scintillating Crystals to high-energy physics calorimeters (e.g. CMS ECAL at CERN LHC). In this context the industrial process optimisation towards stress reduction is mandatory. We propose a fast technique for testing samples during the production process in order to evaluate the residual stress distribution after the first phases of mechanical processing. We mapped the stress distribution in PbWO 4 slabs cut from the same production boule. The analysis technique is based on the stress intensity determination using the photo-elastic properties of the samples. The stress distribution is mapped in each sample. The analysis shows that there are regions of high residual tension close to the seed position and at the boule periphery. These results should allow for adapting the industrial process to producing crystals with lower residual stresses

Study of unexplained hard photon production by electrons channelled in a crystal

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

Our preceding experiment (NA33) designed to study the pair creation process in the interaction of high energy $\\gamma$ with a crystal in alignment conditions had revealed the existence of an unexpected peak in the radiation of 150 GeV e$^{-}$ beam for E$_{\\gamma}$/E$_{e^{-}} \\simeq$ 0.85 incident along the axis of a 185 $\\mu$m. Ge crystal and the photon multiplicity for the peak events has been measured to be M $\\simeq$ 5.7.\\\\ In NA42, in a 76 $\\mu$m crystal of the same crystallographic quality, the peak nearly disappears, and the photon multiplicity at x = 0.85 is only M $\\simeq$ 2.0. \\\\ The thickness dependence of the effect shows that the extrapolated multiplicity in the peak in a very thin crystal tends to unity. The high energy radiation peak emitted by axially channeled electrons in a thick crystal is then interpreted by the radiation cooling mechanism. \\\\ The extrapolation to zero thickness of these results will allow us to extract from the data the single $\\gamma$ radiation spectrum. The comparison o...

The mechanism of borax crystallization using in situ optical microscopy and AFM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suharso, G.; Parkinson, M.; Ogden, M.

2002-01-01

Full text: The quality of high-purity borax depends both on the concentrations of the impurities and the product appearance, which are mainly determined by the size and morphology of the crystals. Thus, knowledge about crystallization of borax is of direct relevance to the industrial production of borax. In addition, fundamental studies of borax crystallization will provide results of relevance to the crystallization of other economically important materials. An investigation into the fundamental mechanism of crystal growth of borax from aqueous solution was carried out, as a model system. The investigation focussed on the growth mechanism, and the influence of factors such as solution supersaturation, temperature, crystal size and solution flow on the rate of crystal growth. In situ optical microscopy was used to determine growth rates of three different faces of borax crystals at 20, 25, 30, and 35 deg C, at various concentrations. It was found that the growth rate increases with increasing temperature and supersaturation. At low concentration , growth on the (010), (001), and (111) faces occurs via a spiral growth mechanism and at high concentration birth and spread is the principal mechanism operating. The activation energy for the different mechanisms was determined. Examination by ex situ Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed features suggesting that the (100), (010), (001) faces of borax crystals grow by spiral mechanism at low concentration and two dimensional nucleation at high concentration. These experiments support the data obtained from in situ optical microscopy. Copyright (2002) Australian Society for Electron Microscopy Inc

Macromolecular Crystal Growth by Means of Microfluidics

Science.gov (United States)

vanderWoerd, Mark; Ferree, Darren; Spearing, Scott; Monaco, Lisa; Molho, Josh; Spaid, Michael; Brasseur, Mike; Curreri, Peter A. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We have performed a feasibility study in which we show that chip-based, microfluidic (LabChip(TM)) technology is suitable for protein crystal growth. This technology allows for accurate and reliable dispensing and mixing of very small volumes while minimizing bubble formation in the crystallization mixture. The amount of (protein) solution remaining after completion of an experiment is minimal, which makes this technique efficient and attractive for use with proteins, which are difficult or expensive to obtain. The nature of LabChip(TM) technology renders it highly amenable to automation. Protein crystals obtained in our initial feasibility studies were of excellent quality as determined by X-ray diffraction. Subsequent to the feasibility study, we designed and produced the first LabChip(TM) device specifically for protein crystallization in batch mode. It can reliably dispense and mix from a range of solution constituents into two independent growth wells. We are currently testing this design to prove its efficacy for protein crystallization optimization experiments. In the near future we will expand our design to incorporate up to 10 growth wells per LabChip(TM) device. Upon completion, additional crystallization techniques such as vapor diffusion and liquid-liquid diffusion will be accommodated. Macromolecular crystallization using microfluidic technology is envisioned as a fully automated system, which will use the 'tele-science' concept of remote operation and will be developed into a research facility for the International Space Station as well as on the ground.

