ANNUAL REPORT 2017 X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) First ever XPS of Pakistan installed at NCP

Techniques included in the system o X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) o Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) o High sensitivity and snapshot micro-area spectroscopy, microscopy and quantitative chemical state imaging o Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) o Atomic resolution by STM at room temperature o Variable temperature STM o Contact and non-contact AFM o Sample treatment and sputtering o In-situ thin film growth by e-beam evaporation o Integrated system in UHV (10-11 mbar) ANNUAL REPORT 2017 NATIONAL CENTRE FOR PHYSICS © 2018 National Centre for Physics (NCP) Quaid-i-Azam University Campus Shahdra Valley Road, Islamabad.

ISBN: 978-969-9350-19-1

Compiled by: Abdul Hamid Ata ur Rehman Ashiq Hussain

Composed by: Syed Hasnat Gillani Photographs by: Muhammad Imran Iqbal Designed by: Shahid Rasheed

Published By: Scientific Information Branch Collaborations & Academic Activities Directorate National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan. “The main objective of NCP is to promote research in physics and allied disciplines and to develop science culture in Pakistan”

Annual Report 2017

Director General’s Message

he National Centre for Physics was established in 2004 on the pattern T of The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy. It is an autonomous body and a unique centre for research in fundamental and advanced areas of physics and allied disciplines in Pakistan. NCP endeavors to engage in world-class research and develop science culture in the country. It is a matter of great pleasure for me to see that NCP has gained national and international recognition at its initial stages and has emerged as a high pedestal among well-established research institutes in the country. In Pakistan, NCP is providing state of the art research facilities in the field of experimental high- energy physics, nano-science, ion-beam applications (tandem accelerator), theoretical physics, atomic and laser physics, vacuum sciences, earthquake studies, and computing resources, which are not only used by researchers at NCP but are available to the entire physics community of Pakistan. NCP is also providing a free academic atmosphere and a unique platform to young researchers for their personal grooming with excellent opportunities to discuss results of their theoretical and experimental research in the presence of internationally renowned scientists and experts. Communicating new ideas and important results is an important part of the scientific process and it is our hope that NCP will continue to motivate young researchers to think in terms of interesting problems at the leading edge of science, which itself will lead to high quality research at international level. International scientific cooperation is the key to produce high-level and world-class science research. In this regard NCP is also benefiting from scientific cooperation agreements with several international centres of scientific excellence and learning such as ICTP, SESAME, ALS, CERN, IHEP, F’SATTI and KRISS. NCP can therefore provide a window for the physicists of this country for scientific collaboration with researchers abroad. It is important to note that Pakistan is among a few states having the status of “Associate Member” of CERN since 2015. The Experimental High Energy Physics Department of NCP is playing a key role in the development of strong physics community in Pakistan in the field of particle physics. I believe that all of us in the physics and scientific community of Pakistan should join hands and make NCP a real success story.

Hafeez R. Hoorani

5 Performance 01 Indicators-9 1.1 Salient Outcomes-9 1.2 Research Publications-10 1.3 Hosted Researchers-11 1.4 Scienti c Events-12 Research & 1.5 Memorandum of Development Understandings (MoUs)-12 Activities-13 02 2.1 Experimental High Energy Physics-13 2.2 Theoretical Physics-28 2.3 Nanosciences and Technology-38 2.4 Atomic and Laser Physics-48 2.5 Experimental Physics / Ion Beam Applications-50 2.6 Vacuum Science and Technology-55 03 Visits to NCP-75 2.7 Earthquake Studies-64 3.1 Foreign Delegates-75 3.2 Loal Delegates-77 3.3 Familiarization Visits of Students -80 Scientific Events/ Meetings-83 04 4.1 Events Organized by NCP-83 4.2 Events Organized by NINVAST-93 4.3 Scienti c Meetings-95 Scientific Visits by NCP Faculty/ 05 Researchers -97 Honours and 06 Awards-105

Welcome/ Farewell-109 07

08 News Updates-111

NCP Sports Gala 2017-111 09

10 Appendices-114 10.1 Publications in International Journals-114 Experimental High Energy Physics-114 Theoretical Physics-122 Nanosciences and Technology-124 Experimental Physics/ Ion Beam Applications-130 Atomic and Laser Physics-133 Vacuum Science and Technology-134 Earthquake Studies-134 10.2 Conference Papers-135 10.3 Book Publication-136 10.4 Book Chapters Publications-136 10.5 Dissertation & Thesis-137 NCP Team Leaders 2017

Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani (S.I.) Director General NCP

Dr. Fayyazuddin (H.I.) Syed Tahir H. Hashmi (PoP) Distinguished Scientist Director General NINVAST

Dr. M. Aslam Baig Dr. Riffat M. Qureshi Dr. Sara Qaisar Inam Ur Rehman S.I. (M) (H.I., S.I., T.I.) Advisor Technical to DG Director Nanosciences & Director Administration Director Atomic & Laser Physics NCP Technology

Dr. Ishaq Ahmed Dr. Talat Iqbal Abdul Hamid Muhammad Irshad Director Centre for Director Collaborations & Director Experimental Physics Director Finance Earthquake Studies Academic Activities

Dr. Mohsin Siddiq Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Director Theoretical Physics Director Experimental High Energy Physics Annual Report 2017

1. Performance Indicators The progress of National Centre for Physics (NCP) is assessed with the help of following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): - ƒƒ Research Publications & Patents ƒƒ Enrollment of Hosted Researchers ƒƒ State of the Art Labs/ Infrastructure ƒƒ Scientific Collaborations (MoUs) ƒƒ Scientific Events Expected outputs & relevant key performance indicators are given in the following table:

Sr. No. Expected Outputs Performance Indicators

a. Research publications Producing world-class science & research in areas 1. b. Post-Doc/ PhD/ M. Phil students mentioned in the NCP Charter c. Patents

Developing facilities and laboratories for the basic & a. State of the art labs - user-oriented facilities 2. goal-oriented research b. Strong and conducive infrastructure a. Scientific collaborations Breaking the scientific isolation of Pakistani scientists b. Involvement in international science projects 3. by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and dissemination of knowledge c. Scientific events (conferences, workshops & schools) a. Hosted researchers/Associates 4. Human Resource Development b. Training events c. Scientific exchange programs a. Physics education Revamping and awareness of physics and allied 5. b. Lectures by eminent scientists disciplines c. Outreach – attract the young talent

1.1 Salient Outcomes The following section highlights some salient outputs with respect to human resource development as well as high grade R&D work (such as research publications, hosted researchers, scientific events, memorandum of understandings) at NCP keeping in view the various performance indicators listed in the above mentioned Table. a. PC-Is for upgrade of NCP Research Facilities In order to strengthen R&D facilities at NCP and allied centres, the following two PC-Is submitted to Planning Commission of Pakistan through Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) has been approved and procurement of scientific equipment is in process: -

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Project 1:

Upgradation and Strengthening of R&D Labs of National Centre for Physics. ƒƒ Upgrade of Experimental High Energy Physics Laboratory ƒƒ Upgradation of IT & Computing Infrastructure ƒƒ Upgradation of Nanoscience Laboratory for Renewable Energy Research ƒƒ Fiber Laser Produced Plasma Studies ƒƒ Upgradation of Accelerator Facility ƒƒ Upgradation of Vacuum Generation and Calibration Facilities ƒƒ Enhancement of Radon Monitoring Facility

Project 2:

The Upgrade of Silicon Strip Tracker and Muon System for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment, Research and Development. b. Upgrade of Photovoltaics PV Laboratory The Photovoltaics (PV) laboratory at Nanoscience & Technology Department (NS&TD) was equipped with the Plasma Treatment System with the help of DAAD-Germany funding project titled “Interfacial Modifications for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells (i-Mod)”. c. Recognition of NCP Analytical Facility Service by HEC Higher Education Commission (HEC) included the name of NCP under Access on Scientific Instrumentation Program (ASIP) on HEC website under Federal list in May, 2017.

1.2 Research Publications During the year 2017, the NCP researchers published a total of two hundred & eighty five (285) research papers with 974.876 impact factor in journals of international repute.

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1.3 Hosted Researchers NCP is a unique research centre of Pakistan where students, researchers and scientists of other universities, research institutes, and R&D organizations join to carry out joint research projects under the supervision (or co-supervision) of NCP faculty. During the year 2017, ninety seven (97) hosted researchers joined different departments of NCP in various categories as per details given in the following table:

Years Categories 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Visiting Scientists/ Researchers 25 2 3 24 - - -

NCP Associates 16 2 5 - 1 5 1

Post Doc Fellows 0 6 5 4 5 5 1

PhD Students ------10

M.Phil./ MS Students 51 83 91 101 82 77 55

Internees 30 38 66 37 57 40 30

Total 122 131 170 166 145 127 97

Year-wise status of hosted researchers is shown in the following graph:

Annual Enrollment Status of Hosted Researchers

180 170 162 160 143 140 131 127 122 120 h e r s 97

e a r c 100 e s

R 80 e d t s 60 o H 40

20

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Years

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1.4 Scientific Events Year-wise summary of scientific events held at NCP is given in the following graph:

25 22 20 20 20 20 19 18

s 15 15 e n t E v f o

o 10 N

5

0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Years

1.5 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) a. International MoUs NCP took up the case for renewal of membership of Pakistan with the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), Singapore. It has been approved by IUPAP and Pakistan has now the membership of IUPAP with effect from January 1, 2018. b. National MoUs

NCP signed MoUs with the following organizations/ institutes during the year 2017: 1. Gomal University (GU), Dera Ismail Khan (January 6, 2017) 2. Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS), Islamabad (January 9, 2017) 3. University of Karachi (UoK), Karachi (May 8, 2017) 4. University of Haripur (UoH), Haripur (June 7, 2017) 5. GC University, Lahore (October 6, 2017)

MoU Signing Ceremony between NCP & GC University, Lahore

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2. Research & Development Activities Highlights of on-going research and development work performed by researchers in various departments of NCP and allied Centres (NINVAST & CES) are as following:

2.1 Experimental High Energy Physics a. Measurement of single top quark production cross section in association with Z boson at 13 TeV using CMS Data Top quark being the heaviest particle in Standard Model has been discovered long ago and many of its properties have been measured with high precision by the CMS andATLAS experiments at the LHC. The production of single top quarks in association with Z bosons (tqZ) is one of the rare Standard Model Electroweak process. Using the CMS data, attempts have been made to measure the cross section of tqZ channel at 8 TeV, which has been published already in Journal of High Energy Physics. The results agree with the Standard Model expectation within 2.4σ. The significance of the measurement at 8 TeV is not sufficient enough to claim discovery of this rare Standard Model process. During the RUN II, the LHC is running with even higher instantaneous luminosity and center- of-mass energies, which enhance the chances of discovering the single top quark produced in association with the Z boson i.e tqZ channel. For this study, the proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at √s = 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb-1 has been used. Since tqZ is an irreducible background to many important physics searches like SUSY multi-leptons searches and ttH rare process therefore the measurement of cross section of the tqZ is very important. Also this will provide the confirmation of suppressed Standard Model process at tree level. This electroweak process gives rise to very clean signal in the final state which consists of trileptons + jets + missing energy. The Feynman diagram for the process of the Z boson associated production with the single top quark is shown in Fig. 1. The Z boson in final state production provides extra useful handle to identify the tqZ final state and suppress background. In contrast to the QCD-induced pair production mode (ttZ), the electroweak single top +Z process (tqZ) is easier to produce. The direct coupling of Z-boson to top quark can also be probed through the tqZ channel which can’t otherwise be done through QCD-induced pair production. After applying the pre- selection which is described in detail in our CMS paper with number AN-16-285, the plots of W boson transverse mass are shown in Fig. 2. The measured signal strength is found to be 1.66+0.66 -0.60. The expected significance is 1.95 ± 0.09σ while the observed significance is 2.81σ. The impact of ±σ variation of the nuisance parameters is shown in Fig. 3. The measurement is being published in Phys. Lett. B. with an archive no. arXiv: 1712.02825v1.

Figure 1: The single top quark production in association with a Z boson which can be an initial state radiation or final state radiation are shown.

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Figure 2: W transverse mass distributions in the WZ control region along with data to MC control region along with data to MC ratio plot in the bottom

CMS Internal r = 1 ± 0.581 1 ttZrate

2 WZrate

3 Fake_Mu

4 RenScaleME

5 lumi

6 Fake_El

7 PU

8 Lepton

9 Trig

10 FactScaleME

11 UncMET

12 CombScaleME

13 PDF

14 JES

15 Q2

16 JER

17 Btag

18 Ltag

19 Ctag -2 -1 0 1 2 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2

Pull +1σ Impact -1σ Impact (θ-θ0)/∆θ ∆r

Figure 3: Summary of the fit results to the data. Left panel shows the postfit pull (value and uncertainty) of each nuisance, while the right panel displays the estimated impact on the fit for the tZq signal strength. b. Microscopic black hole searches using 13 TeV CMS data The black hole physics is motivated to find the potential solution of the famous Hierarchy problem, the large difference between the electroweak scale and the Planck scale, through the models with large extra dimension. The microscopic black hole searches using 2016 CMS

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data at the 13 TeV center of mass energy of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider are under study. According to the theoretical prediction of large extra dimension models, the high multiplicity and high transverse kinematics of multijet final states are the major and key signatures of microscopic black holes. Therefore, the multijet final states of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) events are the major background of this analysis. As mini black holes are expected to decay instantly by producing predominantly standard model (SM) particles, mostly jets of hadrons, therefore the QCD jets are the major dominant background in the MBH searches.

The variable ST (the scalar sum of transverse energy ET) in QCD background is expected to have

same shape for different jet multiplicities. The ST shape invariance is the key assumption of this analysis to extract the major QCD background. The data-driven method is validated with the QCD MADGRAPH and PYTHIA Monte Carlo Simulations. The invariance as a function

of transverse momenta ST, for both the data and QCD MC simulations, the indicative cases are shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The exclusion limits for both the model-independent and model- dependent scenarios will conclude the analysis.

Figure 4: The comparison between the data and QCD MC simulations for jet multiplicity 4 (left) and ratio multiplicity 4 to 2 for the

shape invariance check (right), for the PT threshold of 70 GeV.

Figure 5: The comparison between the data and QCD MC simulations for jet multiplicity 4 with the PT threshold of 100 GeV (left)

and comparison of ST shapes for multiplicities 4 and 2 for the QCD PYTHIA (right).

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c. CMS-GEM Project at NCP

i. GE1/1 slice test installation

One physicist from EHEP/ NCP participated in the GE1/1 slice test detector installation at CERN. Five super chambers (including two long and three short) have been installed on the GE-1/1 positions of CMS. Different HV schemes are applied for different detectors. One detector is installed at GE-1/1 (3 O’clock position) while others are installed closed to 6 O’clock position.

ii. GE1/1 detector assembly and testing

Few physicists from EHEP learnt the assembly procedure of the GE1/1 detector by attending the first session of training, held at CERN on May 2-3, 2017. In this training session, the pre-assembly and assembly steps were followed carefully. On the basis of this training, a detailed GE1/1 assembly document consisted of 43 pages was prepared and shared with all the colleagues involved in this project from NCP & PAEC on May 16, 2017. NCP is involved in CMS GEM collaboration and currently EHEP Lab is being upgraded to be able to assemble and test the GEM detector. There are different quality control (QCs) of GEM detector assembly and testing as mentioned above. EHEP is planning to develop a 10000-class clean room at EHEP Lab. In this regard, Initial visits of vendors and price estimation has been completed. As per CERN GEM collaboration, the assembly site has to perform the following QC1 to QC5 while remaining QCs will be performed at CERN. ƒƒ QC1: Refurbish and maintain EPD clean room of 10000-class. Now it is in working condition. ƒƒ QC2: It involves the cleaning of all the parts/modules/pipes that will be used in the assembly of the detector. Further QC1 defines the step-by-step procedure to assemble the GEM detector while QC2 and onwards involve the testing of the detector. ƒƒ QC3: It involves the gas leakage test for the assembled GEM detector. It requires sophisticated gas setup able to provide proper gas mixture and that can monitor the pressure, humidity and temperature. Special PCB and related stuff is prepared in EHEP lab to monitor the environmental conditions and a Graphical User Interface (GUI) is prepared in LabVIEW to control, monitor and archive the data. The QC3 setup at EHEP Lab and currently EHEP team is in the process of installation, procurement and testing of individual components required for QC3. Figure 6 and 7 shows the QC3 setup details at NCP. ƒƒ QC4: It involves the HV Vs current test and it requires dedicated and special power supplies and other hardware modules to monitor the current. This also requires archiving the important data. Procurement of the hardware modules is in the process. ƒƒ QC5: It involves the testing of GEM detector under radiation environment. We already have x-ray source with Ag. Copper box is ready which will house the GEM detector, X-ray source and Scalable Readout System (SRS). SRS is based on special hardware modules, which were designed and prepared by CERN electronics group. The copper box is shown in Figure 8.

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Figure 6: Hardware to monitor the environmental parameters

Figure 7: GUI in LabVIEW Figure 8: The copper box preparation in EHEP Lab d. CMS Monte Carlo (MC) production manager The post doc (Dr. Shoaib Ahmed) in the EHEP department is currently working as convener (production manager) of Monte Carlo (MC) Data Generation Group of CMS. To perform any kind of physics analysis both MC is needed in addition to real CMS data. This MC group generates data for all working groups centrally i.e Top Group, Higgs Group, Supersymmetry Group etc. The NCP is holding the position of CMS MC Production Manager. The main responsibility of a production manager is to configure MC production campaigns and flows, performs requests chaining, sets their priority and submits requests to the production infrastructure. The Monte Carlo Data produced is then used by the whole collaboration and the work area of a production manager is very important for the visibility for institute. This responsibility will give six-month EPR work in favor of NCP. e. Muon identification and isolation efficiency The measurement of tqZ is being performed in pure leptonic decay states therefore good efficiency of muon reconstruction is necessary along with the identification and reconstruction of other particles such as electrons and jets. The tag and probe efficiency measurement of muons is performed using the 2017 data collected by the CMS experiment at 13 TeV. Selected plots of efficiency for data and MC as well as the invariant masse plots of Z boson are shown in Figure 9 & 10. The later plots are used to make samples of passing and failing probe leptons, which are eventually used in the measurement of efficiency.

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Figure 9: Muons isolation efficiency vs. transverse momentum (pt) using 2017 RunB data in single muon stream (left) and Drell- Yan Jets MC sample (right).

Figure 10: Muons isolation and identification efficiency measured by using Tag and Probe technique, (upper left) Z boson mass for passing probes, (upper right) Z boson mass for failing probes and (bottom left) Z boson mass combined. f. CMS Silicon strip tracker performance studies It was observed in the alignment studies that in deconvolution mode, the effective sensor position changed w.r.t. the data collected in peak mode. The shifts were in the direction orthogonal to the sensor plane and in the direction of the Lorentz drift. The measurement of shift is performed using peak and deconvolution modes of 2017 data as shown in Figure 11. The measured value of shift is 12 µm as shown in Figure 12.

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Figure 11: In the previous data taking by the CMS detector, there was a shift in the sensor position in deconvolution mode of data. The upper left plot shows the distribution of local x and upper right shows the distribution of reconstructed local x. The bottom left shows the distribution of shift and bottom right shows shift vs tan theta

Figure 12: Plot describes the delta shift vs tan theta for Tracker Outer Barrel (TOB) layer 1 and for Tracker Inner Backer (TIB) layer 1 g. Measurement of b-tagged jets efficiency The study of top quark physics is one of the major area where EHEP department at NCP is active. Therefore, study of b-tagging is critical because the top quark research relies on the reconstruction and identification of b jets. The b jets can be discriminated from jets produced by the hadronization of light quarks and gluons based on relatively long lifetime of b hadrons, large mass, high track multiplicity and hard fragmentation function. We are working to establish our own discriminator for b-jets using CMS 2017 data. The initial results are as following. The b-tagged jets efficiency and mis-tagged efficiency by using ttbar and QCD Monte Carlo samples are shown in Fig. 13 and similarly corresponding mis-tag rate, b-tagged jets rate are shown in Fig. 14.

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Figure 13: (left) Mistag efficiency of b jets, (right) btagged jets efficiency using combined secondary vertex algorithm.

Figure 14: (left) mis-tag rate of b-jets, (right) b-tagged rates of b-jets using ttbar and QCD samples h. Efficiency and cluster size studies of RPCs The muon spectrometer of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is equipped with a redundant system made of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) and Drift Tube (DT) chambers in the barrel, RPC and Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) in the end-cap region. These studies are relevant to RPCs and data used is for 2017 (Complete Data) runs. Main parameters of RPCs, which reflect and describe stability of the RPC performance, in terms of efficiency and cluster size are described. Segment extrapolation method is used to calculate the RPC efficiency. A DT/CSC segment of high quality, associated to a stand-alone muon track, is extrapolated to RPC strip plane. Efficiency plots are made for Barrel and Endcap region. There are regions with higher residuals mean value. Some of these higher residuals are due to chambers with low efficiency or high cluster size, as when chambers are in STANDBY. Best performance with respect to residuals mean value is for Disk-3, while in other parts of the system, there are regions with wider residuals. Probable cause for these regions with higher residuals, especially if efficiency and cluster size for the detector unit are ok, can be misalignment.

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Average efficiency is 94 % (per run) and average Cluster Size is ~ 2 (per run) for both Barrel and Endcap RPCs, as shown in Fig: 15 and Fig: 16.

Figure 15: End-cap chamber efficiency (numbers in %)

Figure 16: Cluster Size for endcap disks

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i. Study of ttbar spin correlation and polarization in di-leptonic channel with CMS 2017 data The heaviest known fundamental particle of the Standard Model (SM) is the top quark with mass 173.34 ± 0.76 GeV. It decays before hadronization and has a lifetime of 10-25 second. As the top quarks are produced via strong interactions, they are un-polarized but their spins are correlated due to QCD effects. The effects due to physics beyond Standard Model (SM) can cause top-quarks to be polarized as well as modify the spin correlations between them predicted by the SM. Top quark decays almost 99% of the times to W boson and b quark. W boson further decays leptonically (into 1 lepton and its neutrino) or hadronically (two light quarks). Here we consider fully leptonic case for ttbar decay as shown in Fig. 17:

Figure 17: Fully leptonic ttbar channel

The purpose of this work is to study the polarization and the spin correlations of top quark. One can study these effects in the top rest frame, where the decay products consist of b quark and W boson that in turns can decay into a lepton (l) and a neutrino (ν). The decay products of top quark are the powerful spin-analyzers of the parent quark, where one can parameterize the effectiveness of a spin analyzer by a variable κ. The signal events are selected by choosing 2 oppositely charged isolated leptons, 2 jets with at least one b-tagged jet and reject Drell-Yan background by applying cut on lepton invariant mass around Z boson peak in a window of

20 GeV. Applying cuts on missing ET further suppress DY background in the case of same flavor lepton final states. Due to two neutrinos in the final state, kinematics reconstruction is

done by constraining missing ET, two W masses and two top quark masses (172.5 GeV). In this analysis ttbar fully leptonic case is considered. The comparison of MC and data is made by analyzing the 2017B data sample of CMS collected at 13 TeV. The “TtFullLepKinSolver package” has been used to evaluate z-component of missing energy for each lepton. The kinematic variables of muons and b-jets are studied and finally ttbar mass is plotted as shown in Fig. 18:

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Figure 18: Reconstructed top mass distribution j. Asymmetric studies of the GE1/1 foil The GE1/1 foil is trapezoidal in shape and has an area of about 0.409m2 (long GE1/1). The foil is segmented in to small sectors (called HV sectors) in the transverse orientation. This segmentation is made to operate the detector safely during the CMS data taking period. In case of any problems which may appear in one HV sector during the operation, it will not affect the rest of the detector performance and secondly to avoid a big collective discharge which can happen due to large accumulation of charge on the entire foil. As per design the sectors had the unequal spacing which make the GE1/1 foil an asymmetric detector in the longitudinal and transverse directions. During GE1/1 detector assembly, the three foils stack need to stretch in all directions although foil is not symmetric. Therefore, it is very important to study the tensile and holes deformation of GE1/1 foil to understand the asymmetric mechanical behaviour of the foil. To make such kinds of tests, we prepared the fixed length (e.g. 100 mm) samples by using GE1/1 foil but with different number of grooves (5, 4, 3 and 2, i.e. the grooves come from the HV sectors partition). The tensile and holes deformation tests are performed on each set (each set has 3 samples of its kind) after that the results were normalized with the number of grooves. In this way, it is helpful to optimize the stress and strain limit in the transverse and longitudinal directions in different portions of the GE1/1 foil. In addition to these studies most important asymmetry exists in the hole’s pattern which is different in transverse and longitudinal directions. In detector, the foil need to stretch in order to keep uniform gap among the three GEM foils, drift and readout boards. Systematic studies are performed to understand and see the asymmetries effects on holes’ deformations and tensile properties of the foil.

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Figure 19: GE1/1 foil asymmetric studies, (Left) a sample set contains four grooves in 100 mm length, (Right) a sample set contains two grooves in the 100mm length. Hole’s deformation tests, A, B, C & D

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For transverse direction, samples are taken from different regions of the foils in which at fixed length of the samples different number of grooves exist. In the results, HV sectors partition grooves and holes pattern effects are observed in the foil tensile and holes deformation. Apart from the hole’s deformation and tensile tests, the additional creep tests are performed by choosing the samples from various parts of the foils, which contains various numbers of grooves, which appeared due to formation of the HV sectors. Work is in progress to analyze the data and to perform additional creep tests. The GE1/1 foils asymmetries are shown in Fig. 19 above. For the establishment of QC-4 & 5 setups for GEM testing, EHEP is in the process of purchase of SRS system and modules. k. CMS-Tracker project at NCP NCP is involved in CMS Tracker upgrade project. The details of activities related to the CMS- Tracker upgrade project at NCP are given below: The testing of silicon sensors and assembly of modules requires clean room of class 10K. The EHEP department is in the process of building a clean room of class 10K as well as class 100K in the existing laboratory space. Our manpower has already been trained on Silicon Sensor Qualification and Module Assembly at CERN, Switzerland. An engineer was trained on the wire bonding technique (wedge bonding) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Germany. The bonding machine, which has been used during the training session, is called “Thin Wire Bonder BONDJET BJ820-V2” HESSE MECHAELECTRONICS. One, such kind of machine is shown in Fig. 20. This machine runs in three modes, which are programmable, manual and operation. For the training the machine was operated in the first two modes for wire bonding, on KIT alibava lab board. The engineer was trained on wedge bonding which is extensively used in silicon tracking detectors (for interconnection between sensors, read-out chips and PCB substrate).

Figure 20: Wire bonding machine

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The training included understanding of bond parameter, loop parameter and bonding force, which are extremely important because they directly control the bonding yield and reliability. For bond evaluation there are two methods, first is visual inspection using optical microscope or scanning electron microscope (SEM), while second is mechanical testing (using manual or automatic pull tester). Our manpower also took part in the Wire Bonding Training Session in TIF Lab at CERN in which more than 4K wires of micron size have been bonded to a single module (2S Module) as shown in Fig. 21.

Figure 21: Wire bonding session at TIF Lab CERN

The training on sensor qualification included practical exposure to different tests required for Sensor Qualification (SQ). After qualifying these tests sensors will be used in module assembly. In addition to these efforts one physicist from EHEP Group was involved in the assembly and testing of CMS tracker module no 4 at CERN CMS Tracker laboratory from February 1, 2017 till October 31, 2017. He prepared a dedicated DAQ setup by deploying the hardware and software for testing of tracker modules at CERN CMS Tracker laboratory. He also prepared a Cold Test Setup to test the module down to -30 degrees Celsius. The DAQ and cold test setup was built using the GLIB module, interface card, middleware, thermo-electric plate, low voltage and high voltage power supplies, chiller, nitrogen gas supply line, thermocouples and humidity sensors with the monitoring software. The physicist from NCP built both setups from scratch, which are now being used at CERN successfully. Another engineer from NCP replaced the NCP personnel in the CERN tracker laboratory. The duties have been transferred to the next NCP personnel from 1st November 2017 including involvement in the module assembly and testing of module 5. The mechanical design of tracker ladders is very important part of tracker project. One mechanical engineer is working in close collaboration with CERN team and incorporates the latest design changes in the drawings. The drawings of few components are shown in Fig. 22 below:

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Figure 22: Drawings of ladder and assembly jig

EHEP department is in process of procurement of lab equipment (probe station, source meter, pico-ammeter, LCR meter, interactive source/measure unit and miscellaneous items) for development of Silicon Sensor Qualification and Module Assembly lab at NCP Islamabad. NCP is also involved in the R&D of silicon tracker mechanics and following jobs will be performed in Pakistan in the coming years for the CMS Tracker Phase 2 Upgrade project. ƒƒ Machining of Aluminum-Carbon Fiber (Al-CF) Inserts (proof-of-concept done at NEW-2, Karachi) ƒƒ C-Profiles of Carbon Fiber (CF) by Pultrusion (proof-of-concept in progress) ƒƒ Water Jet Cutting of CF (already done in a local company) ƒƒ Machining of Assembly Jig (work in progress) ƒƒ Cooling Tube Bending + Connectors (working on design) To complete the above jobs, EHEP is collaborating with the following institutes/departments: i. Novel Equipment Workshop (NEW-2), Karachi for machining of (Al-CF, Al, Brass, Cu) ii. National Development Centre, Islamabad for Pultrusion (CF) iii. PAEC (HMC3) for Water Jet Cutting Using water jet cutting from local market has performed the cutting of AL-CF block. The Prototyping of Al-CF inserts is started by NEW-2 and they have prepared the two dies that were sent to NDC Islamabad for Pultrusion. Metrology report of Al-CF has also been completed by NEW-2. We are also arranging Bi-weekly CMS Tracker Project Meeting at NCP for discussion of progress and future planning in which all institutes report their progress. l. KANUPP Project Different multi-layer and single layer cards have been developed successfully for KANUPP- Karachi. These cards are designed by reverse engineering techniques using CAD based software and then fabricated through local industry. MCID Prototype and MCIA type has also been developed. Both the above-mentioned boards are completed and tested at KANUPP Karachi and are accepted by KANUPP management.

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2.2 Theoretical Physics The following research assignments were performed by researchers in Theoretical Physics Department (TPD) during the year 2017. a. Nonlinear dynamics in non-Maxwellian & quantum plasmas for larg amplitude electron acoustic (EA) waves and shocks Dynamical cold electrons are described by the fully nonlinear continuity and momentum equations, while superthermal hot inertia less electrons follow the kappa distribution function with a neutralized background of positive ions. This work will be useful to understand solitary excitations and associated nonstationary large-amplitude shocklets in laboratory non- Maxwellian plasmas.

Figure 1: Formation of solitary and oscillatory shock waves in the form of negative potential, fluid velocity, and number density for varying Kappa index k=3 (solid curve), 5 (dashed curve) and 20 (dotted curve). b. The propagation characteristics and stability analysis for Ion-Acoustic (IA) waves The propagation characteristics and stability analysis for Ion-Acoustic (IA) waves are being investigated for a weakly nonlinear plasma case with degenerate relativistic electrons and classical ions in the presence of ionic anisotropies, IA solitary waves are being investigated. Reductive perturbation technique is employed to obtain a Zakharov–Kuznetsov type equation. Propagation conditions and stability have also been analyzed by using numerical analysis. c. Investigation of kinetic instability of twisted excitations in permeating plasma environments Twisted ion-acoustic excitations and a kinetic instability exist in astrophysical environment.

