Control of optical absorption of silica glass by Ag ion implantation and subsequent heavy ion irradiation.

Silica glass samples were implanted with 50-380 keV Ag ions. After ion implantation, some samples were subsequently irradiated with 16 MeV Au ions. The effects of the implantation and the subsequent Au ion irradiation on the optical absorption spectra and morphologies of the Ag nanoparticles produced in the samples were studied by using an ultraviolet-visible scanning spectrophotometer and a transmission electron microscope, respectively. For the samples implanted with 200 keV or 380 keV Ag ions to high fluence, optical absorption peaks appeared around 600 nm, as well as the well-known surface plasmon resonance peaks around 400 nm, and Ag spherical nanoparticles with a high spatial density were observed. The absorption peaks around 600 nm are explained as being due to interactions between the Ag nanoparticles (inter-particle interaction). Under the subsequent irradiation with 16 MeV Au ions, the optical absorption around 400 and 600 nm showed a blue shift and the peak intensity markedly decreased. Transmission electron microscopy observation revealed an elongation of the Ag nanoparticles along the direction of the 16 MeV Au irradiation, and a resulting enlargement of the distances between the nanoparticles. The change in the peak wavelength and peak intensity of the optical absorption by the 16 MeV Au irradiation can, therefore, be explained as originating from a decrease in inter-particle interaction.

Grain Boundary Character Dependence on Nucleation of Discontinuous Precipitates in Cu-Ti Alloys.

The dependence of the grain boundary character distribution for a Cu-4 at. % Ti polycrystal alloy (average grain size: 100 µm) on the nucleation of cellular discontinuous precipitates was systematically investigated. In an alloy over-aged at 723 K, cellular discontinuous precipitates consisted of a terminal Cu solid solution and a stable ß-Cu4Ti lamellae nucleated at grain boundaries. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis revealed that the discontinuous precipitation reaction preferentially occurred at random grain boundaries with a Σ value of more than 21 according to the coincidence site lattice theory. On the other hand, few cellular discontinuous precipitates nucleated at low-angle and low-Σ boundaries, particularly twin (Σ 3) boundaries. These findings suggest that the nucleation of discontinuous precipitates is closely correlated with grain boundary character and structure, and hence energy and/or diffusibility. It should therefore be possible to suppress the discontinuous precipitation reaction through control of the alloy's grain boundary energy, by means of texture control and third elemental addition.

Atomic imaging in EBCO superconductor films by an X-ray holography system using a toroidally bent graphite analyzer.

X-ray fluorescence holography (XFH) is a new technique enabling the determination of the three-dimensional local atomic structure around a certain element. This method has been applied to analyze the local structure around Cu in 300 nm thin films of EuBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) (EBCO) epitaxially grown on MgO (100) substrate, using the newest system for XFH measurement and high-brilliance synchrotron radiation at SPring-8. Here, the results of a study on the irradiation effect on the local atomic structure of EBCO superconductor with XFH measurements are presented.