Measurements of the power and energy spectrum of radiation of the plasma liners

A diagnostic complex based on bolometers and X-ray diodes is developed and tested. The complex is designed for measurements of the power and the energy spectrum of the pulses of soft X-rays in a quanta energy range of 70–1500 eV. Both thin films and filters formed by pulsed gas-puff in the tube of the diagnostic channel were used as X-ray filters. Experiments were carried out on a high current generator under a load current up to 2 MA. Soft X-ray pulses with a power of about 1 TW and a duration of about 40 ns were formed by the implosion of krypton liners.     

Monitoring of the thermal neutron flux in the EDELWEISS II dark matter direct search experiment

The results from measurements of thermal neutron flux in the EDELWEISS II experiment aimed at the direct detection of WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) by means of cryogenic germanium bolometers are described. Detailed knowledge of the neutron background is of crucial importance for the experiment, since neutrons with the MeV energy range of scattering seem to be hard to distinguish from the expected WIMP signal within the bolometers. Monitoring of the thermal neutron flux is performed using a mobile detection system with a low background proportional ³He counter. The neutron flux measurements were performed both outside and inside the device’s shielding, in the direct proximity of a cryostat with built-in germanium detectors. The sensitivity of the created thermal neutron detection system is on the level of 10⁻⁹ neutron (cm² s)⁻¹.     

Study of the energy spectrum and mass composition of primary cosmic rays in the energy range of 10<Superscript>18</Superscript>–10<Superscript>20</Superscript> eV using a balloon setup in antarctica (SPHERE-antarctica project)

An Antarctic balloon experiment for measuring the energy spectrum and elemental composition of cosmic rays in the ultrahigh-energy range (10¹⁸–10²⁰) eV is proposed. Scientific equipment will measure fluorescence caused by an extensive air shower formed in the atmosphere by an ultrahigh energy particle and Cherenkov light of this shower reflected from a snow surface. It is assumed that the balloon will fly in the circumpolar orbit in Antarctica at a height of ~25 km for (2–3) winter (in the Southern Hemisphere)months. For this time, ~3000 events caused by particles with energies above 10¹⁸ eV and (200–300) events caused by particles with energies above 10¹⁹ eV will be detected.     

Looking for SUSY with EDELWEISS-I and-II

The latest results obtained by the EDELWEISS WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles) direct detection experiment using three heat-and-ionization 320-g germanium bolometers are given. Presently the most sensitive WIMP direct detection experiment for WIMP mass >30 GeV, EDELWEISSI is testing a first region of SUSY models compatible with accelerator constraints. The status and main characteristics of EDELWEISS-II, involving in a first stage 28 germanium bolometers and able to accommodate up to 120 detectors, are briefly presented, together with neutron background estimates.     

Characteristic electron energy losses in germanium

The characteristic electron energy loss spectrum of germanium was studied in a transmission type experiment as a function of the changes in structure due to electron bombardment. The structure of the material was characterized by electron micrograph and diffraction techniques. The electron energy loss spectrum of germanium was studied up to 45 eV, and loss peaks were observed at 15.7 eV and 31.6 eV as well as a 6 eV carbon loss. The positions of the most intense characteristic energy loss peak at 15.7 eV and its first multiple were constant for a large variation in the lattice parameters for the individual films.     

Differential cross sections for elastic scattering and positronium formation for positron collisions with Ne,Ar, Kr and Xe

Differential cross sections for elastic scattering and Ps(1s) formation are calculated in the truncated coupled-static (TCS) approximation. Comparison is made with the elastic scattering measurements of Dou et al. on Ar and Kr. There is no support from the TCS approximation for the view that structure seen in the experimental results for Ar in the energy range 55–60 eV may be due to a resonance associated with coupling to the positronium formation channel. Rather, we believe that Dou et al. are right in correlating this feature with the maximum in the ionization cross section. In the experiment on Kr structures are observed at 25 and 200 eV. It is tentatively suggested that the structure at 200 eV may be the resonance seen in the TCS calculation at 100 eV, but modified by polarization and absorption effects. It is also suggested that the feature at 25 eV could be associated with coupling to excited states of positronium. The TCS results for the Xe target predict some very pronounced behaviour which would be worth experimental investigation. TCS differential cross sections for Ps(1s) formation by capture of an electron from the outer p-shell of the atom are presented for impact energies up to 75 eV. A noticeable property of these cross sections is that they do not usually peak at the forward direction; this is consistent with an experimental observation by Laricchia et al. on He and Ar targets. The importance of also looking at electron capture from inner shells is emphasized and illustrated by the cross section for electron capture from the 3s shell of Ar.     