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This study emphasizes on the contribution of finite orbital angular momentum states. The results will be analyzed numerically for typical plasmas found in space and astrophysical environments.

Figure 2: The enhancement of wave growth rate with twist parameter is shown as a function of the normalized wave number and normalized streaming velocity for different values values ; viz., (a) 0:4 (top left); (b) 0:8 (top right), (c) 1 (bottom left) and (d) 20 (bottom right). d. Gardner equation and rogue waves generation in electronegative plasmas Rational solution for nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) have been by highlighting the properties of ion-acoustic freak (rogue) waves in multicomponent plasmas, whose constituents are the electrons, warm positive ions, and two distinct groups of warm negative ions. For this purpose, the hydrodynamic equations are reduced to an extended Korteweg-de Vries (EKdV) or Gardner equation. This equation is transformed into a NLSE for investigating weakly nonlinear wavepackets. The conditions of modulational instability and rogue waves formation are also defined. It is found that sign of the coefficients of Gardner equation determines the stability/instability of the propagating pulses within the critical wave number values. Under certain values of plasma parameters, the Gardner equation reduces to modified KdV equation. So, a new stability/instability region is also pinpointed.

Figure 3: Comparison between the first and second order rational solutions owing to IA freak waves. e. Study of the dynamics of slow test charge response in a dusty plasma with Kappa distributed electrons and ions In this work, an electrostatic potential around a slowly moving test charge is considered in

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a non-Maxwellian dusty plasma which gives rise to a short-scale Debye-Hückel potential as well as a long-range far-field potential, decaying as inverse cube of the distance to the test charge along the propagation direction. f. Kinetic full wave analysis of electromagnetic (EM) wave-plasma resonant interaction at arbitrary injection angles in a tokamak plasma With the help of integral modeling in an inhomogeneous plasma with pressure gradient, the analysis of power absorption in steep gradient regions for arbitrary injection angles of the incident (source) waves is our main focus in this work due to its unusual behavior. The analytical and numerical work in this direction is continued since last year and some progress has been made. In the report period, we have made some progress in explaining the absorption for perpendicular injection case. This case is not well explained in literature in the past and new results have been obtained based on integral operator method. The related code TASK/ WI is also updated for this purpose.

Figure 4: Absorption of EM wave power for Perpendicular Figure 5: Plasmon dispersion with injection. β=0.1 (0.01)corresponds to electron energy of exchange-correlations in a SWCNT 5 keV (0.5 keV).

g. Quantum hydrodynamics (QH) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) For quasi-2D systems like SWCNTs, there is a need of reliable explanation of exchange- correlations properties for QH model. The tools used in the density functional theory were employed to explain the role of exchange-correlations. This included the exchange-correlations in QH model phenomenologically to study the surface waves and nonlinearities in SWCNTs. h. Investigations of the linear and nonlinear waves and instabilities in plasmas Theoretical models based on the fluid and kinetic models of plasma were used to study linear and nonlinear waves and structure formation in Maxwellian and non-Maxwellian plasmas. Numerical analysis was carried out by using standard scientific software like Mathematica, Matlab, etc. i. Calculation of virtual corrections to splitting rates in a quark gluon plasma The work relates to the calculation of virtual corrections to quark and gluon splitting rates in

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a dense, QCD plasma. This work is part of an effort to develop a more complete picture of in- medium showering and evolution of high energy particles in a quark gluon plasma created in heavy-ion collision experiments at particle colliders like CERN and RHIC. j. Analysis of the hidden charm Y (1--) and the narrow Ωc states in the diquark model In this project, the hidden charm J P C = 1-- states Y (4008), Y (4260), Y (4350) and Y (4660) and the five narrow Ωc states in the diquark model are being analyzed. The effective Hamiltonian incorporating the dominant spin-spin, spin-orbit, and tensor contributions is shown to accommodate these states. k. LHCb anomaly in B → K*μ+μ− optimised observables and potential of Z′ model The measurements of LHCb with present energies found some discrepancies in b → sl+l− FCNC transitions over the last few years. In 2013, LHCb announced very famous anomalies in the angular observables of B → K*µ +µ −, particularly in P’5 , in low dimuon mass region. Recently, these anomalies have been confirmed by LHCb, Belle, CMS and ATLAS. To accommodate these anomalies through QCD corrections in the form factors at next to leading order and through charm loop effects are disfavored. As the direct evidence of physics beyond-the-SM is absent so far, therefore, these anomalies are being interpreted as indirect hint of new physics. In this context, studies have been conducted for the implication of non-universal family of Z 0 model to the form factor independent angular observables P1,2,3, P’ 4,5,6 and newly proposed lepton flavor universality violation observables, Q4,5, in B → K* (→ Kπ)µ +µ − decay channel in the low dimuon mass region. l. Nonlinear dissipative structures in inhomogeneous magneto plasmas with non- Maxwellian electrons In this work, emphasize was made on nonlinaer dissipative structures in one, two or three dimensions in nonuniform magnetized plasma with non-Maxwellian electrons. The dissipation is incorporated in the system through ion-neutral collisions. Employing the drift approximation, nonlinear drift waves and coupled drift-ion acoustic waves are studied in the weak nonlinearity limit. The ratio of the diamagnetic drift velocity to the velocity of the nonlinear structure determines the nature (compressive or rarefactive) of the shock structure. The upper and lower bounds for velocity of the drift shock structures can also be found. It is worth noting that the existence regimes for the drift shock waves for Cairns distributed electrons are very distinct from those with kappa distributed electrons. Interestingly, both compressive and rarefactive shock structures could be obtained for the drift wave with kappa distributed electrons. m. Linear and nonlinear drift vortex structures in inhomogeneous plasmas This project relates to the study of the formation of vortex structures by using a fluid model in various plasmas in astrophysical regime. Coupling of drift vortex modes and the ion acoustic modes in the linear and nonlinear regimes takes place in many cases. The role of sheared ion flow perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field in a plasma comprising ofthermal/ nonthermal and Maxwellian/non-Maxwellian plasma is important. In this regard, generation of vortex structures in the presence of Maxwellian, kappa, Cairns, and q-nonextensive electron distributions can be investigated in detail and their properties can be figured out. Comparison with the results in literature will validate the investigations. The appositeness of the present investigation in the matter of various regions of astrophysical plasmas will be pointed out.

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Figure 6: A typical counter rotating vortex structure for kappa distribution function.

n. Nonlinear structures in fermi degenerate plasma This project relates to study the formation of nonlinear structures in the dense and Fermi degenerate plasmas in the framework of kinetic and fluid models. When the amplitude of a plasma wave grows sufficiently large, the nonlinearities in the model equations grow and cannot be neglected any more. This makes the system and its analysis more complicated and more difficult. The nonlinearities in plasmas may enter through various processes like advection, trapping of particles in the wave potential, the nonlinear Lorentz force, ponderomotive force, etc. Sometimes, the nonlinearities in plasma contribute to the localization of waves giving rise to different types of interesting coherent structures, for instance solitary waves, shocks, vortices, and so on. Due to highly nontrivial physics involved in the nonlinear regime of quantum plasmas, only a limited analysis has been done in quantum hydrodynamics so far. The popular models in such studies include the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation, the quantum hydrodynamic equations and the kinetic model based on Wigner distribution. Many properties of nonlinear waves, especially localized modes and solitons, beam-driven waves and instabilities can be studied in the frame work of quantum hydrodynamics. The NLS equation and its variants describe nonlinear physical systems appearing in a wide spectrum of problems in (quantum) plasmas and other fields, for example, in fluids and water waves, ultrafast transmission systems, condensed matter systems, and so on. NLS contains an additional nonlinear term in the Schrödinger equation responsible for the nonlinear effects. The solution of NLS equation also facilitates the verification of numerical solvers and aids in the stability analysis. Discrete nonlinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equations are also important in discrete lattice models in nonlinear optics, condensed matter and trapped Bose–Einstein condensates where a numerical evaluation is straightforward using e.g. the Crank–Nicolson method. In this work, various nonlinear effects in Fermi degenerate (or quantum) plasmas have been studied.

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Figure 7: Effect of magnetic field on a typical slow mode of the KPB shock structure for oblique propagation in a nonrelativistic and relativistically degenerate plasmas. o. Probing new physics through flavour change neutral currents (FCNC) transition As the CP violation asymmetries are negligible in the SM and in this analysis our interest is to show that $\mathcal{A}_{CP}$, $\mathcal{A}_{CP}^L$ and $\mathcal{A}_{CP}^N$ are considerably enhanced in the presence of $\prime{Z}$ when tauons are the final state leptons. Similarly, the lepton polarization asymmetries are also significantly change their values from the SM values when we incorporate the effects of $\prime{Z}$ . Therefore, the accurate measurements of these observables could depict the precise values of the new weak phase φsb and coupling of $\prime{Z}$ boson with the leptons and quarks. p. NNLO QCD counter term contributions to $\bar{B} \ right arrow X_s \gamma$ for the physical value of m_c One of the most important $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s^2)$ corrections to the $\bar{B} \right arrow X_s \gamma$ branching ratio originates from interference of contributions from the current– current and photonic dipole operators. Its value has been estimated using an interpolation in the charm quark mass between the known results at $m_c=0$ and for $m_c \gg {1/2}m_b$. An explicit calculation for the physical value of $m_c$ is necessary to remove the associated uncertainty. In the present work, all the ultraviolet counter term contributions that are relevant for this purpose, have been evaluated. q. Vibrational structure and spectra of organic polaritons This work relates to development of a polynomial scaling method for exact numerics of relatively large number of organic molecules coupled to a cavity mode. In addition, finding and optimizing variational ansatz to lower polariton state of organic polaritons, valid in the thermodynamic limit is emphasized. Few results are published and the code will be published in near future. r. Methodological development and simulations of incoherent (hopping) charge transport in organic microcavities in the strong coupling regime This work on organic microcavities relates to the development of methods and algorithms. The code is complete and the results and the code will be published in near future.

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Figure 8: Strong coupling between light and matter is possible with a variety of organic materials. s. Kinetic full wave analysis of electromagnetic (EM) wave-plasma resonant interaction in a tokamak plasma This work relates to analysis of power absorption for arbitrary injection angles of the incident laser source by developing integral model in an inhomogeneous plasma with pressure gradient. The analytical and numerical work in this direction is continued for last couple of years. This case is not well explained in literature in past and we have obtained new results based on integral operator method. The related code TASK/WI is also updated for this purpose. One research paper related to this work is in preparation.

Figure 9: Temperature dependence of power absorption in beach cyclotron heating t. Quantum hydrodynamics (QH) and application to nanostructures There is need of a reliable explanation of exchange-correlations properties for QH model which is included phenomenologically at present. We employ the tools as used in the density functional theory to explain the role of exchange-correlations. This includes the exchange- correlations in QH model to study the surface waves and nonlinearities in nanostructure and other condensed matter systems. u. Plasma waves carrying orbital angular momentum This work relates to the study of electric oscillations carrying finite orbital angular momentum

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in an un-magnetized plasmas (two and multicomponent). Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) type density and potential profiles are considered to solve the wave equation in paraxial approximation. The solutions exhibit finite orbital angular momentum states associated with the ion waves. The electric field structure, energy density and orbital angular momentum density is theoretically examined. In addition, the numerical analysis was carried out to study the effects of positron concentration on the waves for various radial and angular mode numbers and azimuthal angles. The variation of LG potential and azimuthal field amplitudes with plasma density was elaborated. The study has relevance with the possible phonon modes and twisted excitation in dense plasmas in the environment of radiation beams associated with optical vortices or stimulated Brillouin scattering.

Figure 10: The spatial profile of Laguerre-Gaussian potential for non-zero angular mode number l exhibiting twist in the profile with (a) l=1 and (b) l=3 v. Twisted electrostatic waves in a self-gravitating dusty plasma In this work, a generalized response (dielectric) function for the longitudinal twisted waves in an unmagnetized self-gravitating thermal dusty plasma is obtained, whose constituents are the Boltzmann-distributed electrons and positive ions with negatively charged micron- sized massive dust particulates. For this purpose, a set of Vlasov–Poisson coupled equations was solved along with the perturbed Laguerre–Gauss distribution function, as well as the electrostatic and gravitational potentials in the limit of paraxial approximation. Non-planar wave solutions showed helical (twisted) wavefronts, in which field lines spiral around the propagation axis owing to the azimuthal velocity component to account for the finite orbital angular momentum (OAM) states. The dispersion relation and damping rate for twisted dust acoustic (DA) waves were analyzed both analytically and numerically.

Figure 11: Contours of the normalized damping rate against the twist parameter and dust self-gravitating parameter for (a) small and (b) large, dust-to-electron temperature ratios in self-gravitating dusty plasmas.

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w. Dust acoustic shocklets in non-Maxwellian dusty plasmas The formation and propagation of fully nonlinear dust-acoustic (DA) waves and shocks were studied in a non-thermal dusty plasma, containing the Maxwellian electrons and supra- thermal energetic ions with negatively charged dust grains. For this purpose, dust dynamical equations along with a quasi-neutrality equation are solved by utilizing the diagonalization matrix technique. A set of two characteristic wave equations was obtained, which admits both analytical and numerical solutions. Taylor expansion in the small-amplitude limit leads to nonlinear effective phase and shock speeds to account for non-thermal energetic ions. It was numerically found that DA pulses developed into the DA shocklets involving the negative electrostatic potential, dust fluid velocity, and dust number density. These nonlinear structures were significantly influenced by the ion-nonthermality, dust thermal correction, and temporal variations.

Figure 12: Temporal evolution of the normalized electrostatic potential, dust fluid velocity and dust number density is shown against the normalized position along horizontal axis for changing the ion spectral indices x. Parametric instabilities in a quantum magnetoplasma with electron exchange correlations The impact of electron exchange correlations on the nonlinear dispersion relations and associated parametric instabilities induced by nonlinear couplings of high-frequency quantum upper-hybrid waves (QUHWs) with different low frequency waves, like quantum lower- hybrid waves (QLHWs), quantum ion-cyclotron waves (QICWs), and quantum Alfven waves (QAWs) in a dense quantum magnetoplasma were studied. For theoretical description of waves, the quantum hydrodynamic equations were used to account for the electron exchange- correlation and Bohm potentials, strongly dependent on the density fluctuations. At quantum scales, nonlinear dispersion equations were derived for QUHWs, QICWs, QLHWs, and QAWs and then Fourier transformed for obtaining the nonlinear dispersion relations and growth rates involving the three wave decay and modulational instabilities in dense quantum magneto plasmas.

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y. Microwave transmission efficiency and simulations of electron plasma in ELTRAP device A Thomson backscattering experiment was performed in a Penning-Malmberg device ELTRAP. To estimate the minimum sensitivity of diagnostics. The signal to noise ratio was computed and it was found that the present bunch has a density of 4.3108 cm-3, which is three orders of magnitude less than the desired density of 1011 cm-3. To increase the signal level from the RF studies to GHz range, the transmission efficiency from the rectangular waveguide orthogonally coupled to a prototype circular waveguide was experimentally analyzed on a test bench. It was observed that the lengths of waveguides played an important role in the transmission efficiency and return loss. z. Solar wind - plasma interactions The interaction of solar wind with dusty magnetospheres of the planets can give rise to purely growing instabilities as well as nonlinear electric field structures. Linear dispersion of the low frequency electrostatic ion-acoustic wave (IAW) is modified in the presence of stationary dust and its frequency becomes larger than its frequency in usual electron ion plasma even if ion temperature is equal to the electron temperature. The dust ion-acoustic wave (DIAW) either becomes a purely growing electrostatic instability or turns out to be the modified dust ion-acoustic wave (mDIAW) depending upon the magnitude of shear flow scalelength and its direction. Growth rate of shear flow-driven electrostatic instability in a plasma having negatively charged stationary dust is larger than the usual D’Angelo instability of electron-ion plasma. It is shown that shear modified dust-ion-acoustic wave (mDIAW) produces electrostatic solitons in the nonlinear regime. The fluid theory predicts the existence of electrostatic solitons in dusty plasmas in those regions where the inhomogeneous solar wind flow is parallel to the planetary or cometary magnetic field lines. The amplitude and width of the solitary structure depends upon dust density and magnitude of shear in the flow. This is a general theoretical model which was applied to dusty plasma of Saturn’s F-ring for illustration.

Figure 13: Normalized soliton solution is plotted against the normalized spatial coordinate along horizontal axis by changing (left) and (right) the ion-to-electron temperature ratio. aa. Non-Gaussian in hybrid inflation models and formation of oscillons Studies on multi-field and hybrid models of inflations, waterfall regime inflation in hybrid models and preheating and reheating in inflationary theories remained in progress.

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Figure 14: Theoretical results of third order moments S2, T2 and U2 generated by inflation that represent non-Gaussian

signature in initial perturbations, for 2d CMB temperature maps as a function of scale R in units of horizon size t0 ab. Heavy flavor physics Tensor contribution to exotic tetra and pentaquark states, NNLO QCD corrections to Radiative B meson decays, Phenomenology of lambda baryon decays in 2HDM were investigated.

2.3 Nanosciences and Technology Researchers at Nanosciences and Technology Department (NS&TD) are currently working on different research projects which are highlighted in the following section: - a. Synthesis and characterization of metal oxide nanoparticles for various applications i. Composites of carbon nanomaterials and modified metallic oxides for ion based batteries This project particularly focused on synthesis of CNTs and various transition metal oxides composites as anode materials for Li/Na ion batteries. The material characteristics of electrodes play a vital role in determining the energy and power densities, the safety and cycle life of the batteries. Graphite has been the favored anode material while lithium cobalt oxide is the most frequently used cathode material. Graphite has a limited capacity and limited recharge rates. Thus, new materials are acquired with higher capacity and higher charge and discharge rates as metallic lithium may deposit on the graphite anode at higher charge/discharge rates, causing safety hazards. On the other hand, Cobalt-based cathode materials are toxic and expensive. Furthermore, the capacity achieved by these cathode materials is far below that of the theoretical capacity. So, non-toxic, low-cost, and high-capacity cathode materials are also needed for developing safe and high-energy batteries. Carbon nanomaterials particularly carbon nanotube (CNTs) based composites are potential materials to replace both the conventional anode and cathode materials.

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ii. Synthesis and characterization of transition metal oxides for CO2 to methanol conversion The synthesis of synthetic fuel is another hot topic of the present day scenario as the fossil fuels resources are depleting day by day. To search an alternative to fossil fuel, researchers

are focusing to produce fuel grade hydrocarbons from the CO2 present in large quantity in air. In this regard, a highly active and selective nanocatalysts was prepared at NS&TD to

convert CO2 to methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether and other fuel grade hydrocarbons.

Figure 1: Fixed bed reactor used for CO2 conversion to fuel grade hydrocarbons

iii. Synthesis and characterization of Cr2O3 nanoparticles for H2S destruction on industrial scale

The emission of H2S is a major challenge to the environment in the urban areas. Industrial

chimneys are responsible for the emission of high percentage of H2S to the environment which causes damage to the buildings, responsible for acid rains and ultimately affect

the human health. To minimize the emission of H2S, catalytic convertors normally used

in the chimneys of every industry to trap and pyrolyze H2S to its corresponding non-

harmful components. The aim of this project is the synthesis of Cr2O3 nanocatalyst for the

destruction of H2S.

Figure 2: Chemical vapour deposition setup for H2S destruction on industrial scale b. Growth and optimization of different electrodes/ absorber materials for solar cell applications

i. Thin films of SnO2 have been prepared using wet chemical synthesis. Their composites with

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graphene oxide were also prepared and their characterization in progress. TiOxN1-x films were prepared using PVD in collaboration with the Plasma Lab, Department of Physics,

Quaid-i-Azam University. Furthermore, optimization of various TiO2 thin films is also in progress for the fabrication of devices. Films were characterized using available structural and electrical properties setups. Films are optimized with respect to their transparency and keeping suitable electrical properties for solar cell applications. In addition, to these activities, surface defects passivation studies on surface of ZnO nanorods are in progress for potential utilization in perovskite solar cells. ii. Inorganic replacements with organic constituent i.e. Methylammonium in Methylammo- nium lead halides perovskites light absorbers and thin films deposition were carried out. The electrical, optical, electronic, structural and morphological properties of the films were studied. Inorganic replacement enhances the materials stability which is major issue in application of perovskite solar cells.

iii. Thin films of ZnSe and Go-TiO2, deposited by physical vapor deposition and spin coating respectively. Thin films were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, two probe resistivity, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS) experiments. iv. In this project, a photoanode architecture based on various morphologies joined to a DSSCs structure was synthesized. ZnO photoanode based on nanoflower morphology exhibited the highest specific surface area for higher dye loadings and offers efficient conduction

routes due to inter linked networks which increased the JSC. It was examined that optical feature of nanocomposites i.e. absorbance was improved by the mixing of CNTs and GO in ZnO. Therefore, it pointed out the higher dye absorption of the nanocomposite film. The J-V measurements revealed that ZnO/CNTs nanocomposite showed higher efficiency of 1.23%, which is possibly due to the enhanced conductivity of CNTs which provides conduction route to photo generated electrons. While, the Go addition did not give the

expected outcome. The major factor responsible for the reduced JSC is the extremely lower conductivity of GO, which results in the reduced electron transport and hence an efficiency. Hence, these results concluded that CNTs incorporation in ZnO photoanode enhances the efficiency effectively.

Figure 3: SEM micrographs of ZnO Nanoflowers growth on FTO via Hydrothermal process

40 Annual Report 2017 c. Preparation and properties of epoxy nanocomposites with Cu/Ag functionalized carbon nanotubes and Cu/Ag/Polypyrrole functionalized carbon nanotubes for aerospace applications In the present work, nanocomposites of a matrix composed of Cu/Ag/epoxy (thermoset) and MWCNTs were fabricated with and without polypyrrole. Cu and Ag particles were attached to the surface of purified MWCNTs to enhance the conductivity of the composites. The hybrids were prepared by in situ polymerization of pyrrole using purified CNTs. Cu/Ag/bisphenol A diglycidyl ether/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposite was cured at 90°C using cellulose as hardener. In order to investigate the influence of polypyrrole on nanocomposite properties, morphological, structural and thermal profile of polymer/bisphenol A diglycidyl ether nanocomposite were studied. Novelty of the research lies in exclusive architecture, exceptional heat stability and structural properties of polymer/epoxy-based nanocomposite. d. Alkali metal doped Methylammonium lead halide perovskites Hybrid organo lead halide perovskites may find use in many applications, including solar cells, light emitting diodes, and photo detectors. More complex applications, such as lasers and electro-optic modulators, require the use of single crystalline perovskite materials to reach their ultimate performance levels. For long term prospects material stability is main concern which needs to be addressed. Organic part in organo-lead halide is volatile, and NS&TD is trying to replace it with alkali metals for better stability of the material. The synthesis of these materials was carried out by solution processing method. Thin films were deposited by spin coating followed by annealing in inert environment. The optical, structural, electrical and electronic properties were investigated and it was found that all inorganic perovskite material support the stability of Methylammnium lead halides resulting in the improved stability and electrical properties. These materials would be used as light harvesters for the solar cells fabrication. e. Preparation and properties of Cu/Ag functionalized carbon nano tubes and epoxy with Cu/Ag functionalized carbon nano tubes nanocomposites The aim of this research work was to evaluate the structural, thermal, and morphological properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybridized with silver, copper and silver/copper nanoparticles (Ag/CuNP) obtained via chemical reduction of aqueous salts assisted with sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as stabilizing agent. The MWCNTs/NP was further incorporated in DGEBA (epoxy) using ethylecellulose as hardner. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveals micro structural analysis of the MWCNTs/NP hybrids. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra prove the interactions between the NP and MWCNTs. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that the MWCNTs/NP hybrids decompose at a much faster rate and the weight loss decreased considerably due to the presence of NP. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms the formation of NP on the surface of MWCNTs and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms the full covering of MWCNTs/NP hybrids with DGEBA f. Synthesis of ZnO Nanostructures Zinc Oxide (ZnO) is a novel semiconducting oxide material with wide bandgap (~ 3.37eV) and excellent transport properties. The thin films based on ZnO nanostructures possess various advantageous characteristics that can be considered as alternate to Titania (TiO2) for electron transport applications particularly in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) may possibly be attained via reduction of electron-hole recombination which could be possible through increased electron transportation. Another

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advantage of ZnO is its easy, environment friendly and economical synthesis processes which results in wide varieties of nanostructure i.e. nanorods, nanowires, nanoflower, etc. In the present research work ZnO was efficiently synthesized by means of three different techniques including hydrothermal (Fig. 4-A), co-precipitation (Fig. 4-C) and chemical bath deposition (Fig. 4-E) which resulted in flower-like, diamond-like and rod-like nanostructures respectively. Microfluidic cell arrangement was used to construct the DSSCs by employing N719 dye, I-/ I3- electrolyte and platinized FTO enclosed glass as counter electrode. The PCE of the DSSC cell was calculated using photoanodes based above nanostructures and is shown in the table 1. Table 1: Photovoltaic performance comparison

2 Samples VOC (V) JSC (mA/cm ) FF PCE (%) Flower-Like ZnO 0.43 7.10 0.59 2.40 Diamond-Like ZnO 0.57 3.34 0.59 1.50 Rod-Like ZnO 0.50 6.50 0.61 2.63

A B

C D

E F

Figure 4: Synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using various techniques including Hydrothermal (A and B), Co-precipitation (C and D), Chemical bath deposition (E and F) g. Modified metal oxides as anode materials for Lithium Ions Batteries (LiBs) Energy storage has become an emergent global concern in last few decades because of tremendous energy demands combined with quick increase in prices of fossil fuels and their environmental concerns. Rechargeable batteries are energy storage devices that find immense applications in electronic devices. The material characteristics of electrodes play a vital role

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in determining the energy, power densities, and cycle life of the batteries. Graphite has been the favored anode material while lithium cobalt oxide is the most frequently used cathode materials. Graphite has a limited capacity while cobalt-based cathode materials are toxic and expensive. Thus, new materials are required with higher capacity and low-cost, for developing safe and high-energy batteries. Carbon nanomaterials particularly carbon nanotube (CNTs) based composites are potential materials to replace both conventional anode and cathode materials. This project particularly focuses on the synthesis of CNTs and various transition metal oxides composites as anode materials for Li/Na ion batteries.

Nanocomposites of Mn3O4 with ZrO2 and MWCNTs were prepared through co-precipitation method and tested as anode material for Lithium Ions Batteries (LiBs). Manganese Oxide is used as anode materials because it is cheap, abundant, environmental friendly and can be oxidized into more than 30 different oxides and hydroxides with high theoretical capacity up to 1000 mAhg-1. Its disadvantages are huge volume expansion and low conductivity. Zirconium

oxide (ZrO2) is used as coating material to overcome the volume expansion and CNTs are added to address low conductivity. The MWCNTs used in this work were commercially purchased and are of two types having same functionality (-COOH) but different dimensions. CNTs-1 has length upto 1.5µm and diameter below 8nm and was purchased from Nanocyle ® while CNTs-2 was purchased from Cheaptubes ® and has length in the range of 10-30 µm and diameter is in 30-50 nm range. These synthesized composites were characterized by different characterization techniques. Galvano-static charge/discharge performance was calculated at 0.1C with a cutoff voltage at 0.01–3.0 V using multichannel Land battery test setup. The nanocomposite material delivered high discharge capacities (Fig. 5) as well as coulombic efficiencies. The discharge capacity was significantly improved by adding CNTs which were

short, thin and highly conducting. The ZrO2 coating marginally improved the stability of the anode materials.

Figure 5: Comparison of cyclic performance of (A) Mn3O4/CNTs Composites and (B) Mn3O4/ZrO2/CNTs composites h. Optimization of the carbon nanotubes synthesis technology using various compositions of the metal catalysts Synthesis and development of new methods for the preparation of single and multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was a main focus of research. NS&TD is producing CNTs on commercial basis by indigenous technology with emphasis on enhancement in quality and yield of CNTs.

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Figure 6: Chemical vapour deposition setup for CNTs synthesis i. Synthesis and characterization of CuO nanoparticles and its potential application

for CO2 reduction

Sequestration of CO2 , the main culprit of environmental pollution is a topic of great importance.

Control sized CuO nanoparticles were synthesized for applications w.r.t CO2 reduction and conversion.

Figure 7: Activity and selectivity of CO2 reduction through metal oxide nanocatalysts j. Electrochemical behavior of conducting polymer based ionic liquids The progress in science has brought ease to the life of human beings but also has imbibed the

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vitality of nature by being hazardous at the same time. Green chemistry efforts to manufacture products and bring forth procedures that minimize the dumping of hazardous substances into the environment. Electrochromism is an advanced field of material science which intends to replace the traditional technologies to greener one. Electrochromic devices use organic and inorganic materials to produce films that can alter their optical properties upon application of electrical potential. Different parameters regarding the electrochromic properties of composite material thin film based on Ionic liquid with conducting polymer were optimized at NS&TD. The thin films were fabricated using electrochemical deposition techniques. The fabricated films showed encouraging display of color variation upon application of voltage. Work is in progress.

Figure 8: Conducting polymer based Ionic liquid thin films grown on FTO substrates k. Fabrication of nano-porous inorganic oxide and their hybrid with polymers for electrochromic devices fabrications The project was based on the synthesis of nanoporous inorganic oxide through hydrothermal method. The inorganic oxide nanoparticles were characterized using SEM analysis and showed the presence of nanoporus morphology. These nanoporous metal oxide nanoparticles were entitled to deposit on the Florine doped Tin Oxide (FTO) substrate using in-house deposition techniques and these will be optimized further to grow polymer film for electrochromic device fabrication.

Figure 9: SEM image of nanoporous transition metal oxide

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l. Urease inhibitors Medically, bacterial ureases are important virulent factors, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of many clinical conditions such as peptic ulceration and urinary tones. Numerous pharmaceutical drugs have been used for inhibition of this enzyme such as metronidazole, amoxicillin, tetracycline, clarithromycin and acetohydroxamic acid etc. However, there are a number of drawbacks associated with these antibiotics which include toxicity, low stability, side effects like mild nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, loss of appetite, headache and hair loss. Another major issue is the bacterial resistance to the existing antibiotics. Therefore, it is of outmost importance to synthesize new potent urease inhibitors to overcome these issues. In this context, N-substituted methyl 5-acetamido-β-resorcylate based silver nanomaterials (Ag-ARL) were synthesized. The synthesized nanomaterials were found to be more efficient urease inhibitor than acetohydroxamic acid (standard drug).

