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Critical current density (jc) of high-pressure (2 GPa) manufactured MgB2-based superconductors depends on the amount and distribution of higher borides (MgB12) in MgB2 matrix, which in turn are determined by the nature of the initial components first of all B or MgB2 and the temperature of sintering or synthesis. Ti and Ta additions can improve jc by promoting the higher boride formation via impurity hydrogen absorption, thus preventing MgH2 detrimental for jc being formed, which possibly increases the MgB12 nucleation barrier. SiC (0.2-0.8 mum) addition increases jc of MgB2, allowing us to get jc = 106 A/cm2 at 20 K in the 1 T field: pinning is increased by SiC and higher boride grains and there is no notable interaction between SiC and MgB2 . As the synthesis temperature increases from 800 to 1050degC, Ti and SiC additions may affect the oxygen segregation and formation of Mg-B-O inclusions enriched with oxygen as compared to the amount of oxygen in the MgB2 matrix, which can also promote an increase in pinning. Materials high-pressure synthesized from Mg and B taken in 1:4, 1:6, 1:7, 1:8, 1:10, 1:12, 1:20 ratios were superconductive with Tc of about 37 K. High jc (7middot104 - 2middot104 A/cm2 in zero field at 10-30 K, respectively) showed materials with the matrix composition near MgB12 stoichiometry, they have doubled microhardness of MgB2.

The M emission spectra of the heavy rare earth elements 67Ho, 68Er, 69Tm, 70Yb, and 71Lu were reinvestigated using wavelength dispersive spectrometry with a TAP crystal as the dispersing element. In order to resolve weak lines, which are near to the strong α and β lines/bands, the regions around these lines were additionally measured using the second order reflection. In this manner in total 54 M lines were observed of which only 19 are contained in Bearden’s compilation. A difference between the line positions of metals and oxides was observed only for the Mα line of 70Yb. This observation agrees with an earlier report of Fischer and Baun. The observed dependencies of the intensity ratios Mβ/Mα and Mζ/Mα on the atomic number Z reflect the increasing filling of the N7 subshell with increasing Z.

A systematic study of the structure and superconductive characteristics of high-pressure?high-temperature (2?GPa, 700?1000??C)-synthesized and sintered MgB2 without additions from different initial powders was performed. Among various secondary phases Mg?B inclusions with a stoichiometry close to MgB12 were identified. With an increasing amount of these inclusions the critical current density increased. So these inclusions can be feasible pinning centres in MgB2. The highest jc values in zero field were 1300?kA?cm?2 at 10?K, 780?kA?cm?2 at 20?K and 62?kA?cm?2 at 35?K and in 1?T field were 1200?kA?cm?2 at 10?K, 515?kA?cm?2 at 20?K and 0.1?kA?cm?2 at 35?K for high-pressure-synthesized magnesium diboride and the field of irreversibility at 20?K reached 8?T. The average grain sizes calculated from x-ray examinations in materials having high jc were 15?37?nm.

The M emission spectrum of68Er was reinvestigated using wavelength dispersive spectrometry, with a TAP diffracting crystal. By recording the spectra using the second-order reflection, an improved energy resolution was achieved, which is necessary to resolve the M5O3line from the neighboring α M5N7transition. In addition to the five lines/bands tabulated in the classical paper of Bearden, a number of further lines were observed. These are M1N3, M3O1, M2N1, M5O3, M3N1, and M4N3. For all the lines with an energy below the M5absorption structure (M5O3, M3N1, M4N3, and ζ M5N3), an increasing relative intensity with increasing energy of the exciting electrons,E0, was observed. This dependence has its origin in the fact that these lines are normally absorbed whereas Mα (M5N7) and Mβ (M4N6) are additionally affected by anomalous line-type absorption.

Additions of Zr can increase critical current density ( j c ) of high-pressure synthesized MgB 2 (HPS-MgB 2 ) in the same manner as additions of Ta or Ti, i.e. due to the absorption of impurity hydrogen (to form ZrH 2 ). The formation in HPS-MgB 2 of ZrB 2 phase at higher synthesis temperatures (about 950 °C) does not result in the j c increase. Some increase in j c of HPS-MgB 2 at 10 K in the fields higher than 8 T was observed when nano-SiC was added. The additions of Zr, Ta or Ti can prevent the harmful MgH 2 impurity phase from appearing and may prevent hydrogen from being introduced into the material structure and besides, their presence in HPS-MgB 2 promotes the formation of a higher amount of Mg–B (most likely MgB 2 ) inclusions in the Mg–B–O material “matrix” that in turn leads to the increase of j c in magnetic fields. The high level of superconductive (SC) and mechanical characteristics attained for HPS-MgB 2 and the possibility to manufacture large samples make its application in the superconductive electromotors, generators, pumps, etc., very promising.

