Single order soft X-ray diffraction with quasi-random radius pinhole array spectroscopic photon sieves

A novel single order diffraction grating in the soft X-ray region, called quasi-random radius pinhole array spectro- scopic photon sieves （QRSPS）, is proposed in this paper. This new grating is composed of pinholes on a substrate, whose radii are quasi-random, while their centers are regular. Analysis proves that its transmittance function across the grating bar is similar to that of sinusoidal transmission gratings. Simulation results show that the QRSPS can suppress higher-order diffraction effectively. And the QRSPS would still retain its characteristic of single order diffraction when we take the effect of X-ray penetration into account. These properties indicate that the QRSPS can be used in the soft X-ray spectra measurement.

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects in binary R-T(R = Pr,Gd,Tb,Dy,Ho,Er,Tm;T = Ga,Ni,Co,Cu)intermetallic compounds

In this paper, we review the magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects（MCE） of binary R–T（R = Pr, Gd, Tb,Dy, Ho, Er, Tm; T = Ga, Ni, Co, Cu） intermetallic compounds（including RGa series, RNi series, R_（12）Co_7 series, R_3 Co series and RCu_2series）, which have been investigated in detail in the past several years. The R–T compounds are studied by means of magnetic measurements, heat capacity measurements, magnetoresistance measurements and neutron powder diffraction measurements. The R–T compounds show complex magnetic transitions and interesting magnetic properties.The types of magnetic transitions are investigated and confirmed in detail by multiple approaches. Especially, most of the R–T compounds undergo more than one magnetic transition, which has significant impact on the magnetocaloric effect of R–T compounds. The MCE of R–T compounds are calculated by different ways and the special shapes of MCE peaks for different compounds are investigated and discussed in detail. To improve the MCE performance of R–T compounds,atoms with large spin（S） and atoms with large total angular momentum（J） are introduced to substitute the related rare earth atoms. With the atom substitution, the maximum of magnetic entropy change（？SM）, refrigerant temperature width（Twidth）or refrigerant capacity（RC） is enlarged for some R–T compounds. In the low temperature range, binary R–T（R = Pr, Gd,Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm; T = Ga, Ni, Co, Cu） intermetallic compounds（including RGa series, RNi series,R_（12）Co_7 series, R_3 Co series and RCu_2series） show excellent performance of MCE, indicating the potential application for gas liquefaction in the future.

Synthesis and Dielectric Properties of Ba_3NaBiNb_(10)O_(30) Ceramics

A new niobate Ba 3NaBiNb 10 O 30 was synthesized by the solid state reaction.The reaction mixture was characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG DTA),X ray diffraction and dielectric constant measurements.The results show that Ba 3NaBiNb 10 O 30 has an orthorhombic tungsten bronze structure with space group Cmm2 and the unit cell parameters are a=1.7660(1) nm,a=1.7626(1) nm,c=0.78621(6) nm,Z=4.Ba 3NaBiNb 10 O 30 undergoes two phase transitions at 200℃ and 400℃,respectively.

Asymmetric two-dimensional diffraction grating via a vortex field in an inverted-Ytype atomic system

We propose a theoretical scheme to realize a two-dimensional(2D)diffraction grating in a four-level inverted-Y-type atomic system coupled by a standing-wave(SW)field and a Laguerre-Gaussian(LG)vortex field.Owing to asymmetric spatial modulation of the LG vortex field,the incident probe field can be lopsidedly diffracted into four domains and an asymmetric 2D electromagnetically induced grating is created.By adjusting the detunings of the probe field and the LG vortex field,the intensities of the LG vortex field and the coherent SW field,as well as the interaction length,the diffraction properties and efficiency,can be effectively manipulated.In addition,the effect of the azimuthal parameter on the Fraunhofer diffraction of the probe field is also discussed.This asymmetric 2D diffraction grating scheme may provide a versatile platform for designing quantum devices that require asymmetric light transmission.

Antibacterial properties of copper-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation method

Controlled growth and careful characterization of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles for antibacterial applica- tions are challenging. Copper-substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles （CuxCo1-xFe2O4）, where x = 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0, were synthesized using an economical and simple co-precipitation technique. The crys- tal structure and antibacterial properties of the samples as a function of Cu-substituted content were systematically studied. With increasing Cu concentration, the nanopartide size decreased from ~30 to ~20 nm. The Fourier transform infra-red spectra exhibit two prominent fundamental absorption bands, at ~595 and 419 cm^-1. These bands correspond to intrinsic stretching vibrations of metals at tetrahedral and octahedral sites, respectively. The Raman scattering results reveal that increasing the Cu content enhances the local disorder at both tetrahedral and octahedral sub lattices. The results indicate that the substitution of Co with Cu in cobalt ferrite nanoparticles strongly influences the microstructure, crystal structure, and oarticle diameter, and also improves the antibacterial properties.

Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Zn-Doped CdO Thin Films Fabricated by a Simplified Spray Pyrolysis Technique

Thin films of zinc-doped cadmium oxide with different Zn-doping levels（0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 at%） were deposited on glass substrates by employing an inexpensive, simplified spray technique using perfume atomizer at relatively low substrate temperature（375 °C） compared with the conventional spray method. The effect of Zn doping on the structural,morphological, optical, and electrical properties of the films was investigated. XRD patterns revealed that all the films are polycrystalline in nature having cubic crystal structure with a preferential orientation along the（1 1 1） plane irrespective of Zn-doping level. Zn-doping level causes a slight shift in the（1 1 1） diffraction peak toward higher angle. The crystallite size of the films was found to be in the range of 28–37 nm. The band gap value increases with Zn doping and reaches a maximum of 2.65 eV for the film coated with 6 at% Zn doping and for further higher doping concentration it decreases.Electrical studies indicate that Zn doping causes a reduction in the resistivity of the films and a minimum resistivity of15.69 X cm is observed for the film coated with 6 at% Zn.

