Structural colour of unary and binary colloidal crystals probed by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and optical microscopy.

Colloidal crystals composed of micro- or nano- colloids have been investigated in various fields such as photonics due to their unique optical properties. Binary colloidal crystals have an outstanding potential for fine-tuning material properties by changing the components, concentration, or size of colloids. Because of their tunable optical, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties, those materials attracted great attention.

Nanoscale characterization of local structures and defects in photonic crystals using synchrotron-based transmission soft X-ray microscopy.

For the structural characterization of the polystyrene (PS)-based photonic crystals (PCs), fast and direct imaging capabilities of full field transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) were demonstrated at soft X-ray energy. PS-based PCs were prepared on an O2-plasma treated Si3N4 window and their local structures and defects were investigated using this label-free TXM technique with an image acquisition speed of ~10 sec/frame and marginal radiation damage. Micro-domains of face-centered cubic (FCC (111)) and hexagonal close-packed (HCP (0001)) structures were dominantly found in PS-based PCs, while point and line defects, FCC (100), and 12-fold symmetry structures were also identified as minor components.

Transmission Electron Microscopy and Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscopy Studies on the Bioaccumulation and Tissue Level Absorption of TiO2 Nanoparticles in Daphnia magna.

In this study, bioaccumulation and tissue-level absorption of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) in freshwater invertebrates were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). The TiO2 NPs were used to test impacts of core sizes (i.e.

X-ray and electron microscopy studies on the biodistribution and biomodification of iron oxide nanoparticles in Daphnia magna.

Biodistribution and biomodification of iron oxide (Fe3O4 and α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) in a well-known toxicity test organism, Daphnia magna (D. magna), were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). In addition to the morphological changes in the gut tissues of D.

Scanning transmission X-ray microscopy probe for in situ mechanism study of graphene-oxide-based resistive random access memory.

Here, an in situ probe for scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) has been developed and applied to the study of the bipolar resistive switching (BRS) mechanism in an Al/graphene oxide (GO)/Al resistive random access memory (RRAM) device. To perform in situ STXM studies at the C K- and O K-edges, both the RRAM junctions and the I0 junction were fabricated on a single Si3N4 membrane to obtain local XANES spectra at these absorption edges with more delicate I0 normalization. Using this probe combined with the synchrotron-based STXM technique, it was possible to observe unique chemical changes involved in the BRS process of the Al/GO/Al RRAM device.

Enhanced separation of colloidal particles in an AsPFF device with a tilted sidewall and vertical focusing channels (t-AsPFF-v).

Here, we report an enhanced separation of colloidal particles using a novel type AsPFF (asymmetric pinched flow fractionation) device with two additional features (t-AsPFF-v). Particularly, by adding a tilted sidewall and vertical focusing channels to the conventional AsPFF device, a significant enhancement in the separation resolution (R(m,n)) has been achieved, which was estimated to be 10.4 for 6 and 10 μm PS particles and found to be 11.