Electron Transitions during the Capture of an Electron by a He<Superscript>2+</Superscript> Ion at the Argon Atom

We have measured the absolute values of the total cross section of the one-electron capture by He²⁺ ions in the kinetic energy range 2–30 keV at the Ar atoms. The absolute values of the differential scattering cross sections of He⁺ ions formed during the one-electron capture and the electron capture with ionization at energies of 2.2, 5.4, and 30 keV have been determined. The electronic states of the formed ions have been determined using collision spectroscopy based on analysis of the change in the kinetic energy of He⁺ after the interaction. We have measured doubly differential (with respect to the kinetic energy and the scattering angle) cross sections of the formation of free electrons. The free electron formation channels (direct ionization and electron capture with ionization) have been analyzed by calculating the electron terms of the (HeAr)²⁺ system. The calculated cross section of capture with ionization is in conformity with the cross section measured using collision spectroscopy.     

Heating of the solar corona by dissipative Alfvén solitons

Solar photospheric convection drives myriads of dissipative Alfvén solitons (hereinafter called alfvenons) capable of accelerating electrons and ions to energies of hundreds of keV and producing the x-ray corona. Alfvenons are exact solutions of two-fluid equations for a collisionless plasma and represent natural accelerators for conversion of the electromagnetic energy flux driven by convective flows into kinetic energy of charged particles in space and astrophysical plasmas. Their properties have been experimentally verified in the magnetosphere, where they accelerate auroral electrons to tens of keV.     

Channels of potential energy dissipation during multiply charged argon-ion bombardment of copper

The dissipation of potential energy of multiply charged Ar ions incident on Cu has been studied by complementary electron spectroscopy and calorimetry at charge states between 2 and 10 and kinetic energies between 100 eV and 1 keV. The emitted and deposited fractions of potential energy increase at increasing charge state, showing a significant jump for charge states q>8 due to the presence of L-shell vacancies in the ion. Both fractions balance the total potential energy, thus rendering former hypotheses of a significant deficit of potential energy obsolete. The experimental data are reproduced by computer simulations based on the extended dynamic classical-over-the-barrier model.     

Ion viscous heating in a magnetohydrodynamically unstable Z pinch at over 2 x 10(9) Kelvin

Pulsed power driven metallic wire-array Z pinches are the most powerful and efficient laboratory x-ray sources. Furthermore, under certain conditions the soft x-ray energy radiated in a 5 ns pulse at stagnation can exceed the estimated kinetic energy of the radial implosion phase by a factor of 3 to 4. A theoretical model is developed here to explain this, allowing the rapid conversion of magnetic energy to a very high ion temperature plasma through the generation of fine scale, fast-growing m = 0 interchange MHD instabilities at stagnation. These saturate nonlinearly and provide associated ion viscous heating. Next the ion energy is transferred by equipartition to the electrons and thus to soft x-ray radiation. Recent time-resolved iron spectra at Sandia confirm an ion temperature Ti of over 200 keV (2 x 10(9) degrees), as predicted by theory. These are believed to be record temperatures for a magnetically confined plasma.     

Effective attenuation length dependence on photoelectron kinetic energy for Au from 1 keV to 15 keV

Hard X-ray PhotoElectron Spectroscopy (HAXPES) is an extremely powerful tool for the electronic, compositional, and chemical characterization of bulk materials and buried interfaces. Its success is based on the dramatic increase of the electron effective attenuation length (EAL) with increasing photoelectron kinetic energy. EALs are well established for electrons with kinetic energies up to several keV (below 3 keV). However, few data are available for kinetic energies up to 15 keV. In the present study we have determined the EAL dependency on kinetic energy for gold from 1 keV up to 15 keV. Two different approaches have been used. The first approach consists of following the signal rate from a core level for a fixed kinetic energy as a function of overlayer thickness (overlayer method). The second approach consists of following the signal rate from a core level as a function of the incident photon energy, i.e., electron kinetic energy, for a fixed overlayer thickness (depth profile method). An EAL dependency of EAL (nm) = 0.022 × E_kin (eV)^0.627 has been obtained from both methods. Hence, the EAL, for gold, is 4.7, 7.3 and 9.4 nm for 5 keV, 10 keV and 15 keV electron kinetic energies, respectively. A comparison between the experimental data and the EALs predicted by practical expressions available in the literature is also performed.     

Dissipative processes at forward angles in the28Si+natSi Reaction at 12.4 MeV/Nucleon

High resolution positron spectroscopy in U-U collisions at bombarding energies of 5.6 MeV/u, the lowest energy studied until now as well as of 5.9 MeV/u, reveals similar multiple structures between 220 keV and 385 keV superimposed on the induced and nuclear continua.     