Focused ion beam milling is used on chemically etched tapered fiber tips to create fiber Bragg gratings. These fiber Bragg gratings are based on a modulation of silica and external medium. This leads to a wide and structured spectrum obtained due to imperfections and the inherent structure of the tip. The fiber Bragg gratings presented are very short and have a length of 27 μm and 43 μm and are milled on the tapered fiber tip. They are characterized in the high temperature range 350-850oC and a sensitivity of 14.4 pm/K is determined.

We report on the fluorine incorporation in powder based materials for the fabrication of Al and Al/Yb co-doped silica glasses. The achieved maximum Fluorine concentration of 1.55 mol% SiF 4 corresponds to a refractive index decrease of -8 x 10 -3 . Simultaneously, the Tg of the doped material is reduced by about 200 K compared to pure silica. Moreover, the fluorine doping is also eminently suitable for the direct refractive index adjustment in active doped silica glass materials (e.g. Al/Yb or Al/Tm). The index matching with pure silica is possible to date up to 2.7 mol% Al 2 O 3 and 0.1 mol% Yb 2 O 3 . The additional influence on the blue shift of the UV transmission will also be discussed.

Since ancient times, noble gold has continuously contributed to several aspects of life from medicine to electronics. It perpetually reveals its new features. We report the finding of a unique form of gold, reticular nanostructured gold (RNG), as an aqueous black colloid, for which we present a one-step synthesis. The reticules consist of gold crystals that interconnect to form compact strands. RNG exhibits high conductivity and low reflection, and these features, coupled with the high specific surface area of the material, could prove valuable for applications in electronics and catalysis. Due to high absorption throughout the visible and infrared domain, RNG has the potential to be applied in the construction of sensitive solar cells or as a substrate for Raman spectroscopy.

The developed method of high-pressure synthesis (HPS) allows producing nanostructural highly dense material based on MGB2, which possesses the highest superconducting and mechanical characteristics among the known world analogues, in the form of blocks that are suitable for application in SC electromotors and pumps. Additions of Zr can increase critical current density (jc) of synthesized at 2 GPa and 750-800 °C MGB2 in the same manner as additions of Ta or Ti, i.e. due to the absorption of impurity hydrogen forming the ZrH2. The formation of ZrB2 phase at higher synthesis temperatures (about 950 °C) in HPS MGB2 does not result in the jc increase. Some increase in jc of HPS MGB2 at 10 K in the fields higher than 8 T was observed when nano-SiC was added. The additions of Zr, Ta or Ti can prevent the harmful MgH2 impurity phase from appearing and hydrogen from being introduced into the material structure. Besides, the presence of additions in HPS MGB2 promotes the formation of a larger amount of Mg-B (most likely MGB2) inclusions in the Mg-B-O material ''matrix'' that in turn leads to the increase of jc of the material in magnetic fields.

The intensities of the Fe L lines/bands l = L3M1, η = L2M1, α1,2 = L3M4,5, β1 = L2M4, and β3,4 = L1M2,3 were measured for pure Fe and Fe3O4 using a TAP crystal as the dispersing element. The energy of the exciting electrons, E0, was varied in the range 5 ≤ E0 ≤ 25 keV.

Certain carboxyl groups of the plasma membrane are involved in tumorgenesis processes. A gold core-hydroxyapatite shell (AuHA) nanocomposite is introduced as chemo-spectroscopic sensor to monitor these carboxyl groups of the cell membrane. Hydroxyapatite (HA) plays the role both of a chemical detector and of a biocompatible Raman marker. The principle of detection is based on chemical interaction between the hydroxyl groups of the HA and the carboxyl terminus of the proteins. The AuHA exhibits a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal at 954 cm− 1 which can be used for its localization. The bio-sensing capacity of AuHA towards human skin epidermoid carcinoma (A431) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines is investigated using Raman microspectroscopic imaging. The localization of AuHA on cells is correlated with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and structured illumination fluorescence microscopy. This qualitative approach is a step towards a quantitative study of the proteins terminus. From the Clinical Editor This method would enable further studies on the molecular profiling of the plasma membrane, in an attempt to provide accurate cell identification. Using a gold core-hydroxyapatite shell (AuHA) nanocomposite, the authors in this paper showed the feasibility of detecting and differentiating cell surface molecules by surface enhanced Raman scattering.

We discuss a fiber-integrated refractive index sensor with strongly improved detection performance. The resonator has been implemented by means of focused-ion beam milling of a step index fiber and shows a sensitivity of about 1.15µm/RIU. Coating the resonator walls led to a strongly improved mirror reflectivity by a factor of about 26. Design rules for device optimization and a detailed mathematical analysis are discussed, revealing that the sensor operates as an optimized Fabry-Perot resonator. We also show that the performance of such kind of Fabry-Perot sensors is, in general, limited by the detection limit function – a quantity depending on the cavitiy’s finesse and on the measurement capabilities used.

