High Degree Of Ionization Research Articles

Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Nanocoating Dramatically Reduces Bacterial Adhesion to Polyester Fabric.

Bacterial adhesion to textiles is thought to contribute to odor and infection. Alternately exposing polyester fabric to aqueous solutions of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) is shown here to create a nanocoating that dramatically reduces bacterial adhesion. Ten PDDA/PAA bilayers (BL) are 180 nm thick and only increase the weight of the polyester by 2.5%. The increased surface roughness and high degree of PAA ionization leads to a surface with a negative charge that causes a reduction in adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus by 50% when compared to uncoated fabric, after rinsing with sterilized water, because of electrostatic repulsion. S. aureus bacterial adhesion was quantified using bioluminescent radiance measured before and after rinsing, revealing 99% of applied bacteria were removed with a ten bilayer PDDA/PAA nanocoating. The ease of processing, and benign nature of the polymers used, should make this technology useful for rendering textiles antifouling on an industrial scale.

Self-consistent field theory of polyelectrolyte brushes with finite chain extensibility.

Polyelectrolyte brushes are formed by charged macromolecules tethered by the end segment to a solid-liquid interface. At low ionic strength of the solution, the intermolecular electrostatic interactions lead to strong stretching of the macromolecules that may, as a result, approach the limit of their extensibility (the contour length). Here, we present an analytical theory of polyelectrolyte brushes developed within the Poisson-Boltzmann approximation which explicitly accounts for finite extensibility of the brush-forming chains. In contrast to earlier theories based on the approximation of Gaussian elasticity of the brush-forming chains, the current approach enables avoiding artificial result of stretching of the chains beyond the contour length at high degrees of ionization or/and large grafting densities.

Femtosecond response of polyatomic molecules to ultra-intense hard X-rays.

X-ray free-electron lasers enable the investigation of the structure and dynamics of diverse systems, including atoms, molecules, nanocrystals and single bioparticles, under extreme conditions. Many imaging applications that target biological systems and complex materials use hard X-ray pulses with extremely high peak intensities (exceeding 1020 watts per square centimetre). However, fundamental investigations have focused mainly on the individual response of atoms and small molecules using soft X-rays with much lower intensities. Studies with intense X-ray pulses have shown that irradiated atoms reach a very high degree of ionization, owing to multiphoton absorption, which in a heteronuclear molecular system occurs predominantly locally on a heavy atom (provided that the absorption cross-section of the heavy atom is considerably larger than those of its neighbours) and is followed by efficient redistribution of the induced charge. In serial femtosecond crystallography of biological objects-an application of X-ray free-electron lasers that greatly enhances our ability to determine protein structure-the ionization of heavy atoms increases the local radiation damage that is seen in the diffraction patterns of these objects and has been suggested as a way of phasing the diffraction data. On the basis of experiments using either soft or less-intense hard X-rays, it is thought that the induced charge and associated radiation damage of atoms in polyatomic molecules can be inferred from the charge that is induced in an isolated atom under otherwise comparable irradiation conditions. Here we show that the femtosecond response of small polyatomic molecules that contain one heavy atom to ultra-intense (with intensities approaching 1020 watts per square centimetre), hard (with photon energies of 8.3 kiloelectronvolts) X-ray pulses is qualitatively different: our experimental and modelling results establish that, under these conditions, the ionization of a molecule is considerably enhanced compared to that of an individual heavy atom with the same absorption cross-section. This enhancement is driven by ultrafast charge transfer within the molecule, which refills the core holes that are created in the heavy atom, providing further targets for inner-shell ionization and resulting in the emission of more than 50 electrons during the X-ray pulse. Our results demonstrate that efficient modelling of X-ray-driven processes in complex systems at ultrahigh intensities is feasible.

