2012, Prikhna, T., Gawalek, W., Eisterer, M., Weber, H.W., Noudem, J., Sokolovsky, V., Chaud, X., Moshchil, V., Karpets, M., Kovylaev, V., Borimskiy, A., Tkach, V., Kozyrev, A., Kuznietsov, R., Dellith, J., Shmidt, C., Basyuk, T., Litzkendorf, D., Karau, F., Dittrich, U., Tomsic, M.

Structures of MgB2-based materials manufactured under pressure (up to 2 GPa) by different methods having high superconducting performance and connectivity are multiphase and contain different Mg-B-O compounds. Some oxygen can be incorporated into MgB2 and boron into MgO structures, MgBx (X=4-20) inclusions contain practically no oxygen. Regulating manufacturing temperature, pressure, introducing additions one can influence oxygen and boron distribution in the materials and thus, affect the formation, amount and sizes of Mg-B-O and MgBx inclusions and changing type of pinning, pinning force and so affect critical current density jc. The boron concentration increase in initial Mg and B mixture allows obtaining sample containing 88.5 wt% of MgB12 with Tc of 37.4 K (estimated magnetically).

2012, Heinrich, G., Höger, I., Bähr, M., Stolberg, K., Wütherich, T., Leonhardt, M., Lawerenz, A., Gobsch, G.

In this work, two silicon nitride (SiNx) layers with two different refraction indices, deposited on polished or damageetched silicon wafers were locally irradiated by laser pulses. The focus was set on the investigation of the ablation mechanisms. Thereby, an ultra-short laser source (pulse duration 10 ps, wavelength 532 nm, Gaussian profile) was used. The irradiated areas were investigated by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in order to analyze the nearsurface crystallographic orientation and crystallinity. In this work an indirect ablation was observed for SiN x (n = 1.9). Further, a change from an indirect ablation to a partial lift-off for SiNx (n = 2.1) was determined to be fluence dependent. At low fluences, the SiNx was completely removed. However, at higher fluences, SiNx was not completely removed, due to direct ablation. The two-photonabsorption coefficient of SiNx (n = 2.1) was estimated to be 2·105 cm/TW.

2012, Gopal, A., May, T., Herzer, S., Reinhard, A., Minardi, S., Schubert, M., Dillner, U., Pradarutti, B., Polz, J., Gaumnitz, T., Kaluza, M.C., Jäckel, O., Riehemann, S., Ziegler, W., Gemuend, H-P., Meyer, H-G., Paulus, G.G.

We report the first experimental observation of terahertz (THz) radiation from the rear surface of a solid target while interacting with an intense laser pulse. Experimental and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that the observed THz radiation is mostly emitted at large angles to the target normal. Numerical results point out that a large part of the emission originates from a micron-scale plasma sheath at the rear surface of the target, which is also responsible for the ion acceleration. This opens a perspective for the application of THz radiation detection for on-site diagnostics of particle acceleration in laser-produced plasmas.

2012, Schneidewind, H., Schüler, T., Strelau, K.K., Weber, K., Cialla, D., Diegel, M., Mattheis, R., Berger, A., Möller, R., Popp, J.

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by an enzyme-induced growth process on solid substrates. In order to customize the enzymatically grown nanoparticles (EGNP) for analytical applications in biomolecular research, a detailed study was carried out concerning the time evolution of the formation of the silver nanoparticles, their morphology, and their chemical composition. Therefore, silvernanoparticle films of different densities were investigated by using scanning as well as transmission electron microscopy to examine their structure. Cross sections of silver nanoparticles, prepared for analysis by transmission electron microscopy were additionally studied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in order to probe their chemical composition. The surface coverage of substrates with silver nanoparticles and the maximum particle height were determined by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Variations in the silver-nanoparticle films depending on the conditions during synthesis were observed. After an initial growth state the silver nanoparticles exhibit the so-called desert-rose or nanoflower-like structure. This complex nanoparticle structure is in clear contrast to the auto-catalytically grown spherical particles, which maintain their overall geometrical appearance while increasing their diameter. It is shown, that the desert-rose-like silver nanoparticles consist of single-crystalline plates of pure silver. The surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) activity of the EGNP structures is promising due to the exceptionally rough surface structure of the silver nanoparticles. SERS measurements of the vitamin riboflavin incubated on the silver nanoparticles are shown as an exemplary application for quantitative analysis.