The formation of the superheavy hydrogen isotope <Superscript>6</Superscript>H in the absorption of stopped π<Superscript>−</Superscript>-mesons by nuclei

An experimental search for the superheavy hydrogen isotope ⁶H was conducted through studying the absorption of stopped π^?-mesons by ⁹Be and ¹¹B nuclei. A structure in the missing mass spectrum caused by the resonance states of ⁶H was observed in three reaction channels, namely, ⁹Be(π^?, pd)X, ¹¹B(π^?, d³He)X, and ¹¹B(π^?, p⁴He)X. The parameters of the lowest state E_r=6.6±0.7 MeV and Γ=5.5±2.0 MeV (E_r is the resonance energy with respect to the disintegration into the triton and three neutrons) are evidence that ⁶H is a more weakly bound system than ⁴H and ⁵H. Three excited states of ⁶H were observed. Their resonance levels (E_1r=10.7±0.7 MeV, Γ_1r=4±2 MeV, E_2r=15.3±0.7 MeV, Γ _2r=3±2 MeV, and E_3r=21.3±0.4 MeV, Γ_3r=3.5±1.0 MeV) are energetically capable of disintegrating into six free nucleons.     

Visualization of a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless Topological Phase Transition in a Josephson Medium: Detection of an Anomalous Temperature Dependence of the Magnetoresistance of YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7–δ</Subscript> Granular High-Temperature Superconductors

The density of states of the valence band of a p-GaAs layer formed on an n-GaAs surface owing to the bombardment by 2500-eV Ar⁺ ions has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy. A number of peaks have been detected in the spectrum of the edge of the valence band in the binding energy range E_V < 1.2eV. Their number and energy positions correspond to the quantum confinement levels calculated for a hole quantum well on the surface with the width about the ion penetration depth R_p = 3.6nm. Electronic transitions from these levels to the bottom of the conduction band have been revealed in the spectrum of characteristic energy losses of electrons reflected from the surface. Thus, it has been shown that the action of the argon ion beam on n-GaAs results in the formation of a quantum well on the surface.     

Multistage radiation-stimulated changes in the microhardness of silicon single crystals exposed to low-intensity β irradiation

Radiation-stimulated and postradiation changes in the microhardness of silicon single crystals exposed to irradiation with a low-intensity flux of β particles (I = 9 × 10⁵ cm^?2 s^?1, W = 0.20 + 0.93 MeV) are studied. It is established that the inversion of the radiation-induced plastic effect occurs at a characteristic irradiation time τ_c = 75 min; i.e., irradiation of silicon single crystals for a time τ < τ_c leads to nonmonotonic reversible hardening, whereas nonmonotonic reversible softening is observed under irradiation for a time τ > τ_c. It is demonstrated that there exists a correlation between the nonmonotonic dependences of the microhardness and the concentration of electrically active defects at acceptor levels with energies E _c ? 0.11 eV, E _c ? 0.13 eV, and E _c ? 0.18 eV on the irradiation time.     

Transitions between À and 0 states in superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor junctions

Experimental and theoretical study of superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor junctions (SFS junctions) showed that, in a certain range of parameters (e.g., the length of the ferromagnet d_F, the exchange field E_ex), the ground state of the SFS junction corresponds to a superconducting phase difference π or 0. The phase diagram of an SFS junction with respect to π and 0 states is investigated in this letter in E_ex, d_F, T space. It is shown that the phase diagram is very sensitive to the geometry of the system, in particular, to the amount of disorder in the junction.     

On resonance and nonresonance interactions between electrons and spatially periodic clusters

The effects of resonance and nonresonance interactions between electrons and spherical structures with spatial periodicity in the radial direction (clusters) were studied. It was shown analytically and by numerical calculations that the δ _l phase shift of the wave function, which arises in resonance electron scattering by such a periodic structure of a fairly large radius r₀, was not small even at a small ratio between the U₀ amplitude of the periodic potential and scattered electron energy E(ε₀=U₀/E?1) and equaled |δ _l |=π/4 (modulo π). This phase shift corresponded to the limiting case of a large Born parameter for the cluster, ξ₀=r₀U₀/?v?1, where v is the characteristic velocity of the electron. The effect of nonresonance electron scattering by a periodic potential whose spatial period was incommensurate with the Brillouin wavelength of the scattered electron was considered analytically. The effect of nonresonance scattering was shown to be of a higher order in the ε₀?1 parameter than resonance scattering. The cross section of electron scattering by a cluster was calculated, which allowed the conductivity of a medium containing clusters to be estimated.     

