Submitted by Pedro Silva Filho (pfsilva@ipen.br) on 2017-11-22T14:03:18Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-22T14:03:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Nas últimas décadas, o consumo de dispositivos eletrônicos e a alta demanda por armazenamento de dados tem mostrado grandes oportunidades para a criação de novas tecnologias que garantam as necessidades mundiais na área de computação e desenvolvimento. Alguns materiais multiferroicos tem sido amplamente estudados e o BiFeO3, considerado o único material multiferroico em temperatura ambiente, ganhou destaque como candidato para produção de dispositivos lógicos e de memória. O uso de técnicas de crescimento como a deposição por laser pulsado permitiu a produção de filmes finos de BiFeO3 com elevado controle de qualidade. Heteroestruturas de filmes multiferroicos de BiFeO3 e LaBiFeO3 foram crescidas com diferentes espessuras sobre substratos de SrTiO3(100), DyScO3(110) e SrTiO3/Si(100) para avaliação e teste de suas propriedades elétricas e magnéticas. Filmes ferromagnéticos de Co0,9Fe0,1 foram depositados por sputtering sobre os filmes multiferroicos para avaliação da interação interfacial entre ordenamentos magnéticos. Técnicas como fotolitografia foram utilizadas para padronização de microdispositivos gravados sobre as amostras. Tanto os filmes finos de BiFeO3 como os de LaBiFeO3 foram crescidos epitaxialmente sobre os substratos já cobertos com uma camada buffer de SrRuO3 usado como contato elétrico inferior. A estrutura cristalina romboédrica das ferritas de bismuto foi confirmada pelos dados de difração de raios X, bem como a manutenção de tensão estrutural causada pela rede cristalina do substrato para amostras de 20 nm. Os valores de coeficiente do tensor piezelétrico d33 foram da ordem de 0,15 V (∼ 60 kV.cm-2) para amostras com 20 nm de espessura enquanto que os valores de voltagem coerciva para as análises de histerese elétrica foram da ordem de 0,5 V para as mesmas amostras. A relação de coercividade elétrica com a espessura corresponde ao perfil encontrado na literatura pela relação E≈d-2/3. As amostras de CoFe/BFO e CoFe/LBFO depositadas em diferentes substratos apresentam acoplamento interfacial entre ordenamento ferromagnético e antiferromagnético com momento ferromagnético de rede. / Tese (Doutorado em Tecnologia Nuclear) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP / CAPES:99999.009511/2014-08 / CNPq:146622/2013-2

In this thesis, experimental studies are reported of ultrafast dynamics and third order optical nonlinear coefficients of carbon nanotubes, and time resolved coherent phonon dynamics of semiconductors and rare earth titanates. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part presents (i) general introduction to theoretical background on nonlinear optical susceptibility and time resolved studies, and systems studied (chapter 1) and (ii) experimental techniques (chapter 2). The second part of the thesis deals with the measurements of third order nonlinear susceptibilities and ultrafast dynamics of single and double walled carbon nanotubes (chapter 3). The third part contains coherent phonon dynamics in semiconductors, Te (chapter 4), Bi2Te3 (chapter 5), and ZnTe (chapter 6) and spin-frustrated rare earth titanate insulators (chapter 7). Chapter 1: This chapter is a general introduction to the thesis. The chapter is divided into two parts: (i) light-matter interaction, and (ii) systems studied. Under light-matter interaction, we describe the required theoretical and conceptual background of nonlinear optical susceptibilities and time resolved carrier and phonon dynamics. In the next part, a brief summary of details of the systems studied, that include carbon nanotubes (single and double walled), semiconductors (Te, Bi2Te3 and ZnTe) and insulating spin-frustrated rare earth titanates (Gd2Ti2O7, Dy2Ti2O7 and Tb2Ti2O7), are presented. Chapter 2: Details of the ultrafast laser systems (femtosecond oscillator and amplifier), pulse width measurements and ultrafast experimental pump-probe and z-scan techniques, used in this thesis are given in this chapter. Chapter 3: Here the experimental results on the measurements of third order optical nonlinearity and ultrafast dynamics of single and double walled carbon nanotubes are presented. The chapter starts with a general overview of optical switching followed by known ultrafast dynamics and nonlinear studies on carbon nanotubes. In the next section, our theoretical modelling of nonlinear absorption and refraction in the limit of saturable absorption is described. The final two sections depict our results on single and double walled carbon nanotubes. These