Production of ordered silicon nanocrystals by low-energy ion sputtering

We report on the production of ordered assemblies of silicon nanostructures by means of irradiation of a Si(100) substrate with 1.2 keV Ar ions at normal incidence. Atomic Force and High-Resolution Transmission Electron microscopies show that the silicon structures are crystalline, display homogeneous height, and spontaneously arrange into short-range hexagonal ordering. Under prolonged irradiation (up to 16 hours) all dot characteristics remain largely unchanged and a small corrugation develops at long wavelengths. We interpret the formation of the dots as a result of an instability due to the sputtering yield dependence on the local surface curvatureComment: 4 two-column pages (revtex4), 3 figures (higher quality copies in the printed jrnl. version

Effect of silver on the phase transition and wettability of titanium oxide films

The effect of silver on the phase transition and microstructure of titanium oxide films grown by pulsed cathodic arc had been investigated by XRD, SEM and Raman spectroscopy. Following successive thermal annealing up to 1000 °C, microstructural analysis of annealed Ag-TiO2 films reveals that the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles strongly affects the transition temperature from the initial metastable amorphous phase to anatase and stable rutile phase. An increase of silver content into TiO2 matrix inhibits the amorphous to anatase phase transition, raising its temperature boundary and, simultaneously reduces the transition temperature to promote rutile structure at lower value of 600 °C. The results are interpreted in terms of the steric effects produced by agglomeration of Ag atoms into larger clusters following annealing which hinders diffusion of Ti and O ions for anatase formation and constrains the volume available for the anatase lattice, thus disrupting its structure to form rutile phase. The effect of silver on the optical and wetting properties of TiO2 was evaluated to demonstrate its improved photocatalytic performance

Functionalization of Hydrogen-free Diamond-like Carbon Films using Open-air Dielectric Barrier Discharge Atmospheric Plasma Treatments

A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) technique has been employed to produce uniform atmospheric plasmas of He and N2 gas mixtures in open air in order to functionalize the surface of filtered-arc deposited hydrogen-free diamond-like carbon (DLC) films. XPS measurements were carried out on both untreated and He/N2 DBD plasma treated DLC surfaces. Chemical states of the C 1s and N 1s peaks were collected and used to characterize the surface bonds. Contact angle measurements were also used to record the short- and long-term variations in wettability of treated and untreated DLC. In addition, cell viability tests were performed to determine the influence of various He/N2 atmospheric plasma treatments on the attachment of osteoblast MC3T3 cells. Current evidence shows the feasibility of atmospheric plasmas in producing long-lasting variations in the surface bonding and surface energy of hydrogen-free DLC and consequently the potential for this technique in the functionalization of DLC coated devices

Bcr/Abl Interferes with the Fanconi Anemia/BRCA Pathway: Implications in the Chromosomal Instability of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant clonal disorder of the hematopoietic system caused by the expression of the BCR/ABL fusion oncogene. Although it is well known that CML cells are genetically unstable, the mechanisms accounting for this genomic instability are still poorly understood. Because the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway is believed to control several mechanisms of DNA repair, we investigated whether this pathway was disrupted in CML cells. Our data show that CML cells have a defective capacity to generate FANCD2 nuclear foci, either in dividing cells or after DNA damage. Similarly, human cord blood CD34+ cells transduced with BCR/ABL retroviral vectors showed impaired FANCD2 foci formation, whereas FANCD2 monoubiquitination in these cells was unaffected. Soon after the transduction of CD34+ cells with BCR/ABL retroviral vectors a high proportion of cells with supernumerary centrosomes was observed. Similarly, BCR/ABL induced a high proportion of chromosomal abnormalities, while mediated a cell survival advantage after exposure to DNA cross-linking agents. Significantly, both the impaired formation of FANCD2 nuclear foci, and also the predisposition of BCR/ABL cells to develop centrosomal and chromosomal aberrations were reverted by the ectopic expression of BRCA1. Taken together, our data show for the first time a disruption of the FA/BRCA pathway in BCR/ABL cells, suggesting that this defective pathway should play an important role in the genomic instability of CML by the co-occurrence of centrosomal amplification and DNA repair deficiencies

Effect of silver on the phase transition and wettability of titanium oxide films

The effect of silver on the phase transition and microstructure of titanium oxide films grown by pulsed cathodic arc had been investigated by XRD, SEM and Raman spectroscopy. Following successive thermal annealing up to 1000 °C, microstructural analysis of annealed Ag-TiO films reveals that the incorporation of Ag nanoparticles strongly affects the transition temperature from the initial metastable amorphous phase to anatase and stable rutile phase. An increase of silver content into TiO matrix inhibits the amorphous to anatase phase transition, raising its temperature boundary and, simultaneously reduces the transition temperature to promote rutile structure at lower value of 600 °C. The results are interpreted in terms of the steric effects produced by agglomeration of Ag atoms into larger clusters following annealing which hinders diffusion of Ti and O ions for anatase formation and constrains the volume available for the anatase lattice, thus disrupting its structure to form rutile phase. The effect of silver on the optical and wetting properties of TiO was evaluated to demonstrate its improved photocatalytic performance.This work was supported by the State Secretary of Research, Development and Innovation of Spain through the FUNCOAT project, within the program CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 (ref. CSD2008-00023)

Exciton and core-level electron confinement effects in transparent ZnO thin films

Équipe 104 : NanomatériauxInternational audienceThe excitonic light emission of ZnO films have been investigated by means of photoluminescence measurements in ultraviolet-visible region. Exciton confinement effects have been observed in thin ZnO coatings with thickness below 20 nm. This is enhanced by a rise of the intensity and a blue shift of the photoluminescence peak after extraction of the adsorbed species upon annealing in air. It is found experimentally that the free exciton energy (determined by the photoluminescence peak) is inversely proportional to the square of the thickness while core-level binding energy is inversely proportional to the thickness. These findings correlate very well with the theory of kinetic and potential confinements

Bcr/Abl Interferes with the Fanconi Anemia/BRCA Pathway: Implications in the Chromosomal Instability of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a malignant clonal disorder of the hematopoietic system caused by the expression of the BCR/ABL fusion oncogene. Although it is well known that CML cells are genetically unstable, the mechanisms accounting for this genomic instability are still poorly understood. Because the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway is believed to control several mechanisms of DNA repair, we investigated whether this pathway was disrupted in CML cells. Our data show that CML cells have a defective capacity to generate FANCD2 nuclear foci, either in dividing cells or after DNA damage. Similarly, human cord blood CD34+ cells transduced with BCR/ABL retroviral vectors showed impaired FANCD2 foci formation, whereas FANCD2 monoubiquitination in these cells was unaffected. Soon after the transduction of CD34+ cells with BCR/ABL retroviral vectors a high proportion of cells with supernumerary centrosomes was observed. Similarly, BCR/ABL induced a high proportion of chromosomal abnormalities, while mediated a cell survival advantage after exposure to DNA crosslinking agents. Significantly, both the impaired formation of FANCD2 nuclear foci, and also the predisposition of BCR/ABL cells to develop centrosomal and chromosomal aberrations were reverted by the ectopic expression of BRCA1. Taken together, our data show for the first time a disruption of the FA/BRCA pathway in BCR/ABL cells, suggesting that this defective pathway should play an important role in the genomic instability of CML by the co-occurrence of centrosomal amplification and DNA repair deficiencies