Anregung und Schädigung der Lumineszenz von CaWO4 und ZnS/Ag durch Ionen

The luminescence-response of ZnS/Ag and CaWO₄ to ion-bombardement and the deterioration of luminescence under prolonged irradiation was determined as a function of ion-energyE, ion-massM _i and beam-densityI. The variation of lightoutput with ion-energy is of the formJ ₀=C. (E-E ₀) ⁿ withn=2 (ZnS/Ag) or lower values (CaWO₄). The luminescence-response to ions of various mass was found to decrease generally with growing mass, but to be nearly constant to ions of middle atomic weight (ZnS/Ag). The luminescence-efficiency, caused by ions of energy greater than 5 keV, is independent of beam-density within the whole range studied here (maximum 3 · 10^?7 A · cm^?2), but it diminishes in the caseE=5 keV for values ofI above 6 · 10^?8 A · cm^?2. The deterioration-effect grows, except in the case of He⁺-ions, the lightest ions used here, with ion-energy. It also increases by substituting Ne⁺- for He⁺-ions, but remains nearly independent of mass (CaWO₄) or diminishes with growing ion-mass (ZnS/Ag), if the ions are heavier than Ne⁺-ions. Increasing beam-density leads to a reduced deterioration of ZnS/Ag-luminescence, yet has no influence to that of CaWO₄.     

Search for superheavy hydrogen isotopes <Superscript>4,5</Superscript>H in reactions of pion absorption by <Superscript>10,11</Superscript>B nuclei

The results of searching for production of superheavy hydrogen isotopes ^4,5H in reactions of absorption of stopped π^? mesons by ^10,11B nuclei are reported. A peak near 3 MeV was observed in the missing mass spectra measured in the reactions ^10,11B(π^?, t⁴He)X, ¹⁰B(π^?, d⁴He)X, and ¹⁰B(π^?, t³He)X. A structure caused by two ⁵H states with the resonance energies E _R = 5.2 and 10.4 MeV was observed in the missing mass spectra measured in the reactions ¹¹B(π^?, d⁴He)X, ¹¹B(π^?, t³He)X, and ¹⁰B(π^?, d³He)X.     

Study of carbon material surface layers modified by nitrogen and argon ion irradiation

We present the results of the study of the elemental composition and defects of the electronic structure of the surface layer modified by high-dose irradiation (10¹⁸–10¹⁹ ion/cm²) of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (UPV-1T) by 30-keV N ₂ ⁺ and Ar⁺ ions in the temperature range from 180 to 400°C. The EPR spectra observed during irradiation with argon ions at high temperatures and with nitrogen ions at temperatures near the liquid-nitrogen temperature T = 77 K exhibit anomalously narrow lines which probably result from the exchange interaction inside paramagnetic clusters of displaced carbon atoms. During nitrogen ion irradiation at room and higher temperatures, paramagnetic defects typical of many carbon materials (single EPR lines with g = 2.0027–2.0029) and belonging to carbon atoms bound to one or three nitrogen atoms were detected.     

Graphitization of a Polycrystalline Diamond under High-Fluence Irradiation with Noble Gas and Nitrogen Ions

To analyze the process of the ion-induced graphitization of a polycrystalline diamond, the surfacelayer conductivity and microstructure are studied experimentally after high-fluence irradiation with Ne⁺, Ar⁺, N⁺, and ions with energies of 20–30 keV at irradiation and heat-treatment temperatures ranging from 30 to 720°R in vacuum. After irradiation with argon ions at room temperature and subsequent heat treatment, the resistivity ? of a modified layer decreases exponentially with increasing treatment temperature T _ht and reaches the graphite value ? at Tht = 700°R. Such a temperature T _ht is insufficient for surface-layer graphitization by nitrogen ions. The increase in the diamond temperature under irradiation leads to a decrease in the ion-induced thermal graphitization temperature T _g by several hundred degrees. It is found that the temperature T _g is almost coincident with the corresponding temperature T_a of the dynamic annealing of radiation-induced damage in graphite. Analysis of the irradiated layer using Raman spectroscopy reveals the heterogeneous structure of the modified layer containing graphite and amorphous phases, the ratio between which correlates with the layer resistivity. Under argon-ion irradiation at diamond temperatures of 500°R or more, an increase in ? of the irradiated layer is observed, which is related to the formation of nanocrystalline graphite. This effect is not observed under nitrogen-ion irradiation.     