Figure 10: Synthesis of Ag-ARL and their urease inhibition activity m. Composite membranes for waste water treatment In this work, polyaniline/polyvinylidene fluoride composites membranes were reinforced with various fillers such as nanodiamonds, graphene oxide, titania nanotubes, nanodiamonds NDs with varying concentration (1-5 wt. %). The addition of nanofillers into the polymer blends membranes increased the membrane hydrophilicity, water content, porosity, pure water flux, shrinkage ratio and permeability. The resultant membranes also revealed improved antifouling characteristic during salt (copper nitrate and zinc acetate) filtration and removal of textile dyes. n. Production of nanofilter for water purification (PKR ~5.5M, with COMSATS Islamabad, HEC-Project) – In progress Arsenic and fluoride contamination is a major health hazard posed to people living in areas with contaminated drinking water. High level of arsenic and fluoride exist separately and in combination in various areas. Apart from being carcinogen, arsenic has been documented to cytotoxic and genotoxic as well. In the proposed project, a cost effective method for simultaneous removal of arsenic and fluoride will be employed. The project is based on development of a water filtration system that will be environment friendly. Moreover, it will utilize biological molecules such as purified proteins and nano- materials as hydroxyapatite and magnetic iron particles. The calcium based (hydroxyapatite)

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material will be fabricated to microspheres to ensure efficient fluoride removal whereas the magnetic nanoparticle with greater surface area will bind to arsenic. Arsenic exists in two forms arsenate (As+5) and arsenite (As+3). The arsenate has to be converted to arsenite as arsenate has exhibits weak binding to iron particles and microbial protein. Another protein (arsenate reductase) converts As+5 to As+3. This conversion will increase the efficiency of arsenic removal by boosting the binding efficiency of the arsenic binding of the second protein (metallothionein) and magnetic nano-particles. Until now, no material has been documented to remove arsenic to a biological safe level. Passing the water through this assembly of nanomaterial and purified proteins is expected to yield pure and safe drinking water. Since the problem of unsafe drinking water is prevalent in developing countries, the proposed work can help the poor victims from these countries too. This filtration system can be manipulated on larger scale and can be exploited commercially by water purifying industries. o. Combined effect of biochar as inoculant carrier of GFP tagged metal remediating bacteria and expression of metal tolerance proteins, to reduce Phyto availability of heavy metals (PKR ~3.654M, with QAU Islamabad, HEC-Project)- In progress Soil is contaminated by heavy metals (Ni, Cd, Cu, Pb) which are being added up from different natural and anthropogenic sources. High concentration of these metals retards the growth of plants which ultimately reduces the yield. In some areas no plants can grow which is the cause of barren lands. These lands can be converted to green lands by changing the conditions of the soil or by changing the genetics of the plants. So our idea is to make different types of biochar from Parthenium hysterophorus (a weed, spread everywhere in Pakistan) and use it as an amendment to enhance the tolerance of the plants. Work is in progress at NS&TD to transform some copper tolerance candidate genes in tomato which will probably increase tolerance in this species. i. The weed which will be used to produce biochar is easily available. ii. Use of biochar and bacteria is economical and environmental friendly. iii. Barren lands can be converted to green lands iv. Production of crops can be increased p. Field emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes Carbon nanotubes have been grown / deposited on different metal substrates like Aluminum and Steel. Chemical vapor deposition and dip coating techniques are used for this purpose. These kind of coatings are useful for generating field emission by enhancing the aspect ratio of the whiskers at a metal surface. This lowers the emission threshold of the substrate and makes such materials favorite for use in imaging devices. Future work includes characterization and testing of these coatings under vacuum for their field emission properties. This research may help development of modern x-ray sources for material characterization as well as non- destructive testing. q. Interfacial modifications for stable perovskite solar cells (i-Mod) This work relates to DAAD-funded research project of international collaboration of NCP with the University of Konstanz, Germany, titled, “Interfacial Modifications for Stable Perovskite Solar Cells (i-Mod)”. Under the project, Dr. Muhammad Sultan PSO, NS&TD visited University of Konstanz, where he worked on the development of Perovskite based hybrid solar cells.

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Furthermore, hands on experience was obtained on different characterization techniques. A Ph.D. student of Dr. M. Sultan also joined the visit and obtained training on the development of the hybrid solar cells. Perovskite solar cells were developed using different metal oxides as charge collection layers and Perovskite absorbers with efficiencies > 11 %, in collaboration with the Hybrid Nanostructures Lab, University of Konstanz, Germany. Meanwhile, at NCP a PC1 was submitted and approved to activate the energy-related research activities by upgrading the existing setups at NCP such as XPS and establishing the new glove-box based system for material processing under inert environment for device application. With the experience gained in international laboratories and inclusion of new funding, it will be possible in near future to work on cutting-edge research problems related to energy materials. r. Synthesis of carbon nanomaterials A protocol was developed for the growth of highly purified multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) at massive scale using low-cost camphor and ferrocene as carbon and catalyst source on silicon or metallic substrates. Also a project titled: “Application of Nanotechnology for Manufacturing of Nano-Diet (Larval Feed) for Early Rearing of Fish” was submitted to HEC for award during the period 2017-18.

2.4 Atomic and Laser Physics Highlights of on-going research and development work performed by researchers at Atomic and Laser Physics Department are as follows: a. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) i. Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) awarded a research project titled: Improving the limit of detection of trace elements using Dual Pulse LIBS funded (Rs: 3.00 Million) to Prof. Dr. M. Aslam Baig as a PAS Fellow. ii. A low vacuum chamber was fabricated locally to perform laser induced breakdown spectroscopy in vacuum as well as in the presence of different gaseous environment. This equipment helps to identify qualitatively as well as quantitatively elemental composition with high accuracy. iii. A Femto-second laser was repaired locally. b. Fabrication and Testing of Laser Ablation Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer The research project entitled, ”Laser Assisted Mass Spectroscopic Studies of Materials” funded (Rs: 4.00 Million) by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) to Prof. Dr. M. Aslam Baig as a PAS Fellow was completed and final report was submitted to PAS. Under this project, a Laser Ablation Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer (LA-TOFMS) was locally designed and fabricated at the Atomic and Laser Physics Laboratory. This equipment is capable of identifying the natural abundance of isotopes of any element in solid matrices/ samples based on laser ablation and formation of ions. Preliminary but interesting results on the isotopic analysis of lithium, copper, magnesium, lead and cadmium have been acquired. Further the effect of cavity confinement in the laser produced plasma has been studied.

c. Study of SMT Properties of VO2

Vanadium dioxide (VO2) has received great interest by the scientific community over the past few years because of its remarkably abrupt reversible semiconductor to metal phase

transition (SMT) property under the temperature change. The VO2 transforms its phase from

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a low temperature monoclinic (semiconductor) to a high temperature tetragonal (metal) at 68°C. This phase transformation is accompanied with changes in the electrical and optical properties. A sharp increase in the electrical conductivity of the order of 3 to 4 magnitudes as well as a rapid decrease in the transmittance in the near infrared and infrared region takes

place during this phase transformation. These thermochromic properties of VO2 (M) thin films make them a suitable candidate for their applications in switches, in microelectronics and optical sensors as well as in the optical storage devices and for smart windows.

The VO2 thin films were synthesized using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural, compositional and electrical properties on the

deposited VO2 thin films were studied. The SMT temperature for heating and cooling cycle of 46.2oC and 42oC respectively with two order magnitude change in the resistance values. The low values of SMT temperature are related to the presence of compressive strain in the thin

films. So, one can manipulate the SMT temperature of VO2 thin films by introducing strain.

0 Figure 1: Resistance curve and XPS spectra of VO2 at substrate temperature of 800 C d. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopic Technique was used for elemental analysis of different environmental materials.

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Figure 1: Optical emission study of Granit 49 Annual Report 2017

Figure 2: Laser Ablation Time of Flight Mass Spectrometery of the Granite

Figure 3: Composition of Granite using LIBS and LA-TOF-MS

2.5 Experimental Physics / Ion Beam Applications Researchers at Experimental Physics Dept. (EPD) are currently working on different research projects which are highlighted in the following section: - a. Smart corrosion protection composite coatings for marine environment applications Smart corrosion protection advance composite coatings for marine environment applications is initially aimed at advancing the science of corrosion free coatings for maritime crafts namely submarine structures, navy submersibles, offshore oil and gas industry equipment and ground support machinery at the oceanfront environment. The research at Experimental Physics Department (EPD) is focused on the development of next generation smart protective coatings to intelligently respond to mechanical or chemical damage via self-healing functionality. These self-healing coatings are largely employed to marine and offshore structures, underground pipelines and steam conduits and act as barriers to retard metal’s corrosion. As shown below, these double-shelled microcapsules based self-healing coatings smartly respond to mechanical

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or chemical damage in salt water via release of encapsulated healing agents consequently healing the damage intelligently.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 1: Schematic formation process of double-layered water resistant microcapsule for self-healing marine-coatings b. Advanced ultra-high temperature ceramic composites (UHTCs) materials for extreme environment applications The research on Ultra High Temperature Ceramic composites (UHTCs) materials for extreme environment applications is aimed at developing the new materials that can perform in oxidizing or corrosive atmospheres at temperatures higher than 2000°C. These materials ought to have unique thermal performance for longer time span and able to withstand the higher operational temperatures generated rapidly by burning oxidizing fuels or aeroheating experienced by nose tips and propulsion system components of hypersonic reentry vehicles. The ultimate research goal is to develop new advanced UHTCs material having appreciable creep resistance, lower coefficient of thermal expansion, improved Fracture toughness, good thermal shock and oxidation resistance along with excellent mechanical properties (hardness and strength) both at room temperature and higher operational temperatures along with comprehend the damage and failure mechanism.

Figure 2: Ultra High Temperature Ceramic composite Material Sample

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c. Commissioning of HPGe detector based advanced gamma rays spectroscopy Advanced Gamma Ray spectroscopy set up was designed to study the radionuclides in different samples. BS/M.Phil./PhD students and scholars are using this set-up for academic research.

Figure 3: Data Acquisition Setup for Gamma Rays Figure 4: Setup for Advance Gamma Rays Spectroscopy d. Commissioning of neutron detection system At higher energies, neutrons are emitted. To detect these neutrons, a separate neutron detection system has been designed.

Figure 5: Data Acquisition Setup for Figure 6: Neutron Detector Neutrons e. Improving the interface to Al2O3/4H-SiC for device applications The development of SiC technology for power electronics’ applications is rapidly growing and many different types of devices have been developed, mainly due to the access to high quality material and relatively well understood processing steps. In developing such advanced devices, there are several materials related issued which needs to be tackled to produce reliable

SiC devices. In SiC technology, SiO2 has so far nurtured the development of SiC-based power

devices, however, a much lower value of the dielectric constant of SiO2 (εr=3.9) does not allow

exploitation of 4H-SiC (εr=9.7) to its full potential. Therefore, a replacement is needed. Al2O3 offers better material parameters for SiC technology. Accordingly, the project was conducted in collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden through Swedish research council’s research grant from 2014-2017. The project has now been concluded with excellent results and several international publica-

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tions. The project involved Ion beam techniques and XPS (synchrotron and lab-based). Elas- tic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) measurements were performed to see the interfaces as shown in Fig. 7. The results showed sharp interfaces of Atomic layer deposition (ALD) depos- ited Al2O3 on 4H-SiC. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) measurements revealed that the annealing environment has strong impact on the mixing of interface through SiO2 growth as shown in fig. 8. Medium energy ion scattering measurements measured the thickness of interfacial SiO2 to be 1 nm. The XPS and Time-of-Flight-Medium Energy Ion Spectroscopy (ToF-MEIS) measurements o showed that the post oxide deposition annealing at 1100 C forms a 1 nm good quality SiO2 at the interface, which improves the electrical performance of Al2O3/4H-SiC interface by significantly reducing flatband voltage and improving leakage current characteristics. It is also established that the surface of the 4H-SiC should be pre-cleaned and the annealing should be performed in N2 or N2O ambient. The Swedish Research Council (VR), MAXlab, Sweden, and Nanosciences & Technology Department are greatly acknowledged for conduction of these studies.

Figure 7: ToF-ERDA data of as-deposited films 10 nm Al2O3 on 4H-SiC.

Figure 8: A comparison of two different annealing atmospheres showing the suppression of oxide peak in N2 environment for 3 and 6 nm samples.

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Figure 9: ToF-MEIS results obtained for as-deposited and 1100oC annealed samples. f. Hydrogen quantification in samples Vacuum and surface coating group at CERN is interested in the hydrogen quantification in Nb/Cu coatings used for SRF cavities. For this purpose, ERD technique was selected and initially three samples were received at EPD during 2017. These samples were coated inside a dummy HIE-ISOLDE cavity with different sputtering techniques. C+ and He+2 ions were finalized for ERD measurements at EPD. Data with different combinations of detector angle and sample glancing angle were recorded. The best combinations suitable for detection range of hydrogen content in the samples were found at 750o sample glancing angle and 300 detector angle to the incident beam direction. Fig. 10 shows the hydrogen content observed by ERD in the samples. In case of sample 4.17 and 4.8, the hydrogen content was significant on the surface (approximately 10% and 12.5% respectively) then it dropped to approximately 2% and then to less than 1% after few nanometers of depth. For sample 4.9, H content on the surface was approximately 06% but its quantity decreases along the depth more slowly as compared to sample 4.17 and 4.8. The obtained results were shared with CERN colleagues. It is expected that this will form a base for establishing a long-term collaboration of EPD with various groups at CERN for materials analysis through the ion beam techniques.

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Figure 10: Hydrogen yield detected in ERD for Samples 4.17, 4.8 and 4.9. g. The measurement of characteristic X-rays K, L-shell and M shell, Production Cross section of Al, Si, Ti, Fe, Ni, Cu and Ag, Ta, Au, Pb respectively using Ion Beam Techniques were conducted. h. Measurement of absolute efficiency of Sirius SD from Am-241 x-rays Source was done.

i. CaC2 and soil samples analysis, preparation of Nanoparticle of Green tea by milling machine and PIXE analysis, Coffee, Soil, Bread and Hina leaf analysis from PIXE were also conducted. j. Installation of External Proton Beam line at 15 Degree Chamber was initiated after receiving all the necessary equipment from NEC, USA. It is expected that the beamline for external PIXE analysis will be available during the year 2018 after complete installation and optimization. k. Charged particle activation analysis study. l. Particle induced gamma emission (PIGE) for various materials. m. X rays production Cross section measurement and Gamma rays Cross section measurement study on 5 MV Tandem accelerator.

2.6 Vacuum Science and Technology Following research projects have been completed at National Institute of Vacuum Science and Technology (NINVAST) during the year 2017: a. Optimization and calibration of standard leak calibration system (SLCS) Standard leak calibration system as shown in figure, was developed to fulfill the need of leak calibration at national level. Calibration of first sample on SLCS has been successfully

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done in the range of 10-6 mbar ls-1. Calibration result of this system is also crossed checked by known gas flow from an already calibrated leak. It verified the performance of standard leak calibration system on lab scale; however inter laboratory comparison with any international lab is also in plan. The calibration range of SLCS will be extended to 10-9 mbar ls-1 in future. However till this moment, the progress in building a primary standard for leak calibration in Pakistan is satisfactory.

Figure 1: Standard Leak Calibration System b. Design & development of diffusion pump of improved pumping speed Design of improved version of diffusion pump has been completed and its development work is in process. It is estimated that the pumping efficacy and pumping speed of this diffusion pump will be increased by the modified design of vapor jet assembly. This will decrease the back streaming and back migration of oil vapors to the system. This modified diffusion pump is expected to be capable of generating vacuum level below 10-6 mbar.

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Figure 2: The schematic of diffusion pump c. Fabrication of Getter Pump thin film “TiAlZr” for ultra-high vacuum systems The thin films of non-evaporable getter materials (TiAlZr) were developed on different substrates i.e. glass, Si and stainless steel; using cathode arc deposition technique. Promising results have been obtained. A research paper has been written and submitted in an international reputed journal.

Figure 3: XPS of thin film Getter Pump d. Thin films/nanomaterials for low degassing applications Degassing is the deliberate removal of gas from vacuum chamber, surface and the bulk are both

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termed as source of gas molecules. To avoid these gas molecules and improve the quality of

vacuum, Al2O3 Nanostructured thin film/coatings for low degassing application on different substrate have been developed and are under test. e. Green synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications Nanoparticles that generate either “positive” or “negative” contrast in MRI figure are among the most important direct applications of nanotechnology. Magnetic nanoparticles based on iron, manganese and gadolinium (Fe, Mn and Gd) have been synthesized for the subject application and analysis are being carried out. f. Deposition of rare earth metal oxide thin films for Li-ion batteries Fossil fuels are rapidly depleting highlighting the need for development of low cost, scalable, durable, sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions. Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) have emerged as the most promising candidate due to higher specific energy capabilities and less discharge when compared to nickel-metal hydrides. Thin film of vanadium penta oxide was synthesized by hydrothermal process, thermal evaporation/spin coater on different substrates i.e. glass, silicon and SS. The deposited thin film has been characterized by XRD, SEM and Cyclic Voltammetry. Research paper has been submitted in a reputed international journal.

Figure 4: Charging & Discharging Process of Li-Ion Battery g. Manufacturing of cost effective temperature tester and rotation controller Manufacturing of Temperature tester and RPM Controller for spin coater are in process. The initial work and study has been done. Locally made spin coater is being upgraded to vacuum based spin coater. h. Mechanical design modification of Pirani vacuum gauge tube The Pirani gauge invented in 1906 by Marcello Pirani is a robust thermal conductivity gauge used for the measurement of the pressures in vacuum systems. NINVAST team has modified the conventional mechanical design of the tube of this gauge and made it more simple, compact and cost effective. Experts have also reduced the number of total parts by combining multiple functions in one part. The modified design of this tube with the previous design is shown below.

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Previous Design Features Modified Design Features

i. Inter-lab comparison of primary standards at NINVAST with KRISS, South Korea Bilateral comparison of absolute pressures ranging from 0.1 Pa to 100 kPa between KRISS (Korea Research Institute of Science and Standards) and NINVAST is being carried out since July, 2016 to date. The primary standards include Standard Mercury Manometer (SMM), Standard Volume Expansion System (SVES) at NINVAST and Ultrasonic Interferometer (UIM) at KRISS. The transfer standards are two high precision pressure transducers namely capacitance diaphragm gauges (CDGs) with high resolution, accuracy and stability. These CDGs were sent to KRISS for bilateral comparison and recorded data at KRISS was regenerated at NINVAST by using the same transfer gauges. The data acquisition at SVES is completed and the degree of equivalence between the two participating labs is in acceptable limit. However, data acquisition at SMM is in progress. The results of the bilateral comparison will be published as a joint publication by NINVAST & KRISS. j. Measurement of pumping speed and pump down time of known volume For measurement of pumping speed of mechanical rotary pump an experimental setup has been arranged in VGL as shown in figure 5. Experimental data is being collected. After completing this analysis will be done and compared with theoretical results.

Figure 5: Experimental set up for Measurement of Pumping Speed

For measurement of pump down time of given volume, a mounting stand has been fabricated. Experimental data for pump down time was taken and analysis of pressure vs time was

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completed as shown in figure 6. Theoretical calculation of pumping speed & pump down time are under process.

Figure 6: Experimental set up for measurement of pump down time k. Development of variable volume flowmeter In continuous expansion systems gas flow “Qpv” is injected into a chamber and pumped away through an orifice of conductance “C” keeping infinite pumping behind the orifice as shown in figure 7. In such systems, the pressure in the chamber is given by Qpv/C. The gas flow in these systems is introduced by flowmeters which generates and measures the gas flow simultaneously.

Figure 7: Continuous expansion system with flowmeter

Variable volume flowmeter consists of reference volume and working volume both monitored by differential capacitance diaphragm gauge. Working volume contains a bellow which has calibrated volume and leak towards the pumping side. A schematic drawing of variable volume flowmeter is shown in Figure 8. Initially both volumes are filled with constant pressure from

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the gas inlet, valve V2 is closed. CDG monitors pressure decrease in working volume caused by gas flow through the leak and adjusts the bellow volume such that pressure in working volume remains constant. Change in volume rate of the bellow is equal to the conductance of the leak. And the gas flow rate through the leak is given by;

The chamber containing bellow was fabricated and all other necessary parts were arranged. The change in bellow volume was determined by gravimetric method. The integration of stepper motor with bellow spindle was completed. Further work on interfacing differential CDG with stepper motor is in progress.

Figure 8: Constant pressure variable volume flowmeter l. Conductance measuring system of vacuum components Development of control panel and its installation, controller with electrical wiring for vacuum components of conductance measuring system was completed. EBW of KF-Flange of CDG sensor serial is in progress m. Effect of gold nanoparticle via green synthesis from aqueous extract of Citrus Grandis & Citrus Aurantium for anti-diabetic and anti-arthritis treatment

Gold nanoparticles were synthesized by the reduction of Tetra Chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) using citrus fruits (Citrus lemon, Citrus reticulata and Citrus sinensis) juice extract as the reducing and stabilizing agent. The size distributions of the GNPs were measured using three different methods: dynamic light scattering, nanoparticle-tracking analysis and analysis of scanning electron microscopy images. Biocompatibility and stability examination on animal model (mouse) was done at National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad and a research paper was submitted in an international journal. n. Manufacturing of transistor tester Transistor tester was developed at NINVAST to test NPN and PNP transistors.

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Figure 9: Indigenously developed Transistor Tester

o. Manufacturing of plasma nitriding chamber Plasma Nitriding Chamber was designed and developed at NINVAST for the Nitriding of SS parts and metal substrates. It was installed and necessary accessories i.e. vacuum gauges, flowmeter etc. were attached to it. Work is in progress to get this system leak tight. p. Vacuum drying system An improved Vacuum Drying System was developed at Advanced Vacuum Research Lab (AVRL) of NINVAST for vacuum drying of various components of vacuum systems and other related objects. q. Vacuum induction furnace Vacuum Induction furnace was installed in the Advanced Vacuum Research Laboratory (AVRL) and tested on 500°C at atmospheric pressure. Efforts are being made to leak tight this system so that the temperature can be increased up to 1500°C. A chiller was attached with this furnace but the desired flow rate and temperature could not be achieved. Accordingly, it is planned to install a new and more efficient chiller with the system to get the required temperature gradient. r. Vacuum thermal chamber Vacuum thermal chamber was designed and developed at NINVAST. Work is in progress to get the chamber leak tight in the range of 10-8 mbarr. l/sec. For this purpose, the design of door was changed. Further work on chamber is in progress.

62 Annual Report 2017 s. Thin film coating for aerospace applications NIVAST developed thin films of Molybdenum, SiC on graphite, glass and S.S. substrates for Aerospace Applications particularly for thermal camouflage purpose in collaboration with EP, NCP. These films were characterized by XRD and SEM. Further characterizations are in progress. t. Brazing of “Ni” coated “Ti” foil with S.S. by using “Ag” as filler The brazing was done at 850°C and at 4x10-5 mbarr pressure in a brazing furnace. This will be used in Radiation Sensors. u. Material identification by LIBS Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy technique was used to detect trace elements in different samples like oil, slag, bread, dates, burnt hospital waste etc. Research papers were compiled and submitted in internationally reputed journals. The recommendation was also made to Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. v. Industrial and business services: During the year 2017, a variety of jobs including rectification of vacuum pumps, consultation services as well as vacuum gauges calibration services were provided. Details are as following. i. Repair & maintenance of vacuum pumps During the year 2017, seven (7) rotary, two (2) roots, one (1) scroll and one (1) diffusion vacuum pump from different R&D organizations have been repaired at NINVAST. ii. Oil mist eliminators (Filters) for mechanical rotary vacuum pump During the year 2017, AVRL lab of NINVAST has manufactured eighteen (18) oil filters and fifteen moisture filters for rotary vacuum pumps. These vacuum filters are being used at different R&D organizations. iii. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) trap NINVAST is also manufacturing Liquid Nitrogen traps of different capacities and port sizes for vacuum systems. In this year twenty seven (27) traps have been manufactured. iv. Jobs done at machine shop Machine shop has completed 96 different jobs related to drafting, fabrication, cutting and welding of vacuum components. v. Consultancy services

Sr. No. Job Description Client Consultant

Leak testing of newly installed International Packaging, Dr. M. Maqsood & 1. metallizing plant Lahore Mr. Kaleem Ullah Consultancy services regarding 2. commissioning of thermal vacuum SUPARCO, Lahore Dr. M. Maqsood chamber Leak testing of newly installed Kompass Pakistan (Pvt) 3. Dr. M. Maqsood metallization unit Ltd. Karachi 4. Inspection regarding yearly contract PTC, Akora Khattak Dr. M. Maqsood

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vi. Gauge calibration services During the year 2017 vacuum standards lab has calibrated seventy six vacuum gauges which include Full Range gauge, Penning Gauge, Pirani Gauge, Dial Gauge, Bourdon Gauge, and Capacitance Diaphragm gauge w. Performance testing of vacuum pumps i. Turbo-molecular pump backed by scroll pump from PINSTECH Turbo Molecular Pumping system (TMP) along with accessories was received from PINSTECH for performance evaluation. The system was assembled and operated as per instructions in the operating manual. The performance was found up to the mark and no abnormality was found during operation.

ii. Diffusion pumping system for SCME, NUST Diffusion pump with pumping speed 1000 l/s was assembled and connected with backing pump in experimental arrangement for testing its performance. The system was checked for its leak tightness and its performance was found satisfactory.

iii. Turbo-molecular pump from NCNDT The Turbo-molecular pumping system was received form NCNDT for performance testing. The system was technically evaluated and it was reasonably good in performance.

iv. Outgassing measurement of the electronic components and epoxy samples from SUPARCO for space applications NINVAST has been facilitating SUPARCO since 2011 for measurement of electronic components’ outgassing rate using TML method. So far three batches have been completed. Preliminary requirements to perform outgassing test was temperature of 125°C for 24 hrs with pressure less than 10-7mbar. However, actual vacuum level achieved with this temperature was 1.3 ×10-9 mbar. Moreover, an acknowledgement letter has also been received appreciating the efforts of the NINVAST team involved in this test from SUPARCO. Now SUPARCO is looking forward to perform CVCM test on same system. NINVAST team has also upgraded UHV system to accomplish SUPARCO requirements.

2.7 Earthquake Studies a. Earthquake transients and physics based Seismic hazard assessment The understanding of the dominant physical processes during the earthquake cycle is important to estimate the seismic hazard of a given region. An earthquake cycle is a time dependent process, which consists of different periods. The term “cycle” does not imply that it is regularly repeating in time, but means that earthquakes repeatedly rupture a certain portion of the fault. The earthquake cycle can be divided into four phases, consisting of pre-seismic, co- seismic, post-seismic and inter-seismic phases. First three phases are considered as transients because they last from seconds to tenth of years. The duration of an earthquake cycle vary from hundreds to thousands of years. Understanding dominant physical processes for each phase is of importance in assessing the seismic hazard. For example, large earthquakes and transient during the earthquake cycle alter the stress in the surrounding crust, leading to triggered earthquakes and aftershocks. This has been discussed

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through case studies of 2005 Mw 7.6 Kashmir earthquake aftershock sequence and 2009 Mw 6.3 L’ Aquila earthquake foreshock, main shock and aftershock sequences. The former case study demonstrates the role of Coulomb failure stress changes (ΔCFS) and associated stress heterogeneities (i.e. Coefficient of stress Variation CV) produced by a large earthquake and their impact on distribution of aftershocks in space and time (See Figs. 1 and 2). The positive and negative ΔCFS promote and delay the seismic activity in the region respectively. Figure 1 shows the aftershock activity in both stressed regions (ΔCFS>0) and stress shadows regions (ΔCFS<0). A clear Omori law decay of the aftershock activity is observed not only in the loaded regions but also in the stress shadow regions, indicating that activation rather than quiescence occurred. This seems to contradict the stress-triggering hypothesis, but only if the variability of the stress calculation is ignored. Figure 2 demonstrates the spatial distribution of the forecasted earthquake rates, exhibiting the consideration of stress variability that explains the activation of earthquake in the apparent stress shadows region.

Figure 1: Comparison of the observed Kashmir’s aftershock activity (bold lines) with that of the Coulomb rate-and-state model (dash thin lines): (a) with (CV=0.94) and (b) without (CV=0) consideration of stress heterogeneities. Blue and black curves are related to the earthquake density in regions with significant positive (∆CFS>0.01 MPa) and negative (∆CFS<-0.01MPa) stress changes, respectively.

Figure 2: Spatial distribution of the aftershock rates (per 5km times 5km cell) forecasted by the model in comparison with the observed M≥3.7 aftershocks (dots) for the time interval [0.5, 10] days: (a) CV=0.94 and (b) CV=0. Point (0, 0) represents the epicenter of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake

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While in the latter case study, foreshocks sequence and transient deformation in the form of geodetic measurements during February 12-26, prior to 2009 Mw 6.3 earthquake are analyzed. An existence of a decollement beneath both L’Aquila and Campotosto faults is reported (See Fig. 3) and showed that that such decollement produced a Slow Slip Event (SSE) and at the same time accommodates miscroseismicity. Figure 3 illustrates the slip model that best fits the GPS, with a misfit of 0.26 mmwhen compared with the computed vectors, consists of a decollement with four patches whereas the largest slip patch on the decollement reaches about 2 cm over an area of 160 km2 right beneath L’Aquila fault.

Figure 3: Slip model of the Slow Slip Events (SSE), where black arrows indicate the rake direction. The green and blue arrows depict the observed and model displacement vector. The red and yellow stars show the epicentre of mainshock and largest foreshock respectively.

This study demonstrates the importance of stress loading on the mainshock during the detectable pre-seismic phase and foreshock sequence and shows that how it controls the 2009 Mw 6.3 mainshock-aftershocks distribution. The results are presented in the figure 4. It depicts that Coulomb failure stresses are resolved on L’Aquila fault that increase with 1.1 bar at the hypocenter of the main shock (8.27 km) and over 2 bars at the hypocenter of the M 4.0 March 30th foreshock (9.05 km). It is worth highlighting that the unique correlation between the positive stress change and the foreshock that took place after the 12th February and specifically those located on the deeper antithetic fault (Section AB, Fig. 4). Regarding the Campotosto fault (Section CD, Fig. 4) the increased stress change mimics fairly well the distribution of the aftershocks both on the fault and on the reactivated antithetic fault.

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Figure 4: SSE Coulomb stress change and the L’Aquila main shock (in red), post February 12 foreshocks (white and the yellow star for March 30 magnitude 4) and aftershock sequence (green stars are aftershocks with magnitude equal or larger than 4). AB and CD are vertical sections across the reactivated L’Aquila and Campotosto faults, respectively. The green arrows are SSE observed GPS displacements while the blue arrows are computed using the slip model in figure 3. b. Study of geophysical precursors of earthquakes The contemporary scientific progress in understanding the hierarchical nature ofthe lithosphere and its dynamics based on systematic earthquake monitoring at global, regional, and local scales did result the design of earthquake forecasting research. The term “earthquake precursor” is used to describe a wide variety of geophysical and geochemical phenomena that reportedly precede some earthquakes. To find a possible and reliable forecasting method by considering all the available technologies and tools is nowadays prime focus of the research community working within this domain. The deterministic approach of earthquake forecasting is mainly based on geophysical and geochemical parameters associated with seismic activity. In particular, these parameters include radon monitoring, land surface temperature, surface latent heat flux and different seismicity based precursors. i. Radon as an earthquake precursor The Centre for Earthquake Studies (CES) has established a continuous soil radon monitoring network in seismically sensitive locations of Northern Pakistan. Radon data critically analyzed and correlated with recorded seismic events on daily basis along with meteorological conditions. The continuous soil radon monitoring is performed using radon monitor (RTM 2200). The event selection criteria is based on the magnitude and the epicentral distance from the radon monitoring sites. Schematic workflow used for analysis of radon within the context of earthquake forecasting is presented in figure 5.

