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We investigated numerically the possibility of all normal dispersion fiber design for near-infrared supercontinuum generation based on a standard air-silica microstructure. The design procedure includes finding of target dispersion profile and subsequent finding of appropriate geometrical fiber design by inverse dispersion engineering. It was shown that the tailoring of dispersion profile could increase the spectral width of generated supercontinuum while maintaining perfect spectral flatness. Conditions necessary for wide and flat supercontinuum generation as well as restrictions imposed by chosen materials were discussed. As a result of design and optimization procedure, an air-silica design was found providing normal dispersion up to $\text{3}\;\mu {\text{m}}$ . Simulation results with 10 nJ, 100 fs pulses demonstrate supercontinuum generation up to 1.3 octave; whereas pumping with 30 nJ, 100 fs pulses could provide 1.8 octavse supercontinuum.

Surface functionalization of inorganic semiconductor substrates, particularly silicon, has focused attention toward many technologically important applications, involving photovoltaic energy, biosensing and catalysis. For such modification processes, oxide-free (H-terminated) silicon surfaces are highly required, and different chemical approaches have been described in the past decades. However, their reactivity is often poor, requiring long reaction times (2-18 h) or the use of UV light (10-30 min). Here, we report a simple and rapid surface functionalization for H-terminated Si(111) surfaces using alkyl silanols. This catalyst-free surface reaction is fast (15 min at room temperature) and can be accelerated with UV light irradiation, reducing the reaction time to 1-2 min. This grafting procedure leads to densely packed organic monolayers that are hydrolytically stable (even up to 30 days at pH 3 or 11) and can display excellent antifouling behavior against a range of organic polymers.

Inspired by the homogeneous catalyst tris(pentafluorophenyl) borane [B(C6F5)3], which acts as a promotor of Si-H bond activation, we developed and studied a method of modifying silicon oxide surfaces using hydrosilanes with B(C6F5)3 as the catalyst. This dedihydrosiloxanation reaction yields complete surface coverage within 10 min at room temperature. Organic monolayers derived from hydrosilanes with varying carbon chain lengths (C8-C18) were prepared on oxidized Si(111) surfaces, and the thermal and hydrolytic stabilities of the obtained monolayers were investigated in acidic (pH 3) medium, basic (pH 11) medium, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and deionized water (neutral conditions) for up to 30 days. DFT calculations were carried out to gain insight into the mechanism, and the computational results support a mechanism involving silane activation with B(C6F5)3. This catalyzed reaction path proceeds through a low-barrier-height transition state compared to the noncatalyzed reaction path.

The quest for sustainable and more efficient energy-converting devices has been the focus of researchers&prime, efforts in the past decades. In this study, SiO2 nanofiber mats were fabricated through an electrospinning process and later functionalized using silane chemistry to introduce different polar groups OH (neutral), SO3H (acidic) and NH2 (basic). The modified nanofiber mats were embedded in PBI to fabricate mixed matrix membranes. The incorporation of these nanofiber mats in the PBI matrix showed an improvement in the chemical and thermal stability of the composite membranes. Proton conduction measurements show that PBI composite membranes containing nanofiber mats with basic groups showed higher proton conductivities, reaching values as high as 4 mS&middot, cm&minus, 1 at 200 C.

En este trabajo se presenta una metodología para la medida de deflexiones en el rango de las micras en membranas termoneumáticas de silicio. El método se basa en la interferometría por fibra óptica con el cual se estudió el comportamiento estático de una membrana de silicio de 10 mm de grosor, 5 mm de lado y 300 mm de bulk, la cual se pegó sobre un porta muestras de vidrio. Por medida estática se entiende la medida de la deflexión de las membranas considerando únicamente la respuesta de éstas a la fuente de radiación infrarroja que las estimula.