A well-known organic host, tris-o-phenylenedioxycyclotriphosphazene, exists in two polymorphic guest-free forms: the thermodynamic nonporous high-density phase and the kinetic nanoporous low-density phase. Simple pressurization of the high density phase with CO(2) brings a solid-state transformation to the low density phase, resulting in significant expansion of the crystal volume by 23%.

Anisotropy, or alternatively, isotropy of phase transformations extensively exist in a number of solid-state materials, with performance depending on the three-dimensional transformation features. Fundamental insights into internal chemical phase evolution allow manipulating materials with desired functionalities, and can be developed via real-time multi-dimensional imaging methods. Here, we re...

Abstract: Austenitic stainless steels exhibit a low hardness and weak tribological properties. The wear behaviour of austenitic stainless steel AISI 316 was evaluated through the pin on disc tribological method. For investigating the effect of wear on the changes in microstructure and resistance to wear, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscope were used. The hardness of the worn...

Solid-state structural transformation coupled with an electronic property change is an important mechanism for nonvolatile information storage technologies, such as phase-change memories. Here we exploit phase-change GeTe single-nanowire devices combined with ex situ and in situ transmission electron microscopy to correlate directly nanoscale structural transformations with electrical switching...

In this paper, we focused on the effects of initial solution’s pH on the composition, structure and morphology of hydrothermally synthesized titanium oxide nanoparticles. TiCl4 and NaOH were used as titanium source and precipitant, respectively. Phase and structure determination of samples were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were used for...

The phase transition of crystalline ordering is a general phenomenon, but its evolution in space and time requires microscopic probes for visualization. Here we report direct imaging of the transformation of amorphous titanium dioxide nanofilm, from the liquid state, passing through the nucleation step and finally to the ordered crystal phase. Single-pulse transient diffraction profiles at diff...

The monotonic and cyclic deformation behavior of ultrafine-grained metastable austenitic steel AISI 304L, produced by severe plastic deformation, was investigated. Under monotonic loading, the martensitic phase transformation in the ultrafine-grained state is strongly favored. Under cyclic loading, the martensitic transformation behavior is similar to the coarse-grained condition, but the cycli...

We report on the experimental demonstration of an all-optical pi cross-phase modulation jump. By performing a preselection, an optically induced unitary transformation, and then a postselection on the polarization degree of freedom, the phase of the output beam acquires either a zero or pi phase shift (with no other possible values). The postselection results in optical loss in the output beam....