Lifetime study of high-spin states in 104,105In

In the neutron deficient isotopes _104,105In lifetimes of high spin states in the range from 0.5 ps to 600 ps have been measured in a coincidence recoil distance Doppler shift (RDDS) experiment. By combining the Doppler shift attenuation (DSA) and RDDS methods at few μm flight distances, the problem of delayed feeding has been avoided and very short lifetimes in the range 0.5–0.8 ps have been determined. Shell model calculations with strong restrictions for the neutron orbitals reveal good agreement with experimental level energies and still fair agreement for most measured B(M1) and B(E2) values. Received: 30 June 1998     

Magnetism in electron-doped copper oxides

We report muon spin relaxation/rotation measurements on sintered powder samples of Nd_2−x Ce _x CuO_4−y and a large single crystal of Nd₂CuO_4−y . We find an electronic phase diagram which is quite similar to that of hole-doped superconductors such as La_2−x Sr _x CuO_4−y , although the doping of electrons into the system is less efficient in destroying the static moments on the copper spins. Static magnetic order in Nd₂CuO_4−y appears below about 250 K, and two spin reorientations are seen atT=75 K andT=35 K. Measurements of the magnetic field penetration depth have been unsuccessful due to the rare-earth paramagnetism of these materials.     

The use of radioanalytical techniques to study intermediate energy,relativistic, and ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions

The use of radioanalytical techniques to study heavy ion induced nuclear reactions offers some distinct advantages over conventional physical techniques. Among these are (a) unit Z and A resultion in detecting the reaction products (b) high sensitivity for low probability events (c) lack of low energy thresholds or cutoffs in measuring reactcion product energy spectcra (d) economical use of accelerator time and (e) simple, portable experimental apparatus allowing broad survey measurements of reaction mechanisms at a variety of nuclear particle accelerators. We describe examples of these advantages from our research in nuclear chemistry.     

Optical probing of thin liquid crystal layers using the prism-coupling technique

Prism-coupling work in polymer aligned liquid crystal layers is presented with special emphasis being placed on the ferroelectric chiral smectic C phase, of interest to electro-optic device fabrication. Experimental results as a function of temperature, wavelength and DC applied voltage are presented, together with a study of sp mixing which may have potential device applications as well as being an elegant technique with which to establish the optical dielectric tensor configuration in thin, aligned liquid crystal layers.     

Ordering of substitutional ternary alloys with an fcc lattice

The possible types of ordering diagrams of ternary substutional alloys with an fcc lattice are analyzed, taking account of interactions in two coordination spheres.Ural Polytechnic Institute. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 38–41, December, 1992.     

The liquid-crystalline behaviour of amphiphilic ethane-1,2-diol derivatives incorporating a six membered ring in their principal structure

Novel 3-phenyloxy substituted propane-1,2-diol derivatives, 4-(4-n-hexyloxyphenyl)-butane-1,2-diol and 4-(trans-4-n-pyropylcyclohexyl)-butane-1,2-diol have been synthesized and their thermal behaviour has been studied. These compounds exhibit thermotropic and, after addition of water, also lyotropic liquid-crystalline behaviour. The clearing temperatures of the smectic mesophases were found to be strongly dependent on the alkyl chain length and on the structural units that link the aromatic ring to the alkyl chain and to the diol unit. The behaviour of the aromatic compounds is compared with that of the cyclohexane derivative. Thereby it has been realized that the mesophase stability of the amphiphilic diols incorporating a rigid unit is largely determined by both, the molecular geometry (molecular shape and intramolecular flexibility) and the amphiphilic structural pattern.     

Magnetic behaviour of TbMnFe

Neutron diffraction and M?ssbauer measurements have been carried out on the cubic Laves phase intermetallic TbMnFe. The magnetic moment on the transition metal atom is found to be low, 0.2μ _B, at room temperature. This moment is temperature independent down to 10 K. Magnetic moment on the rare earth atom varies from 2.5μ _B at 296 K to 7.27μ _B at 10 K. M?ssbauer spectra recorded at 298 K and 78 K have magnetic character but there is a large distribution of hyperfine field values. Both these features arise due to magnetic frustration created in the sample due to the competing ferro and antiferromagnetic interactions between the transition metal atoms.