studies indicate that double walled carbon nanotubes are best candidates for ultrafast optical switching. Chapter 4: This chapter presents temperature and pump fluence dependent femtosecond time resolved reflectivity measurements on tellurium. The chapter starts with an overview of previous pump-probe reflectivity studies at room temperature on tellurium followed by our results. A totally symmetric A1 coherent phonon at 3.6 THz responsible for the oscillations in the reflectivity data is observed to be strongly positively chirped (i.e, phonon time period decreases at longer pump-probe delay times) with increasing photoexcited carrier density, more so at lower temperatures. We show for the first time that the temperature dependence of the coherent phonon frequency is anomalous (i.e, increasing with increasing temperature) at high photoexcited carrier density due to electron-phonon interaction. At the highest photoexcited carrier densities of ~ 1.4 x 1021cm-3 and the sample temperature of 3K, the lattice displacement of the coherent phonon mode is estimated to be as high as ~ 0.24 Å. Numerical simulations based on coupled effects of optical absorption and carrier diffusion reveal that the diffusion of carriers dominates the non-oscillatory electronic part of the time-resolved reflectivity. Finally, using the pump-probe experiments at low carrier density of 6 x 1018 cm-3, we separate the phonon anharmonicity to obtain the electron-phonon coupling contribution to the phonon frequency and linewidth. Chapter 5: This chapter begins with a introduction of previous ultrafast studies at room temperature on Bi2Te3 and then presents our results on the temperature dependent high pump fluence time resolved reflectivity measurements on Bi2Te3. The time resolved reflectivity data shows two coherently generated totally symmetric A1g modes at 1.85 THz and 3.6 THz at 296K which blue shift to 1.9 THz and 4.02 THz, respectively at 3K. At high photoexcited carrier density of ~ 1.7 x 1021cm-3, the phonon mode at 4.02 THz is two orders of magnitude higher positively chirped than the lower frequency mode at 1.9 THz. The chirp parameter, β is shown to vary inversely with temperature. The time evolution of these modes is studied using continuous wavelet transform of the time-resolved reflectivity data. The analysis shows that the build up time for the two coherent phonons is different. Chapter 6: This chapter starts with a general introduction on various as pects of ZnTe to be used in generation and detection of THz followed by our results on influence of carriers and sample temperature on coherent phonon and polariton generation in ZnTe. Combination of femtosecond Kerr, two photon absorption and impulsive stimulated Raman scattering experiments have been carried out to investigate the effect of pulse energy and crystal temperature on the generation of coherent polaritons and phonons in < 110 > cut ZnTe single crystals of three different resistivities. We demonstrate that the effect of two-photon induced free carriers on the creation of both the polaritons and phonons is largest at 4K where the free carrier lifetime is enhanced. Further, the temperature dependant impulsive stimulated Raman scattering on high and low purity ZnTe crystals allows us to unambiguously assign the phonon mode at 3.5 THz to the longitudinal acoustic mode at X-point in the Brillouin zone, LA(X) in contrast to the assignment as two-phonon process in earlier studies. Chapter 7: This chapter starts with an introduction on previous Raman studies on the pyrochlore systems accompanied by our results on the generation of coherent optical phonons in spin frustrated pyrochlore single crystals Dy2Ti2O7, Gd2Ti2O7 and Tb2Ti2O7 and their behavior as a function of sample temperature from 296K to 4K. At 4K, two coherent phonons are observed at 5.3 THz (5.0 THz) and ~ 9.3 THz (9.4 THz) for Dy2Ti2O7 (Gd2Ti2O7) whereas three coherent phonons are generated at ~ 4.8 THz, 8.6 THz and 9.6 THz for Tb2Ti2O7. In the case of spin-ice Dy2Ti2O7, a clear discontinuity is observed in the linewidths of both the coherent phonons as well as in the phase of low energy coherent phonon mode, indicating a subtle structural change as also suggested by Raman studies. In comparison, such changes are not seen in the coherent phonons of Gd2Ti2O7, and Tb2Ti2O7. Another important observation is the phase difference of ‘π’ between the modes in all the samples, thus suggesting that the driving forces behind the generation of these modes are different in nature unlike a purely impulsive or displacive mechanism. Chapter 8: This chapter summarizes our results reported in this thesis and gives future directions.

