Stark broadening of isolated lines: calculation of the diagonal multiplet factor for complex configurations (n1l1 n n2l2 m n3l3 p)

Owing to the increasing sensitivity of detectors, accurate line profiles are needed for accurate stellar atmospheres modelling and for laboratory and technological plasmas as well. So, Stark broadening parameters of isolated lines of complex atoms and ions within the impact and quasistatic approximation are needed, even if the atomic abundance of the considered element is low. Angular factors of the diagonal line strength entering the quadrupole term appearing in the semi-classical expression of the width of line broadened by electron or ion perturbers, are needed. The aim of this paper is to extend the previous calculations of this diagonal multiplet factor which were obtained for configurations of the type lⁿ and l₁ ⁿl₂ ^m to more complex configurations in LS coupling. To study the Stark broadening of isolated lines in the impact and quasistatic approximation, we use the semi-classical-perturbation treatment, including both dipole and quadrupole contribution in the expansion of the electrostatic interaction between the optical electron and the perturber. We also use the Fano-Racah algebra. Angular factors of the diagonal line strength entering the quadrupole term appearing in the semi-classical expression of the width of line broadened by electron or ion perturbers, are calculated. New diagonal multiplet factor formulae for more complicated configurations such as (n₁l₁ ⁿ(L_nS_n)n₂l₂ ^m(L_mS_m)n₃l₃ ^p(L_pS_p)) are provided. These formulae can enter the computer Stark semi-classical perturbation codes.     

Electron multiplicity in slow collisions of Ar ions with C

Electron capture by Ar⁸⁺ in collisions with C₆₀ fullerene has been investigated using coincident measurements of the number n of ejected electrons, the mass and charge of multicharged Cr+ ₆₀ recoil ions and their fragments Ci+ m and the final charge state of outgoing projectiles Ar(8-s)+ (). The number of captured electrons r is the sum of the numbers of stabilized and emitted electrons: r = n + s. The ratio n / s decreases by a factor three with s increasing from 1 to 7 showing that the multiply excited states populated by capture of a large number of electrons are rather stable against auto-ionisation. Each kinetic energy spectrum of Ar⁺ and Ar²⁺ projectiles is composed of two peaks which we attribute to collisions “inside” and “outside” the C₆₀ cage. The measured energy shift of the projectile keV is consistent with the corresponding energy loss keV in a carbon foil with an equivalent thickness. Inside collisions are characterized by a strong dissociation of recoil ions into light monocharged fragments and by a high multiplicity of ejected electrons. Received: 25 March 1998 / Received in final form and Accepted: 9 June 1998     

Response of La0.8Sr0.2CoO3-δ to perturbations on the CoO3 sublattice

Emission and transmission M?ssbauer studies of La_0.8Sr_0.2CoO_3-δ perovskites doped with ∼0.02 stoichiometric units of oxygen vacancy or 2.5% iron corroborate the occurrence of electronic phase separation in these systems. The effect of the small perturbation of the CoO₃ sublattice with either iron ions or oxygen vacancies on the bulk magnetization as well as on the M?ssbauer spectra is in good agreement with the double exchange based cluster model. The magnetoresistance does not show any peak near the Curie temperature, but reaches -84% in a field of 7.5 T at T = 8 K. Below T_C ≈ 180 K the M?ssbauer spectra distinctly include the contribution from paramagnetic and ferromagnetic regions, providing direct evidence for phase separation. No contribution to the spectra from Fe⁴⁺ ions can be observed, which is an unambiguous evidence that at low concentration iron (either directly doped or formed from ⁵⁷Co by nuclear decay) is accommodated in the cobaltate lattice as Fe³⁺ ion.     

Multi electron capture processes in slow collisions between X<Superscript>7+</Superscript> (X = N,O and Ne) ions with C<Subscript>60</Subscript>

Electron capture processes in collision between slow X⁷⁺ (X = N, O and Ne) ions and C₆₀ fullerene have been investigated using coincident measurements of the number n of ejected electrons, the mass and charge of the multicharged C₆₀ ^r+ recoil ions and their fragments C_m ⁱ⁺ and the final charge state of the outgoing projectiles X^(q-s)+ ( ). The collision velocity is about 0.4 a.u. The partial cross-sections σ_r ^s , corresponding to r electrons transferred to the projectile with only s electrons stabilized, have been measured. Cross-sections for collisions “inside” and those “outside” the C₆₀ cage have been separated by analyzing the kinetic energy of the outgoing projectile. The mean final charge state for frontal collisions has been measured to 3.1, 2.6 and 2.5 for N⁷⁺, O⁷⁺ and Ne⁷⁺ respectively. These results show the importance of the core effect on the stabilisation processes of captured electrons.     

