2014 Room temperature plasma anodization of silicon (growth rate of a few nm/min.) is possible through a thin calcia stabilized zirconia (CSZ) layer. The anodization kinetics, the composition and the electrical properties of the anodic SiO2 films are studied. Constant voltage or low current anodization lead to quasi defect free films with reduced surface roughness. The dielectric breakdown fiel...

The unique catalytic activity of vanadium nitrogenase suggests a new direction for the direct production of biofuels from CO with either synthetic catalysts or nitrogenase-containing bacteria. The reduction of CO by V nitrogenase to light hydrocarbons shows striking similarities to the established Fischer-Tropsch process; however, the enzyme does not use H(2) directly for this reaction. ADP=ade...

Alkali activated binders are a new class of binding material with comparable or enhanced performance to Portland cement. These binding materials are obtained by a chemical reaction between an alumino-silicate material and a highly alkaline solution. In most cases, the setting-hardening process of this binder is performed at high curing temperatures. In this paper, alkali activated mortars based...

We report a measurement of the electron temperature in a plasma generated by a high-intensity laser focused into a jet of neon. The 15 eV electron temperature is determined using an analytic solution of the plasma equations assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, initially developed for ultracold neutral plasmas. We show that this analysis method accurately reproduces more sophisticated plasm...

We present investigations on the plastic deformation behavior of a brittle bulk amorphous alloy by simple uniaxial compressive loading at room temperature. A patterning is possible by cold-plastic forming of the typically brittle Hf-based bulk amorphous alloy through controlling homogenous flow without the need for thermal energy or shaping at elevated temperatures. The experimental evidence su...

Although microscopic laws of physics are invariant under the reversal of the arrow of time, the transport of energy and information in most devices is an irreversible process. It is this irreversibility that leads to intrinsic dissipations in electronic devices and limits the possibility of quantum computation. We theoretically predict that the electric field can induce a substantial amount of ...

The problem of glass relaxation under ambient conditions has intrigued scientists and the general public for centuries, most notably in the legend of flowing cathedral glass windows. Here we report quantitative measurement of glass relaxation at room temperature. We find that Corning® Gorilla® Glass shows measurable and reproducible relaxation at room temperature. Remarkably, this relaxation fo...

A series of MoOx-modified Fe2O3 catalysts have been prepared in an attempt to make core−shell oxidic materials of the type MoOx/Fe2O3. It is conclusively shown that for three monolayers of Mo dosed, the Mo stays in the surface region, even after annealing to high temperature. It is only when the material is annealed above 400 °C that it reacts with the iron oxide. We show by a combination of me...

The promise of coupling between magnetization and electric polarization and the potential to manipulate one through the other has become in recent years a driving force for many experimental works on multiferroic materials. The ultimate goal of these studies would be a single-phase material exhibiting a strong coupling between inherent ferromagnetic and ferroelectric ordering at room temperatur...