Amplification of the phase contrast signal at very high x-ray energies

X-ray phase contrast imaging is increasingly being used in several fields, both at synchrotron facilities and with laboratory sources, due to its increased sensitivity compared to conventional x-ray methods. One important problem is the development of methods to make it suitable for use at very high x-ray energies, needed in many applications. We show how the edge illumination concept, which stands at the basis of the coded-aperture method, allows achieving hyperintense phase signals at energies close to 100 keV, by showing images of both weak phase objects and highly absorbing fossils with a high iron content.     

Apparent velocity threshold in the electronic stopping of slow hydrogen ions in LiF

The electronic energy loss of hydrogen ions (protons and deuterons) in thin supported films of LiF has been studied in backscattering geometry for specific energies from 700 eV/u to 700 keV/u, using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and time-of-flight low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy. For specific energies below 8 keV/u, our data confirm velocity proportionality for the stopping cross section epsilon (like in a metal) down to 3.8 keV/u, as observed previously for protons and antiprotons despite the large band gap (14 eV) of LiF. Below 3.8 keV/u, the present results indicate an apparent velocity threshold at about 0.1 a.u. for the onset of electronic stopping.     

EBIT as a versatile experimental facility

The Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) produces ions, confined within the electron beam, with charges ranging up to U⁹²⁺ at near rest energies. This allows to study the interaction of a monoenergetic electron beam with any trapped ion to a high degree of precision via X-ray spectroscopy. The development of the EBIT into an ion (trap) source enables the possibility to perform for the first time studies of the interaction dynamics in strong fields of ions with matter where the ions carry hundreds of keV potential energy at very low kinetic energies (eV).     

Search for x-ray induced acceleration of the decay of the 31-yr isomer of (178)Hf using synchrotron radiation

Enhanced decay of the 31-yr isomer of (178)Hf induced by x-ray irradiation has been reported previously. Here we describe an attempt to reproduce this result with an intense "white" x-ray beam from the Advanced Photon Source. No induced decay was observed. The upper limits for the energy-integrated cross sections for such a process, over the range of energies of 20--60 keV x rays, are less than 2 x 10(-27) cm(2) keV, below the previously reported values by more than 5 orders of magnitude; at 8 keV the limit is 5 x 10(-26) cm(2) keV.     

Nd L-shell x-ray emission induced by light ions

The L-shell x-ray of Nd has been obtained for 300-600 keV He²⁺ ions impacting, and compared with that produced by H⁺ and H₂⁺ ions. The threshold of projectile kinetic energy for L-shell ionization of Nd is crudely verified in the energy region of about 300-400 keV. It is found that the energy of the distinct L-subshell x-rays has a blue shift. The relative intensity ratios of Lβ_{1, 3, 4} and Lβ_{2, 15} to Lα_{1, 2} x-ray are enlarged compared to the atomic data, and they decrease with the increase of the incident energy, and increase with increasing the effective nuclear charge of the incident ions. That is interpreted by the multiple ionization of outer-shells induced by light ions.     

Characterization and application in XRF of HfO_2-coated glass monocapillary based on atomic layer deposition

Coating a glass monocapillary x-ray optics with high-density film is a promising way to improve transmission characteristics. For a long time, it has been a challenge to coat a high-density film in the inside of monocapillary with an extremely high length-to-diameter ratio. In this work, Hf O2 film is deposited on the inner wall of a tapered glass monocapillary with length 9.9 cm, entrance diameter 596.4 μm, and exit diameter 402.3 μm by atomic layer deposition. The coated and uncoated monocapillaries are studied by the transmission process of x-rays with energy from 5 ke V to 100 ke V and the x-ray fluorescence(XRF) spectra of a Mo sample are detected. Improved transmission characteristics have been obtained for the Hf O_2-coated monocapillary. The energy upper limit of focused x-rays increases from 18.1 ke V to 33.0 ke V and the ‘penetration halo' is suppressed to some extent. The XRF spectrum presents two stronger peaks at ～ 17.4 ke V and～ 19.6 ke V which are considered as the characteristic x-rays of Mo K_α and Mo K_β. These results reveal that more higher energy x-rays from the W x-ray tube are totally reflected on the inner wall of the Hf O_2-coated glass monocapillary due to the increase of total reflection critical angle. This work is significant for more applications of monocapillary in higher energy x-ray field.     