Electron-stimulated desorption of lithium atoms from oxidized molybdenum surface

The yield and energy distributions of lithium atoms upon electron-stimulated desorption from lithium layers adsorbed on the molybdenum surface coated with an oxygen monolayer have been measured as functions of the impact electron energy and lithium coverage. The measurements are performed using the time-of-flight technique and a surface ionization detector. The threshold of the electron-stimulated desorption of lithium atoms is equal to 25 eV, which is close to the ionization energy of the O 2s level. Above a threshold of 25 eV, the yield of lithium atoms linearly increases with an increase in the lithium coverage. In the coverage range from 0 to 0.45, an additional threshold is observed at an energy of 55 eV. This threshold can be associated with the ionization energy of the Li 1s level. At the electron energies above a threshold of 55 eV, as the coverage increases, the yield of lithium atoms passes through a maximum at a coverage of about 0.1. Additional thresholds for the electron-stimulated desorption of the lithium atoms are observed at electron energies of 40 and 70 eV for the coverages larger than 0.6 and 0.75, respectively. These thresholds correlate with the ionization energies of the Mo 4s and Mo 4p levels. Relatively broad peaks in the range of these thresholds indicate the resonance excitation of the bond and can be explained by the excitation of electrons toward the band of free states above the Fermi level. The mean kinetic energy of the lithium atoms is equal to several tenths of an electronvolt. At electron energies less than 55 eV, the energy distributions of lithium atoms involve one peak with a maximum at about 0.18 eV. For the lithium coverages less than 0.45 and electron energies higher than 55 eV, the second peak with a maximum at 0.25 eV appears in the energy distributions of the lithium atoms. The results obtained can be interpreted in the framework of the Auger-stimulated desorption model, in which the adsorbed lithium ions are neutralized after filling holes inside inner shells of the substrate and lithium atoms.     

First observation of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression

The High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiment has observed the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin suppression (called the GZK cutoff) with a statistical significance of five standard deviations. HiRes' measurement of the flux of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays shows a sharp suppression at an energy of 6 x 10(19) eV, consistent with the expected cutoff energy. We observe the ankle of the cosmic-ray energy spectrum as well, at an energy of 4 x 10(18) eV. We describe the experiment, data collection, and analysis and estimate the systematic uncertainties. The results are presented and the calculation of the statistical significance of our observation is described.     

Kneelike structure in the spectrum of the heavy component of cosmic rays observed with KASCADE-Grande

We report the observation of a steepening in the cosmic ray energy spectrum of heavy primary particles at about 8×10(16) eV. This structure is also seen in the all-particle energy spectrum, but is less significant. Whereas the "knee" of the cosmic ray spectrum at 3-5×10(15) eV was assigned to light primary masses by the KASCADE experiment, the new structure found by the KASCADE-Grande experiment is caused by heavy primaries. The result is obtained by independent measurements of the charged particle and muon components of the secondary particles of extensive air showers in the primary energy range of 10(16) to 10(18) eV. The data are analyzed on a single-event basis taking into account also the correlation of the two observables.     

Low-temperature group velocity and elasticity in CaWO4

The CRESST experiment looks for evidence of dark matter particles colliding with nuclei in CaWO₄, using cryogenic bolometers sensitive to energy deposition (～10 keV) with high accuracy. Calibration of the energy deposited in the phonon system depends upon the details of the evolution of the non-equilibrium energy in the CaWO₄ absorber. Phonon images sensitively reveal variations in angular phonon flux in a single-crystal sample and provide accurate data for the group velocity along non-symmetry directions. Our measurements, over a wide range of propagation angles, provide new and precise values for phonon group velocities and uncover significant discrepancies between the experimentally observed transport of non-equilibrium energy and that predicted using values of the low-temperature elastic constants widely cited in the literature.     

