Stark structure of the spectrum and decay kinetics of the Er<Superscript>3+</Superscript> photoluminescence in pseudoamorphous <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis>-nc-GaN films

Amorphous films containing nanocrystalline inclusions, a-nc-GaN, were codoped with Er in the course of magnetron sputtering. Intense intracenter emission of Er³⁺ ions in the wavelength region λ=1510–1550 nm was obtained only after multistage annealing at temperatures of 650–770°C. The intracenter emission was excited indirectly through electron-hole pair generation in the a-nc-GaN matrix by a pulsed nitrogen laser. Subsequent recombination via a number of localized states in the band gap transferred the excitation energy to the Er³⁺ ions. Measurements of photoluminescence (PL) spectra carried out with time resolution in various annealing stages at different temperatures in the range 77–500 K and in the course of decay permitted us to establish the Stark nature of the PL spectrum and to reveal the dynamic and nonequilibrium character of redistribution of the intracenter emission energy among the Stark modes in the course of the excitation pulse relaxation. The information thus obtained was used to interpret the dominant hot-mode contribution and the complex decay kinetics.     

Cold valleys in the radioactive decay of <Superscript>248–254</Superscript>Cf isotopes

Based on the concept of cold valley in cold fission and fusion, we have investigated the cluster decay process in ^248–254Cf isotopes. In addition to alpha particle minima, other deep minima occur for S, Ar and Ca clusters. It is found that inclusion of proximity potential does not change the position of minima but minima become deeper. Taking Coulomb and proximity potential as interacting barrier for post-scission region, we computed half-lives and other characteristics for various clusters from these parents. Our study reveals that these parents are stable against light clusters and unstable against heavy clusters. Computed half-lives for alpha decay agree with experimental values within two orders of magnitude. The most probable clusters from these parents are predicted to be ⁴⁶Ar, ^48,50Ca which indicate the role of doubly or near doubly magic clusters in cluster radioactivity. Odd A clusters are found to be favorable for emission from odd A parents. Cluster decay model is extended to symmetric region and it is found that symmetric fission is also probable which stresses the role of doubly or near doubly magic ¹³²Sn nuclei. Geiger-Nuttal plots were studied for various clusters and are found to be linear with varying slopes and intercepts.      

Possible evidence for the entrance channel effect in reactions leading to 170W*

The decay of ¹⁷⁰W^* formed in reactions with two different projectile - target combinations was studied. The observed differences in the average number of emitted neutrons suggest an entrance channel effect at the highest excitation energy and angular momentum. It may be explained by different excitation energies of the equilibrated system, resulting from the emission of pre-equilibrium α-particles during a longer fusion time, in the more symmetric reaction. Received: 30 October 1997     

Nonequilibrium phonon propagation in high-purity CdTe

Propagation of nonequilibrium acoustic phonons in samples of high-purity CdTe (impurity content ～10¹⁶ cm^?3) was studied using the heat pulse technique under pulsed photoexcitation. An analysis of nonequilibrium phonon propagation made by comparing the experimental response with Monte Carlo calculations assuming samples to be without twins provided an estimate for the spontaneous anharmonic phonon decay constant A_L=2×10^?52 s^?1 Hz^?5. The probability of free phonon transit through a twin boundary in a sample with twin structure was estimated as A_C=0.96.     

Internal bremsstrahlung of strongly interacting charged particles

A universal theoretical model intended for calculating internal-bremsstrahlung spectra is proposed. In this model, which can be applied to describing nuclear decays of various type (such as alpha decay, cluster decay, and proton emission), use is made of realistic nucleus–nucleus potentials. Theoretical internal-bremsstrahlung spectra were obtained for the alpha decay of the ²¹⁴Po nucleus, as well as for the decay of the ²²²Ra nucleus via the emission of a ¹⁴C cluster and for the decay of the ¹¹³Cs nucleus via proton emission, and the properties of these spectra were studied. The contributions of various regions (internal, subbarrier, and external) to the internal-bremsstrahlung amplitude were analyzed in detail. It is shown that the contribution of the internal region to the amplitude for internal bremsstrahlung generated in nuclear decay via proton emission is quite large, but that this is not so for alpha decay and decay via cluster emission. Thus, a process in which strong interaction of nuclear particles affects the internal-bremsstrahlung spectrum if found.     

