Spectroscopic investigation of the Dergaon meteorite with reference to 10 μm and 20 μm bands

Analysis of a part of the meteorite which fell at Dergaon (India) on March 2, 16.40 local time (2001) is presented with the help of FTIR, absorption and atomic spectra. The FTIR spectrum exhibits prominent absorption bands in the region 800–1100 cm⁻¹, originating from the valence vibration of SiO⁴, a basic component of the silicate lattice.     

Magnetic properties of lanthanum orthoferrite fine powders prepared by different chemical routes

Fine powders of lanthanum iron oxide, LaFeO₃, have been prepared by solid state reaction as well as sol-gel synthesis and nebulized spray pyrolysis. Structures, morphologies and magnetic susceptibility measurements of these powders have been examined. The powders prepared by all the three low-temperature routes contain nearly spherical particles with an average diameter of 40 nm. These samples show a lower Neel temperature than the powder prepared by solid state reaction besides showing much lower magnetic susceptibility at low temperatures. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Imprinting by hot embossing in polymer substrates using a template of silica glass surface-structured by the ablation of LIBWE method

Laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) of silica glass plates was performed to fabricate an imprinting template for hot embossing in polymer substrates such as polystyrene and silicone resin. Well-defined inverse surface-micropatterns of gratings and grid arrays on the substrates were produced by the hot embossing using a surface-structured silica glass as the template. These results indicate that the LIBWE method allows us to generate robust glass molding tools that exhibit the inverse shapes of the intended microstructures. PACS 52.38.Mf; 68.47.Mn; 81.05.Kf; 81.05.Lg; 83.50.Uv     

Excited-state dynamics in Yb3+-Ho3+-doped fluoroindate glasses

This work has been partially supported by Gobierno Autonomo de Canarias under contact number 226–265/93.     

Use of traps to study positron annihilation in astrophysically relevant media

We discuss possible experiments which can exploit recently-developed techniques to accumulate, store, and manipulate low-energy positrons to measure the parameters associated with positron annihilation radiation from media of astrophysical interest. Media discussed include collections of dust grains, partially ionized gases, He, H₂, and other molecular gases and gas mixtures, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules relevant to the interstellar medium.     

Evaluation of Carboxen carbon molecular sieves for trapping replacement chlorofluorocarbons

A method has been developed for trapping and preconcentrating the very volatile replacement chlorofluorocarbons (hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons) using microtraps filled with Carboxen, a carbon molecular sieve type material, without the need for extensive cryotrapping using liquid nitrogen. We present here the adsorption characteristics of four Carboxen materials, Carboxen 569, 1000, 1001, and 1002, used to trap a range of replacement chlorofluorocarbons varying in boiling point from −48.4 to −9.8°C. The application of these traps for the automated analysis of trace gases in atmospheric and environmental chemistry could prove extremely useful.