Role of Rare Earth Elements and Entropy on the Anatase-To-Rutile Phase Transformation of TiO Thin Films Deposited by Ion Beam Sputtering.

The role played by oxygen vacancies and rare earth (RE) elements in the anatase-to-rutile (A-R) phase transformation of titanium dioxide (TiO) is still a matter of controversy. Here, we report the A-R transformation of TiO thin solid films as obtained by ion beam sputtering a RE-decorated titanium target in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. The samples correspond to undoped, single-doped (Sm, Tm, and Tb), and codoped (Sm:Tb, Sm:Tm, and Sm:Tb:Tm) TiO films.

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Functionalized with Carboxylic Acid for Fabricating Polymeric Composite Microstructures.

Carbon nanotube composites are promising materials for mechanical and electrical applications. However, methodologies to incorporate carbon nanotubes in polymeric matrices are on high demand, especially for fabricating devices in the micro-nanoscale. In this paper we show the fabrication of 3D polymeric microstructures with functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), by means of two-photon polymerization (2PP).

Tailored SERS substrates obtained with cathodic arc plasma ion implantation of gold nanoparticles into a polymer matrix.

This manuscript reports on the fabrication of plasmonic substrates using cathodic arc plasma ion implantation, in addition to their performance as SERS substrates. The technique allows for the incorporation of a wide layer of metallic nanoparticles into a polymer matrix, such as PMMA. The ability to pattern different structures using the PMMA matrix is one of the main advantages of the fabrication method.

Influence of film thickness on the optical transmission through subwavelength single slits in metallic thin films.

Silver and gold films with thicknesses in the range of 120-450 nm were evaporated onto glass substrates. A sequence of slits with widths varying between 70 and 270 nm was milled in the films using a focused gallium ion beam. We have undertaken high-resolution measurements of the optical transmission through the single slits with 488.