High energy (~ 107 eV) Si peak in Ar excited auger emission from silicon and silicides

The Ar⁺ excited electron emission from Si and Si-Ni compounds (from NiSi₂ to Ni₃Si) was studied, with emphasis on the high energy peak in the Si (L₂₃-related) spectrum. This peak is associated with the decay of Si atoms having two 2p holes (Si²*); therefore it originates in asymmetric (Ar-Si) collisions only. It has been investigated to determine the occurrence of these collisions with respect to the symmetric (Si-Si) ones and their relative weight.The threshold energy for the Si^2* related Auger emission was found to be about 2.9 keV in Si and silicides, significantly lower than previously reported. Above this threshold, the relative weight of the asymmetric collisions increases with ion energy and depends on the target stoichiometry, being greater in metal-rich silicides. However in the investigated ion energy range (1 to 5 keV) the total Auger yield was found to be mainly related to the symmetric collisions.We also investigated the dependence of the high energy Si peak on the excitation and acceptance geometry. The results indicate that asymmetric collisions are mainly “surface events”, resulting in the ejection of an anisotropic flux of energetic Si atoms.     

Double-differential spectra of the secondary particles in the frame of pre-equilibrium model

An approach was developed to describe the double-differential spectra of secondary particles formed in heavy-ion reactions. Griffin model of nonequilibrium processes was used to account for the nonequilibrium stage of the compound system formation. Simulation of de-excitation of the compound system was carried out using the Monte-Carlo method. Analysis of the probability of neutron, proton, and α-particle emission was performed both in equilibrium, and in the pre-equilibrium stages of the process. Fission and γ-ray emission were also considered after equilibration. The analysis of the experimental data on the double-differential cross sections of p, α particles for the ¹⁶O + ¹¹⁶Sn reaction at the oxygen energy E = 130 and 250 MeV were performed.     

Study of the correlation of scintillation decay and emission wavelength

In photoluminescence which directly excites the emission center of phosphor material is known to have a correlation between the emission wavelength and the decay time based on quantum mechanics. In scintillation phenomenon, host lattice of the material is first excited by ionizing radiation and then the excitation energy is transferred to emission centers. For the first time, we investigated the correlation between the scintillation decay and the emission wavelength by using pulse X-ray equipped streak camera system which could observe time and wavelength resolved scintillation phenomenon. Investigated materials were Ce³⁺, Pr³⁺ and Nd³⁺ doped oxides and fluorides which all showed 5d-4f transition based emission. As a result, we obtained the relation that τ (scintillation decay time) was proportional to the λ^2.15 (emission wavelength).     

Two-proton radioactivity search

Two-proton radioactivity, a spontaneous breakup of elements with emission of two protons, was predicted to exist near the proton drip line by V.I. Goldansky long time ago. The recent theoretical and experimental progress in a search for such an exotic nuclear decay is reviewed. In theory, the new three-body model which treats two-proton radioactivity as a genuine three-particle nuclear decay is considered. In experiment, the first evidence for two-proton decay of ⁴⁵Fe is described. Four atoms of ⁴⁵Fe, produced at the fragment separator of GSI, decayed via particle emission with a total energy of 1.1(1) MeV and a half-life of 3.2 _?1.0 ^+2.6 ms. A possible experiment for a direct observation of two-proton emission from the ground state of ¹⁹Mg is considered for its decay in-flight. The half-life of ¹⁹Mg, as well as proton-proton correlations, might be derived from the distribution of the ¹⁹Mg decay vertices extrapolated from the measured trajectories of all fragments.     

