Measuring macroscopic diffusion of positive muons in metals

Conclusions We have discussed some schemes for measuring the diffusion coefficient for positive muons in metals, using diffusion over macroscopic distances. The method offers some promise of yielding diffusion information over wider temperature ranges and a greater variety of metals than the presently used technique. The major difficulty in applying the laminate scheme will be fabricating suitable, well-characterized targets that are thick enough to stop a significant fraction of the ⁺ beam. The use of a surface (i.e., 4 MeV) ⁺ beam appears most promising, but this brings with it formidable technical problems in heating and cooling the targets. We may hope that these problems will be attacked vigorously and effectively in the near future.Research performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy.     

Photoluminescence blue shift of indium phosphide nanowire networks with aluminum oxide coating

This paper describes our finding that optical properties of semiconductor nanowires were modified by depositing a thin layer of metal oxide. Indium phosphide nanowires were grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition on silicon substrates with gold catalyst resulting in three‐dimensional nanowire networks, and optical properties were obtained from the collective nanowire networks. The networks were coated with an aluminum oxide thin film deposited by plasma‐enhanced atomic layer deposition. We studied the dependence of the peak wavelength of photoluminescence spectra on the thickness of the oxide coatings. A continuous blue shift in photoluminescence spectra was observed when the thickness of the oxide coating was increased. The observed blue shift is attributed to the Burstein–Moss effect due to increased carrier concentration in the nanowire cores caused by repulsion from intrinsic negative fixed charges located at the inner oxide surface. Samples were further characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and selective area diffractometry to better understand the physical mechanisms for the blue shift. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On a matching statistic

A discrete time process on [0,1] considered in this paper is related to various problems involving two independent samples. In particular one may suggest a simple matching rule for the case of continuously generated samples and a goodness-of-fit test based on the number of unmatched elements. A recurrence formula for computing the exact distribution of this statistic and the asymptotic behavior of its expectation are found.     

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition-decarboxylation reactions of an azomethine ylide with isatoic anhydrides: formation of novel benzodiazepinones

A nonstabilized azomethine ylide reacts with a wide range of substituted isatoic anhydrides to afford novel 1,3-benzodiazepin-5-one derivatives, which are generally isolated in high yield. The transformations involve 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of the ylide with the anhydrides to give transient, and in a representative case spectroscopically observable, oxazolidine intermediates that undergo ring-opening-decarboxylation-ring-closing reaction cascades to yield the 1,3-benzodiazepin-5-one products.     

Mechanisms of addition of primary aromatic amines and cyclohexylamine to tricarbonyl(cycloheptatrienyl)tungsten cation

X-substituted anilines (X = H, 2-Me, 4-Me or 2-Cl) and cyclohexylamine are shown to add to the tropylium ring of cation [(η)-C₇H₇)W(CO)₃]⁺ to give the corresponding ring adducts of tricarbonyl(cyclohepta-1,3,5-triene)tungsten. Kinetic studies have demonstrated that the anilines form the triene ring adducts via the rapid pre-equilibrium formation of a π-complex, which rearranges in a rate-determining fashion to form a cationic triene intermediate [(1–6-η-C₆H₇.NH₂R)-W(CO)₃]⁺ (R = C₆H₅, 2-MeC₆H₄, 4-MeC₆H₄ or 2-ClC₆H₄); from this the final product is rapidly formed via amine- or solvent-assisted proton loss. With the aliphatic cyclohexylamine, the cationic triene intermediate is formed directly, followed by competing rate-determining solvent- and amine-assisted proton removal.     

Photophysical studies of uranyl complexes: VIII. Luminescence spectra of UO2SO4 · 312H2O and two polymorphs of bis(urea) uranyl sulfate

The photoluminescence spectra of hydrated and anhydrous uranyl sulfates have been studied under conditions of high resolution at cryogenic temperatures. All uranyl sulfate systems were found to yield nonequivalent spectra: the energies for the electronic and vibronic origins were found to vary with the system, and certain uranyl vibrational frequencies exhibited a dependence on environment. These differences must reflect the various ways in which the uranyl centers are linked by the bridging sulfate groups, as this linking is the main difference between the various structures.     

