The development and production of relevant products in the microelectronics industry in Russia have been crucially dependent on foreign technologies for several decades. In the current scenario, the ...need to find a way to gain sanction-free access to cutting-edge electronic components from modern technological processes required for the experiments in the NICA complex seems obvious. The MPD-ITS project aims to achieve this goal by organizing a consortium of interested institutes in Russia and China coordinated by the VBLHEP JINR (Dubna) in Russia and the CCNU (Wuhan) in the People’s Republic of China representing several Chinese institutions for the joint development and production of state-of-the-art Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) for fundamental and applied science experiments, including ASICs-based front-end electronics from the GBTx family which is the standard in modern High Energy Physics experiments for its fast duplex data flow between the high radiation level experimental area and the remote on-line servers, thus making these technologies freely accessible to China and Russia. These chips will be the focus of collaborative research and development for the construction of the NICA setups to be used in fundamental and applied science projects i.e. the MPD Inner Tracking System, and a prototype of a clinical tomograph for the particle Computer Tomography (pCT) for the ARIADNA project. Here we present our current achievements and future developments.
N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using a facile synthesis route by coprecipitation method. The effect of the HNO3 volume and calcination temperature on the structural, morphological, ...optical and surface properties of the N-doped TiO2 NPs was studied. X-ray diffraction analysis showed particles of nanometric size (< 16nm), which are consistent with HR-TEM micrographs. A slight shift of the absorption edge to higher wavelengths is observed as the HNO3 volume and calcination temperature increases. Both X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) show the presence and stability of nitrogen in the N-doped TiO2 structure. The photocatalytic activity of the N-doped TiO2 NPs was assessed by testing the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under ultraviolet (UV) and visible light.
In this work, we studied the effect of the triethanolamine (TEA) concentration on the physicochemical properties of copper sulfide (CuS) thin films deposited by the ammonia-free chemical bath ...deposition method (CBD). CuS thin films were characterized in an as-deposited state and annealing at 70 °C/6 h. Raman spectroscopy evidenced the S–S stretching mode associated with the hexagonal structure (covellite) of CuS. The microstructural analysis showed that the TEA concentration and the thermal treatment strongly influence the surface morphology. The surface roughness varied from 6.4 to 14.0 nm. The band gap (
E
g
), thickness (
d
), and optical constants (
n
and
k
) were estimated by simulating the transmission (
T
) and reflection (
R
) spectra. Notably, the thermally treated CuS thin films are thinner when the TEA concentration increases due to the densification phenomenon. The chemical states of elements and the S/Cu ratio on the surface of the CuS films were assessed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrical properties of the CuS thin films as a function of TEA concentration and thermal treatment were characterized using the Hall effect. These results show the importance of the complexing agent (TEA) and low-temperature thermal treatment on the physicochemical properties of CuS thin films.
In this work, we present a study on the preparation of TiO2 powder employing different synthesis methods as molten salt, sol-gel, combustion and hydrothermal. The structural, morphological, optical ...and surface properties were studied in order to evidence the characteristic of the TiO2 powder. By the molten salt method, the TiO2 powder presented a rutile-phase crystal structure with particles of micrometric size and low superficial area. When the combustion and sol gel methods were employed, the TiO2 powder had an anatase phase with a crystallite size of ∼14 nm. Different morphologies such as nanocuboids, nanobelts, nanoparticles and interconnected nanobubbles were observed. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 powder was assessed by the rhodamine B degradation. SG-TiO2 powder showed the highest photocatalytic efficiency in comparison with the rest of the samples. The presence of intrinsic defects and hydroxyl groups plays a fundamental role in the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 powder.
