Ce-catalyzed oxidation of Ta(110)

Photoemission spectroscopy was used to investigate the initial oxidation of the Ce/Ta(110) interface at room temperature. The oxidation of Ta(110) is dramatically enhanced by a thin Ce overlayer. A Ta suboxide TaOχ (0.5≤χ≤1) is formed first in the interface, followed by the rapid formation of Ta2O5 upon further oxygen exposure. A weak interface reaction exists in Ce/Ta(110), but is excluded as the main cause of the catalytic oxidation. An earlier suggestion is reconfirmed that the Ce layer converts O2 to oxygen ions and thus promotes the oxidation of the substrate

Thermoreflectance investigation of the antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases of Cr

Thermoreflectance measurements have been performed on Cr single crystals at several temperatures above and below the Néel temperature. We observe dramatic changes induced by the magnetic phase transition. In contrast, static optical data fail to show appreciable differences in the (0.5-5.0)-eV photon-energy range. Magnetic ordering gives rise to the disappearance of transitions involving specific regions of the Fermi surface. New critical-point absorptions appear at the boundaries of the new Brillouin zone in antiferromagnetic Cr. Most of the observed experimental features have been identified by comparison with recent band-structure calculations

Optical properties and electronic structure of MgAuSn

The optical conductivity spectrum of single-crystal MgAuSn was measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the energy range 1.5–5.0 eV. The spectrum has a large peak at 2.9 eV and a small shoulder around 4.3 eV. The band structure, density of states, and interband contribution to the optical conductivity were calculated with the tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method in the atomic-sphere approximation. The intraband contribution to the optical conductivity was added using the Drude response fitted to the experimental data. The total theoretical spectrum, including the intraband contribution, agrees well with experimental data

Glitter and Glints on Water

We present new observations of glitter and glints using short and long time exposure photographs and high frame rate videos. Using the sun and moon as light sources to illuminate the ocean and laboratory water basins, we found that (1) most glitter takes place on capillary waves rather than on gravity waves, (2) certain aspects of glitter morphology depend on the presence or absence of thin clouds between the light source and the water, and (3) bent glitter paths are caused by asymmetric wave slope distributions We present computer simulations that are able to reproduce the observations and make predictions about the brightness, polarization, and morphology of glitter and glints. We demonstrate that the optical catastrophe represented by creation and annihilation of a glint can be understood using both ray optics and diffraction theory. (C) 2011 Optical Society of Americ

Electronic structure of Nb-Mo alloys

Thermoreflectance measurements on NbxMo1−x alloys (x=0.2, 0.5, 0.8) have been carried out in the 0.5-5.0 eV energy region. Augmented-plane-wave (APW) calculations for Nb at two different lattice parameters and for Mo, as well as coherent-potential-approximation calculations (CPA), have been carried out and have been used in the interpretation of the experimental results. Several optical transitions [Σ1(EF)→Σ3, G4(EF)→G1,N2→N′1], have been identified, and their concentration dependence followed. These results contribute significantly toward putting the interpretation of the optical properties of Nb, Mo, and their alloys on a much more secure footing. In particular, it has been confirmed that while the lower conduction bands behave roughly as predicted by the rigid-band model, the higher-lying conduction bands show distinctly non-rigid-band-like behavior