Abstract: In this paper, an overview is given of modeling activities going on in our research group, for describing the plasma chemistry and plasmasurface interactions in reactive plasmas. The plasma chemistry is calculated by a fluid approach or by hybrid Monte Carlo (MC)fluid modeling. An example of both is illustrated in the first part of the paper. The example of fluid modeling is given for a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in CH4/O2, to describe the partial oxidation of CH4 into value-added chemicals. The example of hybrid MCfluid modeling concerns an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch reactor in Ar/Cl2/O2, including also the description of the etch process. The second part of the paper deals with the treatment of plasmasurface interactions on the atomic level, with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations or a combination of MD and MC simulations.

Abstract: The performance of SnO2 ceramic anodes doped with copper and antimony oxides was examined in cryolite alumina melts under anodic polarization at different cryolite ratios, temperatures, times, and current densities. The corroded part consists of a narrow strong corrosion zone at the anode surface with damage of the intergrain contacts and a large increase in porosity, a wider moderate corrosion zone with a smaller porosity increase, and a Cu depletion zone, where the ceramic retains its initial microstructure and a slight porosity increase occurs due to the removal of the Cu-rich inclusions. Mechanical destruction of the anode was never observed in the 10100 h tests. A microstructural model of the ceramic was suggested, consisting of grains with an Sb-doped SnO2 grain core surrounded by an ~200 to 500 nm grain shell where SnO2 was simultaneously doped with Sb and Mn+ (M=Cu2+,Fe3+,Al3+). The grains were separated by a few nanometers thick Cu-enriched grain boundaries. Different secondary charge carrier (holes) concentrations and electric conductivities in the grain core and grain shell result in a higher current density at the intergrain regions that leads to their profound degradation, especially in the low temperature acidic melt.

Abstract: The existence of the [SrF(0.8)O(0.1)](2.5)[Mn(6)O(12)] = Sr(2.5)Mn(6)O(12.5 – delta)F(2) compound was established in the SrO-Mn(2)O(3)-SrF(2) system at 900A degrees C and p(O(2)) = 1 atm. The crystal structure of strontium fluoromanganite was determined from the X-ray powder diffraction data, electron diffraction, and high-resolution electron microscopy. It can be described in the monoclynic system with four Miller hklm indices: hklm: H = h a* + k b* + l c (1) (*) + m q (1), q (1), q (1) = c (2) (*) = gamma c (1) (*) , gamma a parts per thousand 0.632, a a parts per thousand a a parts per thousand 9.72 , b a parts per thousand 9.55 , c (1) a parts per thousand 2.84 , c (2) a parts per thousand 4.49 , monoclinic angle gamma a parts per thousand 95.6A degrees. The electromotive force method with a solid fluorine ion electrolyte was used to refine the composition of fluoromanganite and determine the thermodynamic functions of its formation from phases neighboring in the phase diagram (SrMn(3)O(6), Mn(2)O(3), SrF(2), and oxygen), Delta GA degrees, kJ/mol = -(111.7 +/- 1.9) + (89.5 +/- 1.5) x 10(-3) T.

Abstract: Measurement and interpretation of mass fluxes in favor of concentrations is gaining more and more interest, especially within the framework of the characterization and management of large-scale volatile organic carbon (VOC) groundwater contamination (source zones and plumes). Traditional methods of estimating contaminant fluxes and discharges involve individual measurements/calculations of the Darcy water flux and the contaminant concentrations. However, taken into account the spatially and temporally varying hydrologic conditions in complex, heterogeneous aquifers, higher uncertainty arises from such indirect estimation of contaminant fluxes. Therefore, the potential use of passive sampling devices for the direct measurement of groundwater-related VOC mass fluxes is examined. A review of current passive samplers for the measurement of organic contaminants in water yielded the selection of 18 samplers that were screened for a number of criteria. These criteria are related to the possible application of the sampler for the measurement of VOC mass fluxes in groundwater. This screening study indicates that direct measurement of VOC mass fluxes in groundwater is possible with very few passive samplers. Currently, the passive flux meter (PFM) is the only passive sampler which has proven to effectively measure mass fluxes in near source groundwater. A passive sampler for mass flux measurement in plume zones with regard to long-term monitoring (several months to a year) still needs to be developed or optimized. A passive sampler for long-term monitoring of contaminant mass fluxes in groundwater would be of considerable value in the development of risk-based assessment and management of soil and groundwater pollutions.