Effect of electron irradiation on the spectra of elementary excitations in C60 fullerite

Electron irradiation produces changes in the spectra of elementary excitations of C₆₀ fullerite, which are manifested by decrease in the π-plasmon energy, bandgap width, and energies of the HOMO-LUMO and other molecular transitions, smoothening of the corresponding spectral features, and significant growth in the quasicontinuous low-energy background intensity, the latter being indicative of an increase in the conductivity. The observed “red shifts” are related to collectivization of a part of the π electrons, the formation of chemical bonds between adjacent molecules (polymerization), and the corresponding increase in the proportion of sp ³-hybridized electrons. Characteristic electron energy loss (EEL) spectra of an intact fullerite sample non-perturbed by the polymerization process were measured. The EEL spectra of fullerite exhibit a multipole structure due to the (σ + π)-plasmon and reveal an exciton feature which is highly sensitive with respect to electron irradiation and can be used to characterize the initial fullerite structure and to indicate the polymerization onset.     

Effect of intrinsic defects on the electronic structure of BN nanotubes

The effect of intrinsic defects on the electronic structure of boron-nitrogen nanotubes (5, 5) and (9, 0) is investigated by the method of linearized associated cylindrical waves. Nanotubes with extended defects of substitution N _B of a boron atom by a nitrogen atom and, vice versa, nitrogen by boron BN with an impurity concentration of 1.5 to 5% are considered. It is shown that the presence of such defects significantly affects the band structure of boron-nitrogen nanotubes. A defect band D^π(B, N) is formed in the bandgap, which sharply reduces the width of the gap. The presence of impurities also affects the valence band: the widths of s, sp, and p_π bands change and the gap between s and sp bands is partially filled. These effects may be detected experimentally by, e.g., optical and photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Proton-proton interaction with high multiplicity at energy of 70 GeV (proposal)

The goal of the proposed experiment is to investigate the collective behavior of particles in the process of multiple hadron production in pp interaction pp → n _π π + 2N at the beam energy E_lab = 70 GeV. The domain of high multiplicity n _π = 30–40, or z = n/\(\bar n\) = 4–6, will be studied. Near the threshold of reaction n _π → 69, z → z_th = 8.2, all particles acquire small relative momentum Δq < 1/R, where R is the dimension of the particle production region. As a consequence of multiboson interference, a number of collective effects may show up: (a) a drastic increase in the partial cross section σ(n) of production of n identical particles is expected, compared with commonly accepted extrapolation; (b) the formation of jets consisting of identical particles may occur as a result of the multiboson Bose-Einstein correlation (BEC) effect; (c) a large fluctuation of charged n(π⁺,π^?) and neutral n(π⁰) components and onset of centauros or chiral condensate effects are anticipated; (d) an increase in the rate of direct γ as a result of the bremsstrahlung in the partonic cascade and annihilation of π⁺π^? → nγ in dense and cold pionic gas or condensate is expected. In the domain of high multiplicity z ≥ 5, a major part of the c.m. energy \(\sqrt s = 11.6\) GeV is materialized, leading to a high-density thermalized hadronic system. Under this condition, a phase transition to cold quark-gluon plasma (QGP) may occur. The search for QGP signatures like large intermittency in the phase-space particle distribution and an enhanced rate of direct photons will be performed. The experimental setup is designed for detection of rare high-multiplicity events. The experiment is to be carried out at the extracted proton beam of the IHEP U-70 accelerator. The required beam intensity is ～10⁷ s^?1. Under the assumption that the partial cross section σ(n _π = 35) = 10-1 nb, the anticipated counting rate is 10-1 events/h. The multiboson BEC enhancement may drastically increase the counting rate.     

Activation energy of ion motion in the nanodimensional lattice of LaF<Subscript>3</Subscript> superionic conductor

Quantum chemistry calculations of the intracrystalline potential relief in the nanolattice of LaF₃ superionic crystal that contains 1200 ions and measures 3.5 × 2.0 × 2.2 nm along the x, y, and z axis, respectively, have been performed. Using the MOPAC 2012 program package, the potential relief profile has been simulated in the central part of the nanolattice for an elementary act of disordering in the lowest melting sublattice of F₁ ions. It has been found that the height E _m of barriers that prevent the motion of F₁ in the dielectric phase of LaF₃ crystal equals 0.37 eV and decreases to 0.15 eV in the superionic state. In addition, activation energy E _a of F₁ sublattice disordering in the dielectric and superionic states is equal to 0.16 and 0.04 eV, respectively. The profiles of the potential relief calculated on the xy and xz faces of the LaF₃ 3D nanolattice for the case when an F₁ ion moves along the x crystal axis in the dielectric state are presented. The corresponding energy barriers are 1.5–2.0 times lower than those at the center of the LaF₃ nanlattice.     

