Nuclear orientation studies of the 51·5 min167Lu decay

Anisotropies of rays emitted in the decay of¹⁶⁷Lu,T _1/2=51·5 min, were measured. The¹⁶⁷Lu was oriented by the hyperfine interaction when the lutetium activity was included in a gadolinium host which was cooled to 15 mK temperature. A top-loading³He⁴He dilution refrigerator capable of quickly cooling a short-lived sample was used. Multipole mixing ratios have been evaluated for many transitions. The spin assignments have been made for a number of levels in¹⁶⁷Yb and their parities have been deduced. In particular, an unambiguous 11/2^– assignment was made for the 571·5 keV level which was identified as the band head of the 11/2^– [505] band observed by Lindblad. The rotational bands in¹⁶⁷Yb are discussed.Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance in contemporary art: the case of “Moon Surface” by Turcato

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methodologies were applied to characterize the constitutive materials and the state of degradation of a contemporary painting. The investigation was mandatory to plan a suitable restoration. Noninvasive, portable NMR allowed the detection of degraded regions of the painting based on the measurement of longitudinal relaxation time. A few samples were investigated by high resolution solid state NMR and NMR in solution, which allowed us to identify the polyurethane constituting the artefact, to investigate the microstructure in detail, and to assess that the degradation process mostly affected the ethylene units used to cap the polypropylene oxide polymeric chain. As a matter of fact, a shortening of longitudinal relaxation time was accompanied by a degradation of ethylene units. The degradation of the inorganic loading was investigated by ²⁷Al MAS, which evidenced the absence of penta-coordinated aluminum in degraded samples.     

Density-functional theory calculation of the nuclear magnetic resonance indirect nuclear spin—spin coupling constants in C60

Density-functional theory is used to study the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling constants in C₆₀. Knowledge of these coupling constants may help in the analysis of future experimental NMR studies of ¹³C-enriched C₆₀. At the Becke 3-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) Kohn-Sham level, the one-bond couplings within pentagons and between pentagons are 62 Hz and 77 Hz, respectively; the corresponding geminal couplings are 7 Hz and 1 Hz, respectively. Except for the vicinal couplings (about 4 Hz), the long-range couplings are all 1 Hz or smaller. This is the largest theoretical calculation to date of the complete set of indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling constants of a molecular system; it has been made possible by solving the response equations only for the perturbing operators related to one nuclear magnetic moment, making the calculation feasible.     

Laser ionization in β decay studies of Zn and Mn nuclei

Resonance ionization laser ion source (RILIS) technique has been used in the β-decay studies of ⁵⁹Mn and ⁵⁸Zn. The importance of the RILIS for production of these elements is discussed. The properties of the low-lying levels of the studied nuclei are discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Indirect optical orientation of atoms in He–Cs gas discharge plasma: an explanation of anomalous ratio of the magnetic resonance signals

This paper discusses the indirect orientation of Cs atoms, which was observed for the first time in our early works in a helium–cesium plasma discharge with use of an indirect registration method. We propose an explanation for the unusually small ratio of the magnetic resonance signals from Cs and metastable He atoms under condition of optical orientation of He atoms.     

Mössbauer and magnetic studies of nanocomposites containing iron oxides and humic acids

A sample of volcanic ashes emanated from the Osorno volcano, southern Chile, was characterized with X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, in an attempt to identify the iron-bearing minerals of that geologically recent magmatic deposit. X-ray patterns indicated that the sample is mainly constituted of anorthite, Fe-diopside-type and Ca-magnetite. The crystallographic structures of these dominant iron minerals are proposed on basis of their chemical composition and corresponding Mössbauer data to support models refined by fitting powder X-ray diffraction data with the Rietveld algorithm.     

A Mossbauer study of the magnetic coupling in iron phosphorous trisulfides

The polycrystalline sample of layered compound FePS_3 has been investigated by using M?ssbauer spectroscopy (12K to 300K), magnetic susceptibility measurements, x-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. The antiferromagnetic order exists below T_N=120.5±1K. The M?ssbauer spectra below T_N indicate that the magnetization axis is perpendicular to the layer of FePS_3, and the divalent iron cations are in their high spin configurations. By fitting the hyperfine field parameters near the Néel temperature, we obtain information on the nature of magnetic interactions in the material. The results show that the magnetic coupling can be treated by the two-dimensional Ising model, and it can be interpreted on the basis of a crystal-field effect.     