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Start

Site selection/installation of radon monitoring station

Data collection and transfer

No

Data analysis to detect abnormal concentrations of radon

Yes

Abnormality in meteorological No further analysis Yes No parameters needed

Correlate anomalies with earthquake catalog of study area

Radon anomaly precedes earthquake Earthquake anomaly

End

Figure 5: A schematic workflow for analysis of soil radon in the context of earthquake forecasting

ii. Satellite thermal infra-red anomalies a tool for earthquake forecasting The satellite thermal infra-red (IR) carries valuable earthquake precursory information for near/distant earthquakes. The areas in the vicinity of earthquake epicenter experience extensive tectonic stresses prior to an earthquake event resulting in release of gases from the Earth’s surface to the lower atmosphere and create a localized thermal anomaly. The physical mechanism behind this interesting phenomenon is systematically explained by Lithosphere-Atmosphere Ionosphere Coupling (LAIC) model.

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Figure 6: Spatial variation of radiance for Haripur Mw 5.2 earthquake (denoted by the symbol star). From September 23, 2010 to October 09, 2010 images, anomaly was detected in the vicinity of the epicenter and with time became concentrated before the occurrence of seismic event (Awais et al., 2017).

The retrospective analysis of few selected events is performed and very encouraging results are observed related to the shallow moderate magnitude Haripur earthquake (Fig. 6). Our investigation, suggests multi-precursory strategy should be adopted for earthquake forecasting research c. Application of machine learning and artificial neural network in earthquake prediction This research of earthquake magnitude prediction encompasses a set of input seismic features extracted from temporal distribution of past seismic activity. Such temporal distributions illustrate the frequency of occurrence of seismic events as function of their magnitudes. These parameters show the underlying relations of geophysical facts of seismic quiescence, Gutenberg-Richter law and frequency of foreshock and seismic rate changes. This relationship between seismic activity and geophysical facts needs to be modeled, irrespective of the degree of the non-linearity that exists among them. Seismic quiescence is break in the normal seismic energy release from the fault region. This accumulation of energy in the faults may lead to

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the occurrence of an earthquake and the amount of energy stored is related to the magnitude of upcoming earthquake. Similarly foreshock frequency is considered to be a sign of a major earthquake. Foreshocks are the series of earthquakes of magnitude slightly higher than the background seismic activity. The Gutenberg-Richter inverse power law shows relation between the earthquake magnitudes and the cumulative frequency of events less than and equal to the corresponding magnitudes. Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been used in a variety of fields for prediction and classification purposes, like computer vision, object recognition, genetics, bio-informatics and weather forecasting. Researchers have considered using ANN for modeling of highly non-linear and complex underlying relationship between geophysical facts and earthquakes with quite meaningful results. The core idea of this work is to predict earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 and above in Hindukush using ML approaches in combination with seismicity indicators. The mathematically calculated seismicity indicators from the previously occurred seismic events show the seismic behavior of the region, which are used as input to the different ML approaches. The overall flow chart of the methodology is provided in figure 7.

Past Earthquakes

Compute Seismic Features Earthquakes Occurred in before Every Month Corresponding Month

Performance Evaluation of Feature Selection Model (McNemar’s Statistical Test)

Train Earthquake Prediction Model

Earthquake Prediction Unseen Seismic Feature Seismic Unseen Model Earthquake Prediction

Figure 7: Flow chart of earthquake prediction methodology based upon seismic indicators in combination with machine learning techniques.

(K. M. Asim, M. Awais, F. Martínez–Álvarez, and T. Iqbal, “Seismic activity prediction using computational intelligence techniques in northern Pakistan,” Acta Geophysica, vol. 65, pp. 919-930, 2017). Feature calculation is the most important step in the research area of seismic activity prediction. In this approach, features are calculated corresponding to every earthquake that has ever occurred in the region on the basis of previous 50 earthquakes. The feature vector

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corresponding to every earthquake is meant to represent the seismic state of the region when earthquake occurred. The seismic features and their computation methodology is provided in Table 1.

Table 1: Seismic indicators and their computation formulas.

Indicator Name Mathematical Expression

b Least square regression analysis (lsq),

a Least square regression analysis (lsq),

dE1/2

T

Mmean

β

d. Demarcation of hidden/diffused subsurface structures Concealed subsurface structures demarcation is a prospective field for research. There are many techniques available to evaluate these progenies. However time and cost are of vital importance factors that we face while working on demarcation and delineation of such structures. Gravity, Seismic, Resistivity, Ground Penetrating radars and active radon emanation study are some available methods to delineate these kinds of hazardous structures. Among all of the above mentioned available techniques active radon study is a non-destructive, cheaper and relatively time efficient technique. Khairi Murat fault (Fig. 8), which exists in North Pothowar Deformed Zone towards Southwest of Islamabad, was selected as a case study. In order to demark its subsurface section beyond the termination of its surface signature, we have applied the active radon emanation study technique using Alpha Gurad PQ2000 instrument. As shown in the map, 15 profiles were laid down along the south western end of the fault zone from which 12 profiles (P-1 to P-12) covered the zone of surface exposure of fault whereas the rest 3 profiles (from P-13 to P-15) were laid on the barren area.

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Figure 8: Topographic map of Khairi Murat fault.

During the study it was observed that pattern of radon emanation along all profiles was analogous. The results of the study were promising enough to infer that the fault also exists in subsurface beyond the termination of its surface signature. The study was basically conducted in order to set a benchmark to be applied to prominent structures in future. In near future the said technique will be applied on offshoots of MBT (Main Boundary Thrust) in vicinity of Islamabad. e. Ionospheric TEC variations over Pakistan The ionosphere is the ionized upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that ranges about 60−1000 km above the Earth’s surface. It contains ionized molecules and free electrons that are primarily produced through photoionization. This process takes place when energetic ultraviolet and X-ray interact with neutral particles in the ionosphere. The generated free electrons largely affect radio wave propagation by stimulating time delays in signals. The magnitude of the delay induced by the Earth’s ionosphere on any trans-ionospheric satellite radio communication is directly proportional to the Total Electron Content (TEC) along the signal’s pathway. TEC is simply defined as the total number of free electrons (those affecting to the crossing electromagnetic signals) integrated on ray path between the space-based satellite to the receiver on ground, considering a cross-section of 1 m2. It is represented in TEC Unit (TECU), where 1TECU=1 X 1016 electrons/m2. To model the Global Network Satellite System (GNSS) based navigation, ground positioning and other applications, TEC is considered one of the most important parameter. To investigate the variability in TEC over Pakistan, the data obtained from dual frequency GNSS Septentrio PlaRxS receivers (See Fig. 9) that have been installed at different regions of Pakistan. The geographic and geomagnetic coordinates of the stations are given in Table . PolaRxS is a multi-frequency and multi-constellation receiver that can be used in space weather

applications. The experimental arrangement includes the frequencies in L-band at f1 = (1575.42

MHz) and f2 = (1227.60 MHz) operated frequency antenna, GNSS receiver (PolaRxS), related software (RxLauncher) and connecting cables. In a typical setup, the receiver measures 50-Hz phase and amplitude samples for all visible satellites and frequency bands. The measurements

based on dual frequency signals in L-band at f1 = (1575.42 MHz) and f2 = (1227.60 MHz) were used to obtain the TEC from each station. GNSS receiver constantly logged the two pseudo-ranges (P1 & P2) and carrier-phases (L1 &

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L2) of the two signals. TEC from the pseudo-range measurement is given by: 22 ff12. 21 TEC =−22(PP ) 40.3( ff121 − )

The study from the available data showed that annual variations in TEC values registered two peaks during the March and September equinoctial months, whereas lower values of TEC were observed during the June and December solstices in agreement with previous studies at low-latitude regions. Seasonal TEC variations revealed that TEC values were higher in the Equinoxes, moderate in the June Solstice and least in the December Solstice. The diurnal pattern observed over each station starts with a pre-dawn minimum followed by a steady increase to attain an afternoon maximum before falling gradually to a minimum after sunset. Effect of a geomagnetic storm on ionospheric TEC from Islamabad station was correlated with the indices of the geomagnetic storm. The outcomes of this study shall be helpful to understand the ionospheric dynamics and its effects on radio propagation at extended low-latitudes on different regions of Pakistan.

Figure 9: GNSS Ionospheric TEC/ Scintillation Receiver and Antenna Table 2. Coordinates of GNSS stations. Geographic Geomagnetic Station Dip angle Latitude Longitude Latitude Longitude Islamabad 33.74°N 73.16°E 25.44°N 148.83°E 2.52 Multan 30.26°N 71.50°E 22.13°N 146.91°E 1.81 Quetta 30.20°N 67.02°E 22.50°N 142.73°E 2.06 Swat 34.74°N 72.35°E 26.46°N 148.13°E 2.72 f. Seasonal and annual variations of atmospheric electric field for Muzaffarabad and Islamabad The atmospheric electric field is an important factor to study the Global Atmospheric Electric Circuit (GAEC). The GAEC links the current flows in fair weather regions with charge separation in disturbed weather regions. This is a closed circuit with two highly conducting

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layers, the ionosphere and the Earth’s surface. Seasonal and annual variations of atmospheric vertical electric field (Ez or Potential Gradient PG) have been measured for the period of three years (2015 – 2017). The network of electric field mill sensors is installed at remote sites to monitor the potential gradient and to observe the anomaly for earthquake precursors. The potential gradient is normally generated by thunderstorm activity modulated by cosmic or terrestrial ray that can create a potential difference between the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere in regions under fair weather conditions. This potential difference is of order 200-250 KV. The PG is normally directed downwards and its intensity close to the ground surface is of the order of +100 to +500 Vm-1. PG measurements at the ground surface have been performed for a period of three years to get the good average for annual and seasonal study. The study of the GAEC and atmospheric electricity provides an information on the solar– terrestrial weather relationships as well as on the global temperature and climate change. There have been several scientific reports of uncharacteristic variations in the atmospheric PG in fair-weather conditions prior to earthquakes in various seismo-active regions of the world. Many results have been shown in reports from countries like Russia, Japan and China. Several possible mechanisms of lithosphere–ionosphere interactions have been suggested in the literature. The seasonal and annual variations of two stations for Islamabad and Muzaffarabad reveal that the atmospheric potential gradient shows a prominent double oscillation. In case of Muzaffarabad station, two peaks (primary and secondary) are observed clearly. For Islamabad, only one sharp peak is observed while secondary peak is not prominent. In both cases, first maximum peak is at around 3:30-4:30 UT (local time 08:30-09:30). There exists a similarity in the two stations for seasonal variations as shown in figure. Higher mean value of atmospheric potential gradient is observed in winter and spring (pre-monsoon) than in summer (monsoon) and autumn (post-monsoon). The higher rate of precipitation in monsoon season is observed due to heavy rains, which decreases the aerosol content in the air. The electrical conductivity increases for rainy season which in return gives smaller potential gradient. In case of winter and spring, the presence of high concentration of aerosol and pollutants increases the PG values. Sunrise effect on all season is almost similar.

Figure.10: Seasonal and Annual variations of PG for Muzaffarabad and Islamabad stations

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g. Dynamics of radon flux in the proximity of main Boundary Thrust Radon measurements in soil were carried out in the proximity of Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), Pakistan. The objective of this empirical study was to monitor and quantify radon emanation flux level in relation to local tectonic stresses and seasonal variations during the year around. Passive radon monitoring technique was applied using solid state nuclear track detectors CR- 39. In this study 54 sample sites were selected for one year and divided into four quarters to account for radon variations with seasonal changes. The measured minimum, maximum and average radon levels along with standard deviation were found 20.75, 131.25, 74.0139 and 31.7089 Bq/Kg for all four seasons. The lowest radon values were recorded during dry and summer season and comparatively higher radon emission measured during monsoon and peak winter. The results conclude relative anomalous radon values in areas towards Southern side of MBT. The measured levels of radon concentration for four quarters are as in Table 3. Relative higher values are result of Seasonal changes factors i.e., temperature variations and local level humidity flux and water passage (rainy season), and the presence offault line which affects on pressure gradient and causing lower pressure on the surface.

Table 3: Minimum, maximum and average radon concentration for different seasons Average Maximum Minimum Standard Deviation Quarters (Bq/Kg) (Bq/Kg) (Bq/Kg) (Bq/Kg)

1st Quarter (Oct-Dec, 2016) 81.5926 147 8 38.1257

2nd Quarter (Jan-Mar, 2017) 88.4259 149 31 36.8349

3rd Quarter (Apr-Jun, 2017) 38.2407 78 16 15.736

4th Quarter (Jul-Sep, 2017) 87.7963 151 36 36.1388

It was found in the present study that the concentration of radon is variable along the fault lines and local tectonic stresses but likely have a relationship of radon emanation rate with the seasonal variations. 3. Visits to NCP During the year 2017, delegates / scientists, researchers, faculty and students of various institutes, colleges, universities and research organizations visited different departments/labs of NCP. Detail of facilities visited by them at NCP is as under:

3.1 Foreign Delegates a. Visit of delegation from Beihang University, China A four (4) members Chinese delegation including Prof. Lang and Prof. Zhou from BUAA, China visited NCP facilities on January 12, 2017 for possible collaboration in areas of mutual interest. A meeting of this delegation was also arranged with Directors of NCP for discussion on areas of mutual interest.

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b. Visit of Prof. Fernando Quevedo, Director AS-ICTP Prof. Fernando Quevedo, Director AS-ICTP, Italy visited NCP during March 2017 to attend ISS-2017, His visit remained very fruitful and beneficial for the scientific community of Pakistan. During his trip, he met different researchers, scientists, academicians and students. Prof. Fernando Quevedo also called on Mr. Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Science & Technology. He thanked the minister for grant of one hundred thousand dollars per annum to ICTP from Pakistan for the support of scientific activities of ICTP. Director ICTP extended an invitation to the honorable minister to visit ICTP.

During his visit, a program on PTV World, “Diplomatic Enclave” was broadcasted in relevance to Pak-Italy scientific relations. The 50 minutes’ program gave an overview of scientific collaborations and future prospects between Pakistan and Italy. c. Visit of Amir Fayyazuddin, DART Neuroscience Lab, San Diego, California Amir Fayyazuddin, DART Neuroscience Lab, San Diego, California delivered a lecture on

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“Recent Advances in Genomics” on April 13, 2017 at NCP. Researchers and students from all technical departments attended this lecture. At the end, DG NCP presented a shield to the speaker. d. Visit of TUBITAK Delegation, Turkey A delegation of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) visited NCP on July 18, 2017 and had a meeting with Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP and all directors of NCP.

e. Visit of Dr. Shahid Masihuddin Khan LBNL, USA Dr. Shahid Masihuddin Khan, Sr. Scientist, M.B.C, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA visited NCP and had a meeting with DG and directors of NCP on December 18, 2017

3.2 Local Delegates a. Visit of Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister of Science & Technology Rana Tanveer Hussain, Federal Minister for Science & Technology and Defense Production visited National Centre for Physics (NCP) on January 17, 2017. He was accompanied by Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST). Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad (N.I, H.I, S.I), Chairman Board of Governors (BoG), NCP welcomed the Federal Minister and thanked him for accepting the invitation to visit NCP. The Minister appreciated the contribution of NCP for research in the field of Physics and allied disciplines. He stated that we are all proud of Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam, the Pakistani Nobel Laureate for his great achievements in the field of Theoretical Physics. He informed that he had met the Director General, CERN and heads of various labs at CERN and they all speak very high of Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam. He assured of his support for NCP just like

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all other Pakistani research organizations working in the ambit of MoST. The visit of Honorable Minister was ended with a technical tour of NCP facilities. The Honorable minister showed interest in the technical capabilities of NCP. b. Visit of Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms visited National Centre for Physics (NCP) on January 18, 2017. Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad (N.I., H.I., S.I.), Chairman Board of Governors (BoG), NCP welcomed the Minister. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, presented the vision, mission and an overview of salient research activities of NCP to the honorable Minister. He mentioned that NCP is working on the lines of The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy to carry out high quality scientific research and innovation in the field of Physics and allied disciplines. The Centre is acting as an interface between Pakistani researchers and international experts in the field of Physics and it is also functioning to help the national strategic program for development of high grade research and innovation. The Honorable Minister appreciated the contribution of NCP for research in the field of Physics and mentioned that NCP should continue to provide a forum for exchange of scientific knowledge for socioeconomic development in Pakistan. He also assured DG NCP to fund some of the high priority R&D Projects of NCP. c. Visit of Mr. Fazal Abbas Maken, Federal Secretary Ministry of Science & Technology Mr. Fazal Abbas Maken, Federal Secretary MoST visited NCP on April 11, 2017. He was accompanied by Dr. Shahzad Alam, Chairman PCSIR, Brig Dr. Basharat Mahmood, Director General NIE, Mr. Abdul Haleem Asghar, Joint Electronics Advisor (JEA), MoST and Dr. S. Zaheer Hussain, Assistant Electronics Advisor (AEA), MoST. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP welcomed the delegation. At this occasion, Mr. Abdul Hamid, Director CAAD gave a comprehensive presentation on NCP scientific and academic activities to the visiting team. Federal Secretary (MoST) asked Dr. Shahzad Alam (Chairman PCSIR) and Brig. Dr. Basharat Mahmood (DG NIE) to arrange a meeting with the NCP Directors to discuss

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all possible options for scientific/technical collaboration with NCP. He emphasized that there is a need to create more awareness about CERN students program in Pakistan. He also mentioned that being CERN-Associate Member, Pakistan should avail benefits from CERN. After the briefing session, the Secretary MoST visited the different technical facilities of NCP. d. Dr. Asim Fasih Khan, Director General (HRD), KRL Dr. Asim Fasih Khan gave a presentation regarding humen resource development to all directors of NCP on January 26, 2017. At the end, the Director General, NCP presented a shield to the speaker. e. Dr. Sheikh Zahoor Sarwar, Deputy Director Industrial Linkages Dr. Sheikh Zahoor Sarwar, Deputy Director (Industrial Linkages) delivered a lecture on “Effective Project Proposal Writing” on February 24, 2017 at NCP. Researchers and students from all departments of NCP attended the lecture. f. Visit of Dr. Hassina Tabassum Peking University, Beijing China A lecture of Dr. Hassina Tabassum, Peking University, Beijing China was arranged on “Fabrication of Advanced Nano materials for Electrochemical Energy storage and conversion devices” on August 10, 2017 at NCP for researchers and students of NCP. g. Visit of Dr. Tariq Banuri, Executive Director GCISC, Islamabad Dr. Tariq Banuri, Executive Director Global Change Impact Studies Center Islamabad visited NCP and had a meeting with Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed (N.I., H.I., S.I.) Chairman BOG (NCP), DG NCP and some of the HoDs of Physics Dept. of Universities on September 27, 2017. h. Visit of Ehtesham Khalid, Project Director, National Disaster & Management Authority (NDMA) Mr. Ehtesham Khalid, Project Director, National Disaster & Management Authority (NDMA) visited CES on October 30, 2017 and had a meeting with Director CES to discuss on topics of mutual interest. i. Visit of Dr. Athar Osama, Member Science & Technology Planning Commission of Pakistan on November 2, 2017. Dr. Athar Osama, Member Science & Technology, Planning Commission of Pakistan visited NCP on November 2, 2017. The purpose of his visit to NCP was to discuss the details of PC1s which were submitted by NCP. A detailed discussion session was held in DG office and after that a visit to technical

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facilities of NCP was arranged for Dr. Athar Osama to give him an overview about the working of NCP.

j. Visit of Dr. Aleena Rafique A lecture of Dr. Aleena Rafique, Graduate Research Assistant at KSU Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Batavia, USA was arranged on “Tests of Neutrino Interaction Models with the MicroBooNE Detector” on November 13, 2017 at NCP. Researchers from different technical groups of NCP attended the lecture. k. Visit of Senior Officers Management Course (SOMC) from PIEAS to NCP on December 22, 2017 A delegation of Senior Officers Management Course (SOMC) from PIEAS visited NCP on December 22, 2018. The delegation was comprised of more than 45 senior officers from different strategic organizations. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP addressed the gathering of the officers and welcomed them in NCP. Lt. Col (R) Abdul Hamid, Director CAAD gave a detailed presentation to the officers about the goals and objectives of NCP. After the presentation a tour of technical facilities of NCP was arranged for the officers.

3.3 Familiarization Visits of Students (Universities, Colleges, Schools) During the year 2017, students and researchers of various institutes, colleges, universities and research organizations visited NCP and allied centres. Details are as following:

Visits to NCP i. Two (2) faculty members along with seventy (70) students from University of Haripur visited Centre for Earthquake Studies (CES) on January 6, 2017 ii. Faculty members and students of Centre of High Energy Physics (CHEP), University of The Punjab, Lahore visited NCP & NINVAST on January 18, 2017 iii. Three (3) faculty members and twelve (12) students from Superior Group of Colleges, Toba Tek Singh visited NCP facilities on January 19, 2017 iv. Faculty members along with one hundred & ten (110) students of AIOU, Islamabad visited NCP facilities on February 15, 2017 v. Eleven (11) faculty members along with one hundred & forty-three (143) students of KRL College for Boys visited Nano Science & Technology Labs on February 27, 2017 vi. Three (3) faculty members and twenty-six (26) students of Khan Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan visited NCP facilities on March 28, 2017

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vii. Four (4) officials of Scientific & Technical Cooperation Division, KRL Visited NCP on April 10, 2017 viii. Faculty Members and Students from Islamic International University, Islamabad visited NINVAST labs on April 27, 2017 ix. Four (4) faculty members and twenty four (24) students (BSC & MSC) of University of Wah, Wah Cantt visited NCP facilities on May 3, 2017 x. Three (3) faculty members and eighteen (18) students of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI), Swabi visited NCP facilities on May 4, 2017 xi. Six (6) faculty members along with thirty three (33) students from University of Gujrat (Sialkot sub Campus) visited NCP on May 5, 2017 xii. Two (2) faculty members along with ninety three (93) students (BS Hon.) and forty- one (41) students (M.SC) of University of Wah, Wah Cantt visited NCP on May 10, 2017 xiii. Five (5) faculty members along with eighteen (18) students of Govt. Post Graduate College, Mansehra visited NCP on May 22, 2017 xiv. Students from Wah College, Wah visited NCP on May 23, 2017 xv. Fifteen (15) faculty members along with three hundred (300) students from Science Talent Farming Scheme (STFS) Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad visited NCP on July 4, 2017 xvi. A faculty member and twelve (12) PhD & M.Phil. students from Physics Department, Islamia University Bahawalpur visited NCP facilities on July 24, 2017 xvii. Eight (8) Faculty members along with ten (10) students of US Pakistan Center for Advance Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E), University of Engineering and Technology, Hayatabad, Peshawar visited NCP facilities on August 29, 2017 xviii. Two (2) faculty members and one hundred & eighty four (184) students from Department of Physics , School of Natural Sciences, NUST Islamabad visited NCP facilities on November 22, 2017 xix. Five (5) faculty members along with fifty (50) students of Govt Post Graduate College for Women, University of Gujrat, Gujrat visited NCP on November 24, 2017 xx. Five (5) faculty members and twenty seven (27) students of Science School, Islamabad visited NCP on December 6, 2017 xxi. School Students from Azad Jammu & Kashmir visited NCP and allied centres on December 11, 2017 xxii. A faculty member and eleven (11) M. Phil Students of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad visited NCP facilities on December 11, 2017 xxiii. Two (2) Officials and forty-four (44) students of Department of Communication and Management Sciences (DCMS), Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), PO Nilore, Islamabad visited NCP facilities on December 22, 2017

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xxiv. Seven (7) faculty members along with thirty-seven (37) students of M.Sc. (Physics) from Govt College of Science, Lahore visited NCP on December 29, 2017

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4. Scientific Events / Meetings 4.1 Events organized at NCP The following scientific events were organized at NCP Complex during the year 2017: i. 14th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Science & Technology (IBCAST), January 10-14, 2017 ii. Celebrations of 91st Birthday of Dr. Abdus Salam, January 27, 2017 iii. 1st National Symposium on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), February 23, 2017 iv. International Workshop on Heavy Quark Physics, February 6-9, 2017 v. International Scientific School (ISS-2017), March 13-17, 2017

vi. 9th National Course on Chem-Bio Consequence Management, April 24-28, 2017 vii. 3rd Workshop on Plasma Physics, May 2-4, 2017 viii. Advanced Course on Accelerator Techniques for Materials Analysis, July 10-12, 2017 ix. 42nd International Nathiagali Summer College (INSC), July 17-29, 2017 x. Physics Education Program: 2nd Refresher Course for Physics Teachers- 2017 (Module-II), August 1 – 19, 2017 xi. 6th School on LHC Physics, August 21 -31, 2017 xii. National Symposium on Laser Matter Interaction (LMI), September 13-14, 2017 xiii. International Workshop on Astrophysics and Cosmology, September 18-20, 2017 xiv. Workshop on GPU: Graphical Processing Unit/ CUDA: Computer Unified Device Architecture, September 20-22, 2017 xv. Collaboration with Physics Departments regarding Research and Education in Climate Science/Atmospheric Science/Earth System Physics, October 4, 2017 xvi. Workshop on Materials for Conservation of Energy, October 12, 2017 xvii. International Symposium on Advanced Materials, October 16-20, 2017 xviii. 8th National Advisory Scientific Program Council Meeting (NASPC), November 16, 2017 xix. International Course on A&P Against CWAs, November 13-17, 2017 xx. 5th NCP-Annual Scientific Meeting, December 20-21, 2017

i. 14th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Science & Technology (IBCAST), January 10-14, 2017 The IBCAST – 2017 was organized by NESCOM at NCP campus from January 10-14, 2017. The 14th IBCAST covered the wide range of topics in the fields of Advanced

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Materials, Aero Structure, Biomedical Sciences, Control and Signal Processing, Cyber Security, Fluid Dynamics, Medical Sciences, Underwater Acoustics, Wireless Communication and Radar. About 30 foreign speakers/participants and 750 local participants attended the subject conference.

ii. Celebrations of 91st Birthday of Dr. Abdus Salam, January 27, 2017 The 91st birthday of Dr. Abdus Salam, Pakistani Nobel Laureate in physics, was celebrated on January 27, 2017 at National Centre for Physics (NCP). Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad (N.I., H.I., S. I.) Chairman BoG, NCP graced the event. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani (S.I.), DG NCP and other renowned scientists and physicists were also present at the occasion. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani welcomed all the participants of the event and highlighted the scientific contributions of Dr. Abdus Salam. He informed that the establishment of NCP was one of the dream of Dr. Abdus Salam which came true. Also speaking at the occasion, Dr. M. Aslam Baig, (H.I.,S.I.,T.I.) highlighted the achievements and supportive role played by Prof. Salam for the benefit of several hundred young Pakistani scientists and researchers. Dr. Fayyazuddin, renowned Theoretical Particle Physicist and one of brilliant disciple of Dr. Salam gave a detailed presentation on his research work which led to earn the Noble Award and his attempts to understand the symmetry and unification among the four fundamental forces of nature. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad (N.I., H.I., S.I.), lauded the efforts of this legendary Pakistani scientist and paid rich tribute to the scientific understanding and diverse personality of Prof. Abdus Salam. He passionately described his association with Dr. Abdus Salam and elaborated many occasions when he went out of the way to help young scientists and researchers of Pakistani origin.

iii. 1st National Symposium on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), February 23, 2017 The Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS) organized the 1st National Symposium on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) on February 23, 2017 at NCP Complex. The event was attended by a large number of Pakistani scientists and foreign experts.

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iv. International Workshop on Heavy Quark Physics, February 6-9, 2017 The National Centre for Physics, Islamabad organized the International Workshop on Heavy Quark Physics from February 6-9, 2017. This first workshop on Heavy Quark Physics was dedicated to Professor Riazuddin (Late), the first Director General, National Centre for Physics, Islamabad. The workshop mainly focused on heavy quark flavor physics. The field of heavy quark flavor physics is of topical interest due to its discovery potential at the LHCb and B-factories like Belle, Babar, etc. Following topics were covered during the workshop: - i. Flavor Physics and CP violation ii. Light-Cone Distribution Amplitudes iii. B-meson decays in Precision Era iv. Beyond the Standard Model v. Multi-quarks Physics In the subject workshop, five (5) foreign speakers from Russia, China, Germany and fifty five (55) local students/ researchers from different universities of Pakistan participated. v. International Scientific School (ISS-2017), March 13-17, 2017 International Scientific Spring (ISS) has been renamed as International Scientific School (ISS) in 2017. The ISS-2017 was jointly organized by National Centre for Physics, Islamabad and The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy from March 13-17, 2017 at NCP. The ISS-2017 was jointly directed by Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani (NCP), and Dr. Joseph Niemela (ICTP). The event comprised of plenary & parallel sessions covering the following two technical activities:

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i. Condensed Matter and Nano Sciences ii. Particle Physics & Cosmology The ISS-2017 was inaugurated by the Prof. Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms on March 13, 2017. Prof. Fernando Quevedo Rodriguez, Director ICTP, Trieste, Italy was also a guest of honour at the inaugural ceremony. Nine (9) leading scientists from Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, China and UK and more than one hundred & sixty-two (162) young researchers and students from local universities and research institutions attended the deliberations of the International Scientific School – 2017. During the ISS-2017, 47 oral lectures and 04 video lectures were delivered. One of the main characteristics of ISS-2017 was the CERN exhibition which was admired by the chief guest and the participants. During the school, a public lecture on “Popularization of Physics in Pakistan” was delivered by Dr. Akram Khan, Brunel University, London College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Experimental Particle Physics Group, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK. In the poster session, researchers and students of different universities and research organizations presented posters related to various thematic areas of the ISS-2017. The local and foreign experts thoroughly examined the posters by cross questioning from the poster presenters. Cash prizes were awarded to best poster presenters in both the technical activities. The International Scientific School would not have been a success without the generous financial support provided by ICTP, Trieste, Italy, Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), Islamabad and Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Standing Committee on Scientific & Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), Islamabad.

vi. 9th National Course on Chem-Bio Consequence Management, April 24-28, 2017 9th National Course on Chem-Bio Consequence Management was organized by the Defense Science & Technology Organization (DESTO) from April 24-28, 2017. About forty (40) local participants attended the course.

vii. 3rd Workshop on Plasma Physics, May 2-4, 2017 National Centre for Physics (NCP) organized the 3rd Workshop on Plasma Physics from May 2-4, 2017. The 3rd Workshop was devoted to pedagogy of the rudimentary

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principles of Plasma Physics, Aspects of Electromagnetism, Fluid Theory and Simulation. The idea of holding this Workshop at NCP was to inspire the young researchers and students by providing them a platform to meet and exchange their scientific knowledge about recent developments in the field of Plasma Physics. The event was consisted of invited talks and group discussions by the experts. Approx. fifty (50) researchers / scientists from across the country attended the workshop. viii. Advanced Course on Accelerator Techniques for Materials Analysis, July 10-12, 2017 National Centre for Physics organized an Advanced Course on Accelerator Techniques for Materials Analysis from July 10-12, 2017. The course was addressed to students, researchers and engineers wishing to push the limits of their investigations a step further by applying new exciting material analysis techniques in their respective areas of R&D work. The subject course was attended by fifty five (55) local participants. ix. 42nd International Nathiagali Summer College (INSC), July 17-29, 2017 Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) organized the 42nd International Nathiagali Summer College from July 17-29, 2017 in collaboration with NCP. The subject college was attended by fifty six (56) foreign speakers and approx. four hundred & fifty (450) local participants.

