Hadroproduction experiments for precise neutrino beam calculations

The discovery of the neutrino oscillation pattern with solar and atmospheric neutrinos has stimulated systematic studies with long-baseline accelerator experiments. Precise neutrino beamline calculations have demonstrated the importance and paucity of existing hadroproduction data needed to shape the primary meson production in targets and tune available Monte Carlo codes for hadronic shower simulation. After a brief introduction to the physics of neutrino beams, available hadron production data will be reviewed with regards to their parametrization. Fast simulations based on such parameterizations and full Monte Carlo simulations of neutrino beamlines will then be illustrated. The prospective impact of new hadroproduction experiments, such as HARP at CERN and MIPP at Fermilab, will be shown together with some neutrino beamline simulations.     

Photoluminescence activity of Yang and Secco etched multicrystalline silicon material

Ultraviolet and blue-green photoluminescence (PL) was investigated on multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) samples chemically etched by Secco and Yang solutions. The samples were characterized by dislocation density (10⁵-10⁶ cm⁻²). The form of etched pits is triangular with Yang etch and like a honeycomb with Secco etch as observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). These textures of mc-Si wafers give a PL activity similar to that obtained with nanostructures of porous silicon (PS) as reported in the literature. The ultraviolet PL spectra observed with Yang etch shift to the blue-green spectrum range when applying Secco etch. In our experiments we have observed 3-5 μm diameter macro pores separated by a high density of nanowalls. These observations suggest that the origin of the PL activity are quantum dots resulting from the silicon nanocrystallites obtained after few minutes of chemical etching.     

Analysis of concentration patterns in volcanic rocks: Insights into dynamics of highly explosive volcanic eruptions

In this contribution we present new data resulting from the analysis of concentration patterns of mixed juvenile fragments ejected by a highly explosive volcanic eruption that occurred on Salina Island (Aeolian Islands, Italy) and our aim is to identify the fluid-dynamic regime characterizing the magma mixing process. Concentration patterns are studied by calculating the power spectrum of concentration variability along transects crossing the magma mixing structures. Results indicate that the slope of power spectrum has an average value of about −5/3, according to Kolmogorov law of turbulence, and suggest that the magma mixing process, in the studied conditions, can be approximated by considering the passive scalar mixing hypothesis in homogeneous isotropic turbulent flow. These results represent a first step towards a better understanding of magma mixing processes associated to highly explosive volcanic eruptions and this first step is taken by studying concentration patterns in volcanic rocks by coupling petrological and non-linear dynamics methods.     

On an evasion problem on a semi-infinite interval for a class of controlled distributed systems

In this paper, we study an evasion problem in systems described by equations of parabolic type. We consider four versions of constraints on the control parameters.     

Variation of supramolecular structure of heat-resistant polyimide films during thermal treatment

Variation of the supramolecular structure of heat-resistant polymide films in the course of high-temperature treatment was studied by X-ray diffraction analysis and NMR spectroscopy in solids.     

Properties of the extraction system constituted by phosphoric acid produced from Khibiny apatite and tri-n-butyl phosphate

Data on the equilibrium distribution of phosphoric acid among the aqueous and organic phases in extraction of phosphoric acid with tri-n-butyl phosphate are presented for the system constituted by phosphoric acid produced from the Khibiny concentrate and by the extracting agent from the industrial system for purification of extraction phosphoric acid at 25–50°C.     

Fabrication of material-independent morphology gradients for high-throughput applications

Gradient surfaces allow rapid, high-throughput investigations and systematic studies in many disparate fields, including biology, tribology and adhesion. We describe a novel method for the fabrication of material-independent morphology gradients, involving a two-step process of particle erosion followed by a chemical polishing procedure that preferentially removes features with a small radius of curvature as a function of time. Gradients are fabricated on aluminium surfaces, but they may be readily transferred to other materials via a replication technique, which allows for the production of identical roughness gradient samples with any chosen surface chemistry. The gradients have been characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy and optical profilometry. Standard roughness parameters (Ra, Rq, Rz, Sm and Sk) were calculated from optical profilometry data. The roughness has also been assessed over different wavelength windows by means of a fast Fourier transformation approach.     

High resolution X-ray diffraction of GaN grown on Si (1 1 1) by MOVPE

High temperature GaN layers have been grown on Si (1 1 1) substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). AlN was used as a buffer layer and studied as a function of thickness and growth temperature. The growth was monitored by in situ laser reflectometry. High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) revealed that optimized monocrystalline GaN was obtained for a 40 nm AlN grown at 1080 °C. This is in good agreement with the results of morphological study by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and also confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations. The best morphology of AlN with columnar structure and lower rms surface roughness is greatly advantageous to the coalescence of the GaN epilayer. Symmetric and asymmetric GaN reflections were combined for twist and stress measurements in monocrystalline GaN. It was found that mosaicity and biaxial tensile stress are still high in 1.7 μm GaN. Curvature radius measurement was also done and correlated to the cracks observations over the GaN surface.