Photorefractive BTO presents useful properties for applications such as real-time holography, coherent light amplification and optical information processing, among others. The performance strongly depends on the defects induced by impurities, which can act as charge donors or acceptors. Defects can also be created by doping so that the properties can be adjusted to the desired application. Since ceramic reproduce well the single crystal properties and have advantages such as the simplicity and low cost of processing, they become suitable for the study of the relationship between properties and defects in this material. The subject of this work was the production and characterization of bismuth titanate ceramics ( Bi12TiO20 - BTO) pure and doped with transition metals and rare earths. The study was focused on the point defects related to the site occupancy of the dopant in the BTO matrix, as well as on the valence of the dopant and possible charge compensation mechanisms associated with the defects. In this work, BTO ceramics were produced by solid state synthesis with calcination at 700º C/6h and sintering at 800º C/3h. The characterization techniques employed were Xray Diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Impedance Spectroscopy (IS). Undoped and Dy , Er , Eu, Cr and Mn-doped BTO ceramic powders were produced, as well as ceramic bodies undoped and doped with Dy, Cr and Mn. All samples presented single phase Bi12TiO20. The XAS analysis revealed the presence of T4+ and metallic Ti in BTO, a result that adds detail to the model for the formation of intrinsic defects in this material. Transition metals Cr and Mn presented oxidation states 6+ and 4+, respectively, when inserted into the BTO matrix, while the other elements present valence 3+. Concerning the site occupancy, it was determined that the Dy tends to occupy the Bi3+ site, while Er, Eu, Mn and Cr tend to occupy the Ti4+ site. Impedance measurements showed that none of the doped samples had higher dark conductivity than pure sample. For the samples doped with Mn and Dy, which tend to occupy the Ti and Bi sites, respectively, the charge transport mechanisms are exactly the same as those verified in pure sample. For the Cr-doped sample, the Ti substitution occurs with a charge compensation mechanism that possibly give rise to new defects in the material. / O BTO possui propriedades fotorrefrativas de interesse para aplicações como a holografia em tempo real, a amplificação de luz coerente e processamento de informação óptica, entre outras. O desempenho dos cristais fotorrefrativos depende fortemente dos defeitos criados por impurezas, os quais podem atuar como doadores ou aceitadores de carga. Os defeitos também podem ser inseridos por dopagem a fim de que as propriedades sejam adaptadas ao objetivo desejado. Uma vez que cerâmicas reproduzem bem as características do monocristal e apresentam vantagens de produção em relação aos materiais monocristalinos, como facilidade e baixo custo de processamento, elas se tornam adequadas ao estudo da relação entre defeitos e propriedades neste material. O objetivo deste trabalho foi a produção e caracterização de cerâmicas de Titanato de Bismuto (Bi12TiO20 - BTO) puro e dopado com metais de transição e terras raras, visando o estudo dos defeitos pontuais relacionados com e sitio de ocupação do dopante na matriz do BTO, valência do íon dopante incorporado na matriz cristalina e possíveis mecanismos de compensação de carga associados aos defeitos. Neste trabalho, cerâmicas de BTO foram produzidas por síntese de estado sólido, com calcinação a 700º C/6h, seguida de sinterização a 800º C/3h. Utilizamos como principais técnicas de caracterização a Difratometria de Raios X (DRX), Espectroscopia de Absorção de Raios X (XAS), Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura (MEV) e Espectroscopia de Impedância (IS). Foram produzidos pós cerâmicos puros e dopados com Dy, Er, Eu, Cr e Mn e corpos cerâmicos de BTO puros e dopados com Dy, Cr e Mn. Todas as amostras apresentaram a fase Bi12TiO20. As análises de XAS mostraram a presença de Ti4+ e Ti metálico no BTO, resultado que acrescenta detalhes ao modelo de formação do defeito intrínseco neste material. Os metais de transição Cr e Mn apresentaram estados de oxidação 6+ e 4+, respectivamente, quando inseridos na matriz de BTO, enquanto os outros elementos apresentaram valência 3+. Em relação ao sítio ocupado pelos íons dopantes, determinou-se que o Dy tende a ocupar o sítio do Bi3+, enquanto o Er, Eu, Cr e Mn tendem a ocupar o sítio do Ti4+. As medidas de impedância mostraram que nenhuma das amostras dopadas apresentou maior condutividade no escuro do que a amostra pura. Nas amostras dopadas com Mn e Dy que ocupam o sitio do Ti e Bi, espectivamente os mecanismos de transporte de carga são exatamente iguais ao da amostra pura. Na amostra dopada com Cr, ao substituir o sitio do Ti ocorrem mecanismos de compensação de carga que dão origem a novos defeitos no material.

