Entropy and Random Walk Trails Water Confinement and Non-Thermal Equilibrium in Photon-Induced Nanocavities

Molecules near surfaces are regularly trapped in small cavitations. Molecular confinement, especially water confinement, shows intriguing and unexpected behavior including surface entropy adjustment; nevertheless, observations of entropic variation during molecular confinement are scarce. An experimental assessment of the correlation between surface strain and entropy during molecular confinement in tiny crevices is difficult because strain variances fall in the nanometer scale. In this work, entropic variations during water confinement in 2D nano/micro cavitations were observed. Experimental results and random walk simulations of water molecules inside different size nanocavitations show that the mean escaping time of molecular water from nanocavities largely deviates from the mean collision time of water molecules near surfaces, crafted by 157 nm vacuum ultraviolet laser light on polyacrylamide matrixes. The mean escape time distribution of a few molecules indicates a non-thermal equilibrium state inside the cavity. The time differentiation inside and outside nanocavities reveals an additional state of ordered arrangements between nanocavities and molecular water ensembles of fixed molecular length near the surface. The configured number of microstates correctly counts for the experimental surface entropy deviation during molecular water confinement. The methodology has the potential to identify confined water molecules in nanocavities with life science importance

Vacuum-Ultraviolet and Ultraviolet Fluorescence and Absorption Studies of Er(3+)-Doped Liluf4 Single-Crystals

Journal URL: http://apl.aip.org/apl/top.js

Long-term oxidization and phase transition of InN nanotextures

The long-term (6 months) oxidization of hcp-InN (wurtzite, InN-w) nanostructures (crystalline/amorphous) synthesized on Si [100] substrates is analyzed. The densely packed layers of InN-w nanostructures (5-40 nm) are shown to be oxidized by atmospheric oxygen via the formation of an intermediate amorphous In-Ox-Ny (indium oxynitride) phase to a final bi-phase hcp-InN/bcc-In2O3 nanotexture. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction are used to identify amorphous In-Ox-Ny oxynitride phase. When the oxidized area exceeds the critical size of 5 nm, the amorphous In-Ox-Ny phase eventually undergoes phase transition via a slow chemical reaction of atomic oxygen with the indium atoms, forming a single bcc In2O3 phase

Wide band gap fluoride dielectric crystals doped with trivalent rare earth ions as optical materials for 157 nm photolithography

Journal URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0167931

Preventing biological activity of Ulocladium sp spores in artifacts using 157-nm laser

Journal URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/100501

Long-term oxidization and phase transition of InN nanotextures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>The long-term (6 months) oxidization of hcp-InN (wurtzite, InN-w) nanostructures (crystalline/amorphous) synthesized on Si [100] substrates is analyzed. The densely packed layers of InN-w nanostructures (5-40 nm) are shown to be oxidized by atmospheric oxygen via the formation of an intermediate amorphous In-O_<it>x</it>-N_{<it>y </it>}(indium oxynitride) phase to a final bi-phase hcp-InN/bcc-In₂O₃nanotexture. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction are used to identify amorphous In-O_<it>x</it>-N_{<it>y </it>}oxynitride phase. When the oxidized area exceeds the critical size of 5 nm, the amorphous In-O_<it>x</it>-N_{<it>y </it>}phase eventually undergoes phase transition via a slow chemical reaction of atomic oxygen with the indium atoms, forming a single bcc In₂O₃phase.</p

Nanometric size control and treatment of historic paper manuscript and prints with laser light at 157 nm

Journal URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/100501