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x. Physics Education Program: 2nd Refresher Course for Physics Teachers- 2017 (Module-II), August 1 – 19, 2017 Physics Education Program: 2nd Refresher Course for Physics Teachers- 2017 (Module-II) was organized by NCP from August 1–19, 2017. This course was designed for physics teachers at universities, post-graduate colleges and other institutions having a BS program in physics. Total fifty (50) local participants from different parts of the country attended the course.

xi. 6th School on LHC Physics, August 21 -31, 2017 National Centre for Physics, Islamabad organized the 6th School on LHC Physics from August 21-31, 2017. Seven (7) foreign speakers/participants and ninety one (91) local researchers/students attended the school. NCP is regularly organizing schools on LHC Physics since 2009, in collaboration with ICTP. Many of well-known physicists and field experts from all over the world join this school to train the next generation of LHC physicists. Along the same lines, the focus of this 6th School on LHC Physics was also to build and strengthen the knowledge of undergraduate and graduate students, and young researchers in the field. The school covered physics-oriented lectures, data analysis tutorials and hands-on exercises designed by various local and foreign experts.

xii. National Symposium on Laser Matter Interaction (LMI), September 13-14, 2017 The first “National Symposium on Laser Matter Interaction (LMI)” was organized by NCP from September 13-14, 2017. The idea of holding the symposium was to provide a common platform to the local researchers in the field of Atomic, Molecular and Laser Physics to discuss and share the recent advancements and challenges. The symposium highlighted the emerging technologies and future prospects in the field of light

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matter interactions. Sixty five (65) local participants attended the symposium. xiii. International Workshop on Astrophysics and Cosmology, September 18-20, 2017 NCP organized a three-day International Workshop on Astrophysics and Cosmology on September 18-20, 2017. The purpose of this workshop was to provide an introduction to the core areas of astrophysics and cosmology. It was intended for graduate, as well as for undergraduate students. The aim of the workshop was to foster discussion about all aspects of astrophysics and cosmology, focusing mostly on astrophysical and cosmological implications, through a small number of invited talks and discussions. As such, the activity was supposed to serve as a forum where the young participants in the field may have a chance to initiate research collaborations at national and international level. Three (3) foreign speakers from China and USA and seventy (70) local participants attended the workshop. xiv. Workshop on GPU: Graphical Processing Unit/ CUDA: Compute Unified Device Architecture, September 20-22, 2017

A three-days Training Workshop on GPU: Graphical Processing Unit/ CUDA: Compute Unified Device Architecture was organized by NCP from September 20- 22, 2017. GPUs have recently emerged as a powerful tool to run the tasks in parallel fashion to reduce the execution time of algorithms by using CUDA language. The course was very helpful for professionals and students who intend to adopt GPU techniques for parallel computing for their projects.

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xv. Collaboration with Physics Departments regarding Research and Education in Climate Science/Atmospheric Science/Earth System Physics, October 4, 2017 The National Centre for Physics (NCP) & Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC) organized a one-day meeting on “Collaboration with Physics Departments regarding Research and Education in Climate Science/ Atmospheric Science/Earth System Physics” on 4th October, 2017 at NCP. The aim of this meeting was to discuss and develop a plan for introducing climate science in existing Physics curriculums at selected Pakistani universities, and involving the departments in climate change research. It also seeks to explore the possibilities of introducing the degree program in atmospheric physics/climate science in the universities across Pakistan in order to produce quality human resource having sound basis and understanding of the physical systems governing the earth’s climate. About sixteen (16) participants (Chairmen/HoDs of Physics Departments) attended the meeting.

xvi. Workshop on Materials for Conservation of Energy, October 12, 2017 Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS), in collaboration with NCP organized a Workshop on Materials for Conservation of Energy on October 12, 2017. About one hundred & fifty (150) local participants attended the subject workshop.

xvii. International Symposium on Advanced Materials, October 16-20, 2017 International Symposium on Advanced Materials was organized by Dr. A. Q Khan Research Laboratories, Kahuta from October 16-20, 2017 at NCP. The industrial set- ups in the modern world mainly address the automotive, aerospace, marine, energy, environmental and bio-medical sectors; all of which make use of advanced materials. Therefore, the cross-cutting theme of ISAM-2017 was the development, processing and characterization of emerging materials along with modeling and simulation for

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translation into products for challenging applications. About twenty (20) foreigners and three hundred (300) local researchers attended the symposium.

xviii. 8th National Advisory Scientific Program Council Meeting (NASPC), November 16, 2017 National Centre for Physics (NCP) organized 8th National Advisory Scientific Program Council Meeting (NASPC) on November 16, 2017. Thirty three (33) HoDs of Physics Depts. of various universities attended the subject meeting. Dr. Athar Osama, Member (S&T) Planning Commission also attended the meeting.

xix. 5th NCP-Annual Scientific Meeting, December 20-21, 2017 National Centre for Physics organized 5th NCP-Annual Scientific Meeting from December 20-21, 2017. The scientists / researchers of NCP presented their research work / research project in the meeting. A total of 40 presentations were given during this scientific activity. Details are as below:

Speaker Sr. No. Topic Name Dept. Effect of magnetic field on laser induced breakdown 1. Rizwan Ahmed ALPD Spectroscopy

Substrate temperature effects on the structural,

2. compositional and electrical properties of VO2 thin films Zeshan Adeel Umar ALPD deposited using pulsed laser deposition

Seasonal and annual variation of atmospheric electricity in 3. Nabeel Ahmad CES Muzaffarabad, Pakistan Study of radionuclides and their radiation hazards indices 4. Junaid Ahmed CES along Margala and Fatehjang faults 5. Seismicity Analysis for Pak Afghan Border Adnan Barkat CES

Ionospheric VTEC variations over Pakistan during the 6. M. Arslan Tariq CES descending phase of solar activity year, 2015-2016

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The variation of atmospheric electric field is studied by 7. Samia Faiz Gurmani CES using electric field mill sensor for Islamabad, Pakistan

Earthquake prediction based upon Support Vector Khawaja 8. CES Regression and Hybrid Neural Network Muhammad Asim

Dynamics of Radon Flux in the Proximity of Main 9. Mahmood Sultan CES Boundary Thrust, Pakistan

Delineation of concealed section of Khairi Murat Fault by 10. Waqar Ali Zafar CES Radon measurement

Satellite thermal IR and atmospheric radon anomalies associated 11. Muhammad Awais CES with Haripur earthquake (Oct 2010; Mw 5.2), Pakistan

12. Assembly and Testing setup of CMS Tracker 2S Module Imran Malik Awan EHEP

Muhammad Irfan 13. RPC Performance Studies EHEP Asghar

Quality control of the large area gem detector at Pakistan 14. Waqar Ahmed EHEP Production Site for the CMS Muon Endcap Upgrade

15. Progress of EHEP & CMS Tracker Project Imdad Ali EHEP Study of spin correlation & polarization in tt(bar) production 16. Muhammad Ahmad EHEP at CMS experiment Accelerator Operation and Maintenance and PIXE data 17. Waheed Akram EPD acquisition and analysis The measurement of characteristic X-rays K, L-shell and M 18. shell, Production Cross section of Al, Si, Ti, Fe, Ni, Cu and Javed Hussain EPD Ag, Ta, Au, Pb respectively using Ion Beam Techniques 19. Ion Beam applications and related projects Muhammad Usman EPD 20. Metal Oxide Semiconductors as Energy Materials Muhammad Arshad NS&TD Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells Based on Different 21. Muhammad Sultan NS&TD Metal-Oxide Nanostructures

Synthesis of polymer encapsulated NSAIDs loaded metal 22. Syeda Sohaila Naz NS&TD nanoparticles and their biomedical applications

Composites of Lithium Titanate (Li Ti O ) as anode Humaira Safdar 23. 4 5 12 NS&TD materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries Bhatti

Effect of monovalent cation dopings on structural, electrical 24. Abida Saleem NS&TD and optoelectronic properties of MAPbI3 perovskite

Investigation of nanoscale properties of graphene-based 25. Naila Jabeen NS&TD interfaces for possible application in catalysis

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Fabrication of nanocomposite membranes based on 26. Humaira Razzaq NS&TD PVDF-rGO-IL for water treatment application

Preparation, properties and applications of DGEBA/Cu/ 27. Anila Iqbal NS&TD Ag/CNTs nanocomposites

28. Nano Bio Technology Tariq Mahmood NS&TD

Novel Nanomaterials - Synthesis, Characterization and Muhammad Imran 29. NS&TD Applications Shahzad

Electron-acoustic wave instability with finite OAM states in 30. Shahid Ali TPD a super thermal plasma Interaction and resonance phenomena of multi-soliton in 31. Nazia Batool TPD pair ion plasma Solitons and Vortices of Shear-Flow-Modified Dust 32. Usman Saeed TPD Acoustic Wave

33. Effect of Interactions on Conductance of Clean Metals Ambreen Uzair TPD

34. CMB Cosmology and Geometrical Statistics Muhammad Junaid TPD Virtual Corrections to in-medium splitting rates for high Muhammad Shahin 35. TPD energy particles Iqbal

Obliquely propagating electromagnetic excitations in 36. dissipative plasmas with relativistically degenerate Rabia Jahangir TPD electrons

Linear and Nonlinear Electrostatic Perturbations in a 37. Ali Ahmad TPD Nonuniform Plasma Single Fluid Magnetohydrodynamics Model: Acoustic, 38. Usman Hassan TPD Alfven and Magnetoacoustic waves LHCb anomaly in B → K * μ + μ − optimised observables 39. Ishtiaq Ahmad TPD and potential of Z 0 Model

40. Vibrationally dressed polaritons in organic microcavities Ahsan Zeb TPD

4.2 Events organized at NINVAST i. Seminar on Vacuum & its Applications, January 19, 2017 National Institute of Vacuum Science & Technology (NINVAST) organized one day seminar on “Vacuum & its Applications” on January 19, 2017. Forty (40) participants from different organizations including Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Institute of Space Science Islamabad, University of Gujrat, Micro Seismic Studies Program, KRL, NDC, SCME (NUST), PAC Kamra, AWC, KCI PAEC, PINSTECH, Directorate

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General Nuclear Fuel Cycle PAEC, New Chemical Complex PAEC, NESCOM and Nuclear Power Fuel for Kanupp PAEC etc. attended the seminar.

ii. Tailor Made Course on Vacuum & its Applications, February 20, 2017 On the request of HRD KRL, NINVAST organized a one day Tailor Made Course on Vacuum & its Applications. Eighteen (18) scientists, engineers and technicians attended this course.

iii. Training on ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System, March 30, 2017 NINVAST is establishing quality management system for its labs. For this purpose, a one day awareness training on ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System was organized at NINVAST which was attended by fourteen (14) participants. This training was conducted by Quality Assurance Division (QAD), NINVAST.

iv. Introductory Course on Vacuum Science & Technology, May 15-19, 2017 Vacuum technology is indispensable to many branches of contemporary industry and research. NINVAST organized a one week introductory course on vacuum science & technology for fresh inductees i.e. SO, AE & technicians of KRL from May 15-19, 2017.

v. Training on Vacuum Generation & Measurements, August 24, 2017 NINVAST organized one-day training on “Vacuum Generation & Measurements” on August 24, 2017. Seventeen (17) participants from different organizations like BZU Multan, PAEC, Chasnupp Centre, EMRD, International Islamic University Islamabad, Preston University Islamabad etc. attended the training.

vi. Training on Vacuum Furnaces & their Applications, September 20, 2017 NINVAST organized one-day training on Vacuum Furnaces & their Applications on September 20, 2017. Eight (8) participants attended this training.

vii. One Day Seminar on Vacuum Vessel Designing, October 11, 2017 One Day Seminar on Vacuum Vessel Designing was organized at NINVAST which was attended by seventeen (17) participants from different organizations.

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viii. One Day International Seminar on Vacuum Science & Technology, October 18, 2017 NINVAST organized one-day International Seminar on Vacuum Science & Technology on October 18, 2017. Two foreign speakers from South Korea (Dr. S.S. Hong & Dr. Won Ho Jung) delivered lectures. Thirty (30) officials from different organizations attended the event.

ix. Two Day Workshop on General Management Skills, November 1-2, 2017 To imrove workplace management and other management skills of workforce, NINVAST organized two day workshop on General Management Skills. Participants from different R&D organizations, universities and industries got benefitted by this activity.

x. Two Day Workshop on Vacuum Leak Detection & its Rectification, December 20-21, 2017 Vacuum Leak detection & its rectification is an important aspect of vacuum technology. It is needed to ensure the proper leak tightness of any vacuum system/equipment. Undetected and unrectified leaks can lead to product failure, equipment/component damage and in some cases safety hazards. Keeping above in view, NINVAST organized a Two Day Workshop on Vacuum Leak Detection & its Rectification on December 20-21, 2017. Participants from different R&D organizations attended this workshop.

4.3 Scientific Meetings i. A collaborative meeting between NCP officials and National Institute of Electronics, Islamabad (NIE) officials was held at NIE on May 22, 2017. Director General, NCP and directors of technical departments attended the deliberation of this meeting.

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ii. Strategic Plan Division arranged a meeting on JUNO International Collaboration Project – Neutrino on May 3, 2017 at NCP. iii. Meetings of proposed Centre of Excellence for Nanoscience (CENS) were held on Jan 5, 2017 & Feb 17, 2017 at NCP. Dr. Sara Qaisar, Director (NS&TD) has been nominated as coordinator for follow-up meetings/ presentations with contemporary researchers, regarding future course of action for the establishment of CENS at NCP. iv. Dr. Muhammad Muneeb Asim, DD (NS&TD), Dr. Muhammad Nisar, SSO (NS&TD), and Dr. Imran Shahzad, SSO (NS&TD) visited Anwar Khawaja Composites, Sialkot for possible collaboration on CNTs/Epoxy resin for prospective applications in sports goods, on August 24, 2017. v. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP, Dr. Riffat M. Qureshi, Advisor Technical, and Lt. Col (R) Abdul Hamid, Director CAAD attended a Central Development Working Party “CDWP” meeting chaired by Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, held at Pak Secretariat, Islamabad on October 19, 2017. vi. Experimental High Energy Physics Department organized 1st International Meeting on Science and Society from November 21-23, 2017 at Centre for High Energy Physics (CHEP), Lahore. vii. CES had a meeting on inter correlation of departments working in seismology in PM secretariat NDMA, for updating of building codes for Pakistan. viii. Dr. Sara Qaiser, Director (NS&TD), Lt. Col (R) Abdul Hamid, Director (CAAD), Dr. Muhammad Maqsood, Dy Director (NINVAST) and Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal, AM BD (CAAD) visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 22nd November, 2017 as part of business development activities to seek opportunities for possible collaboration with industry. A delegation from industry through ICCI has been invited to visit NCP facilities to give an overview of research activities. ix. Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal, AM BD (CAAD) visited Global Industrial Defense Solutions (GIDS) on December 8th, 2017 and meeting with Mr. Asad Kamal, Director Sales & Marketing (GIDS) and Mr. Ismail Shah, GM Sales & Marketing (GIDS) as part of business development activities and discussed the possibilities for commercialization of NCP research work through GIDS.

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5. Scientific Visits by NCP Faculty /Researchers a. Expert Missions (Abroad)

i. Mr. Rao Atif Shad, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO), EHEP/IT was placed at CERN Switzerland for one year training from January 5, 2017. ii. Mr. Ali Awais, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO), EPD was placed at CERN, Switzerland for one year Internship R&D work from January 10, 2017. iii. Dr. Shahid Ali, PSO (TPD) visited the ICTP Trieste, Italy as Regular Associate from April 8 to June 16, 2017, iv. Mr. Amir Sultan, Technical Officer (EHEP) visited CERN Switzerland to attend training on Silicon Qualification and Module Assembly from May 2-31, 2017. v. Mr. Imdad Ali, Senior Engineer visited CERN Switzerland to attend a training on Silicon Qualification and Module Assembly from May 15 to June 14, 2017. vi. Mr. Saqib Ehsan, Sr. Computer Technician and Mr. Muhammad Deen Jafar, Computer Operator attended a training of Corporate Storage at Dubai from May 22-26, 2017. vii. Mr. Imran Malik, SSO EHEP was placed at CERN Switzerland and is involved in module assembly and testing for CMS Tracker project from May 2016 to October 2017. viii. Dr. Ahsan Zeb visited School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, UK as Research Fellow w.e.f. January 2016 to December 2017. ix. Dr. Ahsan Zeb gave a presentation in the grant meeting at the University of St. Andrews, UK, April 20-21, 2017 x. Dr. Ahsan Zeb has been a member of organizing team and presenter in the monthly meetings on strong matter-light coupling at School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, UK w.e.f. January 2016 to December 2017. xi. Dr. Muhammad Irfan Asghar, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) visited Switzerland for training on EPR Points and managed offline data at CERN, Switzerland from July 8 to August 1, 2017 xii. Dr. Muhammad Irfan, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) is on visit to Turkey for Post-Doc Fellowship at Bilkent University, Turkey from July 10, 2017 to July 9, 2019 xiii. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) visited CERN Switzerland for attending CMS Tracker Week from July 16 to July 24, 2017. xiv. Dr. Muhammad Sultan, Pr. Scientific Officer (PSO) visited the research group of Prof. Dr. Lukas Schmidt-Mende, Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Germany as a part of DAAD funded collaborative research project from July 19, 2017 to October 14, 2017. The purpose of the visit was to get training at state of the art hybrid nanostructure laboratories and development of advanced perovskite solar cells. xv. Dr. Hassan Shahzad, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) is on visit to Switzerland to take part in assembly and testing in CMS tracker upgrade project at CERN from October 16, 2017.

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xvi. Dr. Abdur Rehman, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) visited Poland for research work titled “NNLO QCD corrections to Radiative B meson decays” with Prof. Mikolaj Misaik at Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Warsaw, Poland from October 22, 2017 to January 17, 2018. xvii. Dr. Ishaq Ahmad, Director Accelerator Facility visited Algeria to attend Scientific Meeting on “Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Materials (EINM)-2017” at Nuclear Research Centre of Draria (NRCD), Algeria from October 23- 27, 2017 xviii. Dr. Naveed Zafar Ali, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) is on visit to Germany for Post-Doc Fellowship at Humboldt University ZU, Berlin, Germany from November 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018. xix. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) visited Switzerland to attend “CMS Tracker Week” and “Workshop on the Physics of High Luminosity” at CERN, Switzerland from October 24 to November 5, 2017. xx. Dr. Shabbir A. Khan visited the National Institute of Fusion Science (NIFS), Toki-shi Japan for meeting with his collaborator Dr. H. Igami on December 8, 2017 xxi. Dr. Shabbir A. Khan visited Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto University Japan for meetings and collaborative research. He also visited the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto University Japan for three weeks w.e.f. December 9, 2017 on invitation of his collaborator Prof. Atsushi Fukuyama. He carried out the joint research on modelling and simulation of electron cyclotron heating (ECH) and current drive (CD) in spherical tokamak plasmas using the Transport Analyzing System for Tokamak (TASK) based on integral kinetic formulation. The work was partially supported by JSPS research fund. This visit also included the presentation of the research work at 26th International Toki Conference (ITC-26) and 11th Asia Plasma and Fusion Association Conference (APFA-11) held jointly at Ceratopia Congress Centre, Toki City, Japan. xxii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, Director General attended 187th CERN Council and 362nd Finance Committee Meetings at CERN, Geneva from December 11-15, 2017. xxiii. Dr. Shabbir A. Khan visited Institute of Laser Engineering (ILE) at Osaka University Japan for meeting with Prof. Masakatsu Murakami for application of TASK/WI code in terawatt laser application on December 14, 2017. xxiv. Dr. Saleh Mohammad, SSO (EHEP) completed his PhD from University of Roma, Italy and worked on CMS GEM project at CERN, Switzerland. xxv. Dr. Wajid Ali Khan, SSO (EHEP) is pursuing his Postdoc at INFN, Napoli, Italy. xxvi. Dr. Hassan Shahzad, SSO (EHEP) went to Kings College London (KCL) for his PhD research work on HEC’s International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP). He was involved in the KCL research activities specifically related to MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) image reconstruction using Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) and Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA).

b. Expert Missions (Local)

i. Dr. Shahid Ali visited PIEAS and Abdul Wali Khan University as external examiner for Ph.D. and M.Phil. Thesis defense.

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ii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP visited Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, University of Karachi as Member of Selection Board for the appointment of Assistant Professors on November 22-23, 2017 iii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP and Mr. Abdul Hamid, Director CAAD visited The Science School (Islamabad Campus) on November 30, 2017. iv. Dr. Sara Qaiser, Director (NS&TD), Lt. Col (R) Abdul Hamid, Director (CAAD), Dr. Muhammad Maqsood, Dy Director (NINVAST) and Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal, AM BD (CAAD) visited Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 22nd November, 2017 as part of business development activities to seek opportunities for possible collaboration with industry. A delegation from industry through ICCI has been invited to visit NCP facilities to give an overview of research activities. v. Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal, AM BD (CAAD) visited Global Industrial Defence Solutions (GIDS) on December 8, 2017 and meeting with Mr. Asad Kamal, Director Sales & Marketing (GIDS) and Mr. Ismail Shah, GM Sales & Marketing (GIDS) as part of business development activities and discussed the possibilities for commercialization of NCP research work through GIDS. vi. NS&TD officials visited the following universities under NCP-Universities Collaboration

Sr. No. Date Place of visit

1. July 2017 University of Wah, Wah Cantt

Department of Physics, Environmental Sciences Biotechnology, 2. September 2017 IIU Islamabad (Female Campus)

Department of Agronomy, PMAS Arid Agriculture University 3. September 2017 Rawalpindi

4. November 2017 School of Natural Sciences, NUST, Islamabad

5. December 2017 Department of Chemistry, AJ&K, University, Muzaffarabad

6. December 2017 Department of Biotechnology, AJ&K, University, Muzaffarabad

Atta ur Rehman School of Biological Sciences, NUST, 7. December 2017 Islamabad

c. Conferences /Workshops / Seminars (Abroad)

i. Mr. Saqib Haleem, Manager IT visited Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan to attend “International Symposium on Grids and Clouds (ISGC)” from March 5-10, 2017. ii. Dr. Muhammad Usman, PSO (EP) visited KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden to carryout research on Measurements Related to Ion Beams in Advanced Labs. He was sponsored through Swedish Research Council’s grant from March 10 to April 8, 2017. iii. Dr. Shahid Ali, PSO (TPD) visited Trieste, Italy and participated in “Advanced School and Workshop on Nonlocal Partial Differential Equations and Applications to Geometry,

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Physics and Probability” from May 22 to June 2, 2017. iv. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed Khan, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) visited Japan to attend 26th International Toki Conference & 11th Asia Plasma & Fusion Association Conference at National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki, Japan from December 2-16, 2017.

d. Conferences /Workshops/ Seminars (Local)

i. Mr. Muhammad Zaka Ansar, Mr. Usman Ghani (NINVAST) and Mr. Imran Shahzad (NS&TD) attended “14th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology” (IBCAST) Islamabad Pakistan from January 10-14, 2017 held at NCP. ii. Dr. Asima Siddiqa SSO (NS&TD) attended two days training session on “Drafting Patents” on January 11-12, 2017 at COMSATS, Islamabad iii. Mr. Muhammad Umar Farooq SO (NS&TD) attended ‘’National workshop on analytical methods for material analysis” on February 2017 at Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology. iv. Ms. Aisha Usman, SSO (NINVAST) and Mr. Sajid Nadeem SO (NINVAST) visited Certification Services Pakistan (CeSP) to attend two-day training course on “Estimation of Uncertainty Measurement” on April 17-18, 2017 v. Mr. Usman Hasan, SSO (TPD) and Ms. Ambreen Uzair, SSO (TPD) attended the International Workshop on “Rational Design of Materials for Energy Needs: Computation and Experimentation” from May 22-26, 2017 at COMSTECH, Islamabad. vi. Dr. Shahzad Abu Bakar, SO (NS&TD) attended a lecture on “Characterization Facility” at Engineering Department NUST in April 2017. vii. Dr. Shahzad Abu Bakar, SO (NS&TD) attended a lecture “XRD- Functioning and Principle” at Institute of Space and Technology, Islamabad in April 2017. viii. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Alamgir, CSO (NINVAST) have attended Lead Auditor Course on ISO 9001:2015 in May 2017. ix. Mr. Saad Zahoor, AE (NINVAST) attended “Young Officer Management Course” from July 31 to August 11, 2017. x. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Alamgir, CSO (NINVAST), Mr. M. Zaka Ansar, SO (NINVAST) and Mr. Saad Zahoor, AE (NINVAST) participated in “Awareness Training on QMS-ISO-9001:2015” on August 17-18, 2017. xi. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, participated in the Meeting on “Impact and Commercialization of Public R&D” held at Ministry of Planning & Development Reforms (MPDR) on August 22, 2017 xii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, visited University of the Punjab, Lahore to deliver a lecture on “LHC Physics and Beyond” at CHEP on September 10-12, 2017 xiii. Dr. Asima Siddiqa, SSO (NS&TD) attended “International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies” held at Serena Hotel Islamabad from September 12-13, 2017. xiv. Mr. Muhammad Umer Farooq, Scientific Officer (SO) attended theth 9 Chemistry Conference 2017 on “Chemistry in Engineering & Life Sciences (CELS-2017)” from

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September 19-21, 2017 at PINSTECH, Islamabad. xv. Dr. Shahzad Abu Bakar, SSO (NS&TD) attended “International CST Workshop on EM Solver”, held at NUST from September 26-28, 2017. xvi. Ms. Aisha Usman, SSO (NINVAST) and Mr. Sajid Nadeem, SO (NINVAST) attended “Awareness training on QMS-ISO-9001:2015” on October 4-5, 2017. xvii. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Alamgir, CSO (NINVAST) and Mr. Kashif Mehmood Minhas, PSA (NINVAST) participated in “Conference on Emerging Trends in Material Sciences” held at Abbottabad University of Science & Technology on October 5-7, 2017. xviii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP participated in “5th National Conference on Space Science and Technology” as Speaker organized by University of Karachi on October 9-10, 2017 xix. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP participated as Guest in “Science Popularization and Role of Media” organized by Pakistan Science Foundation on October 31, 2017. xx. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP and Mr. Abdul Hamid, Director (CAAD) attended the One Day National Seminar on Strengthening Export Controls by Internal Compliance on October 31, 2017 arranged by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. xxi. Mr. Adnan Idrees, Computer Operator (CO) attended the two days training on Microsoft Office 365 from October 30-31, 2017 at Regional Centre of Higher Education Commission (HEC), Lahore. xxii. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP attended “World Science Day” organized by Pakistan Science Foundation on November 10, 2017. xxiii. Mr. Muhammad Arshad, Sr. Scientific Officer (SSO) attended thend 2 International Physics Convention as invited speaker from November 20-21, 2017 at Forman Christian College University, Lahore. xxiv. Dr. Nisar Ahmed, SSO (NS&TD) participated in “28th National and 16th International Chemistry Conference on Global Challenges and Chemistry” held at Federal Urdu University Karachi from November 20-22, 2017. xxv. Dr. Syeda Sohaila Naz, SSO (NS&TD) attended 3rd International Nanomedicines Symposium on “Nanotheranostics: The Power of Nanomedicine” held at COMSTECH, Islamabad on November 21, 2017. xxvi. Dr. Syeda Sohaila Naz, SSO (NS&TD) attended 2nd International Workshop on “Experimental Biology: Nanotheranostics: From Bench to Bedside and Beyond (IWEB- 2017)” held at NILOP Nanotheranostics Research Labs, Islamabad from November 22-24, 2017. xxvii. Mr. Muhammad Umar Farooq, SO (NS&TD) attended “Surface Science and Characterization” held at NINVAST from November 28-29, 2017. xxviii. Dr. Yaqoob Khan, SSO (NS&TD) participated in “International Conference on Solid State Physics (ICSSP’17)” held at the Centre for Solid State Physics, Punjab

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University, Lahore from December 10-14, 2017. xxix. Dr. Asima Siddiqa, SSO (NS&TD) & Ms. Anila Iqbal, SSO (NS&TD) attended the 4th Conference on Frontiers of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from December 12-13, 2017 at PINSTECH, Islamabad. xxx. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP, chaired a special session in the International Science Policy Conference on Climate Change held at Marriot Hotel Islamabad on December 19, 2017

e. Lectures/Talks (Abroad)

i. Dr. M. Usman, PSO (EP) delivered a talk on “SiC devices” in KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, on March 27, 2017. ii. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) gave a talk in 25th International Conference on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Topics (DIS217) at Birmingham, UK on April 2, 2017. iii. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) gave a talk on behalf of CMS collaboration at International Conference on Deep Inelastic Scattering and related topics which was held in Birmingham University, UK from April 3-7, 2017, the agenda can be found at: https://indico.cern.ch/event/568360/ iv. Dr. M. Aslam Baig, Director (ALPD) visited Tsinghua University Beijing, China to participate in a conference titled “Applied Optics and Photonics China (AOPC2017)” organized by Chinese Society for Optical Engineering (CSOE) from June 4-9, 2017. He also delivered an invited talk on “Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of Atoms”. v. Dr. Ahsan Zeb delivered invited talk at “Polaron Day 2017 Conference” held at the School of Physics, University of St. Andrew UK, July 3-4, 2017. vi. Dr. Ahsan Zeb delivered invited talk at the conference “ERPOS, Electrical and Related Properties of Organic Solids” held at the University of St Andrews, UK, July 9-13, 2017. vii. Dr. M. Usman PSO (EP) contributed a poster in International conference on Silicon Carbide and related materials, held in Washington DC, USA from September 17-22, 2017. viii. Dr. Ishaq Ahmad, Director (EP) delivered Invited talk on “Ion beam irradiation effects on artificial graphite” at rd3 Scientific Meeting on the Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Materials “EINM2017” on October 24-25, 2017 at Algiers, Algeria.

f. Lectures/Talks (Local)

i. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) delivered a lecture on the “Experimental Verification of the Standard Model” at the occasion of Salam Birthday Seminar held at NCP on January 27, 2017.

ii. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, Director (EHEP) was invited to deliver a colloquium titled: The Standard Model of Particle Physics and Beyond at Peshawar University on February 13, 2017. iii. Dr. Muhammad Junaid, SSO (TPD) delivered a talk on “Gravitational Waves” to ARDE officials on February 16, 2017 at NCP.

