Exoelectron emission from solid nitrogen

Solid nitrogen was investigated by activation spectroscopy methods – thermally stimulated luminescence and thermally stimulated exoelectron emission (TSL and TSEE) in combination with luminescence analysis. TSEE from solid nitrogen pre-irradiated by an electron beam was measured and investigated for the first time. A set of peaks both in TSL and TSEE were observed. It was found that one of the peaks in the TSEE curve is caused by release of electrons in the course of the α-β phase transition of solid nitrogen. The corresponding activation energy was estimated.     

Strain mapping analysis of textile composites

The focus of the work is meso-scale analysis (scale level of the fabric unit cell) of textile composite deformation and failure. The surface strain measurement is used for: (1) experimental investigation, which includes study of strain distribution at various stages of deformation, plasticity detection, damage initiation; (2) numerical validation of the correspondent finite element (FE) models. Two examples are considered: carbon-epoxy triaxial-braided and glass polypropylene-woven composite. The surface strain measurement (by digital image correlation technique) accompanies the tensile tests, aiming at: (1) elastic anisotropic constants characterisation, (2) study of non-linear material behaviour (for the thermoplastic composite), (3) control of homogeneity of the macro-strain distribution, and (4) analysis of damage initiation in brittle composites. Validation of meso-FE models by strain measurements encounters difficulties arising from (1) resolution of the strain measurements, (2) irregularities of the initial structure such as random layer nesting, ply interaction, and deviation of yarns from their theoretical position, which affects the measured strain fields. The paper discusses these difficulties and demonstrates a qualitative agreement with the FE analysis of idealised composite configurations.     

Measurements of motionally averaged heteronuclear dipolar couplings in MAS NMR using R-type recoupling

A novel MAS NMR approach is presented for the determination of heteronuclear dipolar couplings in unoriented materials. The technique is based on the proton-detected local field (PDLF) protocol, and achieves dipolar recoupling by R-type radio-frequency irradiation. The experiment, which is called R-PDLF spectroscopy, is demonstrated on solid and liquid-crystalline systems. For mobile systems, it is shown that the R-PDLF scheme provides better dipolar resolution as compared to techniques combining conventional separated local field (SLF) spectroscopy with R-type recoupling.     

Feature of the magnetotransport of a quasi-one-dimensional electrons on the superfluid helium

The magnetotransport in a nondegenerate quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) electron system over superfluid helium has been investigated experimentally. The measurements are performed in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field B up to 2.6 T in the temperature range T=0.48–2.05 K in the system of conducting channels of 100–400 nm width. It is shown that the value of longitudinal magnetoresistance ρ_xx increases with B. In the electron-gas scattering region (T>0.9 ), the behaviour of ρ_xx agrees with classical Drude law. In the quantum transport regime, the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) theory for a 2D electron system over liquid helium describes the experimental data qualitatively. The deviation due to the difference of the experimentally studied Q1D system of the electrons in a parabolic potential well differs from theoretically analysed one. The experimental data agree with the theoretical calculation for the Q1D electron system at the weak magnetic field and the low temperature.

The negative magnetoresistance of the conducting channels has been observed in both the gas- and the ripplon-scattering region. These effects have been explained by weak carrier localization on the gas atoms at high temperature and by display of the quantum magnetotransport features in a mesoscopic system at low temperature.     

Surface plasmon polariton scattering by small ellipsoid particles

Scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP’s) by small ellipsoid particles placed near a dielectric–metal interface is theoretically considered. Using the Green’s function formalism and the dipole approximation, we consider the differential and total scattering cross-sections associated with the SPP-to-SPP scattering as well as with the SPP scattering into waves propagating away from the interface, analyzing the influence of system parameters. As an example, scattering cross-sections of differently shaped gold spheroid particles placed near an air–gold interface are evaluated at the light wavelength of 800 nm. It is shown that the differential and total cross-sections depend strongly upon the particle-to-surface distance, the ratio between the major and minor axes and their orientation with respect to both the interface and the direction of SPP incidence. Implications of the obtained results to the design of SPP micro-optical components are also discussed.     

