Microanalysis of silver jewellery by laser-ablation laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with enhanced sensitivity and minimal sample ablation

Laser-ablation laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy （LA-LIBS） based on single Nd：YAG laser is used to analyze copper impurity in silver jewellery with enhanced sensitivity and minimal sample ablation. 6-30 folds signal enhancement can be achieved under the re-excitation of the breakdown laser and the spatial resolution is only determined by the ablation laser. 50 ppm limit of detection of copper is achieved when the crater diameter is 17.2 μm under current experimental condition. This technique gives higher analysis sensitivity under the same sample ablation in comparison with single pulse （SP） LIBS. It is useful for high sensitive element mieroanalvsis of precious samples.

Enhanced Ferroelectric Polarization in Laser-ablated Bi4Ti3O12 Thin Films by Controlling Preferred Orientation

Polycrystalline Bi_4Ti_3O_（12） thin films with various fractions of a-axis, c-axis and random orientations have been grown on Pt（111）/Ti/Si O_2/Si substrates by laser-ablation under different kinetic growth conditions. The relationship between the structure and ferroelectric property of the films was investigated, so as to explore the possibility of enhancing ferroelectric polarization by controlling the preferred orientation. The structural characterization indicated that the large growth rate and high oxygen background pressure were both favorable for the growth of non-c-axis oriented grains in the Bi_4Ti_3O_（12） thin films. The films with high fractions of a-axis and random orientations, i e, f（a-sxis） = 28.3% and f（random） = 69.6%, could be obtained at the deposition temperature of 973 K, oxygen partial pressure of 15 Pa and laser fluence of 4.6 J/cm^2, respectively. It was also noted that the variation of ferroelectric polarization was in accordance with the evolution non-c-axis orientation. A large value of remanent polarization（2 Pr = 35.5 μC/cm^2） was obtained for the Bi_4Ti_3O_（12） thin films with significant non-c-axis orientation, even higher than that of rare-earth-doped Bi_4Ti_3O_（12） films.

Commissioning of a high-resolution collinear laser spectroscopy apparatus with a laser ablation ion source

Collinear laser spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying the nuclear spins,electromagnetic moments,and charge radii of exotic nuclei.To study the nuclear properties of unstable nuclei at the Beijing Radioactive Ion-beam Facility(BRIF)and the future High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility(HIAF),we developed a collinear laser spectroscopy apparatus integrated with an offline laser ablation ion source and a laser system.The overall performance of this state-of-the-art technique was evaluated,and the system was commissioned using a bunched stable ion beam.The high-resolution optical spectra for the 4s ^(2)S_(1/2)→4p^(2)P_(3/2)(D2)ionic transition of ^(40;42;44;48)Ca isotopes were successfully measured.The extracted isotope shifts relative to ^(40)Ca showed excellent agreement with the literature values.This system is now ready for use at radioactive ion beam facilities such as the BRIF and paves the way for the further development of higher-sensitivity collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy techniques.

Elemental analysis of copper alloy by high repetition rate LA-SIBS using compact fiber spectrometer

High repetition rate laser-ablation spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy(HRR LA-SIBS) was first used to analyze trace elements in copper alloy samples. The 1064 nm output of an acoustooptically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operated at a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz was utilized to ablate copper alloy and to form original plasma, spark-discharge was applied to further breakdown the ablated samples and enhance the emission of the laser-induced plasma. A compact multichannel fiber spectrometer was used to analyze the plasma emission under nongated operation mode. Under the assistance of high repetition rate spark discharge, the plasma emission was able to be improved significantly. The determined limits of the detection of lead and aluminum were 15.5 ppm and 1.9 ppm by HRR LA-SIBS, respectively, which were 11 and 6 folds better than that determined by HRR LIBS under the same laser-ablation condition. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using fiber spectrometer to analyze plasma emission under non-gated operation mode and the possibility of building a portable HRR LA-SIBS system for rapid elemental analysis of copper alloys and other solid samples.

