Polarized electron sources

We review current methods for production of polarized electron beams. Major focus is devoted to photoemission from GaAs, which is the way that current facilities rely on. Some aspects of this kind of technology such as the physics behind generation of polarized beams and its advantages and limitations are considered. Finally, the perspectives for implementation of a GaAs photocathode in a RF gun are discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ferromagnetically coupled Shastry-Sutherland quantum spin singlets in (CuCl)LaNb₂O₇

A thorough crystal structure determination at very low temperature of (CuCl)LaNb?O?, originally proposed as a spin-1/2 square-lattice antiferromagnet, is reported thanks to the use of single-crystal x-ray diffraction and powder neutron diffraction. State-of-the-art calculations (maximum entropy method) reveal that (CuCl)LaNb?O? is orthorhombic with Pbam symmetry. First-principles calculations demonstrate that the dominant magnetic interactions are antiferromagnetic between fourth nearest neighbors with a Cu-Cl-Cl-Cu exchange path, which lead to the formation of spin singlets. The two strongest interactions between the singlets are ferromagnetic, which makes (CuCl)LaNb?O? the first system of ferromagnetically coupled Shastry-Sutherland quantum spin singlets.     

BPSCCO-Ag powders obtained by a wet method and with a low carbon content for tape preparation

Il Nuovo Cimento D - High-T c superconductors with nominal composition Bi1.8Pb0.4Sr2Ca2.2Cu3O x and eventually admixed with metallic silver were prepared by an original version of the citrate route...     

Molecular Mechanism of Photosensitization XI. Membrane Damage and DNA Cleavage Photoinduced by Enoxacin

The photosensitizing activity of enoxacin, 1-ethyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(1-piperazinyl)-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxilic acid (ENX), toward membranes and DNA has been studied, taking into account human erythrocyte photohemolysis, unilamellar liposome alterations and plasmid pBR322 DNA photocleavage. Hydroxyl radicals and an aromatic carbene generated from ENX photode-fluorination seem to be the active intermediates involved in the photosensitization process. The steady-state photolysis products do not participate in the process. The mechanism of photosensitization responsible for the membrane damage depends on the oxygen concentration and follows a different path with respect to that operative for DNA cleavage. Between oxygenated radicals, the hydroxyl seems the species mainly responsible for membrane damage, whereas DNA cleavage is mainly produced by the carbene intermediate. A molecular mechanism of the photosensitization induced by ENX is proposed.     

Hyperfine contribution to the F NMR lineshift in the planar antiferromagnet K2MnF4

NMR experiments on F¹⁹ nuclei in K₂MnF₄ single crystal are performed in the temperature region 20–300 K. In particular the angular dependence of the line shift has been found substantially due to the magnetic dipolar interaction with the Mn electron spins.

The values of the measured transferred hyperfine interaction (THI) tensor components indicate the isotropic nature of the Mn---F bond. Good agreement has been found between the lineshift values and the available susceptibility data in the temperature region 20–300 K.     

Conformation-specific spectroscopy and photodissociation of cold, protonated tyrosine and phenylalanine

We present here ultraviolet and infrared spectra of protonated aromatic amino acids in a cold, 22-pole ion trap. Ultraviolet photofragmentation spectra of protonated tyrosine and phenylalanine show vibronically resolved bands corresponding to different stable conformers: two for PheH+ and four in the case of TyrH+. We subsequently use the resolved UV spectra to perform conformer-specific infrared depletion spectroscopy. Comparison of the measured infrared spectra to density functional theory calculations helps assign the geometry of the various conformers, all of which exhibit NH...pi hydrogen bonds and NH...O=C interactions, with the COOH group oriented either anti or gauche to the aromatic ring. In both molecules the majority of the observed fragments result from dissociation on an excited electronic state. In TyrH+, different conformers excited with practically the same energy exhibit different fragmentation patterns, suggesting that the excited-state dynamics depend upon conformation.     

Advances in the investigation of the extraction of a proton beam from the U-70 accelerator with the aid of bent single crystals

The efficiency of the extraction of a beam from an accelerator is radically improved owing to the application of short crystals of length up to 1.8 mm bent through a small angle of about 1 mrad. This success is due to an increase in the multiplicity of particle transmission through the crystal used. A record efficiency of the extraction of 70-GeV protons in excess of 80% is achieved experimentally, this result being in agreement with theoretical predictions. It is shown that the crystal can efficiently operate at the injection energy of 1.3 GeV.     

[CrF(O2CtBu)2]9: Synthesis and Characterization of a Regular Homometallic Ring with an Odd Number of Metal Centers and Electrons

The first regular homometallic ring containing an odd number of metal centers is reported. The ring was synthesized by means of amine‐templated self‐assembly. Extensive physical characterization studies, including magnetic measurements, powder inelastic neutron scattering (INS), and DFT calculations, show that the molecule has a near perfect match to the expected behavior for a frustrated system with the lowest energy pair of S=1/2 spin states separated by only 0.1 meV (0.8 cm^?1).