Researches on alloy elements such as niobium and silicon have been added to titanium alloys as an alternative for new materials to be used in orthopedic implants, once they present biocompatibility and favor reductions in the elasticity modulus. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the phase transformations, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the Ti-Nb and Ti-Nb-Si alloys for biomedical applications. The results showed that Si addition is effective to stabilizing the £] phase, which also acts as a ç suppressor, and to produce grain refinement. In all samples, the hardness values increased with the increasing of Si content, while the elastic modulus was reduced in the Ti-15Nb-xSi and Ti-35Nb-xSi alloys; however, for Ti-40Nb-xSi samples increased with the increasing of Si content. Lower elastic moduli were observed in water-quenched Ti-35Nb-xSi alloys, for which tensile tests and corrosion resistance were performed. The increase in Si concentration also produced an increase in the alloys mechanical strength. Ti-35Nb-0,55Si alloy, however, showed brittle mechanical behavior which was related to the presence of silicides, referred as (Ti,Nb)3Si, at the grain boundaries. Corrosion tests showed that the alloys exhibit high resistance in the studied environment. The results suggest that the Ti-35Nb-0,35Si alloys presents the best combination of properties: good mechanical strength, low elastic modulus and excellent corrosion resistance. / Elementos de liga como niobio e silicio tem sido adicionados a ligas de titanio como uma alternativa na busca de novos materiais para implantes ortopedicos, visto que apresentam biocompatibilidade e favorecem a reducao do modulo de elasticidade. Dessa forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar as transformacoes de fases, propriedades mecanicas e de resistencia a corrosao de ligas dos sistemas Ti-Nb e Ti-Nb-Si para aplicacoes biomedicas. Os resultados mostraram que a adicao de Si foi efetiva na estabilizacao da fase £], o qual tambem atua como supressor de ç, alem de produzir refinamento de grao. Em todas as amostras estudadas, os valores de dureza se elevaram com o aumento do teor de Si, enquanto que o modulo de elasticidade sofreu uma reducao nas ligas dos grupos Ti-15Nb-xSi e Ti-35Nb-xSi; no entanto, para as amostras Ti-40Nb-xSi foi verificado um aumento de seus valores com a elevacao do teor de Si. Menores modulos de elasticidade foram observados nas ligas Ti-35Nb-xSi resfriadas em agua, para as quais foram realizados ensaios de tracao e de resistencia a corrosao. Foi observado que o aumento da concentracao de Si tambem produziu um aumento na resistencia mecanica das ligas, entretanto, a liga com 0,55% de Si, apresentou comportamento mecanico fragil atribuido a presenca de silicetos, indicados como (Ti,Nb)3Si nos contornos de graos. Os ensaios de corrosao mostraram que as ligas apresentaram uma alta resistencia no meio estudado. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a liga Ti-35Nb-0,35Si apresenta a melhor combinacao de propriedades: boa resistencia mecanica, baixo modulo de elasticidade e excelente resistencia a corrosao.

