Concentric double hollow grid cathode discharges

A new cathode system, consisting of two concentric spherical hollow grids with two aligned orifices, is investigated by space-resolved Langmuir probe measurements and non-linear dynamics analysis. Negative biases of this spherical hollow grids arrangement lead to the formation of two complex space charge structures in the regions of the orifices. The overall dynamics of the current-voltage characteristic (I–V characteristic) of each discharge is characterized by strong oscillatory behaviour with various waveforms correlated with jumps in the static I–V characteristics. Space-resolved measurements through the two aligned orifices of the two grids show a peak increase of the electron temperature and particle density in the regions of the two space-charge structures. The effects of the biases and Ar pressure on the overall spatial distribution of all plasma parameters are investigated. Two important working points of the concentric double hollow grid cathode discharges are revealed which could make this configuration suitable as an electron source

Characterisation of nanoparticles by means of high-resolution SEM/EDS in transmission mode

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Size and Shape Distributions of Primary Crystallites in Titania Aggregates

The primary crystallite size of titania powder relates to its properties in a number of applications. Transmission electron microscopy was used in this interlaboratory comparison (ILC) to measure primary crystallite size and shape distributions for a commercial aggregated titania powder. Data of four size descriptors and two shape descriptors were evaluated across nine laboratories. Data repeatability and reproducibility was evaluated by analysis of variance. One-third of the laboratory pairs had similar size descriptor data, but 83% of the pairs had similar aspect ratio data. Scale descriptor distributions were generally unimodal and were well-described by lognormal reference models. Shape descriptor distributions were multi-modal but data visualization plots demonstrated that the Weibull distribution was preferred to the normal distribution. For the equivalent circular diameter size descriptor, measurement uncertainties of the lognormal distribution scale and width parameters were 9.5% and 22%, respectively. For the aspect ratio shape descriptor, the measurement uncertainties of the Weibull distribution scale and width parameters were 7.0% and 26%, respectively. Both measurement uncertainty estimates and data visualizations should be used to analyze size and shape distributions of particles on the nanoscale