Test ion acceleration in a dynamic planar electron sheath

New exact results are obtained for relativistic acceleration of test positive ions in the laminar zone of a planar electron sheath evolving from an initially mono-energetic electron distribution. The electron dynamics is calculated against the background of motionless foil ions. The limiting gamma-factor γ_p∞ of accelerated ions is shown to be determined primarily by the values of the ion-electron charge-over-mass ratio μ=m_eZ_p/m_p and the initial gamma-factor γ₀ of the accelerated electrons. For μ> 1/8 a test ion always overtakes the electron front and attains γ_p∞> γ₀. For μ< 1/8 a test ion can catch up with the electron front only when γ₀ is above a certain critical value γ_cr, which for μ≪1 can most often be evaluated as . In this model the protons and heavier test ions, for which γ_cr> 10³⁹⁸ is enormous, always lag behind the front edge of the electron sheath and have γ_p∞< γ₀; for their maximum energy an appropriate intermediate asymptotic formula is derived. The domain of applicability of the laminar-zone results is analyzed in detail.     

Additional symmetry for the electronic shell in its ground state and many-electron effects

The additional symmetry for the properties related to the ground state of the atom is considered taking into account many-electron effects. Calculations of the I _4f, I _3d,I _2p,I _3p binding energies, 4f ^N-15d - 4f^N system differences and 2p, 3p electron affinities in the second order of perturbation theory and in the configuration interaction approximation have been performed for the ground configurations with one open shell. The analysis of separate many-electron corrections for these quantities and their variation along the sequences of atoms and ions shows that the main corrections maintain the considered symmetry. Received 18 January 1999 and Received in final form 17 July 1999     

Decay reactions of rare gas cluster ions: Kinetic energy release distributions and binding energies

We have carried out measurements on metastable fragmentation of mass selected argon cluster ions which are produced by electron impact ionization of a neutral argon cluster beam. From the shape of the fragment ion peaks (MIKE scan technique) one can deduce information about the distribution of kinetic energy that is released in the decay reaction. In this study, for Ar ₅ ⁺ to Ar ₁₅ ⁺, it is Gaussian and thus we can calculate from the peak width the mean kinetic energy release 〈KER〉 of the corresponding decay reactions. Using finite heat bath theory we calculate from these data the binding energies of the decaying cluster ions. Received 20 November 2000     

Scaling of cross-sections for asymmetric (e, 3e) process on helium-like ions by fast electrons

An approximate simple scaling law is obtained for asymmetric (e, 3e) process on helium-like ions for double ionization by fast electrons. It is based on the equation (Z ^′3π) exp[-Z(r₁ + r₂)],Z′ = Z – (5/16) for ground state wave function of helium-like ions and Z^′2 scaling of energies. The scaling law is found to work very well if the lower energy electron is ejected along the momentum transfer direction and the other one is ejected in the opposite direction. It also works quite well if this electron is ejected within about 90° of the momentum transfer direction with the other electron going in the opposite direction. The scaling law becomes increasingly accurate as the target nuclear charge and the energy increase.     

Pion-mass dependence of three-nucleon observables

We use an effective field theory (EFT) which contains only short-range interactions to study the dependence of a variety of three-nucleon observables on the pion mass. The pion-mass dependence of input quantities in our “pionless” EFT is obtained from a recent chiral EFT calculation. To the order we work at, these quantities are the ¹ S ₀ scattering length and effective range, the deuteron binding energy, the ³ S ₁ effective range, and the binding energy of one three-nucleon bound state. The chiral EFT input we use has the inverse ³ S ₁ and ¹ S ₀ scattering lengths vanishing at m _π ^crit = 197.8577 MeV. At this “critical” pion mass, the triton has infinitely many excited states with an accumulation point at the three-nucleon threshold. We compute the binding energies of these states up to next-to-next-to-leading order in the pionless EFT and study the convergence pattern of the EFT in the vicinity of the critical pion mass. Furthermore, we use the pionless EFT to predict how doublet and quartet nd scattering lengths depend on m _π in the region between the physical pion mass and m _π = m _π ^crit .     