Solvent engineering for high-quality perovskite solar cell with an efficiency approaching 20%

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tongyue; Wu, Jihuai; Tu, Yongguang; He, Xin; Lan, Zhang; Huang, Miaoliang; Lin, Jianming

2017-10-01

The perovskite layer is the most crucial factor for the high performance perovskite solar cells. Based on solvent engineering, we develop a ternary-mixed-solvent method for the growth of high-quality [Cs0.05(MA0.17FA0.83)0.95Pb(I0.83Br0.17)3] cation-anion-mixed perovskite films by introducing N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) into the precursor mixed solution. By controlling rapid nucleation and retarding crystal growth via intermediate phase PbI2-NMP (Lewis acid-base adduct), a dense, large grain, pinhole-free and long charge carrier lifetime perovskite film is obtained. By optimizing the precursor solvent composition, the perovskite solar cell achieves an impressive power conversion efficiency of 19.61% under one-sun illumination. The research presented here provides a facile, low-cost and highly efficient way for the preparation of perovskite solar cells.

Raman analysis of gold on WSe2 single crystal film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mukherjee, Bablu; Sun Leong, Wei; Li, Yida; Thong, John T L; Gong, Hao; Sun, Linfeng; Xiang Shen, Ze; Simsek, Ergun

2015-01-01

Synthesis and characterization of high-quality single-crystal tungsten diselenide (WSe 2 ) films on a highly insulating substrate is presented. We demonstrate for the first time that the presence of gold (Au) nanoparticles in the basal plane of a WSe 2 film can enhance its Raman scattering intensity. The experimentally observed enhancement ratio in the Raman signal correlates well with the simulated electric field intensity using both three-dimensional electromagnetic software and theoretical calculation considering layered medium coupled-dipole approximation (LM-CDA). This work serves as a guideline for the use of Au nanoparticles on WSe 2 single-crystal thin films for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications in the future. (paper)

A versatile, highly-efficient, high-resolution von Hamos Bragg crystal x-ray spectrometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vane, C.R.; Smith, M.S.; Raman, S.

1988-01-01

An efficient, high-resolution, vertical-focusing, Bragg crystal x-ray spectrometer has been specifically designed and constructed for use in measurements of x rays produced in collisions of energetic heavy ions. In this report the design and resulting operational characteristics of the final instrument are fully described. A wide variety of sample data is also included to illustrate the utility of this device in several areas of research. 14 refs., 38 figs

High-quality GaN nanowires grown on Si and porous silicon by thermal evaporation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shekari, L., E-mail: lsg09_phy089@student.usm.my [Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Ramizy, A.; Omar, K.; Hassan, H. Abu; Hassan, Z. [Nano-Optoelectronics Research and Technology Laboratory, School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia)

2012-12-15

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A new kind of substrate (porous silicon) was used. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Also this research introduces an easy and safe method to grow high quality GaN NWs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This is a new growth process to decrease the cost, complexity of growth of GaN NWs. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer It is a controllable method to synthesize GaN NWs by thermal evaporation. - Abstract: Nanowires (NWs) of GaN thin films were prepared on as-grown Si (1 1 1) and porous silicon (PS) substrates using thermal evaporation method. The film growth produced high-quality wurtzite GaN NWs. The size, morphology, and nanostructures of the crystals were investigated through scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The NWs grown on porous silicon were thinner, longer and denser compared with those on as-grown Si. The energy band gap of the NWs grown on PS was larger than that of NWs on as-grown Si. This is due to the greater quantum confinement effects of the crystalline structure of the NWs grown on PS.

