During a terrorist trial, dispute arose as to whether the temperature produced in a car fire was sufficient to destroy quartz grain surface textures. A series of seven sequential experiments showed that the temperature for quartz surface texture modification/destruction and the production of vugs, vesicles and glassy precipitation ('snowdrifting') occurred at 1200 degrees C under normal atmosph...

Silver nanoparticles deposited on quartz substrates are widely used as SERS substrates. The nanoparticles can be deposited directly from colloidal solution by dipping technique. However, the adhesion of the particles on the quartz surface is very poor. Normally the substrate is pre-treated with hydroxylation or silanisation process. In this paper, we have demonstrated that the application of th...

Generally, quartz crystal inductance frequency pulling in oscillators is very low and therefore is not often used in practice. The new method of improving frequency pullability uses inductance to compensate for quartz stray capacitances. To this end, a special AT fundamental quartz crystal working near the antiresonance frequency is selected. By modifying its equivalent circuit with load induct...

The analyses of 738 soil and sediment samples taken during the investigation of 20 forensic cases are combined in a database for retrospective comparisons. Quartz sand grain surface textures are combined into grain types which are analysed at one of five orders of classification. This classification also provides frequency data on the number of grain types found in a sample, the individuality o...

Introduction: The recognition of low-pressure shock-metamorphic effects in quartz is of increasing importance in studies attempting to verify an impact origin for highly eroded structures [1], recognize sedi-mentary-target impacts characterized by a wide range of shock-pressure regimes, and identify distal impact-ejecta layers or impact-tsunamiites where high-pressure indicators may be rare or ...

A number of workers have employed tissue culture techniques in pneumoconiosis research since Fenn (1921) examined the phagocytosis of quartz and coal by rat exudate leucocytes. However, most attention has been directed to the degree of phagocytosis achieved rather than to evaluating accurately the toxicity of dust to the phagocytic cell. Moreover, the techniques used did not provide concordant ...

We demonstrate mid-infrared second-harmonic generation as a highly sensitive phonon spectroscopy technique that we exemplify using α-quartz (SiO2) as a model system. A mid-infrared free-electron laser provides direct access to optical phonon resonances ranging from 350 cm−1 to 1400 cm−1. While the extremely wide tunability and high peak fields of an free-electron laser promote nonlinear spectro...

An evolution of the double-beam laser interferometer used for piezoelectric measurements in ferroelectric thin films is reported. Measuring the d33 hysteresis of a ferroelectric material using lock-in technique with large time constants requires a varying bias field to be applied to the sample over a long period of time. This long-term application leads to electrical stress during the measureme...