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Nanodiamond (ND) layers on silicon substrate are deposited by the pulsed spray technique starting from nanoparticles of about 250 nm dispersed in 1,2-dichloroethane solvent. The aim of this letter is to investigate the quantum efficiency (QE) of photocathodes based on ND particles in the vacuum ultraviolet spectral range. Various ND layers are examined employing as-received and hydrogenated nanoparticles. As expected, the hydrogen plasma treatment improves strongly the photoemission of the layer giving a QE of 22% at 146 nm. Indeed, this efficiency value is achieved only if the particles are treated in H2 microwave plasma before the growth of the sprayed layer rather than to hydrogenate the already formed one. These QE values are higher than those of photocathodes based on plasma chemical vapor deposition diamond films, but with the advantage of being much stable, too. The highest QE values are explained to be due to the intrinsic chemical and structural features of utilized ND particles.

We show that, in particular experimental conditions, the time course of the radiant fluxes, measured from a bioluminescent emission of a Vibrio harveyi related strain, collapse after suitable rescaling onto the Gumbel distribution of extreme value theory. We argue that the activation times of the strain luminous emission follow the universal behavior described by this statistical law, in spite of the fact that no extremal process is known to occur.

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