Magic Number Behaviour and Structures of Silicon Dioxide-Based Clusters

The lowest energy structures of （SiO2）nO2 duster skeletons with size from n = 2 to 12 is investigated theoretically by genetic algorithm. The calculations based on the Tsuneyuki-Tsukada Aoki Matsui （TTAM） and Flikkema- Bromley （FB） potentials give the same result： n = 4 and n = 8 are the magic numbers in the virtual （SiO2）nO2 cluster sequence. This conclusion is in agreement with the experimental observation on the [（SiO2）nO2H3]- cluster sequence. The comparison of the present results with those from the density-functional-theory calculations on （SiO2）nO2H4 shows that addition of II atoms to the O terminals of （SiO2）nO2 clusters to form the complex （SiO2）nO2H4 clusters has only minor influence on the relative energies and the structures of different isomers. This means that the magic behaviour of the dusters [（SiO2）nO2H3]^- （n=4,8） observed in our previous experiment is originated from the stability of the cluster skeletons （SiO2）nO2 （n = 4, 8） .

Propagation of Plasma Generated by Intense Pulsed Ion Beam Irradiation

Taking the calculation results based on the established two-dimensional ablation model of the intense-pulsed-ionbeam （IPIB） irradiation process as initial conditions, we build a two-dimensional hydrodynamic ejection model of plasma produced by an IPIB-irradiated metal titanium target into ambient gas. We obtain the conclusions that shock waves generate when the background pressure is around 133 mTorr and also obtain the plume splitting phenomenon that has been observed in the experiments.

SS-LASS Zircon Dating Deciphering Multiple Episodes of Anatexis in a Deeply-Subducted Continental Crust:An Example from Sulu Orogen,China

‘Single shot'laser-ablation split-stream(SS-LASS)technique analyzing unpolished zircon grains makes their thin rims tenable for determination,which thus offers great potential in deciphering the timing of multiple and short-lived episodes of anatexis and metamorphism in deeplysubducted continental crusts.Dominated granitic gneisses in the deeply subducted continental crust undergoing considerable fluid-melt activities persist multistage growth of zircon.Therefore,a comparative study of SS-LASS and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer(LA-ICP-MS)zircon dating was conducted on the granitic gneisses from the Sulu belt in this study.Zircons mostly show a core-mantle-rim structure with CL-bright rims thinner than 5μm.For LA-ICP-MS dating,relict magmatic zircon cores yield protolith ages of ca.756-747 Ma;whereas the dark mantles record synexhumation anatexis at ca.214 Ma.By contrast,according to the U-Pb dates,trace element features,zircon crystallization temperatures and geological context,SS-LASS zircon petrochronology deciphers three episodes of anatectic events,as follows:(i)the first episode of anatexis at ca.218-217 Ma dominated by phengite-breakdown melting,likely facilitating the exhumation of the UHP slice from mantle depth;(ii)the second episode of anatexis at ca.193–191 Ma indicating part of northern Dabie-Sulu belt was still“hot”because of buried in the thickened orogenic crust at that time;(iii)the third episode of anatexis(ca.162–161 Ma)consistent with the intrusion ages(ca.161–141 Ma)of the Jurassic to Cretaceous granitoids in this orogen,suggesting the initial collapse of the orogenic root of the Sulu belt occurred at Late Jurassic due to the Izanagi plate initially subducting beneath the margin of Eastern Asia.This study sheds new light upon the utilization of SS-LASS petrochronology deciphering multiple anatectic events in the deeply-subducted continental crust and supports us in better understanding the tectonic evolution of Dabie-Sulu Orogen.

Antibacterial Behavior of Laser-Ablated Copper Nanoparticles

Copper nanoparticles（Cu NPs） have been synthesized by using laser ablation method,using deionized water as main solvent.The formation of Cu NPs is confirmed by UV-visible spectrophotometer（UV-Vis）,atomic force microscopy（AFM） and X-ray diffraction（XRD）.Cu NPs fabricated by laser ablation have diameter in the range from 14 to 55 nm.Structural analysis revealed the face-centered cubic（fcc） crystal structure of Cu NPs.The antibacterial activity of Cu NPs has been evaluated in vitro against strains of Escherichia coli（E.coli） and Staphylococcus aureus（5.aureus）.The fabricated Cu NPs show considerable antibacterial activity against both bacterial strains.The bacterial activity of Cu NPs was found to depend on the microbial species.