The Art of Positronics in Contemporary Nanomaterials Science: A Case Study of Sub-Nanometer Scaled Glassy Arsenoselenides

The possibilities surrounding positronics, a versatile noninvasive tool employing annihilating positrons to probe atomic-deficient sub-nanometric imperfections in a condensed matter, are analyzed in application to glassy arsenoselenides g-AsxSe100−x (0 < x < 65), subjected to dry and wet (in 0.5% PVP water solution) nanomilling. A preliminary analysis was performed within a modified two-state simple trapping model (STM), assuming slight contributions from bound positron–electron (Ps, positronium) states. Positron trapping in g-AsxSe100−x/PVP nanocomposites was modified by an enriched population of Ps-decay sites in PVP. This was proven within a three-state STM, assuming two additive inputs in an overall trapping arising from distinct positron and Ps-related states. Formalism of x3-x2-CDA (coupling decomposition algorithm), describing the conversion of Ps-decay sites into positron traps, was applied to identify volumetric nanostructurization in wet-milled g-As-Se, with respect to dry-milled ones. Under wet nanomilling, the Ps-decay sites stabilized in inter-particle triple junctions filled with PVP replaced positron traps in dry-milled substances, the latter corresponding to multi-atomic vacancies in mostly negative environments of Se atoms. With increased Se content, these traps were agglomerated due to an abundant amount of Se-Se bonds. Three-component lifetime spectra with nanostructurally- and compositionally-tuned Ps-decay inputs and average lifetimes serve as a basis to correctly understand the specific “rainbow” effects observed in the row from pelletized PVP to wet-milled, dry-milled, and unmilled samples.

Solutions of q-deformed multiple-trapping model (MTM) for charge carrier transport from time-of-flight transient (TOF) photo-current in amorphous semiconductors

This paper is devoted to investigating the description of the q-deformed multiple-trapping equation for charge carrier transport in amorphous semiconductors. For this, we at first modified the multi–trapping model (MTM) of charge carriers in amorphous semiconductors from time-of-flight (TOF) transient photo-current in the framework of the q-derivative formalism, and then, we have constructed, our simulated current by using a method based on the Laplace method. This method is implemented in a program proposed recently by [14] which allows us to construct a current using the Padé approximation expansion.

Estimation of gas record alteration in very low-accumulation ice cores

We measured the methane mixing ratios of enclosed air in five ice core sections drilled on the East Antarctic Plateau. Our work aims to study two effects that alter the recorded gas concentrations in ice cores: layered gas trapping artifacts and firn smoothing. Layered gas trapping artifacts are due to the heterogeneous nature of polar firn, where some strata might close early and trap abnormally old gases that appear as spurious values during measurements. The smoothing is due to the combined effects of diffusive mixing in the firn and the progressive closure of bubbles at the bottom of the firn. Consequently, the gases trapped in a given ice layer span a distribution of ages. This means that the gas concentration in an ice layer is the average value over a certain period of time, which removes the fast variability from the record. Here, we focus on the study of East Antarctic Plateau ice cores, as these low-accumulation ice cores are particularly affected by both layering and smoothing. We use high-resolution methane data to test a simple trapping model reproducing the layered gas trapping artifacts for different accumulation conditions typical of the East Antarctic Plateau. We also use the high-resolution methane measurements to estimate the gas age distributions of the enclosed air in the five newly measured ice core sections. It appears that for accumulations below 2 cm ice equivalent yr−1 the gas records experience nearly the same degree of smoothing. We therefore propose to use a single gas age distribution to represent the firn smoothing observed in the glacial ice cores of the East Antarctic Plateau. Finally, we used the layered gas trapping model and the estimation of glacial firn smoothing to quantify their potential impacts on a hypothetical 1.5-million-year-old ice core from the East Antarctic Plateau. Our results indicate that layering artifacts are no longer individually resolved in the case of very thinned ice near the bedrock. They nonetheless contribute to slight biases of the measured signal (less than 10 ppbv and 0.5 ppmv in the case of methane using our currently established continuous CH4 analysis and carbon dioxide, respectively). However, these biases are small compared to the dampening experienced by the record due to firn smoothing.

On a local (de-)trapping model for highly doped Pr3+ radioluminescent and persistent luminescent nanoparticles

NaLuF4:20% Pr3+ nanoparticles exhibit size dependent persistent luminescence along with changes in radioluminesence intensity during X-ray irradiation. These observations can be accounted for using a local trapping model.

Exploring the temperature effect on hole transport properties in organic bulk heterojunctions

The hole transport in organic bulk heterojunctions shows a transition from a mobility model to a trapping model with increasing temperature.

A kinetic model for fluorescence microscopy experiments in disordered media that contains binding sites and obstacles

A model is proposed that describes the diffusion of molecules in a disordered medium with binding sites (traps) and obstacles (barriers). The equations of the model are obtained using the subordination method. As the parent process, random walks on a disordered lattice are taken, described by the random barriers model. As the leading process, the renewal process that corresponds to the multiple-trapping model is taken. Theoretical expressions are derived for the curves obtained in experiments using fluorescence microscopy (FRAP, FCS and SPT). Generalizations of the model are proposed, allowing to take into account correlations in the mutual arrangement of traps and barriers. The model can be used to find parameters characterizing the diffusion and binding properties of biomolecules in living cells.