A structured sapphire-derived all-glass optical fiber with an aluminum content in the core of up to 50 mol% was used for fiber Bragg grating inscription. The fiber provided a parabolic refractive index profile. Fiber Bragg gratings were inscribed by means of femtosecond-laser pulses with a wavelength of 400 nm in combination with a two-beam phase mask interferometer. Heating experiments demonstrated the stability of the gratings for temperatures up to 950 degrees C for more than 24 h without degradation in reflectivity.

The diffusion of phosphorus in P 2 O 5 -SiO 2 glass has been investigated by annealing of doped layers on the inner surface of quartz glass tubes between 1700°C and 2000°C and measuring radial phosphorus profiles by X-ray microprobe analysis and refractive index profiling, respectively, subsequent to the tube collapse. By comparison with calculated profiles, diffusion coefficients could be determined, which are fitted by an Arrhenius function, where the preexponential D 0 = 10 -0.18 cm 2 s -1 is constant but the activation energy decreases with increasing concentration as E = (454-56c 0.32 )kJmol -1 K -1 , valid for a concentration range, c, between 0.04 and 10mol% P 2 O 5 . The diffusion resembles that earlier determined for aluminium in SiO 2 glass, but with smaller diffusivities and activation energies.

The oxides of the rare earth elements 57≤Z≤71 were excited by electrons with an energy between 3 and 15 keV. X-rays were detected by an energy dispersive Si(Li) spectrometer, with an ultra-thin polymer entrance window. Due to the limited resolution of this type of spectrometer, the M spectra of the rare earths appear to consist of only four peaks: Mς, Mα,β, Mγ, and M2N4. The net height of these peaks relative to that of Mα,β was used as a measure of the relative intensity. For 3 keV electrons, a continuous decrease of the relative intensity of Mς with increasing Z was observed, ranging from approximately 90% for 57 La to less than 10% for 71 Lu. This behaviour is in agreement with a model involving a gradual filling up of the levels N6 and N7 with increasing Z. The relative intensity of Mγ is lower than that of Mς by about a factor of 5, whereas M2N4 is approximately half as intense as Mγ.

We report on the magneto-optical (MO) properties of heavily Tb3+-doped GeO2-B2O3-Al2O3-Ga2O3 glasses towards fiber-integrated paramagnetic MO devices. For a Tb3+ ion concentration of up to 9.7 × 1021 cm−3, the reported glass exhibits an absolute negative Faraday rotation of ~120 rad/T/m at 632.8 nm. The optimum spectral ratio between Verdet constant and light transmittance over the spectral window of 400–1500 nm is found for a Tb3+ concentration of ~6.5 × 1021 cm−3. For this glass, the crystallization stability, expressed as the difference between glass transition temperature and onset temperature of melt crystallization exceeds 100 K, which is a prerequisite for fiber drawing. In addition, a high activation energy of crystallization is achieved at this composition. Optical absorption occurs in the NUV and blue spectral region, accompanied by Tb3+ photoluminescence. In the heavily doped materials, a UV/blue-to-green photo-conversion gain of ~43% is achieved. The lifetime of photoluminescence is ~2.2 ms at a stimulated emission cross-section σem of ~1.1 × 10−21 cm2 for ~ 5.0 × 1021 cm−3 Tb3+. This results in an optical gain parameter σem*τ of ~2.5 × 10−24 cm2s, what could be of interest for implementation of a Tb3+ fiber laser.

A combination of focused ion beam milling and chemical etching is proposed for the creation of Fabry-Perot cavities in microwires. Both simple cavities and cantilevers are created on 15 μm-diameter microwires and characterized in temperature. The cantilever structure shows sensitivity to vibration and is capable of measuring frequencies in the range 1 Hz – 40 kHz.

We demonstrate three-level laser operation at 976 nm of a large-core Yb-doped aluminosilicate fiber, which is fabricated by powder-sinter technology and shows a very homogeneous refractive index profile. The investigated fiber has a core diameter of 126 μm and a numerical aperture of 0.18, well-matched to standard fiber coupled pump diodes. The core composition has been optimized to reduce photodarkening effects. Multimode and single mode operation with multiple Watts output power is presented for this fiber making it useful for the realization of high brightness fiber coupled pump sources.

We report on a Yb-doped large-core fiber laser at 976 nm prepared by powder-sinter technology. Wavelength-locked single-mode operation is achieved with 10 W out of a standard single-mode fiber.

A new approach for silica laser materials is presented. The technology is based on reactive powder doping, sintering and vitrification and yields in homogeneous active doped bulk material with an excellent RI homogeneity of about 10-4.

Melt-textured Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) is prepared in batch process with reproducible material properties. Functional models of magnetic bearings and electric motors were equipped with this material. From the tests of these models the requirements on further material development can be derived. The quality of a magnetic bearing can be improved by increasing the size of the superconducting domains. The current density should be in the order of 200-400 A/mm/sup 2/. Reluctance motors with output powers up to 38 kW at 77 K were constructed. Further improvements can be achieved using large superconducting domains with higher current density.

