Formation of nanoparticles in a thin metal film on a dielectric substrate under the action of a nanosecond pulsed high-power ion beam

We have studied the formation of nanoparticles in a thin metal film-dielectric substrate system under the action of a high-power nanosecond pulsed proton-carbon ion beam. Data on the particles formed from 5-to 60-nm-thick aluminum and nickel films on ST-50 Sitall (glass-ceramic composite) substrates are presented. Possible mechanisms of nanoparticle formation in ion-irradiated metal films on dielectric substrates are considered.     

Spontaneous density grating formation in suspensions of dielectric nanoparticles

Experimental evidence for nonlinear optical behaviour due to the spontaneous formation of wavelength-scale density modulations or gratings in suspensions of dielectric particles is presented. A collection of dielectric particles pumped by a coherent radiation field may simultaneously form a density grating on the scale of the radiation wavelength and a coherently backscattered radiation field. The particle density grating is generated as a result of a periodic ponderomotive potential formed by the interference of the pump and backscattered fields. The experiment used a water suspension of latex microspheres (radius ≈ 56nm) pumped by a green CW laser (532nm, power ≤ 5W). A theoretical model of collective scattering of light from dielectric particles has been extended to include the effects of viscous and Brownian forces on the particles. This model predicts a small degree of particle bunching from which coherent backscattering of the pump occurs. The results of the theoretical model compare favourably with the experimental evidence. The relation between the results presented here and the phenomenon of Collective Rayleigh Scattering (CRS) is discussed.     

Micropatterning of polymer-embedded metal nanoparticles by an ion beam contact lithography

A convenient and effective method to pattern polymer-embedded metal nanoparticles by ion irradiation has been developed. The thin Pluronic films containing silver nitrate as a precursor of silver nanoparticles were irradiated through a pattern mask with accelerated proton (H+) ions. It was found from the UV-Vis measurement that the formation of silver nanoparticles in the Pluronic matrix was dependant on the amount of silver nitrate. The 50 microm line (pitch 150 microm) patterns of the Pluronic containing silver nanoparticles were obtained with the thin film irradiated to 1 x 10(16) ions/cm2. The heat treatment effect on the morphology of the patterns was investigated by using a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The results confirmed that the silver nanoparticles were successfully embedded in the Pluronic patterns and the patterns were changed into large silver particles by a heat treatment above 350 degrees C.     

Calcium phosphate formation on plasma immersion ion implanted low density polyethylene and polytetrafluorethylene surfaces

The flexible structure of polymers has enabled them to be useful in a wide variety of medical applications due to the possibility to tailor their properties to suit desired applications. For a long time, there has been an increasing interest in utilizing polymers as matrices for calcium phosphate-based composites with applications in hard tissue implants. On the other side, polymers with application as heart valves, urea catheters and artificial vessels present a case where the formation of minerals (namely calcification) should be avoided. The modification of polymer surfaces by various ion beam treatments for reducing the calcification, as for example plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII), is well known and has a long time effect. This work is part of a wider investigation of the ability of plasma immersion ion implanted polymers to induce calcium phosphate formation from an aqueous solution resembling the human blood plasma. In the experiment described in this paper, topographical and chemical changes were inserted on the surfaces of two conventional polymers (low density polyethylene and polytetrafluorethylene) by PIII with nitrogen ions, and under conditions mimicking the natural mineral formation processes. The effect of the plasma modification on the calcium phosphate nucleation and growth from the aqueous solution was ambiguous. We suppose that the complex combination of surface characteristics influenced the ability of the plasma treated polymer films to induce the formation of a calcium phosphate layer.     

Effect of ion beam irradiation on metal particle doped polymer composites

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was prepared by solution polymerization method. Different concentrations (10, 20 and 40%) of Ni powder were dispersed in PMMA and the composite films were prepared by casting method. These films were irradiated with 120 MeV Ni^10 + ions at a fluence of 5 × 10¹² ions/cm². Electrical, structural and chemical properties of the composites were studied by means of an LCR meter, X-ray diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy and SEM/AFM, respectively. The results showed that the conductivity increases with metal concentration and also with ion beam irradiation. This reveals that ion beam irradiation promotes the metal/polymer bonding and converts polymeric structure into hydrogen depleted carbon network. It was observed from XRD analysis that percentage crystallinity and crystalline size decrease upon irradiation. This might be attributed to rupture of some polymeric bonds, which is also corroborated with FTIR spectroscopic analysis. Ion beam tempts graphitization of polymeric material by emission of hydrogen and/or other volatile gases. Surface morphology of the pristine and irradiated films was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM)/scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Result showed that the surface roughness increases after ion beam irradiation.     

