Refine
Year of publication
- 2014 (239) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (194)
- Doctoral Thesis (25)
- Postprint (6)
- Preprint (5)
- Other (4)
- Review (4)
- Monograph/Edited Volume (1)
Keywords
Institute
- Institut für Physik und Astronomie (239) (remove)
Herein we report a general liquid-mediated pathway for the growth of continuous polymeric carbon nitride (C3N4) thin films. The deposition method consists of the use of supramolecular complexes that transform to the liquid state before direct thermal condensation into C3N4 solid films. The resulting films exhibit continuous porous C3N4 networks on various substrates. Moreover, the optical absorption can be easily tuned to cover the solar spectrum by the insertion of an additional molecule into the starting complex. The strength of the deposition method is demonstrated by the use of the C3N4 layer as the electron acceptor in a polymer solar cell that exhibits a remarkable open-circuit voltage exceeding 1 V. The easy, safe, and direct synthesis of carbon nitride in a continuous layered architecture on different functional substrates opens new possibilities for the fabrication of many energy-related devices.
In this paper, we show how graphene can be utilized as a nanoscopic probe in order to characterize local opto-mechanical forces generated within photosensitive azobenzene containing polymer films. Upon irradiation with light interference patterns, photosensitive films deform according to the spatial intensity variation, leading to the formation of periodic topographies such as surface relief gratings (SRG). The mechanical driving forces inscribing a pattern into the films are supposedly fairly large, because the deformation takes place without photofluidization; the polymer is in a glassy state throughout. However, until now there has been no attempt to characterize these forces by any means. The challenge here is that the forces vary locally on a nanometer scale. Here, we propose to use Raman analysis of the stretching of the graphene layer adsorbed on top of polymer film under deformation in order to probe the strength of the material transport spatially resolved. With the well-known mechanical properties of graphene, we can obtain lower bounds on the forces acting within the film. Upon the basis of our experimental results, we can deduce that the internal pressure in the film due to grating formation can exceed 1 GPa. The graphene-based nanoscopic gauge opens new possibilities to characterize opto-mechanical forces generated within photosensitive polymer films.
Context. It is not yet clear whether magnetic fields play an essential role in shaping planetary nebulae (PNe), or whether stellar rotation alone and/or a close binary companion, stellar or substellar, can account for the variety of the observed nebular morphologies.
Aims. In a quest for empirical evidence verifying or disproving the role of magnetic fields in shaping planetary nebulae, we follow up on previous attempts to measure the magnetic field in a representative sample of PN central stars.
Methods. We obtained low-resolution polarimetric spectra with FORS2 installed on the Antu telescope of the VLT for a sample of 12 bright central stars of PNe with different morphologies, including two round nebulae, seven elliptical nebulae, and three bipolar nebulae. Two targets are Wolf-Rayet type central stars.
Results. For the majority of the observed central stars, we do not find any significant evidence for the existence of surface magnetic fields. However, our measurements may indicate the presence of weak mean longitudinal magnetic fields of the order of 100 Gauss in the central star of the young elliptical planetary nebula IC 418 as well as in the Wolf-Rayet type central star of the bipolar nebula Hen 2-113 and the weak emission line central star of the elliptical nebula Hen 2-131. A clear detection of a 250 G mean longitudinal field is achieved for the A-type companion of the central star of NGC 1514. Some of the central stars show a moderate night-to-night spectrum variability, which may be the signature of a variable stellar wind and/or rotational modulation due to magnetic features.
Conclusions. Since our analysis indicates only weak fields, if any, in a few targets of our sample, we conclude that strong magnetic fields of the order of kG are not widespread among PNe central stars. Nevertheless, simple estimates based on a theoretical model of magnetized wind bubbles suggest that even weak magnetic fields below the current detection limit of the order of 100 G may well be sufficient to contribute to the shaping of the surrounding nebulae throughout their evolution. Our current sample is too small to draw conclusions about a correlation between nebular morphology and the presence of stellar magnetic fields.
A novel sample holder is introduced which allows for temperature dependent soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy of liquids in transmission mode. The setup is based on sample cells with x-ray transmissive silicon nitride windows. A cooling circuit allows for temperature regulation of the sample liquid between -10 degrees C and +50 degrees C. The setup enables to record soft x-ray absorption spectra of liquids in transmission mode with a temperature resolution of 0.5K and better. Reliability and reproducibility of the spectra are demonstrated by investigating the characteristic temperature-induced changes in the oxygen K-edge x-ray absorption spectrum of liquid water. These are compared to the corresponding changes in the oxygen K-edge spectra from x-ray Raman scattering. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.
