Casimir-Lifshitz Force Based Optical Resonators

We theoretically investigate the building of optical resonators based on the levitation properties of thin films subjected to strong repulsive Casimir-Lifshitz forces when immersed in an adequate medium and confronted with a planar substrate. We propose a design in which cavities supporting high Q-factor optical modes at visible frequencies can be achieved by means of…

Influence of pre-deformation on the precipitation hardening in Cu-Ni-Si alloy

The effects of pre-deformation on the precipitation processes in a Cu-2.8 Ni-1.4 Si (at.%) alloy were studied using differential scanning calorimetric (DSC), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microhardness measurements. The calorimetric curves shows the presence of one exothermic reaction attributed to the formation of delta-Ni2Si precipitates in the copper matrix that was confirmed by TEM.…

Spatially Resolved Analysis of Defect Annihilation and Recovery Dynamics in Metal Halide Perovskite Single Crystals

The spectacular advances in efficiency of optoelectronic devices based on lead-halide perovskites have been accompanied by detailed structural and optical studies regarding the instability presented by these materials, which constitute their main bottleneck for commercialization. Following a pump and probe scheme in a laser scanning confocal microscope, we resolve the photoinduced emission activation/deactivation dynamics in…

Sodium ion storage performance of magnetron sputtered WO3 thin films

WO3 thin film electrodes were successfully prepared by magnetron sputtering (MS) deposition under an oblique angle configuration (OAD). Intercalation of Na ions in the tungsten oxide layers has been studied using electrochemical techniques. Sample characterization before and after sodium intercalation has been carried out by Raman, XPS and XRD measurements. ToF-SIMS analysis has been also…

Synthesis, functionalization and properties of uniform europium-doped sodium lanthanum tungstate and molybdate (NaLa(XO4)(2), X = Mo,W) probes for luminescent and X-ray computed tomography bioimaging

A one-pot simple procedure for the synthesis of uniform, ellipsoidal Eu3+-doped sodium lanthanum tungstate and molybdate (NaLa(XO4)(2), X = W, Mo) nanophosphors, functionalized with carboxylate groups, is described. The method is based on a homogeneous precipitation process at 120 degrees C from appropriate Na+ Ln(3+) and tungstate or molybdate precursors dissolved in ethylene glycol/water mixtures…

The influence of mechanical activation process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk Ti2AlN MAX phase obtained by reactive hot pressing

The effect of mechanical activation process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk nanostructured Ti2AlN compound has been investigated in this work. The mixture of Ti and AlN powders was prepared in a 2:1 molar ratio, and a part of this powder was subjected to a high-energy milling process under argon atmosphere for 10…

Sintering kinetics, defect chemistry and room-temperature mechanical properties of titanium nitride prepared by spark plasma sintering

Fully dense titanium nitride polycrystals have been prepared by spark plasma sintering. The kinetics of the sintering process and the optimized conditions for SPS processing have been put forward. Microstructural analyses of the resulting samples have unambiguously shown the coexistence of titanium as Ti2+, Ti3+ and Ti4+, thus driving the presence of cation vacancies. This…