Thermal hysteresis in the dielectric properties of composites based on transition metal oxide and sulfide nanoparticles stabilized in a low-density polyethylene matrix

We have studied the temperature dependence of the complex dielectric permittivity of composites based on a low-density polyethylene matrix containing dispersed nanoparticles of zinc oxide and manganese oxide and an analogous composite with nanoparticles of cadmium sulfide. Laws governing the electric conduction and dielectric polarization as functions of the temperature and the size of nanoparticles are established and a possible mechanism responsible for the appearance of thermal hysteresis of the dielectric properties in the materials studied is proposed.     

Optical properties of the synthesized ZnO with ion implanted silver nanoparticles

Technical Physics Letters - The implantation results of a thin ZnO film formed by vacuum magnetron sputtering when irradiated by Ag+ ions with an energy of 30 keV, radiation dose of 1.5 × 1017...     

Effect of Germanium content and strain on the formation of extended defects in ion implanted Silicon/Germanium

We studied the evolution of extended defects in relaxed and strained Si and SiGe structures after an amorphising implant. The investigated structures included three relaxed SiGe alloy layers with various Ge contents (20, 35 and 50 at.%), a 40 nm-thick tensely strained Si layer and a 40 nm-thick compressively strained Si_0.8Ge_0.2 layer. Concerning the compositional effects, we found that the increase of Ge concentration in relaxed SiGe structures leads to: (i) an overall decrease of the defect stability and to (ii) an enhanced {311}-to-loops transformation. As for the strain effects, it is found that: (i) Tensile strain (in Si) retards the transformation of {311} defects into loops; (ii) compressive strain (in SiGe) enhances the transformation of {311}s into loops; (iii) in all cases, the overall defect stability is not strongly modified in the presence of strain. The observed results are discussed in terms of the various mechanisms involved, including the increase of the interstitial diffusivity in relaxed SiGe alloys (with respect to Si) and the strain effects on both interstitial equilibrium concentration and defect formation energy.     

Characterisation of ultra-shallow disorder profiles and dielectric functions in ion implanted Si

Ultra-shallow (below 20 nm) disorder profiles have been characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The implanted depth region has been divided into sublayers with dielectric functions calculated by the effective medium approximation using single-crystalline and disordered components. The damage depth profile has been parameterized using a box model, an independent multilayer model, a graded multilayer model, an error function, and Gaussian profiles. Literature values and Tauc-Lorentz (TL) parametrization as well as multi-sample and single-sample approaches have been compared to describe the dielectric function of the disordered component. The distribution of the implanted ions and/or damage have been cross-checked using medium energy ion scattering (MEIS), transmission electron microscopy and Monte Carlo simulations. We found a good agreement in the damage profiles obtained by the different methods. There is an offset between the SE and MEIS damage profiles due to the fact that SE is very sensitive to the surface roughness, in contrast to MEIS. The correlation between this offset and the surface roughness has been investigated using atomic force microscopy.     

氧离子束流密度对Ta2O5薄膜的影响

利用氧离子辅助电子束蒸发沉积Ta2O5薄膜,在dd定氧离子能量的条件下研究了氧离子束流密度对Ta2O5薄膜的微观结构、化学计量比和漏电流密度的影响.利用原子力显微镜和X射线衍射仪对Ta2O5薄膜微观结构进行表征研究,发现随着离子束流密度增大,沉积的Ta2O5薄膜致密性提高,粗糙度下降,但薄膜一直保持非晶态;同时能谱仪测试的结果表明,薄膜中O/Ta比例逐渐提高,直至呈现富氧状态.测量了不同薄膜样品的漏电流密度和击穿场强,发现随着离子束流密度增大,薄膜漏电流密度显著降低,击穿场强提高.总之,提高氧离子束流密度能够明显改善Ta2O5薄膜的微观结构和电学性能.     

