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At least 649 records · Page 36

Probing flexible conformations in molecular junctions by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy

The probe of flexible molecular conformation is crucial for the electric application of molecular systems. We have developed a theoretical procedure to analyze the couplings of molecular local vibrations with the electron transportation process, which enables us to evaluate the structural fingerprints of some vibrational modes in the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). Based on a model molecule of Bis-(4-mercaptophenyl)-ether with a flexible center angle, we have revealed and validated a simple mathematical relationship between IETS signals and molecular angles. Our results might open a route to quantitatively measure key geometrical parameters of molecular junctions, which helps to achieve precise control of molecular devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Sub-nanosecond delays of light emitted by streamer in atmospheric pressure air: Analysis of N{sub 2}(C{sup 3}Π{sub u}) and N{sub 2}{sup +}(B{sup 2}Σ{sub u}{sup +}) emissions and fundamental streamer structure

Theoretical analysis of ultra-short phenomena occurring during the positive streamer propagation in atmospheric pressure air is presented. Motivated by experimental results obtained with tens-of-picoseconds and tens-of-microns precision, it is shown that when the streamer head passes a spatial coordinate, emission maxima from N{sub 2} and N{sub 2}{sup +} radiative states follow with different delays. These different delays are caused by differences in the dynamics of populating the radiative states, due to different excitation and quenching rates. Associating the position of the streamer head with the maximum value of the self-enhanced electric field, a delay of 160 ps was experimentally found for the peak emission of the first negative system of N{sub 2}{sup +}. A delay dilatation was observed experimentally on early-stage streamers and the general mechanism of this phenomenon is clarified theoretically. In the case of the second positive system of N{sub 2}, the delay can reach as much as 400 ps. In contrast to the highly nonlinear behavior of streamer events, it is shown theoretically that emission maximum delays linearly depend on the ratio of the streamer radius and its velocity. This is found to be one of the fundamental streamer features and its use in streamer head diagnostics is proposed. Moreover, radially resolved spectra are synthesized for selected subsequent picosecond moments in order to visualize spectrometric fingerprints of radial structures of N{sub 2}(C{sup 3}Π{sub u}) and N{sub 2}{sup +}(B{sup 2}Σ{sub u}{sup +}) populations created by streamer-head electrons.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy by six-wave mixing

Femtosecond Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy (FSRS) is motivated by the knowledge of the molecular geometry changes that accompany sub-picosecond chemical reactions. The detection of vibrational resonances throughout the entire fingerprint region of the spectrum with sub-100-fs delay precision is fairly straightforward to accomplish with the FSRS technique. Despite its utility, FSRS must contend with substantial technical challenges that stem from a large background of residual laser light and lower-order nonlinearities when all laser pulses are electronically resonant with the equilibrium system. In this work, a geometry based on five incident laser beams is used to eliminate much of this undesired background in experiments conducted on metmyoglobin. Compared to a three-beam FSRS geometry with all electronically resonant laser pulses, the five-beam approach described here offers major improvements in the data acquisition rate, sensitivity, and background suppression. The susceptibility of the five-beam geometry to experimental artifacts is investigated using control experiments and model calculations. Of particular concern are undesired cascades of third-order nonlinearities, which are known to challenge FSRS measurements carried out on electronically off-resonant systems. It is generally understood that “forbidden” steps in the desired nonlinear optical processes are the origin of the problems encountered under off-resonant conditions. In contrast, the present experiments are carried out under electronically resonant conditions, where such unfortunate selection rules do not apply. Nonetheless, control experiments based on spectroscopic line shapes, signal phases, and sample concentrations are conducted to rule out significant contributions from cascades of third-order processes. Theoretical calculations are further used to estimate the relative intensities of the direct and cascaded responses. Overall, the control experiments and model calculations presented in this work suggest promise for multidimensional resonance Raman investigations of heme proteins.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Electronic and mechanical properties of hybrid graphene/h-BN nanoribbons