A Novel Low Loss, Highly Birefringent Photonic Crystal Fiber in THz Regime

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasanuzzaman, G. K. M.; Rana, Sohel; Habib, Selim

2016-01-01

We present a new kind of dual-hole unit-based porous-core hexagonal photonic crystal fiber (H-PCF) with low loss and high birefringence in terahertz regime. The proposed fiber offers simultaneously high birefringence and low effective material loss (EML) in the frequency range of 0.5-0.85 THz wit...

Achievement report for fiscal 1997. Technological development for practical application of a solar energy power generation system /development of technology to manufacture solar cells/development of technology to manufacture thin film solar cells (development of technology to manufacture materials and substrates (development of technology to manufacture silicon crystal based high-quality materials and substrates)); 1997 nendo taiyoko hatsuden system jitsuyoka gijutsu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Taiyo denchi seizo gijutsu kaihatsu, usumaku taiyo denchi seizo gijutsu kaihatsu, zairyo kiban seizo gijutsu kaihatsu (silicon kesshokei kohinshitsu zairyo kiban no seizo gujutsu kaihatsu)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-03-01

It is intended to develop thin film solar cells capable of mass production with high photo-stability and at low cost. Thus, the objective of the present research is to analyze the growth process of micro crystal silicon based thin films, the crystal being a high quality silicon crystal based material, and develop technology to manufacture high-quality micro crystal silicon thin films based on the findings therefrom. It was found that, when silicon source is available in cathode, pure hydrogen plasma forms micro crystal silicon films by using the plasma as a result of the chemical transportation effect from the silicon source. It was revealed that the crystal formation due to hydrogen plasma exposure is performed substantially by the crystals forming the films due to the chemical transportation effect, rather than crystallization in the vicinity of the surface. The crystal formation under this experiment was concluded that the formation takes place during film growth accompanied by diffusion of film forming precursors on the surface on which the film grows. According to the result obtained so far, the most important issue in the future is particularly the control of crystal growing azimuth by reducing the initially formed amorphous layer by controlling the stress in the initial phase for film formation, and by controlling the film forming precursors. (NEDO)

A dark hollow beam from a selectively liquid-filled photonic crystal fibre

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mei-Yan, Zhang; Shu-Guang, Li; Yan-Yan, Yao; Bo, Fu; Lei, Zhang

2010-01-01

This paper reports that, based on the electromagnetic scattering theory of the multipole method, a high-quality hollow beam is produced through a selectively liquid-filled photonic crystal fibre. Instead of a doughnut shape, a typical hollow beam is produced by other methods; the mode-field images of the hollow-beam photonic crystal fibre satisfy sixth-order rotation symmetry, according to the symmetry of the photonic crystal fibre (PCF) structure. A dark spot size of the liquid-filled photonic crystal fibre-generated hollow beam can be tuned by inserting liquid into the cladding region and varying the photonic crystal fibre structure parameters. The liquid-filled PCF makes a convenient and flexible tool for the guiding and trapping of atoms and the creation of all-fibre optical tweezers. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

Acoustic methods for high-throughput protein crystal mounting at next-generation macromolecular crystallographic beamlines.

Science.gov (United States)

Roessler, Christian G; Kuczewski, Anthony; Stearns, Richard; Ellson, Richard; Olechno, Joseph; Orville, Allen M; Allaire, Marc; Soares, Alexei S; Héroux, Annie

2013-09-01

To take full advantage of advanced data collection techniques and high beam flux at next-generation macromolecular crystallography beamlines, rapid and reliable methods will be needed to mount and align many samples per second. One approach is to use an acoustic ejector to eject crystal-containing droplets onto a solid X-ray transparent surface, which can then be positioned and rotated for data collection. Proof-of-concept experiments were conducted at the National Synchrotron Light Source on thermolysin crystals acoustically ejected onto a polyimide `conveyor belt'. Small wedges of data were collected on each crystal, and a complete dataset was assembled from a well diffracting subset of these crystals. Future developments and implementation will focus on achieving ejection and translation of single droplets at a rate of over one hundred per second.

