135 research outputs found
Dynamics and control of gold-encapped gallium arsenide nanowires imaged by 4D electron microscopy
Eutectic related reaction is a special chemical/physical reaction involving
multiple phases, solid and liquid. Visualization of phase reaction of composite
nanomaterials with high spatial and temporal resolution provides a key
understanding of alloy growth with important industrial applications. However,
it has been a rather challenging task. Here we report the direct imaging and
control of the phase reaction dynamics of a single, as-grown free-standing
gallium arsenide nanowire encapped with a gold nanoparticle, free from
environmental confinement or disturbance, using four-dimensional electron
microscopy. The non-destructive preparation of as-grown free-standing nanowires
without supporting films allows us to study their anisotropic properties in
their native environment with better statistical character. A laser heating
pulse initiates the eutectic related reaction at a temperature much lower than
the melting points of the composite materials, followed by a precisely
time-delayed electron pulse to visualize the irreversible transient states of
nucleation, growth and solidification of the complex. Combined with theoretical
modeling, useful thermodynamic parameters of the newly formed alloy phases and
their crystal structures could be determined. This technique of dynamical
control and 4D imaging of phase reaction processes on the nanometer-ultrafast
time scale open new venues for engineering various reactions in a wide variety
of other systems
Analytical vectorial structure of non-paraxial four-petal Gaussian beams in the far field
The analytical vectorial structure of non-paraxial four-petal Gaussian
beams(FPGBs) in the far field has been studied based on vector angular spectrum
method and stationary phase method. In terms of analytical electromagnetic
representations of the TE and TM terms, the energy flux distributions of the TE
term, the TM term, and the whole beam are derived in the far field,
respectively. According to our investigation, the FPGBs can evolve into a
number of small petals in the far field. The number of the petals is determined
by the order of input beam. The physical pictures of the FPGBs are well
illustrated from the vectorial structure, which is beneficial to strengthen the
understanding of vectorial properties of the FPGBs
Imaging rotational dynamics of nanoparticles in liquid by 4D electron microscopy
In real time and space, four-dimensional electron microscopy (4D EM) has enabled observation of transient structures and morphologies of inorganic and organic materials. We have extended 4D EM to include liquid cells without the time resolution being limited by the response of the detector. Our approach permits the imaging of the motion and morphological dynamics of a single, same particle on nanometer and ultrashort time scales. As a first application, we studied the rotational dynamics of gold nanoparticles in aqueous solution. A full transition from the conventional diffusive rotation to superdiffusive rotation and further to a ballistic rotation was observed with increasing asymmetry of the nanoparticle morphology. We explored the underlying physics both experimentally and theoretically according to the morphological asymmetry of the nanoparticles
Does introducing an immunization package of services for migrant children improve the coverage, service quality and understanding? An evidence from an intervention study among 1548 migrant children in eastern China
Vectorial structure of a hard-edged-diffracted four-petal Gaussian beam in the far field
Based on the vector angular spectrum method and the stationary phase method
and the fact that a circular aperture function can be expanded into a finite
sum of complex Gaussian functions, the analytical vectorial structure of a
four-petal Gaussian beam (FPGB) diffracted by a circular aperture is derived in
the far field. The energy flux distributions and the diffraction effect
introduced by the aperture are studied and illustrated graphically. Moreover,
the influence of the f-parameter and the truncation parameter on the
nonparaxiality is demonstrated in detail. In addition, the analytical formulas
obtained in this paper can degenerate into un-apertured case when the
truncation parameter tends to infinity. This work is beneficial to strengthen
the understanding of vectorial properties of the FPGB diffracted by a circular
aperture
Photoinduced nanobubble-driven superfast diffusion of nanoparticles imaged by 4D electron microscopy
Dynamics of active or propulsive Brownian particles in nonequilibrium status have recently attracted great interest in many fields including artificial micro/nanoscopic motors and biological entities. Understanding of their dynamics can provide insight into the statistical properties of physical and biological systems far from equilibrium. We report the translational dynamics of photon-activated gold nanoparticles (NPs) in water imaged by liquid-cell four-dimensional electron microscopy (4D-EM) with high spatiotemporal resolution. Under excitation of femtosecond laser pulses, we observed that those NPs exhibit superfast diffusive translation with a diffusion constant four to five orders of magnitude greater than that in the absence of laser excitation. The measured diffusion constant follows a power-law dependence on the laser fluence and a linear increase with the laser repetition rate, respectively. This superfast diffusion of the NPs is induced by a strong random driving force arising from the photoinduced steam nanobubbles (NBs) near the NP surface. In contrast, the NPs exhibit a superfast ballistic translation at a short time scale down to nanoseconds. Combining with a physical model simulation, this study reveals a photoinduced NB propulsion mechanism for propulsive motion, providing physical insights into better design of light-activated artificial micro/nanomotors. The liquid-cell 4D-EM also provides the potential of studying other numerical dynamical behaviors in their native environments
Photoinduced nanobubble-driven superfast diffusion of nanoparticles imaged by 4D electron microscopy
Dynamics of active or propulsive Brownian particles in nonequilibrium status have recently attracted great interest in many fields including artificial micro/nanoscopic motors and biological entities. Understanding of their dynamics can provide insight into the statistical properties of physical and biological systems far from equilibrium. We report the translational dynamics of photon-activated gold nanoparticles (NPs) in water imaged by liquid-cell four-dimensional electron microscopy (4D-EM) with high spatiotemporal resolution. Under excitation of femtosecond laser pulses, we observed that those NPs exhibit superfast diffusive translation with a diffusion constant four to five orders of magnitude greater than that in the absence of laser excitation. The measured diffusion constant follows a power-law dependence on the laser fluence and a linear increase with the laser repetition rate, respectively. This superfast diffusion of the NPs is induced by a strong random driving force arising from the photoinduced steam nanobubbles (NBs) near the NP surface. In contrast, the NPs exhibit a superfast ballistic translation at a short time scale down to nanoseconds. Combining with a physical model simulation, this study reveals a photoinduced NB propulsion mechanism for propulsive motion, providing physical insights into better design of light-activated artificial micro/nanomotors. The liquid-cell 4D-EM also provides the potential of studying other numerical dynamical behaviors in their native environments
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