Preparation of Fullerene (C₆₀) Based SiO₂ Sonogel Hybrid Composites: UV Laser Induced Photo-Polymerization, Morphological, and Optical Properties

Abstract

Nanoscale (approximately 90 nm) Copper nitride (Cu3N) films are deposited on borosilicate glass and Si substrates by RF sputtering technique in the reactive environment of nitrogen gas. These films are irradiated with 200 MeV Au15+ ions from Pelletron accelerator in order to modify the surface by high electronic energy deposition of heavy ions. Due to irradiation (i) at incident ion fluence of 1 x 10(12) ions/cm2 enhancement of grains, (ii) at 5 x 10912) ions/cm2 mass transport on the films surface, (iii) at 2 x 10(13) ions/cm2 line-like features on Cu3N/glass and nanometallic structures on Cu3N/Si surface are observed. The surface morphology is examined by atomic force microscope (AFM). All results are explained on the basis of a thermal spike model of ion-solid interaction.

Scaling and branching in wet sonogels as a function of the volume fraction of the liquid phase

“…In this work, we study, using mainly small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), the basic structural modifications in aged wet silica sonogels prepared with different volume fractions of the liquid phase. High purity silica sonogels have been considered, for instance, as supports for materials with interesting linear and nonlinear optical properties [13,14]. The aim of the present work is to study the effects of the dilution, throughout the increase of the volume fraction of the liquid phase of the gels, on the structural characteristics of the aged wet sonogels, considering classical particle scattering factors of some branched and linear chain polymers in solution [15].…”