Life and death of stationary linear response in anomalous continuous time random walk dynamics
(2014)
Linear theory of stationary response in systems at thermal equilibrium requires to find equilibrium correlation function of unperturbed responding system. Studies of the response of the systems exhibiting anomalously slow dynamics are often based on the continuous time random walk description (CTRW) with divergent mean waiting times. The bulk of the literature on anomalous response contains linear response functions like one by Cole-Cole calculated from such a CTRW theory and applied to systems at thermal equilibrium. Here we show within a fairly simple and general model that for the systems with divergent mean waiting times the stationary response at thermal equilibrium is absent, in accordance with some recent studies. The absence of such stationary response (or dying to zero non-stationary response in aging experiments) would confirm CTRW with divergent mean waiting times as underlying physical relaxation mechanism, but reject it otherwise. We show that the absence of stationary response is closely related to the breaking of ergodicity of the corresponding dynamical variable. As an important new result, we derive a generalized Cole-Cole response within ergodic CTRW dynamics with finite waiting time. Moreover, we provide a physically reasonable explanation of the origin and wide presence of 1/f noise in condensed matter for ergodic dynamics close to normal, rather than strongly deviating.
We report on oxygen K-edge soft x-ray emission spectroscopy from a liquid water jet at the Linac Coherent Light Source. We observe significant changes in the spectral content when tuning over a wide range of incident x-ray fluences. In addition the total emission yield decreases at high fluences. These modifications result from reabsorption of x-ray emission by valence-excited molecules generated by the Auger cascade. Our observations have major implications for future x-ray emission studies at intense x-ray sources. We highlight the importance of the x-ray pulse length with respect to the core-hole lifetime.
Amoebae explore their environment in a random way, unless external cues like, e. g., nutrients, bias their motion. Even in the absence of cues, however, experimental cell tracks show some degree of persistence. In this paper, we analyzed individual cell tracks in the framework of a linear mixed effects model, where each track is modeled by a fractional Brownian motion, i.e., a Gaussian process exhibiting a long-term correlation structure superposed on a linear trend. The degree of persistence was quantified by the Hurst exponent of fractional Brownian motion. Our analysis of experimental cell tracks of the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum showed a persistent movement for the majority of tracks. Employing a sliding window approach, we estimated the variations of the Hurst exponent over time, which allowed us to identify points in time, where the correlation structure was distorted ("outliers"). Coarse graining of track data via down-sampling allowed us to identify the dependence of persistence on the spatial scale. While one would expect the (mode of the) Hurst exponent to be constant on different temporal scales due to the self-similarity property of fractional Brownian motion, we observed a trend towards stronger persistence for the down-sampled cell tracks indicating stronger persistence on larger time scales.
Fabrication of Au@Pt multibranched nanoparticles and their application to in situ SERS monitoring
(2014)
Here, we present an Au@Pt core-shell multibranched nanoparticle as a new substrate capable of in situ surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), thereby enabling monitoring of the catalytic reaction on the active surface. By careful control of the amount of Pt deposited bimetallic Au@Pt, nanoparticles with moderate performance both for SERS and catalytic activity were obtained. The Pt-catalyzed reduction of 4-nitrothiophenol by borohydride was chosen as the model reaction. The intermediate during the reaction was captured and clearly identified via SERS spectroscopy. We established in situ SERS spectroscopy as a promising and powerful technique to investigate in situ reactions taking place in heterogeneous catalysis.
Herein, we report the use of upconversion agents to modify graphite carbon nitride (g-C3N4) by direct thermal condensation of a mixture of ErCl3 center dot 6H(2)O and the supramolecular precursor cyanuric acid-melamine. We show the enhancement of g-C3N4 photoactivity after Er3+ doping by monitoring the photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye under visible light. The contribution of the upconversion agent is demonstrated by measurements using only a red laser. The Er3+ doping alters both the electronic and the chemical properties of g-C3N4. The Er3+ doping reduces emission intensity and lifetime, indicating the formation of new, nonradiative deactivation pathways, probably involving charge-transfer processes.