Spin structure and weak ferromagnetism of Mn3Sn

The compound Mn₃Sn shows an interesting magnetic behavior. A triangular screw spin structure has been observed below 250 K, whose period is independent of temperature. The screw structure is sensitive to heat treatment, alloy composition and impurity content.     

Photo-Absorption and photochemical decomposition of copper and alkaline-earth ß-diketonates as source gases of high-Tc superconducting films

For low-temperature deposition of oxide films relating to Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductors, photo-absorption and -decomposition properties were examined with respect to copper and alkaline-earth ß-diketonates. It was confirmed that all ß-diketonates examined were promising as source materials for photochemical vapour deposition (photo-CVD) using a low-pressure mercury lamp, in view of their large light absorption coefficients at wavelength 254 nm. The light irradiation was effective for the formation of highly crystalline oxide films at temperatures below 600 °C. By combining two sources, Ca₂CuO₃ and SrCuO₂ films were prepared. Photo-CVD of c-axis oriented Bi₂Sr₂CuO_x film was achieved by the irradiation of ternary sources of Bi(C₆H₅)₃ and strontium and copper ß-diketonates at 500 °C.     

Thickness decrease of a grafted polyelectrolyte membrane exposed to shear flow

The effect of the shear flow on the thickness change of a polyelectrolyte membrane grafted onto a glass substrate was directly investigated with a flow cell combined with a confocal laser scanning microscope. The membrane thickness decreased proportionally to an increase in the shear stress of the flow when the shear rate exceeded a critical value of 1 s^?1. The higher the ionic strength was of the fluid, the greater the thinning effect was. The correlation between the critical shear rate and the relaxation of the polymer in the gel membrane was examined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2808–2815, 2003     

Noncommutative algebras related with Schubert calculus on Coxeter groups

For any finite Coxeter system (W,S) we construct a certain noncommutative algebra, the so-called bracket algebra, together with a family of commuting elements, the so-called Dunkl elements. The Dunkl elements conjecturally generate an algebra which is canonically isomorphic to the coinvariant algebra of the Coxeter group W. We prove this conjecture for classical Coxeter groups and I₂(m). We define a “quantization” and a multiparameter deformation of our construction and show that for Lie groups of classical type and G₂, the algebra generated by Dunkl’s elements in the quantized bracket algebra is canonically isomorphic to the small quantum cohomology ring of the corresponding flag variety, as described by B. Kim. For crystallographic Coxeter systems we define the so-called quantum Bruhat representation of the corresponding bracket algebra. We study in more detail the structure of the relations in B_n-, D_n- and G₂-bracket algebras, and as an application, discover a Pieri-type formula in the B_n-bracket algebra. As a corollary, we obtain a Pieri-type formula for multiplication of an arbitrary B_n-Schubert class by some special ones. Our Pieri-type formula is a generalization of Pieri’s formulas obtained by A. Lascoux and M.-P. Schützenberger for flag varieties of type A. We also introduce a super-version of the bracket algebra together with a family of pairwise anticommutative elements, the so-called flat connections with constant coefficients, which describes “a noncommutative differential geometry on a finite Coxeter group” in the sense of S. Majid.     

Investigation of the drying conditions for amidosulfuric acid.

The drying conditions for primary standards of volumetric analysis have a significant effect on the titration results due to changes in the purity, stability and homogeneity. Amidosulfuric acid, a strong acid used as a reference material for volumetric analysis in Japan, was dried in a vacuum desiccator or heated at different temperatures, and then measured by Karl-Fischer titration, thermogravimetry/mass spectroscopy (TG-MS), ion chromatography and coulometric titration. The optimum drying conditions were at 50 degrees C for 24 h with crushing.     

Analytical Designing of Two-Aspherical-Mirror Anastigmats Permitting Practical Misalignments in a Soft-X-Ray Optics

A new analytical method of designing two-aspherical-mirror anastigmats was developed and applied to searching solution groups of soft X-ray microscopes of a large misalignment tolerance. The two-mirror anastigmat configurations were expressed by a practical variable related to pupil obstruction limiting the system throughput. Axial coma and other aberrations caused by a slight decenter of the system were then formulated to represent sensitivity to misalignment. These formulations enabled a global survey of solution groups as demonstrated by a designing example of soft X-ray microscopes with a magnification m = −1/50, which resulted in four solutions more insensitive to misalignment than a standard Schwarzschild optics in the soft X-ray region. Some solutions were also found to have much larger fields of view suitable for high resolution imaging as confirmed by computer ray tracing.     

Structure and molecular motion of poly(ethylene oxide) chains adsorbed on a silica-tethered poly(methyl methacrylate) by the spin label method

The spin-label method was used to study the structure and molecular motion of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains adsorbed on a silica-tethered poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). Spin-labelled PEO with a narrow molecular weight distribution, having number averaged molecular weight (M _N)=6.0×10³, was adsorbed on the surface of the silica-tethered PMMA with various grafting ratios in carbon tetrachloride solution at 35?°C. ESR spectra were measured at various temperatures after the samples were completely dried. The ESR spectra are composed of two spectra arising from spin-labels attached to “train” and “tail” segments, which are strongly and weakly interacted with the silica surface, respectively. The fractional amount of the “tail” segments increases extremely with the grafting ratio of PMMA. Molecular mobility of the PEO chains estimated from the temperature dependence of the ESR spectra also decreases significantly with the grafting ratio of PMMA. Structure and molecular motion of the PMMA chains tethered on the silica were also studied using the spin-labelled PMMA. Consequently, parts of the PEO segments penetrate into the PMMA chains and is adsorbed on the silica surface (“train” segments), whereas parts of the PMMA segments protrude from the surface. The other PEO segments are entangled with the tethered PMMA chains (“tail” segments).