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A nanofabrication process for realizing optical nanoantennas carved from a single-crystal gold plate is presented in this communication. The method relies on synthesizing two-dimensional micron-size gold crystals followed by the dry etching of a desired antenna layout. The fabrication of single-crystal optical nanoantennas with standard electron-beam lithography tool and dry etching reactor represents an alternative technological solution to focused ion beam milling of the objects. The process is exemplified by engineering nanorod antennas. Dark-field spectroscopy indicates that optical antennas produced from single crystal flakes have reduced localized surface plasmon resonance losses compared to amorphous designs of similar shape. The present process is easily applicable to other metals such as silver or copper and offers a design flexibility not found in crystalline particles synthesized by colloidal chemistry.

Ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) was used to investigate the static and dynamic magnetic properties of carbon-doped Mn5Ge3 (C$_{0.1}$ and C$_{0.2}$) thin films grown on Ge(111). The temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy shows an increased perpendicular magneto-crystalline contribution at 80K with an in-plane easy axis due to the large shape contribution. We find that our samples show a small FMR linewidth (corresponding to an intrinsic magnetic damping parameter $\alpha$=0.005), which is a measure of the spin relaxation and directly related with the magnetic and structural quality of the material. In the perpendicular-to-plane geometry, the FMR linewidth shows a minimum at around 200K for all the samples, which seems to be not correlated to the C-doping. The magnetic relaxation parameters have been determined and indicate the two-magnon scattering as the main extrinsic contribution. We observe a change in the main contribution from scattering centres in Mn5Ge3C0.2 at low temperatures, which could be related to the minimum in linewidth.

We employ nonlinear autocorrelation measurements to investigate plasmon-assisted hot carrier dynamics generated in optical gold antennas. We demonstrate that surface plasmons enable a nonlinear formation of hot carriers, providing thus a unique lever to optimize the energy distribution and generation efficiency of the photo-excited charges. The temporal response of the carriers' relaxation can be controlled within a range extending from 500~fs to 2.5~ps. By conducting a quantitative analysis of the dynamics, we determine the nonlinear absorption cross-section of individual optical antennas. As such, this work provides strong insights on the understanding of plasmon-induced hot carrier generation, especially in the view of applications where the time response plays a preponderant role.

Plasmonic dark modes are pure near-field resonances since their dipole moments are vanishing in far field. These modes are particularly interesting to enhance nonlinear light-matter interaction at the nanometer scale because radiative losses are mitigated therefore increasing the intrinsic lifetime of the resonances. However, the excitation of dark modes by standard far field approaches is generally inefficient because the symmetry of the electromagnetic near-field distribution has a poor overlap with the excitation field. Here, we demonstrate the selective optical excitation of bright and dark plasmonic modes of single gold nanorods by spatial phase-shaping the excitation beam. Using two-photon luminescence measurements, we unambiguously identify the symmetry and the order of the emitting modes and analyze their angular distribution by Fourier-space imaging.

Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter "D-shuttle" for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the background radiation level of other regions/countries.

In order to measure the energy of neutron fields, with energy ranging from 8 keV to 1 MeV, a new primary standard is being developed at the IRSN (Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety). This project, micro-TPC (Micro Time Projection Chamber), carried out in collaboration with the LPSC (Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie), is based on the nuclear recoil detector principle. The instrument is presented with the associated method to measure the neutron energy. This article emphasizes the proton energy calibration procedure and energy measurements of a neutron field produced at 127 keV with the IRSN facility AMANDE., Comment: 7 pages. Submitted in IEEE TNS/ Special Issue ANIMMA 2013

The AMANDE facility produces monoenergetic neutron fields from 2 keV to 20 MeV for metrological purposes. To be considered as a reference facility, fluence and energy distributions of neutron fields have to be determined by primary measurement standards. For this purpose, a micro Time Projection Chamber is being developed to be dedicated to measure neutron fields with energy ranging from 8 keV up to 1 MeV. In this work we present simulations showing that such a detector, which allows the measurement of the ionization energy and the 3D reconstruction of the recoil nucleus, provides the determination of neutron energy and fluence of these neutron fields.

The nitrides of group III metals: AlN, GaN and InN are very important materials due to their applications for short wavelength opto-electronics (light-emitting diodes and laser diodes). It is essential for the realization of such novel devices to grow high-quality nitride single crystals. In this paper, we report the first stages of the InP(1 0 0) surfaces nitridation in order to grow high-quality nitride films. Indeed, the nitridation process is an important step in the growth of nitrides [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 17 (1999) 2194; Phys. Status Solidi A 176 (1999) 595]. Previous works [Synth. Met. 90 (1997) 2233; Appl. Phys. Lett. 63 (1993) 1957] have shown that in situ Ar+ ions bombardment is useful on the one hand to clean the surface, and on the other hand to create droplets of metallic indium in well-controlled quantity. Then the indium metallic enrichment of the surface, monitoring by elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) allows to prepare the III-V semiconductors surfaces to the nitridation step. The nitridated process has been performed with a high voltage plasma discharge cell and has been studied using quantitative Auger electron spectroscopy, elastic peak electron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), in order to optimize the conditions of InN layers formation.