A QUALITY CHECK OF THE AKARI MID-INFRARED ALL-SKY DIFFUSE MAP TOWARD THE MASSIVE STAR-FORMING REGIONS NGC 6334 AND NGC 6357

We present a comparative study of CO and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission toward a region including the massive star-forming regions of NGC 6334 and NGC 6357. We use the NANTEN $^{12}$CO($J$ = 1--0) data and the $AKARI$ 9 $\mu$m All-Sky diffuse map in order to evaluate the calibration accuracy of the $AKARI$ data. We confirm that the overall CO distribution shows a good spatial correspondence with the PAH emission, and their intensities exhibit a good power-law correlation with a spatial resolution down to 4$'$ over the region of 10$^\circ$$\times$10$^\circ$. We also reveal poorer correlation for small scale structures between the two quantities toward NGC 6357, due to strong UV radiation from local sources. Larger scatter in the correlation toward NGC 6357 indicates higher ionization degree and/or PAH excitation than that of NGC 6334.

Streamer-to-spark transition initiated by a nanosecond overvoltage pulsed discharge in air

This study is focused on the streamer-to-spark transition generated by an overvoltage nanosecond pulsed discharge under atmospheric pressure air in order to provide a quantitative insight into plasma-assisted ignition. The discharge is generated in atmospheric pressure air by the application of a positive high voltage pulse of 35 kV to pin-to-pin electrodes and a rise time of 5 ns. The generated discharge consists of a streamer phase with high voltage and high current followed by a spark phase characterized by a low voltage and a decreasing current in several hundreds of nanosecond. During the streamer phase, the gas temperature measured by optical emission spectroscopy related to the second positive system of nitrogen shows an ultra-fast gas heating up to 1200 K at 15 ns after the current rise. This ultra-fast gas heating, due to the quenching of electronically excited species by oxygen molecules, is followed by a quick dissociation of molecules and then the discharge transition to a spark. At this transition, the discharge contracts toward the channel axis and evolves into a highly conducting thin column. The spark phase is characterized by a high degree of ionization of nitrogen and oxygen atoms shown by the electron number density and temperature measured from optical emission spectroscopy measurements of N+ lines. Schlieren imaging and optical emission spectroscopy techniques provide the time evolution of the spark radius, from which the initial pressure in the spark is estimated. The expansion of the plasma is adiabatic in the early phase. The electronic temperature and density during this phase allows the determination of the isentropic coefficient. The value around 1.2–1.3 is coherent with the high ionization rate of the plasma in the early phase. The results obtained in this study provide a database and the initial conditions for the validation of numerical simulations of the ignition by plasma discharge.

Catechol-cation adhesion on silica surfaces: molecular dynamics simulations.

Understanding the interaction mechanism between catechol-cation and inorganic surfaces is vital for controlling the interfacial adhesion behavior. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations are employed to study the adhesion of siderophore analogues (Tren-Lys-Cam, Tren-Arg-Cam and Tren-His-Cam) on silica surfaces with different degrees of ionization and the effects of cationic amino acids and ionic strength on adhesion are discussed. Simulation results indicate that adhesion of catechol-cation onto the ionized silica surface is dominated by electrostatic interactions. At different degrees of ionization, the rank of the adhesions of three siderophore analogues on silica is different. Further analysis shows that the amino acid terminus has a large influence on the adhesion process, especially histidine adhesion on negatively charged surfaces. Tren-Lys-Cam (TLC) has a larger adhesion free energy than Tren-Arg-Cam (TAC) at a higher degree of ionization (18%); both the bulkier structure and delocalized charge of Arg decreased the cation's electrostatic interaction with the charged silica. In addition, the adhesion free energy on ionized silica surfaces decreased with increasing ionic strength of aqueous solutions. A linear correlation between the potential of mean force obtained from umbrella sampling and the rupture force via steered molecular dynamics simulations for siderophore analogue adhesion on silica surfaces is also found. This work may provide some guidance for developing the next generation underwater adhesives.

