An improved evaluation of the neutron background in the PandaX-Ⅱ experiment

In dark matter direct detection experiments,neutron is a serious source of background,which can mimic the dark matter-nucleus scattering signals.In this paper,we present an improved evaluation of the neutron background in the PandaX-II dark matter experiment by a novel approach.Instead of fully relying on the Monte Carlo simulation,the overall neutron background is determined from the neutron-induced high energy signals in the data.In addition,the probability of producing a dark-matter-like background per neutron is evaluated with a complete Monte Carlo generator,where the correlated emission of neutron(s)andγ(s)in the(α,n)reactions and spontaneous fissions is taken into consideration.With this method,the neutron backgrounds in the Run 9(26-ton-day)and Run 10(28-ton-day)data sets of PandaX-II are estimated to be(0.66±0.24)and(0.47±0.25)events,respectively.     

Knockout reaction mechanism studied by 6He projectile

Knockout reaction experiment was carried out by using the ⁶He beams at 61.2 MeV/u impinging on a CH₂ target. The α core fragments at forward angles were detected in coincidence with the recoiled protons at larger angles. From this exclusive measurement the valence nucleon knockout mechanism and the core knockout mechanism can be distinguished by the relation between the polar angles of the core fragments and the recoiled protons, respectively. It is demonstrated that the core knockout mechanism may result in some strong contamination to the real invariant mass spectrum.

     

Determination of the cluster spectroscopic factor of the 10.3 MeV state in 12Be

From an inelastic excitation and breakup experiment with a ¹²Be beam at 29 MeV/u, a large ⁴He+⁸He cluster decay width of 1.1(2) MeV is determined for a state at an excitation energy of 10.3 MeV and with a spin parity of 0+. By using the R-matrix analysis, a cluster spectroscopic factor of 0.53(10) is extracted from the cluster partial width, providing a strong support for the clustering structure in ¹²Be. A specially designed zero-degree telescope played an essential role in the present experiment and has been demonstrated to be a promising tool in future studies of the molecular-like resonances near the cluster separation threshold.     

Enhanced monopole transition strength from the cluster decay of ~(13)C

The inelastic excitations and cluster decay of ~(13)C have been measured using the reaction,9Be(~(13)C, ~(13)C* →~9Be + α)~9Be. We observe strong excitation to the 14.3-MeV(1/2-) resonant state from the cluster-decay channel, leading to an enhanced monopole matrix element of(6.3 ± 0.6) fm~2. This large cluster-related monopole strength is a clear indication of the cluster-structure domination of this state and is consistent with the recent prediction of the orthogonality condition model(OCM). It would be interesting to further explore the three-center molecular rotational band that is initiated from the observed band-head.     

High-lying excited states in <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be from the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be(<Superscript>9</Superscript>Be,<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be)<Superscript>8</Superscript>Be reaction

A transfer-reaction experiment of ⁹Be(⁹Be, ¹⁰Be)⁸Be was performed at a beam energy of 45 MeV. Excited states in ¹⁰Be up to 18.80 MeV are produced using missing mass and invariant mass methods. Most of the observed high-lying resonant states, reconstructed from the α + ⁶He and t + ⁷Li decay channels, agree with the previously reported results. In addition, two new resonances at 15.6 and 18.8 MeV are identified from the present measurement. The 18.55 MeV state is found to decay into both the t + ⁷Li_g.s. and t + ⁷Li* (0.478 MeV) channels, with a relative branching ratio of 0.93 ± 0.33. Further theoretical investigations are encouraged to interpret this new information on cluster structure in neutron-rich light nuclei.     

Superfluid-superradiant mixed phase of the interacting degenerate Fermi gas in an optical cavity

We investigate the ground-state properties of an attractively interacting degenerate Fermi gas coupling with a high-finesse optical cavity. We predict a new mixed phase with both the superfluid and superradiant properties for the intermediate fermion-fermion interaction and fermion-photon coupling strengths. Moreover, in this mixed phase a relatively large ratio of the scaled polarization to the dimensionless mean-field gap, which is in contrast to that in the conventional superfluid regime can be obtained. We also figure out rich phase diagrams depending crucially on the atomic resonant frequency (effective Zeeman field) and address briefly the experimental detection of our predicted quantum phases.     

Recent research progress in wettability of colloidal crystals

The wettability of solid surfaces has attracted extensive interest in both theoretical research and industrial applications. This paper reviews recent research progress in the fabrication and applications of the colloidal crystals with special wettability. Based on the modified equation of Wenzel and Cassie, the colloidal crystals with special wettability have been obtained by either application of the intrinsic rough structure or modification of the surface chemical composition. Some typical applications o...     

成膜溶剂与氟化嵌段共聚物膜的表面富集行为

利用接触角、XPS、SFG、AFM等技术研究了环己酮、甲苯和三氟甲苯为成膜溶剂所得聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯-b-聚（甲基丙烯酸-2-全氟辛基乙酯）（PMMA—b—PFMA）嵌段共聚物膜的表面结构与性能．发现浇铸成膜时成膜溶剂对聚合物氟化组分向表面富集程度的影响相对较小,而旋涂成膜时溶剂的影响很大．不管以何种形式成膜,三氟甲苯溶剂最有利于氟化组分向表面富集,甲苯次之,环己酮最差．这一现象与溶剂的挥发速度无关．聚合物在溶液中的聚集结构、气／液界面结构是造成成膜方式对聚合物表面结构与性能产生巨大影响的主要原因．当聚合物在溶液中形成以PFMA为核、PMMA为冠的胶束结构时,在溶液固化过程中氟化组分向表面富集需要较长的时间,这时由于成膜方法直接影响溶液的固化速度,造成其对氟化组分向表面富集的程度影响很大．当聚合物在溶液中以单分子或松散聚集体存在,在溶液固化过程中氟化组分向表面富集的速度很快,这时成膜方法对氟化组分向表面富集的程度影响很小．以上结果无论对理论研究还是应用研究都具有重要意义．     

β-decay studies of the neutron-rich ~(18,21)N isotopes

The β-decay studies of neutron-rich 18,21N isotopes have been performed using β-n, β-γ, and β-n-γ coincidence methods. The 18,21N ions were produced by the fragmentation of the 22Ne and 26Mg beams, respectively, on a thick beryllium target. The time of flight of the emitted neutrons following the β-decay of 18,21N was measured by a neutron detector system with wide energy detection range and low-energy detection threshold. In addition, several clover germanium detectors were used to detect the β-delayed γ-r...