Synthesis and Properties of Monodisperse Superparamagnetic Mg_(0.8)Mn_(0.2)Fe_2O_4 Nanoparticles Using Polyol Reflux Method

Superparamagnetic monodisperse Mg0.8Mn0.2Fe2O4 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized in liquid polyol at elevated temperature of 200 °C. Diethylene glycol（DEG） used here plays dual role in synthesis as it acts as reducing agent and alternatively coats the surface of nanoparticles while synthesis and thereby maintaining uniform size and dispersibility. Powder X-ray diffraction（XRD） and magnetic measurements showed that the sample is cubic spinel and superparamagnetic at room temperature. Raman spectra confirmed the formation of the Mg0.8Mn0.2Fe2O4 nanoparticles.The nanoparticles exhibit very good stability in water due to in situ coating with DEG molecules.

Lithium ion conduction and ion-polymer interaction in poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) based electrolytes blended with different plasticizers

Poly（ethylene oxide）, poly（vinyl pyrrolidone）（PEO/PVP）, lithium perchlorate salt（Li Cl O4） and different plasticizer based, gel polymer electrolytes were prepared by the solvent casting technique. XRD results show that the crystallinity decreases with the addition of different plasticizers. Consequently, there is an enhancement in the amorphousity of the samples responsible for the process of ion transport. FTIR spectroscopy is used to characterize the structure of the polymer and confirms the complexation of plasticizer with host polymer matrix. The ionic conductivity has been calculated using the bulk impedance obtained through impedance spectroscopy. Among the various plasticizers, the ethylene carbonate（EC） based complex exhibits a maximum ionic conductivity value of the order of2.7279 10 4S cm 1. Thermal stability of the prepared electrolyte films shows that they can be used in batteries at elevated temperatures. PEO（72%）/PVP（8%）/Li Cl O4（8%）/EC（12%） has the maximum ionic conductivity value which is supported by the lowest optical band gap and lowest intensity in photoluminescence spectroscopy near 400–450 nm. Two and three dimensional topographic images of the sample having a maximum ionic conductivity show the presence of micropores.

Enhanced Strength and Ductility Due to Microstructure Refinement and Texture Weakening of the GW102K Alloy by Cyclic Extrusion Compression

The cyclic extrusion compression （CEC） was applied to severely deform the as-extruded GW102K （Mg- 10.0Gd-2.0Y-0.5Zr, wt%） alloy at 350, 400, and 450 ℃, respectively. The microstructure, texture, and grain boundary character distribution of the CECed alloy were investigated in the present work. The mechan- ical properties were measured by uniaxial tension at room temperature. The crack initiation on the longitudinal section near the tensile fracture-surface was investigated by high-resolution scanning elec- tron microscopy （SEM）. The result shows that the microstructure was dramatically refined by dynamic recrystallization （DRX）. The initial fiber texture was disintegrated and obviously weakened. The 8-passes/ 350 ℃ CECed alloy exhibited yield strength of 318 MPa with an elongation-to-fracture of 16.8%, increased by 41.3% and 162.5%, respectively. Moreover, the elongation-to-fracture of the 8-passes/450 ℃ CECed alloy significantly increased more than 3 times than that of the received alloy. The cracks were mainly initi- ated at twin boundaries and second phase/matrix interfaces during tensile deformation. The microstructure refinement was considered to result in the dramatically enhanced of the strength and ductility. In ad- dition, the texture randomization during CEC is beneficial for enhancing ductility. The standard positive Hall-Petch relationships have been obtained for the CECed GW102K alloy.

The effect of annealing temperature and the characteristics of p-n junction diodes based on sprayed polyaniline/ZnO thin films

Polyaniline,ZnO and polyaniline/ZnO nanocomposite thin films are coated on glass substrates using the spray pyrolysis technique.The samples are characterized by the XRD,SEM,EDAX,UV-Vis and I-V characteristics. The XRD analyses confirm that the spray-coated polyaniline and ZnO thin films have orthorhombic and hexagonal structures,respectively,and optical bandgap energy decreases from 3.81 to 3.41 eV with the addition of a Zn atom.SEM analysis of the polyaniline/ZnO nanocomposite thin films shows that there is an agglomeration of ZnO particles with uniform distribution in the polyaniline matrix,and the diode characteristics of the polyaniline /ZnO nanocomposite show weak rectification behavior.Parameters such as the ideality factor,reverse saturation current and barrier height are calculated from the I-V characteristics.

Structural,Dielectric,and Magnetic Studies on Electrospun Magnesium Ferrite-Polyvinylidene Fluoride Core–Shell Composite Fibers

The sub-micron（of the order of 150 nm） thick core–shell composite fibers of magnesium ferrite-polyvinylidene fluoride are prepared by electrospinning.The loading of magnesium ferrite is varied from 1 to 10 wt%.The study results by X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscope,and infra-red spectroscopy indicate the formation of core–shell structure and an enhancement in the amount of b-phase compared to a-phase in the polyvinylidene fluoride.The particle size of the magnesium ferrite in the fiber is evaluated to be 30 nm.The low frequency dielectric studies indicate that the addition of the magnesium ferrite increases the polarization resulting in the increase in the dielectric constant but decreases the dielectric loss.The magnetization measurements indicate an increased value of coercivity compared to bulk due to the nano-size of the magnesium ferrite.The microwave absorption at the ferromagnetic resonance increases with the increase in the concentration of magnesium ferrite.The resonance field is found to vary with the loading of MFO.