Abstract: In this paper we explore the desirability of a transmission electron microscope in which the phase of the electron wave can be freely controlled. We discuss different existing methods to manipulate the phase of the electron wave and their limitations. We show how with the help of current techniques the electron wave can already be crafted into specific classes of waves each having their own peculiar properties. Assuming a versatile phase modulation device is feasible, we explore possible benefits and methods that could come into existence borrowing from light optics where the so-called spatial light modulators provide programmable phase plates for quite some time now. We demonstrate that a fully controllable phase plate building on Harald Rose׳s legacy in aberration correction and electron optics in general would open an exciting field of research and applications.

Abstract: Depending on the Ginzburg-Landau parameter kappa, superconductors can either be fully diamagnetic if kappa < 1/root 2 (type I superconductors) or allow magnetic flux to penetrate through Abrikosov vortices if kappa > 1/root 2 (type II superconductors; refs 1,2). At the Bogomolny critical point, kappa = kappa(c) = 1/root 2, a state that is infinitely degenerate with respect to vortex spatial configurations arises(3,4). Despite in-depth investigations of conventional type I and type II superconductors, a thorough understanding of the magnetic behaviour in the near-Bogomolny critical regime at kappa similar to kappa(c) remains lacking. Here we report that in confined systems the critical regime expands over a finite interval of kappa forming a critical superconducting state. We show that in this state, in a sample with dimensions comparable to the vortex core size, vortices merge into a multi-quanta droplet, which undergoes Rayleigh instability(5) on increasing kappa and decays by emitting single vortices. Superconducting vortices realize Nielsen-Olesen singular solutions of the Abelian Higgs model, which is pervasive in phenomena ranging from quantum electrodynamics to cosmology(6-9). Our study of the transient dynamics of Abrikosov-Nielsen-Olesen vortices in systems with boundaries promises access to non-trivial effects in quantum field theory by means of bench-top laboratory experiments.

Abstract: Thin films of the superconducting Nd1+xBa2−xCu3O7−δ (NBCO) and Y1(NdxBa2−x)Cu3O7−δ (YNBCO) compounds have been deposited by dc magnetron sputtering and diode high pressure oxygen sputtering. Different techniques, including scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been used to study the film microstructures and the surface morphology. It is shown that the Nd/Ba exchange promotes a 2D heteroepitaxial growth in the case of the NBCO films deposited on (1 0 0) SrTiO3 substrates, with a suppression of the characteristic 3D spirals structures. On the contrary in YNBCO the Nd/Ba exchange does not provide a driving force for the suppression of screw-dislocations, since spirals or towers originated by screw and half loop dislocations are observed on the surface. TEM reveals that anti-phase boundaries are eliminated during the growth of NBCO films thanks to the Nd/Ba exchange while this mechanism is not operating in the case of YNBCO films.

Abstract: Different zeolites were tested for selective removal of methyl elaidate (trans isomer) from an equimolar mixture with methyl oleate (cis isomer). Sorption experiments of the geometric isomers show that only ZSM-5 samples with reduced Al content in the framework are able to discriminate among the bent cis and the linear trans fatty acid methyl esters. Hydrogenation experiments of equimolar methyl oleate and elaidate mixtures at low temperature (65 °C) and high hydrogen pressure (6.0 MPa), using Pt catalysts, confirm this result. Only with a Pt/NaZSM-5 catalyst outspoken selectivity for the hydrogenation of the trans isomer is obtained. In order to prepare a selective Pt/ZSM-5 catalyst, the influence of Pt addition (impregnation, ion-exchange and competitive ion-exchange) and Pt activation (different calcination and reduction temperatures) on the Pt-distribution and Pt particle size was investigated using SEM, bright-field and HR TEM, EDX, electron tomography, CO-chemisorption, XPS, XRD, and UVvis measurements. The best result in terms of hydrogenation activity and selectivity is obtained with a Pt/ZSM-5 catalyst, which is prepared via competitive ion-exchange, followed by slow calcination up to 350 °C under high O2 flow and a reduction up to 500 °C under H2. This preparation method leads to a Pt/ZSM-5 catalyst with the best Pt distribution and the smallest Pt clusters occluded in the zeolite structure. Finally, the influence of zeolite crystal size, morphology, and elemental composition of ZSM-5 on hydrogenation activity and selectivity was investigated in detail.

