CIDEP spin probing of the nanopores in cotton

Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) experiments are reported on an α-hydroxy acetophenone in waterg-glycerol and ethanol-ethanediol mixtures over a viscosity range of 1–32 cP. The magnitude and viscosity dependence of the radical pair mechanism polarization is in good agreement with theory. The triplet mechanism polarization is found to increase with decreasing solvent polarity and this is ascribed to an increase in the α-cleavage rate constant. The liquid spectra are used to interpret TREPR spectra of the acetophenone in dry and wet cotton. In dry cotton anti-phase structure is seen and is due to some of the radical pairs being trapped in cages. The triplet and radical pair mechanism polarization shows that the acetophenone adsorbs to the apolar crystallite surface and releases radicals into the polar amorphous regions where they experience a microviscosity of approximately 30 cP. In wet cotton there are no cages and the viscosity is greater than in ethanol alone.     

Threshold electrical switching in As45Te55-xInx and As50Te50-xInx glasses

The electrical switching behaviour of As₄₅Te_55-xIn_x (5≤x≤15) and As₅₀Te_50-xIn_x (2.5≤x≤11.5) has been studied over a wide range of compositions. These glasses are found to exhibit threshold switching. The composition dependence of switching voltage (V_t) has been found to exhibit a change in slope and a local minimum at compositions x=10 and 12.5 for As₄₅Te_55-xIn_x and x=7.5 and 10.8 for As₅₀Te_50-xIn_x, respectively. The slope change in V_t verses x and the local minimum have been identified using two network topological effects, namely the rigidity percolation threshold and the chemical threshold. Received: 23 August 2001 / Accepted: 27 August 2001 / Published online: 11 February 2002     

Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

Magnetic properties of mechanically alloyed Co–Ti powder

An amorphous phase containing traces of non-transformed Co and Ti powders was obtained by mechanical alloying nominal compositions of Co₆₇Ti₃₃ and Co₅₀Ti₅₀ in a high-energy ball-mill. These alloys were prepared from elemental powders of Co and Ti. The heat treatment of Co₆₇Ti₃₃ at 573, 873 and 1173 K crystallized nanoparticles of Co₂Ti and Co₃Ti compounds, while the same treatments conducted on Co₅₀Ti₅₀ resulted in the formation of Co₂Ti and CoTi nanoparticles. The saturation magnetizations reached a maximum value in the amorphous state and they decreased when the temperatures of the heat treatment rose. Demagnetizing interparticle interaction effects were estimated through hysteresis loops and initial magnetization curves using the Fourier technique.     

Magnetic resonance in beta-active nuclei 8Li at the doubled larmor frequency in LiF polycrystals containing dislocations

The nuclear magnetic resonance in beta-active nuclei ⁸Li at the doubled Larmor frequency in LiF polycrystals is studied before and after treating these polycrystals with an external pressure. A quantitative approach is proposed that makes it possible to calculate the parameters of the resonance line-shape function versus the dislocation structure of crystallites. Data suggesting that the samples under investigation that were subjected to a treatment with an external pressure develop dislocations whose Burgers vectors are parallel are obtained.     

Barrier-free intermolecular proton transfer in the uracil-glycine complex induced by excess electron attachment

The photoelectron spectra (PES) of anions of uracil-glycine and uracil-phenylalanine complexes reveal broad features with maxima at 1.8 and 2.0 eV. The results of ab initio density functional B3LYP and second order M?ller-Plesset theory calculations indicate that the excess electron occupies a π^* orbital localized on uracil. The excess electron attachment to the complex can induce a barrier-free proton transfer (BFPT) from the carboxylic group of glycine to the O8 atom of uracil. As a result, the four most stable structures of the anion of uracil-glycine complex can be characterized as the neutral radical of hydrogenated uracil solvated by the anion of deprotonated glycine. The similarity between the PES spectra for the uracil complexes with glycine and phenylalanine suggests that the BFPT is also operative in the case of the latter anionic species. The BFPT to the O8 atom of uracil may be related to the damage of nucleic acid bases by low energy electrons because the O8 atom is involved in a hydrogen bond with adenine in the standard Watson-Crick pairing scheme. Received 6 April 2002 Published online 13 September 2002     

Renormalization of the two-photon vacuum polarization and the self energy vacuum polarization for a tightly bound electron

The renormalization method of Bogoljubov-Parasiuk-Hepp-Zimmermann (BPHZ) is used in order to derive the renormalized energy shift due to the gauge invariant K?llén-Sabry diagram of the two-photon vacuum polarization (VPVP) as well as the self energy vacuum polarization S(VP)E beyond the Uehling approximation. It is outlined, that no outer renormalization is required for the two-photon vacuum polarization and that only the inner renormalization has to be accomplished. It is shown that the so-called nongauge invariant spurious term is absent for a wide class of vacuum polarization (VP) diagrams if one applies the widely used spherical expansion of bound and free-electron propagator. This simplifies significantly calculations in bound state quantum electrodynamics. As one result of our paper the use of the BPHZ-approach in bound state QED is established. Received 28 September 2001     

Spontaneous formation of a system of highly ordered germanium nanoislands upon epitaxial deposition on profiled (111) silicon substrates under electromigration conditions

Atomic-force microscopy was used to study the surface topography of SiGe structures grown by epitaxial deposition of Ge on profiled Si(111) substrates under electromigration conditions. Systems of highly ordered germanium nanosized islands with dimensions of 10–20 nm and a density of 6×10¹⁰ cm^?2 were obtained. It is shown that the geometrical parameters of self-organizing nanoislands can be controlled by a proper choice of the growth and postgrowth annealing conditions for these structures.     

Variant superfield representations

We discuss some variant superfield representations which can arise by the replacement of some of the usual fields in a multiplet with p-form gauge fields.