Quantum ricochets: surface capture, release and energy loss of fast ions hitting a polar surface at grazing incidence

A diffraction mechanism is proposed for the capture, multiple bouncing and final escape of a fast ion (keV) impinging on the surface of a polarizable material at grazing incidence. Capture and escape are effected by elastic quantum diffraction consisting of the exchange of a parallel surface wave vector G= 2p/ a between the ion parallel momentum and the surface periodic potential of period a. Diffraction- assisted capture becomes possible for glancing angles F smaller than a critical value given by Fc 2- 2./ a-| Vim|/ E, where E is the kinetic energy of the ion,. = h/ Mv its de Broglie wavelength and Vim its average electronic image potential at the distance from the surface where diffraction takes place. For F< Fc, the ion can fall into a selected capture state in the quasi- continuous spectrum of its image potential and execute one or several ricochets before being released by the time reversed diffraction process. The capture, ricochet and escape are accompanied by a large, periodic energy loss of several tens of eV in the forward motion caused by the coherent emission of a giant number of quanta h. of Fuchs- Kliewer surface phonons characteristic of the polar material. An analytical calculation of the energy loss spectrum, based on the proposed diffraction process and using a model ion-phonon coupling developed earlier (Lucas et al 2013 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 355009), is presented, which fully explains the experimental spectrum of Villette et al (2000 Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 3137) for Ne+ ions ricocheting on a LiF(001) surface.

Design, Construction and Testing of a Hydraulic Power Take-Off for Wave Energy Converters

This paper presents the construction, mathematical modeling and testing of a scaled universal hydraulic Power Take-Off (PTO) device for Wave Energy Converters (WECs). A specific prototype and test bench were designed and built to carry out the tests. The results obtained from these tests were used to adjust an in-house mathematical model. The PTO was initially designed to be coupled to a scaled wave energy capture device with a low speed and high torque oscillating motion and high power fluctuations. Any Energy Capture Device (ECD) that fulfils these requirements can be coupled to this PTO, provided that its scale is adequately defined depending on the rated power of the full scale prototype. The initial calibration included estimation of the pressure drops in the different components, the pressurization time of the oil inside the hydraulic cylinders and the volumetric efficiency of the complete circuit. Since the overall efficiency measured during the tests ranged from 0.69 to 0.8 and the dynamic performance of the PTO was satisfactory, the results are really promising and it is believed that this solution might prove effective in real devices.

Acoustic plasmons in extrinsic free-standing graphene

An acoustic plasmon is predicted to occur, in addition to the conventional two-dimensional (2D) plasmon, as the collective motion of a system of two types of electronic carriers coexisting in the same 2D band of extrinsic (doped or gated) graphene. The origin of this novel mode stems from the anisotropy present in the graphene band structure near the Dirac points K and K'. This anisotropy allows for the coexistence of carriers moving with two distinct Fermi velocities along the Gamma K and Gamma K' directions, which leads to two modes of collective oscillation: one mode in which the two types of carriers oscillate in phase with one another (this is the conventional 2D graphene plasmon, which at long wavelengths (q -> 0) has the same dispersion, q(1/2), as the conventional 2D plasmon of a 2D free electron gas), and the other mode found here corresponds to a low-frequency acoustic oscillation (whose energy exhibits at long-wavelengths a linear dependence on the 2D wavenumber q) in which the two types of carriers oscillate out of phase. This prediction represents a realization of acoustic

Fluidic flow delay by ionogel passive pumps in microfluidicpaper-based analytical devices

[EN] A new concept for fluid flow manipulation in microfluidic paper-based analytical devices ( µPADs) is presented by introducing ionogel materials as passive pumps. µPADs were fabricated using a new doubleside contact stamping process and ionogels were precisely photopolymerised at the inlet of the µPADs.The ionogels remain mainly on the surface of the paper and get absorbed in the superficial paper-fibers allowing for the liquid to flow from the ionogel into the paper easily. As a proof of concept the fluid flow and mixing behaviour of two different ionogels µPADs were compared with the non-treated µPADs.It was demonstrated that both ionogels highly affect the fluid flow by delaying the flow due to their different physical and chemical properties and water holding capacities.