Vol 42, No 11 (2016)

Results of examination of the effect of modifying the grain boundaries of nanostructured corundum with carbon nanoclusters on the nanocomposite hardness are reported. The nanocomposite hardness was found to be increased to 28 GPa. This value is substantially higher than the hardness of single-crystal corundum at any crystallographic plane (23 GPa). Carbon was present at grain boundaries in the obtained nanocomposite owing to the fact that this nanocomposite was sintered from clusters containing corundum nanograins coated with several C₆₀ layers. The structure of samples was investigated by transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, and their hardness was measured by indenting and scratch testing.

We present optical absorption spectra of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films obtained after 1-year-long film storage in air and upon heating up to 250°C. The results of the investigation show that long-term storage of the SWNTs in normal atmosphere leads to a substantial drop in intensity of optical absorption caused by electronic excitation, which recovers after film heating. The mechanism of changes in the electronic properties of the SWNTs under the influence of environment is discussed.

It has been shown that the interaction of 1 MeV protons at doses of (0.5–2) × 10¹⁴ cm^–2 with transistor structures having a 2D AlGaN/GaN channel (AlGaN/GaN HEMTs) is accompanied not only by the generation of point defects, but also by the formation of local regions with a disordered nanomaterial. The degree of disorder of the nanomaterial was evaluated by multifractal analysis methods. An increase in the degree of disorder of the nanomaterial, manifested the most clearly at a proton dose of 2 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2, leads to several-fold changes in the mobility and electron density in the 2D channel of HEMT structures. In this case, the transistors show a decrease in the source–drain current and an order-of-magnitude increase in the gate leakage current. In HEMT structures having an enhanced disorder of the nanomaterial prior to exposure to protons, proton irradiation results in suppression of the 2D conductivity in the channel and failure of the transistors, even at a dose of 1 × 10¹⁴ cm^–2.

The possibility of applying surface-enhanced Raman scattering (RS) for amplification of RS intensity in gaseous media is investigated. A more than sixfold enhancement of the RS signal is detected experimentally from the main atmospheric air components during interaction of continuous-wave laser radiation with a holographic aluminum diffraction grating. The averaged value of the RS signals’ amplification factor in the near-surface 30-nm-thick layer at the boundary between the diffraction grating and gaseous medium amounted to ~3 × 10³.

The interaction of different types of long-wavelength perturbations of a supersonic incident flow around a wedge with an arising shock wave is simulated numerically. The results of parametric calculations are compared with the data of the linear theory for the interaction of perturbations with a shock wave in the absence of a body. Data on the structure of pressure fluctuations behind the shock wave on the wedge and data on the coefficients of transformation of external perturbations represented in the form of analytical dependences on the angle of inclination of the shock wave, the angle of propagation of external perturbations, and the incident Mach number are obtained.

The incubation time necessary for the growth of surface islands on heterogeneous nucleation centers to begin has been theoretically analyzed depending on the material gas flow and surface temperature. It is shown that, under heterogeneous growth in the mode of incomplete condensation, the incubation time increases with temperature according to the Arrhenius law and is inversely proportional to the flow, irrespective of the mechanism of diffusion transport to islands. The results obtained have been qualitatively compared with the experimental data on the incubation time for three-dimensional GaN islands arising in the initial stage of self-induced growth of GaN nanowires.

The results of experiments on the explosion of a copper conductor in paraffin and wax both without additions and with nanosized copper oxide additions are presented. The experiments provided the size of the channel formed in wax samples upon the conductor explosion and subsequent expansion of the electric discharge plasma. The obtained results testify to the influence of nanosized additions on the character of electric discharge plasma expansion in the formed channel, the strength of composite materials, and the sample fragmentation (destruction).

Local electrical properties of the surface of porous GaP have been measured by the method of tunneling spectroscopy in ultrahigh vacuum. Two surface areas with different electrical properties were found. The effect of anomalous field-induced photoemission was observed. The most probable reason for this effect is the presence of Ga₂O₃ and GaP nanoclusters and the high density of acceptor-type surface states associated with these clusters. Integral characteristics of the field electron emission from the sample surface were obtained by using a computerized recording system with online processing of current–voltage characteristics.

The terahertz electromagnetic response of composite films based on the semiconducting polymer polyfluorene and graphene oxide particles is examined by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The spectra of complex permittivity in the range of 0.3–2.8 THz are measured for composite polyfluorene films with 7, 26, 50.6, and 73 wt % graphene oxide. It is found that the terahertz absorption coefficient and the real part of conductivity of the polyfluorene–graphene oxide composite increases significantly with the graphene oxide particles content increase.

The effect observed upon interaction between the electromagnetic radiation with quantum energy of 25–1000 eV and a dielectric with metal coating is investigated. The radiation source was a megampere Z-pinch. Measurements performed on optical glass samples showed that radiation with a power of ~10⁶ W/cm² in the electric circuit switching on the metalized dielectric induces the current. It is shown that the observed galvanic effect originates from the generation of hot electrons in the dielectric.