Impact of amorphous Ge thin layer at the amorphous Si/Al interface on Al-induced crystallization

We investigated the impact of an amorphous Ge (a-Ge) thin layer inserted at the amorphous Si (a-Si)/Al interface on Al-induced crystallization. In situ observation of the growth process clarified that the nucleation rate is drastically reduced by insertion of a-Ge, which led to increase in the average size of crystal grains. This was interpreted as resulting from decrease in the driving force of crystallization, mainly due to the larger solubility of Ge in Al than that of Si in Al. The obtained films were SiGe alloys with lateral distribution of Ge content, and its origin is discussed based on the two-step nucleation process.     

Study of dependence of quasi-particle alignment on proton and neutron numbers in A = 80 region through g-factor measurements

Dependence of quasi-particle alignment on proton and neutron numbers has been studied in A?=?80 mass region through g-factor measurements by using TMF-IMPAD. The experimental results show that for the nuclides ⁸⁴Zr, ⁸⁵Zr and ⁸⁶Zr with Z?=?40 the proton alignment is followed by the neutron alignment in ⁸⁴Zr and ⁸⁵Zr, while the neutron alignment is followed by the proton alignment in ⁸⁶Zr, and for the nuclides ⁸²Sr, ⁸³Y, ⁸⁴Zr and ⁸⁵Nb with N?=?44 the proton aligns only in ⁸²Sr, the proton alignment occurs first that is followed by the neutron alignment in ⁸³Y and ⁸⁴Zr and the neutron alignment is followed by the proton alignment in ⁸⁵Nb. Proton and/or neutron alignments lead to different patterns of the g-factor variation with spin.     

Growth of multicrystalline Si with controlled grain boundary configuration by the floating zone technique

The floating zone technique was employed to grow multicrystalline Si with controlled grain boundary configuration. Purposely designed bi-crystals were utilized as seed crystals to investigate the effect of the tilt angle from the perfect twin boundary on the growth behavior. When the growth was initiated from a bi-crystal with a Σ3 twin boundary, no particular change took place on the grain boundary configuration during growth. On the other hand, the decrease of the tilt angle during growth was observed when the growth was initiated from a bi-crystal with a tilted boundary from Σ3. This was accompanied by the appearance of new crystal grains. The reduction of the total interface energy would be a possible driving mechanism for this phenomenon.     

Hyperfine interaction of13O and23Mg implanted in Pt

The spin relaxation timeT ₁ for short-lived beta emitters¹³O and²³Mg implanted in Pt have been measured for the first time;T ₁T¹³O) = 2.90 ±0.65 Ks andT ₁ T(²³Mg) = 1665 ±140 Ks. The Knight shift for¹³O in Pt was measured at 300 K to beK(¹³O) = +(4.23 ±0.14) × 10^–3. In the case of¹³O, the Knight shift is unusually large and the relaxation time is unusually fast compared with other interstitial impurities in Pt. A KKR band-structure calculation reproduces the present large Knight shift fairly well.     

Hyperfine interaction of 25Al in α-Al2O3 and its quadrupole moment

A brief review is presented of recent work with the Precision Penning Trap Mass Spectrometer, formerly at MIT, now at Florida State University. This includes atomic mass comparisons using single trapped ions; mass comparisons using two simultaneously trapped ions alternated between large and small cyclotron radii; and measurement of the dipole moment of a molecular ion using the polarizability-induced shift in cyclotron frequency.     

g-Factor Measurements of Rotational States in 84,86Zr

The g-factors of the positive parity yrast rotational states in ^84,86Zr have been precisely measured using a TMF-IMPAD method. The measured g factors indicate the proton alignment followed by neutron alignment in the g _9/2 high-j shell for ⁸⁴Zr and the neutron alignment followed by proton alignment for ⁸⁶Zr. The present results also reveal the structure transition at N=46 for Zr isotopes. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hyperfine Interactions of 8Li in Ferromagnetic Single Crystal Fe

The hyperfine interactions of ⁸Li implanted in single crystal Fe have been studied using the β-NMR technique. One kind of hyperfine field B _hf was found. Since no dipolar field was observed, ⁸Li nuclei are suggested to sit in substitutional sites. The B _hf and the spin-lattice relaxation time T ₁ were observed as functions of temperature. The experimental B _hf and T ₁ were compared with the theoretical predictions from the first principles KKR-band-structure calculations. While predicted B _hf for the substitutional site is consistent with the experiment, predicted T ₁ cannot reproduce the experiment well. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hyperfine Interactions of 12B in CaB6

The hyperfine interactions of short-lived β-emitter ¹²B implanted into a CaB₆ crystal have been studied by means of the β-NMR technique. An electric quadrupole splitting has been observed at room temperature from which an electric field gradient of q=−(1.34±0.05)×10²¹ V/m² was determined. From the present result, it was found that the ¹²B nuclei are mainly implanted in the substitutional boron site. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Beta and gamma decays of J π = 1+, 24mAl state

A β-γ spectroscopy of the J ^π , 426 keV isomeric state of ²⁴Al (^24m Al) has been carried out by using a ²⁴Al secondary beam with high purity and high isomeric ratio. From the absolute γ-ray and β-particle intensities observed in the decay of the isomeric state, the branching ratio R _B of the isomeric γ decay from ^24m Al to the J ^π = 4⁺, ground state of ²⁴Al have been derived. The obtained R _B value of 69.6(7)% is much smaller than the previously accepted value of 82.5(30)%. The precise half-life for the isomer decay, T _1/2 ^m = 130.9(13) ms, has been also determined in this experiment. Accordingly, the M3 γ-decay strength B(M3) of the ^24m Al decay becomes smaller and the total β-decay branching ratio becomes larger. In particular, the β-decay branching ratio to the ground state of ²⁴Mg becomes 24.3(9)%, which is 2.4 times larger than the previous value of 10.1(28)%. By combining the branching ratio and the half-life, the Gamow-Teller (GT) transition strength B(GT) of 0.0194(7) is deduced for the GT transition from ^24m Al to the J ^π = 0⁺, ground state of ²⁴Mg. This value is in good agreement with the values derived from charge-exchange reactions.