Decay of an electronic vortex of a collisionless shock wave as a possible mechanism of a “Coulomb explosion”

A new mechanism of a “Coulomb explosion,” where ions are accelerated by the electric field separating charges at the magnetic Debye radius r _B∼B/4πen _e, is proposed on the basis of a nonquasineutral model of electronic vortices in a magnetic field. It is shown by means of numerical calculations that in the process of acceleration of the ions a collisionless shock wave, whose front has an effective width of the order of δ∼r _B, determined by the breakdown of quasineutrality, is formed in a time of the order of ω _pi ⁻¹ , where ω_pi is the ion plasma frequency. The origin of such explosive dynamics is the formation of “holes” in the electron density at characteristic times of the order of ω _pe ⁻¹ (ω_pe is the electronic plasma frequency) as a result of the generation of electronic vorticity by the Weibel instability of an electromagnetic wave. Calculations for a laser pulse with intensity J∼6×10¹⁸ W/cm² show that the ions expand in the radial direction with velocities up to 3.5×10⁸ cm/s. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 10, 669–674 (25 November 1999)     

Fission lifetimes of Th nuclei measured by crystal blocking

Crystal blocking lifetime measurements have been made for highly excited Th nuclei with neutron number well removed from the stability line. Thin W crystals were bombarded with ³²S ions in the energy range 170-180 MeV and the yield of fission fragments was measured for emission close to a 〈111〉 axis. The fission blocking dips are compared to the appropriately scaled ones for elastic scattering of the ³²S beam ions and no significant difference is seen between the dips. This implies that the fraction of nuclei fissioning with lifetimes longer than 10 as is less than 2%. Fission lifetimes are increased by viscosity in the nuclear mass flow and comparison with a statistical model calculation indicates that the viscosity parameter, η, must be lower than for Th and U nuclei near β-stability. The effect of the N = 126 magic number is discussed. Received: 2 October 2002 / Accepted: 16 January 2003 / Published online: 29 April 2003     

Interplay of structural, magnetic and transport properties in thelayered Co-based perovskite LnBaCo 2 O 5 (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho)

The oxygen deficient cobaltites LnBaCo₂O₅ (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho) exhibit two successive crystallographic transitions at T _N ∼340 K and at T _CO ∼210 K. Whereas the first transition (P4/mmm to Pmmm) is related to the long-range antiferromagnetic ordering of the Co ions (spin ordering), the second transition (Pmmm to Pmmb) corresponds to the long-range ordering of the Co²⁺ and Co³⁺ species (charge ordering) occurring in 1:1 ratio in the structure. The charge ordered (CO) state was directly evidenced by the observation of additional superstructure peaks using neutron and electron diffraction techniques. The CO state was also confirmed indirectly from refinement of high resolution neutron diffraction data as well as from resistivity and DSC measurements. From the refined saturated magnetic moment values only, ∼3.7 and ∼2.7 , the electronic configuration of the Co ions in LnBaCo₂O₅ remains conjectural. Two pictures, with Co³⁺ ions either in intermediate spin state ( t ⁵ _2g e ¹ _g ) or in high spin state ( t ⁴ _2g e ² _g ), describe equally well our experimental data. In both cases, the observed magnetic structure can be explained using the qualitative Goodenough-Kanamori rules for superexchange. Finally, in contrast to the parent Ln = Y compound [Vogt et al. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2969 (2000)], we do not report any spin transition in LnBaCo₂O₅ (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho). Received 13 December 2000     

Valence transition behavior of the doped Falicov-Kimball model at nonzero temperatures

The extrapolation of small-cluster exact-diagonalization calculations is used to study the influence of doping on valence transitions in the spinless Falicov-Kimball model at nonzero temperatures. Two types of doping are examined, and namely, the substitution of rare-earth ions by nonmagnetic ions that introduce (i) one or (ii) none additional electron (per nonmagnetic ion) into the conduction band. It is found that the first type of substitution increases the average f-state occupancy of rare-earth ions, whereas the second type of substitution has the opposite effect. The results obtained are used to describe valence transition behavior of samarium in the hexaboride solid solutions Sm_1−xM_xB₆ (M=Y³⁺, La³⁺, Sr²⁺, Yb²⁺) and a very good agreement of theoretical and experimental results is found.     

On bound state computations in three- and four-electron atomic systems

A variational approach is developed for bound state calculations in three- and four-electron atomic systems. This approach can be applied to determine, in principle, an arbitrary bound state in three- and four-electron ions and atoms. Our variational wave functions are constructed from four- and five-body Gaussoids that respectively depend on six (r ₁₂, r ₁₃, r ₁₄, r ₂₃, r ₂₄, r ₃₄) and ten (r ₁₂, r ₁₃, r ₁₄, r ₁₅, r ₂₃, r ₂₄, r ₂₅, r ₃₄, r ₃₅ and r ₄₅) relative coordinates. The approach allows operating with the more than one electron spin functions. In particular, the trial wave functions for the ¹ S states in four-electron atomic systems include the two independent spin functions χ₁ = αβαβ + βαβα − βααβ − αββα and χ₂ = 2ααββ + 2ββαα − βααβ − αββα − βαβα − αβαβ. We also discuss the construction of variational wave functions for the excited 2³ S states in four- electron atomic systems.     