An improved simulation routine for modelling coherent high-energy proton interactions with bent crystals

CERN Document Server

Forcher, Francesco; Redaelli, Stefano; Zanetti, Marco; CERN. Geneva. ATS Department

2018-01-01

The planes in crystalline solids can constrain the directions that charged particles take as they pass through. Physicists can use this "channelling" property of crystals to steer particle beams. In a bent crystal, for example, channelled particles follow the bend and can change their direction. Several studies are on-going at CERN to verify the possibility of using bent crystals as primary collimators in high energy hadron colliders like the LHC. Simulations have been developed to model the coherent interaction with crystalline planes. The goal of this note is to analyze the data collected on extracted beam from the SPS and develop an improved model to simulate the data’s subtleties, in particular the transition between the volume reflection and amorphous interactions of the beam with crystals.

Influence of magnetic field on the morphology of the andrographolide crystal from supercritical carbon dioxide extraction crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Kexun; Zhang, Xingyuan; Pan, Jian; Zhang, Wencheng; Yong, Ji; Yin, Wenhong

2003-10-01

In this paper, a supercritical fluid extraction-crystallization of andrographolide, a kind of Chinese traditional medicine, was investigated. We have studied the extraction-crystallization process with or without magnet in the extractor, respectively. It was found that the presence of magnetic field is an important factor influencing the quality of the products. SEM images showed that the crystal was slice-like in shape, and many slices reunited together in the absence of magnet. Further research showed that pressure had a certain effect on the morphology of the crystal.

Enhancement of crystal homogeneity of protein crystals under application of an external alternating current electric field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koizumi, H.; Uda, S.; Fujiwara, K.; Nozawa, J. [Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8577 (Japan); Tachibana, M. [Graduate School of Nanobioscience, Yokohama City University, 22-2 Seto, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, 236-0027 (Japan); Kojima, K. [Department of Education, Yokohama Soei University, 1 Miho-tyou, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-0015 (Japan)

2014-10-06

X-ray diffraction rocking-curve measurements were performed on tetragonal hen egg white (HEW) lysozyme crystals grown with and without the application of an external alternating current (AC) electric field. The crystal quality was assessed by the full width at half maximum (FWHM) value for each rocking curve. For two-dimensional maps of the FWHMs measured on the 440 and the 12 12 0 reflection, the crystal homogeneity was improved under application of an external electric field at 1 MHz, compared with that without. In particular, the significant improvement of the crystal homogeneity was observed for the 12 12 0 reflection.

Crystallization and segregation in vitreous rutile films annealed at high temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omari, M.A.; Sorbello, R.S.; Aita, C.R.

2005-01-01

Vitreous titania films with rutile short-range order were sputter deposited on unheated fused silica substrates, sequentially annealed at 973 and 1273 K, and examined by Raman microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. A segregated microstructure developed after the 1273 K anneal. This microstructure consists of supermicron-size craters dispersed in a matrix of submicron rutile crystals. Ti-O short-range order in the craters is characteristic of a mixture of two high pressure phases, m-TiO 2 (monoclinic P2 1 /c space group) and α-TiO 2 (tetragonal Pbcn space group). We calculated that a high average compressive stress parallel to the substrate must be accommodated in the films at 1273 K, caused by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of titania and fused silica. The formation of the segregated microstructure is modeled by considering two processes at work at 1273 K to lower a film's internal energy: crystallization and nonuniform stress relief. The Gibbs-Thomson relation shows that small m-TiO 2 crystallites are able to form directly from vitreous TiO 2 at 1273 K. However, the preferred mechanism for forming α-TiO 2 is likely to be by epitaxial growth at crystalline rutile twin boundaries (secondary crystallization). Both phases are denser than crystalline rutile and reduce the average thermal stress in the films

Crystal growth of Li10B3O5

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugiyama, Akira; Gallagher, Hugh G.; Han, Thomas P.J.