The most commonly used material in photocatalysis is TiO2. Since TiO2 absorbs only UV-light, photosensitizers are used to extend these catalysts’ absorption properties into the Vis/NIR spectral range. In this work we merge the commonly used approach of dye sensitization with the only recently developed approach of functionalizing the catalyst with plasmonically active metal nanoparticles in order to achieve synergistic effects between these two types of visible light sensitization. To this end SiO2@TiO2 nanostructures are functionalized with gold nanoparticles or a combination of gold/platinum nanoparticles loaded with Ru dyes and thoroughly characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), UV/VIS and surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic performance is tested by applying the benchmark experiment of methylene blue degradation. Spectroscopic investigations and electron microscopy proof the successful synthesis of the envisioned structure. The photocatalytic activity of the nanostructures shows up to 52% higher first order rate constants compared to the corresponding nanostructures without further dye functionalization.

The electron excited N-series lines N4N6 and N5N7 of the element 74W were studied using both energy dispersive (ED) and wavelength dispersive spectrometry. In ED spectra these lines appear as one unresolved peak N4,5N6,7 at approximately 217 eV. The net peak height of this N-series peak relative to that of the unresolved Mα,β (M4,5N6,7) peak decreases rapidly with an increasing energy of the exciting electrons, E 0. One of the reasons for this dependence is the much stronger absorption of the N-series lines. Their mass absorption coefficient (m.a.c.) in 74W was estimated to be approximately 17000 cm2 g−1. The observation of the N-series peak in the ED spectra of 70Yb and 92U leads to the assumption that, in principle, the N-series peak should be observable for all elements 70≤Z≤92. The lack of knowledge about the N-series peaks can lead to serious misidentifications. The danger of such misidentifications increases with decreasing E 0.

A reinvestigation was undertaken in order to obtain reliable data of the relative intensities of the L spectra for the elements 24 ≤ Z ≤ 33. A TAP crystal with a periodicity of 25.757 A was used as the dispersing element. With this crystal one is able to resolve the lines/bands Ll = L3M1, Lη = L2M1, Lα1,2 = L3M4,5, Lβ1 = L2M4, and Lβ3,4 = L1M2,3. Among the investigated elements 33As is the only one for which the energy of the lines Lα1,2 and Lβ1 is below the L3 absorption edge. For all the other elements the lines Ll, Lη, and Lα1,2 are below the L3 edge, whereas Lβ1 and Lβ3,4 are above this edge. This difference leads to effects of differential absorption, where the absorption is stronger for decreasing line energy. For the net peak height ratio β1/α we obtained results which are of the same order of magnitude as those given by White and Johnson (W&J) in their popular tables. But for l/α and β3,4/β1 our results show an atomic number dependence which is completely different from those given by W&J.

The volume pinning force, F p(max), increases with increasing synthesis or sintering pressure (0.1 MPa–2 GPa) in materials prepared at high temperature (1050 °C) while it stays practically unchanged in those prepared at low temperature (800 °C). The position of F p(max) can be shifted to higher magnetic fields by: (1) increasing the manufacturing pressure or decreasing the temperature (2) additions (Ti, SiC, or C, for example), and (3) in-situ preparation. Grain boundary pinning (GBP) dominates in materials prepared at low temperatures (600–800 °C), while high-temperature preparation induces strong point pinning (PP) or mixed pinning (MP) leading to outstanding properties. In materials produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS), the position of F p(max) is higher than expected for both grain boundary and point pinning. The distribution of boron and oxygen in MgB2 based material, which can changed by additions or the preparation conditions, significantly affects the type and strength of pining. Materials prepared under a pressure of 2 GPa with a nominal composition of Mg:7B or Mg:12B consist of 88.5 wt % MgB12, 2.5 wt % MgB2, 9 wt % MgO or 53 wt % MgB12, 31 wt % MgB20 16 wt % MgO, respectively. Their magnetic shielding fractions at low temperatures are 10 % and 1.5 %, with a transition temperature, T c of 37.4–37.6 K. Although their magnetic critical current density at zero field and 20 K was 2–5×102 A/cm2, they were found to be insulating on the macroscopic level.

XLMA fibers based on Yb-doped bulk silica possess an excellent refractive index and doping level homogeneity [1]. To achieve the highest optical-to-optical efficiency and long-term operation without degradation we simulated the effect of the brightness conversion factor of different core dopant compositions of such XLMA fibers. We also investigated the beam quality of a multi-kW single XLMA fiber laser system and its long-term stability. The current state-of-the-art XLMA single fiber laser has 5 kW maximum output power and a degradation rate of about 0.5 % / 500 h at 4 kW measured over a period of 1700 h. Several application tests demonstrate the excellent performance of the XLMA fiber laser.

