Study of structural and electronic transport properties of Ce-doped LaMnO3

The structural and electronic transport properties of La_1−x Ce _x MnO₃ (x=0.0–1.0) have been studied. All the samples exhibit orthorhombic crystal symmetry and the unit cell volume decreases with Ce doping. They also make a metal-insulator transition (MIT) and transition temperature increases with increase in Ce concentration up to 50% doping. The system La_0.5Ce_0.5MnO₃ also exhibits MIT instead of charge-ordered state as observed in the hole doped systems of the same composition.     

At-line SPE–GC–MS of micropollutants in water using the PrepStation

An automated at-line SPE–GC–MS system for the determination of micropollutants in aqueous samples, which is based on the PrepStation and uses large-volume on-column injections, has been redesigned. A cartridge made from stainless steel and polychlorotrifluoroethylene and a 2-needle system was constructed which allow the determination of micropollutants at the low ng/L level without interferences from impurities extracted from the septa of the vials or the commercial cartridges. No time-consuming pre-cleaning of the cartridges or septa is required. The SPE sample extract (300 μL) is transferred from the sample preparation module to the autosampler of the GC–MS and 50 or 100 μL are injected. The analytical characteristics of the integrated procedure such as analyte recovery (typically 80–105%) and repeatability (RSDs, 2–9%), were satisfactory. Several micropollutants were detected in (unfiltered) river water at the 0.2–400 ng/L level using full-scan MS acquisition. The system proved to be robust during the analysis of more than 100 tap and river water samples.     

Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion Micro-Extraction of Pesticides from Single Insects with Subsequent GC–MS Analysis

A simple multiresidue method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) micro-extraction was studied to determine various organophosphorus (OPPs) and pyrethroid pesticides in single insects. Optimisation of the relevant parameters showed that, in the case of OPPs and permethrin, extraction from 40 mg of isopod (Porcellio scaber) and the use of C₈-bonded silica and 100 L of ethyl acetate were the best conditions, while silica and 3.5 mL of n-hexane were optimal for the less polar pyrethroids. Subsequently, 1 L (ethyl acetate) or 20 L (n-hexane) of the extracts were analysed by GC–MS without any further clean-up. The limits of detection (LODs), in the SIM mode, were 5–80 ng g^–1 for most OPPs and trans-permethrin (cis-permethrin 0.3 ng g^–1) when using the C₈-bonded silica/ethyl acetate procedure, and 5–35 ng g^–1 for the pyrethroids when using the silica/n-hexane procedure. The recoveries of the OPPs and pyrethroids from the isopods were 52–94%. The practicality of the proposed method was studied for pesticides in isopods which had been fed polluted leaves.     

Fourier Transform Spectroscopy of the A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) System of CaO

The A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) near-infrared system of CaO was observed for the first time at high resolution using a Fourier transform spectrometer. The A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) chemiluminescence was excited in a Ca + N(2)O flame produced in a Broida-type oven. More than 3000 rotational lines, classified into 19 bands involving the A'(1)Pi 0 /= 2) levels with the nearby b(3)Sigma(+) (v-2) levels has been detected. An extended set of A'(1)Pi (v = 0-3) data has been obtained which is suitable for use in a future multistate deperturbation analysis of the a(3)Pi approximately A'(1)Pi approximately b(3)Sigma(+) approximately A(1)Sigma(+) complex of excited states. The new near-infrared spectra of the A'(1)Pi-X(1)Sigma(+) transition of CaO also permits the first direct high-resolution linkage between the orange and green systems and the near-infrared bands. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Internal kink instability during off-axis electron cyclotron current drive in the DIII-D tokamak

Experimental evidence is reported of an internal kink instability driven by a new mechanism: barely trapped suprathermal electrons produced by off-axis electron cyclotron heating on the DIII-D tokamak. It occurs in plasmas with an evolving safety factor profile q(r) when q(min) approaches 1. This instability is most active when ECCD is applied on the high field side of the flux surface. It has a bursting behavior with poloidal/toroidal mode number = m/n = 1/1. In positive magnetic shear plasmas, this mode becomes the fishbone instability. This observation can be qualitatively explained by the drift reversal of the barely trapped suprathermal electrons.     

Apparent spin polarization decay in Cu-dusted Co/Al2O3/Co tunnel junctions

Co/Al2O3/Co magnetic tunnel junctions with an interfacial Cu layer have been investigated with in situ growth characterization and ex situ magnetotransport measurements. Cu interlayers grown on Co give an approximately exponential decay of the tunneling magnetoresistance with xi approximately 0.26 nm while those grown on Al2O3 have a decay length of 0.70 nm. The difference in decay lengths can be explained by different growth morphologies, and in this way clarifies a present disagreement in the literature. For monolayer coverage of Cu, we show that the tunneling spin polarization is suppressed by at least a factor of 2 compared to Co and beyond approximately 5 ML it becomes vanishingly small.     

Improved Parameterization for Combined Isotopomer Analysis of Diatomic Spectra and Its Application to HF and DF

A new way of representing vibration-rotation term values for multiple isotopomers of a given electronic state of a diatomic molecule is presented which resolves problems associated with the way the conventional combined isotopomer expansion represents the atomic mass-dependent JWKB and Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms. Its application to infrared and microwave data for HF and DF yields new Dunham expansion coefficients and Born-Oppenheimer breakdown correction terms for this species. This procedure is implemented in a generally available computer program for fitting to various types of data involving one or several electronic states of multiple isotopomers of a diatomic molecule. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

On-line solid phase extraction - thermal desorption for introduction of large volumes of aqueous samples into a gas chromatograph

A new approach to the introduction of large aqueous samples into a gas chromatograph, solid phase extraction - thermal desorption, is presented. Carrier gas pushes the sample through a packed liner mounted in a programmed temperature vaporizer; analytes retained by the packing material are thermally desorbed after drying of the adsorbent. The sorption properties and thermal stability of some packing materials have been studied off-line. Tenax GC®, and octyl-modified silica silylated with diphenyltetramethyldisilazane to improve its thermal stability, appeared to be suitable materials. The drying period and the desorption temperature are critical for satisfactory performance of the method. When Tenax GC® is used as packing material, thermal desorption at 250°C for 15 min gives quantitative recovery for methyl esters up to hexacosanoic acid methyl ester. With the silylated octyl-modified silica, the application range is limited to the methyl esters of decanoic to octadecanoic acids.