1999-09-01

The growth of boron 10 isotope enriched L 10 BO (Li 10 B 3 O 5 ) optical crystal has been developed from Top-Seeded-Solution-Growth using a resistance furnace. In the preparation for growth materials, we have made further improvement on a charge loading technique to a crucible and succeeded in forming suitable high temperature flux for producing crystals. Adequate temperature gradient of 1K/cm inside the crucible was achieved from searching for a combination of setting temperatures in the vertical three-zone furnace and installing a ceramic ring under the crucible. We have also optimized seed holder configuration and established growth conditions by several attempts. As a result, two good quality L 10 BO crystals were produced with sizes of 14 x 25 x 22 mm and 13 x 10 x 12 mm from oriented seed crystals. Although these sizes were limited by the size of the crucible used, appropriate oriented samples were extracted for detailed studies in optical measurements. (author)

Transfer-free synthesis of highly ordered Ge nanowire arrays on glass substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakata, M.; Toko, K., E-mail: toko@bk.tsukuba.ac.jp; Suemasu, T. [Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8573 (Japan); Jevasuwan, W.; Fukata, N. [National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044 (Japan); Saitoh, N.; Yoshizawa, N. [Electron Microscope Facility, TIA, AIST, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-8569 (Japan)

2015-09-28

Vertically aligned Ge nanowires (NWs) are directly synthesized on glass via vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth using chemical-vapor deposition. The use of the (111)-oriented Ge seed layer, formed by metal-induced crystallization at 325 °C, dramatically improved the density, uniformity, and crystal quality of Ge NWs. In particular, the VLS growth at 400 °C allowed us to simultaneously achieve the ordered morphology and high crystal quality of the Ge NW array. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated that the resulting Ge NWs had no dislocations or stacking faults. Production of high-quality NW arrays on amorphous insulators will promote the widespread application of nanoscale devices.

The Crystal Structure of a High-Spin Oxoiron(IV) Complex and Characterization of Its Self-Decay Pathway

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

England, J.; Guo, Y; Farquhar, E; Young, Jr., V; Münck, E; Que, Jr., L

2010-01-01

[Fe{sup IV}(O)(TMG{sub 3}tren)]{sup 2+} (1; TMG{sub 3}tren = 1,1,1-tris{l_brace}2-[N{sup 2}-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidino)]ethyl{r_brace}amine) is a unique example of an isolable synthetic S = 2 oxoiron(IV) complex, which serves as a model for the high-valent oxoiron(IV) intermediates observed in nonheme iron enzymes. Congruent with DFT calculations predicting a more reactive S = 2 oxoiron(IV) center, 1 has a lifetime significantly shorter than those of related S = 1 oxoiron(IV) complexes. The self-decay of 1 exhibits strictly first-order kinetic behavior and is unaffected by solvent deuteration, suggesting an intramolecular process. This hypothesis was supported by ESI-MS analysis of the iron products and a significant retardation of self-decay upon use of a perdeuteromethyl TMG{sub 3}tren isotopomer, d{sub 36}-1 (KIE = 24 at 25 C). The greatly enhanced thermal stability of d{sub 36}-1 allowed growth of diffraction quality crystals for which a high-resolution crystal structure was obtained. This structure showed an Fe=O unit (r = 1.661(2) {angstrom}) in the intended trigonal bipyramidal geometry enforced by the sterically bulky tetramethylguanidinyl donors of the tetradentate tripodal TMG{sub 3}tren ligand. The close proximity of the methyl substituents to the oxoiron unit yielded three symmetrically oriented short C-D {hor_ellipsis} O nonbonded contacts (2.38-2.49 {angstrom}), an arrangement that facilitated self-decay by rate-determining intramolecular hydrogen atom abstraction and subsequent formation of a ligand-hydroxylated iron(III) product. EPR and Moessbauer quantification of the various iron products, referenced against those obtained from reaction of 1 with 1,4-cyclohexadiene, allowed formulation of a detailed mechanism for the self-decay process. The solution of this first crystal structure of a high-spin (S = 2) oxoiron(IV) center represents a fundamental step on the path toward a full understanding of these pivotal biological intermediates.