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iv. Mr. Muhammad Arshad, SSO (NS&TD) delivered a talk on “Advanced Training on XPS System with STM and AFM attachments” on February 2017 at NCP. v. Dr. Naveed Zafar Ali, SSO (EP) deliverd an invited talk, “New trends in the the Rietveld refinement of crystallographic and magnetic structure from Powder diffraction data” at NUST, on March 6, 2017. vi. Dr. Tariq Mehmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) delivered a key note lecture to M. Phil/PhD students on “Nanobiotechnology” on March 25, 2017 at Department of Biotechnology, AJK University Muzaffarabad. vii. Dr. Muhammad Maqsood (Dy. Dir, NINVAST) delivered a lecture on “Status of leak calibration standards in Pakistan” at 1st International Conference on Mathematics & Physics (ICMP-2017) Air University, Islamabad on March 29-31, 2017. viii. Dr. Tariq Mehmood Associate Prof. (NS&TD) delivered a key note lecture on “Nanobiotechnology in Energy Sector” in Conference on Trends in Biosciences on March 29, 2017. ix. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG NCP visited SUPARCO and delivered a keynote lecture at Usman Institute of Technology (UIT), Karachi from April 14-17, 2017. x. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed Khan, SSO (TPD) gave an invited talk “Concepts of plasma and magnetic confinement fusion” at the Women University of AJK, Bagh on April 27, 2017. xi. Dr. M. Usman, PSO (EP) delivered a presentation on “TWAS-COMSTECH joint research grant” in NCP’s DG/ Directors meeting on May 2, 2017. xii. Dr. Muhammad Sultan , PSO (NS&TD) delivered a lecture on “Hybrid Nanostructures for Solar Cell Application” in COMSTECH-CIIT Joint International Workshop on Rational Design of Materials for Energy Needs: Computation and Experimentation on May 22-26, 2017, COMSTECH Islamabad. xiii. Dr. Naveed Zafar Ali, , SSO (EP) delivered an Invited Talk on “Interplay between Structure & Magnetism in novel Multinary Oxides” at Workshop on Rational Design of Materials for Energy needs: Computation & Experimentation, COMSTECH –Islamabad, on May 24, 2017. xiv. Dr. M. Usman, PSO (EP) delivered talks on “Al2O3/SiC interface for device applications” at NCP on May 29, 2017. xv. Dr. Shabbir Ahmed Khan, SSO (TP) delivered an invited talk “Concepts of Electron Cyclotron Heating in Tokamak Plasmas” at Riphah International University, Islamabad on June 22, 2017. xvi. Dr. Ishaq Ahmad, Director (EP) delivered an invited talk on “Gamma Irradiation Induced Boron Nitride (BN) Nanoparticles: Structural and Morphological Study. 4th National Conference on Physics and Emerging Sciences held at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad on July 4-5, 2017. xvii. Dr. M. Usman, PSO (EP) delivered a full day extensive lecture along with experimental demonstrations on “Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA/PIGE)” in the Advanced Course on Accelerator Techniques for Materials Analysis, in NCP from July 10-12, 2017

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xviii. Dr. M. Khalid Alamgir, CSO (NINVAST) delivered an invited talk on “Deposition of Getter Material Thin Films for UHV applications” in Advance Course in Accelerator Techniques for Material Analysis, in NCP from July 10-12, 2017 xix. Dr. Waheed Akram, SSO(EP) deliverd a talk on “PIXE Data Equisition and Analysis, in Advance Course in Accelerator Techniques for Material Analysis, in NCP from July 10-12, 2017 xx. Mr. Turab Ali Abbas, PSO (EP) deliverd a lecture on “RBS Data Acquisition and Analysis Software (XRUM, SIMNR) in Advance Course in Accelerator Techniques for Material Analysis Training. July 10-12, 2017 xxi. Dr. Javaid Hussain, SSO (EP) delivered a lecture on “PIXE technique, Experimentation on PIXE and PIGE, Resolved technical problem related to accelerator machine” in Advance Course in Accelerator Techniques for Material Analysis Training on July 10-12, 2017 xxii. Dr. Shabbir A. Khan, SSO (TPD) delivered a lecture at the Department of Physics, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad on July 23, 2017. xxiii. Dr. Shabbir A. Khan, SSO (TPD) delivered an invited lecture at the Department of Basic and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Islamabad on September 17, 2017. xxiv. Dr. Ishaq Ahmad, Director (EP) delivered a talk on “Ion beam technology in materials science” at 1st National Conference on Emerging Trends in Materials Science from October 5-7, 2017 held at Abbottabad University of Science & Technology, Abbotabad. xxv. Dr. Sara Qaisar, Director (NS&TD) delivered a talk on “Smart windows for energy conservation” in “Materials for Energy Conservation” held at NCP on October 12, 2017. xxvi. Mr. Muhammad Arshad, SSO (NS&TD) delivered talks on “Energy Conserving Materials” in “Materials for Energy Conservation” held at NCP on October 12, 2017. xxvii. Dr. Naveed Zafar Ali, SSO (EP) delivered an invited talk on Structure property relationaship in multinary oxides with potential applications for Energy Storage & Conversion devices. Pakistan Nuclear Society & NCP-Joint one day Seminar on Materials for Energy Conservation, October-12, 2017. xxviii. Dr. Syeda Sohaila Naz, SSO (NS&TD) delivered a talk on “Synthesis and selective urease inhibition activity of N-Substituted methyl 5-acetamido-β-resorcylate based Ag nanoconjugates” in International Symposium on Advances in Physics held at PIEAS from October 24-26, 2017 xxix. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) participated and presented a poster with title “Applications of Heterogeneous Nanocatalyst for Biodiesel Production from non-edible Feedstock” in “International Conference on Energy” held in Serena Hotel Islamabad in October 2017. xxx. Dr. M. Usman, PSO (EP) delivered an invited talk titled “Ion Beam Technology for Materials Science” in NOOR 3rd International Conference on Applied Materials and Nanodevices on November 14-16, 2017, co-organized by PIEAS and NILOP. xxxi. Mr. Muhammad Arshad, SSO (NS&TD) delivered talks on “Metal Oxide Semiconductors as Energy Materials” in 2nd International Physics Convention organized by Forman

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Christian College University, Lahore from November 20-21, 2017. xxxii. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) delivered a talk on “Metal based Nano catalysts for Biodiesel Production” at PIEAS, Islamabad in November 2017. xxxiii. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) delivered a Keynote Lecture to M. Phil/ PhD students on “Nanobioechnology” at ASBS, NUST, Islamabad in November 2017. xxxiv. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Professor (NS&TD) delivered a Keynote Lecture to M. Phil/PhD students on “Nano in Fuel Technology” at Department of Chemistry SNS, NUST, Islamabad in December 2017. xxxv. Dr. Muhammad Maqsood (Dy. Director) attended “International Conference on Solid State Physics 2017” at Center of Excellence in Solid State Physics, Punjab University Lahore and delivered an invited talk on “Development and Optimization of Standard Leak Calibration System” on December 10-14, 2017. xxxvi. Dr. Muhammad Muneeb Asim, DD (NS&TD) delivered a keynote talk on “Piezoelectric Ceramics: Basics to Technology” in 2nd International Conference on Advanced Materials and Process Engineering held at NED University Karachi on December 12-13, 2017. xxxvii. Dr. M. Usman delivered an invited talk on “Ion beam applications” in School of Natural Sciences of NUST, Islamabad. 6. Honours and Awards a. Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani, DG (NCP) ƒƒ On the occasion of Pakistan Day, 23rd March, 2017, Dr. Hafeez ur Rehman Hoorani, Director General National Centre for Physics (NCP) has been conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan in recognition of his meritorious contributions in the field of Physics. Dr. Hoorani has published 633 research papers with a total impact factor over 2980+ and 19549 citations (according to Web of Science). He has supervised 5 Ph.D. and 20 M.Phil. students successfully. Currently he is supervising 3 Ph.D. students. Dr. Hoorani has given several invited and popular talks in various international conferences. ƒƒ Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani got Fellowship of Pakistan Academy of Science (PAS) from November 1, 2017. ƒƒ Dr. Hafeez R. Hoorani Appointed as “Senior Associate” of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) for a period of three years from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 on November 7, 2017. b. Dr. Muhammad Aslam Baig (H.I., S.I., T.I.), Director (ALPD) Dr. M. Aslam Baig (H.I., S.I., T.I.), Director (ALPD) was elected as Secretary General of Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) for three years from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020.

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c. Mr. Muhammad Awais, Senior Scientist (CES) Mr. Muhammad Awais, Senior Scientist, CES received the Best Performance Award-2016 from Chairman, PAEC on Youm-e- Takbeer, May 28, 2017.

d. Dr. Muhammad Usman, Pr. Scientific Officer (EP) Dr. M. Usman was appointed as a member of PhD student evaluation committee in KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden on March 24, 2017. He was also invited for conducting reviews of the journal articles from various international journals including IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, IEEE Electron Device Letters, Ceramics International and Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. e. Dr. Hassan Shahzad, Sr. Scientific Officer (EHEP) NVIDIA Grant USA (GPU grant received from NVIDIA Corp. Silicon Valley) EHEP received a donation of Titan XP GPU which has 3840 CUDA cores with latest NVIDIA GPU architecture by NVIDIA Corp. Silicon Valley, USA for research & development purpose. The project and request for GPU Grant was submitted by Dr. Hassan Shahzad SSO (EHEP). The GPU is shown below:

f. QMS ISO 9001:2008 Certification from Certification Services Pakistan (CeSP) Quality Management System (QMS) Cell of NINVAST is working under the supervision of Dr. M. Khalid Alamgir. After the completion of documentation phase, the internal audit was conducted by QAD, KRL. In the audit report, they recommended NINVAST to go for 3rd Party Certification. For this purpose QMS Cell has requested Certification Services Pakistan for certification. The stage-1 audit was done on September 29, 2017 and stage-II audit was conducted on November 16-17, 2017 and with the hard work and dedication of QMS cell, NINVAST got the certification without any major or minor NC which is in itself a unique achievement. g. Dr. Naveed Zafar Ali, Sr. Scientific Officer (EPD) ƒƒ Received Postdoctoral Fellowship from the School of Analytical Sciences Adlershof, Humboldt Universitätzu Berlin, Germany to work on Fuel Cell Technology.

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ƒƒ Joint Recipient of HEC-NRPU Research Grant as Co-PI in collaboration with Dr. Zareen Akhtar of Dept. of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad (2017-2020). ƒƒ Nominated as Focal Person for Evaluation of HEC-NRPU Proposal and HEC-TDF research proposal committee. h. Dr. Shahid Ali, Pr. Scientific Officer (TPD) Dr. Shahid Ali was selected as Member Editorial Board for an International Journal of Advances in Astrophysics Isaac Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd, Hong Kong. i. Mr. Farhan Javed (CES) Mr. Farhan Javed (CES) completed his PhD in “Earthquake transients and mechanics of active deformation: Case studies from Pakistan and Italy” from University of Trieste, Italy. j. Mr. Shahzad Abu Bakr, Scientific Officer (NS&TD) Dr. Shahzad Abu Bakr, SO NS&TD successfully completed his PhD from Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil and resumed his duties at NCP. k. Dr. Syed Mustansar Abbas, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) Dr. Syed Mustansar Abbas, SSO (NS&TD) proceeded to Dongguk University, Seoul South Korea, for his Post Doc in the field of rechargeable ion batteries. l. Research Productivity Award for the Year 2016/2017 & 2017/2018 ƒƒ Following NCP Researchers included in Productive Scientists of Pakistan (PSP) – 2016 in different discipline (i.e. Physics, Chemistry, Biological Sciences etc.) issued by Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST), Islamabad.

Physics Discipline:

a. Prof. Dr. Hafeez ur Rehman Hoorani, DG (NCP) b. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aslam Baig, Director (ALPD) c. Dr. Ishaq Ahmad, Director (EPD) d. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Alamagir, Head Training (NINVAST) e. Dr. Shahid Ali, Pr. Scientific Officer (TPD)

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f. Dr. Muhammad Usman, Pr. Scientific Officer (EPD) g. Dr. Ghulam Husnain, Pr. Scientific Officer (EPD) h. Dr. Shabbir Ali Khan, Sr. Scientific Officer (TPD) i. Dr. Rizwan Ahmad, Sr. Scientific Officer (ALPD) j. Dr. Bushra Bari, Ph.D. Student (NINVAST)

Chemistry Discipline:

a. Dr. Nisar Ahmad, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) b. Dr. Syed Mustansar Abbas, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) c. Dr. Yaqoob Khan, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) d. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) ƒƒ The following researchers from NCP & allied centres won the Research Productivity Award 2017/18 from Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST) a. Dr. Talib Hussain, Director (NINVAST) b. Dr. Muhammad Khalid Alamgir, Head of Trainings (NINVAST) c. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Prof. (NS&TD) d. Dr. Yaqoob Khan, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) e. Dr. Nisar Ahmad, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) f. Dr. Syed Mustansar Abbas, Sr. Scientific Officer, (NS&TD) m. Dr. Tariq Mahmood, Associate Professor (NS&TD) Prof. Dr. Tariq Mahmood got a “Certificate of Excellence” in reviewing from The Chemical Science International Journal.

n. Dr. Muhammad Imran, Sr. Scientific Officer (IT) EHEP Dr. Muhammad Imran received the ‘Best Paper Award’ from M/S Elsevier journal of ‘Optical Switching and Networking’ for his research paper titled “Performance evaluation

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of hybrid optical switch architecture for data center network”.

7. Welcome/ Farewell i. Mr. Syed Tahir Hassan Hashmi (PoP), Director General (NINVAST) Mr. Syed Tahir Hassan Hashmi is a Chemical Engineer by Profession and had done masters in Project Management. He has varied experience of almost three decades in the field of engineering management and technology. Recipient of Pride of Performance from the President of Pakistan in recognition to his contributions and services in the field of engineering science and technology at National Level. He played active role in the human resource development and capacity building through development and integration of engineering related processes in different capacities during his illustrious technical career. In Feb 2017 posted as Director General NINVAST by virtue of his multidisciplinary experience. His strong skills has showed marked improvement in the new outlook of NINVAST under the flag of NCP. ii. Dr. Ahmed Yar Khan, Pr. Scientific Officer (NINVAST) Dr. Ahmed Yar Khan joined NINVAST as PSO on February 1, 2017. He was given the responsibility of Vacuum Technology Division, of NINVAST.

iii. Mr. Kashif Mehmood Minhas, Pr. Scientific Officer (NINVAST) Mr. Kashif Mehmood Minhas joined NINVAST as PSO on February 28, 2017. He is attached with Training Section, NINVAST.

iv. Dr. Muhammad Muneeb Asim, Deputy Director (NS&TD) Dr. M. M. Asim joined NS&TD in June 2017 as Deputy Director NS&TD. He has vast

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experience on material characterizations techniques, especially XRD, DSC and AFM. He got his PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad in 1996. He successfully completed a number of projects, earlier working for Institute of Industrial Control Systems. One of his hallmark project is rehabilitation of the Sonar System for Pakistan Navy. He also has a good experience of holding workshops and symposia, and presently he is also working as secretary ISAM. v. Dr. Saifullah, Pr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) Dr. Saifullah joined NS&TD in June 2017, as a Pr. Scientific Officer. He worked on development of hard/soft magnetic materials, multiferroics, superconductors, metal nitride coatings, EM sheet forming, shape memory alloy and thermoelectric materials. He was awarded M. Phil degree from CIIT in 1992 and PhD degree from QAU Islamabad in 2010 respectively. He was awarded research productivity award for the year 2013 from CIIT. He won the Best Oral Presentation Award in ISAM-2009 and 2011. He is currently working as group leader of energy materials at NS&TD, NCP Islamabad. He has published 80 research papers in international and national journals and proceedings. vi. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Mirza, Pr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) Dr. Muhammad Saleem Mirza joined NS&TD as a Principal Scientific Officer in June 2017. He worked as Scientific Officer from 1998 to 2004, and then as group leader for Pak Navy SONAR-R&D projects from 2005-2010 at IICS. His research interest includes; piezoelectric ceramics, polymers, and composites materials and their applications in sensors and actuator applications. He received MSc and PhD degrees from Punjab University and PIEAS in 1996 and 2015, respectively. Dr. Mirza is currently, working as group leader for Smart Materials at NS&TD. His present interests are piezoelectric materials and their energy harvesting applications. vii. Mr. Adeel Aleem, Sr. Scientific Officer (NS&TD) Mr. Muhammad Adeel Aleem joined NS&TD in June 2017, as Senior Scientific Officer. He started his career by simulating the propagation mechanism of poisonous gasses. He worked for several years on development of commercial scale piezoelectric crystals for Pak Navy, and developed indigenous technology for the same. He possesses expertise in the area of Impedance Spectroscopy. He received M.Sc. degree from UET, Lahore and M.Phil. from PIEAS in 2007 and 2009, respectively. His research interests include materials physics, computational physics and high energy particle beams. Currently, Mr. Adeel is investigating field emission properties of Carbon Nanotubes. viii. Dr. Zeeshan Adeel Umar, Sr. Scientific Officer (ALPD) Dr. Zeeshan Adeel Umar joined Atomic and Laser Physics Department (ALPD) as Senior Scientific Officer on August 21, 2017. He secured his PhD degree on Carbon based hard coatings/ thin films from GC University Lahore, Pakistan in 2015. He also spent six months (2011-2012) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore under the International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP) during his PhD, where he carried out some part of his PhD research. He has performed significant research work in

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the field of thin films coatings and published 18 research articles in journals of international repute. He also worked as IPFP fellow and afterwards as Post-Doc fellow in the Atomic and Laser Physics Department, National Centre for Physics (NCP) during 2015-2017. ix. Mr. Jawad Ali (SO Physics), Mr. Sajjad Hussain (SO Electronics), Ms. Saba Tabassam (SO Physics), Ms. Irum Munir (SO Physics), Mr. Kaleem Ullah (ATO Mech.), Mr. Ali Safdar (EA HVAC), Mr. Kamran Khan (EA Mech.) Mr. Abid Irshad (Tech-III), Mr. Ammar Talib (Skilled MP), Mr. Asad Ali (Skilled MP), Mr. M. Abdullah Khan (Skilled MP) and Tufail Ahmad (Un- Skilled MP) Joined NINVAST in the subject period. x. Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal, Assistant Manager Business Development (CAAD) Mr. Sarfraz Iqbal has joined CAAD Department as Assistant Manager Business Development on 7th September, 2017. He has been working in the field Sales and Marketing for technology products & solutions for more than 10 Years.

Farewell

i. Mr. Babar Rashied retired from NINVAST on May 10, 2017. ii. Mirza Sohail Baig (PSO) NINVAST retired on his superannuation on September 24, 2017. 8. News Updates a. Ground Breaking Ceremony of CES Building Ground Breaking Ceremony of the new building for Centre for Earthquake Studies held on July 17, 2017. On this occasion, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad (N.I., H.I., S.I.) Chairman BoG NCP, Mr. Muhammad Naeem Chairman PAEC, former Chairmen PAEC and Member (Technical) attended the ceremony. b. Promotions ƒƒ Dr. Muhammad Sultan (NS&TD) promoted as PSO (SPS-10) w.e.f. December 1, 2017. ƒƒ Dr. Shahzad Abu Bakar (NS&TD) promoted as SSO (SPS-9) w.e.f. December 1, 2017. ƒƒ Mr. Naeem Khan (NS&TD) promoted as SEA (SPS-5) w.e.f. December 1, 2017. ƒƒ Mr. Muhammad Rameez (Tech-IV), Mr. Muhammad Waqas (Tech-IV), Mr. Faizan Afzal (Tech-IV) and Mr. Jahangir Ahmed (GA-II) have been promoted to next grades during 2017. 9. NCP Sports Gala 2017 NCP Sports Gala was held at NCP from February 13 to March 3, 2017. Dr. Minhaj Us Siraj, Deputy Director Ministry of Health, Islamabad was the guest of honor at opening ceremony. He congratulated NCP for organizing this healthy activity. Following games were organized for male/ female officials at NCP campus: -

a. Cricket b. Badminton c. Table Tennis d. Foot Ball

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e. Volley Ball f. Sack Race g. Tug of War h. Shot put i. Push Ups j. Ladies Walk

A large number of NCP employees participated in the sports gala with enthusiasm and enjoyed this healthy activity. The closing and prize distribution ceremony was held on April 13, 2017 at NCP Auditorium. As Chief Guest, DG NCP addressed the participants and appreciated the employees on making this event a success by participating in different categories of sports. Trophies & medals distributed among the winning teams/ individuals. Details of winners & runner ups in different categories are as following:

S. No. Game Winner Runner up

1. Cricket NCP Tigers NCP Warriors

2. Football NANO Club IT Club

3. Volley Ball IT Stars Security Club

4. Tug of War (Female) Glorious Ladies NCP Fusion

5. Tug of War (Male) NINVAST NCP Power Club

6. Shot Put Raja Mukhtar Tanzeel Ahmed

7. Badminton Single (Male) Farrukh Ijaz Dr. Waheed Akram

8. Badminton Double (Male) Farrukh Ijaz & Dr. Waheed Imdad Ali & Taseer

9. Badminton Single (Female) Kaneez Fatima Sidra Parveen

10. Table Tennis Single (Male) Naimat Ullah Khan Farrukh Ijaz

11. Table Tennis Double(Male) Naimat Ullah Khan & Adnan Idress & Farrukh Ijaz Adeel ur Rehman

12. Table Tennis Single (Female) Kaneez Fatima Sidra Parveen

13. Race 100M M Hasheer M Waqas

14. Sack Race Dr. Ahmed Shahid Abbas

15. Push-Ups Rizwan Akram Mr Zahir

16. Ladies Walk Sidra Parveen Sahana Mukhtar

Dr. Waheed & Kamran 17. Card Play Nawaz Ashiq Ali & M Kamran

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Glimpses of Sports Gala -2017

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10. Appendices 10.1 Publications in International Journals During the year 2017, the NCP researchers published a total of two hundred & eighty-five (285) research papers with 974.876 impact factor in journals of international repute while twelve (12) papers were presented in different conferences and two (2) books are published, as well as three (3) papers were included in books as chapters. Department-wise list of publications is as following: Experimental High Energy Physics 1. W. Ahmed, S. Muhammad, G. Saviano, et. al., “The Triple GEM Detector Control System for CMS forward muon spectrometer upgrade”, J. Instrum. 12, P02003, (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/12/02/P02003, IF: 1.22

2. D. Abbaneo, M. Abbas, M. Abbrescia, M. Abi Akl, O. Aboamer, D. Acosta, A. Ahmad, W. Ahmed, et.al, “R&D on a new type of micropattern gaseous detector: The Fast Timing Micropattern detector”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A. 845, 313-317 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. nima.2016.05.067, IF: 1.362

3. D. Abbaneo, M. Abbas, M. Abbrescia, M. Abi Akl, O. Aboamer, D. Acosta, A. Ahmad, W. Ahmed, et.al., “Overview of large area triple-GEM detectors for the CMS forward muon upgrade”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A. 845, 298-303 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.127, IF: 1.362

4. Measurement of the cross section for electroweak production of Zγ in association with two jets and constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings in proton-proton collisions at s= √ 8 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 770, 380-402 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.04.071, IF: 4.807

5. Measurement of prompt and nonprompt J/ψ production in pp and pPb collisions at sNN√= 5.02 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 269 (2017), IF: 5.331

6. Search for single production of vector-like quarks decaying to a Z boson and a top or a bottom quark in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 05, 029 (2017), IF: 6.063

7. Mechanical stability of the CMS strip tracker measured with a laser alignment system, J. Instrum. 12, P04023 (2017), IF: 1.22

8. Search for heavy neutrinos or third-generation leptoquarks in final states with two hadronically decaying τ leptons and two jets in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 1703, 077 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep03(2017)077, IF: 6.063

9. Search for single production of a heavy vector-like T quark decaying to a Higgs boson and a top quark with a lepton and jets in the final state, Phys. Lett. B 771, 80-105 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.05.019, IF: 4.807

10. Search for anomalous couplings in boosted WW/WZ→ℓνqq¯ production in proton-proton collisions at s=√8 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 772, 21-42 (2017), IF: 4.807

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11. Measurement of the top quark mass using single top quark events in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 354, (2017), IF: 5.331

12. Search for high-mass Zγ resonances in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 and 13 TeV using jet substructure techniques, Phys. Lett. B 772, 363-387, (2017), IF: 4.807

13. Measurement of electroweak-induced production of Wγ with two jets in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV and constraints on anomalous quartic gauge couplings, J. High Energy Phys. 6(106), (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep06(2017)106, IF: 6.063

14. Search for heavy gauge W’ bosons in events with an energetic lepton and large missing transverse momentum at s=√ 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 770 278-301, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.04.043, IF: 4.807

15. Search for massive resonances decaying into WW, WZ or ZZ bosons in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 03, 162, (2017), IF: 6.063

16. Search for electroweak production of a vector-like quark decaying to a top quark and a Higgs boson using boosted topologies in fully hadronic final states, J. High Energy Phys. 04,136, (2017), IF: 6.063

17. Searches for pair production of third-generation squarks in s=√13 TeV pp collisions, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 327 (2017), IF: 5.331

18. Search for CP violation in tt¯ production and decay in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. (2017) 3, 101, DOI: 10.1007/jhep03(2017)101, IF: 6.063

19. Search for supersymmetry in events with photons and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 769, 391-412, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.04.005, IF: 4.807

20. Search for heavy resonances decaying to tau lepton pairs in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 02, 48, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep02(2017)048, IF: 6.063

21. Measurement of the tt¯ production cross section using events in the eμ final state in pp collisions at s√= 13 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77 (3), 172, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017- 4718-8, IF: 5.331

22. Measurements of differential production cross sections for a Z boson in association with jets in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 04, 022, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/ jhep04(2017)022, IF: 6.063

23. Relative modification of prompt ψ (2S) and J/ψ yields from pp to PbPb collisions at sNN=√ 5.02 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 162301, (2017), IF: 8.462

24. Charged-particle nuclear modification factors in PbPb and pPb collisions at NNs =√ 5.02 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 04, 039, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep04(2017)039, IF: 6.063

25. A search for new phenomena in pp collisions at s=√ 13 TeV in final states with missing

transverse momentum and at least one jet using the αT variable, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 294, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-4787-8, IF: 5.331

26. Searches for invisible decays of the Higgs boson in pp collisions at s=√ 7, 8, and 13 TeV , J.

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High Energy Phys. 02, 135, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep02(2017)135, IF: 6.063

27. Search for heavy resonances decaying into a vector boson and a Higgs boson in final states with charged leptons, neutrinos, and b quarks, Phys. Lett. B 768, 137-162, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.02.040, IF: 4.807

28. Observation of Υ(1S) pair production in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 05, 013, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep05(2017)013, IF: 6.063

29. Search for R-parity violating supersymmetry with displaced vertices in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 95, 012009, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.012009, IF: 4.568

30. Search for electroweak production of charginos in final states with two τ leptons in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 04, 018, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep04(2017)018, IF: 6.063

31. Search for top quark decays via Higgs-boson-mediated flavor-changing neutral currents in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 02, 79, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep02(2017)079, IF: 6.063

32. Measurements of differential cross sections for associated production of a W boson and jets in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 95, 052002, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevD.95.052002, IF: 4.568

33. Search for anomalous Wtb couplings and flavour-changing neutral currents in t-channel single top quark production in pp collisions at s=√ 7 and 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 02, 28, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep02(2017)028, IF: 6.063

34. Search for high-mass Zγ resonances in e+e−γ and μ+μ−γ final states in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 and 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 01, 076, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/ jhep01(2017)076, IF: 6.063

35. Suppression and azimuthal anisotropy of prompt and nonprompt J/ψ production in PbPb

collisions at sNN=√ 5.02 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 252, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017- 4781-1, IF: 5.331

36. Observation of charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in pPb collisions and its implication for the search for the chiral magnetic effect, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 122301, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.122301, IF: 8.462

37. Search for supersymmetry in events with one lepton and multiple jets in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 95, 012011, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.012011, IF: 4.568

38. Measurement of the WZ production cross section in pp collisions at s=√ 7 and 8 TeV and search for anomalous triple gauge couplings at s=√ 8 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 236, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-4730-z, IF: 5.331

39. Search for narrow resonances in dilepton mass spectra in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 13 TeV and combination with 8 TeV data, Phys. Lett. B 768, 57-80 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.02.010, IF: 4.807

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40. Measurement and QCD analysis of double-differential inclusive jet cross-sections in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV and ratios to 2.76 and 7 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 03, 156 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep03(2017)156, IF: 6.063

41. Search for high-mass diphoton resonances in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV and combination with 8 TeV search, Phys. Lett. B 767, 147-170, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.01.027, IF: 4.807

42. The CMS trigger system, J. Instrum. 12, P01020, 1748-0221 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1748- 0221/12/01/p01020, IF: 1.22

43. Measurement of the production cross section of a W boson in association with two b jets in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 92, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-016- 4573-z, IF: 5.331

44. Measurement of the WZ production cross section in pp collisions at s=√ 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 766, 268-290, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.01.011, IF: 4.807

45. Observation of the decay B+→ψ(2S)Φ(1020)K+ in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 764, 66, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2016.11.001, IF: 4.807

46. Evidence for collectivity in pp collisions at the LHC, Phys. Lett. B 765 193-220, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2016.12.009, IF: 4.807

47. Measurement of the transverse momentum spectra of weak vector bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 02, 96, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/ jhep02(2017)096, IF: 6.063

48. Measurement of the transverse momentum spectrum of the Higgs boson produced in pp collisions at s=√ 8 TeV using H→WW decays, J. High Energy Phys. 1703, 032, (2017) IF: 6.063

49. Search for dark matter and supersymmetry with a compressed mass spectrum in the vector boson fusion topology in proton-proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 021802, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.021802, IF: 8.462

50. Search for top squark pair production in compressed-mass-spectrum scenarios in proton-

proton collisions at s=√ 8 TeV using the αT variable, Phys. Lett. B 767, 403-430, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.02.007, IF: 4.807

51. Multiplicity and rapidity dependence of strange hadron production in pp, pPb, and PbPb collisions at the LHC, Phys. Lett. B 768, 103-129, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.01.075, IF: 4.807

52. Measurements of the tt¯ production cross section in lepton+jets final states in pp collisions at 8 TeV and ratio of 8 to 7 TeV cross sections, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 15, (2017), IF: 5.331

53. Observation of top quark production in proton-nucleus collisions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 242001, (2017), IF: 8.462

54. Search for evidence of the type-III seesaw mechanism in multilepton final states in proton- proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 221802, (2017), IF: 8.462

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55. Principal-component analysis of two-particle azimuthal correlations in PbPb and pPb collisions at CMS, Phys. Rev. C 96, 064902, (2017), IF: 3.82

56. Measurement of vector boson scattering and constraints on anomalous quartic couplings from events with four leptons and two jets in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 774, 682-705, (2017), IF: 4.807

57. Search for a light pseudoscalar Higgs boson produced in association with bottom quarks in pp collisions at √ s =8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 1711, 010, (2017), IF: 6.063

58. Measurement of the differential cross sections for the associated production of a W boson and jets in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 072005, (2017), IF: 4.568

59. Search for heavy resonances that decay into a vector boson and a Higgs boson in hadronic final states at √ s =13 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 636, (2017), DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017- 5192-z, IF: 5.331

60. Constraints on anomalous Higgs boson couplings using production and decay information in the four-lepton final state,Phys. Lett. B 775, 1, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.10.021, IF: 4.807

