Electrodeposition of platinum and silver into chemically modified microporous silicon electrodes

Electrodeposition of platinum and silver into hydrophobic and hydrophilic microporous silicon layers was investigated using chemically modified microporous silicon electrodes. Hydrophobic microporous silicon enhanced the electrodeposition of platinum in the porous layer. Meanwhile, hydrophilic one showed that platinum was hardly deposited within the porous layer, and a film of platinum on the top of the porous layer was observed. On the other hand, the electrodeposition of silver showed similar deposition behavior between these two chemically modified electrodes. It was also found that the electrodeposition of silver started at the pore opening and grew toward the pore bottom, while a uniform deposition from the pore bottom was observed in platinum electrodeposition. These electrodeposition behaviors are explained on the basis of the both effects, the difference in overpotential for metal deposition on silicon and on the deposited metal, and displacement deposition rate of metal

Electronic states around a vortex core in high-Tc superconductors based on the t-J model

Electronic states around vortex cores in high-Tc superconductors are studied using the two-dimensional t-J model in order to treat the d-wave superconductivity with short coherence length and the antiferromagnetic (AF) instability within the same framework. We focus on the disappearance of the large zero-energy peak in the local density of states observed in high-Tc superconductors. When the system is near the optimum doping, we find that the local AF correlation develops inside the vortex cores. However, the detailed doping dependence calculations confirm that the experimentally observed reduction of the zero-energy peak is more reasonably attributed to the smallness of the core size rather than to the AF correlation developed inside the core. The correlation between the spatial dependence of the core states and the core radius is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Local density of states around a magnetic impurity in high-Tc superconductors based on the t-J model

The local density of states (LDOS) around a magnetic impurity in high-Tc superconductors is studied using the two-dimensional t-J model with a realistic band structure. The order parameters are determined in a self-consistent way within the Gutzwiller approximation and the Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory. In sharp contrast with the nonmagnetic impurity case, the LDOS near the magnetic impurity shows two resonance peaks reflecting the presence of spin-dependent resonance states. It is also shown that these resonance states are approximately localized around the impurity. The present results have an large implication on the scanning tunneling spectroscopy observation of Bi_{2}Sr_{2}Ca(Cu_{1-x}Ni[Zn]_{x})_{2}O_{8+delta}.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Genetic Heterogeneity of Hepatitis C Virus in Association with Antiviral Therapy Determined by Ultra-Deep Sequencing

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) invariably shows wide heterogeneity in infected patients, referred to as a quasispecies population. Massive amounts of genetic information due to the abundance of HCV variants could be an obstacle to evaluate the viral genetic heterogeneity in detail.Using a newly developed massive-parallel ultra-deep sequencing technique, we investigated the viral genetic heterogeneity in 27 chronic hepatitis C patients receiving peg-interferon (IFN) α2b plus ribavirin therapy.Ultra-deep sequencing determined a total of more than 10 million nucleotides of the HCV genome, corresponding to a mean of more than 1000 clones in each specimen, and unveiled extremely high genetic heterogeneity in the genotype 1b HCV population. There was no significant difference in the level of viral complexity between immediate virologic responders and non-responders at baseline (p = 0.39). Immediate virologic responders (n = 8) showed a significant reduction in the genetic complexity spanning all the viral genetic regions at the early phase of IFN administration (p = 0.037). In contrast, non-virologic responders (n = 8) showed no significant changes in the level of viral quasispecies (p = 0.12), indicating that very few viral clones are sensitive to IFN treatment. We also demonstrated that clones resistant to direct-acting antivirals for HCV, such as viral protease and polymerase inhibitors, preexist with various abundances in all 27 treatment-naïve patients, suggesting the risk of the development of drug resistance against these agents.Use of the ultra-deep sequencing technology revealed massive genetic heterogeneity of HCV, which has important implications regarding the treatment response and outcome of antiviral therapy

A Physical Mechanism for Suppression of Zinc Dendrites Caused by High Efficiency of the Electrodeposition within Confined Nanopores

A strategy for the suppression of zinc dendrites in electrodeposition controlled by a physical factor has been proposed and demonstrated. Zinc electrodeposition within confined nanopores shows a high current efficiency even at a current density higher than the diffusion-limited current measured on a planar substrate. Our results suggest that the electrodeposition is free from the diffusion-limitation problem only when the electrodeposition occurs within the confined nanopores

Dynamics of cavitation bubbles generated by multi-pulse laser irradiation of a solid target in water

The effect of the second and later pulses on the expansion dynamics of the cavitation bubble produced by multi-pulse microchip laser irradiation of a Cu target in water has been investigated. We clarified the bubble dynamics by taking shadowgraph images and measuring the bubble radius as a function of time. Shock waves were also measured to investigate the explosive expansion of the bubble. As a result, the second and later pulses did not cause an explosive expansion, and the ablation of the target by these pulses was rather mild, although they had a certain contribution to the expansion of the bubble. The energies given to the bubble expansion from the first pulse and also from the second pulse were estimated by comparing the experimental results with the calculation based on the Rayleigh model

Pore formation in p-type silicon in solutions containing different types of alcohol.

Macroporous structure of silicon can be obtained with anodization in HF solution. The macropore formation in the presence of alcohol was studied. Macroporous layer formation in a low-concentration HF solution is stabilized with increasing the number of carbon in alcohol. Dissolution at the topmost part of the porous layer is observed though the behavior depends upon the type of alcohol. Meanwhile the total mass loss of dissolved silicon is almost constant. Such dissolution at the top surface occurs only when the concentration of HF is low. Adding organic solvents to the HF solution also leads to the suppression of the pore wall dissolution. The type of alcohol and HF concentration in solution affect the formation of porous silicon

Spectral profile of atomic emission lines and effects of pulse duration on laser ablation in liquid

The emission spectra of laser-ablated Cu atoms in water were examined, focusing on the irradiation-pulse duration effects. Spectral line profile was observed for the pulse duration of 19, 90, and 150 ns at various delay times. The line width as narrow as instrumental width was obtained by 150-ns pulse at the delay time of 800 ns. Also, long pulses result in high intensity of the emission. The spectral feature obtained by long pulses looks similar to that obtained in a gas phase. The absorption of the later part of the long pulse directly by the plume having been formed by the earlier part of the pulse may be the cause of this gas-phase-like emission. Whether the pulse heats directly the surface or the plume was investigated by the measurements of the removal volume of the ablation pit obtained by laser confocal scanning microscopy and the maximum bubble expansion size observed by shadowgraphy

Two-dimensional space-resolved emission spectroscopy of laser ablation plasma in water

We developed a method for two-dimensional space-resolved emission spectroscopy of laser-induced plasma in water to investigate the spatial distribution of atomic species involved in the plasma. Using this method, the laser ablation plasma produced on a Cu target in 5 mM NaCl aqueous solution was examined. The emission spectrum varied considerably depending on the detecting position. The temperature and the atomic density ratio N[Na]/N[Cu] at various detecting positions were evaluated by fitting emission spectra to a theoretical model based on the Boltzmann distribution. We are successful in observing even a small difference between the distributions of the plasma parameters along the directions vertical and horizontal to the surface. The present approach gives direct information for sound understanding of the behavior of laser ablation plasma produced on a solid surface in water