Relativistic and close-coupling effects in the spin polarization of low-energy electrons scattered elastically from cadmium

The measurements of the Sherman function in elastic electron-cadmium scattering by Bartsch et al. [J. Phys. B 25, 1511 (1992)] have been in serious disagreement with scattering theories for nearly two decades. The recently developed relativistic convergent close-coupling method is applied to the problem and found to be in excellent agreement with experiment over the complete energy range measured. The unusually rapid variation in the spin asymmetry parameter in the vicinity of 4 eV projectile energy is now explained in terms of unitarity of the close-coupling formalism.     

Use of the direct negative Cu ion beam deposition for the control of the properties of Cu thin film

Direct metal ion beam deposition (DMIBD) technique for Cu thin film metallization is characterized. With suitable operating conditions, secondary Cu⁻ ion yield, ion/atom arrival rate ratio, ion beam energy spreads were optimized at 15%, 0.3, and 10%, respectively.After optimization of DMIBD system, the effect of Cu ion beam energy on the resistivity, adhesion strength, and surface morphology of Cu thin film was investigated. TEM micrograph shows that the film prepared at 75 eV was polycrystalline, while the film prepared at 0 eV was vertical columnar structure.As ion beam energy is increased from 25 to 75 eV, the resistivity is decreased from 6.21 to 2.09 μΩ cm, while the critical load to cause adhesion failure was increased to about 13 N at 200 eV, which is four-times higher that that of 25 eV.     

New CUORICINO results and status of CUORE

CUORICINO is an array of 62 TeO₂ bolometers with a total mass of 40.7 kg (11.2 kg of ¹³⁰Te), operated at about 10 mK to search for ββ(0ν) of ¹³⁰Te. The detectors are organized as a 14-story tower and intended as a slightly modified version of one of the 19 towers of the CUORE project, a proposed tightly packed array of 988 TeO₂ bolometers (741 kg of total mass of TeO₂) for ultralow-background searches on neutrinoless double-beta decay, cold dark matter, solar axions, and rare nuclear decays. Started in April 2003 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), CUORICINO data taking was stopped in November 2003 to repair the readout wiring system of the 62 bolometers. Restarted in spring 2004, CUORICINO is presently the most sensitive running experiment on neutrinoless double-beta decay. No evidence for ββ(0ν) decay has been found so far and a new lower limit, T ₁ ^2/0ν ≥ 1.8 × 10²⁴ yr (90% C.L.), is set, corresponding to 〈m _ν〉 ≤ 0.2–1.1 eV, depending on the theoretical nuclear matrix elements used in the analysis. Detector performance, operational procedures, and background analysis results are reviewed. The expected performance and sensitivity of CUORE is also discussed. CUORE Collaboration The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Elastic and inelastic scattering of slow positrons from a LiF(100) surface

The intensity profile for the elastic specular reflection of 5–100 eV positrons from a LiF(100) surface (ang1e of incidence 45°) has been measured using a simple time-of-flight spectrometer. The profile exhibits strong maxima below 25 eV and a smaller peak at 57 eV. Positron energy loss spectra have also been measured for a range of incident energies by retarding field analysis of the scattered beam. The mean energy loss appears to increase with increasing incident beam energy. Both the elastic and inelastic results are compared with similar data for slow-electron scattering obtained with the same apparatus.     

Electron-induced desorption of O+ ions from W,Mo and Cr

We have studied the electron-induced desorption (EID) of O⁺ ions from oxygen-covered polycrystalline W, Mo and Cr surfaces. As the incident electron energy is increased, desorption begins at about 25 eV, and increases dramatically at the binding energy major low-lying substrate core levels. In the range of electron energy studied, below about 200 eV, there are also other variations in ion yield not associated with known core levels. The peak ion kinetic energy is 7.8, 5.3 and 3.4 eV for W, Mo and Cr respectively, and is independent of incident electron energy. These measurements imply that the desorption is initiated by a core level ionization event, although the subsequent electronic transitions leading to desorption apparently differ from those occurring on metallic oxide surfaces.     