61. A search for Higgs boson pair production in the bbtautau final state in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 072004, (2017), IF: 4.568

62. Measurement of charged pion, kaon, and proton production in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 112003, (2017), IF: 4.568

63. Search for electroweak production of charginos and neutralinos in WH events in proton- proton collisions at √ s =13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 11, 029, (2017), IF: 6.063

64. Measurements of properties of the Higgs boson decaying into the four-lepton final state in pp collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 11, 047, (2017), IF: 6.063

65. Search for a heavy composite Majorana neutrino in the final state with two leptons and two quarks at √ s =13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 775, 315-337, (2017), IF: 4.807

66. Measurement of the semileptonic tt¯+γ production cross section in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 006, (2017), IF: 6.063

67. Measurements of jet charge with dijet events in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 131, (2017), IF: 6.063

68. Particle-flow reconstruction and global event description with the CMS detector, J. Instrum. 12, P10003, (2017), IF: 1.22

69. Search for top squark pair production in pp collisions at √ s =13 TeV using single lepton events, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 019, (2017), IF: 6.063

70. Searches for W’ bosons decaying to a top quark and a bottom quark in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 08, 029, 1-42, (2017), IF: 6.063

71. Search for new physics in the monophoton final state in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 073, (2017), IF: 6.063

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72. Search for pair production of vector-like T and B quarks in single-lepton final states using boosted jet substructure techniques at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 11, 085, (2017), IF: 6.063

73. Search for dark matter produced in association with heavy-flavor quarks in proton-proton collisions at √ s =13 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 845, (2017), IF: 5.331

74. Search for top quark partners with charge 5/3 in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 08, 073, (2017), IF: 6.063

75. Search for low mass vector resonances decaying to quark-antiquark pairs in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 111802, (2017), IF: 8.462

76. Combination of searches for heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 and 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 774, 533-558, (2017) IF: 4.807

77. Measurement of B± mesons differential production cross sections in pp and PbPb collisions

at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 152301, (2017), IF: 8.462 78. Search for supersymmetry in pp collisions at √ s = 13 TeV in the single-lepton final state using the sum of masses of large-radius jets, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 151802, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.151802, IF: 8.462

79. Search for new phenomena with the MT2 variable in the all-hadronic final state produced in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 710, (2017), IF: 5.331

80. Search for charged Higgs bosons produced in vector boson fusion processes and decaying into a pair of W and Z bosons using proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 141802, (2017), IF: 8.462

81. Measurement of the triple-differential dijet cross section in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV and constraints on parton distribution functions, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 746, (2017), IF: 5.331

82. Search for black holes and other new phenomena in high-multiplicity final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 774 (2017) 279-307, DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.09.053, IF: 4.807

83. Search for supersymmetry in multijet events with missing transverse momentum in proton- proton collisions at 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 032003, (2017), IF: 4.568

84. Search for physics beyond the standard model in events with two leptons of same sign, missing transverse momentum, and jets in proton-proton collisions at √ s =13 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 578, (2017), IF: 5.331

85. Measurement of the top quark mass in the dileptonic ttbar decay channel using the mass observables Mbl, MT2, and Mblv in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 032002, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.96.032002, IF: 4.568

86. Search for t t-bar resonances in highly boosted lepton+jets and fully hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07, 001, (2017), IF: 6.063

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87. Measurements of the pp →Wγγ and pp →Zγγ cross sections and limits on anomalous quartic gauge couplings at √ s =8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 072, (2017), IF: 6.063

88. Search for new physics with dijet angular distributions in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07, 013, (2017), IF: 6.063

89. Search for a heavy resonance decaying to a top quark and a vector-like top quark at √ s =13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 09, 053, (2017), IF: 6.063

90. Measurement of the jet mass in highly boosted tt¯ events from pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77 467, (2017), IF: 5.331

91. Search for associated production of dark matter with a Higgs boson decaying to bb or γγ at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 180, (2017), IF: 6.063

92. Search for third-generation scalar leptoquarks and heavy right-handed neutrinos in final states with two tau leptons and two jets in proton-proton collisions at √ s =13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07, 121, (2017), IF: 6.063

93. Measurement of double-differential cross sections for top quark pair production in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV and impact on parton distribution functions, Eur. Phys. J. C 77, 459, (2017), IF: 5.331

94. Search for dark matter produced with an energetic jet or a hadronically decaying W or Z boson at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07, 014, (2017), IF: 6.063

95. Search for associated production of a Z boson with a single top quark and for tZ flavour- changing interactions in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 07, 003, (2017), IF: 6.063

96. Study of jet quenching with Z+jet correlations in PbPb and pp collisions at √ sNN = 5.02 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 082301, (2017), IF: 8.462

97. Measurement of the inclusive energy spectrum in the very forward direction in proton- proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 08, 046, (2017), IF: 6.063

98. Search for single production of vector-like quarks decaying into a b quark and a W boson in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 772, 634-656, (2017), IF: 4.807

99. Search for new phenomena with multiple charged leptons in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77 (2017) 9, 635, DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5182-1, IF: 5.331

100. Measurement of the t(t)over-bar production cross section using events with one lepton and at least one jet in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. (2017) 9, 051, DOI: 10.1007/jhep09(2017)051, IF: 6.063

101. Search for light bosons in decays of the 125 GeV Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. 10, 076, (2017), DOI: 10.1007/jhep10(2017)076, IF: 6.063

102. Search for supersymmetry in the all-hadronic final state using top quark tagging in pp collisions at √ s = 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96, 012004, (2017), DOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevD.96.012004, IF: 4.568

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103. Search for leptophobic Z’ bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at √ s = 8 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 773, 563, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.08.069, IF: 4.807

104. M. Khan, T. Aslam, H. Shahzad and H. Omer, “Line Profile Measure as a Stopping Criterion in CG-SENSE Algorithm”, Appl. Magn. Reson. 48(2017) 3, 227-240, DOI: 10.1007/s00723- 017-0860-6, IF: 0.864

105. Measurement of the mass difference between top quark and antiquark in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 770 (2017) 50-71, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.04.028, IF: 4.807

106. Measurement of differential cross sections for top quark pair production using the lepton plus jets final state in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 95 (2017) 9, 092001, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.092001, IF: 4.568

107. Measurements of the associated production of a Z boson and b jets in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV, Eur. Phys. J. C 77 (2017) 11, 751, DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5140-y, IF: 5.331

108. Measurement of the differential inclusive B+ hadron cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13TeV, Phys. Lett. B 771 (2017) 435-456, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.05.074, IF: 4.807

109. Pseudorapidity dependence of long-range two-particle correlations in pPb collisions at root

sNN=5.02 TeV, Phys. Rev. C 96 (2017) 1, 014915, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.96.014915, IF: 3.82 110. Jet energy scale and resolution in the CMS experiment in pp collisions at 8 TeV, J. Instrum. 12 (2017) P02014, DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/12/02/p02014, IF: 1.22

111. Measurements of the t(t)over-bar production cross section in lepton plus jets final states in pp collisions at 8 and ratio of 8 to 7 cross sections, Eur. Phys. J. C 77 (2017) 1, 15, 1-27, DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-4504-z, IF: 5.331

112. Coherent J/psi photoproduction in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV with the CMS experiment, Phys. Lett. B 772 (2017) 489-511, DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.07.001, IF: 4.807

113. Measurement of inclusive jet cross sections in pp and PbPb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV, Phys. Rev. C 96 (2017) 1, 015202, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.96.015202, IF: 3.82

114. Suppression of gamma(1S), gamma(2S), and gamma(3S) quarkonium states in PbPb collisions

at root SNN=2.76TeV, Phys. Lett. B 770 (2017) 357-379, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.04.031, IF: 4.807

115. Inclusive search for supersymmetry using razor variables in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 95 (2017) 1, 012003, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.012003, IF: 4.568

116. Search for supersymmetry in events with at least one photon, missing transverse momentum, and large transverse event activity in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. (2017) 12, 142, DOI: 10.1007/jhep12(2017)142, IF: 6.063

117. Search for direct production of super symmetric partners of the top quark in the all-jets final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. (2017) 10, 005, DOI: 10.1007/jhep10(2017)005, IF: 6.063

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118. Search for standard model production of four top quarks in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 772 (2017) 336-358, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.06.064, IF: 4.807

119. Search for Higgs boson pair production in the bb tau state in proton-proton collisions at root(s)=8 TeV, Phys. Rev. D 96 (2017) 7, 072004, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.96.072004, IF: 4.568

120. Measurement of the semileptonic t(t)over-bar + gamma production cross section in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV, J. High Energy Phys. (2017) 10, 006, DOI: 10.1007/jhep10(2017)006, IF: 6.063

121. Measurements of the charm jet cross section and nuclear modification factor in pPb collisions

at root sNN=5.02TeV, Phys. Lett. B 772 (2017) 306-329, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.06.053, IF: 4.807

122. Cross section measurement of t-channel single top quark production in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, Phys. Lett. B 772 (2017) 752-776, DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.07.047, IF: 4.807

123. Measurement of the B-+/- Meson Nuclear Modification Factor in Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119 (2017) 15, 152301, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.152301, IF: 8.462

124. Search for dijet resonances in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV and constraints on dark matter and other models, Phys. Lett. B 769 (2017) 520-542, DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.02.012, IF: 4.807 Theoretical Physics 1. M. Misiak, A. Rehman, M. Steinhauser, “NNLO QCD counterterm contributions to B¯→ Xs γ for the physical value of mc”, Phys. Lett. B 770, 431-439 (2017) , DOI: 10.1016/j. physletb.2017.05.008, IF: 4.807

2. J. Mello, K. Tsushima and I. Ahmed, “In-Medium Pion Valence Distributions in a Light- Front Model’’, Phys. Lett. B 766, 125- 131 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2017.01.004, IF: 4.807

3. I. Naeem, S. Ali, P. H. Sakanaka, and A. M. Mirza, “Formation of solitary waves and oscillatory shocklets in a two-temperature electron Kappa- distributed plasma”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 042109 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4979675, IF: 2.115

4. M. Irfan, S. Ali, and A. M. Mirza, “Solitary waves in a degenerate relativistic plasma with ionic pressure anisotropy and electron trapping effects”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 052108 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4981932, IF: 2.115

5. S. A. El-Tantawy, S. Ali, R. Maroof, A. M. Wazwaz, S. K. El-Labany, “On the super freak waves in multicomponent plasmas having two-negative ions: Xe+− F−− SF6− and Ar+− F−− SF6− plasmas”, Indian J. Phys. 91, 939 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s12648-017-0982-6, IF: 0.988

6. S. Ali and B. Eliasson, “Slow test charge response in a dusty plasma with Kappa distributed electrons and ions”, Phys. Scripta 92, 084003 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1402-4896/aa7c09, IF: 1.28

7. M. A. Rehman, R. Jahangir, W. Masood, and H. A. Shah, “Obliquely propagating electromagnetic excitations in dissipative plasmas with relativistically degenerate electrons”,

122 Annual Report 2017

Phys. Plasmas 24, 062310 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4986112, IF: 2.115

8. M. J. Iqbal, W. Masood, H. A. Shah and N. L. Tsintsadze, “Nonlinear density excitations in electron-positron-ion plasmas with electron trapping in a quantizing magnetic field”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 014503 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4973830, IF: 2.115 9. W. Masood, N. Hamid, I. Ilyas and M. Siddiq, “Nonlinear dissipative and dispersive electrostatic structures in unmagnetized relativistic electron-ion plasma with warm ions and trapped electrons”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 062308 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4985316, IF: 2.115 10. A. Sabeen, W. Masood, M. N. S. Qureshi and H. A. Shah, “Nonlinear coupling of kinetic Alfven waves with acoustic waves in a self-gravitating dusty plasma with adiabatic trapping”, Phys. Plasmas, 24, 073704 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4990700, IF: 2.115 11. Q. Haque, S. Ali, H. Rizvi and A.M. Mirza, “Large and small amplitude compressional Alfvénic shocks in an electron depleted dusty plasma”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 063704 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4985660, IF: 2.115 12. S. Bukhari, S. Ali, M. Rafique and J. T. Mendonca, “Twisted electrostatic waves in a self- gravitating dusty plasma”, Contributions to Plasma Physics 57, 404 (2017), DOI: 10.1002/ ctpp.201700063, IF: 1.44

13. S. Ali, I. Naeem and A. M. Mirza, “Large-amplitude dust acoustic shocklets in non- Maxwellian dusty plasmas”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 103706 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.4990148, IF: 2.115

14. Ch. Rozina, S. Ali, N. Maryam, and N. Amina, “Parametric instabilities in a quantum magnetoplasma with electron exchange correlations”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 102312 (2017). DOI: 10.1063/1.5004690, IF: 2.115

15. M. Ikram, A. Mushtaq and S. Ali, “Microwave transmission efficiency and simulations of electron plasma in ELTRAP device”, Phys. Plasmas 24, 112507 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.5011418, IF: 2.115

16. H. Saleem and S. Ali, “Solar wind interaction with dusty plasmas produces instabilities and solitary structures”, Astrophys. Space Sci. 362(12), 238 (2017) DOI: 10.1007/s10509-017- 3217-6, IF: 1.622

17. S. A. Khan, “Vortex type oscillations in a multi-component plasma”, Results Phys. 7, 4065 (2017), DOI: DOI: 10.1016/j.rinp.2017.10.020, IF: 0.946

18. S. Ahmad, Ata-ur-Rahman, S. A. Khan and F. Hadi, “Damped Kadomtsev-Petviashvili Equation for Weakly Dissipative Solitons in Dense Relativistic Degenerate Plasma”, Commun. Theor. Phys. 68, 783 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/0253-6102/68/6/783, IF: 0.989

19. Gul-e Ali, A. Ahmad, W. Masood and A. M. Mirza, “Linear and nonlinear coupling of electrostatic drift and acoustic perturbations in a nonuniform bi-ion plasma with non- Maxwellian electrons”, Braz. J. Phys. 47, 617 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s13538-017-0527-7, IF: 0.732

20. W. Masood, A. Faryal and M. Siddiq, “Study of parametric regime for the formation of nonlinear structures in pair-ion electron plasmas beyond the KdV limit”, Phys. Plasmas, 24, 102304 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.5002696, IF: 2.115

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21. M. U. Malik, W. Masood and A. M. Mirza, “Unique features of parallel whistler instability in a plasma with anisotropic Cairns distribution”, Phys. Plasmas, 24, 102120 (2017) DOI: 10.1063/1.4998774, IF: 2.115

22. Fayyazuddin, “Two-body hadronic decays Lambda(b) (1/2)+ -> B* (3/2) + P in a quark model”, Phys. Rev. D 95(2017) 5, 053008, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.053008, IF: 4.568 23. Fayyazuddin and M. J. Aslam, “Hadronic weak decay B-b(1/2(+)) -> B(1/2(+),3/2(+)) + V”, Phys. Rev. D 95(2017) 11, 113002, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.113002, IF: 4.568 24. G. Ali, W. Masood and A. M. Mirza, “Shear-flow driven dissipative instability and investigation of nonlinear drift-vortex modes in dusty plasmas with non-thermal ion population”, Phys. Plasmas 24(2017) 12, 123701, DOI: 10.1063/1.5001478, IF: 2.115 25. M. A. Wasay, “Nonreciprocal wave transmission through an extended discrete nonlinear Schrodinger dimer”, Phys. Rev. E 96(2017) 5, 052218, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.96.052218, IF: 2.366 26. M. A. Wasay and A. Bashir, “Two particle entanglement and its geometric duals”, Eur. Phys. J. C 77(2017) 12, 820, DOI: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5399-z, IF: 5.331 27. M. A. Wasay, A. Bashir, B. Koch and A. Ghaffar, “Geometric description of the Schrodinger equation in (3n+1)-dimensional configuration space”, Int. J. Geom. Methods Mod. Phys. 14(2017) 10, 1750149, DOI: 10.1142/s0219887817501493, IF: 1.068 Nanoscience and Technology 1. M. Bibi, S. M. Abbas, N. Ahmad, “Microwaves absorbing characteristics of metal Ferrite/ Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes nanocomposites in X-band”, Compos. Pt. B-Eng.114, 139-148 (2017), IF: 4.727

2. N. Shahzad, D. Pugliese, V. Cauda, M. I. Shahzad, Z. Shah, M.A. Baig, E. Tresso, “Comparative spectroscopic approach for the dye loading optimization of sheet-like ZnO photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells, J. Photochem. Photobiol. A-Chem., 337,192-197 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2017.01.011, IF: 2.625

3. J. Ahmad, S. H. Bukhari, M. T. Jamil, H. Ahmad, and T. Sultan, “Lattice dynamics and

transport properties of multiferroic DyMn2O5”, Adv. Condens. Matter Phys. 5, 38-42 (2017), DOI: 10.1155/2017/5389573, IF: 1.044

4. M. T. Jamil, J. Ahmad, S. H. Bukhari, H. Ahmad, G. Murtaza, “Atmospheric Pressure Glow Discharge (APGD) plasma generation and surface modification of aluminum and silicon Si (100)”. Dig. J. Nanomater. Biostruct. 12, 2, 595 – 604 (2017), IF: 0.836

5. M. T. Jamil, J. Ahmad, S. H. Bukhari, H. Ahmad, G. Murtaza, “Effect on structural and

optical properties of ZnO substituted cobalt ferrite CoFe2O4 ”, J. Ovonic Res. 13, 1, 45 – 53 (2017), IF: 0.698

6. N. R. Khalid, , E. Ahmed, N.A. Niaz, G. Nabi, M. Ahmad, M. B. Tahir, M. Rafique, M.

Rizwan, Y. Khan, “Highly visible light responsive metal loaded N/TiO2 nanoparticles

for photocatalytic conversion of CO2 into methane”, Ceram. Int. 6771–6777 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.02.093, IF: 2.986

7. S. T. Muntha, A. Kausar, M. Siddiq, “A review featuring fabrication, properties, and

124 Annual Report 2017

application of polymeric mixed matrix membrane reinforced with different fillers”, Polym.- Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(18), 2043-2064 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2017.1298801, IF: 1.232

8. A. Kausar, “State-of-the-art overview on polymer/poss nanocomposite, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(13), 1401-1420 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1276592, IF: 1.232

9. A. Kausar, I. Rafique, B. Muhammad, “Aerospace application of polymer nanocomposite with carbon nanotube, graphite, graphene oxide, and nanoclay”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(13), 1438-1456 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1276594, IF: 1.232

10. A. Kausar, “Phase inversion technique-based polyamide films and their applications: a comprehensive review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(13), 1421-1437 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1276593, IF: 1.232

11. A. Kausar, “Emerging research trends in polyurethane/graphene nanocomposite: a review, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(13), 1468-1486 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1277240, IF: 1.232

12. A. Kausar, “Review on technological significance of photoactive, electroactive, pH-sensitive, water-active, and thermoresponsive polyurethane materials”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (6), 606-616 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233279, IF: 1.232

13. A Afzal, A. Kausar, M Siddiq, “Review highlighting physical prospects of styrenic polymer and styrenic block copolymer reinforced with carbon nanotube”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (6), 573-593 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233276, IF: 1.232

14. A. Kausar, “Advances in polymer/fullerene nanocomposite: a review on essential features and applications”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (6), 594-605 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233278, IF: 1.232

15. A. Kausar, “Research progress in frontiers of poly (ionic liquid) s: a review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 1-16 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2017.1289410, IF: 1.232

16. A. Kausar, H Ilyas, M Siddiq, “Current research status and application of polymer/carbon nanofiller bucky paper: a review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56(16), 1780-1800 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2017.1289407, IF: 1.232

17. A. Kausar, I Rafique, B Muhammad, “Significance of carbon nanotube in flame-retardant polymer/CNT composite: a review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (5), 470-487 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233267, IF: 1.232

18. A. Kausar, Z. Anwar, B Muhammad, “Overview of nonflammability characteristics of graphene and graphene oxide-based polymeric composite and essential flame retardancy techniques”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (5), 488-505 (2017), IF: 1.232

19. S. T. Muntha, A. Kausar, M Siddiq, “Functional polymeric membrane containing inorganic nanoparticle: recent advances and applications”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (4), 364-381 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233275, IF: 1.232

20. A. Kausar, I Rafique, B Muhammad, “Electromagnetic interference shielding of polymer/ nanodiamond, polymer/carbon nanotube, and polymer/nanodiamond–carbon nanotube nanobifiller composite: a review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (4), 347-363 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233273, IF: 1.232

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21. A. Kausar, “Progression from polyimide to polyimide composite in proton-exchange membrane fuel cell: a review, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng.”, 56(13), 1375-1390 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1275688, IF: 1.232

22. I. Rafique,A. Kausar, B. Muhammad, “Fabrication and characterization of high-performance diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-a/ tetrabromobisphenol-a blend reinforced with multiwalled carbon nanotube composite”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (3), 321-333 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233255, IF: 1.232

23. Z. Akram, A. Kausar, M Siddiq, “Scrutinization of polystyrene microsphere-grafted multiwalled carbon nanotube and silver nanoparticle-based hybrids: morphology, thermal properties, and antibacterial activity”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng., 56 (2), 202-215 (2017), DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1211692, IF: 1.232

24. M. Zaman, M. Imran, A. Saleem, A. Kamboh, M. Arshad, N. A. Khan, P. Akhter, “Potassium

doped methyl ammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) thin films as a potential absorber for perovskite solar cells; structural, morphological, electronic and optoelectric property”, Physica B, 522 (2017) 57-65, DOI: 10.1016/j.physb.2017.07.067, IF:1.405

25. M. Sultan, S. Mumtaz, A. Ali, M. Y. Khan, T. Iqbal, “Band alignment and optical response of facile grown NiO/ZnO nano-heterojunctions”, Superlattices and Microstructures 112 210- 217, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.spmi.2017.09.019, IF 2.12

26. J. Mahar, A. Saeed, K. D. Belfield,A. Iqbal, M. Irfan, G. Shabir, F. A. Larik, P. A. Channar, “An investigation of the effect of conjugation on fluorene based chromophores; Optoelectronic and electrochemical behavior”, Dyes and Pigments 147 (2017) 385-392, DOI: 10.1016/j. dyepig.2017.08.019, IF: 3.473

27. S. Khan, M. A. Rasheed, M.A. Rafiq, G. B. Shah, W. Rehman, A. Jamil,Y. Khan, “Silanization of ZnO nanofibers by tetraethoxysilane”, J Appl Poly Sci, DOI: 10.1002/app.45378,IF: 1.860

28. A. Ali, S. K. Hasanain, T. Ali and M. Sultan, “Improvement of antimony sulfide photo absorber performance by interface modification in Sb2S3-ZnO hybrid nanostructures”, Physica E 87(2017), 20-26, DOI: 10.1016/j.physe.2016.11.002, IF: 2.221

29. S. D. Ali, I. N. Javed, U. A. Rana, M. F. Nazar, W. Ahmed, A. Junaid, M. Pasha, R. Nazir and R. Nazir, “Novel SrO-CaO Mixed Metal Oxides Catalyst for Ultrasonic-Assisted Transesterification of Jatropha Oil into Biodiesel”, Aust. J. Chem. 70(2017) 3, 258-264, DOI: 10.1071/ch16236, IF: 1.267

30. Z. H. Bakr, Q. Wali, A. Fakharuddin, L. Schmidt-Mende, T. M. Brown and R. Jose, “Advances in hole transport materials engineering for stable and efficient perovskite solar cells”, Nano Energy 34(2017), 271-305, DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.02.025, IF: 12.343

31. H. Hanif, S. Nazir, K. Mazhar, M. Waseem, S. Bano and U. Rashid, “Targeted delivery of mesoporous silica nanoparticles loaded monastrol into cancer cells: an in vitro study”, Appl. Nanosci. 7(2017) 8, 549-555, DOI: 10.1007/s13204-017-0593-8, IF: 3.325

32. S. Hussain, S. Ali, S. Shahzadi, M. Shahid, A. A. Tahir, S. M. Abbas, M. Riaz, I. Ahmad and I. Hussain, “Multinuclear (Sn/Pd) complexes with disodium 2,2 ‘-(dithiocarboxyazanediyl) diacetate hydrate; Synthesis, characterization and biological activities”, J. Coord. Chem. 70(2017) 24, 4070-4092, DOI: 10.1080/00958972.2017.1411908, IF: 1.795

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33. G. H. Jaffari, A. U. Rehman, A. M. Iqbal, M. S. Awan and M. Saleemi, “Extrinsic contributions to the dielectric response in sintered BaTiO3 nanostructures in paraelectric and ferroelectric regimes”, Physica B 525(2017), 70-77, DOI: 10.1016/j.physb.2017.07.057, IF: 1.405 34. A. Kausar, “Scientific potential of chitosan blending with different polymeric materials: A review”, J. Plast. Film Sheeting 33(2017) 4, 384-412, DOI: 10.1177/8756087916679691, IF: 1.250 35. A. Kausar, “Synthesis and properties of novel polystyrene/polyurea and functional graphene-based nanocomposite foams”, J. Cell. Plast. 53(2017) 3, 305-318, DOI: 10.1177/0021955x16652104, IF: 1.979 36. A. Kausar, “Adhesion, morphology, and heat resistance properties of polyurethane coated poly(methyl methacrylate)/fullerene-C-60 composite films”, Compos. Interfaces 24(2017) 7, 649-662, DOI: 10.1080/09276440.2017.1257251, IF: 1.083 37. A. Kausar, S. Haider and B. Muhammad, “Nanocomposite based on polystyrene/polyamide blend and bentonite: Morphology, thermal, and nonflammability properties”, Nanomater. Nanotechnol. 7(2017), DOI: 10.1177/1847980417702785, IF: 1.536 38. A. Kausar, S. Meer and T. Iqbal, “Structure, morphology, thermal, and electro-magnetic shielding properties of polystyrene microsphere/polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposite”, J. Plast. Film Sheeting 33(2017) 3, 262-289, DOI: 10.1177/8756087916663813, IF: 1.250 39. M. M. Kiyani, A. R. Memon, M. I. Amjad, M. R. Ameer, M. Sadiq and T. Mahmood, “Study of Human Biochemical Parameters During and After Ramadan”, J. Relig. Health 56(1), (2017), 55-62, DOI: 10.1007/s10943-015-0084-8, IF: 0.873 40. S. A. Maqbool, M. S. Mehmood, S. S. Mukhtar, M. A. Baluch, S. Khan, T. Yasin and Y. Khan, “Dielectric relaxation and ac conduction in gamma-irradiated UHMWPE/MWCNTs nano composites: Impedance spectroscopy analysis”, Radiat. Phys. Chem. 134(2017), 40-46, DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2017.01.020, IF: 1.315 41. S. T. Muntha, A. Kausar and M. Siddiq, “Advances in Polymeric Nanofiltration Membrane: A Review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 56(2017) 8, 841-856, DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233562, IF: 1.232 42. Fakharuddin, L. Schmidt-Mende, G. Garcia-Belmonte, R. Jose and I. Mora-Sero, “Interfaces in Perovskite Solar Cells”, Adv. Energy Mater. 7(2017) 22, 1700623, DOI: 10.1002/ aenm.201700623, IF: 16.721 43. S. Haider, A. Kausar and B. Muhammad, “Overview on Polystyrene/Nanoclay Composite: Physical Properties and Application”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 56(2017) 9, 917-931, DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1233563, IF: 1.232 44. A. Kausar, “Overview on conducting polymer in energy storage and energy conversion system”, J. Macromol. Sci. Part A-Pure Appl. Chem. 54(2017) 9, 640-653, DOI: 10.1080/10601325.2017.1317210, IF: 0.963 45. A. Kausar, “Survey on Langmuir-Blodgett Films of Polymer and Polymeric Composite”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 56(2017) 9, 932-945, DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1247282, IF: 1.232 46. A. Kausar, S. Ahmad and S. M. Salman, “Effectiveness of Polystyrene/Carbon Nanotube Composite in Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Materials: A Review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 56(2017) 10, 1027-1042, DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1266367, IF: 1.232

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47. M. Khan, A. Kausar and A. Saeed, “Research Advancement towards Polymer/Nanodiamond Composite in Buckypaper: A Review”, Polym.-Plast. Technol. Eng. 56(2017) 9, 946-965, DOI: 10.1080/03602559.2016.1247283, IF: 1.232 48. H. Nawaz, Z. Akhter and N. Iqbal, “Study of physicochemical properties of meta and ortho trifluoromethyl substituted isomeric aromatic polyimides”, Polym. Bull. 74(2017) 9, 3889- 3906, DOI: 10.1007/s00289-017-1927-0, IF: 1.430 49. M. T. Qamar, M. Aslam, Z. A. Rehan, M. T. Soomro, I. Ahmad, M. Ishaq, I. M. I. Ismail, P. Fornasiero and A. Hameed, “MoO3 altered ZnO: A suitable choice for the photocatalytic removal of chloro-acetic acids in natural sunlight exposure”, Chem. Eng. J. 330(2017), 322- 336, DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2017.07.168, IF: 6.216 50. M. T. Qamar, M. Aslam, Z. A. Rehan, M. T. Soomro, J. M. Basahi, I. M. I. Ismail, T. Almeelbi and A. Hameed, “The influence of p-type Mn3O4 nanostructures on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO for the removal of bromo and chlorophenol in natural sunlight exposure”, Appl. Catal. B-Environ. 201(2017), 105-118, DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2016.08.004, IF: 9.446 51. M. T. Qamar, M. Aslam, Z. A. Rehan, M. T. Soomro, J. M. Basahi, I. M. I. Ismail and A. Hameed, “The effect of Fe3+ based visible light receptive interfacial phases on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO for the removal of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid in natural sunlight exposure”, Sep. Purif. Technol. 172(2017), 512-528, DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2016.08.030, IF: 3.359 52. W. A. A. Syed, N. Rafiq, W. H. Shah, S. Shah andN. Ali, “ Structural and optical investigation of cobalt doped SnSb2S4 thin films for photovoltaic applications”, Chalcogenide Lett. 14(2017) 7, 259-265, IF: 0.732 53. A. Kausar, “Polyimide, polybenzimidazole-in situ-polyaniline nanoparticle and carbon nano-onion-based nanocomposite designed for corrosion protection”, J. Polym. Anal. Charact. 22(2017) 6, 557-567, DOI: 10.1080/1023666x.2017.1343175, IF: 1.515 54. H. Ullah, Z. Ullah, A. Fazal and M. Irfan, “Use of Vegetable Waste Extracts for Controlling Microstructure of CuO Nanoparticles: Green Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Applications”, J. Chem. (2017), 2721798, DOI: 10.1155/2017/2721798, IF: 1.328 55. D. Younas, Q. U. Javed, S. Fatima, R. Kalsoom, H. Abbas and Y. Khan, “Drude conductivity exhibited by chemically synthesized reduced graphene oxide”, Mater. Res. Express 4(2017) 9, 095029, DOI: 10.1088/2053-1591/aa891f, IF: 1.068 56. L. A. Khan, A. Kausar and R. J. Day, “Aerospace composite cured by quickstep and autoclave processing techniques: Evaluation and comparison of reaction progress”, Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 65(2017), 100-105, DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2017.02.014, IF: 2.057 57. A. Kausar, “Polylactic acid-based polyurethane/polyamide 6,12 and graphene nanocomposite: Structure and physical property study for packaging application”, Int. J. Polym. Anal. Charact. 22(2017) 5, 394-407, DOI: 10.1080/1023666x.2017.1312746, IF: 1.515 58. M. Idrees, S. M. Abbas, A.-Ur-Rehman, N. Ahmad et al, “Mechanistic insights into high lithium storage performance of mesoporous chromium nitride anchored on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes”, Chem. Eng. J., 327, 361–370 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2017.06.095, IF: 6.216

59. Ata-ur-Rehman, G. Ali, A. Badshah, K. Y. Chung, K. Wan Nam, M. Arshad, S. M. Abbas, “Superior shuttling of lithium and sodium ions in manganese-doped titania @ functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube anodes”, Nanoscale 9, 9859-9871, (2017), DOI:

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10.1039/C7NR01417A, IF: 7.367

60. A. Hafeez, M. Arshadullah, M. Rasheed, I. A. Mahmood, S.I. Hyder, S.S. Aamir, M. Shaaban, T. Mahmood, “Effect of soil salinity on germination and growth of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L)”, J. Innov Bio-Res. 1(1) 46-51, (2017)

61. S. K. Shah, J. Khan, I. Ullah and Y. Khan, “Optimization of active-layer thickness, top electrode and annealing temperature for polymetric solar cells”, AIMS Mater. Sci. 4(3), 789- 799, (2017), DOI: 10.3934/matersci.2017.3.789 62. M. F. Sharif, M. Arslan, N. Iqbal, N. Ahmad and T. Noor, “Development of Hydrotalcite Based Cobalt Catalyst by Hydrothermal and Co-precipitation Method for Fischer- Tropsch Synthesis”, Bull. Chem. React. Eng. Catal. 12(2017) 3, 357-362, DOI: 10.9767/ bcrec.12.3.762.357-363 63. A. Kausar and M. Siddiq, “Nanofiltration membranes of poly(styrene-co- chloromethylstyrene)-grafted-DGEBA reinforced with gold and polystyrene nanoparticles for water purification”, Appl. Water Sci. 7(2017) 3, 1323-1335, DOI: 10.1007/s13201-015- 0344-5 64. A. Kausar, “Polyamide 1010/Polythioamide Blend Reinforced with Graphene Nanoplatelet for Automotive Part Application “, Adv. Mater. Sci. 17(2017) 3, 24-36, DOI: 10.1515/adms- 2017-0013 65. H. Razzaq, H. Nawaz, A. Siddiqa, M. Siddiqa, S. Qaisar, “A brief review on nanocomposites based on PVDF with nanostructured TiO2 as filler”, Madridge J. Nano Tech. 1, 37-43 (2017).