The electronic and mechanical properties of one-dimensional super lattice which are composed of controlled domain size of graphene and h-BN nanoribbons with saturated and unsaturated edges are studied by means of the first-principles method. The results show that the studied zigzag- nanoribbons (Z-GBNNR) with unsaturated edges are half-metallic, while they transform into non-magnetic semiconductor on hydrogen passivations. On the other hand the band-gap of armchair-edges nanoribbons (A-GBNNR) get enhanced by the edges saturation. Furthermore, unsaturated edges A-GBNNR and saturated edges Z-GBNNR are found mechanically more stable. These results provide a fingerprint for their use in spintronics and electronics devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Modeling the high-energy electronic state manifold of adenine: Calibration for nonlinear electronic spectroscopy

Pump-probe electronic spectroscopy using femtosecond laser pulses has evolved into a standard tool for tracking ultrafast excited state dynamics. Its two-dimensional (2D) counterpart is becoming an increasingly available and promising technique for resolving many of the limitations of pump-probe caused by spectral congestion. The ability to simulate pump-probe and 2D spectra from ab initio computations would allow one to link mechanistic observables like molecular motions and the making/breaking of chemical bonds to experimental observables like excited state lifetimes and quantum yields. From a theoretical standpoint, the characterization of the electronic transitions in the visible (Vis)/ultraviolet (UV), which are excited via the interaction of a molecular system with the incoming pump/probe pulses, translates into the determination of a computationally challenging number of excited states (going over 100) even for small/medium sized systems. A protocol is therefore required to evaluate the fluctuations of spectral properties like transition energies and dipole moments as a function of the computational parameters and to estimate the effect of these fluctuations on the transient spectral appearance. In the present contribution such a protocol is presented within the framework of complete and restricted active space self-consistent field theory and its second-order perturbation theory extensions. The electronic excited states of adenine have been carefully characterized through a previously presented computational recipe [Nenov et al., Comput. Theor. Chem. 1040–1041, 295-303 (2014)]. A wise reduction of the level of theory has then been performed in order to obtain a computationally less demanding approach that is still able to reproduce the characteristic features of the reference data. Foreseeing the potentiality of 2D electronic spectroscopy to track polynucleotide ground and excited state dynamics, and in particular its expected ability to provide conformational dependent fingerprints in dimeric systems, the performances of the selected reduced level of calculations have been tested in the construction of 2D electronic spectra for the in vacuo adenine monomer and the unstacked adenine homodimer, thereby exciting the L{sub b}/L{sub a} transitions with the pump pulse pair and probing in the Vis to near ultraviolet spectral window.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Spatially resolved band alignments at Au-hexadecanethiol monolayer-GaAs(001) interfaces by ballistic electron emission microscopy

We study structural and electronic inhomogeneities in Metal—Organic Molecular monoLayer (OML)—semiconductor interfaces at the sub-nanometer scale by means of in situ Ballistic Electron Emission Microscopy (BEEM). BEEM imaging of Au/1-hexadecanethiols/GaAs(001) heterostructures reveals the evolution of pinholes density as a function of the thickness of the metallic top-contact. Using BEEM in spectroscopic mode in non-short-circuited areas, local electronic fingerprints (barrier height values and corresponding spectral weights) reveal a low-energy tunneling regime through the insulating organic monolayer. At higher energies, BEEM evidences new conduction channels, associated with hot-electron injection in the empty molecular orbitals of the OML. Corresponding band diagrams at buried interfaces can be thus locally described. The energy position of GaAs conduction band minimum in the heterostructure is observed to evolve as a function of the thickness of the deposited metal, and coherently with size-dependent electrostatic effects under the molecular patches. Such BEEM analysis provides a quantitative diagnosis on metallic top-contact formation on organic molecular monolayer and appears as a relevant characterization for its optimization.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Multiresolution persistent homology for excessively large biomolecular datasets