Abstract: Single-file diffusion (SFD) of an infinite one-dimensional chain of interacting particles has a long-time mean-square displacement ∝t1/2, independent of the type of interparticle repulsive interaction. This behavior is also observed in finite-size chains, although only for certain intervals of time t depending on the chain length L, followed by the ∝t for t→∞, as we demonstrate for a closed circular chain of diffusing interacting particles. Here, we show that spatial correlation of noise slows down SFD and can result, depending on the amount of correlated noise, in either subdiffusive behavior ∝tα, where 0<α<1/2, or even in a total suppression of diffusion (in the limit N→∞). Spatial correlation can explain the subdiffusive behavior in recent SFD experiments in circular channels.

Abstract: We study the influence of the inelastic relaxation time τ̃E of the quasiparticle distribution function f(E) on the phase slip process in quasi-one-dimensional superconducting rings at a temperature close to the critical temperature Tc. We find that the initial time of growth of the order parameter |Δ| in the phase slip core after the phase slip is a nonmonotonic function of τ̃E which has a maximum at τ̃E≃τ̃GL=πℏ/8kB(Tc−T) and has a tendency to saturate for large τ̃E⪢τ̃GL. The effective heating of the electron subsystem due to the increase in |Δ| in the phase slip center together with the above effect result in a nonmonotonic dependence of the number of subsequent phase slips on τ̃E in rings of relatively large radius (in which each phase slip reduces the current density to a small fraction of its initial value). During the phase slip process the order parameter distribution has two peaks near the phase slip core due to the diffusion of the nonequilibrium quasiparticles from that region.

Abstract: The aim of this work consists of the evaluation of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharges for the conversion of greenhouse gases into useful compounds. Therefore, pure CO2 feed flows are administered to the discharge zone at varying discharge frequency, power input, gas temperature and feed flow rates, aiming at the formation of CO and O2. The discharge obtained in CO2 is characterized as a filamentary mode with a microdischarge zone in each half cycle of the applied voltage. It is shown that the most important parameter affecting the CO2-conversion levels is the gas flow rate. At low flow rates, both the conversion and the CO-yield are significantly higher. In addition, also an increase in the gas temperature and the power input give rise to higher conversion levels, although the effect on the CO-yield is limited. The optimum discharge frequency depends on the power input level and it cannot be unambiguously stated that higher frequencies give rise to increased conversion levels. A maximum CO2 conversion of 30% is achieved at a flow rate of 0.05 L min−1, a power density of 14.75 W cm−3 and a frequency of 60 kHz. The most energy efficient conversions are achieved at a flow rate of 0.2 L min−1, a power density of 11 W cm−3 and a discharge frequency of 30 kHz.

Abstract: We investigate theoretically quantum transport through graphene nanorings in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field. Our theoretical results demonstrate that the graphene nanorings behave like a resonant tunneling device, contrary to the Aharonov-Bohm oscillations found in conventional semiconductor rings. The resonant tunneling can be tuned by the Fermi energy, the size of the central part of the graphene nanorings and the external magnetic field.

Abstract: The melting of a binary system of charged particles confined in a quasi-one-dimensional parabolic channel is studied through Monte Carlo simulations. At zero temperature the particles are ordered in parallel chains. The melting is anisotropic and different melting temperatures are obtained according to the spatial direction, and the different kinds of particles present in the system. Melting is very different for the single-, two- and four-chain configurations. A temperature induced structural phase transition is found between two different four-chain ordered states which is absent in the mono-disperse system. In the mixed regime, where the two kinds of particles are only slightly different, melting is almost isotropic and a thermally induced homogeneous distribution of the distinct kinds of charges is observed.

