The dynamics of ring rotation in ferrocene,nickelocene and ruthenocene by incoherent quadi-elastic neutron scattering

Incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering has been used to study the reorientational motions of the cyclopentadienyl rings in ferrocene, nickelocene and ruthenocene. The results for ferrocene show that the activation energy for ring rotation drops above the 164 K phase transition to 4.4 ± 0.5 kJ mol^?1 (which is approximately half its low temperature value) but the rings still appear to jump between only five orientations on the observable time scale. At room temperature, the rings in nickelocene appear to behave the same as in ferrocene but in ruthenocene they reorientate much less frequently and resemble those in ferrocene below 164 K.     

Time-resolved X-ray spectrometry of UV laser produced plasmas

Preliminary experiments using an X-ray streak filter spectrometer employing a Au/CsI bifurcated photocathode to investigate the X-ray history of UV (350 nm) laser produced plasmas are reported. Novel use of the streak spectrometer permits a direct and precise fiducial record of the laser pulse to be made from specularly scattered laser light, in true streak time relative to the X-ray record. Initial data indicates a constant 700 eV temperature during the laser pulse; time-resolved particulars are compared to simulations made by the design code LILAC.     

The integral mean diffusivity for particle-gas mass transfer calculations under thermal plasma conditions

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - A new integral mean diffusivity is proposed for the calculation of the mass transfer rate around a small particle immersed in a thermal plasma gas....     

Split supersymmetry at colliders

We consider the collider phenomenology of split-supersymmetry models. Despite the challenging nature of the signals in these models the long-lived gluino can be discovered with masses above 2 TeV at the LHC. At a future linear collider we will be able to observe the renormalization group effects from split supersymmetry, using measurements of the neutralino and chargino masses and cross sections.Received: 15 August 2004, Revised: 29 September 2004, Published online: 11 January 2005     

NMR spectra of 1,3,5-triazines with fluorinated substituents

The NMR spectra of a series of 1,3,5-triazines (1) in which one or more of the substituent groups are fluorinated are described, and the results are discussed in terms of bonding and geometry of the molecules. Remote effects of unsymmetrical substitution are observed in the fluorine-19 and carbon-13 spectra, in some molecules indicating restricted rotation about the bond joining an amino group to a ring carbon.     

Femtosecond laser fabrication of tubular waveguides in poly(methyl methacrylate)

Femtosecond laser direct writing is employed for the fabrication of buried tubular waveguides in bulk poly(methyl methacrylate). A novel technique using selective chemical etching is presented to resolve the two-dimensional refractive-index profile of the fabrication structures. End-to-end coupling in the waveguides reveals a near-field intensity distribution that results from the superimposition of several propagating modes with different azimuthal symmetries. Mode analysis of the tubular waveguides is performed using the finite-difference method, and the possible propagating mode profiles are compared with the experimental data.     

Diffusion of asymmetric swimmers

Particles moving along curved trajectories will diffuse if the curvature fluctuates sufficiently in either magnitude or orientation. We consider particles moving at a constant speed with either a fixed or a Gaussian distributed magnitude of curvature. At small speeds the diffusivity is independent of the speed. At larger particle speeds, the diffusivity depends on the speed through a novel exponent. We apply our results to intracellular transport of vesicles. In sharp contrast to thermal diffusion, the effective diffusivity increases with vesicle size and so may provide an effective means of intracellular transport.     

Direct detection of ultrafast thermal transients by use of a chirped, supercontinuum white-light pulse

An experimental technique is demonstrated that permits direct optical measurement of ultrafast material transients during a single excitation-relaxation cycle. Reflection of a linearly chirped, supercontinuum optical pulse from a gold film with changing surface temperature induced by an ultrafast pump pulse allows the thermal transients to be encoded onto the spectrum of the probe pulse. Calibrating the chirp of the probe pulse and the wavelength sensitivity of the sample permits mapping of the measured transient into the time domain. Measurements are completed over the course of 100 ps with subpicosecond time resolution. Results obtained with this technique are compared with similar measurements obtained with conventional pump-probe correlation techniques.