A mechanism of current noise reduction in systems of ion beam formation from vacuum arc plasma

The influence of a residual gas plasma on the ion beam transport in the drift chamber of an ion source based on the vacuum arc discharge was numerically simulated by the pellet injection method. The plasma formed as a result of ionization of the residual gas causes a change in the potential profile in the drift chamber. This leads to the appearance of an extended slow ion transport zone (occurring at a virtual anode potential) and to a change in the mechanism of suppression of the ion current noise as compared to the well-known mechanism operative in an equipotential vacuum gap. The results of model calculations show that the modified mechanism is related to a spatial redistribution of the density of ions (in the beam characterized by a certain scatter of velocities) in the slow ion transport zone.     

The formation of periodic diffractive plasmonic nanostructures with implanted copper nanoparticles by local ion etching of silica glass

Silica glass was subjected to a low-energy implantation with 40-keV Cu⁺ ions at a dose of 7.5 × 10¹⁶ ions/cm² and an ion-beam current density of 5 μA/cm² through a surface metal-wire mask with square holes of ～40 μm. The formation of copper nanoparticles in the glass was determined from the occurrence of characteristic plasmon optical absorption and through the detection of particles using an atomic force micro- scope. The formation of periodic surface microstructures via the local etching of silica glass during implantation was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The operating efficiency of the diffractive optical plasmonic element based on silica glass microstructures with metallic copper nanoparticles was shown during its sounding by the emission of a helium-neon laser.     

Effect of CdS nanoparticles on the properties of a protein matrix

The effect of CdS nanoparticles on the properties of a protein matrix, R-phycoerythrin, has been studied using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques, atomic force microscopy, confocal fluorescence microscopy, and analytical ultracentrifugation. The results demonstrate that CdS nanoparticles distort the native state of R-phycoerythrin, as evidenced by the reduction in absorption, partial fluorescence quenching, the reduction in fluorescence lifetime from 2.9 to 1.9 ns in solution and the increase to 3.3 ns upon adsorption on glass, and the influence of CdS nanoparticles on the sedimentation coefficient distribution of R-phycoerythrin. We conclude that a CdS nanoparticle synthesized inside an R-phycoerythrin molecule influences the chromophore—chromophore interaction and stabilizes the hexamer form of the protein.     

Determining the density matrix of a molecular beam using a longitudinal matter wave interferometer

Abstract

Two separated oscillatory fields, if tuned to different frequencies, can generate or interrogate longitudinal momentum coherences in a beam of two-state particles. We demonstrate that use of differentially detuned separated oscillatory fields is an efficient method to determine the longitudinal density matrix of a particle beam.     

A singular integral equation for the current density of a conformal microstrip dipole on a dielectric cylinder

Technical Physics Letters - The problem of current-density distribution over the surface of a microstrip dipole antenna conformally arranged on a dielectric cylinder is reduced to a singular...     

Giant dielectric constant in titania nanoparticles embedded in conducting polymer matrix

Complex impedance and dielectric permittivity of titania-polypyrrole nanocomposites have been investigated as a function of frequency and temperature at different compositions. A very large dielectric constant of about 13,000 at room temperature has been observed. The colossal dielectric constant is mainly dominated by interfacial polarization due to Maxwell-Wagner relaxation effect. Two completely separate groups of dielectric relaxation have been observed. The low frequency dielectric relaxation arises from surface defect states of titania nanoparticles. The broad peak at high frequency region is attributed to Maxwell-Wagner type polarization originating from the inhomogeneous property of nanocomposite. An abrupt change in grain boundary conductivity and dielectric relaxation associated with titania was observed at around 150 K. Anomalous behavior in conductivity and dielectric relaxation is qualitatively explained by band tail structure of titania nanoparticle.     

Specific features of relief formation on silicon etched by a focused ion beam

The effect of a focused ion beam on the state of a silicon crystal surface has been studied. Periodic ring-shaped ribs have been observed on the walls of an etched cylindrical hole. The formation of periodic structures depends on the conditions of ion beam etching. The observed phenomenon is explained based on the notion of the radiation-induced plasticity.