Abstract: For the first time, the local structure and physical properties of Ru1222 based compounds (RuSr(2)Gd(1.4)Ce(0.6)Cu(2)O(10-delta) and RuSr(2)Gd(1.8-x)Y(0.2)CexCu(2)O(10) (x = 0.90-0.55)) have been investigated and analyzed together on the very same compounds. The Ru1222 superstructure was confirmed by TEM at a local scale and was suggested to have an orthorhombic symmetry with space group Aba2 and lattice parameters a(s) similar or equal to root 2a, b(s) similar or equal to root 2a and c(s) = c. This new Ru1222 superstructure distortion from tetragonal symmetry is proposed to have a positive correlation with the superconductivity variation of these compounds. The more the distortion towards orthorhombic symmetry, the higher the critical superconducting temperature these compounds can achieve. The T(c)(0) of RuSr(2)Gd(1.8-x)Y(0.2)Ce(x)Cu(2)O(10-delta) (x = 0.85-0.55) increases monotonically from 4 to 16 K when x decreases from 0.85 to 0.70, then RuSr(2)Gd(2)Cu(2)O(8) defects emerge and the T(c) decreases with decreasing x. Ru1212 defects are observed to intergrow epitaxially with the Ru1222 structure as lamellas along the c-axis in RuSr(2)Gd(1.4)Ce(0.6)Cu(2)O(10-delta). Although Ru1212 is a superconductor, the intergrowth severely restrains its superconductivity.

Abstract: Using the mass-spectrometric method we studied the formation of multi-charged plasma ions during the interaction of laser radiation with solid targets irradiated by neutron beams. We found that structural defects, caused by the neutron irradiation, influence not only the efficiency of the process of material evaporation and emission of plasma, but also the ionization and recombination processes taking place at the initial stage of plasma formation and expansion. We also show the effect of the dose of neutron irradiation on the threshold of plasma formation from the surface of the target.

Abstract: As electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) probe the same transitions from coreshell states to unoccupied states above the Fermi energy, it should always be possible to apply the two techniques to the same physical phenomena, such as magnetic dichroism, and obtain the same information. Indeed, the similarity in the expression of the electron and x-ray cross-sections had been already exploited to prove the equivalence of x-ray magnetic linear dichroism and anisotropy in EELS, by noting that the polarization vector of a photon plays the same role as the momentum transfer in electron scattering. Recently, the same was proven true for x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) by establishing a new TEM technique called EMCD (electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism) (Schattschneider P et al 2006 Nature 441 4868), which makes use of special electron scattering conditions to force the absorption of a circularly polarized virtual photon. The intrinsic advantage of EMCD over XMCD is the high spatial resolution of electron microscopes, which are readily available. Among the particular obstacles in EMCD that do not exist for synchrotron radiation, is the notoriously low signal and the very particular scattering conditions necessary to observe a chiral dichroic signal. In spite of that, impressive progress has been made in recent years. The signal strength could be considerably increased, and some innovations such as using a convergent beam have been introduced. EMCD has evolved into several techniques, which make full use of the versatility of the TEM and energy filtering, spectroscopy or STEM conditions (Rubino S 2007 Magnetic circular dichroism in the transmission electron microscope PhD Thesis Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria).

Abstract: 'Bohm diffusion' causes the electrons to diffuse perpendicularly to the magnetic field lines. However, its origin is not yet completely understood: low and high frequency electric field fluctuations are both named to cause Bohm diffusion. The importance of including this process in a Monte Carlo (MC) model is demonstrated by comparing calculated ionization rates with particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisions (PIC/MCC) simulations. A good agreement is found with a Bohm diffusion parameter of 0.05, which corresponds well to experiments. Since the PIC/MCC method accounts for fast electric field fluctuations, we conclude that Bohm diffusion is caused by fast electric field phenomena.

Abstract: Recent findings have linked low hysteresis in shape memory alloys with phase compatibility between austenite and martensite. To investigate the evolution of microstructure as phase compatibility increases and hysteresis is reduced, transmission electron microscopy was used to study the alloy system Ti50Ni50xPdx, where the composition is systemically tuned to approach perfect compatibility. Changes in morphology, twinning density and twinning modes are reported, along with special microstructures occurring when compatibility is achieved. In addition, the interface between austenite and a single variant of martensite was studied by high-resolution and conventional electron microscopy. The low energy configuration of the interface detailed in this article suggests that it plays an important role in the lowering of hysteresis compared to classical habit plane interfaces.