Structural studies with CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) are made since the 1970s, however investigations about their electrical properties only started recently. At 2000, it was reported a high permittivity of ~ 12000 (at 1 KHz) in ceramics of this material which remained constant between the room temperature to ~ 200 °C, and whose physical explanations be still controversial in the scientific society. High dielectric constants allow smaller capacitive components, enabling the size reduction of the electronic devices. In this way, CCTO has attracted the interest of many researchers as technological as scientific point of view. One of the main problem that limit its immediate application as dielectric in ceramic capacitors is its high dielectric loss (~ 0,15) near at room temperature. On the other hand, this material has been prepared by several researchers mainly by the solid state reaction method, in the temperature range of 1000 °C to 1050 °C, with thermal treatment up to 48 h. As result, some secondary phases have be found as in the calcined powders as in the sintered ceramics. Thus, other synthesis methods have been proposed and tested in the last years. In this work, we have studied the CCTO synthesis by a route based on Pechini s method and its sintering using a new method, in which a CO2 laser is used as the main heating source. Besides, the dielectric properties of CCTO ceramics were investigated in order to verify the influence of this sintering process on the ceramic properties as well as onto the understanding of the involved physical mechanisms. The laser sintered ceramics presented high relative density (95 ± 1%), with homogeneous microstructure and dielectric constant at about 2000 with low dielectric loss (0,06) at 1 kHz, when sintered at 1,3 W/mm2. The dielectric loss value obtained in this work is among the lowest ever recorded. Based on our results was also proposed a mechanism to aid in the understanding of the giant dielectric constant in CCTO. Finally, we believe that laser sintering can be an important tool for the optimization of the dielectric properties of CCTO ceramics and consequently future applications in the capacitors and electronic devices industry, whose worldwide consumption is increasing. / Estudos estruturais com o CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) são feitos desde os anos 1970, contudo investigações acerca de suas propriedades elétricas somente se iniciaram recentemente. Em 2000, foi reportado uma alta permissividade de ~ 12000 (a 1 kHz) em cerâmicas deste material, que permanecia constante da temperatura ambiente a ~ 200 °C, cujas explicações físicas ainda são bem controversas na comunidade científica. Constantes dielétricas altas permitem menores componentes capacitivos, oferecendo assim a oportunidade de diminuir o tamanho de dispositivos eletrônicos. Desta forma, o CCTO tem atraído muito o interesse de pesquisadores, tanto do ponto de vista tecnológico quanto científico. Um dos principais problemas que limitam sua imediata aplicação como dielétrico em capacitores cerâmicos é a sua alta perda dielétrica (~ 0,15) próximo à temperatura ambiente. Por outro lado, este material tem sido preparado por diversos pesquisadores principalmente pelo método da reação de estado sólido, no intervalo de temperatura de 1000 °C a 1100 °C, com tratamentos térmicos de até 48 h. Como resultado, algumas fases secundárias têm sido encontradas tanto no pó calcinado quanto na cerâmica sinterizada. Dessa forma, outros métodos de síntese vêm sendo procurados e testados nos últimos anos. Neste trabalho, estudamos a síntese do CCTO por uma rota baseada no método Pechini e sua sinterização usando um novo método, no qual um laser de CO2 é usado como principal fonte de aquecimento. Além disso, estudamos as propriedades dielétricas das cerâmicas de CCTO, a fim de verificar a influência deste novo processo de sinterização em suas propriedades bem como no entendimento dos mecanismos físicos envolvidos. As cerâmicas sinterizadas a laser apresentaram alta densidade relativa (95 ± 1%), com microestrutura homogênea e constante dielétrica em torno de 2000 e baixa perda dielétrica (0,06) a 1 kHz, quando sinterizadas a 1,3 W/mm2. O valor de perda dielétrica obtida neste trabalho está entre os mais baixos já registrados. Baseando-se em nossos resultados também foi proposto um mecanismo para auxiliar no entendimento da constante dielétrica gigante no CCTO. Finalmente, acreditamos que a sinterização a laser pode ser uma importante ferramenta para a otimização das propriedades dielétricas de cerâmicas de CCTO e consequentemente futuras aplicações na indústria de capacitores e dispositivos eletrônicos, cujo consumo mundial é cada vez maior.

