Herein, the impact of exposing the perovskite compound Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 to oxygen plasma is explored by comparing the structural and transport properties of the exposed samples to those of the unexposed ones. The Pr is oxidized to PrO2 in the investigated samples due to plasma exposure. The alterations in the transport properties can be linked to the changes in Mn-O-Mn bond angle and Mn-O bond length due to plasma exposure, as indicated by X-ray diffraction analysis. Additionally, exposure to oxygen plasma increases the conductivity by incorporating oxygen into the exposed samples, making them oxygen-rich. Detailed analysis of the resistivity and thermoelectric power data indicates that small polarons are responsible for conduction at high temperatures, while at low temperatures, variable range polarons take over. The negative value of the thermopower at all temperatures proclaims that the electrons behave as the dominant charge carriers.

The breakdown of the insulating gas SF6 causes the Gas-Insulated Switchgear (GIS) fault type to occur during high-voltage power operation putting the power system's safety in threat. The adsorption behaviour and sensitivity of five gases (H2S, SO2, SO2F2, SOF2 and HF) dissolved by SF6 on PdSe2 monolayers is explored using Density Functional Theory (DFT) in this work. Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) within a Generalised Gradient Approximation (GGA) was employed for the computational investigation. PdSe2 monolayer and SF6 decomposition gas adsorbed PdSe2 are built and optimized to get the most stable structures. The adsorption energy (Ead), charge transfer (QT), bandgap (Eg), Density of States (DOS), Work Function (WF), Sensitivity (S), and recovery time (tau) were computed to investigate the adsorption mechanism of PdSe2 monolayer to SF6 decomposition gas. The computation revealed that the SO2 and H2S adsorption systems have the highest adsorption energy of - 0.51 eV and - 0.52 eV respectively. The SO2F2 adsorption system has the weakest adsorption energy of - 0.44 eV. The findings show that PdSe2 systems have improved sensing performance for SO2 and H2S gas. The PdSe2 monolayer exhibits better sensitivity and a stable desorption time. The PdSe2 monolayer for SO2 and H2S detection shows high sensitivity, attaining 91.89% and 85.53%, respectively. This research establishes the groundwork for the development of PdSe2 monolayer adsorbents for use in SF6-insulated equipment.

A methodical inquiry of the outcome of oxygen plasma exposure in low bandwidth compounds belonging to the perovskite family Pr1-xSrxMnO3 manganites where x = 0.5, has been presented in this communication by comparing the structural and transport properties of the untreated and plasma treated samples. It is witnessed that the high-temperature transmission is carried out by small polarons while the low-temperature transmission is attributed to variable range polarons. The changes in the transport properties may be attributed to the structural modification due to plasma exposure as revealed by the Rietveld analysis of the X-ray diffraction pattern. Further, oxygen plasma exposure boosts the conductivity due to the integration of oxygen ions in the plasma-exposed samples, thereby rendering them oxygen-rich.

Standard Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) are gaining prominence in low-power nanoscale applications. This is largely attributed to their proximity to physical and thermal limits, rendering them a compelling option for energy-efficient electronic devices. In this study, we hypothesized that the high-? HfO2 in a quasi-ballistic SiNW MOSFET acts as the gate dielectric. In this case, the data from the TCAD simulation and the model demonstrated exceptional agreement. The proposed model for a SiNW MOSFET with high-? HfO2 exhibits a consistently increasing drain current, albeit with a smaller magnitude compared to a quasi-ballistic device (QBD). Additionally, it shows reduced mobility and decreased transconductance when considering the combined effects of scattering and temperature. As gate voltage increases, temperatureinduced transconductance decline in SiNW MOSFETs becomes significant. Our method is suitable for modeling scattered SiNW MOSFETs with temperature effects, as TGF values are similar in the subthreshold region for both Near Ballistic and Scattered SiNW MOSFET models.

The sensing and adsorption properties of H2S and NO2 on 2D PdSe2 are investigated using density functional theory in this paper. The charge transfer, adsorption energy, density of states and band structure of H2S and NO2 gas molecules on a PdSe2 monolayer were computed to investigate their adsorption behaviour. The H2S and NO2 molecules have been found to interact with the surface of PdSe2 monolayer via a high adsorption energy. The indirect bandgap of pristine PdSe2 is 0.52 eV, which decreases to 0.37 eV and 0.25 eV for H2S and NO2, respectively. After the adsorption of H2S and NO2 gas molecules, a significant shift in high peak DOS and electron density of the PdSe2 monolayer was observed according to electron difference density.

