High-Frequency EPR Instrumentation

An overview of the most recent developments in high-frequency high-field electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) instrumentation is given. In particular, the practical choices concerning sources, detectors, resonators, propagation systems as well as magnet technology are discussed in the light of various possible applications. Examples of particular homodyne and heterodyne quasi-optic EPR systems illustrate the potential for future developments in EPR technology.     

Recent Developments in Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Abstract

The general principles and technical implementations of traditional time-of-flight ion mobility spectrometers and analyzers with field-dependent mobilities were reviewed in our last article in this journal. Recent advances in instrumentation and new applications since 2006 are highlighted in this review. In addition to traditional applications as military chemical-agent detectors, ion mobility techniques have become popular for different purposes. Though ion mobility spectrometry was solely used as vapor sensor in the past decades, further developments in ionization techniques (especially electrospray ionization) now permit its routine use for the analysis of liquid samples. The coupling of ion mobility spectrometry with selective sample preparation techniques such as molecular-imprinted polymers, coupling with chromatographic techniques, the use of dopants, and application of selective ionization sources has led to an expanded number of applications in industrial and environmental analysis with complex sample matrices due to an improved selectivity in comparison with traditional stand-alone spectrometers. Furthermore, new developments in hyphenated techniques, especially ion mobility–mass spectrometry couplings, has resulted in an increased number of new applications for the analysis of biomolecules and pharmaceutical samples and in clinical diagnostics.     

New technical developments in magnetic resonance imaging of epilepsy

Within the last several years a number of technical developments have been made in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that can potentially impact clinical and research MR imaging applications in epilepsy. These include developments in instrumentation and in pulse sequences. Advances in instrumentation include higher capacity gradient systems and multiple receiver coils as directed to brain imaging. Advances in pulse sequence include use of fast or turbo-spin-echo techniques, variants of echo-planar imaging, and sequences such as fluid-attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) targeted to specific applications of brain imaging. The purpose of this paper is to review several of these developments.     

The Phase Doppler Method: Analysis,performance evaluations,and applications

This review of the recent developments in the phase Doppler method provides information on the advances made to the method and delineates some potential error sources. Methods used to eliminate these potential error sources are also discussed. It is shown through comparison to the Lorenz-Mie theory and the GLMT that the geometrical optics theory offers a reliable and efficient computational tool for the analysis of the light scattering with the phase Doppler method. The geometrical optics theory was then used to optimize the measurement parameters in the system designs and a significant reduction in the measurement uncertainty was realized. Limitations on the particle concentrations in which the instrument will operate reliably are also addressed. A brief discussion of the instrumentation and, in particular, the signal processing is presented. The advantages in using the Fourier transform approach are discussed. As a demonstration of the capabilities of the instrument, several performance tests were reviewed and examples of the application to spray combustion and turbulent dispersion of particles are given.     

Recent Advances in Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Abstract

A proliferation of applications for near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy has been driven by recent advances in instrumentation and chemometrics. These include the development of smaller, portable instruments with no moving parts, suitable for process environments, and new data treatments and calibration algorithms to model nonlinear relationships between spectra and chemical constituents. The intent of this review is to focus on recent developments in near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, including chemometrics and new applications of NIR reflectance in several diverse fields, rather than to address indepth the historical development of NIR. Certain topics, such as chemometrics, deserve a comprehensive review by themselves, and the reader is urged to consult the original sources for greater depth. As a newcomer to the field, I have attempted to present those topics which may be of greater interest to the novice.     

Advances in Electrothermal Atomization Atomic Absorption Spectrometry: Instrumentation,Methods, and Applications

Abstract

Electrothermal atomization (ETA) atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) offers high sensitivity quantitative analysis of a wide variety of samples for metals. Following an introduction to this instrumental method, recent developments in instrumentation, methods of sample preparation, and significant applications are reviewed, illustrating significant developments. The focus of this review is on the practical application of ETA‐AAS for real sample analysis.     

