Rate constant measurements for initial addition reactions of radicals at the propagation step of photo‐polymerization as studied by pulsed EPR spectroscopy

Pulsed EPR spectroscopy was employed to determine reaction rate constants at an early stage of addition reactions in radical polymerizations triggered by four initiator radicals, which were generated by photodissociation of four parent molecules. Two monomers (tert‐butylacrylate and tert‐butylmethacrylate) were examined as reactant. Stern–Volmer analysis on the measured decay time of electron spin echo intensity of reacting radicals provides rate constants for addition reactions. We focused on rate constants for the second step reaction between monomer and adduct radical that is produced by the first step addition reaction between initiator radical and monomer. The rate constant measured by pulsed EPR was evaluated by theoretical calculations in the light of (1) enthalpy difference between product radical and reactants and (2) charge transfer interaction between reacting radical and monomer. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beta-NMR measurement of 58Cu in Si

The β-NMR study of short-lived nucleus ⁵⁸Cu (I ^π ?=?1^?+?, T _1/2?=?3.2 s) in Si has been performed. Spin polarization of ⁵⁸Cu induced by the charge exchange reaction of ⁵⁸Ni was observed in Si at 15 K. The ⁵⁸Cu magnetic moment $|\upmu[^{58}\mbox{Cu}]| = (0.46 \pm 0.03)\upmu_{\rm N}$ deduced from the β-NMR spectrum is consistent with the previous results on the laser spectroscopy. The present result shows that the ⁵⁸Cu nucleus is promising as a new nuclear probe for the microscopic study of Cu impurities in Si.     

Quasi in situ Ni K‐edge EXAFS investigation of the spent NiMo catalyst from ultra‐deep hydrodesulfurization of gas oil in a commercial plant

Ni species on the spent NiMo catalyst from ultra‐deep hydrodesulfurization of gas oil in a commercial plant were studied by Ni K‐edge EXAFS and TEM measurement without contact of the catalysts with air. The Ni–Mo coordination shell related to the Ni–Mo–S phase was observed in the spent catalyst by quasi in situ Ni K‐edge EXAFS measurement with a newly constructed high‐pressure chamber. The coordination number of this shell was almost identical to that obtained by in situ Ni K‐edge EXAFS measurement of the fresh catalyst sulfided at 1.1 MPa. On the other hand, large agglomerates of Ni₃S₂ were observed only in the spent catalyst by quasi in situ TEM/EDX measurement. MoS₂‐like slabs were sintered slightly on the spent catalyst, where they were destacked to form monolayer slabs. These results suggest that the Ni–Mo–S phase is preserved on the spent catalyst and Ni₃S₂ agglomerates are formed by sintering of Ni₃S₂ species originally present on the fresh catalyst.     

A compact optical heterodyne interferometer by optical integration and its application

A compact high-resolution optical heterodyne interferometer combining a two-frequency light module and a minute optical system is described. The light module, which generates two independent frequencies of light, is fabricated by proton exchange method on LiNbO₃ substrate. We report an experiment evaluating measurement accuracy using a micro-displacement measurement system which incorporates this interferometer. Results of the experiment with a standard thickness sample show high thermal stability with maximum measurement error of 1.8 nm at a temperature from 19°C to 33°C. The system was used to measure the hysteresis of a piezoelectric element for displacements of several nm, thereby making it possible to analyze the system quantitatively in practice.     

Induced p-wave superfluidity in two dimensions: Brane world in cold atoms and nonrelativistic defect CFTs

We propose to use a two-species Fermi gas with the interspecies s-wave Feshbach resonance to realize p-wave superfluidity in two dimensions. By confining one species of fermions in a two-dimensional plane immersed in the background three-dimensional Fermi sea of the other species, an attractive interaction is induced between two-dimensional fermions. We compute the pairing gap in the weak-coupling regime and show that it has the symmetry of p_x+ip_y. Because the magnitude of the pairing gap increases toward the unitarity limit, it is possible that the critical temperature for the p_x+ip_y-wave superfluidity becomes within experimental reach. The resulting system has a potential application to topological quantum computation using vortices with non-Abelian statistics. We also discuss aspects of our system in the unitarity limit as a “nonrelativistic defect conformal field theory (CFT)”. The reduced Schrödinger algebra, operator-state correspondence, scaling dimensions of composite operators, and operator product expansions are investigated.     

