Studying the Dynamics of Hybrid X-Pinches

Since the first experiments with hybrid X-pinches (HXP), it has been shown that a short wire between two conical tungsten electrodes produces the same radiation as a standard X-pinch. Since HXP has a simple construction, it is commonly used in many laboratories instead of standard pinches. Although details of the HXP dynamics remain poorly studied, the main factors governing HXP formation are investigated experimentally in this work. It is shown that the process of the electrode plasma formation is one of the main factors that lead to single hot spot bursts. Experimental results allow the fitting of HXP parameters and determination of the size of the source of X-ray radiation. It is also shown the radiation of HXP can be used as a source for point projection radiography in the wavelength range of soft to hard X-rays. Such sources can be also used for absorption spectroscopy and even electron beams.     

Bridging Two Worlds: Colloidal versus Epitaxial Quantum Dots

An overview is given of two distinct classes of semiconductor quantum dots, epitaxial and colloidal structures that have been studied intensely for more than 30 years by now, however, without large interconnection between the two involved research communities. The largely parallel and independent evolution of the two structure classes may be partly related to the origin of colloidal systems from chemistry, while epitaxial quantum dots have been addressed mostly by the physics community. These independent evolutions are somewhat surprising because the interest in optics‐related applications is shared by both communities. Here, a short summary of the development of the two structure classes, the present status of activities, and some perspectives for future developments are presented.     

Comment on the analysis of angle-dependent X-ray magnetic circular dichroism in systems with reduced dimensionality

The magnetic dipole term T appearing in the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spin sum rule can be eliminated from the analysis within the spin sum rule by angle-dependent XMCD spectroscopy if the effects of spin–orbit coupling are small so that T_x+T_y+T_z≈0. It is shown by the ab initio electron theory for the extreme case of a low-dimensional system, i.e., for a free-standing monatomic Co wire that this relation is strongly violated, indicating that the determination of T by the angle-dependent XMCD is possibly not very reliable for low-dimensional magnetic systems.     

Monoid Valuations and Value Ordered Supervaluations

We complement two papers on supertropical valuation theory ([11 Izhakian , Z. , Knebusch , M. , Rowen , L. ( 2011 ). Supertropical semirings and supervaluations . J. Pure and Applied Alg. 215 ( 10 ): 2431 – 2463 . Preprint at arXiv:1003.1101 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], [12 Izhakian , Z. , Knebusch , M. , Rowen , L. ( 2013 ). Dominance and transmissions in supertropical valuation theory . Commun. Algebra 41 ( 7 ): 2736 – 2782 .[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]) by providing natural examples of m-valuations (= monoid valuations), and afterwards of supervaluations and transmissions between them. These supervaluations have values in totally ordered supertropical semirings, and the transmissions discussed respect the orderings. We develop the basics of the theory of such semirings and transmissions.     

Flow equations for the relevant part of the pure Yang—Mills action

Wilson’s exact renormalization group equations are derived and integrated for the relevant part of the pure Yang-Mills action. We discuss in detail how modified Slavnov—Taylor identities control the breaking of BRST invariance in the presence of a finite infrared cutoff k through relations among different parameters in the effective action. In particular they imply a nonvanishing gluon mass term for nonvanishing k. The requirement of consistency between the renormalization group flow and the modified Slavnov—Taylor identities allows to control the self—consistency of truncations of the effective action.     

Resonance splitting in gyrotropic ring resonators

We present the theoretical concept of an optical isolator based on resonance splitting in a silicon ring resonator covered with a magneto-optical polymer cladding. For this task, a perturbation method is derived for the modes in the cylindrical coordinate system. A polymer magneto-optical cladding causing a 0.01 amplitude of the off-diagonal element of the dielectric tensor is assumed. It is shown that the derived resonance splitting of the clockwise and counterclockwise modes increases for smaller ring radii. For the ring with a radius of approximately 1.5μm, a 29GHz splitting is demonstrated. An integrated optical isolator with a 10μm geometrical footprint is proposed based on a critically coupled ring resonator.     

Fe valence state at the surface of the Fe0.5Cu0.5Cr2S4 spinel

Here we present X‐ray absorption measurements of a vacuum cleaved Fe_0.5Cu_0.5Cr₂S₄ single crystal. Measurements at different positions on the cleaved sample surface clearly reveal a difference between the valence state of the Fe ions in the sur‐ face layers and the valency of the Fe ions present in the bulk. These results confirm the findings of recent measurements outlined previously. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

High-pressure phase transition of Bi2Fe4O9

The high-pressure behaviour of Bi2Fe4O9 was analysed by in situ powder and single-crystal x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Pressures up to 34.3(8) GPa were generated using the diamond anvil cell technique. A reversible phase transition is observed at approximately 6.89(6) GPa and the high-pressure structure is stable up to 26.3(1) GPa. At higher pressures the onset of amorphization is observed. The crystal structures were refined from single-crystal data at ambient pressure and pressures of 4.49(2), 6.46(2), 7.26(2) and 9.4(1) GPa. The high-pressure structure is isotypic to the high-pressure structure of Bi2Ga4O9. The lower phase transition pressure of Bi2Fe4O9 with respect to that of Bi2Ga4O9 (16 GPa) confirms the previously proposed strong influence of cation substitution on the high-pressure stability and the misfit of Ga3+ and Fe3+ in tetrahedral coordination at high pressure. A fit of a second-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state to the p–V data results in K0 = 74(3) GPa for the low-pressure phase and K0 = 79(2) GPa for the high-pressure phase. The mode Grüneisen parameters were obtained from Raman-spectroscopic measurements.     

Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis and X-Ray Microanalysis of Medieval Silver Coins

 Austrian medieval silver/copper coins were investigated at their surfaces by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF) and at the cross-sections by X-ray microanalysis in the scanning electron microscope (SEM/EDX) in order to estimate the error occurring when corroded objects of art and archaeology are analyzed on the surface by non-destructive methods. Additionally, Ag/Cu-standards were treated in diluted sulphuric acid and the depletion of copper on the surface was measured by EDXRF. By calculating the ratio of the Ag-K/Ag-L intensity the process of blanching could be studied.