We report on SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -La 2 O 3 glasses – with and without Yb 2 O 3 – suitable for nonlinear and fiber laser applications. We also present successful supercontinuum generation and fiber laser operation around 1060 nm in step-index fibers. We have optimized the glass compositions in terms of thermal and optical requirements for both a high La 2 O 3 (24 mol%) and Yb 2 O 3 (6 mol%) concentration. The aluminum concentration was adjusted to about 21 mol% Al 2 O 3 to increase the solubility of lanthanum and ytterbium in the glass beyond possible MCVD based techniques. The glasses have been characterized by dilatometrical methods to find transition temperatures from 860 to 880°C and thermal expansion coefficients between 4.1 and 7.0 × 10 -6 K -1 . Structured step index fibers with a SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -La 2 O 3 core and silica cladding have been realized showing a fiber loss minimum of about 500 dB/km at 1200 nm wavelength. The chromatic dispersion could be adjusted to shift the zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) close to the pump wavelength of 1550 nm in a supercontinuum generation setup. First fiber laser experiments show an efficiency of about 41 % with a remarkably reduced photodarkening compared to MCVD based fibers.

Silicon nanowire-based solar cells received increasing attention due to their enhanced light harvesting properties and the potential to use low-cost materials to produce solar cells comparable with those on costly monocrystalline counterparts. It is essential to improve the performance of nanowire solar cells by suppressing surface recombination. A multiple core (crystalline silicon nanowires)–shell silicon nanowire-based heterojunction solar cell has been fabricated to deal with this problem. To this end, an ultrathin passivating Al2O3 tunnel layer was deposited on the highly doped p-type a-Si:H emitter prior to a transparent conducting oxide by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Both open circuit voltage and current density increase significantly due to the insertion of the ultrathin Al2O3 layer. An efficiency of 10.0% has been reached by using this multiple core–shell structure.

The authors present a novel method of fabricating crystalline gold nanoparticles used in plasmonic application. The preparation and characterization of monocrystalline Au nanoparticles with diameters between 10 and 100 nm embedded in an YBa2Cu3O7−δ matrix is presented as well as a future vision of structured particle arrangements by photolithographic procedures. To use these particles for biological applications, the matrix may has to be dissolved to obtain extracted nanoparticles on a dielectric substrate. Whether the nanoparticles change their position during the extraction process is investigated and the realized dissolving procedure by citric acid solution is shown. The dissolution of the matrix thereby is investigated by X-ray diffraction experiments and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Furthermore, the spectral characterization by particle selection is illustrated based on microspectroscopy.

Josephson junctions generate, when subjected to microwave irradiation, voltages with a very high precision and are used in metrology applications. So-called PJVS (programmable Josephson voltage-standards) are capable of generating both AC and DC voltages of up to 10 V. Our work addresses a full fabrication scenario for 10 V PJVS arrays driven at 70 GHz to be used in low microwave-power conditions as in, but not limited to GUNN diodes or cryocooler applications. Nb x Si1−x in its function as a barrier material was characterised with AFM, RBS and reflectometry in order to establish a reliable technological foundation. A 10 V PJVS array driven with microwave power below 50 mW is further presented, which was achieved by optimising the fabrication technology regarding the degree of homogeneity of the Josephson junctions composition and thickness. Control over these parameters is crucial in choosing a stable and well-suited characteristic voltage (I c R n product) and critical current density j c. With this, a low-power operation of a PJVS array is possible without the need for liquid helium cooling, which is currently limiting the availability of PJVS based metrology.

High performance particle detectors are needed for fundamental research in high energy physics in the exploration of the Higgs boson, dark matter, anti-matter, gravitational waves and proof of the standard model, which will extend the understanding of our Universe. Future particle detectors should have ultrahigh radiation hardness, low power consumption, high spatial resolution and fast signal response. Unfortunately, some of these properties are counter-influencing for the conventional silicon drift detectors (SDDs), so that they cannot be optimized simultaneously. In this paper, the main issues of conventional SDDs have been analyzed, and a novel core–shell detector design based on micro- and nano-structures etched into Si-wafers is proposed. It is expected to simultaneously reach ultrahigh radiation hardness, low power consumption, fast signal response and high spatial resolution down to the sub-micrometer range, which will probably meet the requirements for the most powerful particle accelerators in the near future. A prototype core–shell detector was fabricated using modern silicon nanotechnology and the functionality was tested using electron-beam-induced current measurements. Such a high performance detector will open many new applications in extreme radiation environments such as high energy physics, astrophysics, high resolution (bio-) imaging and crystallography, which will push these fields beyond their current boundaries.