Radioactive dice experiment is widely used as a pedagogical tool to demonstrate the phenomenology of radioactivity in classrooms. The decay constants obtained in such experiments are found to be consistently higher than the values predicted by the exponential nuclear decay law. It was suggested by some authors that the discrepancy could be minimized by using polyhedral dice having higher number of faces. In this article, some analytical attempts have been made to look for better numerical formulae which could minimize the discrepancy between the probabilistic prediction for dice experiment and the predictions based on exponential nuclear decay law. It was observed that the probabilistic prediction closely approaches the prediction based on exponential nuclear decay law under two different conditions: (i) when the data corresponding to a large number of throws are used, and (ii) when polyhedral dice having higher number of faces are used. Comparatively, the prediction based on the first condition yield better results than the second one.

A preliminary, and perhaps the first, study of astrophysical applications of Delbrück scattering in a gamma-ray emitting celestial object like a gamma-ray burst (GRB) has been made. At energies≥100MeV the elastic scattering of gamma-ray photons off the molecular dust surrounding the GRB site is dominated by Delbrück scattering. Expressions for Delbrück-scattered gamma-ray flux as a function of time has been obtained for a few selected energies by assuming a simple model of GRB. These are compared with Compton-scattered flux. At certain situations, interestingly, the former is found to exceed the latter for the first few milliseconds of the burst. The issue of detectability of Delbrück-scattered gamma-ray echo from the cloud of a GRB is discussed. Although it is observed that the detection of such an echo is not within the capability of the presently operating gamma-ray missions such as Fermi LAT, a rough estimate shows that one can be optimistic that future generation gamma-ray telescopes might be able to see such photons' contribution to the total flux.

The conventional perception is that the amplitudes of Delbruck scattering calculated to all orders in the charge number Z of the target nucleus should exhibit a scaling behavior at high energies. To examine this hypothesis the available experimental data of differential cross sections of elastic scattering in the energy range between 140 MeV and 7.11 GeV are analyzed. It is found that the experimental data do not show scaling characteristics. Such a finding, though apparently against the standard notion, is not unexpected because at high energies Delbruck scattering is in very forward direction and the theoretical arguments demand that to observe scaling, not only the energy itself but the product of scattering angles and energy also should be very large.

The contribution of Delbruck scattering to the elastic scattering of photons has been investigated for photon energy of 1.115 MeV. Differential cross-sections for the elastic scattering of 1.115 MeV photons, using gamma-ray isotope Zn-65, have been measured from high-Z target atoms (Z = 74 and 82) at angles ranging from 30 degrees to 135 degrees, using a high-purity co-axial germanium detector and computer-based data acquisition hardware and data analysis software. S-matrix theoretical calculations of Rayleigh scattering cross-sections were performed at 1.115 MeV and the experimental results were compared with these theoretical computations, which include Delbruck and nuclear Thomson amplitudes. The present experimental data at 1.115 MeV indicate that Delbruck amplitudes calculated with lowest-order Born approximation are sufficient, as at 1.33 MeV, when combined with S-matrix-Rayleigh scattering amplitudes. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differential cross sections for the elastic scattering of $1.115\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{MeV}$ photons from tungsten $(Z=74)$ and lead $(Z=82)$ have been measured at angles ranging from 30\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} to 135\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, using a high purity coaxial germanium detector. The experimental results are compared with $S$-matrix theoretical calculations of Rayleigh scattering cross sections, which also include contributions arising from the nuclear Thomson amplitudes and the Delbr\"uck amplitude in lowest order Born approximation. The present experimental data at $1.115\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ indicates that Delbr\"uck amplitudes calculated with lowest-order Born approximation, when combined with $S$-matrix Rayleigh scattering amplitudes, are sufficient, as has previously been observed at $1.332\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ for a number of high-$Z$ elements, and at $1.121\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ and $1.173\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ for $Z=92$. This result for $Z=74$ and $Z=82$ at $1.115\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ provides further confirmation that the Delbr\"uck amplitudes calculated with lowest-order Born approximation are sufficient for energies at and below $1.332\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$, in contrast to the situation at $2.754\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ where Coulomb corrections to the Delbr\"uck amplitudes are significant for high-$Z$ elements.

Using available collider data the Feynman scaling on inclusive spectra of secondary pions is critically examined in the forward and very forward region incorporating the seagull effect. It is found that scaling holds to 10–15% in the forward region at least up to the center-of-mass energy 900 GeV. It is further observed that the Wdowczyk–Wolfendale scale breaking model is satisfied in the forward region only when inelasticity into pions decreases with energy.