Abstract: In TEM, a typical goal consists of making a small electron probe in the sample plane in order to obtain high spatial resolution in scanning transmission electron microscopy. In order to do so, the phase of the electron wave is corrected to resemble a spherical wave compensating for aberrations in the magnetic lenses. In this contribution, we discuss the advantage of changing the phase of an electron wave in a specific way in order to obtain fundamentally different electron probes opening up new applications in the (S)TEM. We focus on electron vortex states as a specific family of waves with an azimuthal phase signature and discuss their properties, production and applications. The concepts presented here are rather general and also different classes of probes can be obtained in a similar fashion, showing that electron probes can be tuned to optimize a specific measurement or interaction.

Abstract: Atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy records the spatially resolved scattered electron density to infer positions, density, and species of atoms. These data are indispensable for studying the relation between structure and properties in solids. Here, we show how this signal can be augmented by the lateral probability current of the scattered electrons in the object plane at similar resolutions and fields of view. The currents are reconstructed from a series of three atomic resolution TEM images recorded under a slight difference of perpendicular line foci. The technique does not rely on the coherence of the electron beam and can be used to reveal electric, magnetic, and strain fields with incoherent electron beams as well as correlations in inelastic transitions, such as electron magnetic chiral dichroism.

Abstract: The main purpose of this research is to manage simultaneous measurement of velocity and concentration in large cross-sections by recording and processing images of cloud structures to provide more detailed information for e.g. validation of CFD simulations. Dispersion from an isolated stack in an Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) was chosen as the test case and investigated both experimentally and numerically in a wind tunnel. Large Scale-Particle Image Velocimetry (LS-PIV), which records cloud structures instead of individual particles, was used to obtain the velocity field in a vertical plane. The concentration field was determined by two methods: Aspiration Probe (AP) measurements and Light Scattering Technique (LST). In the latter approach, the same set of images used in the LS-PIV was employed. The test case was also simulated using the CFD solver FLUENT 6.3. Comparison between AP measurements and CFD revealed that there is good agreement when using a turbulent Schmidt number of 0.4. For the LST measurements, a non-linear relation between concentration and light intensity was observed and a hyperbolic-based function is proposed as correction function. After applying this correction function, a close agreement between CFD and LST measurements is obtained. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract: A transmission electron microscopy study of epitaxial C-60 and C-70 films grown on a GeS (001) surface is presented. The relationship between the orientation of the substrate and the films and structural defects in the films, such as grain boundaries, unknown in bulk C-60 and C-70 crystals, are studied. Small misalignments of the overlayers with respect to the orientation of the substrate, so-called epitaxial rotations, exist mainly in C-70 films, but also sporadically in the C-60 overlayers. A simple symmetry model, previously used to predict the rotation of hexagonal overlayers on hexagonal substrates, is numerically tested and applied to the present situation. Some qualitative conclusions concerning the substrate-film interaction are deduced. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Abstract: The superconducting state of an infinitely long superconducting cylinder surrounded by a medium which enhances its superconductivity near the boundary is studied within the nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau theory. This enhancement can be due to the proximity of another superconductor or due to surface treatment. Quantities such as the free energy, the magnetization and the Cooper-pair density are calculated. Phase diagrams are obtained to investigate how the critical field and the critical temperature depend on this surface enhancement for different values of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter kappa. Increasing the superconductivity near the surface leads to higher critical fields and critical temperatures. For small cylinder diameters only giant vortex states nucleate, while for larger cylinders multivortices can nucleate. The stability of these multivortex states also depends on the surface enhancement. For type-I superconductors we found the remarkable result that for a range of values of the surface extrapolation length the superconductor can transit from the Meissner state into superconducting states with vorticity L > 1. Such a behavior is not found for the case of large kappa, i.e., type-II superconductivity,

Abstract: We report the preparation of a new type of nanocomposite containing cobalt and silver nanoparticles organized in parallel layers with a well controlled separation. This arrangement allows the observation of an enhanced low-frequency Raman signal at the vibration frequency of cobalt nanoparticles excited through the surface plasmons of silver nanoparticles. Numerical simulations of the electric field confirm the emergence of hot spots when the separation between silver and cobalt nanoparticles is small enough.