Pure manganese titanate (MnTiO3) powder was successfully synthesized by means of the molten salt method, at 1000 °C for 3 h. The effect of salts used during the synthesis process was evidenced by ...X-ray diffraction (XRD). Structural parameters were calculated by the Rietveld refinement, where a crystallite size of 292 nm was estimated. Ultraviolet–Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy showed that MnTiO3 displays a wide light absorption range, from 200 nm to 800 nm. Through first-principles calculations, the band structure and density of states for ilmenite-type MnTiO3 were estimated, where an indirect band gap of 3.4 eV was obtained. Atomic composition and chemical bonds were determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively. Electrochemical properties of MnTiO3 were analyzed using the Mott-Schottky curve, where an n-type semiconducting behavior and a flat band potential (Efb) of 1.41 V (vs NHE at pH = 0) were observed.
PbS thin films were deposited by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique at 43 °C on HfO2, SiO2, and Al2O3 dielectric films, which were previously deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on ...silicon wafers. The effect of the dielectric surface on the final morphology and structure of the PbS films was studied to find the most suitable dielectric/PbS system for thin film transistors (TFTs) applications. The PbS films showed a polycrystalline structure related to the galena cubic phase. The surface morphology of the PbS films was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which evidenced a gradual coverage of the surface of the dielectric with the deposition time. The shape of the PbS grains evidenced a strong dependence with the dielectric substrate employed. The PbS films deposited on HfO2 achieved a well-defined and compact microstructure in comparison with the other dielectric substrates. The electrical properties of the PbS films were studied by Hall effect measurements. A p-type conductivity with Hall mobility up to 0.44 cm2V−1cm−1 and electrical resistivity values between 102-105 Ωcm were obtained. Finally, two TFTs were fabricated by using standard photolithography processes, where the PbS film was used as semiconductor active layer and HfO2 (30 nm) as dielectric gate layer, respectively. The electrical response of the PbS-based TFTs evidenced a p-type behavior with a mobility in the saturation regime (μsat) in the range of 0.006–0.011 cm2/Vcm and ION/IOFF current ratio in the order of 102. The TFTs operated in depletion mode with a low positive threshold voltage (VTH) between 0.5 and 2 V.
To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in the healthy population of Madrid Autonomous Community (AC).
A descriptive, cross-sectional study where Helicobacter pylori infection is ...diagnosed by means of the 13C-urea breath test.
A total of 618 subjects were studied. Among these, 481 were considered evaluable with a prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection of 60.3%. In this cohort 36.4% were men and 63.6% were women, with a prevalence of 60.6 and 60.1%, respectively, and no relevant differences between both subgroups. The median age of patients was 37.5 years (range 4-82), and a statistically significant linear relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection and age (linear chi2 =33.31; p < 0.001) was established -chances of infection increase with age. Prevalence increases with age and peaks at 60 to 69 years (83.3% infected). For 169 subjects (35.1%) education level was unknown, and no relationship between this level and Helicobacter pylori infection was found.
The study shows that the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in the healthy population of Madrid AC is high (60.3%), progressively increases with age, and peaks in people in their sixties. The sample showed no differences regarding sex or education level.
An accelerator-driven thermal neutron facility for boron neutron capture therapy of skin melanoma is currently under construction at the Legnaro National Laboratories, Italy. The installation relies ...on the production of neutrons from a thick beryllium target bombarded with 5
MeV protons. A complete set of double differential data, i.e. angle- and energy-differential neutron spectra produced by the beryllium target, is necessary for the Monte Carlo-based design of the installation. For this purpose, double differential fluence measurements are currently performed with the “BINS” neutron spectrometer using 5
MeV protons at the “CN” Van de Graaf accelerator. This spectrometer uses a superheated emulsion of dichlorotetrafluoroethane which is sequentially operated at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55
°C and thus provides a series of seven sharp thresholds covering the 0.1–10
MeV neutron energy interval. Deconvolution of the data is performed with the code “MAXED”, which is based on the maximum entropy principle. The analysis of our first neutron spectrometry measurements at angles of 0°, 40°, 80° and 120° supports the viability of the BINS spectrometry method for the generation of the required double differential data.
