Mixed layer – structured ferroelectrics on the basis of \mbox{\sffamily\bfseries Bi}_{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 4}} \mbox{\sffamily\bfseries Ti}_{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 3}} \mbox{\sffamily\bfseries O}_{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 12}}

Thermal diffusivities of pure YVO₄ single crystal and single crystals doped with Nd, Tm and Ca ions are measured using a modified ?ngstr?m's method. Measurements were carried out for main crystallographic directions ([100], [010] and [001]). Obtained results show that the thermal diffusivity in [001] direction is considerably higher than in (001) plane. Decrease of the thermal diffusivity is observed with growing concentration of dopants. For the heavier doped sample (5% at. of Tm + 0.4% at. of Ca) a drop of the thermal diffusivity is about 35%.     

ZnO sensing structure for $\mbox{\sffamily\bfseries NH}_{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 3}}$ detection

Layered structure for the detection and measuring of gaseous ammonia have been presented. The presented sensor structures hale Bern developed on the base of thin ZnO and Au/Cr layers deposited on a glass substrate. The technological as well as optical properties of the elaborated sensing structures have been discussed.     

Biferroic electro – acoustic ceramics with $\mbox{\sffamily\bfseries BiFeO}_{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 3}}$ composition

Bismuth ferrite, one of a few multiferroics, has attracted much attention for many decades since 1960. BiFeO₃ (BFO) belongs to perovskite class of complex oxides. BFO is one of only a few materials in which (anti)ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity coexis in room temperature. Authors prepared BiFeO₃ ceramics by solid state reaction method. The synthesized powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction method. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis were investigated. The microstructure of the BFO ceramics was investigated by means of scanning transmission electron microscopy, and the ferroelectric characteristic of BFO ceramics was demonstrated. BFO is very interesting ceramic material for potential applications in the memory devices, sensors, satellite communications, optical filters and smart devices.     

Double clad aluminosilicate optical fibre doped with $\mbox{\sffamily\bfseries Nd}^{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{12}{12}\selectfont 3+}}$ ions

Double clad aluminosilicate optical fibre doped with neodymium ions was obtained. Aluminosilicate glasses with low silica (25 mol%) content possess very good optical, thermal and mechanical properties. Simultaneously they are characterized by high solubility of rare earth elements. A set of physical measurements including: DTA, DSC, DL analysis, absorption spectroscopy and thermo-physical properties (thermal stability parameters, refractive index, thermal expansion coefficient, microhardness, density and molar volume) were determined. Double-crucible drawing technique was applied to obtain neodymium doped double clad optical fibre with . Luminescence spectra of aluminosilicate glass and fibre doped with Nd^{3 +} ions are presented.     

The enhancement effect in K-shell radiative recombination of \mbox{\sffamily\bfseries U}^{\hbox{\sffamily\bfseries\fontsize{10}{12}\selectfont 92+}} ions with cooling electrons

We report the results of the x-ray radiative recombination (RR) experiment at the electron cooler of the ESR storage ring performed, for the first time, for detuned (off-cooling) electron energies. In this experiment the recombination of stored, decelerated bare uranium ions with electrons in the energy range 0–1000 meV was studied by observing K-RR x-ray photons emitted from direct radiative recombination to the lowest n=1 state. In this way the RR process was studied in a state selective manner for several off-cooling electron energies. The measured dependency of the recombination rate on the relative electron energies for K-shell RR x-ray photons are compared with the predictions of both nonrelativistic and fully relativistic calculations for the radiative recombination. A role of the relativistic effects, which contribute substantially for higher relative electron energies, are discussed. Strong enhancement of the recombination rate is observed for the the zero relative electron energy (cooling condition) for the K-shell.     

Modeling of Spin Hamiltonian Parameters for Vanadyl-Doped {\bf\hbox{K}_2\hbox{SO}_4{-}\hbox{Na}_2\hbox{SO}_4{-}\hbox{ZnSO}_4} Glass

A full ligand-field energy matrix diagonalization treatment for 3d ¹ ions in tetragonal symmetry is developed on the basis of the two spin?Corbit coupling parameter model, and the contributions of the spin?Corbit coupling of the ligand ions to the optical and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra are included. Spin Hamiltonian parameters of the tetragonal ${\rm V}^{4+}$ center in $\hbox{K}_2\hbox{SO}_4 {-} \hbox{Na}_2\hbox{SO}_4{-}\hbox{ZnSO}_4$ glass are calculated from the complete energy matrix diagonalization and the perturbation theory methods. The results calculated by both methods are not only close to each other but also in good agreement with the experimental values. Furthermore, the compressed defect structure of the ${\rm (VO_6)^{8-}}$ cluster is discussed.     

Theoretical study of collision and collision-free radiative lifetimes of {{\text{S}}_2}\left( {{{\text{B}}^3}\Sigma_{\text{u}}^{-} \left( {{\upsilon^{\prime}} = 0 - 9} \right)} \right)

We calculate multireference configuration-interaction wavefunctions and the potential-energy curves for the $ {B^3}\Sigma_u^{-} $ and $ {X^3}\Sigma_g^{-} $ states of the collision-free S₂ molecule and the T-shape collision complex S₂?CHe using cc-pVQZ basis sets. We obtain the transition dipole moments of the $ {{\text{S}}_2}\left( {{B^3}\Sigma_u^{-} \to {X^3}\Sigma_g^{-} } \right) $ and the Franck?CCondon factors between the vibrational levels of this two states. We evaluate the radiative lifetimes of $ {{\text{S}}_2}\left( {{B^3}\Sigma_u^{-} \left( {{\upsilon^{\prime}} = 0 - 9} \right)} \right) $ levels of the collision complex and the collision-free molecule and compare them with the experiments. The collision provides little change in the radiative lifetimes of $ {{\text{S}}_2}\left( {{B^3}\Sigma_u^{-} \left( {{\upsilon^{\prime}} = 0 - 9} \right)} \right) $ according to the previous calculations. We obtain excellent agreement between the theoretical results and the experiments. The data calculated are very useful in the study of the microwave-driven high-pressure sulfur lamp and an S₂ laser pumped by a transverse fast discharge.     

Femtosecond relaxation kinetics of highly excited \mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**} states in CaF2 at 3.2 eV and 4.7 eV

Femtosecond (fs) laser pulses at variable delay times allowed us to track the fast non-radiative transitions between the manifold of highly excited $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**}$ states to the lower lying fluorescent $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ state in CaF₂. Two distinct $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{**}$ states of the manifold at 3.16?eV ( $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}2}^{**}$ ) and 4.73?eV ( $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}3}^{**}$ ) were populated using the second (SH) and third harmonics (TH) of fs laser light at 785?nm. The population kinetics of the fluorescent $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ state in the 2?eV excitation energy range was revealed by depleting its fluorescence centered at 740?nm using fundamental near infrared (NIR) fs laser pulses. The related time constants for $\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}2,3}^{**}{\sim}{>} \mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{Na}}^{*}$ relaxation amounted to 1.0±0.14?ps and 3.0±0.3?ps upon SH and TH excitation, respectively.     

Free field realization of the level-2 elliptic algebra Ux,p ([^(\mathfraks\mathfrakl)]2 )*)U_{x,p} (\widehat{\mathfrak{s}\mathfrak{l}}_2 )*)

We give a level-2 representation of the elliptic algebra in terms of one free boson and one free fermion. We show that -modules have a natural direct sum decomposition into the irreducible (deformed) super-Virasoro modules associated with the coset . Presented at the International Colloquium “Integrable Systems and Quantum Symmetries”, Prague, 16–18 June 2005.