Electronic band gap reduction and intense luminescence in Co and Mn ion-implanted SiO2_2

Cobalt and manganese ions are implanted into SiO$_2$ over a wide range of concentrations. For low concentrations, the Co atoms occupy interstitial locations, coordinated with oxygen, while metallic Co clusters form at higher implantation concentrations. For all concentrations studied here, Mn ions remain in interstitial locations and do not cluster. Using resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy and Anderson impurity model calculations, we determine the strength of the covalent interaction between the interstitial ions and the SiO$_2$ valence band, finding it comparable to Mn and Co monoxides. Further, we find an increasing reduction in the SiO$_2$ electronic band gap for increasing implantation concentration, due primarily to the introduction of Mn- and Co-derived conduction band states. We also observe a strong increase in a band of x-ray stimulated luminescence at 2.75 eV after implantation, attributed to oxygen deficient centers formed during implantation.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Neutron - Mirror Neutron Oscillations: How Fast Might They Be?

We discuss the phenomenological implications of the neutron (n) oscillation into the mirror neutron (n'), a hypothetical particle exactly degenerate in mass with the neutron but sterile to normal matter. We show that the present experimental data allow a maximal n-n' oscillation in vacuum with a characteristic time $\tau$ much shorter than the neutron lifetime, in fact as small as 1 sec. This phenomenon may manifest in neutron disappearance and regeneration experiments perfectly accessible to present experimental capabilities and may also have interesting astrophysical consequences, in particular for the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; revtex; matches paper published by P.R.

CPT-violating neutrino oscillations

We propose a simple phenomenological model predicting, through Lorentz symmetry breaking, a CPT-violating asymmetry between particle and antiparticle states in neutrino oscillations involving sterile neutrinos. Such a model is able to explain the apparently observed anomalous excess of low-energy \nu_e-like events, reported by the MiniBooNE collaboration, as well as the non-observation of the corresponding anomalous excess of \ov{\nu}_e-like events. The present model leads to very specific physical predictions in the neutrino oscillations scenario, and account for the observed anomalies in terms of only one CPT-Lorentz violation parameter of the order of the Grand-Unification energy scale.Comment: revtex, 4 pages, no figure

Stability of boron-doped graphene/copper interface: DFT, XPS and OSEE studies

Two different types of boron-doped graphene/copper interfaces synthesized using two different flow rates of Ar through the bubbler containing the boron source were studied. X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and optically stimulated electron emission (OSEE) measurements have demonstrated that boron-doped graphene coating provides a high corrosion resistivity of Cu-substrate with the light traces of the oxidation of carbon cover. The density functional theory calculations suggest that for the case of substitutional (graphitic) boron-defect only the oxidation near boron impurity is energetically favorable and creation of the vacancies that can induce the oxidation of copper substrate is energetically unfavorable. In the case of non-graphitic boron defects oxidation of the area, a nearby impurity is metastable that not only prevent oxidation but makes boron-doped graphene. Modeling of oxygen reduction reaction demonstrates high catalytic performance of these materials.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Appl. Surf. Sc

Enhanced clustering tendency of Cu-impurities with a number of oxygen vacancies in heavy carbon-loaded TiO2 - the bulk and surface morphologies

The over threshold carbon-loadings (~50 at.%) of initial TiO2-hosts and posterior Cu-sensitization (~7 at.%) was made using pulsed ion-implantation technique in sequential mode with 1 hour vacuum-idle cycle between sequential stages of embedding. The final Cx-TiO2:Cu samples were qualified using XPS wide-scan elemental analysis, core-levels and valence band mappings. The results obtained were discussed on the theoretic background employing DFT-calculations. The combined XPS and DFT analysis allows to establish and prove the final formula of the synthesized samples as Cx-TiO2:[Cu+][Cu2+] for the bulk and Cx-TiO2:[Cu+][Cu0] for thin-films. It was demonstrated the in the mode of heavy carbon-loadings the remaining majority of neutral C-C bonds (sp3-type) is dominating and only a lack of embedded carbon is fabricating the O-C=O clusters. No valence base-band width altering was established after sequential carbon-copper modification of the atomic structure of initial TiO2-hosts except the dominating majority of Cu 3s states after Cu-sensitization. The crucial role of neutral carbon low-dimensional impurities as the precursors for the new phases growth was shown for Cu-sensitized Cx-TiO2 intermediate-state hosts.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Solid State Science