Silica-based fiber tips are used in a variety of spectroscopic, micro- or nanoscopic optical sensor applications. The efficiency of such measurement systems is dependent on the tip geometry and the diameter of the tapered fiber end. In the present study we investigated the preparation of geometrically predefined, nanoscaled fiber tips by taking advantage of the dopant concentration profiles of highly doped step-index fibers. For this purpose, a gas phase etching process using hydrofluoric acid (HF) vapor was applied. The shaping of the fiber tips was based on very different etching rates as a result of the doping characteristics of specific optical fibers. Technological studies on the influence of the etching gas atmosphere on the temporal tip shaping and the final geometry were performed using undoped and doped silica fibers. The influence of the doping characteristics was investigated in phosphorus-, germanium-, fluorine- and boron-doped glass fibers. Narrow exposed as well as protected internal fiber tips in various shapes and tip radiuses down to less than 15 nm were achieved and characterized geometrically and topologically. For investigations of surface plasmon resonance effects the fiber tips were coated with nanometer-sized silver layers by means of vapour deposition and finally subjected to an annealing treatment.

High-pressure (HP) synthesis and sintering are promising methods for manufacturing of the bulk MgB2 superconductive material. The available high-pressure apparatuses with 100 cm3 working volume can allow us to use the bulk MgB2 for practical applications such as electromotors, fly-wheels, bearings, etc. We have found that the Ta presence during HP synthesis (especially) or sintering process (in the form of a foil that covered the sample and as an addition of Ta powder of about 2-10 wt.% to the starting mixture of B and Mg or to MgB2 powder) increases the critical current density (jc) in the magnetic fields up to 10 T and the fields of irreversibility (Hirr) of MgB2-based bulk materials. We observed the strong evidences that Ta absorbs hydrogen and nitrogen during synthesis and sintering to form Ta2H, TaH and TaN0.1 and prevents or reduces the formation of MgH2 (both with orthorhombic and tetragonal structures). Ta also essentially reduces the amount of impurity nitrogen in black Mg-B (most likely, MgB2) crystals of the matrix phase. The presence of Ta during synthesis allowed us to obtain a bulk materials with the following critical current densities jc in 1 T field: 570 kA/cm2 at 10 K, 350 kA/cm2 at 20 K and 40 kA/cm2 at 30 K. Besides, the materials demonstrated high mechanical characteristics (microhardness, fracture toughness, Young modulus).

The high-pressure (HP) synthesis seems to be very promising for manufacturing of the bulk MgB 2 superconductive material. The positive influence of tantalum in the form of a foil that covered the sample and as an addition of Ta powder in the starting mixture of B and Mg on critical current density in the magnetic field and on the field of irreversibility of MgB 2 has been observed during MgB 2 synthesis. At 20 K HP-synthesized MgB 2 has a critical current density of 68 kA/cm 2 in the 1 T field and of 160 kA/cm 2 in the zero field, its field of irreversibility at 20 K being 5.7 T. Vickers microhardness of the samples is 12.79±1.14 GPa at a 4.96-N load, fracture toughness is 4.1 MN/m 3/2 at the 147.2-N load (while at the 4.96-N load there are no cracks from the corners of the indent). The density of HP-synthesized MgB 2 samples is 95–97% the theoretical one.

The M spectrum of the element uranium was reinvestigated by using both high-resolution wavelength dispersive (WD) spectrometry as well as energy dispersive (ED) spectrometry. Thereby we observed relative intensities that deviate from data in the literature. These discrepancies were not only observed for the weak U M lines but also for major lines. By measuring the Mα,β region of the spectrum with a PET crystal in second-order reflection, a sufficient energy resolution was achieved to separate Mα2(M5N6) from Mα1(M5N7). The intensity ratio I(M5N6)/I(M5N7) was determined to be approximately 5%, which is in strong contrast to the data tabulated by White and Johnson [White, E.W. & Johnson, G.G. (1970).X-Ray and Absorption Wavelengths and Two-Theta Tables. ASTM Data Series DS37A, 2nd ed. Philadelphia, PA: American Society for Testing and Materials]. Furthermore M5N7was clearly observed as the strongest of the M lines that disagrees with data presented by Kleykamp [Kleykamp, H. (1981). Wavelengths of the M X-ray spectra of uranium, neptunium, plutonium, and americium.Z Naturforsch36a, 1388–1390], who reported Mβ (M4N6) as the strongest line. Also, after White and Johnson (1970), the line M2N4should be more intense than M3O5by a factor of 5. Both our WD and ED spectra show clearly that M3O5is stronger than M2N4. Altogether, we observed in our WD spectra 26 M lines. In some cases untypical large differences between the line energies given by Bearden [Bearden, J.A. (1967). X-ray wavelengths.Rev Mod Phys39, 78–124] and measured by us were observed.