Although persistent homology has emerged as a promising tool for the topological simplification of complex data, it is computationally intractable for large datasets. We introduce multiresolution persistent homology to handle excessively large datasets. We match the resolution with the scale of interest so as to represent large scale datasets with appropriate resolution. We utilize flexibility-rigidity index to access the topological connectivity of the data set and define a rigidity density for the filtration analysis. By appropriately tuning the resolution of the rigidity density, we are able to focus the topological lens on the scale of interest. The proposed multiresolution topological analysis is validated by a hexagonal fractal image which has three distinct scales. We further demonstrate the proposed method for extracting topological fingerprints from DNA molecules. In particular, the topological persistence of a virus capsid with 273 780 atoms is successfully analyzed which would otherwise be inaccessible to the normal point cloud method and unreliable by using coarse-grained multiscale persistent homology. The proposed method has also been successfully applied to the protein domain classification, which is the first time that persistent homology is used for practical protein domain analysis, to our knowledge. The proposed multiresolution topological method has potential applications in arbitrary data sets, such as social networks, biological networks, and graphs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Radioisotope identification method for poorly resolved gamma-ray spectrum of nuclear security concern

Gamma-ray signal can be used as a fingerprint for radioisotope identification. In the context of radioactive and nuclear materials security at the border control point, the detection task can present a significant challenge due to various constraints such as the limited measurement time, the shielding conditions, and the noise interference. This study proposes a novel method to identify the signal of one or several radioisotopes from a poorly resolved gamma-ray spectrum. In this method, the noise component in the raw spectrum is reduced by the wavelet decomposition approach, and the removal of the continuum background is performed using the baseline determination algorithm. Finally, the identification of radioisotope is completed using the matrix linear regression method. The proposed method has been verified by experiments using the poorly resolved gamma-ray signals from various scenarios including single source, mixing of natural uranium with five of the most common industrial radioactive sources (57Co, 60Co, 133Ba, 137Cs, and 241Am). The preliminary results show that the proposed algorithm is comparable with the commercial method.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

{sup 1}H NMR relaxometry and quadrupole relaxation enhancement as a sensitive probe of dynamical properties of solids—[C(NH{sub 2}){sub 3}]{sub 3}Bi{sub 2}I{sub 9} as an example

{sup 1}H nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry has been applied to reveal information on dynamics and structure of Gu{sub 3}Bi{sub 2}I{sub 9} ([Gu = C(NH{sub 2}){sub 3}] denotes guanidinium cation). The data have been analyzed in terms of a theory of quadrupole relaxation enhancement, which has been extended here by including effects associated with quadrupole ({sup 14}N) spin relaxation caused by a fast fluctuating component of the electric field gradient tensor. Two motional processes have been identified: a slow one occurring on a timescale of about 8 × 10{sup −6} s which has turned out to be (almost) temperature independent, and a fast process in the range of 10{sup −9} s. From the {sup 1}H-{sup 14}N relaxation contribution (that shows “quadrupole peaks”) the quadrupole parameters, which are a fingerprint of the arrangement of the anionic network, have been determined. It has been demonstrated that the magnitude of the quadrupole coupling considerably changes with temperature and the changes are not caused by phase transitions. At the same time, it has been shown that there is no evidence of abrupt changes in the cationic dynamics and the anionic substructure upon the phase transitions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Quasielastic neutron scattering with in situ humidity control: Water dynamics in uranyl fluoride

The structural phase diagram of uranyl fluoride (UO{sub 2}F{sub 2}), while incomplete, contains at least one anhydrous crystal structure and a second, zeolite-like structure with the formula [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4} that can be produced by adding water to the anhydrous structure. While traditional diffraction measurements can easily differentiate these crystals, additional aqueous structures (in general of the form UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} + xH{sub 2}O) have been proposed as well. We present results using a novel sample environment setup to intercalate water during a quasielastic neutron scattering measurement over the course of 86 h. Our sample environment allows low-pressure (<2 atm) humid air flow across the sample coupled with a system to control the relative humidity of this air flow between 10% and 70%. The water dynamics in UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} and [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4} are sufficiently different to distinguish them, with water in the latter executing a restricted diffusion (D = 2.7 × 10{sup −6} cm{sup 2}/s) within the structure's accessible pores (r = 3.17 Å) such that the dynamics can be used as a fingerprinting tool. We confirm that water vapor pressure is the driving thermodynamic force for the conversion of the anhydrous structure to [(UO{sub 2}F{sub 2})(H{sub 2}O)]{sub 7} ⋅ (H{sub 2}O){sub 4}, and we demonstrate the feasibility of extending this approach to aqueous forms of UO{sub 2}F{sub 2} + xH{sub 2}O. This method has general applicability to systems in which water content itself is a driving variable for structural or dynamical phase transitions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Femtosecond time-resolved impulsive stimulated Raman spectroscopy using sub-7-fs pulses: Apparatus and applications