Theoretical studies of proton capture reactions in A～25 proton-rich nuclei

The direct proton capture and resonance proton capture properties of stellar reactions 22Mg(p,γ)23Al and 26Si(p,γ)27P are studied by employing a mean-field potential obtained from the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock(SHF) model.Calculations with the SHF potential reproduce well the loosely-bound structure of the ground states as well as the widths of the resonant states in these nuclei.With the obtained potential we estimate the reaction rates of direct proton capture and resonance proton capture to nuclei 23Al and 27P....     

Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the interferon-α model of depression in rats

Therapeutic effects of interferon-α (IFN-α) are known to be associated with CNS toxicity in humans, and in particular with depression symptoms. Animal models of IFN-α-induced depression (sickness behaviour) have been developed in rodents using various preparations, dosing schedules or routes of administrations. In this work, Manganese Enhanced MRI (MEMRI) has been applied to investigate an experimental model of sickness behaviour induced by administration of IFN-α in rats. IFN-α (3.10⁵ U/kg), or vehicle, was daily administered i.p., for 7 days in rats (n = 20 IFN-α treated and n = 20 controls). After treatment, animals were assigned to behavioural (n = 10 treated, n = 10 control) or MRI (n = 10 treated and n = 10 control) studies. Animals assigned to the MRI study received two repeated i.p. injections of MnCl₂, before image acquisition. Images were acquired at 4.7 T using T₁ mapping for determination of Mn concentration in brain. After co-registration of T₁ maps to a digital brain atlas, differences between brains of treated and untreated animals were assessed pixel-to-pixel by statistical analysis.     

Low temperature nuclear orientation of nuclei far from beta stability Spin — Facility at JINR

The experimental facility for the study of the decay of oriented nuclei in a broad range of atomic and mass number and half-lives based on hyperfine interactions at ultralow temperatures — the SPIN facility at JINR — is described. High cooling power top loading 3He-4He dilution refrigerator of the system is capable of fast cooling of the sample inserted into the mixing chamber to the base temperature 10 mK for about 1–2 h. Detection system is designed for the study of angular distribution and temperature dependence of the anisotropy of gamma rays, linear polarisation of gamma rays and NMR/ON studies. Some results of nuclear orientation studies in off-line mode of radioactive nuclei with the half-live down to 1 h produced by spallation reaction with 660 MeV protons are presented. The project of nuclear orientation system on-line to the mass-separator and the new 600 MeV Dubna proton phasotron is described.     

Mössbauer and vibrational DOS studies of diluted magnetic tin oxides and nano iron oxides

The magnetic properties and Mössbauer results for SnO₂ doped with ⁵⁷Fe are reviewed, and the values of isomer shift and quadrupole splitting are compared with the results obtained by ab initio calculations. It is concluded that the exchange interactions between oxygen defects and magnetic atoms are responsible for long range magnetic interactions of dilute Fe ions dispersed in SnO₂. Fe atom precipitated clusters may be formed in highly Fe doped SnO₂ samples by annealing at relatively high temperatures for several hours. The reduction of the particle size to nano-scale dimensions induces magnetization, which can be associated with oxygen defects. We have measured the nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) spectra of Fe oxides, and ⁵⁷Fe and (Co or Mn) doped SnO₂ synthesized mainly by sol–gel methods and we have derived the vibration density of states (VDOS). The local phonons are sensitive to the presence of precipitated clusters.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of Co–Zn magnetic fluid

Co_1−xZn_xFe₂O₄ (with x varying from 0 to 0.7) nanoparticles to be used for ferrofluid preparation were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method. The fine particles were suitably dispersed in transformer oil using oleic acid as the surfactant. The magnetization (M_s) and the size of the particles were measured at room temperature. The magnetization (M_s) was found to decrease with the increase in zinc substitution. The magnetic particle size (D_m) of the fluid was found to vary from 11.19 to 4.25 nm decreasing with the increase in zinc substitution.     