Octahedral conversion of a-SiO2-host matrix by pulsed ion implantation

This is the abstract. The results of measurements of X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of a-SiO2-host material after pulsed implantation with [Mn+] and [Co+, Mn+]-ions as well as DFT-calculations are presented. The low-energy shift is found in XPS Si 2p and O 1s core-levels of single [Mn+] and dual [Co+, Mn+] pulsed ion-implanted a-SiO2 (E = 30 keV, D = 2*10^17 cm^-2) with respect to those of untreated a-SiO2.The similar changes are found in XPS Si 2p and O 1s of stishovite compared to those of quartz. This means that the pulsed ion-implantation induces the local high pressure effect which leads to an appearance of SiO6-structural units in alpha-SiO2 host, forming "stishovite-like" local atomic structure. This process can be described within electronic bonding transition from the four-fold "quartz-like" to six-fold "stishovite-like" high-pressure phase in SiO2 host-matrix. It is found that such octahedral conversion depends on the fluence and starts with doses higher than D = 3*10^16 cm^-2.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, accepted in phys. stat. solidi (b

Relativistic Magnetic Monopole Flux Constraints from RICE

We report an upper limit on the flux of relativistic monopoles based on the non-observation of in-ice showers by the Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment (RICE) at the South Pole. We obtain a 95% C.L. limit of order 10^{-18}/(cm^2-s-sr) for intermediate mass monopoles of 10^7<gamma<10^{12} at the anticipated energy E=10^{16} GeV. This bound is over an order of magnitude stronger than all previously published experimental limits for this range of boost parameters gamma, and exceeds two orders of magnitude improvement over most of the range. We review the physics of radio detection, describe a Monte Carlo simulation including continuous and stochastic energy losses, and compare to previous experimental limits.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D. Minor revisions, including expanded discussion of monopole energy uncertaint

Ultra high energy cosmic rays: clustering, GUT scale and neutrino masses

The clustering of ultra high energy (above 5\cdot 10^{19} eV) cosmic rays (UHECR) suggests that they might be emitted by compact sources. We present a statistical analysis on the source density based on the multiplicities. The propagation of UHECR protons is studied in detail. The UHECR spectrum is consistent with the decay of GUT scale particles and/or with the Z-burst. The predicted GUT mass is m_X=10^b GeV, where b=14.6_{-1.7}^{+1.6}. Our neutrino mass prediction depends on the origin of the power part of the spectrum: m_\nu=2.75^{+1.28}_{-0.97} eV for halo and 0.26^{+0.20}_{-0.14} eV for extragalactic (EG) origin.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Talk given at TAUP 2001, September 8-12, 2001 in Gran Sass

A possible origin of superconducting currents in cosmic strings

The scattering and capture of right-handed neutrinos by an Abelian cosmic string in the SO(10) grand unification model are considered. The scattering cross-section of neutrinos per unit length due to the interaction with the gauge and Higgs fields of the string is much larger in its scaling regime than in the friction one because of the larger infrared cutoff of the former.The probability of capture in a zero mode of the string accompanied by the emission of a gauge or Higgs boson shows a resonant peak for neutrino momentum of the order of its mass. Considering the decrease of number of strings per unit comoving volume in the scaling epoch the cosmological consequences of the superconducting strings formed in this regime will be much smaller than those which could be produced already in the friction one.Comment: 14 pages Latex, 4 figues/ep

Electronic structure and photoluminescence properties of Zn-ion implanted silica glass before and after thermal annealing

The results of XPS core-level and valence band measurements, photoluminescence spectra of a-SiO2 implanted by Zn-ions (E = 30 keV, D = 1 · 1017 cm− 2) and Density Functional Theory calculations of electronic structure as well as formation energies of structural defects in silica glass induced by Zn-ion implantation are presented. Both theory and experiment show that it is energetically more favorable for implanted zinc ions to occupy the interstitial positions instead of cation substitution. As a result, the Zn-ions embedded to interstitials, form chemical bonds with the surrounding oxygen atoms, fabrication ZnO-like nanoparticles and oxygen-deficient SiOx matrix. The subsequent thermal annealing at 900 °C (1 h) strongly reduces the amount of ZnO nanoparticles and induces the formation of secondary α-Zn2SiO4 phase which markedly enhances the green emission. © 201