Studies on Rare-Earth/Iron and Actinide/Iron Multilayers

Hyperfine Interactions - Multilayers of Ce/Fe and U/Fe were fabricated by sputtering and studied by X-ray diffraction and reflectivity, Mössbauer spectroscopy and polarised neutron...     

Application of time-variable feedback to the input amplifier of pulse magnetic resonance spectrometers: Experimental studies

Experimental research on the improvement of the sensitivity and time resolution of pulsed magnetic resonance spectrometers is discussed. It is shown that application of a time-variable feedback of a signal to the input of the receiver amplifier can decouple, the “fixed” relationship between the quality factorQ and the ringdown time of the resonance system. Experiments were performed with low-frequency, radio-frequency and microwave pulse-type magnetic resonance receivers. Modifications of an S/C-band electron spin echo modulation spectrometer carried out to check the “time-variable feedback” performance are described. It is demonstrated that the application of a time-variable feedback can significantly reduce the ringdown time and improve the recovery properties of the magnetic resonance receiver system. It is also demonstrated that the time-variable feedback can improve the overall receiver sensitivity due to the fact that the working bandwidth of the resonance system can be optimized separately for the transmitting and the receiving mode. Signal values could be increased at least three times and the signal-to-noise ratio about 1.5–2 times. The largest improvement is achieved with the initially overcoupled resonator. Experimental spectra of test samples for different settings of the time-variable feedback are shown.     

An optimal design of collateralized mortgage obligation with PAC-companion structure using dynamic cash reserve

This paper presents a model for optimally designing a collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) with a planned amortization class (PAC)-companion structure using dynamic cash reserve. In this structure, the mortgage pool’s cash flow is allocated by rule to the two bond classes such that PAC bondholders receive substantial prepayment protection, that protection being provided by the companion bondholders. The structure we propose provides greater protection to the PAC bondholders than current structures during periods of rising interest rates when this class of bondholders faces greater extension risk. We do so by allowing a portion of the cash flow from the collateral to be reserved to meet the PAC’s scheduled cash flow in subsequent periods. The greater protection is provided by the companion bondholders exposure to interest loss. To tackle this problem, we transform the problem of designing the optimal PAC-companion structure into a standard stochastic linear programming problem which can be solved efficiently. Moreover, we present an extended model by considering the quality of the companion bond and by relaxing the PAC bondholder shortfall constraint. Based on numerical experiments through Monte Carlo simulation, we show the utility of the proposed model.     

A rapid and sensitive extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples using benzildithiosemicarbazone.

Benzildithiosemicarbazone (BDTSC) is proposed as a sensitive and selective analytical reagent for the extractive spectrophotometric determination of copper(II). BDTSC reacts with copper(II) in the pH range 1.0-7.0 to form a yellowish complex. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range 0.5-0.4 microg cm(-3). The yellowish Cu(II)-BDTSC complex in chloroform shows a maximum absorbance at 380 nm, with molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity values of 1.63 x 10(4) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.00389 microg cm(-2), respectively. A repetition of the method is checked by finding the relative standard deviation (RSD) (n = 10), which is 0.6%. The composition of the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex is established as 1:1 by slope analysis, molar ratio and Asmus' methods. An excellent linearity with a correlation coefficient value of 0.98 is obtained for the Cu(II)-BDTSC complex. The instability constant of the complex calculated from Edmond and Birnbaum's method is 7.70 x 10(-4) and that of Asmus' method is 7.66 x 10(-4), at room temperature. The method is successfully employed for the determination copper(II) in pharmaceutical and environmental samples. The reliability of the method is assured by analyzing the standard alloys (BCS 5g, 10g, 19e, 78, 32a, 207 and 179) and by inter-comparison of experimental values, using an atomic absorption spectrometer.     

Pt(IV)-catalyzed cyclization of arene-alkyne substrates via C-H bond functionalization

We herein report that PtCl₄ has proven to be a hydroarylation catalyst with an efficiency and substrate scope superior to previously known methods. This catalyst demonstrated consistent performance with arene-yne substrates of diverse structural features, including propargyl ethers, propargylamines, and alkynoate esters, providing good to excellent yields of the 6-endo products (chromenes, dihydroquinolines, and coumarins). In contrast, Pt(II), Pd(II), and Ga(III) salts were shown to be sensitive to the substitution on the alkyne moiety. PtCl₄ is compatible with both terminal and disubstituted alkynes, as well as with various functionalities on the arene ring, including methyl, methoxyl, hydroxyl, protected amine, and halide.     

Grothendieck Spaces of Compact Operators

In this paper we study the Grothendieck spaces among the operator spaces L_e(E'_c, F). Conditions under which L_e(E'_c, F) contains complemented copy of c₀ are given. We apply these results to spaces of the type C_b(X; F) endowed with strict topologies.     

Ab-initio simulation of elastic constants for some ceramic materials

Athermal elasticity for some ceramic materials (α-Al₂O₃, SiC (α and β phases), TiO₂ (rutile and anatase), hexagonal AlN and TiB₂, cubic BN and CaF₂, and monoclinic ZrO₂) have been investigated via density functional theory. Energy-volume equation-of-state computations to obtain the zero pressure equilibrium volume and bulk modulus as well as computations of the full elastic constant tensor of these ceramics at the experimental zero pressure volume have been performed. The present results for the single crystal elasticity are in good agreement with experiments both for the aggregate properties (bulk and shear modulus) and the elastic anisotropy. In contrast, a considerable discrepancy for the zero pressure bulk modulus of some ceramics evaluated from the energy-volume fit to the computational zero pressure volume has been observed.     

Ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice observed by use of Terahertz fields

We report an experimental study indicating ultrafast creation and annihilation of space-charge domains in a semiconductor superlattice under the action of a THz field. Our experiment was performed for an InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice with the conduction electrons undergoing miniband transport. We applied to a superlattice a dc bias that was slightly smaller than a critical bias necessary for the formation of space-charge domains caused by a static negative differential conductivity. Additionally subjecting the superlattice to a strong THz field, resulted in a dc transport governed by the formation of domains if the frequency of the field was smaller than an upper frequency limit (~3 THz). From this frequency limit for the creation and annihilation of domains we determined the characteristic time of the domain buildup. Our analysis shows that the buildup time of domains in a wide miniband and heavily doped superlattice is limited by the relaxation time due to scattering of the miniband electrons at polar optic phonons. Our results are of importance for both an understanding of ultrafast dynamics of pattern formation in nanostructures and the development of THz electronic devices.Received: 25 March 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 72.20.Ht High-field and nonlinear effects - 72.30. + q High-frequency effects; plasma effects - 73.21.Cd SuperlatticesK.N. Alekseev: Permanent address: Department of Physical Sciences, P.O. Box 3000, University of Oulu FIN-90014, Finland.