Isotopic shifts of the low-energy excitations of interstitial oxygen in germanium

Abstract The rotational states of O in natural Ge as determined by phonon spectroscopy are found to be shifted in isotopically enriched Ge : O crystals. These shifts are larger than compatible with the line width in natural Ge if only the motion of the quasi-free Ge-O-Ge molecule is considered. Because of the reduced isotope scattering of the phonons in the enriched Ge the position of higher excited states could be determined. This allows to estimate the height of the axial potential barrier by extending to Ge : O the Yamada-Kaneta model for Si : O

Bacterial cellulose may provide the microbial-life biosignature in the rock records

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a matrix for a biofilm formation, which is critical for survival and persistence of microbes in harsh environments. BC could play a significant role in the formation of microbial mats in pristine ecosystems on Earth. The prime objective of this study was to measure to what extent spectral and other characteristics of BC were changed under the performance of BC interaction with the earthly rock – anorthosite – via microorganisms. The spectral analyses (Fourier Transform Infrared FT-IR, spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy) showed unprecedented accumulation of chemical elements in the BC-based biofilm. The absorption capacity of IR by BC was shielded a little by mineral crust formed by microorganisms on the BC based biofilm surface, especially clearly seen in the range of 1200-900 cm−1 in FT-IR spectra. Confocal scanning laser microscopy analysis revealed that elements bioleached from anorthosite created surface coats on the BC nanofibril web. At the same time, the vibrational spectra bands showed the presence of the characteristic region of anomeric carbons (960 – 730 cm-1), wherein a band at 897 cm-1 confirmed the presence of β-1,4- linkages, which may serve as the cellulose fingerprint region. Results show that BC may be a biosignature for search signs of living organisms in rock records

Interstitial carbon related defects in low-temperature irradiated Si:FTIR and DLTS studies

The evolution of radiation-induced carbon-related defects in low temperature irradiated oxygen containing silicon has been studied by means of Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). FTIR measurements have shown that annealing of interstitial carbon atom C-i, occurring in the temperature interval 260-300 K, results in a gradual appearance of a number of new absorption bands along with the well known bands related to the CiOi complex. The new bands are positioned at 812, 910.2, 942.6, 967.4 and 1086 cm(-1). It has been found that the pair of bands at 910 and 942 cm(-1) as well as another set of the bands at 812, 967.4 and 1086 cm(-1) display identical behavior upon isochronal annealing, i.e. the bands in both groups appear and disappear simultaneously. The disappearance of the first group occurs at T = 285-300 K while the second group anneals out at T = 310-340 K. These processes are accompanied by an increase in intensity of the bands related to CiOi. It is suggested that intermediate states (precursors) are formed upon the transformation from a single (isolated) Ci atom to a stable CiOi defect. The results obtained in DLTS studies are in agreement with the FTIR data and show unambiguously the formation of CiOi precursors with slightly lower activation energy for the hole emission as compare to that for the main CiOi state