Charge-changing cross sections of the neutron-rich isotopes8,9,11Li

Total charge-changing cross sections have been measured for⁸Li on C and Pb targets, for⁹Li on C, Al, Cu, Sn and Pb targets, as well as for¹¹Li on C, Sn and Pb targets at about 80 MeV/nucleon. These data are compared to measured total reaction cross sections and Glauber-type calculations using Hartree-Fock density distributions. These comparisons allow to draw conclusions on the proton density distribution of the neutronrich lithium isotopes. The results show that even for the most exotic nucleus¹¹Li the proton distribution is only very weakly influenced by the long tail in the neutron density distribution already established in several experiments.     

Self-assembly of nanoparticles on the surface of ionic crystals: Structural properties

With a suitable combination of ligand-stabilised nanoparticle suspension and ionic salt solutions, it is possible to produce microcrystals that are coated with nanoparticles. The self-assembly process of coating microcrystals by gold nanoparticles (NP) is mediated by the crystal lattice. This is the so-called CLAMS process - a generic process for self-organisation of nanoparticles on the surface of crystals [M. Murugeshan, D. Cunningham, J.-L. Martnez-Albertos, R. Vrcelj, B.D. Moore, Chem. Commun. (2005) 2677]. We are exploring here the structural properties of these self-assembled structures by using different imaging techniques.     

Determination of trace elements in bottled water in Greece by instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analyses

Summary Four different bottled water brands sold in Greece in the winter of 2001-2002 were analyzed for a wide range of chemical elements, using neutron activation analysis (NAA). The elements Na and Br were determined instrumentally (INAA), whereas the other metals and trace elements radiochemically (RNAA). The results indicated that the mean level of all the elements determined in the samples were well within the European Union (EU) directive on drinking water and accomplish the drinking water standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).     

High sensitivity CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy of water in the region of the 1.5 μm atmospheric window

The absorption spectrum of natural water vapour around 1.5 μm has been recorded with a typical sensitivity of 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹ by using a CW-cavity ring down spectroscopy set up based on fibred DFB lasers. A series of 31 DFB lasers has allowed a full coverage of the 6130.8-6748.5 cm⁻¹ (1.63-1.48 μm) region corresponding to the H transparency band of the atmosphere. The line parameters (wavenumber and intensity) of a total of 5190 lines, including 4247 lines of water vapor, were derived by a one by one fit of the lines to a Voigt profile. Different isotopologues of water (H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O) present in natural abundance in the sample contribute to the spectrum. For the main isotopologue, H₂¹⁶O, 2130 lines were measured with line intensities as weak as 10⁻²⁹ cm/molecule while only 926 lines (including a proportion of 30% inaccurate calculated lines) with a minimum intensity of 3 × 10⁻²⁷ cm/molecule are provided by the HITRAN and GEISA databases. Our comparison in the whole 5750-7965 cm⁻¹ region, has also evidenced that an error in the process of conversion of the intensity units from cm⁻²/atm to cm⁻¹/(molecule × cm⁻²) at 296 K, has led to H₂¹⁶O line intensities values listed in the HITRAN-2000 database, systematically 8 % below the original FTS values. The rovibrational assignment was performed on the basis of the ab initio calculations by Schwenke and Partridge with a subsequent refinement and validation using the Ritz combination principle together with all previously measured water transitions relevant to this study. This procedure allowed determining 172, 139, 71, and 115 new energy levels for the H₂¹⁶O, H₂¹⁸O, H₂¹⁷O, and HD¹⁶O isotopologues, respectively. The results are compared with the available databases and discussed in regard of previous investigations by Fourier transform spectroscopy. The spectrum analysis has showed that most of the transitions which cannot be assigned to water are very weak and are due to impurities such as carbon dioxide and ammonia, leaving only about 3% of the observed transitions unassigned. The interest of a detailed knowledge of water absorption for trace detectors developed in the 1.5 μm range is underlined: for instance HDO contributes significantly to the considered spectrum while no HDO line parameters are provided by the HITRAN database.     

Dynamics of fluorescence of solid solutions of quantum dots and the organic dye DODCI: Experiment and numerical simulation

The fluorescence of solid solutions of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and the organic dye DODCI is investigated. It is shown that nonradiative transfer of electronic excitation energy to dye molecules, which with some probability lose their acceptor properties as a result of photoisomerization or photodegradation, is responsible for a significant increase in the fluorescence intensity of a donor. The degree of polarization of the donor fluorescence attains values exceeding 0.5, which is due to the difference in the fluorescence quantum yields of donors with different orientations of the oscillator with respect to the electric vector of an excitation light wave. A numerical simulation of the experimentally observed dependences is performed.     

Analysis of Radiation Phenomena in a Wedge Ended Dielectric Slab Waveguide

Radiation phenomena observed in a wedge shape ended dielectric slab waveguide are analyzed using mode matching technique. The case of transverse electric polarization (TE) being parallel to dielectric slab waveguide is assumed. In order to describe the fields in the wedge region, a stack of dielectric plates is assumed and in each layer the fields are expanded in terms of the mixed spectrum of guided and radiated modes. A similar expansion is used in the constant thickness slab waveguide while in free space medium a continuous-radiation mode expansion is used. Then a mode matching approach is applied, incorporating the orthogonality properties of mixed spectrum modes, in order to compute the wave fields inside the dielectric slab waveguide and wedge medium. Mode matching is achieved by discretizing the continuous radiation mode spectrum leading into a numerically stable solution provided a sufficient large number of points are used to convert integrals into finite summations. Numerical computations are carried out for various wedge geometries and shapes including linear and exponential profiles.