Autonomous coupled oscillators with hyperbolic strange attractors

We propose several examples of smooth low-order autonomous dynamical systems which have apparently uniformly hyperbolic attractors. The general idea is based on the use of coupled self-sustained oscillators where, due to certain amplitude nonlinearities, successive epochs of damped and excited oscillations alternate. Because of additional, phase sensitive coupling terms in the equations, the transfer of excitation from one oscillator to another is accompanied by a phase transformation corresponding to some chaotic map (in particular, an expanding circle map or Anosov map of a torus). The first example we construct is a minimal model possessing an attractor of the Smale-Williams type. It is a four-dimensional system composed of two oscillators. The underlying amplitude equations are similar to those of the predator-pray model. The other three examples are systems of three coupled oscillators with a heteroclinic cycle. This scheme presents more variability for the phase manipulations: in the six-dimensional system not only the Smale-Williams attractor, but also an attractor with Arnold cat map dynamics near a two-dimensional toral surface, and a hyperchaotic attractor with two positive Lyapunov exponents, are realized.     

微小圆管中分裂火焰的实验与理论研究

对丙烷/空气在内径2 mm的圆管内的预混燃烧进行了实验研究,借助于高速数码摄像机发现了分裂火焰现象,其中一个为向上游传播的较亮的常规火焰,另一个为向下游传播的较暗的微弱火焰。这些火焰先后熄灭,经过一段时间后又重复发生自着火、分裂、反向传播、灭火过程。这种现象在富燃、化学恰当比以及贫燃火焰中都有存在。一维非稳态计算表明化...     

Polycapillary‐optics‐based micro‐XANES and micro‐EXAFS at a third‐generation bending‐magnet beamline

A focusing system based on a polycapillary half‐lens optic has been successfully tested for transmission and fluorescence µ‐X‐ray absorption spectroscopy at a third‐generation bending‐magnet beamline equipped with a non‐fixed‐exit Si(111) monochromator. The vertical positional variations of the X‐ray beam owing to the use of a non‐fixed‐exit monochromator were shown to pose only a limited problem by using the polycapillary optic. The expected height variation for an EXAFS scan around the Fe K‐edge is approximately 200 µm on the lens input side and this was reduced to ～1 µm for the focused beam. Beam sizes (FWHM) of 12–16 µm, transmission efficiencies of 25–45% and intensity gain factors, compared with the non‐focused beam, of about 2000 were obtained in the 7–14 keV energy range for an incoming beam of 0.5 × 2 mm (vertical × horizontal). As a practical application, an As K‐edge µ‐XANES study of cucumber root and hypocotyl was performed to determine the As oxidation state in the different plant parts and to identify a possible metabolic conversion by the plant.     

Reactivity of the Cu2O(1 0 0) surface: Insights from first principles calculations

We present a summary of results of systematic first principles calculations of the electronic and geometric structures of the Cu₂O(1 0 0) surface and the process of CO oxidation on this surface (energetics and pathways of adsorption, diffusion and reactions of CO and O₂ on the surface). The (p, T) phase diagram of the Cu₂O(1 0 0) in equilibrium of with gas phase O₂ built using the ab initio thermodynamics approach suggests that the O-terminated surface is preferred over the Cu-terminated one within the entire ranges of pressures and temperatures in which the compound exists. Metastable Cu-terminated Cu₂O(1 0 0) is found to undergo a surface reconstruction in agreement with experiment. We find CO to oxidize spontaneously on the O-terminated Cu₂O(1 0 0) surface by consuming surface O atoms. Our calculations also show that the surface O-vacancies left in the course of the CO oxidation can be easily filled with dissociative adsorption of the gas phase O₂ molecules, which are usually present in reaction environment.     

Weak beam control of multiple quadratic soliton generation

Theoretical predictions and experimental observations show that a weak harmonic seed beam can control the process of generating multiple quadratic solitons in periodically poled KTiOPO4 by inputting only a fundamental beam. This all-optical switching does not depend on the relative phase of the input beams, an unusual property for such coherent solitons.