Evaluation of gadoxetate disodium as a contrast agent for mouse liver imaging: comparison with gadobenate dimeglumine

We investigated the characteristics of gadoxetate disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA) as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging of the mouse liver. Mice were imaged sequentially under isoflurane anesthesia using a T1-weighted, three-dimensional fast low-angle shot (3D FLASH) sequence after an intravenous injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA or gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA), and the time course of the contrast effect was examined. The time course of the contrast effect of Gd-EOB-DTPA was also assessed after intravenous injection under pentobarbital anesthesia and after subcutaneous injection while awake or under isoflurane or pentobarbital anesthesia. Moreover, different doses of Gd-EOB-DTPA or Gd-BOPTA were injected subcutaneously into conscious mice, and the clarity of the liver border was evaluated visually. Intravenous injection under isoflurane anesthesia caused rapid contrast enhancement in the liver with both Gd-EOB-DTPA and Gd-BOPTA, and the contrast effect was 41% stronger with Gd-EOB-DTPA. Subcutaneous injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA caused delayed but favorable contrast enhancement in the liver. Washout of Gd-EOB-DTPA was faster in mice injected while awake than in those injected under anesthesia. After intravenous injection, washout was faster under pentobarbital anesthesia than under isoflurane anesthesia. The peak liver contrast was 11% and 18% stronger under pentobarbital anesthesia than under isoflurane anesthesia, after intravenous and subcutaneous injections, respectively. Subcutaneous injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA or Gd-BOPTA caused dose-dependent contrast effects in the liver. At a given dose, the contrast effect tended to be stronger and liver demarcation tended to be clearer with Gd-EOB-DTPA than with Gd-BOPTA. In conclusion, intravenous or subcutaneous injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA produces a favorable contrast effects in the mouse liver, indicating its potential in investigating mouse models of liver diseases. The contrast effects vary between conscious mice and anesthetized mice and among anesthetic agents used.     

Optical properties of new organic conductors based on the BEDT-TSeF molecule (the κ-(BETS)4Hg2.84Br8 superconductor and κ-(BETS)4Hg3Cl8 Metal) in the range 300–15 K

Polarized reflectance and optical conductivity spectra of single crystals of two new isostructural organic conductors based on the BEDT-TSeF molecule, namely, the κ-(BETS)₄Hg_2.84Br₈ superconductor (T _c =2 K) and the κ-(BETS)₄Hg₃Cl₈ metal, which undergoes a smooth transition to the dielectric state near 35 K, have been obtained in the spectral region 700–6500 cm⁻¹ at temperatures of 300–15 K. At 300 K, the spectra of both compounds are nearly identical and differ from the Drude spectrum characteristic of metals. The nature of the observed difference is discussed, and the spectra are described in terms of a cluster approach with inclusion of electron-electron correlations in the Hubbard approximation combined with the Drude model. The parameters of the theory were determined, including the electron transfer integrals between molecules in a cluster. The spectra in the conducting plane of the crystals were found to be essentially anisotropic, which should be assigned to specific features of in-plane interaction between molecules. The spectra of the superconductor and the metal become increasingly different as the temperature is lowered. The spectra of the metal obtained for T<150 K exhibit splitting of the broad electronic maximum in the mid-IR region into two bands, which is accompanied by a splitting of a vibronic feature deriving from electron interaction with intramolecular BETS vibrations of ν₃(A _g ) symmetry. No such splitting is observed in the superconductor spectra with decreasing temperature. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 46, No. 11, 2004, pp. 1921–1929. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Vlasova, Drichko, Petrov, Semkin, Zhilyaeva, Lyubovskaya, Olejniczak, A. Kobayashi, H. Kobayashi.     

Ab initio calculations of transport properties of atomic bridges by the recursion-transfer-matrix method

We present an efficient self-consistent method for approaching quantum transport through atomic-scale structures. Using the recursion-transfer-matrix (RTM) method with a separable form of nonlocal pseudopotentials, scattering waves propagating between metallic electrodes through nano-bridged structures are efficiently calculated on the basis of the density-functional formalism. We performed calculations with this method of the conductance of Al atomic wires with various kinds of single atoms mixed at the contact to one electrode. We found that the transport properties are considerably affected by the bonding nature of the atom at the contact. The conductance is largely determined by the atomic species at the contact and does not change much as the length of the atomic wire increases.     

Study on Chemical Bond and Electronic State of New Gold Mixed Valence Complexes Cs2[AuIX2][AuIIIY4] (X,Y=Cl,Br, I) by Means of 197Au Mössbauer Spectroscopy

Hyperfine Interactions - Cs2[AuIX2][AuIIIX4] (X=Cl, Br, I) is known for a perovskite-type gold mixed-valence system. We have synthesized new gold mixed valence complexes, Cs2[AuIX2][AuIIIY4] (X,...     

Quasi-monocyclic near-infrared pulses with a stabilized carrier-envelope phase characterized by noncollinear cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating.

Precise characterization of noncollinear optical parametric amplifier idler pulses that have bandwidths of more than an octave with a center wavelength at 990 nm was demonstrated. The method employed was cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating with broadband sum-frequency mixing to take advantage of the idler's angular dispersion. Compression to near the transform limit was achieved to produce quasi-monocyclic near-infrared pulses by use of a deformable membrane mirror.