Mössbauer studies of interactions between titanium atoms dissolved in iron

The room temperature ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra for binary iron-based solid solutions Fe_1???x Ti _x , with x in the range 0.010 ≤?x?≤ 0.045, were analysed in terms of binding energy E _b between two Ti atoms in the Fe-Ti system. The extrapolated values of E _b for x?= 0 were used for computation of enthalpy of solution of titanium in iron. The results were compared with that resulting from the Miedema’s model of alloys as well as those derived from the heat of formation of the system, obtained with both calorimetric measurements and theoretical calculations. The comparison shows that our Mössbauer spectroscopy findings are in a quite good agreement with all the other results mentioned above.     

Uses and perspectives of Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of iron minerals in coal

The processes involved in the utilization of coal are affected by the minerals contained in it. Due to the presence of iron as a major constituent of coal mineral matter, and to the fact that the iron minerals, especially pyrite, and their transformation products play an important role in coal uses, ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy appears as an attractive tool in coal research. Mössbauer studies related to the characterization of iron phases, coal oxidation and quantitative determination of pyritic sulphur are discussed in this work.     

Effect of magnetic pulse treatment on the magnetic characteristics of yttrium–iron garnets

The effect weak (10–100 kA m^–1) low-frequency (10–20 Hz) pulsed magnetic fields have on the surface structure and magnetic characteristics of yttrium–iron garnet Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ is studied by means of electron and Mössbauer spectroscopy. A mechanism is proposed for the variation of saturation magnetization in Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ after magnetic pulse treatment. The mechanism is associated with the change in the spin state of iron ions localized in the tetrahedral sublattice.     

Admixture of the giant dipole resonance to low lying 1−-states in heavy nuclei

The mass of ¹³ Be has been measured with the reaction ¹³ C(¹⁴ C,¹⁴ O)¹³ Be at E _Lab =337 MeV. A Q-value of Q ₀=–37.02(5) MeV was obtained and the mass excess is M.E.=35.16(5) MeV. If the observed line corresponds to the ground state,¹³ Be is particle unstable with respect to the oneneutron emission by 2.01 MeV. The observed line width of 0.3(2) MeV supports an assignment ofJ =5/2⁺ or 1/2^–, but excludesJ =1/2⁺. An excited state is seen at 3.12(7) MeV; there are indications of a second excited state at 6.5(2) MeV.     

Deformation dependence of magnetic moments in the odd transitional nuclei117–125Te

The magnetic moments of the 5/2 ₁ ⁺ state in¹¹⁷Te at 274.4 keV and of the 7/2 ₁ ⁺ state in¹²¹Te at 443.1 keV have been determined asμ _exp(5/2⁺)=?0.75(5)n.m. andμ _exp(7/2⁺)=+0.63(7) n.m., respectively, using the TDPAD method and the reactions^115,119Sn(α,2n)^117,121Te. An evaluation method is described which provides, in case of the normalized time differential patternR(t) exhibits less than half of an oscillation period, a unique value of the Larmor frequency. The comparison of the measured magnetic moments with Nilsson-, soft rotor Coriolis- as well as core-particle coupling calculations gives valuable hints on the shape dependence of magnetic moments and, consequently, on the deformation of different states in the odd transitional nuclei^117–125Te. In the light of the core-particle coupling model the positive parity states of¹¹⁷Te and¹²¹Te are interpreted as the members ofΔJ=1 andΔJ=2 bands built on thes _1/2,d _3/2,d _5/2 and g_7/2 single-particle states, respectively.     

19F nuclear magnetic resonance in γ -irradiated LiF

Cobalt-60 gamma ray induced polymerization of vinylidine chloride has been studied, as an example of precipitating type of polymers. The percentage conversion of the monomer was not linear with the absorbed dose but showed acceleration. By studying the initial part of the curve which was linear, the initial rates of polymerization have been determined for different temperatures and dose rates. The dose rate exponent was found to be 0.48, and the energy of activation was observed to be 7.4 kcal/mol. The radical yield was determined by competition reaction with a stable free radical DPPH using the induction period method and G^R was found to be 21.0. The intrinsic viscosities of the polymers have been determined in o-dichlorobenzene at 120°C. The results show a maximum in molecular weight as the radiation dose is increased. These results as well as the results on the dose rate exponent, and energy of activation are discussed.