We describe details of the setup for time-resolved impulsive stimulated Raman spectroscopy (TR-ISRS). In this method, snapshot molecular vibrational spectra of the photoreaction transients are captured via time-domain Raman probing using ultrashort pulses. Our instrument features transform-limited sub-7-fs pulses to impulsively excite and probe coherent nuclear wavepacket motions, allowing us to observe vibrational fingerprints of transient species from the terahertz to 3000-cm{sup −1} region with high sensitivity. Key optical components for the best spectroscopic performance are discussed. The TR-ISRS measurements for the excited states of diphenylacetylene in cyclohexane are demonstrated, highlighting the capability of our setup to track femtosecond dynamics of all the Raman-active fundamental molecular vibrations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Characterization of CNT-MnO{sub 2} nanocomposite by electrophoretic deposition as potential electrode for supercapacitor

Energy crisis that occured in Indonesia suggests that energy supply could not offset the high rate request and needs an electric energy saving device which can save high voltage, safety, and unlimited lifetime. The weakness of batteries is durable but has a low power density while the capacitor has a high power density but it doesn’t durable. The renewal of this study is CNT-MnO{sub 2} thin film fabrication method using electrophoretic deposition. Electrophoretic deposition is a newest method to deposited CNT using power supply with cheap, and make a good result. The result of FTIR analysis showed that the best CNT-MnO{sub 2} composition is 75:25 and C-C bond is detected in fingerprint area. The result is electrode thin film homogen and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) peaks 2θ=26,63° is characterization of graphite, and 2θ=43,97° is characterization of diamond Carbon type and measured by Scherrer formula results 52,3 nm material average size .EIS test results its capacitance about 7,86 F. from the data it can be concluded that CNT-MnO{sub 2} potential electrode very promising for further study and has a potential to be a high capacitance, and fast charge supercapacitor which can be applied for electronic devices, energy converter, even electric car.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mössbauer and Kerr microscopy investigation of crystallization in FeCoB ribbons

The present work reports the crystallization study of amorphous FeCoB ribbons using x-ray diffraction, {sup 57}Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in transmission mode and magneto-optical Kerr (MOKE) microscopy. Annealing at 673 K is found to result in crystallization. From the Mossbauer measurements it is observed that the Fe magnetic moments are in the plane of sample for as-cast ribbon; α-FeCo, (Fe{sub 0.5}Co{sub 0.5}){sub 2}B and Fe{sub 2}B phases are formed after crystallization. MOKE microscopy revealed that wide 180° domain walls & narrow fingerprint domains are observed before crystallization and fine domains are observed after crystallization. The results are explained in terms of the presence of internal stresses and their annealing with thermal heat treatment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Gas phase structures and charge localization in small aluminum oxide anions: Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations

We use cryogenic ion trap vibrational spectroscopy in combination with quantum chemical calculations to study the structure of mono- and dialuminum oxide anions. The infrared photodissociation spectra of D{sub 2}-tagged AlO{sub 1-4}{sup −} and Al{sub 2}O{sub 3-6}{sup −} are measured in the region from 400 to 1200 cm{sup −1}. Structures are assigned based on a comparison to simulated harmonic and anharmonic IR spectra derived from electronic structure calculations. The monoaluminum anions contain an even number of electrons and exhibit an electronic closed-shell ground state. The Al{sub 2}O{sub 3-6}{sup −} anions are oxygen-centered radicals. As a result of a delicate balance between localization and delocalization of the unpaired electron, only the BHLYP functional is able to qualitatively describe the observed IR spectra of all species with the exception of AlO{sub 3}{sup −}. Terminal Al–O stretching modes are found between 1140 and 960 cm{sup −1}. Superoxo and peroxo stretching modes are found at higher (1120-1010 cm{sup −1}) and lower energies (850-570 cm{sup −1}), respectively. Four modes in-between 910 and 530 cm{sup −1} represent the IR fingerprint of the common structural motif of dialuminum oxide anions, an asymmetric four-member Al–(O){sub 2}–Al ring.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Cell mechanics as a marker for diseases: Biomedical applications of AFM

