The investigation of solid–solid phase transformation at CuAlNi alloy using molecular dynamics simulation

In this study the thermodynamic and structural properties of a CuAlNi model alloy (3A) system were investigated using a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. The interactions between atoms were modelled by the Sutton-Chen embedded atom method (SCEAM) based on many-body interactions. It was observed that at the end of thermal process the thermo-elastic phase transformation occurred in the model alloy system. In order to analyse the structures obtained from MD simulation, techniques such as thermodynamic parameters and radial distribution function (RDF) were used. The local atomic order in the model alloy was analysed using Honeycutt–Andersen (HA) method.     

The molecular structures, vibrational spectroscopies (FT-IR and Raman) and quantum chemical calculations of n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromides

The FT-IR and micro-Raman spectra of three n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TTAB) and hexadecyl(cetyl)trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)) in powder form were recorded in the regions 4000–550 cm^?1 and 3200–300 cm^?1, respectively. The optimized geometries and vibrational frequencies of DTAB, TTAB and CTAB have been carried out with ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory method B3LYP calculations with the 6–31 G (d, p) basis set in the ground state. The comparison of the observed fundamental vibrational frequencies and calculated results for the fundamental vibrational frequencies of DTAB, TTAB and CTAB indicate that the scaled B3LYP method is superior compared to the scaled HF method.     

Convergence of Ginzburg–Landau Functionals in Three-Dimensional Superconductivity

In this paper we consider the asymptotic behavior of the Ginzburg–Landau model for superconductivity in three dimensions, in various energy regimes. Through an analysis via Γ-convergence, we rigorously derive a reduced model for the vortex density and deduce a curvature equation for the vortex lines. In the companion paper (Baldo et al. Commun. Math. Phys. 2012, to appear) we describe further applications to superconductivity and superfluidity, such as general expressions for the first critical magnetic field H _c1, and the critical angular velocity of rotating Bose–Einstein condensates.     

Transmittance of partially coherent cosh-Gaussian, cos-Gaussian and annular beams in turbulence

Average relative power transmittance is evaluated, by incorporating atmospheric turbulence, for partially coherent cosh-Gaussian, cos-Gaussian, Gaussian and annular beams. For all the collimated versions of these beams, against the increasing propagation length, there is a typical trend of the decrease in the relative average power transmittance with incremental drop being much less for partially coherent cos-Gaussian beams. The change in the transmittance versus the propagation length will be similar to the corresponding collimated cases, when these beams are focused at a certain focal length. Also partially coherent beams are less sensitive to propagation length changes, except for cos-Gaussian case. Partially coherent cosh-Gaussian beams exhibit a drop in the transmittance as the displacement parameter of the beam is made larger, whereas this trend is just the opposite for partially coherent cos-Gaussian beams. When examined versus the source size, for all the four types of beams, the transmittance has a similar behavior, i.e., it becomes high at small source sizes, falling with increasing source size, and following a dip, it starts to rise, eventually approaching the plane wave limit of unity. The occurrence of the dip coincides with the smallest source size for cosh-Gaussian, with the largest for cos-Gaussian, and about the same source size for Gaussian and annular beams. In general, the average relative power transmittance of coherent beam is affected much more than the partially coherent beams against the variations in source properties.     

Off-axis Gaussian Schell-model beam and partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere

The propagation of an off-axis Gaussian Schell-model (GSM) beam in a turbulent atmosphere is investigated based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral formula. Analytical formulae for the cross-spectral density and corresponding partially coherent complex curvature tensor of an off-axis GSM beam propagating in a turbulent atmosphere are derived. Based on these formulae, the propagation properties of such kind of beam in a turbulent atmosphere are investigated in detail. Furthermore, the methods are extended to investigate the propagation properties of a partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere. The properties of an off-axis GSM beam and a partially coherent laser array beam in a turbulent atmosphere are closely related with the beam parameters and the structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere.     

Synthesis and Optical Properties of Novel Red-Emitting PbNb<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>6</Subscript>: Eu<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Phosphors

Undoped and PbNb₂O_6:Eu³⁺ (1.0 ≤ x ≤ 6.0 mol%) phosphors were synthesized at 1100 °C for 3.5 h by the conventional solid state reaction method. Synthesized PbNb₂O₆:Eu³⁺ phosphors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Photoluminescence (PL) analyses. The PL spectra showed series of excitation peaks between 350 and 430 nm due to the 4f–4f transitions of Eu³⁺. For 395.0 nm excitation, emission spectra of Eu³⁺ doped samples were observed at 591 nm (orange) and 614 nm (red) due to the ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₁ transitions and ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₂ transitions, respectively. PL analysis results also showed that the emission intensity increased by increasing Eu³⁺ ion content. No concentration quenching effect was observed. The CIE chromaticity color coordinates (x,y) of the PbNb₂O₆:Eu³⁺ phosphors were found to be in the red region of the chromaticity diagram.     

Propagation characteristics of higher-order annular Gaussian beams in atmospheric turbulence

The propagation characteristics of higher-order annular Gaussian (HOAG) beams in turbulence are investigated. From a HOAG source plane excitation, the average intensity of the receiver plane is developed analytically. This formulation is verified against the previously derived HOAG beam solution in free space. The graphical outputs indicate that, upon traveling in turbulent atmosphere, the HOAG beam will undergo different stages of evolution. At intermediate propagation distances, it will attempt to concentrate the energy near the origin. In this process, the appearance of the single higher-order primary beam will be encountered. Eventually HOAG originated beam will become a pure Gaussian beam after propagating an excessive distance in the turbulent medium.     

Minimization of scintillation index against displacement parameters

For sinusoidal beams, minimization of scintillation index is carried out against the displacements parameters. It is found that x-y asymmetric cosh-Gaussian beam fulfills the requirements of such optimum beam. Our minimization procedure reveals that the optimum beam is achieved by continually focusing it at the chosen propagation length and by further adjusting displacements parameters to be propagation distance dependent. Scintillation index of thus constructed optimum beam is formulated and numerically evaluated. Our graphical comparisons entailing collimated and focused versions of cos-, cosh-Gaussian, annular-Gaussian and Gaussian beams show that the optimum beam yields the lowest scintillations provided that propagation range is less than or equal to the focusing distance.     

Exploring the crystallinity of different powder sugars through solid echo and magic sandwich echo sequences

Time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance techniques are frequently used in polymer, pharmaceutical, and food industries as they offer rapid experimentation and generally do not require any considerable preliminary sample preparation. Detection of solid and liquid fractions in a sample is possible with the free induction decay (FID). However, for the classical FID sequence that consists of a single pulse followed by relaxation decay acquisition, the dead time of the probe (ring out of resonance circuitry) occurs and varies between 5 and 15 μs for standard 10-mm tubes. In such a case, there arises a risk that the signal from the solid fraction cannot be detected correctly. To obtain quantitative measurement on crystalline and more mobile amorphous fractions, alternative sequences to the classical FID in the solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance were developed. Solid echo and magic sandwich echo sequences perform the relaxation decay refocusing somehow excluding the dead time problem and allow detection of the signal from the solid fraction. In this study, knowledge of amorphous/crystal fraction, which is obtained through solid echo and magic sandwich echo, has been explored on powder sugar samples for the purpose of developing a groundwork for a reliable quality control method. Different sugars were examined for the utilization of the sequences. What is important to add and make this study unique is that the method proposed did not involve multiparameter fitting of the “bead” pattern FID signal that normally suffers from ambiguity; just the integration of the fast Fourier transform of the solid echo was needed to calculate the second moment, (M₂).