A commercial non-contact atomic force microscope was improved to achieve utmost resolution on a routine basis. This system was used to study the (110) surface of rutile titanium dioxide. The focus was on understanding contrast formation in terms of tip-sample interaction mechanisms. Moreover, chromium and antimony-doped titanium dioxide was investigated. The implications of transition-metal doping on the surface structure of this highly interesting photocatalyst was studied at the atomic scale.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:42:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EdissonMJ.pdf: 6565731 bytes, checksum: 5d6fdd6db6fc25a30c6100d96fff1edc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-24 / TiTanate NanoTubes (TTNT) were synthesized by hydrothermal alkali treatment of TiO2 anatase followed by repeated washings with distinct degrees of proton exchange. TTNT samples with different sodium contents were characterized, as synthesized and after heattreatment (200-800?C), by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, thermal analysis, nitrogen adsorption and spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance. It was demonstrated that TTNTs consist of trititanate structure with general formula NaxH2&#8722;xTi3O7?nH2O, retaining interlayer water in its multiwalled structure. The removal of sodium reduces the amount of water and contracts the interlayer space leading, combined with other factors, to increased specific surface area and mesopore volume. TTNTs are mesoporous materials with two main contributions: pores smaller than 10 nm due to the inner volume of nanotubes and larger pores within 5-60 nm attributed to the interparticles space. Chemical composition and crystal structure of TTNTs do not depend on the average crystal size of the precursor TiO2-anatase, but this parameter affects significantly the morphology and textural properties of the nanostructured product. Such dependence has been rationalized using a dissolution-recrystallization mechanism, which takes into account the dissolution rate of the starting anatase and its influence on the relative rates of growth and curving of intermediate nanosheets. The thermal stability of TTNT is defined by the sodium content and in a lower extent by the crystallinity of the starting anatase. It has been demonstrated that after losing interlayer water within the range 100-200?C, TTNT transforms, at least partially, into an intermediate hexatitanate NaxH2&#8722;xTi6O13 still retaining the nanotubular morphology. Further thermal transformation of the nanostructured tri- and hexatitanates occurs at higher or lower temperature and follows different routes depending on the sodium content in the structure. At high sodium load (water washed samples) they sinter and grow towards bigger crystals of Na2Ti3O7 and Na2Ti6O13 in the form of rods and ribbons. In contrast, protonated TTNTs evolve to nanotubes of TiO2(B), which easily convert to anatase nanorods above 400?C. Besides hydroxyls and Lewis acidity typical of titanium oxides, TTNTs show a small contribution of protonic acidity capable of coordinating with pyridine at 150?C, which is lost after calcination and conversion into anatase. The isoeletric point of TTNTs was measured within the range 2.5-4.0, indicating behavior of a weak acid. Despite displaying semiconductor characteristics exhibiting typical absorption in the UV-Vis spectrum with estimated bandgap energy slightly higher than that of its TiO2 precursor, TTNTs showed very low performance in the photocatalytic degradation of cationic and anionic dyes. It was concluded that the basic reason resides in its layered titanate structure, which in comparison with the TiO2 form would be more prone to the so undesired electron-hole pair recombination, thus inhibiting the photooxidation reactions. After calcination of the protonated TTNT into anatase nanorods, the photocatalytic activity improved but not to the same level as that exhibited by its precursor anatase / Titanatos nanoestruturados, particularmente TiTanatos NanoTubulares (TTNT), foram sintetizados por tratamento hidrot?rmico alcalino de TiO2-anat?sio seguido de repetidas lavagens com diversos graus de troca prot?nica. Amostras de TTNT com diferentes teores de s?dio foram caracterizadas na forma de p? seco e ap?s calcina??o (200-800?C) por difra??o de raios-X, microscopia eletr?nica de varredura e transmiss?o, difra??o de el?trons, an?lise t?rmica, adsor??o de nitrog?nio e t?cnicas espectrosc?picas de infravermelho e de reflet?ncia difusa no UV-Vis?vel. Demonstrou-se que tais materiais de paredes multilamelares s?o trititanatos de f?rmula geral NaxH2&#8722;xTi3O7?nH2O, retendo ?gua entre as lamelas. A remo??o de s?dio da estrutura