Influence of ligands on the photoluminescent properties of Eu in europium β-diketonate/PMMA-doped systems

Three kinds of europium β-diketonates Eu(DBM)₃, Eu(BA)₃ and Eu(TTA)₃ (DBM: Dibenzoylmethane; BA: 1-Benzoylacetone; TTA: Thenoyltrifluoroacetone) were doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. The doped systems were studied by using photoluminescent (PL) spectroscopy, emission decay experiments and X-ray diffractometry. Eu(III) ions in the doped Eu(DBM)₃/PMMA systems have two distinct symmetric sites and the emission band changes greatly with the compositions. Eu(III) in the Eu(BA)₃/PMMA systems gives only one symmetric site in the doped systems and the emission band changes slightly with the compositions. Although two distinct symmetric sites of Eu(III) can be distinguished in the doped systems of Eu(TTA)₃/PMMA, the two sites have similar ⁵D₀ lifetimes and the luminescent spectra almost do not change with the compositions. XRD reveals that crystallites were formed in the doped Eu(DBM)₃/PMMA systems that have different crystalline structure from that of the chelate, and Eu(BA)₃ and Eu(TTA)₃ exist in amorphous state in the doped systems. The difference between the PL properties and structures of the doped systems for the three kinds of chelates should be attributed to different interactions between the chelate molecules and between the chelate and PMMA.     

Observation of nucleon clusters in the spontaneous decay of234U

The emission of Ne and Mg nuclei was detected in the spontaneous decay of²³⁴U with probabilities of, respectively, (3.9 ±1.0) × 10^?13 and (2.3 ±0.7) × 10^?13 relative toα-decay. The upper limits of this kind of decay for²³⁵U and²³⁶U have been established. Systematics of half-lives for cluster emission are found to be similar to the Geiger-Nuttall dependence forα-decay. Some evidence for the presence of hindrance to cluster emission from the odd-mass nuclei²³³U and²³⁵U is obtained.     

Luminescence properties and mechanism of Zn1.92−xBaxSi1−yTiyO4:0.08Mn phosphors in VUV region

The present commercial phosphor Zn₂SiO₄:Mn²⁺ requires further improvement because of its long decay time. In this work, the co-doping effects of Ba²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ upon emission intensity and decay time were investigated. Ba²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ cations have favorable influences on the photoluminescent properties. When doped with appropriate amount of Ba²⁺, the intensity of green emission was increased 12% and the decay time was shortened 18%. When doped with appropriate amount of Ti⁴⁺, the luminescence intensity was enhanced a little, and the decay time was shortened 14%. Ba²⁺ and Ti⁴⁺ were co-doped in Zn₂SiO₄:Mn²⁺ system, the luminescence intensity was enhanced 18%, and the decay time was shortened sharply (about 31%).     

Analysis of the sequential fission observed in collisions of100Mo +100Mo and120Sn +120Sn around 20 A·MeV

Events with 2, 3 and 4 heavy fragments (A≥20) detected in the reactions¹⁰⁰Mo +¹⁰⁰Mo at 18.7, 23.7 A·MeV and¹²⁰Sn +¹²⁰Sn at 18.4 A·MeV were analyzed by means of an improved version of the kinematic coincidence method. The phase-space distributions prove that 3- (and possibly 4-) body events predominantly originate from a two-step mechanism and are compatible with the hypothesis of a binary deep-inelastic interaction followed by the further fissionlike decay of one (or both) of the primary fragments. The characteristics of the fission step — mass asymmetry, relative velocity, in-plane and out-of-plane angles — have been reconstructed for the 3-body events and indications are found that nonequilibrium effects at the end of the deep-inelastic phase may influence the fissionlike decay.     

Search for rare decay modes of Californium

The results ofmeasurements on the search for the cluster decay of ²⁵²Cfnucleus with the emission ofthe bound state of eight neutrons are presented. The value of an upper limit ofthe partial probabilities for this process is obtained, which contradicts to the results ofthe recently published work, in which the possible existence of octaneutron was declared. Based on the results of our measurements, the estimations for the upper limits ofpartial probabilities for the emission of ²⁰C, ²⁴O, ²⁸Ne, 32Mg, ³⁶Si, ⁴⁰S, ⁴⁰P, and ⁴⁰Si clusters are given. The estimation for the upper limit of the partial probability of ²⁵⁰Cf decay with the emission of the bound state of six neutrons is also obtained.     

