The 7th Asian Symposium on Visualization

The 7th Asian Symposium on Visualization (7ASV) was successfully held in Singapore from 3^rd to 7^th November 2003. This event was originally scheduled from 26^th to 30^th May 2003, but had to be postponed because of the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in some parts of the world. A total number of 122 participants attended the Symposium of which, 107 were foreign participants from 16 countries (excluding Singapore) worldwide. There were 104 papers covering broad range of topics presented at the Symposium which were delivered in 2×7 long sessions, and 9 keynote papers.     

Production of heavy nuclei in the interaction of <Superscript>7</Superscript>Li ions with copper nuclei at an energy of 35 MeV per nucleon

The absolute values of the cross sections for the production of target fragments in the interaction of copper with ⁷Li ions at an energy of 35 MeV per nucleon were measured. The measurements were performed by recording the yields of radioactive nuclear residues with the aid of a semiconductor detector from ultrapure germanium. The charge and isobaric distributions in the mass-number range 22–69 amu were used to deduce the mass yield of reaction products and to calculate the total interaction cross section. The results are presented that were derived from a comparison with data obtained for ¹²C + Cu reactions and with estimates based on theoretical models.     

Single-particle levels and spin-orbit splitting in the vicinity of the doubly magic nucleus <Superscript>48</Superscript>Ca

On the basis of a detailed analysis of available experimental data, the spectrum of single-particle states and the isotopic dependence of spin-orbit splitting are determined for nuclei in the vicinity of the doubly magic nuclide ⁴⁸Ca. The spectrum of excited states of the isobaric nucleus ⁴⁸Sc is calculated.     

Properties of backscattered particles produced by protons of energy above 1 TeV in an iron absorber

Backscattered-particle production is studied by means of a detailed simulation of cascade processes in a dense medium. The energy dependence of the albedo and the spatial and angular distributions of various components of this flux are analyzed.     

Effect of multidomain structure on the field dependences of magnetization and forced striction in easy-plane antiferromagnets

The forced magnetostriction and magnetization are measured in the easy-plane-type two-sublattice NiCl₂ antiferromagnet (AFM) in the case where this AFM passes from the multidomain to a single-domain state. It is shown that, in accordance with the magnetoelastic nature of the multidomain state, the field dependences of the forced magnetostriction and magnetization are interrelated and affected by the transition from the multidomain to the single-domain state. The character of these dependences corresponds to the case where the magnetization and striction are proportional to the number of domains with an energetically favored orientation with respect to the external magnetic field.     

Translational-rotational interaction in dynamics and thermodynamics of a two-dimensional atomic crystal with molecular impurities

The interaction between the rotational degrees of freedom of a diatomic impurity molecule and phonon excitations of a two-dimensional atomic matrix commensurate to the substrate is investigated theoretically. It is shown that the translational-rotational interaction leads to renormalization of the crystal field constants and a change in the form of the operator for the rotational kinetic energy as compared to the corresponding expression for a free rotator. The contribution from the rotational degrees of freedom of impurities to the low-temperature heat capacity of a diluted solution of diatomic molecules in the two-dimensional atomic matrix is calculated. The possibility of experimentally observing the predicted effects is discussed.     

Optical absorption of hexagonal boron nitride involving nitrogen vacancies and their complexes

The pseudopotential and supercell methods are used to study the optical absorption of graphite-like hexagonal boron nitride involving deep levels of nitrogen vacancies and their clusters. The impurity-induced absorption is shown to be mainly related to electron transitions between the states that are antisymmetric with respect to the horizontal plane. Therefore, this absorption is highly anisotropic and is maximum for light waves polarized normally to the hexagonal axis. The optical absorption and photoconductivity spectra before and after neutron irradiation and thermal treatment are interpreted, and the activation energies for the thermoluminescence and conductivity of nitrogen-depleted boron nitride before and after fast-neutron irradiation and vacuum annealing are found.     

Effect of bismuth nanolayers on the oriented growth of fullerene C<Subscript>60</Subscript> on an amorphous substrate

The effect of a bismuth sublayer with an effective thickness of 0.5 to 4 nm on the structure of C₆₀ fullerene films grown on amorphous substrates (silicon covered with a natural oxide layer; glass) using the quasi-closed-volume method is studied. An x-ray diffraction study of fullerene films showed that the intensity ratio between the (220) and (111) peaks depends nonmonotonically on the sublayer thickness. In the bismuth sublayer thickness range 0.5–2.0 nm, fullerene films are found to exhibit a growth texture with the 〈110〉 axis; the average crystallite size was ～20 µm. The quality of the texture can be improved by varying the fullerene growth temperature.     

Application of ultrafine-dispersed diamonds in electroplating

The results obtained upon the electrochemical deposition of composite coatings containing ultrafine-dispersed diamonds produced by detonation synthesis are generalized. The main advantages of such coatings over the well-known composite electrochemical coatings are revealed.