Femtosecond laser modification of an array of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes intercalated with Fe phase nanoparticles

Femtosecond lasers (FSL) are playing an increasingly important role in materials research, characterization, and modification. Due to an extremely short pulse width, interactions of FSL irradiation with solid surfaces attract special interest, and a number of unusual phenomena resulted in the formation of new materials are expected. Here, we report on a new nanostructure observed after the interaction of FSL irradiation with arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) intercalated with iron phase catalyst nanoparticles. It was revealed that the FSL laser ablation transforms the topmost layer of CNT array into iron phase nanospheres (40 to 680 nm in diameter) located at the tip of the CNT bundles of conical shape. Besides, the smaller nanospheres (10 to 30 nm in diameter) are found to be beaded at the sides of these bundles. Some of the larger nanospheres are encapsulated into carbon shells, which sometime are found to contain CNTs. The mechanism of creation of such nanostructures is proposed.     

Recommendation of RILEM TC 238-SCM: determination of the degree of reaction of siliceous fly ash and slag in hydrated cement paste by the selective dissolution method

The performance of slag and fly ash in hydrated cementitious materials depends on the degree of reaction developed at the evaluated age. Several methods for the determination of the reaction degree of supplementary cementitious materials are available, among which the selective dissolution method is one of methods developed the earliest. This is a direct method that aims to quantify the amount of unreacted slag or fly ash in the sample by applying a selective acid attack. The degree of reaction is obtained from the comparison between the remaining unreacted SCM, which should not dissolve, and the total amount initially included in the mix. This recommendation indicates suitable procedures for computing the degree of reaction by selective dissolution of cement pastes containing slag and fly ash. Specific considerations are indicated for necessary corrections due to the imperfect selective dissolution when the procedure is applied to hydrated cement paste.     

Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry at the true cyclotron frequency

Ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) cells provide stability and coherence of ion oscillations in crossed electric and magnetic fields over extended periods of time. Using the Fourier transform enables precise measurements of ion oscillation frequencies. These precisely measured frequencies are converted into highly accurate mass-to-charge ratios of the analyte ions by calibration procedures. In terms of resolution and mass accuracy, Fourier transform ICR mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) offers the highest performance of any MS technology. This is reflected in its wide range of applications. However, in the most challenging MS application, for example, imaging, enhancements in the mass accuracy of fluctuating ion fluxes are required to continue advancing the field. One approach is to shift the ion signal power into the peak corresponding to the true cyclotron frequency instead of the reduced cyclotron frequency peak. The benefits of measuring the true cyclotron frequency include increased tolerance to electric fields within the ICR cell, which enhances frequency measurement precision. As a result, many attempts to implement this mode of FT-ICR MS operation have occurred. Examples of true cyclotron frequency measurements include detection of magnetron inter-harmonics of the reduced cyclotron frequency (i.e., the sidebands), trapping field-free (i.e., screened) ICR cells, and hyperbolic ICR cells with quadrupolar ion detection. More recently, ICR cells with spatially distributed ion clouds have demonstrated attractive performance characteristics for true cyclotron frequency ion detection. Here, we review the corresponding developments in FT-ICR MS over the past 40 years.     

Dielectric Properties of Ultrathin CaF2 Ionic Crystals

Mechanically exfoliated 2D hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is currently the preferred dielectric material to interact with graphene and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides in nanoelectronic devices, as they form a clean van der Waals interface. However, h-BN has a low dielectric constant (≈3.9), which in ultrascaled devices results in high leakage current and premature dielectric breakdown. Furthermore, the synthesis of h-BN using scalable methods, such as chemical vapor deposition, requires very high temperatures (>900 °C) , and the resulting h-BN stacks contain abundant few-atoms-wide amorphous regions that decrease its homogeneity and dielectric strength. Here it is shown that ultrathin calcium fluoride (CaF₂) ionic crystals could be an excellent solution to mitigate these problems. By applying >3000 ramped voltage stresses and several current maps at different locations of the samples via conductive atomic force microscopy, it is statistically demonstrated that ultrathin CaF₂ shows much better dielectric performance (i.e., homogeneity, leakage current, and dielectric strength) than SiO₂, TiO₂, and h-BN. The main reason behind this behavior is that the cubic crystalline structure of CaF₂ is continuous and free of defects over large regions, which prevents the formation of electrically weak spots.     

Engineering Field Effect Transistors with 2D Semiconducting Channels: Status and Prospects

The continuous miniaturization of field effect transistors (FETs) dictated by Moore's law has enabled continuous enhancement of their performance during the last four decades, allowing the fabrication of more powerful electronic products (e.g., computers and phones). However, as the size of FETs currently approaches interatomic distances, a general performance stagnation is expected, and new strategies to continue the performance enhancement trend are being thoroughly investigated. Among them, the use of 2D semiconducting materials as channels in FETs has raised a lot of interest in both academia and industry. However, after 15 years of intense research on 2D materials, there remain important limitations preventing their integration in solid‐state microelectronic devices. In this work, the main methods developed to fabricate FETs with 2D semiconducting channels are presented, and their scalability and compatibility with the requirements imposed by the semiconductor industry are discussed. The key factors that determine the performance of FETs with 2D semiconducting channels are carefully analyzed, and some recommendations to engineer them are proposed. This report presents a pathway for the integration of 2D semiconducting materials in FETs, and therefore, it may become a useful guide for materials scientists and engineers working in this field.     

Low-Temperature Oxidation, Hydrothermal Corrosion, and Their Effects on Properties of SiC (Tyranno) Fibers

The effects of oxidation in air and corrosion in high-temperature, high-pressure water on the mechanical properties of three commercially available amorphous Si-Ti-C-O (Tyranno) fibers with different oxygen contents (12%–18%) and diameters (8–11 μm) were investigated. The fibers were exposed to isothermal treatments at elevated temperatures and subsequently tested at room temperature. Structural changes in the fibers after oxidation and corrosion were also studied in order to understand better the degradation mechanisms of the fibers. Oxidation resulted in the formation of vitreous silica films and decreases of strength and Young's modulus of the fibers. Hydrothermal corrosion under 100 MPa water pressure started above 300°C and resulted in the formation of a carbon layer on the surface of the fibers. Dissolution of silica in water during the treatment was observed. Corrosion at temperatures above 400°C led to the formation of relatively thick carbon films which delaminated easily. It caused a decrease of strength and Young's modulus of the fibers. The hydrothermal method can be used for producing carbon coatings with thickness up to 2 μm on the surface of silicon carbide fibers. The degrading of the mechanical properties after oxidation and corrosion was controlled by the thickness of the oxide or carbon layer. Based on this fact, it is possible to predict changes in the mechanical properties from the oxidation data.     

The determination of the energy barrier for phase slips in superfluid4He

The velocity dependence of the energy barrier for vortex creation in microscopic apertures is determined. When compared to results from other laboratories, the energy barrier seems to be a universal function of velocity. This universality suggests that the vortex nucleation process is independent of the microscopic surface structure of the aperture. In DC flow experiments, the vortices are nucleated at rates up to 700kHz. In single phase slip experiments, the rate of nucleation is on the order of 10 Hz. Each of these types of experiments gives the energy barrier in a different velocity regime. The energy barrier has more curvature, as a function of velocity, than can be accounted for by the half-ring model of vortex nucleation.