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.     

Integrating 3D images using laboratory‐based micro X‐ray computed tomography and confocal X‐ray fluorescence techniques

The application of non‐destructive imaging to characterizing samples has become more important as the costs of samples increase. Imaging a sample via X‐ray techniques is preferable when altering or even touching the sample affects its properties, or when the sample is fielded after characterization. Two laboratory‐based X‐ray techniques used at Los Alamos include micro X‐ray computed tomography (MXCT) and confocal micro X‐ray fluorescence (confocal MXRF). Both methods create a 3D rendering of the sample non‐destructively. MXCT produces a high‐resolution (sub‐µm voxel) rendering of the sample based upon X‐ray absorption; the resulting model is a function of density and does not contain any elemental information. Confocal MXRF produces an elementally specific 3D rendering of the sample, but at a lower (30 × 30 × 65 µm) resolution. By combining data from these two techniques, scientists provided a more comprehensive method of analysis. We will describe a MATLAB routine written to render each of these data sets individually and/or within the same coordinate system. This approach is shown in the analysis of two samples: an integrated circuit surface mounted resistor and a machined piece of polystyrene foam. The samples chosen provide an opportunity to compare and contrast the two X‐ray techniques, identify their weaknesses and show how they are used in a complementary fashion. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shaping Solid-State Supramolecular Cavities: Chemically Induced Accordionlike Movement of gamma-Zirconium Phosphate Containing Polyethylenoxide Pillars

The hydrophilic oxygen atoms of polyethylenoxide chains inserted as pillars in gamma-zirconium phosphate form hydrogen bonds with the acid groups of the host. As a result the pillars are almost perpendicular to the gamma layers. Upon changing the pH level of the supernatant solution the hydrogen bonds are broken and the pillars become almost perpendicular to the layers (shown schematically). Thus there is a reversible enlargement-shortening of the interlayer space.     

Overcoming the boundary effects in surface spline interpolation

Surface spline interpolation when the domain is all of R^d isknown to converge much faster to the data function f than inthe case when the domain is the unit ball. This difference isunderstood to be due to boundary effects which, as will be shown,also affect the size of the surface spline's coefficients. Wepropose a modified form of surface spline interpolation which,to a great extent, overcomes these boundary effects. This modifiedsurface spline interpolant uses only the values of f at thegiven interpolation points.     

A dynamic study of earthworm feeding ecology -using stable isotopes

Changes in the specific diet of earthworms with time in relation to landuse changes and two different climates were studied by analysing (13)C and (15)N natural abundance in soils and animals. Soil samples from three depths (0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm) and earthworms were collected from two sites: Santiago (Northwest Spain) and North Wyke (Southwest England) both consisting of replicated long-term grasslands and recently converted to maize plots. Earthworms were hand-sorted in the field at the peak of the maize growth and after harvesting at both sites. In the Spanish plots, nine and eight earthworm species, all belonging to the three ecological categories (epigeic, anecic and endogeic), were found under maize and permanent pasture, whereas at the English site five and seven different species were, respectively, identified. At both sites (13)C isotopic values of the earthworm tissues reflected changes in diet from C(3) to C(4) with epigeic and epi/anecic worms in the maize plots showing one delta unit difference in relation to the ones found in the grassland plots. Anecic worms seemed to be less responsive to landuse changes. The higher (13)C values of the Spanish soils were also reflected in the earthworm tissues when compared with the English samples. (15)N values showed no clear relationship with the cropping treatments but were clearly related to the ecological grouping, with endogeic worms reaching the highest values whereas for the epigeic and epi/anecic species the lowest values were obtained. This finding was also previously recorded by other authors1 and suggests that, in the future, stable isotope techniques could also be a useful tool in taxonomic studies. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Secondary ion yields produced by keV atomic and polyatomic ion impacts on a self-assembled monolayer surface

A suite of keV polyatomic or 'cluster' projectiles was used to bombard unoxidized and oxidized self-assembled monolayer surfaces. Negative secondary ion yields, collected at the limit of single ion impacts, were measured and compared for both molecular and fragment ions. In contrast to targets that are orders of magnitude thicker than the penetration range of the primary ions, secondary ion yields from polyatomic projectile impacts on self-assembled monolayers show little to no enhancement when compared with monatomic projectiles at the same velocity. This unusual trend is most likely due to the structural arrangement and bonding characteristics of the monolayer molecules with the Au(111). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple ionization of argon in coincidence with projectile ions in 60–120 MeV Si q+-Ar collisions

A projectile ion-recoil ion coincidence technique has been employed to study the multiple ionization and the charge transfer processes in collisions of 60–120 MeV Si ^q+ (q = 4−14) ions with neutral argon atoms. The relative contribution of different ionization channels, namely; direct ionization, electron capture and electron loss leading to the production of slow moving multiply charged argon recoil ions have been investigated. The data reported on the present collision system result from a direct measurement in the considered impact energy for the first time. The total ionization cross-sections for the recoil ions are shown to scale as q ^1.7/E _p ^0.5 , where E _p is the energy in MeV of the projectile and q its charge state. The recoil fractions for the cases of total- and direct ionizations are found to decrease with increasing recoil charge state j. The total ionization fractions of the recoils are seen to depend on q and to show the presence of a ‘shell-effect’ of the target. Further, the fractions are found to vary as 1/j ² upto j = 8+. The average recoil charge state 〈j〉 increases slowly with q and with the number of lost or captured electrons from or into the projectile respectively. The projectile charge changing cross-sections σ _qq′ are found to decrease with increasing q for loss ionization and to increase with q for direct-and capture ionization processes respectively. The physics behind various scaling rules that are found to follow our data for different ionization processes is reviewed and discussed.