Pressure dependence of (Ti, Al)N film growth on inner walls of small holes in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

(Ti, Al)N films were deposited inside 1mm scale small holes from a Ti0.33Al0.67 alloy target by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). To investigate the transport behavior of sputtered and gas species of ternary nitride into the small hole structure and its effect on the chemical and phase compositions of the films grown on the inner side walls, the deposition was performed under inert working gas pressures of 0.5, 1, and 2Pa with a fixed pulse length of 50μs and a frequency of 1kHz. Optical emission spectra revealed the pressure dependence of the ion-to-neutral fraction for titanium, showing an increasing fraction at a higher working pressure. The highest fraction of Al/(Al+Ti) was obtained at 0.5Pa, while the lowest value was obtained at 1Pa. This pressure dependence is discussed by considering the degree of thermalization from the viewpoint of mass differences between Al, Ti and the gas species. Under ballistic transport at 0.5Pa, the high degree of ionization of the HiPIMS discharge further enhances the film coverage at a greater depth, resulting with an aspect ratio of 2.7, and a higher Al fraction was obtained even at a greater depth of 2mm. The films deposited at 0.5Pa had a high Al content with mixed cubic and wurtzite phases of (Ti, Al)N and exhibited a hardness of 35GPa even on the inner walls of the small holes. The influence of the degrees of ionization and thermalization of the sputtered species in the growth of ternary nitride films on a high aspect ratio geometry was demonstrated.

Observational Study on Current Sheet of Magnetic Reconnection in Two Solar Eruptions

The coronal magnetic configuration behind coronal mass ejections (CMEs) can commonly be stretched severely, thus to push the magnetic fields with opposite polarities to approach each other, and to form a current sheet of magnetic reconnection. The current sheet in solar eruptions is not only an important region to convert the magnetic free energy into thermal energy, plasma kinetic energy, and energetic particle beams, but also plays a role to connect CMEs and flares. In the CME events of 2003 January 3 and 2003 November 4, the development of current sheet has been observed in both cases. We have investigated the dynamic features and physical properties of current sheet in the two events, based on the data of LASCO (Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph) and UVCS (Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer) on board of SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), and the Hα data from BBSO (Big Bear Solar Observatory) and YNAO (Yunnan Astronomical Observatory). The existence of ions with a high degree of ionization, such as Fe+17 and Si+11, indicates a high temperature up to 3×106 ∼5×106K in the region of current sheet. A direct measurement shows that the thickness of current sheet varies between 1.3×104 and 1.1×105km, which increases first and then decreases with time. Using the CHIANTI code (v.7.1), we have further calculated the average values of electron temperature and corresponding emission measure (EM) respectively to be 3.86×106K and 6.1×1024cm−5 in the current sheet of the 2003 January 3 event. We also find that the current sheet twisted forth and back quasi-periodically during the eruption event on 2003 November 4 by analyzing the observational data from SOHO/UVCS.

The Combined Influence of Monomer Concentration and Ionization on Acrylamide/Acrylic Acid Composition in Aqueous Solution Radical Batch Copolymerization

An in situ NMR technique is used to measure the relative monomer consumption rates of acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) over a broad range of initial comonomer compositions, initial monomer concentrations (5–40 wt % in aqueous solution), and the complete range of AA ionization. The composition drift with conversion was found not only to be a strong function of AA ionization but also to vary systematically with monomer concentration, with the latter influence increasing at increased degrees of ionization. The coupled effect is captured by expressions developed to represent the monomer reactivity ratios as a function of these two major variables. The proposed correlation, easily implemented into any modeling framework, is based on experimentally measured composition over a much broader range of conditions than examined in previous studies and accurately captures the effect of monomer concentration at low and high degrees of ionization.

HiPIMS-deposited thermochromic VO2 films on polymeric substrates

Thermochromic vanadium dioxide, VO2, is a semi-conductor of major interest for energy control applications. Generally, the fabrication of high-quality VO2 films requires a high deposition temperature over 400°C which limits its large scale implementation as well as its compatibility with temperature-sensitive substrates. In this work, we demonstrate the deposition of thermochromic VO2 thin films on flexible polymer substrates using High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS); this process is known for its high degree of ionization, high plasma density and hence high ion flux towards the substrate that allows one to deposit crystalline films at lower temperatures in comparison with conventional sputtering techniques. We first describe the optimization approach of the HiPIMS process followed by the optical performance study of the resulting VO2 films on Kapton polyimide substrates. The films deposited at temperatures as low as 275°C are then analyzed by means of temperature-resolved spectrophotometry, XPS, ERD, RBS, Raman spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry. Optimized films show an infrared modulation ΔT2500 nm of up to 50% with a transition temperature Tc close to the bulk temperature of 68°C.

