Fabrication of transparent antifouling thin films with fractal structure by atmospheric pressure cold plasma deposition.

Antifouling surface with both superhydrophobicity and oil-repellency has been fabricated on glass substrate by forming fractal microstructure(s). The fractal microstructure was constituted by transparent silica particles of 100 nm diameter and transparent zinc-oxide columns grown on silica particles by atmospheric pressure cold plasma deposition. The sample surface was coated with a chemically adsorbed monomolecular layer. We found that one sample has the superhydrophobic ability with a water droplet contact angle of more than 150°, while another sample has a high transmittance of more than 85% in a wavelength range from 400 to 800 nm.

Measurement of a pauli and orbital paramagnetic state in bulk gold using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy.

We show that bulk gold (Au) exhibits temperature-independent paramagnetism in an external magnetic field by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy at the Au L(2) and L(3) edges. Using the sum-rule analysis, we obtained a magnetic moment of 1.3 × 10(-4) µB/atom in an external magnetic field of 10 T and a paramagnetic susceptibility of 8.9 × 10(-6) for the 5d orbit. The induced paramagnetism in bulk Au is characterized by a large (≈ 30%) orbital contribution. This orbital component was retained even when Au atoms formed nanoparticles, playing an important role in stabilizing the spontaneous spin polarization in the Au nanoparticles.

Enhancement and suppression of terahertz emission by a Fabry-Perot cavity structure with a nonlinear optical crystal.

We have fabricated Fabry-Perot (FP) cavities in the THz region with a ZnTe crystal as a cavity layer by a simple stacking method. We observed more than a three times enhancement of the THz emission intensity in the FP cavities compared with the bare ZnTe crystal at the frequencies of the resonant modes and stopband edges. On the other hand, suppression of the THz emission occurs at frequencies in the stopband. The enhancement and suppression of the THz emission are caused by the modification of the optical density of state in the FP cavities compared to the vacuum.

Double circular erosion patterns on dielectric target in magnetron sputtering.

In rf magnetron sputtering, a circular erosion pattern forms on the surface of a circular metal conductor target with permanent magnets on its back. In this case, the theory behind the erosion pattern has been established. However, in the case of a dielectric target, a double circular erosion pattern is formed. So far, this pattern has been phenomenologically recognized by experimenters; however, it has not yet been investigated. In this study, we performed a magnetron sputtering experiment with a SiO2 dielectric target, and confirmed the formation of a double circular erosion pattern. The dimensions of the double circular erosion pattern varied depending on the insulation resistance or the thickness of the SiO2 target. Furthermore, we found that the dimensions of a double circular erosion pattern changed by making a gap between the SiO2 target and guard ring. Based on the experimental results, we have proposed a qualitative model to explain the formation mechanism of double circular erosion patterns.