Decay of high-spin isomers in Os nuclei by barrier penetration

A decay scheme for the 130±20 ns high-spin isomer in ¹⁸²Os has been established. The excitation energy of the isomer is 7049±1 keV and it has I^π = 25⁽⁺⁾. A 2.4% decay directly to the yrast 24⁺ level at 5988 keV is observed. In ¹⁸⁴Os a 20±5 ns isomer is observed at 2366±1 keV excitation energy with I^π = 10⁺. Again, direct transitions into the yrast 8⁺ and 10⁺ levels are observed. Contrary to previous speculations, there is no compelling evidence for stable triaxial shapes in the structure of the levels through which the isomers decay. The abnormally short half-lives observed, as well as the unusual decay patterns, are best understood in terms of a γ-soft nuclear potential. Motion in the γ-direction allows the isomer to decay via barrier penetration from an axially symmetric prolate shape with the angular momentum along the nuclear symmetry axis (deformation aligned state) via oblate shapes to another prolate shape with the angular momentum perpendicular to the nuclear symmetry axis (rotation-aligned state).     

Gamma radiation following heavy ion reactions

The gamma radiation produced by bombarding ²⁷A1 and ²⁸Si targets with 25–50 MeV ¹⁶O ions was measured in order to study the formation and decay of the highly excited compound nuclei ⁴³Sc and ⁴⁴Ti. The relative population of the evaporation residues is fairly well reproduced by a statistical theory describing the successive emission of 1–3 light fragments. From the measured branching ratio between proton and α-particle emission, the moment of inertia parameter of the level density is found to be close to the rigid body value. The influence of heavy ion optical transmission factors, level density parameters and γ-ray decay widths of continuum states is investigated.     

Study of neutrino-recoil produced point defects in InSb by119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy

We have utilized the electron-capture decay of¹¹⁹ Te to¹¹⁹Sb to produce isolated single Frenkel pairs in InSb. This effect is caused by the neutrino emission in the decay process which imparts a monoenergetic recoil of 12 eV to the¹¹⁹Sb atoms, thereby displacing about 20% of them to interstitial sites. Two distinct interstitial components can be observed. The process is traced by Mössbauer emission spectroscopy following the decay of¹¹⁹Sb to¹¹⁹Sn. The displacement thresholdE _d is confined to 6 eV<E _d <12 eV from auxiliary experiments employing^119mTe isotopes.     

Entrance channel effects in fusion-evaporation processes

The effect of shape equilibration on particle emission in fusion reactions is thoroughly studied. Following a detailed evaluation of the various time scales a microscopic dynamical picture of the fusion path is coupled to a statistical decay probability at different time steps. It is shown that excitation energy and deformation of the compound system are influencing the emission pattern of charged particles and Giant Dipole photons. A quantitative analysis is performed for a ¹⁶⁴Yb compound system formed via O + Sm (mass asymmetric) and Ni + Mo (mass symmetric) channels at various excitation energies. In the mass-symmetric case interesting effects are revealed on spectra and angular distributions of emitted particles, particularly for α's, protons and Giant Dipole photons. Experiments are suggested to directly measure these “pre-equilibrium” contributions leading to new information on very exotic hyperdeformed nuclear systems.     

Color centers in heavily irradiated CsI(Tl) crystals

The absorption and luminescence properties of CsI(Tl) crystals colored by irradiation are studied by the method of the time-resolved spectroscopy. The scheme of the electron transitions in CsI(Tl) crystal is suggested to explain the appearance of the color centers under exposure to the near-UV light. It is established that either of the two types activator color centers holds the charge carrier with opposite sign. The model of the hole Tl²⁺v_c⁻ activator color center is suggested. According to the model the positive charge of Tl²⁺ ion is compensated by the negative charge of a close cation vacancy v_c⁻. The color center emission reveals in the cathode-luminescence spectrum of the colored CsI(Tl) crystal. The high-dose irradiation of CsI(Tl) crystal results in the reduction of the decay time of the near-thallium self-trapped excitons (STE) emission. The decay kinetics of Tl²⁺v_c⁻ emission contains the time components typical for the decay kinetics of near-thallium STE emission. The reason of the observed effects is the energy transfer from the near-thallium STE excitons to the color centers via the inductive-resonant mechanism.