Effect of N2 flow rate on the microstructure and electrochemical behavior of TaNx films deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering

Modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) technology offers the possibility to grow high performance coatings compared to the ones developed by conventional dc magnetron sputtering. The high degree of ionization of sputtered particles developed during MPPMS can be usefully utilized to precisely tailor the properties of the growing films. One of the main advantages of such a high metal ion flux is related to the densification of the coatings due to enhance ion bombardment towards the growing film. The development of extremely dense and low-defect microstructure coatings can have a positive effect on the corrosion resistance of tantalum nitride (TaNx) films.In this study, TaNx thin films have been deposited by MPPMS in a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system. Structure, surface morphology, hardness and corrosion resistance of the developed coatings have been analyzed as a function of different N2-to-Ar ratios (0, 0.25, 0.625, 1). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis reveal high dependence of the grown crystal phases and the microstructure on N2-to-Ar ratio. The hardness of the TaNx coatings increases when increasing N2-to-Ar ratio up to a maximum value of 25GPa (N2-to-Ar ratio of 0.625). The corrosion behavior was investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear sweep voltammetry. EIS measurements registered at different immersion times show high impedance values (in the order of 10MΩcm2) and corrosion resistance enhancement with time, indicating the formation of a passive protective oxide layer on the top of their surfaces. TaNx film grown at 0.25N2-to-Ar ratio exhibits the highest corrosion resistance of 103.53MΩcm2 and low porosity of 1.63×10−3 and is characterized by columnar-free microstructure.

Numerical study of the interplay of monomer-surface electrostatic and non-electrostatic interactions in the adsorption of weak polyelectrolytes on oppositely charged surfaces

The adsorption of weak polybase on oppositely charged planar surfaces has been investigated numerically by using the self-consistent field theory (SCFT). Particular attention was paid to the interplay of monomer-surface electrostatic and non-electrostatic interactions in the adsorption behaviors of weak polybase. In this study, the strength of monomer-surface non-electrostatic interactions was set to be no more than the thermal energy kBT. It was found from the numerical study that in the regime of low surface charge density of the substrate and low pH or high bulk degree of ionization, both the screening-enhanced and screening-reduced salt effects emerge. On the contrary, in the opposite regime, only the screening-reduced salt effect was observed. Moreover, the overall charge neutrality inside the adsorption layer was analyzed. The underlying mechanism governing the adsorption behaviors of weak polybase on oppositely charged surfaces was elucidated.

Highly ionized region surrounding SN Refsdal revealed by MUSE

Supernova (SN) Refsdal is the first multiply-imaged, highly-magnified, and spatially-resolved SN ever observed. The SN exploded in a highly-magnified spiral galaxy at z=1.49 behind the Frontier Fields Cluster MACS1149, and provides a unique opportunity to study the environment of SNe at high z. We exploit the time delay between multiple images to determine the properties of the SN and its environment, before, during, and after the SN exploded. We use the integral-field spectrograph MUSE on the VLT to simultaneously target all observed and model-predicted positions of SN Refsdal. We find MgII emission at all positions of SN Refsdal, accompanied by weak FeII* emission at two positions. The measured ratios of [OII] to MgII emission of 10-20 indicate a high degree of ionization with low metallicity. Because the same high degree of ionization is found in all images, and our spatial resolution is too coarse to resolve the region of influence of SN Refsdal, we conclude that this high degree of ionization has been produced by previous SNe or a young and hot stellar population. We find no variability of the [OII] line over a period of 57 days. This suggests that there is no variation in the [OII] luminosity of the SN over this period, or that the SN has a small contribution to the integrated [OII] emission over the scale resolved by our observations.

