Lattice dynamics of GeSn alloy nanowires.

Alloying group IV semiconductors offers an effective way to engineer their electronic properties and lattice dynamics. The incorporation of Sn in Ge permits a transition from an indirect to a direct bandgap semiconductor. Here, by combining polarization, laser power-dependent and temperature-dependent micro-Raman spectroscopy we explore the full lattice dynamics of GeSn ( = 0.

The gamma ray detection threshold temperature of different superheated droplet detectors.

The response of superheated droplet detectors (SDD) loaded with four different active liquids, R-12 (CClF), R-114 (CClF), R-134a (CHF) and R-610 (CF) have been studied to obtain the gamma ray detection threshold temperature (T) of the respective detectors. A Cs gamma ray source is used for this study. To obtain T from the experimental data a phenomenological model has been used.

Note: A new optical method for the detection of bubble nucleation in superheated droplet detector.

A superheated droplet detector (SDD) consists of a large number of micron-sized superheated liquid drops suspended in a gel medium. The vaporization of a superheated drop is associated with the emission of an acoustic signal. A novel optical method is developed for the detection of this acoustic signal.

Direct Observation of Kinetic Pathways of Biomolecular Recognition.

The pathways of molecular recognition, which is a central event in all biological processes, belong to the most important subjects of contemporary research in biomolecular science. By using fluorescence spectroscopy in a microfluidics channel, it can be determined that molecular recognition of α-chymotrypsin in hydrous surroundings at two different pH values (3.6 and 6.

Direct Observation of Coupling between Structural Fluctuation and Ultrafast Hydration Dynamics of Fluorescent Probes in Anionic Micelles.

The coupling of structural fluctuation and the dynamics of associated water molecules of biological macromolecules is vital for various biological activities. Although a number of molecular dynamics (MD) studies on proteins/DNA predicted the importance of such coupling, experimental evidence of variation of hydration dynamics with controlled structural fluctuation even in model macromolecule is sparse and raised controversies in the contemporary literature. Here, we have investigated dynamics of hydration at the surfaces of two similar anionic micelles sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) as model macromolecules using coumarin 500 (C500) as spectroscopic probe with femtosecond to picosecond time resolution up to 20 ns time window.

Characterization of R-134a superheated droplet detector for neutron detection.

R-134a (C2H2F4) is a low cost, easily available and chlorine free refrigerant, which in its superheated state can be used as an efficient neutron detector. Due to its high solubility in water the R-134a based superheated droplet detectors (SDD) are usually very unstable unless the detector is fabricated using a suitable additive, which stabilizes the detector. The SDD is known to have superheated droplets distributed in a short-lived and in a relatively long-lived metastable states.

DNA-mediated wirelike clusters of silver nanoparticles: an ultrasensitive SERS substrate.

Stable metal nanoclusters (NCs) with uniform interior nanogaps reproducibly offer a highly robust substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) because of the presence of abundant hot spots on their surface. The synthesis of such an SERS substrate by a simple route is a challenging task. Here, we have synthesized a highly stable wirelike cluster of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) with an interparticle gap of ~1.