Competition among the two-plasmon decay (TPD) of backscattered light of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), filamentation of the electron-plasma wave (EPW) and forward side SRS is investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Our previous work [K. Q. Pan et al., Nucl. Fusion 58, 096035 (2018)] showed that in a plasma with the density near 1/10 of the critical density, the backscattered light would excite the TPD, which results in suppression of the backward SRS. However, this work further shows that when the laser intensity is so high ($>{10}^{16}$ W/cm2) that the backward SRS cannot be totally suppressed, filamentation of the EPW and forward side SRS will be excited. Then the TPD of the backscattered light only occurs in the early stage and is suppressed in the latter stage. Electron distribution functions further show that trapped-particle-modulation instability should be responsible for filamentation of the EPW. This research can promote the understanding of hot-electron generation and SRS saturation in inertial confinement fusion experiments.

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2–4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimised to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high-circulating laser power, quantum squeezing, and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above 1 kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year and potentially allow for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

Laser interaction with an ultra-thin pre-structured target is investigated with the help of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. With the existence of a periodic structure on the target surface, the laser seems to penetrate through the target at its fundamental frequency even if the plasma density of the target is much higher than the laser’s relativistically critical density. The particle-in-cell simulations show that the transmitted laser energy behind the pre-structured target is increased by about two orders of magnitude compared to that behind the flat target. Theoretical analyses show that the transmitted energy behind the pre-structured target is actually re-emitted by electron ‘islands’ formed by the surface plasma waves on the target surfaces. In other words, the radiation with the fundamental frequency is actually ‘surface emission’ on the target rear surface. Besides the intensity of the component with the fundamental frequency, the intensity of the high-order harmonics behind the pre-structured target is also much enhanced compared to that behind the flat target. The enhancement of the high-order harmonics is also related to the surface plasma waves generated on the target surfaces.

To study the activation of caspase-9 and its potential influence in conditioning, longissimus thoracis (LT), semitendinosus (STN) and psoas minor (PMi) muscles were used to analyze the ratio of pro-apoptotic bax to anti-apoptotic bcl-2 in fresh tissues and observe the changes in ATP, cytosolic cytochrome c and caspase-9 activity levels during storage at 4°C. Caspase-9 activity at 5 h is higher than the activity at 0 and 24 h in the muscles (P<0.001). The ATP content decreased between 0 and 3 h, between 8 and 14 h in the PMi and LT muscles (P<0.0001), whereas between 0 and 5 h, between 8 and 14 h in the STN muscle (P<0.0001). There is 60.2%, 55.3% and 43.1% available ATP in the STN, LT and PMi muscles at 5 h, respectively. The cytosolic cytochrome c level increased during 5 and 24 h storage in the LT and PMi muscles (P<0.0001), during 5 and 96 h in the STN muscle (P<0.0001). The cytosolic cytochrome c at 24 h (P<0.001) and ratio of bax to bcl-2 (P<0.05) was higher in the PMi than in other muscles. We concluded that the increase in cytosolic cytochrome c and available intracellular ATP should be responsible for the increase in caspase-9 activity; the activation of caspase-9 could be limited by the subsequent depletion of ATP; the postmortem release level of cytochrome c could be determined by the ratio of bax to bcl-2 in fresh tissues.

BaRuO3 chemically belongs to ARuO3 family. It has unique hexagonal structure rather than an orthorhombic GdFeO3-type structure of other members, such as SrRuO3 and CaRuO3. The structure of ARuO3 compounds can be described on the basis of the close-packed stacking of AO3 layers in which the center of oxygen octahedra is occupied by ruthenium. A number of polymorph structures exist by mixing the cubic and hexagonal close-packed stacking of AO3 layers.

Up to date, only three polymorph structures have been observed in BaRuO3 bulk materials, which are denoted by 4H, 6H and 9R structure. The 9R structure (Fig. 1 (a)) is most stable at 1100 °C at atmosphere pressure. As pressure is increased, the 9R structure will transform through metastable 4H structure (Fig. 1(b)) to metastable 6H structure. The physical properties of BaRu03 polymorphs differ significantly with the variation of the structure. Hence, it is desirable to form phase pure polymorphs of BaRuO3 to examine the structure-property relationship.

BaRuO3 thin films were grown on (111) SrTiO3substrate by 90° off-axis rf-sputtering. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that the films consist of the metastable 4H hexagonal polymorph of BaRuO3 along with few defects. The films are c-axis oriented, single crystalline with the in-plane orientation relationship with respect to the SrTiO3substrate of [112 0] BaRuO3 // [110] SrTiO3. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies of the film-substrate interface revealed the existence of a thin intermediate layer of the 9R hexagonal polymorph of BaRuO3 between the (111) SrTiO3 substrate and the 4H film. The formation mechanism for the intermediate layer is not fully understood though. Through the combination of HRTEM and quantitative image simulations, the atomic structure of the interface between the 9R intermediate layer and the underneath (111) SrTiO3 was constructed. Three initial growth modes were observed, each of them adopting the local continuity of the oxygen octahedral sublattice across the interface.

We have grown epitaxial thin films of metastable four-layered hexagonal (4H) BaRuO3 on (111) SrTiO3 by 90° off-axis sputtering techniques. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy experiments reveal that the films are single crystals of c-axis 4H structures with an inplane epitaxial arrangement of BaRuO3 [2110] // SrTiO3 [110]. Smooth multilayer growth has been observed in these films with a step height equaling the size of half unit cell. In-plane resistivity of the films is metallic, with a room temperature value of about 810µΩ-cm and slightly curved temperature dependence. Their magnetic susceptibility is paramagnetic. The metastable layered compounds can be very useful for understanding new solid-state phenomena and novel device applications.

CNx films with x around 1.0 have been made by inverted cylindrical DC magnetron sputtering. RBS, XPS, IR spectroscopy, ERD and SEM were used to characterize the composition and bonding properties of the films, while X-ray diffraction was used for crystal structure determination. XPS data indicated the existence of the tetrahedral C3N4 phase in the CNx films, which was consistent with the C-N single bond suggested by IR spectra. The annealing effect on CNx films will also be discussed.

The whisker/matrix interfaces in a β-Si3N4w/60 61Al composite were structurally characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). It was shown that there was a nearly amorphous layer (2–3 nm thickness) at a whisker/matrix interface. The magnesium segregation at the whisker/Al interface was revealed by electron dispersive analysis of x-ray (EDAX). MgO and MgAl2O4 nanocrystal particles were formed at the whisker/matrix interface due to the Mg segregation there during the manufacturing of the composite. The Mg2Si particles preferred to precipitate at the whisker/Al interface when the composite was processed with T6 heating treatment. There were specific orientation relationship of the MgAl2O4 or Mg2Si particles with the β-Si3N4 whiskers.