66. M. Younas, Chi Xu, M. Arshad, L. P. Ho, S. Zhou, F. Azad, M. J. Akhtar, S. Su, W. Azeem and F. CC Ling, “Reversible Tuning of Ferromagnetism and Resistive Switching in ZnO/Cu Thin Films”, ACS Omega 2 (12), (2017): 8810-8817, DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b01192

67. H. Naveed, A. Siddiqa, S. Naseer, R. Gill, H. Razzaq, “Synthesis and Characterization of Doped Nano Heat Transfer Fluid for Concentrated Solar Power Plant”, Journal of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering; 2(1), 1-5 (2017), DOI: 10.11648/j.jeece.20170201.11.

68. A. Kausar, “Membranes of polycarbonate/poly (styrene-co-allyl alcohol) reinforced with nano-zeolite-based filler for gas separation”, Journal of the Chinese advanced materials society, 5 (1), 33-46 (2017)

69. A. Kausar, “Detection of environmentally hazardous nitrogen oxide pollutants using polythiophene derivative/carbon nanotube-based nanocomposite”, Frontiers in science, 7 (1), 23-26 (2017)

70. A. Kausar, “Pb (ii) selective sensor of poly (vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate)/polyaniline/ carbon black”, International journal of instrumentation science, 6 (1), 8-11 (2017)

71. A. Kausar, “Environmental remediation using polystyrene/4-aminophenyl methyl sulfone and carbon nanotube nanocomposite”, Physical chemistry, 7 (2), 27-30 (2017)

72. A. Kausar, “Nanodiamond: a multitalented material for cutting edge solar cell application”, Mater. Res. Innov., 1-13 (2017)

73. A. Kausar, “Role of Thermosetting Polymer in Structural Composite”, American Journal of Polymer Science & Engineering, 5 (1), 1-12 (2017)

129 Annual Report 2017

74. A. Kausar, “Polymer/graphene nanocomposite: preparation to application”, American Journal of polymer science & engineering, 4 (1), 111-122 (2017)

75. A. Kausar, “Performance of polyaniline doped carbon nanotube composite”, American journal of polymer science & engineering, 5 (1), 43-52 (2017)

76. A. Kausar, “Amalgamation of nanodiamond and epoxy”, American journal of polymer science & engineering, 5 (1), 34-42 (2017)

77. A. Kausar, “Exploration on high performance polyamide 1010/polyurethane blends filled with functional graphene nanoplatelet: physical properties and technical application”, Journal of the Chinese advanced materials society, 5 (2), 133-147 (2017)

78. M. F. Sharif, M. Arslan, N. Iqbal, N. Ahmad, T. Noor, “Development of hydrocalcite based cobalt catalyst by hydrothermal and co-precipitation method for fischer-tropsch synthesis”, Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis 12, 201-207 (2017)

79. A. Kausar, “Shape memory interpenetrating network hybrids of epoxy/poly (urea-amide) and organic nanoparticle”, Journal of the Chinese Advanced Materials Society, 1-16 (2017)

80. N. Akhtar, M. Afzal, K. M. Deen, Y. Khan and M. S. Awan, “Characterization of Thin Laminates Present Inside the Aluminum Extruded Tubes”, Metallogr. Microstruct. Anal. 6(2017) 5, 433-442, DOI: 10.1007/s13632-017-0382-5

81. F.T. Thema, I. Ahmad, Ahmad R. H., Arshad M., Ali. N. Z., Mattheur-Rahman and Maaza M., “ZnO Doped Graphite Nanocomposite via Agathosma Betulina Natural Extract with Improved Bandgap and Electrical Conductivity”, Nanomed. & Nanotechnol., 2(4):000129 (2017)

82. Barkat ul-ain, S. Aftab, A. Siddiqa, S. Ahmed, S. Qaisar, “Tailoring the conducting polymers (PPY and PANI) with ionic liquid [BMIM][Br] for enhanced electrochromic properties”, International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research, 6 (60), 72-80 (2017)

83. A. Siddiqa, H. Razzaq, S. Qaisar, S. Liaqat, M. Arshad, R. Gill, “PVDF-Nanodiamonds Composite Membranes: Fabrication, Characterization and Water Treatment Applications”, Der Pharma Chemica, 9(15), 32-40 (2017)

84. T. Mahmood, M. Malik, A. Bano, J. Umer, A. Shaheen, “Nanocatalytic Conversion of Waste Palm Oil Grade III and Poplar Plant’s Wood, Sawdust into Fuel”. Innov Ener Res 6(2): 170 (2017), DOI: 10.4172/2576-1463.1000170 Experimental Physics / Ion Beam Applications 1. S. Hameed, A. Munawar, W. S. Khan, A. Mujahid, A. Ihsan, A. Rehman, I. Ahmad, S. Z. Bajwa. “Assessing manganese nanostructures based carbon nanotubes composite for the highly sensitive determination of vitamin c in pharmaceutical formulation”, Biosens. Bioelectron. 89 (2), 822-828 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.10.005, IF: 7.780

2. F. Aziza, A. Ihsan, A. Nazir, I. Ahmad, S. Z. Bajwa, A. Rehman, A. Diallo, W. S. Khan, “Novel route synthesis of porous and solid gold nanoparticles for investigating their comparative performance as contrast agent in CT scan, effect on liver and renal function test”, Int. J. Nanomed. 12, 1555–1563 (2017). DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S127996, IF: 4.300

130 Annual Report 2017

3. D. Wan, P. Xiong, L. Chen, S. Shi, I. Ahmad, H. Luo, and Y. Gao, “High-Performance

Thermal Sensitive W-Doped VO2(B) Thin Film and Its Identification by First-Principles Calculations”, Appl. Surf. Sci. 397, 30–39 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.11.078, IF: 3.387

4. M. Usman, S. Khan, M. Khan, T. A. Abbas, “Re-crystallization of ITO films after Carbon irradiation”, Appl. Surf. Sci., 392, 863-866, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.09.108, IF: 3.387

5. B. Guo, L. Chen, S. Shi, I. Ahmad, D. Wan, H. Luo and Y. Gao, “Low temperature fabrication

of thermochromic VO2 thin film by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition”, RSC Adv. 7, 10798-10805 (2017), DOI: 10.1039/C6RA25071H, IF: 3.108

6. S. Hussain, F.A. Khan, N. Z. Ali, S.K. Hasanain, M. Siddique, M. Rafique, T. A. Abbas, “Strain driven structural phase transformation and correlation between structural, electronic

and magnetic properties of Bi1-xBaxFeO3 (0 ≤ x ≤0.30) system”, J. Alloy. Compd. 701, 301- 309(2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.01.130, IF: 3.133

7. K. Ali, J. Iqbal, T. Jan, M. Naeem, I. Ahmad, D. Wan, “Enhancement of microwaves absorption

properties of CuFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles embedded in MgO matrix”, J. Alloy. Compd. 696, 711–717 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2016.10.220, IF: 3.133

8. B. Guo, D. Wan, I. Ahmad, H. Luo and Y. Gao, “Direct synthesis of high-performance

thermal sensitive VO2(B) thin film by chemical vapor deposition for using in uncooled infrared detectors”, J. Alloy. Compd. 715, 129-136 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.04.304, IF: 3.133

9. M. Z. Khan, I. H. Gul, H. Anwar, S. Ameer, A. N. Khan, A. A. Khurram, K. Nadeem, M.

Mumtaz, “Massive dielectric properties enhancement of MWCNTs/CoFe2O4 nanohybrid for super capacitor applications”, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 424, 382-387 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. jmmm.2016.10.087, IF: 2.63

10. K. Ali, J. Iqbal, T. Jan, D. Wan, N. Ahmad, I. Ahmad, S. Z. Ilyas, “Structural, Dielectric

and Magnetic Properties of SnO2-CuFe2O4 Nanocomposites”, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 428, 417–423(2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jmmm.2016.11.115, IF: 2.63

11. I. Ahmad, M. Madhuku, A. Sadaf, S. Khan, J. Hussain, A. Ali, D. Wang, S. Z. Ilyas, G. Mola, A. Waheed, M. A. Rasheed, “Tailoring the structural and optical characteristics of InGaN/ GaN multilayer thin films by 12 MeV Si ion irradiation”, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process 64, 95-100(2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2017.03.004, IF: 2.359

12. C. F. Dee, A. Hamzah, B. T. Goh, Y.Y. Wong, L. Ooi, B. Y. Majlis, M. M. Salleh, I. Ahmad, “A Rapid Responding Ultravoilet Sensor Based on Multi-parallel Aligned ZnO Nanowires Field Effect Transistor”, Sens. Actuator A-Phys. 260, 139-145 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. sna.2017.04.022, IF: 2.499

13. K. Ali, J. Iqbal, T. Jan, I. Ahmad, D. Wan, I. Ahmad, “Influence of NiO concentration on

Structural, Dielectric and Magnetic properties of Core/Shell CuFe2O4/NiO nanocomposites”, Mater. Chem. Phys. I95, 283-294 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2017.03.013, IF: 2.084

14. A. Arshad, J. Iqbal, Q. Mansoor, I. Ahmad, “Graphene/SiO nanocomposite: the enhancement of the photocatalytic and biomedical activity of SiO nanoparticles by graphene”, J. Appl. Phys. 1219(24), 244901 (2017), DOI: 10.1063/1.4979968, IF: 2.068

131 Annual Report 2017

15. K. Ali, T. Jan, J. Iqbal, I. Ahmad, D. Wan, S. Z. Ilyas, “Structural, Magnetic and Electromagnetic

Wave Absorption Properties of WO3-CuFe2O4: A Novel Nanocomposite”, J. Mater. Sci.- Mater. Electron. 28(14), 10330–10337 (2017), DOI 10.1007/s10854-017-6801-1, IF: 2.019

16. G. T. Mola, A. Elhadi, A. Arbab, B. A. Taleatu, K. Kaviyarasu, I. Ahmad and M. Maaza,

“Growth and characterization of V2O5 thin film on conductive electrode”, J. Microsc. (2), 214–221 (2017), DOI: 10.1111/jmi.12490, IF: 1.692

17. A Rauf, S.S. A. Shah, S. A Rakha, M Gul, I. Ahmad, Z Ullah, I. A. Shah, S. Naseem,

“Inducing the magnetic character in reduced graphene oxide through incorporation of Fe2O3 nanoparticles”, Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 31(15), 1750118, (2017), DOI: 10.1142/S0217979217501181, IF: 0.736

18. U. Farooq, M. S. Ahmad, S. A. Rakha, N. Ali, A. A. Khurram, T. Subhani, “Interfacial Mechanical Performance of Composite Honeycomb Sandwich Panels for Aerospace Applications”, Arab. J. Sci. Eng. 42:1775–1782 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s13369-016-2307-z, IF: 0.865

19. A. Awais, J. Hussain, M. Usman, W. Akram, K. Shahzad, T. Ali, I. Ahmad, M. Maaza, “The charge state distribution of B, C, Si, Ni, Cu and Au ions on 5 MV Pelletron accelerator”, Nucl. Sci. Tech., 28(5), 64 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s41365-017-0211-1, IF: 0.779

20. N. Hassan, Z. Hussain, M. Naeem, I. A. Shah, G. Husnain, I. Ahmad, Z. Ullah, “Influence of ion beam irradiation on structural, magnetic and electrical characteristics of ho-doped a1n thin films”, Surf. Rev. Lett. 24(2), 1750021 (2017), DOI: 10.1142/S0218625X17500214, IF: 0.491

21. S. Hussain, S.K. Hasanain, G. H. Jaffri, N. Z. Ali, et.al, “Anomalous Temperature Dependence

of Magnetic Coercivity and structure property correlations in Bi0.75A0.25FeO3 (A=Sr, Pb, and Ba) system”, J. Mater. Chem. C, 5 (36), 9451-9464, (2017) DOI: 10.1039/C7TC02956J, IF: 5.256 22. S. Khan, K. Wang, G. Yuan, Mahmood ul haq, Z. Wu, M. Usman, C. Song, G. Han, Y. Liu, “Marangoni effect induced macro porous surface films prepared through a facile sol-gel route”, Sci. Rep. 7, 5292, (2017) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05506-7, IF: 4.259

23. K. Ali, J. Iqbal, T. Jan, I. Ahmad, D. Wan, A. Bahadur, S. Iqbal, “Synthesis of CuFe2O4- ZnO nanocomposites with enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption properties”, J. Alloy. Compd. 705, (2017), 559-565. DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.01.264, IF: 3.133

24. M.K. Linnarsson, A. Hallén, S. Khartsev, S.S. Suvanam, M. Usman, “Interface between Al2O3 and 4H-SiC investigated by time-of-flight medium energy ion scattering”, J. Phys. D-Appl. Phys., 50, 495111, (2017) DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/aa9431, IF: 2.588 25. Shehla H, I. Ahmad, Madhuku M, Naseem S, Maaza M, Kennedy J. V, “Nickel nanowires mesh fabricated by ion beam irradiation-induced nanoscale welding for transparent conducting electrodes”, Mater. Res. Express 4 (2017) 075042. DOI: 10.1088/2053-1591/ aa7abc, IF: 1.068 26. I. Ahmad, S. Honey, N. Z. Ali, W. Akram, S. Khan, Diallo A., N. Shahzad, M. Malik’ “Improvement of optical transmittance and electrical conductivity of silver nanowires by Cu ion beam irradiation”, Mater. Res. Express 4 (2017) 075055. DOI: 10.1088/2053-1591/ aa7e60, IF: 1.068 27. M. Khan, A. A. Khurram, L. Tiehu, T. K. Zhao, C. Y. Xiong, Z. Ali, N. Ali and A. Ullah,

132 Annual Report 2017

“Reinforcement effect of acid modified nanodiamond in epoxy matrix for enhanced mechanical and electromagnetic properties”, Diam. Relat. Mat. 78(2017), 58-66, DOI: 10.1016/j.diamond.2017.08.001, IF: 2.561 28. M. Khan, T. H. Li, A. A. Khurram, T. K. Zhao, C. Y. Xiong, Z. Ali, T. A. Abbas, Asmatullah, I. Ahmad, A. L. Lone, S. Iqbal and A. Khan, “Active Sites Determination and De-aggregation of Detonation Nanodiamond Particles”, Chiang Mai J. Sci., 44(2017) 3, 1113-1126, IF: 0.437 29. M. A. Khan, H. Mahmood, W. Maqbool, T. Iqbal, I. Ahmed, A. Qayyum, B. Mohuddin and W. Xu, “Carbon ion beam irradiation-induced effects on structural, morphological and optical properties of boron nitride nanowires”, Mater. Lett. 189(2017), 28-31, DOI: 10.1016/j. matlet.2016.10.116, IF: 2.572 30. F. Abbas, J. Iqbal, Q. Maqbool, T. Jan, M. Obaid Ullah, B. Nawaz, M. Nazar, M. S. H. Naqvi, I. Ahmad, “ROS mediated Malignancy Cure performance of morphological,

optical, and electrically tuned Sn doped CeO2 Nanostructures”, AIP Adv. 7, 095205 (2017) DOI:10.1063/1.4990790, IF: 1.568 31. A. A. Khurram, M. Imran, N. A. Khan and M. N. Mehmood, “ZnSe/ITO thin films: candidate for CdTe solar cell window layer”, J. Semicond. 38(2017) 9, 093001, DOI: 10.1088/1674- 4926/38/9/093001 32. F.T. Thema, I. Ahmad, Ahmad R. H., Arshad M., Ali. N. Z., Mattheur-Rahman and Maaza M., “ZnO Doped Graphite Nanocomposite via Agathosma Betulina Natural Extract with Improved Bandgap and Electrical Conductivity”, Nanomed. & Nanotechnol., 2(4):000129 (2017) 33. S. Honey, S. Naseem, I. Ahmad, Maaza M., Bhatti MT. and Madhuku M, “Interconnections between Ag-NWs Build by Argon Ions Beam Irradiation”, J. Nanomater. Mol. Nanotechnol. 6(2), 1000213 (2017), DOI: 10.4172/2324-8777.1000213

34. M Arslan, A Habib, M Zakria, A Mehmood, G. Husnain, “Elemental, structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline Zn1− xCux Se films deposited by close spaced sublimation technique”, J. Sci. Adv. Mat. Dev., 2 (1), 79-85 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jsamd.2017.01.004 Atomic and Laser Physics 1. Nasar Ahmed, R. Ahmed, M. Rafique, M. A. Baig, “A Comparative Study of Cu-Ni Alloy using LIBS, LA-TOF, EDX and XRF”, Laser Part. Beams, 35, 1-9 (2017), DOI: 10.1017/ S0263034616000732, IF: 1.42

2. Z. A. Umar, R.S. Rawat, R. Ahmad, Z. Chen, Z Zhang, J Siddiqui, A Hussnain, T Hussain, M. A. Baig, “Structural, compositional and hardness properties of hydrogenated amorphous carbon nitride thin films synthesized by dense plasma focus device”, Surf. Interface Anal. 49 (6), 548-553 (2017), DOI: 10.1002/sia.6192, IF: 1.132

3. J. Iqbal, R. Ahmed and M. A. Baig, “Time integrated optical emission studies of the laser produced germanium plasma”, Laser Phys. 27, 046101 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1555-6611/ aa5cec, IF: 1.328

4. M.A. Kalyar, M. Anwar-ul Haq, J.P. Connerade, M.A. Baig, “On the perturbation of the 6snd 1,3 1 D2 series by the 5d7d D2 state of barium” Laser Phys. 28, 015702 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1555- 6611/aa8574, IF: 1.328

5. N. Ahmed, Z. A. Umar, R. Ahmed, M. A. Baig, “On the elemental analysis of different

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cigarette brands using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy and laser-ablation time of flight mass spectrometry”, Spectrochim Acta Part B 136, 39-44 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j. sab.2017.08.006, IF: 3.241

6. N. Ahmed, R. Ahmed, Z. A. Umar, M. A. Baig, “Laser ionization time of flight mass spectrometer for isotope mass detection and elemental analysis of materials”, Laser Phys. 27, 086001 (2017), DOI: 10.1088/1555-6611/aa7cc9, IF: 1.328

7. N. Shahzad, D. Pugliese, V. Cauda, M.I. Shahzad, Z. Shah, M.A. Baig, E. Tresso, “Comparative spectroscopic approach for the dye loading optimization of sheet-like ZnO Photo-anodes for dye-sensitized solar cells”, J. Photochem. Photobiol. A-Chem., 337, 192 – 197 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2017.01.011, IF: 2.625 Vacuum Science and Technology 1. U. Ghazanfar, M. Junaid, K. Alamgir, T. Samina, “Measurement of Plasma parameters of Calcium and Silicon in a Rock Sample using Laser Induced breakdown spectroscopy”, Spectrosc. Spectr. Anal. 37 (10), 3266-3269 (2017), IF: 0.344

2. F. Abbas, Q. Maqbool, M. Nazar, N. Jabeen, S. Z. Hussain, S. Anwaar, N. Mehmood, M. S. Sheikh, T. Hussain and S. Iftikhar, “Green synthesized Zinc oxide nanostructures through Periploca aphylla extract shows tremendous antibacterial potential against multi drug resistant pathogens”, IET Nanobiotechnol. 11(8), 935-941 (2017), DOI: 10.1049/iet- nbt.2016.0238, IF: 1.463 Earthquake Studies 1. K. M. Asim, F. M. Álvarez, A. Basit, T. Iqbal, “Earthquake Magnitude Prediction in Hindukush Region Using Machine Learning Techniques” Nat. Hazards, 85(1), 471-486 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s11069-016-2579-3, IF: 1.833

2. Z. Jilani, T. Mehmood, A. Alam, M. Awais and T. Iqbal, “Monitoring and descriptive analysis of radon in relation to seismic activity of Northern Pakistan”, J. Environ. Radioact., 172, 43-51 (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.03.010, IF: 2.310

3. H. Wang, J. Liu-Zeng, A. H.-M. Ng, L. Ge, F. Javed, F. Long, A. Aoudia, J. Feng, Z. Shao, “Sentinel-1 observations of the 2016 Menyuan earthquake: A buried reverse event linked to the left-lateral Haiyuan fault”, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 61, 14-21, (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jag.2017.04.011, IF: 3.930

4. Z. Xie, Y. Zheng, C. Liu, B. Shan, M. S. Riaz, X. Xiong, “An integrated analysis of source

parameters, seismogenic structure, and seismic hazards related to the 2014 MS 6.3 Kangding earthquake”, Tectonophysics 712 –713, 1-9, (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2017.04.030, IF: 2.693

5. A. Barkat, A. Ali, N. Siddique, A. Alam, M. Wasim, and T. Iqbal, “Radon as an earthquake precursor in and around northern Pakistan: A case study”, Geochem. J., 51(4), 337-346. (2017), DOI: 10.2343/geochemj.2.0473, IF: 0.991

6. K. Rehman, W. Ali, A. Ali, A. Barkat, “A shallow and intermediate depth earthquakes in the Hindu Kush region across the Afghan-Pakistan border”, J. Asian Earth Sci. 241-253, (2017), DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2017.09.005, IF: 2.335

7. M. Awais, A. Barkat, A. Ali, K. Rehman, W. Ali Zafar, T. Iqbal, “Satellite thermal IR and

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atmospheric radon anomalies associated with Haripur earthquake (Oct 2010; Mw 5.2)”, Pakistan, Adv. Space Res. 66(11), (2017), 2333-2344, DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2017.08.034, IF: 1.401

8. K. M. Asim, M. Awais, Martínez–Álvarez, F., & T. Iqbal, “Seismic activity prediction using computational intelligence techniques in northern Pakistan”, Acta Geophys. 65(5), 919-930 (2017), DOI: 10.1007/s11600-017-0082-1, IF: 0.968

9. M. S. Riaz, Zheng, Y., Xiong, X., Xie, Z., Li, Z., & Song, M, “Refined 3D Seismic Velocity Structures and Seismogenic Environment of the Ms 6.5 Ludian Earthquake Refined 3D Seismic Velocity Structures and Seismogenic Environment of the Ms 6.5 Ludian Earthquake”, Bull. Seismol. Soc. Amer. 107(6), 3023-3036 (2017), DOI: 10.1785/0120170072, IF: 2.146

10.2 Conference Papers 1. H. Shahzad and H. Omer, “Combined Application of GRAPPA and POCS for fast MR Image Reconstruction”, 25th ISMRM Annual meeting and Exhibition. Honolulu, USA. April 22-27, 2017.

2. U. Asghar, M. Z. Ansar, T. Hussain, S. Atiq, M. K. Alamgir, M. S. Baig, “Effect of Co

Substitution on Structural, Morphological and Dielectric Properties of Ba0.2Bi0.8Fe1- th yCoyO3(y=0.00, 0.01, 0.02&0.03)”, 14 IBCAST Islamabad Pakistan, January 10-14, 2017. 3. I. Ahmed, “Probing New Physics through FCNC Transition”, DESY-PROC, 353-357 (2017), DOI: 10.3204/DESY-PROC-2016-04/Ishtiaq, 4. A. Ali, I. Ahmed, M. Jamil Aslam, A. Rehman, “Heavy Quark Symmetry and Hidden Charm Pentaquarks”, DOI: 10.3204/DESY-PROC-2016-04/Rehman 5. I. Ahmad, Z. He, W. Akram, M. Malik, “Ion beam irradiation effects on artificial graphite”, Page no. PI.06. Third scientific meeting on the Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Materials “EINM2017”, October 24-25, 2017. Algiers, Algeria. 6. M. Izerrouken, A. Benyagoub, I. Ahmad, M. W. Halimi, “Simulation par faisceau d’ion des dommages induit dans”, Al6082.Page no. O.12. Third scientific meeting on the Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Materials “EINM2017”, October 24-25, 2017. Algiers, Algeria. 7. T. Huma, S. Z. Ilyas, Z. Iftikhar, T. Jan, I. Ahmad, “Green synthesis and characterization of manganeze oxide via Agathosma Betullina Natural extract”, Page: PES20, 4th National Conference on Physics and Emerging Sciences, July 4-5, 2017 at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. Pakistan 8. H. Tabassum, W. Akram, F. T. Thema, I. Ahmad, Z. Ilyas, M. Malik, “Gamma irradiation

induced structural and morphological study in Tin Oxide (SnO2) nanoparticles”, Page: 14. 4th National Conference on Physics and Emerging Sciences, July 4-5, 2017 at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. Pakistan 9. F. Sparis, I. Ahmad, S. Z. Ilyas, “Gamma irradiation induced Boron Nitride (BN) nanoparti- cles: Structural and morphological study”, Page: PES 71. 4th National Conference on Physics and Emerging Sciences, July 4-5, 2017 at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. Pakistan 10. I. Ahmad, M. Malik, “Fabrication of nanodevices by ion beam induced nano-welding: a bottom up approach”, Page 19. NOOR 3rd International conference on Applied Materials and Nanodevices. November 14-16, 2017. Islamabad. Pakistan. 11. S. Honey, S. Naseem, I. Ahmad, M. Malik, “Welding of silver nanowires (Ag-NWs) by ion

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beam irradiation: from small to large scale”, Page: 20. NOOR 3rd International conference on Applied materials and nanodevices. November 14-16, 2017. Islamabad, Pakistan 12. I. Ahmad, “Ion beam technology in materials science” Page: 36. First National conference on emerging trends in materials science, October 5-7, 2017. Abbottabad, Pakistan 10.3 Book Publications

1. Ishaq Ahmad, “Ion Implantation: research and applications” ISBN 978-953-51-3238-7, Print ISBN 978-953-51-3237-0, 150 pages, Publisher: InTech. (2017). DOI: 10.5772/65528.

2. Ishaq Ahmad, Paolo Di Sia, “Advanced Materials and their Applications: Micro to nano scale” ISBN (eBook): 978-1-910086-21-6. Publisher: One Central Press (OCP).

10.4 Book Chapters Publications 1. Chapter Title: Introduction to ion implantation Authors: Ishaq Ahmad and Waheed Akram Book Title: Ion Implantation: Research and Applications ISBN: 978-953-51-3238-7, Publisher: InTech. Pages 3-8, (2017). http://dx.doi. org/10.5772/intechopen.68785 2. Chapter Title: Metal ions implantation-induced effects in GaN thin film Authors: Ghulam Husnain and Morgan Madhuku Book Title: Ion Implantation: Research and Applications ISBN: 978-953-51-3238-7, Publisher: InTech. Pages 11-46, (2017). http://dx.doi. org/10.5772/68042 3. Chapter Title: Plasma Focus Device: A Novel Fascility for Hard Coatings Authors: R. Ahmad, Ijaz A. Khan, Tousif Hussain, Z.A. Umar Book Title: Plasma Science and Technology for Emeging Economies

Publisher: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017, DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-4217-1 Vol: 805 (2017),

136 Annual Report 2017

ISBN: 978-981-10-4216-4 Pages 355-412

10.5 Dissertation & Thesis 1. Muhammad Imran, “Design of massive optical interconnection system for data centre networks” (PhD Thesis), Dublin City University, 2017. http://doras.dcu.ie/21827/

2. Waqar Ahmed,” Triple GEM Detector Electronics & Control System for CMS Forward Muon Upgrade” (PhD Thesis), Department of Electrical Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad., 2017.

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Glimpses of International Scientific School (ISS-2017)

138 Tandem Particle Accelerator Facility

Technical Specifications: emission • Ion implantation for materials Model: 5MV-5UDH-2 (NEC, modification USA) Ion sources: Two (SNICS and RF) Ion beams: H, He, C, Si, Ni, Cu, Fe & Au Running Projects: Ion Beam energy: Up to 30MeV o o 1. Nuclear science research Beam lines: Two (15 and 30 ) • Measurements and evaluation of proton elastic scattering from Application Areas: different target materials • Nuclear reaction study at different Semiconductor Industry, Chemistry, ion energies Environmental Science, Biology, Earth 2. Environmental science research Sciences, Archeology, Nuclear Physics, • Indoor/outdoor air pollution study Industry, etc using PIXE/PIGE techniques • Radio nuclide detection of water , soil Techniques for Elemental Analysis of samples using gamma spectroscopy 3. Ion beam analysis of different type of Materials: thin films • Rutherford Backscattering 4. Ion beam induced phase transformation Spectrometry (RBS) study of ZrN, AlN, CrN, SiN thin films • RBS crystal channeling (RBS c) 5. Radiation hardness study of thin film • Particle Induced X ray Emission devices (PIXE) 6. Fabrication of nanowire / nanotubes • Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis networks by ion beam irradiation Ion (ERDA) beam modification of optoelectronic • Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) devices and their individual layers to • Particle induced Gamma rays enhance efficiency of devices NCP Annual Report 2017

ISBN 978-969-9350-19-1

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