Contributions of exclusive pion electroproduction reactions to inclusive structure functions

The contributions of exclusive π⁺n, π⁰p, and π^?π⁺p channels to the inclusive structure function F ₂(x, Q ²) are determined from the CLAS collaboration data analysis. Reliability of the CLAS data on the inclusive structure function and single-pion electroproduction channels is verified. The total contribution of the uninvestigated π⁺π⁰n and π⁰p channels to this function and the integrated cross sections of these channels at photon virtualities Q ² = 0.4 and 0.5 GeV² are predicted.     

Thermal annealing effect on structural and optical properties of 2,9-Bis [2-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl] anthrax [2,1,9-def:6,5,10-d′e′f′] diisoquinoline-1,3,8,10 (2H,9H) tetrone (Ch-diisoQ) thin films

Thin films of 2,9-Bis [2-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl] anthrax [2,1,9-def:6,5,10-d′e′f′] diisoquinoline-1,3,8,10 (2H,9H) tetrone (Ch-diisoQ) were prepared by thermal evaporation technique. Structural properties of these (as-prepared and annealed at 373, 423, 473 and 523 K) films were determined by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, which showed that the grain sizes increasing by the annealing effect. The transmittance and reflectance of all Ch-diisoQ thin films were measured in the range 200–2500 nm. Some optical constants such as optical band gap (E _g ), dispersion energy (E _d ), single oscillator energy (E _o ) and optical dielectric constant at a higher frequency (ε _∞ ) were calculated at different annealing temperatures. The optical band gap of the samples is decreased with the increase of annealing temperatures due to the increasing of the π-dislocation. Finally, the values of the optical susceptibility, χ⁽³⁾, were found to be annealing dependence.     

Radiation defect formation in strontium and calcium fluoride crystals doped by divalent cadmium and zinc ions

Ionization radiation is shown to reduce impurity ions to the univalent state in strontium and calcium fluoride crystals doped by divalent cadmium and zinc ions. In this case, a univalent ion is surrounded by eight equivalent fluorine ions and exhibits cubic symmetry O _h . At room temperature, the symmetry of the center is revealed to be sequentially lowered to C _3v and then to C _2v owing to the addition to the nearest environment of the impurity univalent ion of one or two anion vacancies, respectively, which are intrinsic defects not forming in undoped strontium and calcium fluoride crystals. Stable intrinsic defects are assumed to form through the separation of anion vacancy-interstitial fluorine ion pairs in the electric field induced by the reduced impurity ions. This electric field lowers the energy barrier to thermal separation of charged intrinsic defects.     

An approximate analysis of the diffraction losses in corner reflectors

The fundamental mechanism of energy loss from a Gaussian beam scattered by the edge of a corner reflector is considered. An independent calculation is performed to estimate the relative losses for different polarizations with allowance for the Goos-Hanchen shift effect. For the angle of incidence α = π/4, the relative energy losses by waves polarized along the reflector’s edge and normally to this direction are estimated at (W _dif/W _inc)_E ? 7.03(λ₀/a) and (W _dif/W _inc)_H ? 3.82(λ₀/a), respectively, where λ₀ is the wavelength in free space and a is the effective radius of the beam.     

Formfaktor des π-Mesons und Struktur der Nukleonen

Recent measurements of electron-proton scattering at Stanford have shown that the electric and magnetic form factors are not equal. Therefore, the isotopic vector parts of the form factorsG _e ^v andG _m ^v are recalculated with unsubtracted dispersion relations in the 2π-approximation. For the isotopic scalar parts we useG _e ^s (s)≈G _e ^v (s) andG _m ^s (s)≈ 0 which is known to be valid for moderate energy-momentum transfers. We obtain a simple closed expression for the electromagnetic form factor of the pionF _π in terms of the scattering lengtha ₁ and the effective ranger ₁ of the π-π-scattering in the stateL=T=1.a ₁ is roughly known from pion production by pions. With this value and a suitabler ₁,F _π has a resonance in the region of time-like energy-momentum transfer; and the pion rms-radius becomes\(\overline {v_\pi ^2 } = (0.82 \times 10^{ - 13} cm)^2 \). The calculated anomalous magnetic moment, the electric and the magnetic rms-radii of the proton are then within 10% of the experimental values, the electric charge within 30%. Moreover, the proton form factors are different from each other and up to an energy-momentum transfer of\(s = \frac{{ - q^2 }}{{m_\pi ^2 }} = 23\) within the experimental error of the new measurements. The deviations for higher values of the energy-momentum transfer may be explained in terms of the isotopic scalar parts of the form factors. In this case the electric form factor of the neutron will be different from zero in that region and the magnetic form factor of proton and neutron will no longer be equal. For comparison with other experiments we also calculate the π⁺?π^? cross section with neglect of other states thanL=T=1. Under this assumption the π?π cross section has a resonance for low energy-momentum transfer.