Electron energy loss spectra of dye vapors

Electron energy loss studies of POPOP andp-terphenyl in the vapor phase at an incident electron energy of 25 eV have been performed. The spectra covering an energy loss between 0 and 9 eV revealed a considerable initial triplet population under electron impact excitation. The implications for electron-beam pumped vapor phase dye lasers are discussed.     

Spectroscopic states of PTCDA negative ions and their relation to the maxima of unoccupied state density in the conduction band

Electron attachment spectroscopy is employed to demonstrate that the scattering of slow (0–15 eV) electrons from perylenetetracarboxilic dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules in the gas phase leads to the resonant formation of molecular and fragment negative ions detected in the mass-spectrometric experiment. Depending on the electron energy, currents of anions have clearly manifested peaks at 0.14, 1.9, 3.0, 4.8, and 5.7 eV. In addition, resonant states are also detected at thermal energy (0 eV) of scattered electrons, as well as at 0.4 and 1.0 eV, as shoulders on experimental curves. The spectroscopic states of PTCDA anions at energies exceeding 0 eV are interpreted in terms of the formation of shape resonances on the basis of calculated values of energies of π*-type unoccupied molecular orbitals. It is found that the positions of unoccupied orbitals of an isolated PTCDA molecule correspond to the peaks in the density of states of the conduction band of PTCDA films provided that the energies of the orbitals are shifted by 1.4 eV. The latter value can be interpreted as the binding energy of a molecule in the film due to the polarization interaction with the surroundings.     

Modelling ion-assisted deposition of CeO2 films

The theory presented explains quantitatively the experimentally observed increase in film density of a vapor-deposited CeO₂ film when bombarded during growth with low-energy O ₂ ⁺ ions. The density enhancement is expressed in terms of the yields for recoil implantation of surface atoms, ion incorporation and sputtering, which have been determined by employing a three-dimensional Monte Carlo cascade calculation. Ion-to-vapor flux ratios between 0 and 1.4 and O⁺ ion energies between 25 and 600 eV have been examined. The density shows an almost linear increase with the ratio of ion-to-vapor fluxes. An optimum O⁺ ion energy for densification is found at about 200 eV which is in agreement with experiment.     

中能Ne~(4+)离子诱导的羰基硫分子三体碎裂动力学分析

利用反应显微成像谱仪开展了56 keV/u的Ne~(4+)离子与羰基硫(OCS)气体的交叉碰撞实验,研究了Ne~(4+)离子诱导的OCS~(3+)的碎裂动力学.通过符合探测三个末态离子,重构了OCS~(3+)离子三体碎裂对应的牛顿图和Dalitz图,并明确区分了直接解离和次序解离两种碎裂过程.重构了OCS~(3+)离子解离过程的动能释放(KER)分布,发现其峰值在25 eV处,同时在18 eV处有肩膀结构的存在,其中25 eV左右的峰来源于直接解离过程,18 eV处的肩膀结构来源于次序解离和非次序解离两种过程.通过分析不同能量和不同电荷态下重离子碰撞实验所得到的KER谱,发现微扰强度不是影响态布居的主要因素.OCS~(3+)次序解离中的第二步KER的峰值在6.2 eV处.结合以往的实验结果,我们得出结论:多电离态的分子发生次序碎裂的根源在于二价离子碎片存在亚稳态,而重构得到的第二步KER可以反映亚稳态离子的电子态信息.     

The effect of multiple electron-electron scattering on the energy distribution of electrons in a correlated pair

A unit event of electron-electron scattering in LiF layers is studied by correlation spectroscopy of scattered electrons. The energy distribution of electrons in a correlated pair when a 15-to 55-eV free electron is scattered by a valence electron of LiF is studied. It is shown that single electron-electron scattering prevails and the distribution is uniform when the energy of the primary electron is below 25 eV. As the energy of the primary electron increases, the formation of correlated pairs of electrons with equal energies becomes the most probable. With the energy of the primary electron above 40 eV, the pairs with substantially different electron energies dominate. Such evolution of the energy distribution of the electrons in the pair stems from the fact that first one and then the other electron of the pair successively takes part in electron-electron scattering. A phenomenological model for the single scattering and double scattering of primary electrons in LiF films is considered. Results obtained indicate that the strengths of single scattering and double scattering channels become comparable at electron energies above 25 eV.