reduz a quantidade de ?gua contraindo o espa?o interlamelar levando, combinado a outros fatores, ao aumento da ?rea e do volume de poros espec?ficos. Os TTNTs s?o materiais mesoporosos com duas contribui??es principais: poros menores que 10 nm devido ao volume interno dos nanotubos e poros entre 5 e 60 nm devido aos espa?os interpart?cula. A composi??o qu?mica e a estrutura cristalina do TTNT n?o dependem do tamanho de cristalito do TiO2-anat?sio precursor, todavia este par?metro afeta significativamente a morfologia e as caracter?sticas texturais do produto nanoestruturado. Tal depend?ncia foi racionalizada atrav?s de um mecanismo de dissolu??o-recristaliza??o que leva em conta a velocidade de dissolu??o do TiO2 de partida e sua influ?ncia sobre a taxa de crescimento de nanofolhas intermedi?rias em rela??o ? taxa de seu curvamento a nanotubos. A estabilidade t?rmica do TTNT ? definida pelo teor de s?dio e em pequena extens?o pelo tipo de anat?sio de partida. Foi demonstrado que o TTNT ap?s perder a ?gua intercalada entre 100 e 200?C se transforma pelo menos parcialmente num hexatitanato NaxH2&#8722;xTi6O13 intermedi?rio ainda nanotubular. A transforma??o t?rmica do tri- e hexatitanato nanoestruturados ocorre em maior ou menor temperatura e segue diferentes rotas dependendo do teor de s?dio. No caso de alto s?dio sinterizam e crescem at? grandes cristais de Na2Ti3O7 e Na2Ti6O13 na forma de bast?es e fitas acima de 600?C. No caso da amostra protonizada evoluem para nanotubos de TiO2(B) que facilmente se convertem em nanobast?es de anat?sio acima de 400?C. Al?m de hidroxilas e acidez de Lewis t?picos dos ?xidos de tit?nio, os TTNTs apresentam uma pequena contribui??o de acidez prot?nica capaz de se coordenar com a piridina a 150?C, e que ? perdida ap?s sua calcina??o e transforma??o ? anat?sio. O ponto isoel?trico do TTNT variou dentro da faixa 2,5- 4,0, indicando o comportamento de um ?cido fraco. Apesar de se revelar um semicondutor exibindo banda de absor??o t?pica no espectro de UV-vis?vel com energia de bandgap ligeiramente superior ao do respectivo TiO2-anat?sio precursor, os TTNTs apresentaram baixo desempenho fotocatal?tico na degrada??o de corantes cati?nico e ani?nico. Concluiu-se que a causa fundamental reside em sua estrutura de titanato lamelar que, em rela??o ? forma TiO2, apresentaria maior probabilidade de recombina??o do par el?tron-lacuna (e-/h+), inibindo as rea??es de fotoxida??o. A transforma??o do TTNT prot?nico ? nanobast?es de anat?sio melhorou a atividade fotocatal?tica, por?m ainda sem atingir o mesmo desempenho do TiO2-anat?sio precursor

The ability of physics to provide an understanding of our Universe lies in the essential interrelation between experiment and theory. But physics does not provide us only reliable representations of the causes acting in nature. Its powerful experimental devices and theoretical methods are the underlying reason of the explosive technological development of our time. LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 represent only one example of the essential impact of both experimental and theoretical investigations on their technological applications. Particularly, LiNbO3 has been the subject of many experimental studies due to its applications in electro-optic and integrated optical devices. Also, the doped LiNbO3 with rare-earth and transition metals could be used, for instance, as a material for tunable lasers. The previous theoretical studies devoted to LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 focused on their electronic structure, being an attempt to understand the microscopic origin of the paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition of these materials. The ab initio lattice dynamics investigations performed so far were mainly aimed to identify the role of the individual atoms vibrations in the energetic of the phase transition. The lack of a reliable model for the zone-center lattice dynamics in these compounds motivated us to investigate this issue by means of ab initio frozen-phonon calculations. On the background of the obtained phonon frequencies and eigenvectors, we unambiguously identified all zone-center modes for LiNbO3 and the A1 ones for LiTaO3. Due to the above mentioned enlargement of the technological applications of LiNbO3 by doping with various ions, we focused on the analysis of the ground-state properties of this material when doped with Fe and Cr. Even if the theoretical approach used in our calculations is not predictive with respect to the optical properties of the physical systems in study, a certain insight on this problem could be gained from the analysis of the effect of the atomic positions relaxation on the impurities energy levels localized in the optical band gap.

