Precision measurement of the 2p-1s transition in muonic C: Search for new muon-nucleon interactions or accurate determination of the rms nuclear charge radius

The wavelength of the 2p3/2-ls1/2 transition in muonic ¹²C was measured with a crystal spectrometer as 16.473765 (88) pm. With an improved model-independent analysis we deduce an rms charge radius for ¹²C of 2.4829 (19) fm. A 2.4 standard deviation difference between our rms charge radius and that deduced from recent elastic electron-scattering experiments is tentatively attributed to a short-range additional interaction between muon and nucleons. A comparison is made with other experiments yielding information on such interactions.     

Magnetic and structural investigations on substituted Pr2Co17-xTx systems (T= Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu and Al)

Magnetic and structural characteristics of Pr₂Co₁₇-based ternaries, in which Co is partly replaced by other transition elements, namely Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu and Al, have been investigated. The objective of the work was to explore the possibility of enhancing the anisotropy of Pr₂Co₁₇ to the point that it would be useful for permanent magnet fabrication. X-ray diffraction indicates that all the systems studied occur in the rhombohedral Th₂Zn₁₇ structure. The cell constants increase as Fe, Mn, etc., are introduced in the system, which indicates that substitution occurs in the Co sublattice. The Curie temperatures, T_c, decrease monotonically with increasing x in the order Fe < Cu < Mn < Al < Cr. The saturation magnetization, M_s, increases with increasing x for the Fe system with x 8. For x #62; 8 in the Pr₂Co_17-xFe_x system and in all other ternary systems st died, M_s decreases with x, the magnitude of the effect being in the order Cr #62; Al #62; Mn #62; Cu. The rate of decrease is larger than that expected as a simple dilution except for the systems containing Cu. Significant modification of the anisotropy characteristics of Pr₂Co₁₇ is observed upon substitution. The planar anisotropy of Pr₂Co₁₇ becomes uniaxial with Fe (x 4) and Mn (x 2) substitutions. With Cr and Al substitutions, the plane-seeking tendency of Pr₂Co₁₇ is significantly weakened.     

Computer controlled techniques for high emission density mapping of thermionic cathodes

Some of the techniques commonly used (e.g. SLEEP and thermionic emission microscope) for measuring emission or work function uniformity of thermionic cathode surfaces require the use of very low or near zero current densities, thus the cathode is characterized at current densities and temperatures much lower than that of a normally operating cathode. The system reported on here uses a high voltage pulse technique and is capable of measuring emission densities in the range 1 to 80 A/cm² at normal cathode operating temperatures. The cathode surface is scanned with an anode having a 0.025 mm aperture whose position is controlled by computer operated stepping motors. The current through the aperture to a collector electrode is measured using a sample-and-hold amplifier. Pulsing and sampling are computer synchronized with the scanning, and data for each pulse are accumulated and can be processed and displayed in several ways using the computer, including a detailed “three-dimensional” map of either the electron emission density or work function variations. The entire surface of the cathode or any portion of it can be mapped in steps as small as 0.001 mm (1μm), but typically steps of 5–100 μm were used. Measurements are presented illustrating the uniformity or nonuniformity of the electron emission densities and work functions for type-B and type-M cathodes.     

The isotopes259106,260106, and261106

In irradiations of²⁰⁷Pb and²⁰⁸Pb, respectively, with⁵⁴Cr theα-decay of the isotopes²⁵⁹106,²⁶⁰106, and²⁶¹106 could be observed for the first time. For²⁶⁰106 a spontaneous fission branch of (50 _?20 ⁺³⁰ )% was observed. The isotopes were identified by genetic relationships of α-decay after separation in-flight with the velocity filter SHIP and implantation into a position-sensitive silicon surface-barrier detector. The measured partial fission halflife of the doubly even isotope²⁶⁰106 of (7.2 _?2.7 ^+4.8 )ms exceeds the predicted values by at least a factor of 40. This result could be explained by the high shell corrections of the ground state mass, derived from the measured α-decay energies. The experimental results show evidence for an island of purely shell stabilized nuclei in the region of deformed isotopes beyond the actinides.     

Atomic short-range order in CuMn alloys

The establishment of atomic short-range order (SRO) has been investigated in CuMn alloys (5, 8,13,16,20 at. % Mn) by measurement of the electrical resistivity during isochronal and isothermal annealing. An increasing degree of SRO is accompanied by a reduction of resistivity; this effect increases with Mn concentration. For 8,13 and 16 at. % Mn SRO kinetics turn out to deviate significantly from single exponential behavior with a maximum at 13 at. % Mn, whereas at 5 and 20 at. % Mn SRO is adjusted in a single exponential process. For data analysis three methods are used: a sum of two and three exponentials as well as a log-normal spectrum of relaxation times. The strong interaction between second-nearest-neighbor atoms in CuMn seems to be essential for SRO kinetics but of minor importance for the value of SRO-induced resistivity change.     

The effect of elastic forces on interface delocalization transitions

Elastic interaction prevents complete wetting and surface induced disordering and leads to a first order phase transition. The discontinuity is small for magnets and large for segregating binary alloys.     

The contribution of fundamental frequency, amplitude envelope, and voicing duration cues to speechreading in normal-hearing subjects

The ability to combine speechreading (i.e., lipreading) with prosodic information extracted from the low-frequency regions of speech was evaluated with three normally hearing subjects. The subjects were tested in a connected discourse tracking procedure which measures the rate at which spoken text can be repeated back without any errors. Receptive conditions included speechreading alone (SA), speechreading plus amplitude envelope cues (AM), speechreading plus fundamental frequency cues (FM), and speechreading plus intensity-modulated fundamental frequency cues (AM + FM). In a second experiment, one subject was further tested in a speechreading plus voicing duration cue condition (DUR). Speechreading performance was best in the AM + FM condition (83.6 words per minute,) and worst in the SA condition (41.1 words per minute). Tracking levels in the AM, FM, and DUR conditions were 73.7, 73.6, and 65.4 words per minute, respectively. The average tracking rate obtained when subjects were allowed to listen to the talker's normal (unfiltered) speech (NS condition) was 108.3 words per minute. These results demonstrate that speechreaders can use information related to the rhythm, stress, and intonation patterns of speech to improve their speechreading performance.     

Experimental investigation of mode coupling in a multimode graded-index fiber caused by periodic microbends using computer-generated spatial filters

The results are described of an experimental investigation of mode coupling in a multimode graded-index fiber as a function of the periodic microbend amplitude. Computer-generated holograms were used as mode selecting spatial filters for measurements of the modal power distribution. The experimental data are in a good qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions. The results obtained may be helpful in the development of amplitude-type graded-index fiber sensors with high sensitivity.     

Ionic conductivity of the perovskites NaMgF3, KMgF3, KMgK3 and KZnF3 at high temperatures

We have carried out a study of the ionic conductivity of NaMgF₃, KMgF₃ and KZnF₃ up to temperatures close to the melting point. Our results, in contrast to previous reports in the literature, show no abnormal ionic conductivity at high temperatures. Care in interpretation of results is required because of surface electronic conduction.