MgB2-based nanostructural materials with rather high oxygen concentration (5-14 wt.%) and dispersed grains of higher borides (MgB12, MgB7) high-pressure (2 GPa or 30 MPa) synthesized (in-situ) or sintered (ex-situ) demonstrated high superconducting characteristics (critical current density, jc, up to 1.8-1.0106 A/cm2 in the self magnetic field and 103 in 8 T field at 20 K, 3-1.5105 A/cm2 in the self field at 35 K, upper critical field up to HC2 = 15 T at 22 K, field of irreversibility Hirr =13 T at 20 K). The additives (Ti, SiC) and synthesis or sintering temperature can affect the segregation of oxygen and formation of oxygen-enriched Mg-B-O inclusions in the material structure, thus reducing the amount of oxygen in the material matrix as well as the formation of higher borides grains, which affects an increase of the critical current density. The record high HC2 and Hirr have been registered for the material high-pressure (2 GPa) synthesized from Mg and B at 600 oC having 17% porosity and more than 7 wt.% of oxygen. The attained values of the critical current, AC losses and thermal conductivity make the materials promising for application for fault current limiters and electromotors. The structural and superconducting (SC) characteristics of the material with matrix close to MgB12 in stoichiometry has been studied and the SC transition Tc=37 K as well as jc= 5×104 A/cm2 at 20 K in the self field were registered, its Raman spectrum demonstrated metal-like behavior.

The synthesis of MgB2-based materials under high pressure gave the possibility to suppress the evaporation of magnesium and to obtain near theoretically dense nanograined structures with high superconducting, thermal conducting, and mechanical characteristics: critical current densities of 1.8-1.0 \cdot 106 A/cm2 in the self field and 103 A/cm2 in a magnetic field of 8 T at 20 K, 5-3 \cdot 105 A/cm2 in self field at 30 K, the corresponding critical fields being HC2 = 15 T at 22 K and irreversible fields Hirr =13 T at 20 K, and Hirr =3.5 T at 30 K, thermal conduction of 53+/-2 W/(m \cdot \kappa), the Vickers hardness Hv=10.12+/-0.2 GPa under a load of 148.8 N and the fracture toughness K1C = 7.6+/-2.0 MPa m0.5 under the same load, the Young modulus E=213 GPa. Estimation of quenching current and AC losses allowed the conclusion that highpressure-prepared materials are promising for application in transformer-type fault current limiters working at 20-30 K., Comment: International Conference on Superconductivity and Magnetism 25-30 April 2010,Antalya, Turkey, in print Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism

The study of high pressure (2 GPa) synthesized MgB2-based materials allows us to conclude that higher borides (with near MgB12 stoichiometry) and oxygen-enriched Mg-B-O inclusions can be pinning centers in nanostructural magnesium diboride matrix (with average grain sizes of 15-37 nm). It has been established that additions of Ti or SiC as well as manufacturing temperature can affect the size, amount and distribution of these inclusions in the material structure and thus, influence critical current density. The superconducting behavior of materials with near MgB12 stoichiometry of matrix is discussed., 4 pages, 1 figues, presented at VORTEX VI-2009, accepted for PhysicaC

The effect of doping with Ti, Ta, SiC in complex with synthesis temperature on the amount and distribution of structural inhomogeneities in MgB2 matrix of high-pressuresynthesized-materials (2 GPa) which can influence pining: higher borides (MgB12) and oxygen-enriched Mg-B-O inclusions, was established and a mechanism of doping effect on jc increase different from the generally accepted was proposed. Near theoretically dense SiC-doped material exhibited jc= 1000000 A/sq. cm in 1T field and Hirr =8.5 T at 20 K. The highest jc in fields above 9, 6, and 4 T at 10, 20, and 25 K, respectively, was demonstrated by materials synthesized at 2 GPa, 600 oC from Mg and B without additions (at 20 K jc= 100 A/sq. cm in 10 T field). Materials synthesized from Mg and B taken up to 1:20 ratio were superconductive. The highest jc (60000 A/sq. cm at 20 K in zero field, Hirr= 5 T) and the amount of SC phase (95.3 percents of shielding fraction), Tc being 37 K were demonstrated by materials having near MgB12 composition of the matrix. The materials with MgB12 matrix had a doubled microhardness of that with MgB2 matrix (25 GPa and 13.08 GPa, at a load of 4.9 N, respectively)., 14 pages, 11 figues, 2 tables, presented at EUCAS 2009, submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2009

Optical fibers for high power lasers and amplifiers are fabricated on the basis of quartz glass which has outstanding properties concerning high fiber strength, high power hardness and low optical losses compared with other glasses such as heavy metal fluoride or oxide glasses. It is well known, however, that the host properties of pure silica regarding the active rare earth ions are insufficient and the laser medium has to be improved by the incorporation of codopants. Here we present new investigations of material and fiber properties for phosphorus/aluminium codoping, with regard to the realization of efficient rare earth doped cw and pulsed high power fiber devices. The diffusion behaviour in the complex systems shows characteristic interaction effects, which influence the dopant concentration and their spatial distribution. The refractive index in the codoped systems and the basic attenuation deviate remarkably from additivity relations. The absorption spectrum in the VIS/NIR region depends on codopant concentration and on preparation conditions, with influence on the fluorescence properties of the rare earths and the laser efficiency.