This work is dedicated to a comprehensive experimental study on the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with the nonlinear optical medium lithium niobate. The nonlinear optical response in the nanosecond regime was already studied extensively with a variety of techniques, whereas femtosecond pulses were mainly used in transient absorption or transient grating experiments. Naturally, the temporal resolution of these measurements depends on the pulse duration, however, dynamics during the pulse excitation were barely investigated. The motivation of this work is to widen the limits of femtosecond spectroscopy, not only to temporally resolve faster nonlinear optical processes, but further to show a sensitivity to other coupling mechanisms between the pulses and the material. Especially, the role of transient, dynamic holographic gratings is investigated with a careful determination of the pulse duration, bandwidth and frequency chirp. A basis of this work is established in the first part by studying the material response via light-induced absorption before focusing on the main topic, the pulse interaction with elementary (holographic) gratings, both self-induced and static, in the second part. By this detailed study, several features of femtosecond laser pulses, holographic gratings and the ultrafast material response can be revealed: (i) grating recording is feasible even with pulses of different frequencies, provided that their pulse duration is sufficiently short, (ii) grating based pulse coupling causes a pronounced energy transfer even in a common pump-probe setup for transient absorption measurements with (non-)degenerated frequencies, (iii) beyond expectation, oscillations in the phonon frequency range become apparent in different measurements. The presented results point towards appropriate future experiments to obtain a more consistent, microscopic model for the ultrafast response of the crystal, involving the interplay between photo-generated polarons, self-induced gratings, and phonons.

The present work broaches the physics of light-matter interaction, chiefly using nonlinear optical spectroscopy in a newly developed framework termed as Photon Management Concept. This way, existing fragments dealing with specific properties of harmonic and upconversion nanoparticles (HNPs/UCNPs) are consolidated into a full and coherent picture with the primary goal of understanding the underlying physical processes and their impact on the application side, especially in terms of imaging techniques, via suitable experimental and numerical studies. Contemporary optical setups involving contrast-enhancing agents are frequently limited in their excitation and detection configurations owing to a specialization to a select number of markers. As a result, the bandwidth of experimental methods and specimens that may be investigated is severely restricted in a large number of state-of-the-art setups. Here, an alternative approach involving HNPs and UCNPs, respectively, is presented providing an overview from their synthesis to optical characterization and to potential fields of application. Based on their inherent flexibility based on their nonlinear optical response, especially in terms of wavelength and intensity tunability, the PMC alleviates prevalent limitations by dynamically adapting the setup to a sample instead of the preliminary culling to a reduced number of eligible specimens that must not change their optical properties significantly during investigation. The use of HNPs supersedes such concerns due to their nearly instantaneously generated, strongly anti-Stokes shifted, coherent emission capable of producing radiation throughout the visible spectral range, including infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths. This way, HNPs transcend the traditional field of imaging and introduces potential applications in optomanipulation or holographic techniques. Thorough (nonlinear) optical characterization of UCNPs and alkali niobate HNP ensembles is performed to assess the fundamental physical mechanisms interwoven with numerical studies leading to their wide-ranging applicability. Final remarks show that HNPs are ideal candidates for realization of the PMC and yet hold an even further potential beyond current prospects.