Synthesis and optical properties for crystals of a novel organic semiconductor [ Ni(Cl) 2{(Ph 2P) 2CHC(R 1R 2)NHNH 2}]

In this investigation, the synthesis process of the apyrazole derivative for diphenylphosphino-methane hydrazine complexes [ Ni(Cl)₂{(Ph₂P)₂CHC(R₁R₂)NHNH₂}] was reported, and the obtained crystals were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. As a result of the growth process, a set of complexes were formed. The structures of these complexes are discussed on the basis of Elemental analysis (EA), IR, ¹H-NMR, ³¹P-NMR spectroscopic data and FAB mass spectra. The compound under investigation shows typical semiconductor behavior as a result of delocalization of the π-electrons in the structure. The reflectance and transmittance spectra for the crystals were measured and analyzed in the incident photon energy range 1.29 to 3.93 eV and in the temperature range 77 to 300 K. The optical study revealed that the optical transition is direct allowed. Below the absorption edge, the refractive index as a function of wavelength was determined in the low energy region of the used incident photon energy range. From the refractive index-wavelength variations, the oscillator and dispersion energies of the refractive index for the obtained crystals were determined. The static refractive index and static dielectric constant were evaluated.     

Classical spin liquid properties of the infinite-component spin vector model on a fully frustrated two dimensional lattice

Thermodynamic quantities and correlation functions (CFs) of the classical antiferromagnet on the checkerboard lattice are studied for the exactly solvable infinite-component spin-vector model, D↦∞. In contrast to conventional two-dimensional magnets with continuous symmetry showing extended short-range order at distances smaller than the correlation length, r ξ _c∝ exp(T ^*/T), correlations in the checkerboard-lattice model decay already at the scale of the lattice spacing due to the strong degeneracy of the ground state characterized by a macroscopic number of strongly fluctuating local degrees of freedom. At low temperatures, spin CFs decay as < >∝ 1/r ² in the range a ₀≪r≪ξ _c∝T ^-1/2, where a₀ is the lattice spacing. Analytical results for the principal thermodynamic quantities in our model are very similar with MC simulations, exact and analytical results for the classical Heisenberg model (D = 3) on the pyrochlore lattice. This shows that the ground state of the infinite-component spin vector model on the checkerboard lattice is a classical spin liquid. Received 16 November 2001 and Received in final form 12 February 2002     

Structure,transport and field-emission properties of compound nanotubes: CN<Subscript>x</Subscript> vs. BNC<Subscript>x</Subscript> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis><0.1)

Transport and field-emission properties of as-synthesized CN_x and BNC_x (x<0.1) multi-walled nanotubes were compared in detail. Individual ropes made of these nanotubes and macrofilms of those were tested. Before measurements, the nanotubes were thoroughly characterized using high-resolution and energy-filtered electron microscopy, electron diffraction and electron-energy-loss spectroscopy. Individual ropes composed of dozens of CN_x nanotubes displayed well-defined metallic behavior and low resistivities of ∼10–100 kΩ or less at room temperature, whereas those made of BNC_x nanotubes exhibited semiconducting properties and high resistivities of ∼50–300 MΩ. Both types of ropes revealed good field-emission properties with emitting currents per rope reaching ∼4 μA(CN_x) and ∼2 μA (BNC_x), albeit the latter ropes se- verely deteriorated during the field emission. Macrofilms made of randomly oriented CN_x or BNC_x nanotubes displayed low and similar turn-on fields of ∼2–3 V/μm. 3 mA/cm² (BNC_x) and 5.5 mA/cm² (CN_x) current densities were reached at 5.5 V/μm macroscopic fields. At a current density of 0.2–0.4 mA/cm² both types of compound nanotubes exhibited equally good emission stability over tens of minutes; by contrast, on increasing the current density to 0.2–0.4 A/cm², only CN_x films continued to emit steadily, while the field emission from BNC_x nanotube films was prone to fast degradation within several tens of seconds, likely due to arcing and/or resistive heating. Received: 29 October 2002 / Accepted: 1 November 2002 / Published online: 10 March 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-298/51-6280, E-mail: golberg.dmitri@nims.go.jp     

Steric effect in O+/H2 and H+/H2O collisions

The positive water and hydronium ions are of interest in a variety of chemical and biological applications. Here we study the steric effect in charge transfer collisions, i.e. the spatial dependence of single electron capture, in collisions mediated by these ions. In particular, the steric effect is demonstrated in the O⁺(²D)/H₂ and H⁺/H₂O charge transfer collisions in the energy range of 100 eV/amu to 10 keV/amu.