Latest results on J/ϕ suppression

We present preliminary results on J/? production in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon, obtained in the analysis of the most recent data sample collected by NA50 experiment in year 2000. The results are compared with an updated absorption curve deduced from new high statistics protonnucleus data. The measurements reported here confirm the anomalous J/? suppression already observed by NA50 from previously collected data samples.     

Radiation effect on the 400-nm-thermoluminescence emission of a potassium-rich feldspar

The UV-blue thermoluminescence (TL) emission of exsolved and twinned potassium feldspars is potentially valid to be employed in the field of dating and retrospective dosimetry. This paper reports about the following results: (i) The dose dependence of the 400 nm TL intensity of a K-rich feldspar exhibits an excellent linearity in the range of 50 mGy–8 Gy. (ii) The stability of the TL signal after 6 months of storage, shows an initial rapid decay (ca. 45%) maintaining the stability from 40 days onwards which indicates that the electron population decreases asymptotically by the X-axis and the involved electrons are located in deeper traps at room temperature. The fading process can be fitted to a first-order decay equation of the sort y=y₀+A exp(−x/t). (iii) The tests of thermal stability at different temperatures confirm a continuous trap distribution with progressive changes in the glow curve shape, intensity and temperature position of the maximum peak. According to this behaviour some physical parameters are defined.     

Optical properties of Cd<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.4</Subscript>Te/Cd<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Mg<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Te quantum-well structures

Emission spectra of three Cd_0.6Mn_0.4Te/Cd_0.5Mg_0.5Te superlattices with Cd_0.6Mn_0.4Te quantum-well (QW) widths of 7, 13, and 26 monolayers, respectively, and the same thickness (46 monolayers) of the Cd_0.5Mg_0.5Te barriers have been studied. The QW width affects the shape and spectral position of the Mn²⁺ intracenter luminescence (IL) band as a result of the crystal field being dependent on the position of the manganese ion with respect to the interface. Measured in identical experimental conditions, the exciton luminescence as compared to the IL is substantially higher in intensity in a QW than in a bulk CdMnTe crystal. Some samples of superlattices and bulk crystals exhibit, in addition to the conventional IL band near 2.0 eV, a weaker band at about 1.45 eV. This band apparently derives from intracenter transitions in the Mn²⁺ ions in the regions where the crystal lattice has the rock-salt rather than the conventional zinc blende structure.     

Resonant Raman scattering by strained and relaxed germanium quantum dots

This paper reports on the results of resonant Raman scattering investigations of the fundamental vibrations in Ge/Si structures with strained and relaxed germanium quantum dots. Self-assembled strained Ge/Si quantum dots are grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(001) substrates. An ultrathin SiO₂ layer is grown prior to the deposition of a germanium layer with the aim of forming relaxed germanium quantum dots. The use of resonant Raman scattering (selective with respect to quantum dot size) made it possible to assign unambiguously the line observed in the vicinity of 300 cm^?1 to optical phonons confined in relaxed germanium quantum dots. The influence of confinement effects and mechanical stresses on the vibrational spectra of the structures with germanium quantum dots is analyzed.     

Kinetic interpretation of the structural-time criterion for fracture

The incubation-period-based criterion for fracture is considered in terms of the Zhurkov kinetic model of fracture. Within the kinetic model, fracture is treated as a continuously developing process, which starts immediately after the application of a tensile load to a sample and consists in breaking of the interatomic bonds and gradual accumulation of broken bonds in the material in the course of a fracture test. For certain materials, the inclusion of the thermal-fluctuation mechanism for fracture in the incubation-period-based criterion significantly affects the position of the static branch of the time dependence of strength. Time dependences of strength are calculated for a number of materials. The experimental data are analyzed using the structural-time criterion for fracture, which allows one to obtain a unified time dependence of strength for quasi-static and high-rate short-term loadings. The temperature dependence of the incubation period (latent time) is calculated analytically, and a relation is found between the latent fracture time and the thermal vibration frequency of atoms.     

Giant piezoelectric and dielectric enhancement in disordered heterogeneous systems

Effective complex piezoelectric and dielectric constants of disordered heterogeneous systems, such as statistical mixtures consisting of spheroidal particles of the same orientation but with random distribution in space, are studied. It is found for the first time that, in such systems, there exists giant piezoelectric enhancement accompanied by giant relaxation of piezoelectric coefficients and permittivity. The piezoelectric and dielectric spectra differ considerably from the Debye spectra and have a Cole-Cole character. The dependence of the effects considered on the aspect ratios of the spheroids is investigated. The physical mechanisms responsible for the anomalous behavior of the piezoelectric coefficients and permittivity are considered.     

Local structure of Gd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> and Eu<Superscript>2+</Superscript> impurity centers in a CdF<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystal

The local crystal structure of Gd³⁺ and Eu²⁺ cubic impurity centers in cadmium fluoride is calculated within the shell model in the pair potential approximation. The local compressibility of the cationic and anionic sublattices of the host lattice is determined in the vicinity of the Gd³⁺ (Eu²⁺) impurity ion.     

Stress relaxation and viscosity of a bulk Pd<Subscript>40</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>30</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>10</Subscript>P<Subscript>20</Subscript> metallic glass under isochronous heating conditions

Isochronous relaxation of tensile stresses is measured in a bulk Pd₄₀Cu₃₀Ni₁₀P₂₀ metallic glass in the initial state and after certain thermal treatments. The results of measurements are used to find the energy spectrum of irreversible structural relaxation, from which the temperature dependence of shear viscosity is then calculated. This dependence is also found independently from measurements of creep in the same glass. The calculated viscosity is shown to agree well with the experimental data.     

Use of ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond for selective deposition of boron-doped diamond films

A suspension of ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond was used for introducing (in particular, selectively) high-density centers of diamond nucleation on various substrates. High-quality doped diamond films to be used as electrochemistry electrodes were deposited from the gas phase in a microwave discharge on certain substrates treated using ultrafine-dispersed nanodiamond. A uniform distribution of nucleation centers with concentrations greater than 10¹⁰ cm^-2 on silicon substrates was obtained. Electrochemical current-potential curves were measured for continuous films. Diamond meshes of different transparency were grown using selective nucleation. Successful production of high-quality doped diamond meshes gives grounds to consider them the most promising electrodes for use in electrochemistry.     

Distribution of a local magnetic field in superconductors with an uncorrelated random lattice of abrikosov vortices

The distribution of a local magnetic field near the surface of a uniaxial anisotropic type-II superconductor is determined in the framework of the London model in the case when the Abrikosov vortices are randomly distributed in the superconductor. The distribution of a local magnetic field is obtained as a function of the distance from the surface of the superconductor. It is demonstrated that the shape of the distribution of the local magnetic field near the surface differs substantially from that in the bulk of the superconductor. This difference should be taken into account in interpreting experimental data on the local magnetic field in the surface region of the superconductor and in thin superconducting films (with a thickness of less than or equal to λ, where λ is the depth of penetration of the magnetic field into the superconductor). It is shown that, as in the case of a regular lattice of vortices, the value of λ can be determined from observations of the distribution of the local magnetic field in type-II superconductors with an uncorrelated random lattice of vortices.