Recent developments in millimeter and submillimeter waves

Millimeter and submillimeter-wave observations provide important information for the studies of atmospheric chemistry and astrochemistry (molecular clouds, stars formation, galactic study, comets and cosmology). But, these observations depend strongly on instrumentation techniques and on the site quality. New techniques or higher detector performances result in unprecedented observations and, sometimes, the observational needs drive developments of new detector technologies, for example, superconducting junctions (SIS mixers) because of their high sensitivity in heterodyne detection in the millimeter and submillimeter wave range (100–700 GHz), HEB (Hot Electron Bolometer) mixers which are being developed by several groups for application in THz observations. For the sub-millimetre wavelengths heterodyne receivers, the local oscillator (LO) is still a critical element. So far, solid state fundamental sources are often not powerful enough for most of the applications at millimetre or submillimetre wavelengths: large efforts using new planar components (HBV) and integrated circuits, or new technics (laser mixing) are now in progress, in a few groups.The new large projects as SOFIA, FIRST, ALMA, … for astronomy; SMILES, EOS-MLS, … for aeronomy and other projects for the planetary science (ROSETTA, Mars Explorer, …), will benefit of the new developments.     

Current progress and future developments in sychrotron radiation instrumentation for high-pressure research including the esrf programme

Abstract

The field of synchrotron radiation instrumentation and techniques for high-pressure research is reviewed. Current state-of-the-art, recent developments, main directions of progress and areas with the greatest need for further developments are discussed. Large volume devices, diamond-anvil cells, temperature variation, detectors, all diffraction techniques and dispersive x-ray absorption are covered. Theplanned ESRF high-pressure facilities and programme are presented.     

Pulsed Source Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

Atomic fluorescence spectrometry was introduced as an analytical method in 1964 by Winefordner and Vickers [1], and since then, numerous papers have been published concerning the theoretical principles, instrumentation, methodology, and uses of the method. Recently, commercial instrumentation has been introduced for single-element (Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Mich.) and for multielement (Technicon, Inc., Tarrytown, N.Y.) analysis. Recently Winefordner and Elser [2] and Winefordner and VickerS [3] have reviewed the developments in atomic fluorescence spectrometry.     

Shedding light on nanoscale ferroelectrics

Light matter interactions in nanoscale ferroelectric materials have received growing interest over the last years due to new developments in scientific instrumentation and novel materials that allow for the study of so far scarcely investigated and/or hidden nanoscale phenomena. Here we provide an overview of these developments and investigations that have been carried out over a broad range of frequencies spanning from the X-ray to the THz regime. Of interest are the physical quantities and fingerprints stemming from nanoscale regions in ferroelectrics, including domain walls, upon light illumination.     

Progress and problems for atomic-resolution electron microscopy

The performance of the high-resolution electron microscope has continued to evolve, with recent developments in hardware attachments enabling aberration correction to be directly achieved for both probe-corrected and image-corrected microscope geometries. Sub-Ångstrom resolution, once regarded as an unattainable dream, can nowadays be readily achieved with instruments that are being widely sold commercially. These instrumentation developments have played a central role in facilitating transformational advances in imaging (and analytical) capability, bringing both novel opportunities and fresh challenges for the electron microscopy community. This paper provides a short update of recent progress in atomic-resolution TEM and STEM imaging, and briefly discusses some of the associated issues and problems attracting close attention.     

Application of X-ray Spectroscopy to Clinical Analyses and Biological Research

Abstract

This article reviews the developments in X-ray spectrometry and electron–probe microanalysis as applied to biological systems which have taken place in the last year. In order to understand the requirements of the biochemist for the application of instrumentation to element analysis, it is first necessary to present the problem.     

Recent developments and projects in SANS instrumentation at LLB-Orphée

This article presents an overview of the recent developments in SANS and GISANS instrumentation at LLB-Orphée. SANS is a well-known technique, especially well adapted for research in material sciences, soft matter and nanosciences, which has proved to be particularly powerful to study complex systems, from nm to ??m, taking full advantage of isotopic labelling and contrast variation methods. In this article, two instruments will be described in some details: TPA, the new VSANS (Very-Small Angle Neutron Scattering) instrument which is now fully functional and PA20, the new SANS spectrometer under construction, which will extend LLB??s capabilities in terms of SANS for magnetism with a polarized neutron option and Grazing Incidence SANS (GISANS).     

