Diagnostics of pulsed molecular beams and free jets with pyroelectric detectors and TEA CO2 lasers

A pyroelectric detector with a time resolution of 3–5 s and a TEA CO₂ laser have been used in diagnostics of a pulsed molecular beam (a free jet). The kinetic energy distribution of molecules was determined by using time-of-flight measurements both with a laser and without it. A combination of the laser with the pyroelectric detector makes it possible to determine the kinetic energy distribution of molecules in a selected internal state and to measure the energy absorted by the molecules of the beam from a laser pulse. The results obtained for pure SF₆ and the SF₆ seeded in He have been presented and analyzed. The advantages and the disadvantages of the method are being discussed in comparison with other available methods of diagnostics of molecular beams and free jets.     

Synthesis, characterization, and theoretical study of stable isomers of C70(CF3)n (n = 2, 4, 6, 8, 10)

Reaction of C70 with ten equivalents of silver(I) trifluoroacetate at 320-340 degrees C followed by fractional sublimation at 420-540 degrees C and HPLC processing led to the isolation of a single abundant isomer of C70(CF3)n for n = 2, 4, 6, and 10, and two abundant isomers of C70(CF3)8. These six compounds were characterized by using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry, 2D-COSY and/or 1D 19F NMR spectroscopy, and quantum-chemical calculations at the density functional theory (DFT) level. Some were also characterized by Raman spectroscopy. The addition patterns for the isolated compounds were unambiguously found to be C1-7,24-C70(CF3)2, C1-7,24,44,47-C70(CF3)4, C2-1,4,11,19,31,41-C70(CF3)6, Cs-1,4,11,19,31,41,51,64-C70(CF3)8, C2-1,4,11,19,31,41,51,60-C70(CF3)8, and C1-1,4,10,19,25,41,49,60,66,69-C70(CF3)10 (IUPAC numbering). Except for the last compound, which is identical to the recently reported, crystallographically characterized C70(CF3)10 derivative prepared by a different synthetic route, these compounds have not previously been shown to have the indicated addition patterns. The largest relative yield under an optimized set of reaction conditions was for the Cs isomer of C70(CF3)8 (ca. 30 mol % of the sublimed mixture of products based on HPLC integration). The results demonstrate that thermally stable C70(CF3)n isomers tend to have their CF3 groups arranged on isolated para-C6(CF3)2 hexagons and/or on a ribbon of edge-sharing meta- and/or para-C6(CF3)2 hexagons. For Cs- and C2-C70(CF3)8 and for C2-C70(CF3)6, the ribbons straddle the C70 equatorial belt; for C1-C70(CF3)4, the para-meta-para ribbon includes three polar hexagons; for C1-7,24-C70(CF3)2, the para-C6(CF3)2 hexagon includes one of the carbon atoms on a C70 polar pentagon. The 10.3-16.2 Hz 7JF,F NMR coupling constants for the end-of-ribbon CF3 groups, which are always para to their nearest-neighbor CF3 group, are consistent with through-space Fermi-contact interactions between the fluorine atoms of proximate, rapidly rotating CF3 groups.     

Synthesis and characterization of triphenylmethylphosphonium transition metal salts

Triphenylmethylphosphonium salts, [PPh3Me]aMXn (M=Cu2+, Co2+, Mn2+, Ni2+ Fe3+ Pb2+ and Hg2+; X=Cl or I; a=1 or 2 and n=3 or 4) prepared by reacting PPh3MeX with the metal dihalide in EtOH sol-utions, have been characterized by electronic, Raman, far i.r. and Mo¨ssbaur spectra and by their magnetic properties as well as by elemental analyses. The copper complexes [PPh3Me]2CuCl4 and [PPh3Me]2Cu3Cl8 were characterized by X-ray crystallography and the structures are described. Powder diffraction patterns have shown that the cobalt and manganese tetrachloride complexes are isomorphous. Investigation by d.s.c. measurements showed that the complexes exhibit structural phase transitions.     

Biological and medical significance of calcium phosphates

The inorganic part of hard tissues (bones and teeth) of mammals consists of calcium phosphate, mainly of apatitic structure. Similarly, most undesired calcifications (i.e. those appearing as a result of various diseases) of mammals also contain calcium phosphate. For example, atherosclerosis results in blood-vessel blockage caused by a solid composite of cholesterol with calcium phosphate. Dental caries result in a replacement of less soluble and hard apatite by more soluble and softer calcium hydrogenphosphates. Osteoporosis is a demineralization of bone. Therefore, from a chemical point of view, processes of normal (bone and teeth formation and growth) and pathological (atherosclerosis and dental calculus) calcifications are just an in vivo crystallization of calcium phosphate. Similarly, dental caries and osteoporosis can be considered to be in vivo dissolution of calcium phosphates. On the other hand, because of the chemical similarity with biological calcified tissues, all calcium phosphates are remarkably biocompatible. This property is widely used in medicine for biomaterials that are either entirely made of or coated with calcium phosphate. For example, self-setting bone cements made of calcium phosphates are helpful in bone repair and titanium substitutes covered with a surface layer of calcium phosphates are used for hip-joint endoprostheses and tooth substitutes, to facilitate the growth of bone and thereby raise the mechanical stability. Calcium phosphates have a great biological and medical significance and in this review we give an overview of the current knowledge in this subject.     

Temperature dependence of the compressibility of two-dimensional electron systems with long-range potential fluctuations in the quantum Hall effect regime

The temperature dependence of the compressibility of two-dimensional electron systems (2DESs) in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in the quantum Hall effect regime have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. The compressibility was determined using the capacitance spectroscopy technique and the measurements of a low-frequency electric field penetrating through the 2DES. The measured temperature dependences of the 2DES compressibility are quantitatively described using a model taking into account inhomogeneity of the electron density at a finite temperature. Changes in the chemical potential of the 2DES in the vicinity of even filling factors determined from the capacitive and transport measurements are mutually consistent and agree with the results of finite-temperature calculations.     

Current filamentation in GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunctions preceding quantum-Hall-effect breakdown

Self-induced filamentation of the current near the edges of a sample in the Hall geometry has been observed in the quantum-Hall-effect regime in a two-dimensional electronic system arising near a GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction. If in the case of integer values of the filling factor ν averaged over the sample the currents flowing along opposite edges are approximately the same, then away from such a value within the quantum plateau the current is increasingly concentrated near that edge of the sample where the local value of ν is closer to being an integer. When the direction of the magnetic field or of the current changes, the filament switches to the opposite edge of the sample. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 9, 700–704 (10 November 1998)     

Magnetocapacitance study of the fractional-quantum-Hall effect: Quasiparticle charge and spin polarization

By the method of capacitance spectroscopy and of magnetotransport we have investigated the and fractional-quantum-Hall-effect (FQHE) states in gated GaAs AlGaAs heterojunctions with tuned electron areal density. Our experimental results confirm the theoretical prediction of the fractional quasiparticle charge in the FQHE state and of the existence of spin-aligned quasiholes and spin-reversed quasielectrons in the fully spin-polarized FQHE state.