Optical trapping of silver nanoplatelets

Optical trapping of silver nanoplatelets obtained with a simple room temperature chemical synthesis technique is reported. Trap spring constants are measured for platelets with different diameters to investigate the size-scaling behaviour. Experimental data are compared with models of optical forces based on the dipole approximation and on electromagnetic scattering within a T-matrix framework. Finally, we discuss applications of these nanoplatelets for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Infrared study on the thermal evolution of solid state formamide

Laboratory experiments have shown that the energetic processing, i.e. ion bombardment and UV photolysis, of interstellar grain mantles and cometary surfaces is efficient in the production of formamide. To explain its presence in the gas-phase in these astrophysical environments, a desorption mechanism has to be taken into account. In this work we show experimental results on the thermal evolution of formamide when deposited at 17 K as pure and in mixture with water or carbon monoxide. In these samples, we observed formamide desorption at 220 K. Moreover, we discuss its synthesis in a mixture containing molecular nitrogen, methane and water (N2:CH4:H2O) deposited at 17 K and bombarded with 200 keV H+. Heating the sample, we observed that the newly formed formamide remains trapped in the refractory residue produced after the ion bombardment up to 296 K. To analyse the samples we used Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) that allowed us to study the infrared spectra between the deposition and the complete desorption of formamide. Here we discuss the experimental results in view of their astrophysical relevance

Raman Spectroscopy for Carbon Based Amorphous Thin Films

ABSTRACTVibrational spectroscopies and in particular Raman spectroscopy are known to be among the most useful tools to characterize and control the properties of carbon materials. This is because of the possibility to detect and study the carbon bonding state and because of the strong correlation between shape and width of the vibrational signals and the structure of the amorphous network. The aim of this work is to present some experiments in which the formation and evolution of carbon films obtained by energetic particle irradiation of solid targets or by deposition of carbonaceous species onto suitable surfaces, are controlled and studied by these methods. Particular attention will be given to pure amorphous carbon films and carbon based binary alloys.</jats:p

Raman Spectroscopy Investigation of Graphene Oxide Reduction by Laser Scribing

Laser scribing has been proposed as a fast and easy tool to reduce graphene oxide (GO) for a wide range of applications. Here, we investigate laser reduction of GO under a range of processing and material parameters, such as laser scan speed, number of laser passes, and material coverage. We use Raman spectroscopy for the characterization of the obtained materials. We demonstrate that laser scan speed is the most influential parameter, as a slower scan speed yields poor GO reduction. The number of laser passes is influential where the material coverage is higher, producing a significant improvement of GO reduction on a second pass. Material coverage is the least influential parameter, as it affects GO reduction only under restricted conditions