Efficient generation of Xe K-shell x rays by high-contrast interaction with submicrometer clusters

The interaction between a 25 TW laser and Xe clusters at a peak intensity of 1 × 101? W/cm2 has been investigated. Xe K-shell x rays, whose energies are approximately 30 keV, were clearly observed with a hard x-ray CCD at 3.4 MPa. Moreover, we studied the yield of the Xe K-shell x rays by changing the pulse duration of the laser at a constant laser energy and found that the pulse duration of 40 fs is better than that of 300 fs for generating Xe K-shell x rays.     

Energy balance measurements on a nanosecond CO2 laser created plasma

Interaction of nanosecond CO₂ laser radiation with a solid deuterium target has been investigated with incident laser fluxes up to several times 10¹²W/cm². Reflection, X-ray and ion measurements were performed at different angles in the relevant half-space around the target. The energy balance deduced from reflection and ion time-of-flight measurements led to a total integrated reflectivity of 60 to 80%. Fast D⁺ ions with kinetic energies as high as 40 keV were detected and identified. Hard X-rays were observed in the range of 1 to 10 keV. A discussion of these results is presented.     

Measurement of mass attenuation coefficients for undoped and boron nitride–doped magnesium diboride superconductors in the x-ray region 8.04–59.5 keV

In this study, mass attenuation coefficients of the undoped and 2% boron nitride–doped magnesium diboride superconductor samples were investigated. Mass attenuation coefficients were measured at 8.04–59.5?keV x-ray energies by using a high-purity germanium detector with a resolution of 182?eV at 5.9?keV. It is observed that mass attenuation coefficients in undoped and doped magnesium diboride samples decrease with increasing photon energy, and doping with the boron nitride leads to increase the absorption of the electromagnetic radiation.     

Distinct orientation of AlN thin films deposited on sapphire substrates by laser ablation

We report the experimental characterization of the charged species produced in excimer laser ablation of a superconducting intermetallic compound (YNi₂B₂C). By using energy-selective time-of-flight mass spectrometry, we have obtained direct measurements of both mass spectra and kinetic energy distributions of ions. The investigation has been carried out in the laser fluence range 1-5 J cm^-2, which is typical of laser ablation thin film deposition. High kinetic energies of the charged component (up to 0.4 keV) have been observed even at moderate laser fluences.     

Energy dependence of characteristic and bremsstrahlung cross sections of argon induced by electron bombardment at low energies

The energy dependence of characteristic x-ray and bremsstrahlung cross sections of argon has been investigated by electron impact. The incident electron energy was varied between 2.5 keV and 12 keV. From the data, absolute cross sections for Ar-K ionisation are obtained. The experimental data agree reasonably with available theoretical calculations.     

XDS: a flexible beamline for X‐ray diffraction and spectroscopy at the Brazilian synchrotron

The majority of the beamlines at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source Laboratory (LNLS) use radiation produced in the storage‐ring bending magnets and are therefore currently limited in the flux that can be used in the harder part of the X‐ray spectrum (above ～10 keV). A 4 T superconducting multipolar wiggler (SCW) was recently installed at LNLS in order to improve the photon flux above 10 keV and fulfill the demands set by the materials science community. A new multi‐purpose beamline was then installed at the LNLS using the SCW as a photon source. The XDS is a flexible beamline operating in the energy range between 5 and 30 keV, designed to perform experiments using absorption, diffraction and scattering techniques. Most of the work performed at the XDS beamline concentrates on X‐ray absorption spectroscopy at energies above 18 keV and high‐resolution diffraction experiments. More recently, new setups and photon‐hungry experiments such as total X‐ray scattering, X‐ray diffraction under high pressures, resonant X‐ray emission spectroscopy, among others, have started to become routine at XDS. Here, the XDS beamline characteristics, performance and a few new experimental possibilities are described.     

Valence transition of YbInCu4 observed in hard X-ray photoemission spectra

Yb 3d and valence-band photoemission spectra of the first-order valence-transition compound YbInCu4 have been measured with hard x ray at an excitation energy of 5.95 keV. Abrupt changes are clearly observed in both spectra around the transition temperature T(V)=42 K, in comparison with ultraviolet and soft x-ray photoemission (VUV-PES and SX-PES) spectra. From the Yb 3d spectra, the Yb valence has been estimated to be approximately 2.90 from 220 down to 50 K and approximately 2.74 at 30-10 K. We propose that Yb 3d hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy is a very powerful method to estimate the valence of Yb with high accuracy. On the other hand, the Yb2+ 4f-derived peaks in the valence-band spectra exhibit a remarkable enhancement below T(V). The shape of the valence-band spectra is different from those of the VUV-PES and SX-PES spectra above T(V), reflecting the In 5s and 5p contributions.