Nanostructures in calcia stabilized hafnia thin films observed by PAC as a function of temperature

The hyperfine quadrupole interaction at Hf sites in films and powders of 14 mol% CaO–HfO₂ and 20 mol% CaO–HfO₂ has been determined as a function of temperature. Results indicate the formation of a cubic solid solution and other microstructures assigned to the ?₁ (CaHf₄O₉) and ?₂ (Ca₆Hf₁₉O₄₄) phases. Dynamical effects on the electric field gradient reveal the existence of oxygen vacancies movements in the solid solution. The thermal behavior of the relaxation constant observed in films allowed the determination of activation energies of 0.54 eV and 0.70 eV for the 14 mol% and 20 mol% CaO doped hafnias, respectively. The influence of the microdomains and the stability of the cubic solid solution are discussed.     

Banach spaces which are somewhat uniformly noncreasy

We consider a family of spaces wider than r-UNC spaces and we give some fixed point results in the setting of these spaces.     

Speed of adaptation in structured populations

Adaptation of populations takes place with the occurrence and subsequent fixation of mutations that confer some selective advantage to the individuals which acquire it. For this reason, the study of the process of fixation of advantageous mutations has a long history in the population genetics literature. Particularly, the previous investigations aimed to find out the main evolutionary forces affecting the strength of natural selection in the populations. In the current work, we investigate the dynamics of fixation of beneficial mutations in a subdivided population. The subpopulations (demes) can exchange migrants among their neighbors, in a migration network which is assumed to have either a random graph or a scale-free topology. We have observed that the migration rate drastically affects the dynamics of mutation fixation, despite of the fact that the probability of fixation is invariant on the migration rate, accordingly to Maruyama's conjecture. In addition, we have noticed a topological dependence of the adaptive evolution of the population when clonal interference becomes effective.     

Crystallization of amorphous zirconium thin film using ion implantation by a plasma focus of 1 kJ

In this work preliminary results of amorphous zirconium crystallization using ion beam pulses are presented. Energetic argon- and oxygen-ion beams generated by a plasma focus device were used to promote crystallization on amorphous ZrO₂-2.5 mol% Y₂O₃ film deposited by chemical solution deposition onto silica glass substrate. The films were burnt at 370 °C for 1 h in normal atmosphere previous to plasma irradiation. The irradiation was performed by means of successive pulses of ion beams. The evolution of the surface morphology and crystallization was followed by AFM and X-rays diffraction in a grazing incidence asymmetric Bragg geometry (GIAB), respectively. Argon-irradiated films showed highly nucleated cubic zirconia after 10 pulses. On the other hand, oxygen-irradiated films showed a delayed and less extensive cubic nucleation, but a more ordered structure and well-defined grains.     

UPML formulation for truncating conductive media in curvilinear coordinates

This work presents a formulation based on UPML for truncating conductive media by using a local and non-orthogonal coordinate system to solve Maxwell’s equations by the FDTD method. The detailed procedure for obtaining the UPML equations for this case is shown and the complete equation set is provided.     

Crossing of shears bands in196Pb

High-spin states in¹⁹⁶Pb have been populated using the reaction¹⁷⁰Er(³⁰Si,4n). The previously observed shears bands in this nucleus have been extended and some of their transitions have been reordered. They now form regular bands with band crossings. One of the bands splits into two pathways at high spin.     

Calorimetric measurement of two-photon absorption and color-center formation in ultraviolet-window materials

Intensity-dependent absorption of 25 ns excimer laser pulses in common UV-window materials was investigated. By employing a calorimetric technique which provides greatly enhanced sensitivity compared to transmissive measurements, two-photon absorption coefficients were determined at intensities of 2–80 MW/cm² and found to be in good agreement with previous measurements at 10–100 GW/cm². Also, color-center formation in fused silica was observed. It was possible to quantify transient and cumulative effects as a function of intensity.     

Lifetime study of high-spin states in 104,105In

In the neutron deficient isotopes _104,105In lifetimes of high spin states in the range from 0.5 ps to 600 ps have been measured in a coincidence recoil distance Doppler shift (RDDS) experiment. By combining the Doppler shift attenuation (DSA) and RDDS methods at few μm flight distances, the problem of delayed feeding has been avoided and very short lifetimes in the range 0.5–0.8 ps have been determined. Shell model calculations with strong restrictions for the neutron orbitals reveal good agreement with experimental level energies and still fair agreement for most measured B(M1) and B(E2) values. Received: 30 June 1998