Study of the feasibility of distributed cathodic arc as a plasma source for development of the technology for plasma separation of SNF and radioactive wastes

One of the key problems in the development of plasma separation technology is designing a plasma source which uses condensed spent nuclear fuel (SNF) or nuclear wastes as a raw material. This paper covers the experimental study of the evaporation and ionization of model materials (gadolinium, niobium oxide, and titanium oxide). For these purposes, a vacuum arc with a heated cathode on the studied material was initiated and its parameters in different regimes were studied. During the experiment, the cathode temperature, arc current, arc voltage, and plasma radiation spectra were measured, and also probe measurements were carried out. It was found that the increase in the cathode heating power leads to the decrease in the arc voltage (to 3 V). This fact makes it possible to reduce the electron energy and achieve singly ionized plasma with a high degree of ionization to fulfill one of the requirements for plasma separation of SNF. This finding is supported by the analysis of the plasma radiation spectrum and the results of the probe diagnostics.

Effect of microstructure on mechanical and tribological properties of TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings deposited by modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering

TiAlSiN nanocomposite coatings were deposited in a closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering system by reactive sputtering from Ti0.475Al0.475Si0.05 targets using modulated pulsed power magnetron sputtering (MPPMS) under a floating substrate bias. The ratio of the nitrogen flow rate to the total gas flow rate (fN2) was varied from 0 to 40%. The application of MPPMS as sputtering sources was aimed at generating a high ionization degree of the sputtered material and a high plasma density by using a pulsed high power approach. When fN2=0%, an amorphous-like structure Ti0.479Al0.454Si0.066 coating was deposited with a hardness of 10GPa. When nitrogen was added, an optimized nanocomposite structure of nc-TiAlN/a-Si3N4 formed in the TiAlSiN coating deposited at fN2=10%, in which 5–10nm TiAlN nanocrystallites were embedded in a 2–3nm thick amorphous Si3N4 matrix. As the fN2 was increased up to 40%, the elementary composition of the coatings remained almost the same, but the grain size of nanocrystallites approached to 10–20nm and the AlN phase gradually precipitated. A maximum hardness (H) of 33.2GPa, a hardness to the elastic modulus (E) ratio of 0.081 and an H3/E*2 ratio of 0.19GPa were found in the coating deposited at fN2=10%. The friction coefficient of the TiAlSiN coatings was around 0.8–0.9 as sliding against a Si3N4 counterpart under a normal load of 0.5N. A wear rate of 2.0×10−5mm3N−1m−1 was measured in the TiAlSiN coatings deposited at fN2=20–40%. As only a low residual stress is found in the TiAlSiN coatings, we consider the complete phase separation is responsible for the enhanced mechanical and tribological properties of the nc-TiAlN/a-Si3N4 nanocomposite coatings.

Optimization of deposition rate in HiPIMS by controlling the peak target current

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) is a very attractive ionized physical vapour deposition technique which has been of great interest over the last decade. Thanks to the high ionization degree of the sputtered material (typically >50%), this technique is used mainly for enhancing and tailoring coating properties. However, the lower deposition rate compared to the conventional direct-current (dc) magnetron sputtering process still represents a major drawback of HiPIMS. In this contribution, a study of the ability to control the peak target current in HiPIMS discharge through certain experimental parameters and, thus, to overcome the deposition rate limitation is presented. The HiPIMS was operated with ultra-short pulse durations (<20 μs) and two different operation modes have been used: single-pulse mode and multi-pulse mode, respectively. The peak target current was controlled by changing the target voltage, pulse duration, magnetic field, and target erosion depth. For a certain favorable combination of experimental parameters, it was found that the deposition rate value can be increased by a factor of up to 3.5, reaching values only 20% lower than those found in dc.

Comparison of line x-ray emission from solid and porous nano-layer coated targets irradiated by double laser pulses

Enhancement of line x-ray emission from both solid and porous iron targets induced by irradiation of single and double laser pulses is studied numerically. The line emission from laser produced plasma is calculated within the extreme ultra-violet lithography wavelength range of 13.5–13.7 nm. The effects of pre-pulse intensity and delay time between two pulses (pre-pulse and main pulse) are examined. The results show that using double pulses irradiation in the conditions of porous target can reduce the x-ray enhancement. According to the results, the use of both pre-pulse and porous target leads to efficient absorption of the laser energy. Calculations also show that such enhanced laser absorption can ionize atoms of the target material to very high degrees of ionization, leading to decrease of the density of appropriate ions that are responsible for line emission in the selected wavelength region. By increasing the target porosity, x-ray yield was more reduced.

