1,721,042 research outputs found

    Nanostructured target fabrication with metal and semiconductor nanoparticles

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    The development of ultra-intense high-energy (≫1 J) short (<1 ps) laser pulses in the last decade hasenabled the acceleration of high-energy short-pulse proton beams. A key parameter for enhancing theacceleration regime is the laser-to-target absorption, which heavily depends on the target structureand material. In this work, we present the realization of a nanostructured target with a sub-laserwavelength nano-layer in the front surface as a possible candidate for improving the absorption. Thenanostructuredfilm was realized by a simpler and cheaper method than using conventionallithographic techniques: A colloidal solution of metallic or semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) wasproduced by laser ablation and, after a heating and sonication process, was spray-dried on the frontsurface of an aluminum target. The obtained nanostructuredfilm with a thickness of 1μm appears, atmorphological and chemical analysis, uniformly nanostructured and distributed on the target surfacewithout the presence of oxides or external contaminants. Finally, the size of the NPs can be tuned fromtens to hundreds of nanometers simply by varying the growth parameters (i.e., irradiation time,fluence, and laser beam energy

    Hydrogeochemical changes before and during the 2019 Benevento seismic swarm in central-southern Italy

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    Insights into seismic precursors have been obtained in the last decades. However, a detailed understanding of hydrogeochemical anomalies prior to earthquakes still remains the aim of many research teams worldwide. In order to investigate the earthquake-groundwater relationship, between 2018 and 2020, we performed sampling surveys coupled with continuous multiparametric monitoring in Grassano spring fed by the Matese aquifer (central-southern Apennines, Italy). Hydrogeochemical changes were observed before the onset and during the 2019 Benevento seismic sequence, including dissolved CO2 increase, pH lowering, and anomalies in major ions (i.e., Ca2+, Na+, HCO3–) that later recovered to their typical concentrations. We suggest that variations in groundwater geochemistry were induced by dilatative preparatory phases of earthquakes, typical of the extensional setting. This condition allowed the deep CO2 upwelling along tectonic discontinuities, as testified by the Cext (carbon from external sources) behaviour detected in Grassano groundwater during the 2019 year. Despite the small-intermediate magnitude of the mainshock, results highlight and confirm the occurrence of a potential pre-seismic geochemical process in the fractured carbonate aquifers, similar to the one proposed in literature for the stronger 2016–2017 Amatrice-Norcia seismic sequence

    In situ study of nucleation and aggregation phases for nanoparticles grown by laser-driven methods

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    In the last decades, nanomaterials and nanotechnologies have become fundamental and irreplaceable in many fields of science and technology. When used in applications, their properties depend on many factors such as size, shape, internal structure and composition. For this, exact knowledge of their structural features is essential when developing fabrication technologies and searching for new types of nanostructures or nanoparticles with specific properties. For the latter, the knowledge of the precise temporal evolution of the growth processes is fundamental when it comes to industrial production and applications. Here we present a method to control, with very high precision, the starting of the aggregation phase during the Laser Ablation in solution growth process. This is obtained by monitoring the optical absorption of the colloidal solution. We apply this control method on the most popular metallic nanoparticle materials (Ag, Al, Co, and Ti) and verify the technique using morphological analysis conducted by AFM and SEM microscopy. The experimental results are explained in terms of Mie extinction theory and Thermal Model for Laser Ablatio

    Laser-Plasma driven synthesis of carbon-based nanomaterials

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    In this paper we introduce a laser-plasma driven method for the production of carbon based nanomaterials and in particular bi- and few-layers of Graphene. This is obtained by using laser-plasma exfoliation of amorphous Graphite in a liquid solution, employing a laser with energy in the order of 0.5 J/mm2. Raman and XPS analysis of a carbon colloidal performed at different irradiation stages indicate the formation of Graphene multilayers with an increasing number of layers: the amount of layers varies from a monolayer obtained in the first few seconds of the laser irradiation, up to two layers obtained after 10 s, and finally to Graphite and amorphous carbon obtained after 40 s of irradiation. The obtained colloidals are pure, without any presence of impurities or Graphene oxides, and can easily be deposited onto large surfaces (in the order of cm2) for being characterized or for being used in diverse applications

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Fabrication of nanostructured targets for improved laser-driven proton acceleration

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    n this work, we present a novel realization of nanostructured targets suitable forimproving laser-driven proton acceleration experiments, in particular with regard to theTarget-Normal-Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) acceleration mechanism. The nanostructuredtargets, produced asfilms, are realized by a simpler and cheaper method than usingconventional lithographic techniques. The growth process includes a two step approach forthe production of the gold nanoparticle layers: 1) Laser Ablation in Solution and 2) spray-dry technique using a colloidal solution on target surfaces (Aluminum, Mylar and MultiWalled Carbon Nanotube). The obtained nanostructuredfilms appear, at morphologicaland chemical analysis, uniformly nanostructured and the nanostructure distributed on thetarget surfaces without presence of oxides or external contaminants. The obtained targetsshow a broad optical absorption in all the visible region and a surface roughness that istwo times greater than non-nanostructured targets, enabling a greater laser energy ab-sorption during the laser-matter interaction experiments producing the laser-drivenproton acceleratio
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