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Anodizing of valve metals under oscillating conditions is one of versatile and reproducible methods of the preparation of one-dimensional photonic crystals. Here, an effect of anodizing voltage profile on morphology and optical properties of anodic titanium oxide photonic crystals is investigated. Samples are obtained by cyclic anodizing of titanium in ethylene glycol based electrolyte using sine, triangle, and square wave voltage versus charge density modulation. The optimization of anodizing parameters allowed us to prepare anodic titanium oxide photonic crystals with reflectance within the photonic band gap of up to 85%.

Anodic titanium oxide is a promising material for the formation of photonic crystal structures due to its high refractive index, stability in acidic media, and semiconductor conductivity. One-dimensional photonic crystals are obtained by the anodization of titanium with triangle wave modulation of the voltage versus the charge density. The dependence of the position of the photonic band gap on the charge density per anodizing cycle is studied. The reflection coefficient within the photonic band gap of the obtained samples reaches 70%. Taking into account chemical dissolution of the pore walls during anodic oxidation and gradual reduction of the structure period along the film thickness make it possible to obtain photonic crystals based on titanium oxide with a record value of the Q factor of 9.6.

Geometrical frustration arised in spin ices leads to fascinating emergent physical properties. Nowadays there is a wide diversity of the artificial structures, mimicking spin ice at the nanoscale and demonstrating some new effects. Most of the nanoscaled spin ices are two dimensional. Ferromagnetic inverse opal-like structures (IOLS) are among inspiring examples of the three-dimensional system exhibiting spin ice behaviour. However, a detailed examination of its properties is not straightforward. An experimental technique which is able to unambiguously recover magnetization distribution in 3D mesoscaled structures is lacking. In this work, we used an approach based on complementary exploiting of small-angle neutron diffraction technique and micromagnetic simulations. An external magnetic field was applied along three main directions of the IOLS mesostructure. Comparison of the calculated and measured data allowed us to determine IOLS magnetic state. The results are in good agreement with the spin ice model. Moreover influence of the demagnetizing field and vortex states on the magnetizing process were revealed. Additionally, we speculate that this approach can be also applied to other 3D magnetic mesostructures.

The self-ordered anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) structure consists of micron-scale domains—defect-free areas with a hexagonal arrangement of pores. A substantial increase in domain size is possible solely by pre-patterning the aluminium surface in the form of a defect-free hexagonal array of concaves, which guide the pore growth during subsequent anodization. Among the numerous pre-patterning techniques, direct etching by focused gallium ion beam (Ga FIB) allows the preparation of AAO with a custom-made geometry through precise control of the irradiation positions, beam energy, and ion dosage. The main drawback of the FIB approach includes gallium contamination of the aluminium surface. Here, we propose a multi-step anodizing procedure to prevent gallium incorporation into the aluminium substrate. The suggested approach successfully covers a wide range of AAO interpore distances from 100 to 500 nm. In particular, anodization of FIB pre-patterned aluminium in 0.1 M phosphoric acid at 195 V to prepare AAO with the interpore distance of about 500 nm was demonstrated for the first time. The quantification of the degree of pore ordering reveals the fraction of pores in hexagonal coordination above 96% and the in-plane mosaicity below 3° over an area of about 1000 μm2. Large-scale defect-free AAO structures are promising for creating photonic crystals and hyperbolic metamaterials with distinct functional properties.

Anodic titanium oxide (ATO) photonic crystals (PhCs) are promising for photonics, photocatalysis, and solar cells. A refractive index modulation in ATO PhCs is caused by the modulation of porosity and, thus, the pore diameter should be controlled precisely. The ATO cell walls etching in electrolyte solution during anodizing increases the porosity of the PhC structure and shifts the photonic band gap (PBG) position to shorter wavelengths. Until now, the ATO cell walls etching in organic based electrolytes has been associated solely with the chemical dissolution of ATO in fluoride-containing solutions. Here, a significant enhancement of cell walls etching is observed when electric current flows under anodic polarization. This effect leads to the blue shift of the PBG position with the number of periods of ATO PhC structure. Therefore, it is essential for the synthesis of ATO PhCs with a precise PBG position.

The structure of surface layers of thin metal inverse opals has been studied first by the grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering technique. Contributions of the form factor and structure factor to the small-angle diffraction pattern have been separated using a numerical model of the scattering process. The complementary use of the small-angle X-ray scattering and grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering techniques has provided independent information about the bulk and surface properties of the samples and allowed a type of defect in the investigated structures to be determined. The measurement results have been verified by atomic force microscopy.

We perform micromagnetic simulations of the magnetization distribution in inverse opal-like structures (IOLS) made from ferromagnetic materials (nickel and cobalt). It is shown that the unit cell of these complex structures, whose characteristic length is approximately 700 nm, can be divided into a set of structural elements some of which behave like Ising-like objects. A spin-ice behavior of IOLS is observed in a broad range of external magnetic fields. Numerical results describe successfully the experimental hysteresis curves of the magnetization in Ni- and Co-based IOLS. We conclude that ferromagnetic IOLS can be considered as the first realization of three-dimensional artificial spin ice. The problem is discussed of optimal geometrical properties and material characteristics of IOLS for the spin-ice rule fulfillment.

Photonic crystals based on titanium oxide are promising for optoelectronic applications, for example as components of solar cells and photodetectors. These materials attract great research attention because of the high refractive index of TiO2. One of the promising routes to prepare photonic crystals based on titanium oxide is titanium anodizing at periodically changing voltage or current. However, precise control of the photonic band gap position in anodic titania films is a challenge. To solve this problem, systematic data on the effective refractive index of the porous anodic titanium oxide are required. In this research, we determine quantitatively the dependence of the effective refractive index of porous anodic titanium oxide on the anodizing regime and develop a model which allows one to predict and, therefore, control photonic band gap position in the visible spectrum range with an accuracy better than 98.5%. The prospects of anodic titania photonic crystals implementation as refractive index sensors are demonstrated.

M-Zn (M = Sb, V, Nb) substituted M-type strontium hexaferrites were prepared by a ceramic method. The phase composition, morphology and magnetic properties were studied by x-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. Saturation magnetization increases with a substitution up to 75.0 emu/g (2.5 % higher compared to unsubstituted hexaferrite) and then decreases with a further substitution. A coercive field of substituted hexaferrite powders with highest saturation magnetization is more than 3 kOe. Substituted strontium hexaferrite powders prepared in this work are a rare example of high M S compositions without doping rare-earth elements and would be a promising candidate for a permanent magnet application.

A new simple and versatile technique for the phase transfer of nanoparticles from water to water-immiscible organic solvents is presented. The proposed method is based on using charged colloids as carriers for the transfer of nanoparticles with opposite surface charge. The method has been successfully applied for the transfer of SrFe12O19 nanoplatelets and CdTe nanoparticles.

M-type strontium hexaferrite powders were synthesized by the modified sol–gel method with calcination in NaCl matrix in a temperature range 790–850 °C for 1 h. X-ray diffraction analysis shows the formation of pure M-type strontium hexaferrite phase. The SrFe12O19 particles have a plate-like shape with a mean diameter 130–185 nm and a thickness 45–55 nm. The prepared powders show a saturation magnetization 70–72 emu/g and a coercive force 6.0–6.4 kOe. The suggested synthesis method combines simplicity, using of low calcination temperatures and allows to synthesize pure strontium hexaferrite powders with excellent hard magnetic properties.