Laser surfasse patterning using a Michelson interferometer and a femtosecond laser radiation

We report on a simple method to obtain surface gratings using a Michelson interferometer and femtosecond laser radiation. In the optical setup used, two parallel laser beams are generated using a beam splitter and then focused using the same focusing lens. An interference pattern is created in the focal plane of the focusing lens, which can be used to pattern the surface of materials. The main advantage of this method is that the optical paths difference of the interfering beams is independent of the distance between the beams. As a result, the fringes period can be varied without a need for major realignment of the optical system and the time coincidence between the interfering beams can be easily monitored. The potential of the method was demonstrated by patterning surface gratings with different periods on titanium surfaces in air

Argon assisted chemical vapor deposition of CrO2_2: an efficient process leading to high quality epitaxial films

A comparative study of the structural, microstructural and magnetic properties of CrO$_2$ thin films grown onto (110) and (100) TiO$_2$ rutile single crystal substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), using CrO$_3$ as chromium precursor and either oxygen or argon as carrier gas is presented. Our results show that growth under argon carrier gas leads to high quality CrO$_2$ epilayers with structural and magnetic properties similar to those obtained using the more standard oxygen carrier gas. Furthermore, we interpret the larger magnetic coercivity observed for the (110) oriented films in terms of their microstructure, in particular of the highest strain and edge roughness of the building structures of the CrO$_2$ epilayers, which are settled by the substrate crystallographic orientation.Comment: 27 pages, 2 tables, 8 figure

Sub-micron structuring of silicon using femtosecond laser interferometry

We report the fabrication of planar sub-micron gratings in silicon with a period of 720 nm using a modified Michelson interferometer and femtosecond laser radiation. The gratings consist of alternated stripes of laser ablated and unmodified material. Ablated stripes are bordered by parallel ridges which protrude above the unmodified material. In the regions where ridges are formed, the laser radiation intensity is not sufficient to cause ablation. Nevertheless, melting and a significant temperature increase are expected, and ridges may be formed due to expansion of silicon during resolidification or silicon oxidation. These conclusions are consistent with the evolution of the stripes morphology as a function of the distance from the center of the grating. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Self-Assembly of Supramolecules Consisting of Octyl Gallate Hydrogen Bonded to Polyisoprene-block-poly(vinylpyridine) Diblock Copolymers

Synchrotron radiation was used to investigate the self-assembly in two comb-shaped supramolecules systems consisting of octyl gallate (OG), i.e., 1-octyl-3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate, hydrogen bonded to the pyridine groups of polyisoprene-block-poly(vinylpyridine) diblock copolymers. In the case of the 1,2-polyisoprene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine)(OG)x system, self-assembly was only observed for x ≥0.5, where x denotes the number of OG molecules per pyridine group. For x = 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, and 1.2 the system self-assembled in the form of hexagonally ordered cylinders of P4VP(OG) throughout the entire temperature range of 25-200 °C investigated. For the 1,4-polyisoprene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine)(OG)x system, on the other hand, a considerably more complex phase behavior was found, including the formation of cubic, hexagonally ordered cylinders and lamellar morphologies. In this case several order-order transitions were observed as a function of temperature, including a lamellar to lamellar transition involving a collapse of the layer thickness. The absence of hydrogen bonding between the octyl gallate molecules and the pyridine groups at elevated temperatures is argued to be a key factor for many of the phenomena observed.

Redox-induced change in the ligand coordination mode

© 2014 American Chemical Society. The reaction of cobalt(II) pivalate with a spin-labeled Schiff base (HL1) in organic solvents formed trinuclear complex [Co3(Piv)2L1 2L2 2]·Solv (Solv is Me2CO and/or C7H16 and CH3CN) containing both nitroxide L1 and the product of its single-electron reduction, nitrone L2. The formation of [Co3(Piv)2L1 2L2 2] was a consequence of an unusual phenomenon, which we called "redox-induced change in the ligand coordination mode". A reduction of L1 to L2 led to a change in the set of donor atoms and even in the size of the metallocycle. This phenomenon was also found for mononuclear [CrL1 2L2] and [FeL1 2L2]·Me2CO