The presently disclosed and/or claimed inventive concept(s) relates generally to hexagonal osmium boride, OsB.sub.2, and methods of producing the same. In one non-limiting embodiment, hexagonal OsB.sub.2 is produced by mechanochemical synthesis of osmium and boron in a high energy ball mill.

A solution deposition method including: applying a liquid precursor solution to a substrate, the precursor solution including an oxide of a first metal, a hydroxide of the first metal, or a combination thereof, dissolved in an aqueous ammonia solution; evaporating the precursor solution to directly form a solid seed layer on the substrate, the seed layer including an oxide of the first metal, a hydroxide of the first metal, or a combination thereof, the seed layer being substantially free of organic compounds; and growing a bulk layer on the substrate, using the seed layer as a growth site or a nucleation site.

A solution deposition method including: applying a liquid precursor solution to a substrate, the precursor solution including an oxide of a first metal, a hydroxide of the first metal, or a combination thereof, dissolved in an aqueous ammonia solution; evaporating the precursor solution to directly form a solid seed layer on the substrate, the seed layer including an oxide of the first metal, a hydroxide of the first metal, or a combination thereof, the seed layer being substantially free of organic compounds; and growing a bulk layer on the substrate, using the seed layer as a growth site or a nucleation site.

The present invention includes a partially continuous countercurrent process for converting gypsum, by reaction with ammonium carbonate, to products of ammonium sulfate and calcium carbonate by introducing the reactants into reactors, mixing the reactants for a predetermined amount of time, employing a novel combination of countercurrent flows coupled with the reactors operated in a batch manner with process recycle of liquids, removing materials from the reactor and separating solids from solutions wherein no reactants are added during the removal process and thus the reactants have sufficient time to react and ensure the desired degree of reaction, yield and purity of product calcium carbonate and ammonium sulfate while minimizing the reaction time.

The present invention includes a partially continuous countercurrent process for converting gypsum, by reaction with ammonium carbonate, to products of ammonium sulfate and calcium carbonate by introducing the reactants into reactors, mixing the reactants for a predetermined amount of time, employing a novel combination of countercurrent flows coupled with the reactors operated in a batch manner with process recycle of liquids, removing materials from the reactor and separating solids from solutions wherein no reactants are added during the removal process and thus the reactants have sufficient time to react and ensure the desired degree of reaction, yield and purity of product calcium carbonate and ammonium sulfate while minimizing the reaction time.

Disclosed is a method for producing and identifying a Weyl semimetal. Identification is enabled via a combination of the vacuum ultraviolet (low-photon energy) and soft X-ray (SX) angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Production generally requires providing high purity raw materials, creating a mixture, heating the mixture in a container at a temperature sufficient for thermal decomposition of an impurity while preventing the possible reaction between the side walls of the container and the raw materials, depositing the resulting compound and a transfer agent onto the bottom surface of the ampule, differentially heating the ampule, and allowing a chemical vapor transport reaction to complete.

A method for monolithically depositing a monocrystalline IV-IV layer that glows when excited and that is composed of a plurality of elements of the IV main group, in particular a GeSn or SiGeSn layer, the IV-IV layer having a dislocation density less than 6 cm.sup.2, on an IV substrate, in particular a silicon or germanium substrate, including the following steps: providing a hydride of a first IV element (A), such as Ge.sub.2H.sub.6 or Si.sub.2H.sub.6; providing a halide of a second IV element (B), such as SnCl.sub.4; heating the substrate to a substrate temperature that is less than the decomposition temperature of the pure hydride or of a radical formed therefrom and is sufficiently high that atoms of the first element (A) and of the second element (B) are integrated into the surface in crystalline order, wherein the substrate temperature lies, in particular, in a range between 300 C. and 475 C.; producing a carrier gas flow of an inert carrier gas, in particular N.sub.2, Ar, He, which in particular is not H.sub.3; transporting the hydride and the halide and decomposition products arising therefrom to the surface at a total pressure of at most 300 mbar; depositing the IV-IV layer, or a layer sequence consisting of IV-IV layers of the same type, having a thickness of at least 200 nm, wherein the deposited layer is, in particular, a Si.sub.yGe.sub.1-x-ySn layer, with x>0.08 and y1.

The metallic crystal structures inspired edge-to-edge tessellations and a tessellation based lattice structures are disclosed. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, basic unit lattice cells are stacked and connected to constitute a three-dimensional tessellations, wherein each of the basic unit lattice cells comprises a multiple flat connecting portions formed on a surface of the basic unit lattice cell and intersecting with a multiple of axes intersecting in a center of the basic unit lattice cell, and the flat connecting portions of one of the basic unit lattice cell is connected to the flat connecting portions of the adjacent basic unit lattice cell to constitute a connection structure of edge-to-edge tessellation. The formed tessellations are periodically tessellated in a design domain to form different tessellated lattice structures. The Functionally Tessellated (FT) lattice structures composed of different tessellations by interlocking into each other are also disclosed.

The metallic crystal structures inspired edge-to-edge tessellations and a tessellation based lattice structures are disclosed. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, basic unit lattice cells are stacked and connected to constitute a three-dimensional tessellations, wherein each of the basic unit lattice cells comprises a multiple flat connecting portions formed on a surface of the basic unit lattice cell and intersecting with a multiple of axes intersecting in a center of the basic unit lattice cell, and the flat connecting portions of one of the basic unit lattice cell is connected to the flat connecting portions of the adjacent basic unit lattice cell to constitute a connection structure of edge-to-edge tessellation. The formed tessellations are periodically tessellated in a design domain to form different tessellated lattice structures. The Functionally Tessellated (FT) lattice structures composed of different tessellations by interlocking into each other are also disclosed.

An apparatus is provided for depositing a thin film. The apparatus includes a chamber, a susceptor disposed in the chamber and supporting a substrate, a reflection housing disposed outside the chamber, a light source unit disposed in the reflection housing and irradiating light to the susceptor, and a light controlling unit blocking at least a portion of an irradiation path of the light to control an irradiation area of the light on the susceptor. At least a portion of the light controlling unit is disposed in the reflection housing.