Beta decay of 101Sn

The β decay of the very neutron-deficient isotope ¹⁰¹Sn was studied at the GSI on-line mass separator using silicon detectors for recording charged particles and germanium detectors for γ-ray spectroscopy. Based on the β-delayed proton data the production cross-section of ¹⁰¹Sn in the ⁵⁰Cr + ⁵⁸Ni fusion-evaporation reaction was determined to be about 60nb. The half-life of ¹⁰¹Sn was measured to be 1.9(3)s. For the first time β-delayed γ-rays of ¹⁰¹Sn were tentatively identified, yielding weak evidence for a cascade of 352 and 1065keV transitions in ¹⁰¹In. The results for the ¹⁰¹Sn decay as well as those from previous work on the ¹⁰³Sn decay are discussed by comparing them to predictions obtained from shell model calculations employing a new interaction in the ⁸⁸Sr to ¹³²Sn model space.     

A photoemission study of molybdenum hexacarbonyl adsorption and decomposition on TiO2(1 1 0) surface

The adsorption and decomposition of molybdenum hexacarbonyl on (1 1 0) TiO₂ surfaces were studied using both core levels and valence band photoemission spectroscopies. It was found that after an adsorption at 140 K, when going back to room temperature, only a small part of molybdenum compounds, previously present at low temperature, remained on the TiO₂ surface. This indicates that the desorption temperature on such a surface is lower than the decomposition one. The use of photon irradiation to decompose the hexacarbonyl molecule was also studied. It was shown that during such a decomposition molecular fragments were chemisorbed on the surface allowing a higher amount of metal to remain on the surface. It was also shown that it was possible to get rid of adsorbed subcarbonyl groups and to organize the metal atoms by thermal treatments at temperatures as low as 400 K, i.e. much lower than the one needed to obtain the same structures using physical vapour deposition (PVD). Moreover, due to lower used temperatures, this chemical way of deposition allows a better control of the interface than during PVD growth.     

Effective, fast, and low temperature encapsulation of fullerene derivatives in single wall carbon nanotubes

High filling of single wall nanotubes (SWCNTs) with the typical exohedrally functionalized fullerene derivative of C₆₀N-methyl-3,4-fulleropyrrolidine C₆₀-C₃NH₇ is reported at the temperature of refluxing hexane. The new peapod material is characterized by STM (scanning tunneling microscopy), TEM (transmission electron microscopy) and Raman spectroscopy. Atomically resolved STM scans on SWCNT show no excessive defects or sidewall functionalization as a result of this treatment. The radial breathing mode (RBM) mode of SWCNT at 165 cm⁻¹ becomes weaker and shifted to 169 cm⁻¹ indicating filled nanotubes. TEM studies show bundles of SWCNT are highly filled with derivative C₆₀-C₃NH₇ and form the (C₆₀-C₃NH₇)_n peapods. Individual pyrrolidine-type functional groups attached to the fullerene cages are unambiguously visualized by a lower-dose observation.     

First results from KamLAND: evidence for reactor antineutrino disappearance

KamLAND has measured the flux of nu;(e)'s from distant nuclear reactors. We find fewer nu;(e) events than expected from standard assumptions about nu;(e) propagation at the 99.95% C.L. In a 162 ton.yr exposure the ratio of the observed inverse beta-decay events to the expected number without nu;(e) disappearance is 0.611+/-0.085(stat)+/-0.041(syst) for nu;(e) energies >3.4 MeV. In the context of two-flavor neutrino oscillations with CPT invariance, all solutions to the solar neutrino problem except for the "large mixing angle" region are excluded.     

Revisiting Gouy phase

The aim of this paper is to highlight the added value of the generalized Gouy phase shift introduced by Siegman. Although suited for optical systems study, including those more complex than free space, we note that it did not meet the use that it deserves so far. The analysis of the whole of the ideas and analytical approaches associated to the important concept of the Gouy phase proves its effectiveness.

Usually, the resonance condition is systematically built on the basis of the equivalent empty cavity. Unfortunately, this approach does not cover some of the useful parameters of the real resonator. By means of the generalized Gouy phase and the self-consistent complex parameter q, we derive here a new approach for the calculation of the resonance condition for the real cavity. Moreover, the use of the generalized Gouy phase clearly simplifies the study of resonators, while making it possible to avoid the use of the Huygens’ Fresnel integral.     

Effect of the stagnation temperature on supersonic flow parameters: Application for air in nozzles

When the stagnation temperature of a perfect gas increases, the specific heats and their ratio do not remain constant any more and start to vary with this temperature. The gas remains perfect and its state equation always remains valid, except it will be called a calorically imperfect gas. The aim of this research is to develop the relations of the necessary thermodynamics and geometrical ratios and to study the supersonic flow at high temperature (lower than the threshold of dissociation). The results are found by the resolution of nonlinear algebraic equations and integration of complex analytical functions where the exact calculation is impossible. The dichotomy method is used to solve the nonlinear equation, and the Simpson algorithm is used for the numerical integration of the found integrals. A condensation of the nodes is used, since the functions to be integrated have a high gradient at the extremity of the interval of integration. A comparison is made with a calorifcally perfect gas to determine the error of this. An application is made for air in a supersonic nozzle. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Faddeev-Noble Versus Sasakawa-Sawada Equations for the Nuclear Three-Body Coulomb Problem

We compare the efficiency of two Faddeev-type approaches for the nuclear three-body Coulomb problem. The first one is a modification of Noble’s approach, the second one is due to Sasakawa and Sawada. In an integral-equation formulation both of these methods rely on the same Green’s operators and driving terms. The differences lie in the treatment of the long-range Coulomb potentials. Numerical examples show that the modified Faddeev-Noble approach provides for faster convergence.     

Enhanced Efficiency of Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes by Dispersing Dehydrated Nanotube Titanic Acid in the Hole-buffer Layer

Efficiency of polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) with poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl hexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene) (MEH-PPV) as an emitting layer was improved if a dehydrated nanotubed titanic acid (DNTA) doped hole-buffer layer polyethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT) was used. Photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectra indicated a stronger interaction between DNTA and sulfur atom in thiophene of PEDOT, which suppresses the chemical interaction between vinylene of MEH-PPV and thiophene of PEDOT. The interaction decreases the defect states in an interface region to result in enhancement in device efficiency, even though the hole transporting ability of PEDOT was decreased.     

Temperature dependence of the lowest frequency <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">E</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">g</Emphasis></Subscript> Raman mode in laser-synthesized anatase TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanopowder

Nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO₂) powder was prepared by a laser-induced pyrolysis. Specific surface area of the as-grown powder measured by BET method was 109 m²/g. The grain size (14.5 nm) estimated from these data coincides well with the crystallite size (12.3 nm) determined by XRD measurements. The average grain size (∼35 nm) obtained from the subsequent SEM measurements refers to considerable agglomeration of nanoparticles. Raman spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural properties of TiO₂ nanopowder and its anatase structure is confirmed. The blueshift and broadening of the lowest frequency E_g Raman mode at temperature range ∼25–550 K have been analyzed using a phonon-confinement model. Dominant influence of the strong anharmonic effect at higher temperatures was demonstrated. PACS 81.07.Wx; 78.30.-j; 63.22.+m