High-resolution far-infrared reflection and polarized ellipsometry, as well as Raman scattering temperature-dependent measurements are used to study spin-phonon and electron-phonon interactions in rare-earth (RE) iron borates with the R32 structure of a natural mineral huntite, namely, in RFe3(BO3)4 with R1⁄4Pr, Nd, and Sm. Pronounced peculiarities in the ω(T) dependences at the Néel temperatur...

We present the design and verification of a desktop system for the automated production of nanostructured thin films via spin-assisted layer-by-layer (spin-LBL) assembly. The utility of this system is demonstrated by fabricating polyvinyl alcohol/clay nanocomposites. Ellipsometry measurements demonstrate that the automated spin-LBL method creates composites with bilayer thickness and growth rat...

Self-assembled, irregular ensembles of hemispherical Ga nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited on sapphire by molecular beam epitaxy. These samples, whose constituent unimodal or bimodal distribution of NP sizes was controlled by deposition time, exhibited localized surface plasmon resonances tunable from the ultraviolet to the visible (UV/ vis) spectral range. The optical response of each sample w...

This project arose out an EPSRC/Unilever funded programme in the mid-1990’s in which we established the overflowing cylinder (OFC) as a platform for studying adsorption kinetics and Marangoni effects in surfactant solutions, using the cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (C16TAB) as a model system. Following the success of the earlier project, a new collaborative programme wa...

The optical properties of a single-phase corundum-structured In 2 O 3 epilayer grown by mist chemical vapor deposition method have been studied. Raman scattering measurements on c face and lateral reveal all the seven Raman-active modes corundum structure, with good adherence to selection rules. Three out four infrared-active are observed in spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. phonon frequ...

Pulsed laser deposition technique was used for the fabrication of Ge-Te rich GeTe-Sb2Te3 (Ge6Sb2Te9, Ge8Sb2Te11, Ge10Sb2Te13, and Ge12Sb2Te15) amorphous thin films. To evaluate the influence of GeTe content in the deposited films on physico-chemical properties of the GST materials, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction and reflectometry, atomic fo...

We report a dramatic increase in foam stability for catanionic mixtures (myristic acid and cetyl trimethylammonium bromide, CTABr) with respect to that of CTABr solutions. This increase was related to the low surface tension, high surface concentration, and high viscoelastic compression moduli, as measured with rising bubble experiments and ellipsometry. Dialysis of the catanionic mixtures has ...

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials are attractive due to the combination of properties from the two distinct types of materials. In this work, transparent titania-polydimethylsiloxane hybrid materials with up to 15.5 vol. % TiO₂ content were prepared by an in situ non-aqueous method using titanium (IV) isopropoxide and hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane as precursors. Spectroscopy (Fourier...