New progress of high current gasdynamic ion source (invited).

The experimental and theoretical research carried out at the Institute of Applied Physics resulted in development of a new type of electron cyclotron resonance ion sources (ECRISs)-the gasdynamic ECRIS. The gasdynamic ECRIS features a confinement mechanism in a magnetic trap that is different from Geller's ECRIS confinement, i.e., the quasi-gasdynamic one similar to that in fusion mirror traps. Experimental studies of gasdynamic ECRIS were performed at Simple Mirror Ion Source (SMIS) 37 facility. The plasma was created by 37.5 and 75 GHz gyrotron radiation with power up to 100 kW. High frequency microwaves allowed to create and sustain plasma with significant density (up to 8 × 10(13) cm(-3)) and to maintain the main advantages of conventional ECRIS such as high ionization degree and low ion energy. Reaching such high plasma density relies on the fact that the critical density grows with the microwave frequency squared. High microwave power provided the average electron energy on a level of 50-300 eV enough for efficient ionization even at neutral gas pressure range of 10(-4)-10(-3) mbar. Gasdynamic ECRIS has demonstrated a good performance producing high current (100-300 mA) multi-charged ion beams with moderate average charge (Z = 4-5 for argon). Gasdynamic ECRIS has appeared to be especially effective in low emittance hydrogen and deuterium beams formation. Proton beams with current up to 500 emA and RMS emittance below 0.07 π ⋅ mm ⋅ mrad have been demonstrated in recent experiments.

Single impacts of keV fullerene ions on free standing graphene: Emission of ions and electrons from confined volume.

We present the first data from individual C60 impacting one to four layer graphene at 25 and 50 keV. Negative secondary ions and electrons emitted in transmission were recorded separately from each impact. The yields for C(n)(-) clusters are above 10% for n ≤ 4, they oscillate with electron affinities and decrease exponentially with n. The result can be explained with the aid of MD simulation as a post-collision process where sufficient vibrational energy is accumulated around the rim of the impact hole for sputtering of carbon clusters. The ionization probability can be estimated by comparing experimental yields of C(n)(-) with those of C(n)(0) from MD simulation, where it increases exponentially with n. The ionization probability can be approximated with ejecta from a thermally excited (3700 K) rim damped by cluster fragmentation and electron detachment. The experimental electron probability distributions are Poisson-like. On average, three electrons of thermal energies are emitted per impact. The thermal excitation model invoked for C(n)(-) emission can also explain the emission of electrons. The interaction of C60 with graphene is fundamentally different from impacts on 3D targets. A key characteristic is the high degree of ionization of the ejecta.

Influence of composition on the wear properties of boron carbonitride (BCN) coatings deposited by high power impulse magnetron sputtering

Abstract We investigate boron-carbon-nitride (BCN) coatings deposited with high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) technology and conventional pulsed DC sputtering for their application as wear resistant coatings. Especially for BCN coatings, HiPIMS qualifies as a promising deposition technology as the short pulses with very high power density result in a high ionization degree of the plasma species, allowing a manipulation of the film structure and properties. Both, carbon and boron nitride can hybridize in sp2 or sp3 configuration or a mixture of both, so that coating features such as hardness and coefficient of friction can be tailored to meet the requirements of special applications. We studied the influence of different carbon sources and deposition modes on the composition and tribological properties of BCN films, including microhardness, friction coefficient, and thermal stability. Additionally, we investigated thermal degradation mechanisms by interpreting X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). We observed that the application of either pulsed DC or HiPIMS pulse mode has a significant influence on the microhardness and thermal stability of the coatings, in which HiPIMS mode generally provides higher hardness and better thermal stability. Furthermore, we found that samples co-sputtered from B4C and graphite target show superior hardness and thermal stability compared to those sputtered reactively with acetylene.