Porous gadolinia-doped ceria with adjustable pore sizes using PI-b-PEO copolymer as the structure-directing agent

In this study, we report that by coupling the kinetics of both hydrolysis and condensation of the oxide precursors and the kinetics of self-assembly process of the block copolymer, we can synthesize both mesoporous and macroporous gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) with one chemical composition but different processing conditions. Our process uses poly(isoprene-b-ethylene oxide) as the structure-directing agent and cerium and gadolinium acetylacetonates as the precursors for the sol?Cgel synthesis of GDC. By controlling the extent of the hydrolysis and condensation of the oxide precursor before mixing with the copolymer, we can adjust the hydrophilic domain size from nanometers to micrometers. As a result, highly crystalline porous GDC with dominant mesopores (15?nm?<?d?<?50?nm) or macropores (50?nm?<?d?<?5???m) are produced after removal of the copolymer via a two-step calcination treatment. The discovery of this study offers a facile and viable approach to produce meso- and macro-porous materials, in a ??one-pot?? synthesis with one chemical composition but different processing conditions to control pore sizes.     

Instrument and process independent binning and baseline correction methods for liquid chromatography–high resolution-mass spectrometry deconvolution

Setting appropriate bin sizes to aggregate hyphenated high-resolution mass spectrometry data, belonging to similar mass over charge (m/z) channels, is vital to metabolite quantification and further identification. In a high-resolution mass spectrometer when mass accuracy (ppm) varies as a function of molecular mass, which usually is the case while reading m/z from low to high values, it becomes a challenge to determine suitable bin sizes satisfying all m/z ranges. Similarly, the chromatographic process within a hyphenated system, like any other controlled processes, introduces some process driven systematic behavior that ultimately distorts the mass chromatogram signal. This is especially seen in liquid chromatogram–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) measurements where the gradient of the solvent and the washing step cycle—part of the chromatographic process, produce a mass chromatogram with a non-uniform baseline along the retention time axis. Hence prior to any automatic signal decomposition techniques like deconvolution, it is a equally vital to perform the baseline correction step for absolute metabolite quantification. This paper will discuss an instrument and process independent solution to the binning and the baseline correction problem discussed above, seen together, as an effective pre-processing step toward liquid chromatography–high resolution-mass spectrometry (LC–HR-MS) data deconvolution.     

Electron transport properties of stationary plasma clouds generatedwith hollow cathode discharges

The electron transport properties of plasma clouds generated by a hollow cathode discharge are investigated. The voltage-current characteristic curves indicate that the electron-emitted electron current depends on both bias voltage and discharge current. The spatial dependence of the electronic density, plasma potential, and electronic temperature is measured. The energy loss rate of a high energy group of electrons with the radial distance is also presented. These experimental results are compared with a nonisothermal transport model which reproduces the spatial dependence of plasma properties     

2D(13)C-(13)C MAS NMR correlation spectroscopy with mixing by true (1)H spin diffusion reveals long-range intermolecular distance restraints in ultra high magnetic field

An improved 2D (13)C-(13)C CP(3) MAS NMR correlation experiment with mixing by true (1)H spin diffusion is presented. With CP(3), correlations can be detected over a much longer range than with direct (1)H-(13)C or (13)C-(13)C dipolar recoupling. The experiment employs a (1)H spin diffusion mixing period tau(m) sandwiched between two cross-polarization periods. An optimized CP(3) sequence for measuring polarization transfer on a length scale between 0.3 and 1.0 nm using short mixing times of 0.1 ms < tau(m) < 1 ms is presented. For such a short tau(m), cross talk from residual transverse magnetization of the donating nuclear species after a CP can be suppressed by extended phase cycling. The utility of the experiment for genuine structure determination is demonstrated using a self-aggregated Chl a/H(2)O sample. The number of intramolecular cross-peaks increases for longer mixing times and this obscures the intermolecular transfer events. Hence, the experiment will be useful for short mixing times only. For a short tau(m) = 0.1 ms, intermolecular correlations are detected between the ends of phytyl tails and ring carbons of neighboring Chl a molecules in the aggregate. In this way the model for the structure, with stacks of Chl a that are arranged back to back with interdigitating phytyl chains stretched between two bilayers, is validated.