New developments in PAC and PAD

Recent developments in both methods, Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) and Perturbed Angular Distribution (PAD) concern improvements in the instrumentation for various applications and sophistications in detail rather than methodology. These will be illustrated by examples from PAC and PAD studies which investigate local structural properties of semiconductors and metallic surfaces, and local magnetic contributions in ferromagnetic metals, nonmagnetic materials, and high-temperature superconductors and related oxides.     

Improving the diffuse optical imaging spatial resolution of the cerebral hemodynamic response to brain activation in humans

We compare two geometries of sources and detectors for optimizing the diffuse optical imaging resolution of brain activation in humans. Because of limitations in the instruments' dynamic range, most diffuse optical brain activation images have used only nonoverlapping measurements. We demonstrate theoretically and with a human experiment that a simple geometry of sources and detectors can provide overlapping measurements within the limitation of instrumentation dynamic range and produce an image resolution and localization accuracy that is twofold better.     

Ground-Based Gamma Ray Astronomy

This paper is the write-up of a rapporteur talk given by the author at the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013. It attempts to summarize results and developments in ground-based gamma-ray observations and instrumentation from among the ～300 submissions to the gamma-ray sessions of the meeting. Satellite observations and theoretical developments were covered by a companion rapporteur (Stawarz, L., 33rd ICRC, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Rapporteur talk: Space-based Gamma-Ray Astronomy, 2013). Any review of this nature is unavoidably subjective and incomplete. Nevertheless, the article should provide a useful status report for those seeking an overview of this exciting and fast-moving field.     

Second meeting of new SESAME Technical Committee

The 2005 CHESS User Meeting was held on June 14 and 15, 2005, on the campus of Cornell University. A single session occupied the first day, with two concurrent workshops on the second day. The meeting was opened by User Committee member Rob Thorne (Cornell University). CHESS director Sol Gruner began with an overview of the achievements of the most recent running period and the status of the Energy Recovery Linac (ERL), Cornell’s next-generation X-ray photon source project. Quan Hao and Arthur Woll reported on the progress of the Macromolecular Diffraction Facility (MacCHESS) and the G-line, respectively. Don Bilderback gave an account of some of the recent instrumentation developments at CHESS.     

Development of a Radioastronomical Correlation Method for Measuring Mirror-Antenna Parameters

We consider the techniques and instrumentation developed at the Radiophysical Research Institute (NIRFI) for measuring mirror-antenna parameters using signals from extraterrestrial radio sources and geostationary satellites. The results of measuring the radiation patterns of several large-scale fully-rotatory radio telescopes in a wide dynamic range and of retrieving the amplitude and phase distributions on their apertures are presented.     

Application of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in plant science: Solutions,threats, and opportunities

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a nondestructive, rapid, simultaneous multi-elemental imaging methodology for plant materials. Its applications are broad and cover most of the elements with varying concentration below the parts per million (ppm). XRF is a well-established atomic spectrometric technique that is also being used as a field portable instrumentation. In recent decades, XRF has been considered a very versatile tool for plant nutrition diagnosis due to its fast and multi-elemental analytical imaging response directly from a solid sample. In this review, we have mainly focused on the recent developments and advancements in XRF spectrometry to analyze plant materials. We have also included the fundamental aspects and instrumentation for XRF spectrometry for its use in plants imaging. We have also covered the use of XRF for vegetal tissues and plant leaves. Mainly, we have briefly focused on some features of sampling procedures and calibration strategies regarding the use of XRF for plant tissues. Microchemical imaging applications by XRF, μ-XRF, μ-SRXRF, and TXRF have been covered for a wide variety of plant tissues such as leaves, roots, stems, and seeds.     

The selective and efficient laser ion source and trap project LIST for on-line production of exotic nuclides

Laser ion sources based on resonant excitation and ionization of atoms are well-established tools for selective and efficient production of radioactive ion beams. A recent trend is the complementary installation of reliable state-of-the-art all solid-state Ti:Sapphire laser systems. To date, 35 elements of the Periodic Table are available at laser ion sources by using these novel laser systems, which complements the overall accessibility to 54 elements including use of traditional dye lasers. Recent progress in the field concerns the identification of suitable optical excitation schemes for Ti:Sapphire laser excitation as well as technical developments of the source in respect to geometry, cavity material as well as by incorporation of an ion guide system in the form of the laser ion source trap LIST.