Many diseases are related to changes in cell mechanics. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is one of the most suitable techniques allowing the investigation of both topography and mechanical properties of adherent cells with high spatial resolution under physiological conditions. Over the years the use of this technique in medical and clinical applications has largely increased, resulting in the notion of cell mechanics as a biomarker to discriminate between different physiological and pathological states of cells. Cell mechanics has proven to be a biophysical fingerprint able discerning between cell phenotypes, unraveling processes in aging or diseases, or even detecting and diagnosing cellular pathologies. We will review in this report some of the works on cell mechanics investigated by AFM with clinical and medical relevance in order to clarify the state of research in this field and to highlight the role of cell mechanics in the study of pathologies, focusing on cancer, blood and cardiovascular diseases.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Unusual soft mode dynamics in ferroelectric PbTiO 3 , nanowire under different mechanical boundary conditions

Here, first-principles-based atomistic simulations are used to investigate equilibrium phases and soft mode dynamics in ultrathin ferroelectric PbTiO 3 nanowire with poor surface charge compensation subjected to a wide range of mechanical boundary conditions. The presence of the depolarizing field along the nanowire's transverse directions leads to the appearance of a unique high-frequency hard phonon mode that can be used to characterize electrical boundary conditions. This mode is insensitive to the mechanical load. Hydrostatic pressure was found to significantly influence the Curie point and ferroelectric soft modes in the nanowire. Uniaxial stress applied either along axial or transverse nanowire's direction is capable of inducing polydomain flux-closure phases that have a unique ``dynamical" fingerprint. In such phases the modes that originate from the soft modes of bulk PbTiO 3 become hard, which could open a way to potential identification of such nanodomain phases. In all cases, uniaxial stress significantly increases Curie temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Laser induced phase transition in epitaxial FeRh layers studied by pump-probe valence band photoemission

We use time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to probe the electronic and magnetization dynamics in FeRh films after ultrafast laser excitations. We present experimental and theoretical results which investigate the electronic structure of FeRh during the first-order phase transition, identifying a clear signature of the magnetic phase. We find that a spin polarized feature at the Fermi edge is a fingerprint of the magnetic status of the system that is independent of the long-range ferromagnetic alignment of the magnetic domains. We use this feature to follow the phase transition induced by a laser pulse in a pump-probe experiment and find that the magnetic transition occurs in less than 50 ps and reaches its maximum in 100 ps.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Structural and electronic properties of Fe dopants in cobalt oxide nanoislands on Au(111)

Mixed metal oxides of earth-abundant 3$d$ transition metals are an interesting class of materials that show interesting magnetic properties and a significant synergistic effect as catalysts for electrochemical oxygen evolution compared to simple unary oxides. However, the exact atomic-scale nature of such mixed oxide phases and the link to their interesting physico-chemical properties are poorly understood. Here, a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and x-ray photoemission spectroscopy reveals that Fe species embed in a facile way into CoO bilayers on Au(111) resulting in an Fe doped oxide. Density functional theory and the spectroscopic fingerprint from x-ray photoemission spectroscopy reveal that the Fe dopants in the cobalt oxide matrix assume a higher oxidation state than in the structurally corresponding unary bilayer oxide. Furthermore, the substituted Fe is structurally displaced further away from the Au than the metal in either of the corresponding pure unary oxides. Both O and to a smaller extent Co in the nearest coordination shell are also structurally and electronically perturbed. The interesting effects observed in the bilayer binary oxides may enable a better fundamental understanding of the nature of doping of metal oxides, in general, and promotion effects in catalytic applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