Metallic nanostructures play an important role in the vast field of modern nanophotonics, which ranges from the life sciences to biomedicine and beyond. Gold is a commonly-used and attractive material for plasmonics in the visible wavelength range, most importantly due to its chemical stability. In the present work, we focused on the different methods of plasmonic nanostructure fabrication that possess the greatest potential for cost-efficient fabrication. Initially, reusable (1 0 0) silicon templates were prepared. For this purpose, three different lithography methods (i.e. e-beam, optical, and nanoparticle lithography) were used that correspond to the desired structural scales. The application of a subsequent anisotropic crystal orientation-dependent wet etching process produced well-defined pyramidal structures in a wide variety of sizes, ranging from several microns to less than 100 nm. Finally, a 200 nm-thick gold layer was deposited by means of confocal sputtering on the silicon templates and stripped in order to obtain gold films that feature a surface replica of the initial template structure. The surface roughness that was achieved on the stripped films corresponds well with the roughness of the template used. This makes it possible to prepare cost-efficient high-quality structured films in large quantities with little effort. The gold films produced were thoroughly characterized, particularly with respect to their plasmonic response.

We report about laser scanning coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy using a Bessel beam to enhance the lateral resolution. This study covers a numerical investigation that predicts an improvement in the lateral resolution by a factor of up to 1.33, while the axial depth of view increases up to a factor of 2 for an ideal Bessel beam serving as both a pump and a probe. Further, we present a simple experimental implementation of a Bessel-like beam by adding only two axicons and a telescope to a conventional CARS laser scanning microscopy setup. The predicted resolution improvement is demonstrated for well-scattering, structured polymer samples.

We report on the fluorine doping and codoping of powder-based silica bulk glasses fabricated using REPUSIL (Reactive Powder Sintering of Silica) technology. The maximum doping level of 1.5 mol% of SiF4 is associated with a refractive index decrease by −8 x 10−3 compared to undoped silica and an essential decrease in the transition temperature by about 200 K. Fluorine codoping is eminently suitable for the direct refractive index adjustment of actively-doped silica glass materials (e.g., Al/Yb or Al/Tm). The fluorine codoping of Al/Yb silica glass significantly reduces parasitic photodarkening processes.

The iron oxide-hydroxyapatite (FeOxHA) nanoparticles reported here differ from those reported before by their advantage of homogeneity and simple preparation; moreover, the presence of carboxymethyldextran (CMD), together with hydroxyapatite (HA), allows access to the cellular membrane, which makes our magnetic apatite unique. These nanoparticles combine magnetic behavior, Raman label ability and the property of interaction with the cellular membrane; they therefore represent an interesting material for structural differentiation of the cell membrane. It was observed by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fluorescence microscopy that FeOxHA adheres to the plasma membrane and does not penetrate the membrane. These insights make the nanoparticles a promising material for magnetic cell sorting, e.g. in microfluidic device applications.

Prikhna, N. Novikov, Ya. Savchuk, N. Sergienko, V. Moshchil, S. Dub, P. Nagorny Institute for Superhard Materials, 2, Avtozavodskaya Str., Kiev, 04074, Ukraine, W. Gawalek, M. Wendt, T. Habisreuther, C. Schmidt, J. Dellith Institut fur Physikalische Hochtechnologie, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 9, Jena, D-07745, Germany, V. Melnikov Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Ore-Formation, 34, Palladin Pr., Kiev, 02142, Ukraine S.X. Dou Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave. Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia

The MgB2 - based material high-pressure synthesized at 2 GPa and 800 C for 1 h from Mg and B (taken in the stoichiometry ratio of MgB2) with addition of 2-10 wt% of Ti demonstrated the critical current density (jc) higher than 100 kA/cm^2 at 33 K in 0 T field and at 20 K up to 3 T. At 20 K the critical current density higher than 10 kA/cm^2 was observed up to 5 T field. In the magnetic field up to 2 T high-pressure synthesized MgB2 (with 10 % of Ti) at 20 K behaves in the same manner as Nb3Sn at 4.2 K. In XRD patterns of magnesium diboride with the Ti added, we observed no evidence of titanium diboride or unreacted titanium and only one compound with titanium was identified, namely, titanium dihydride TiH2 (or more strictly TiH1.924). The sample with the highest critical current density and irreversible field in the temperature range of 25-10 K contained some amount of pure Mg that was rather homogeneously dispersed in the material. The critical currents and irreversible fields of magnesium diboride synthesized at high pressure with Ti added are higher than those in the case where Ta has been added., Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures