An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with totally reflecting sample support for trace analysis at the ppb level

Summary An energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer with a remotely controlled specimen exchanger is described. As sample supports optical flats made of quartz glass are used which totally reflect the exciting X-ray beam. By this method a reduction of the scattered radiation is obtained which leads to minimum detectable amounts below 0.05 ng or concentrations below 1 ppb for elements with atomic numbers 26–38 and 79–83. Special possibilities of sample preparations as well as the influence of matrices are discussed.

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Ein Röntgenfluorescenzspektrometer mit totalreflektierendem ProbentrÄger für Spurenanalysen im ppb-Bereich

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein energiedispersives Röntgenfluorescenzspektrometer mit automatischem Probenwechsler beschrieben, dessen ProbentrÄger Quarzblöcke mit hochebener OberflÄche sind, die die anregende Strahlung total reflektieren. Dadurch wird eine Verminderung des Streustrahlungsuntergrundes erreicht, die für Elemente der Ordnungszahlen 26–38 und 79–83 zu Nachweisgrenzen unter 0,05 ng bzw. 1 ppb führt. Spezielle Möglichkeiten der Probenvorbereitung sowie Matrixeinflüsse werden diskutiert.

     

Quantum study of the N+N(2) exchange reaction: state-to-state reaction probabilities, initial state selected probabilities, Feshbach resonances, and product distributions

We report a detailed three-dimensional time-dependent quantum dynamics study of the state-to-state N+N(2) exchange scattering in the 2.1-3.2 eV range using a recently developed ab initio potential energy surface (PES). The reactive flux arrives at the dividing surface in the asymptotic product region in a series of six packets, instead of a single packet. Further study shows that these features arise from the "Lake Eyring" region of the PES, a region with a shallow well between two transition states. Trappings due to Feshbach resonances are found to be the major cause of the time delay. A detailed analysis of the Feshbach resonance features is carried out using an L(2) calculation of the metastable states in the "Lake Eyring" region. Strong resonance features are found in the state-to-state and initial state selected reaction probabilities. The metastable states with bending motions and/or bending coupled with stretching motions are found to be the predominant source of the resonance structure. Initial state selected reaction probabilities further indicate that the lifetimes of the metastable states with bending motions in the "Lake Eyring" region are longer than those of states with stretching motions and thus dominate the reactive resonances. Resonance structures are also visible in some of the integral cross sections and should provide a means for future experimental observation of the resonance behavior. A study of the final rotational distributions shows that, for the energy range studied here, the final products are distributed toward high-rotational states. Final vibrational distributions at the temperatures 2000 and 10,000 K are also reported.     

An isotopic-independent highly accurate potential energy surface for CO2 isotopologues and an initial (12)C(16)O2 infrared line list

An isotopic-independent, highly accurate potential energy surface (PES) has been determined for CO(2) by refining a purely ab initio PES with selected, purely experimentally determined rovibrational energy levels. The purely ab initio PES is denoted Ames-0, while the refined PES is denoted Ames-1. Detailed tests are performed to demonstrate the spectroscopic accuracy of the Ames-1 PES. It is shown that Ames-1 yields σ(rms) (root-mean-squares error) = 0.0156 cm(-1) for 6873 J = 0-117 (12)C(16)O(2) experimental energy levels, even though less than 500 (12)C(16)O(2) energy levels were included in the refinement procedure. It is also demonstrated that, without any additional refinement, Ames-1 yields very good agreement for isotopologues. Specifically, for the (12)C(16)O(2) and (13)C(16)O(2) isotopologues, spectroscopic constants G(v) computed from Ames-1 are within ±0.01 and 0.02 cm(-1) of reliable experimentally derived values, while for the (16)O(12)C(18)O, (16)O(12)C(17)O, (16)O(13)C(18)O, (16)O(13)C(17)O, (12)C(18)O(2), (17)O(12)C(18)O, (12)C(17)O(2), (13)C(18)O(2), (13)C(17)O(2), (17)O(13)C(18)O, and (14)C(16)O(2) isotopologues, the differences are between ±0.10 and 0.15 cm(-1). To our knowledge, this is the first time a polyatomic PES has been refined using such high J values, and this has led to new challenges in the refinement procedure. An initial high quality, purely ab initio dipole moment surface (DMS) is constructed and used to generate a 296 K line list. For most bands, experimental IR intensities are well reproduced for (12)C(16)O(2) using Ames-1 and the DMS. For more than 80% of the bands, the experimental intensities are reproduced with σ(rms)(ΔI) < 20% or σ(rms)(ΔI∕δ(obs)) < 5. A few exceptions are analyzed and discussed. Directions for future improvements are discussed, though it is concluded that the current Ames-1 and the DMS should be useful in analyzing and assigning high-resolution laboratory or astronomical spectra.     

Vibrational energy levels for CH4 from an ab initio potential

Many areas of astronomy and astrophysics require an accurate high temperature spectrum of methane (CH4). The goal of the present research is to determine an accurate ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for CH4. As a first step towards this goal, we have determined a PES including up to octic terms. We compare our results with experiment and to a PES based on a quartic expansion. Our octic PES gives good agreement with experiment for all levels, while the quartic PES only for the lower levels.     

Ligand-free gold–silver nanoparticle alloy polymer composites generated by picosecond laser ablation in liquid monomer

Polymer matrix nanocomposites filled with metallic and alloy nanoparticles add functionality in various applications such as optical devices and in the energy sector. However, matrix coupling agents or nanoparticle ligands may be unwanted additives, potentially inhibiting the resulting nanocomposite to be processed by injection molding. The generation of stabilizer-free Au, Ag, and AuAg alloy nanoparticle acrylate composites is achieved by picosecond-pulsed laser ablation of the respective metal target in the liquid monomer. Complementary to laser ablation of the solid alloy, we have alloyed nanoparticles by post-irradiation of Au and Ag colloids in the liquid monomer. The optical properties of the colloidal nanoparticles are successfully transferred to the solid poly(methyl methacrylate) matrix and characterized by their plasmon resonance that can be easily tuned between 400 and 600 nm by laser alloying in the liquid monomer.     

Algorithm for locating narrow resonances in coupled-channel quantal scattering calculations

We present a definition for the absolute eigenphase sum for multichannel quantum-mechanical scattering problems. The absolute eigenphase sum is useful for finding resonance, especially very narrow and hard-to-locate ones, for which the savings in computer time can be very large. We have demonstrated the practicality of the method by implementing it to locate a resonance in the diabatic representation with the Numerov method and in the adiabatic representation with R-matrix propagation.     

Experimental and Ab Initio Studies of the HDO Absorption Spectrum in the 13 165-13 500 cm(-1) Spectral Region

The HDO absorption spectrum was recorded in the 13 165-13 500 cm(-1) spectral region by intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy. The spectrum (615 lines), dominated by the 2nu(2) + 3nu(3) and nu(1) + 3nu(3) bands, was assigned and modeled leading to the derivation of 196 accurate energy levels of the (103) and (023) vibrational states. Finally, 150 of these levels were reproduced by an effective Hamiltonian involving two vibrational dark states interacting with the (023) and (103) bright states. The rms deviation achieved by variation of 28 parameters is 0.05 cm(-1), compared to an averaged experimental uncertainty of 0.007 cm(-1), indicating the limit of validity of the effective Hamiltonian approach for HDO at high-vibrational excitation. The predictions of previous ab initio calculations of the HDO spectrum (H. Partridge and D. Schwenke, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 4618-4639 (1997)) were extensively used in the assignment process. The particular spectral region under consideration was used to test and discuss the improvements of new ab initio calculations recently performed on the basis of the same potential energy surface but with an improved dipole-moment surface. The improvements concern both the energy levels and the line intensities. In particular, the strong hybrid character of the nu(1) + 3nu(3) band is very well accounted for by the new ab initio calculations. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Impact of in situ polymer coating on particle dispersion into solid laser-generated nanocomposites

The crucial step in the production of solid nanocomposites is the uniform embedding of nanoparticles into the polymer matrix, since the colloidal properties or specific physical properties are very sensitive to particle dispersion within the nanocomposite. Therefore, we studied a laser-based generation method of a nanocomposite which enables us to control the agglomeration of nanoparticles and to increase the single particle dispersion within polyurethane. For this purpose, we ablated targets of silver and copper inside a polymer-doped solution of tetrahydrofuran by a picosecond laser (using a pulse energy of 125 μJ at 33.3 kHz repetition rate) and hardened the resulting colloids into solid polymers. Electron microscopy of these nanocomposites revealed that primary particle size, agglomerate size and particle dispersion strongly depend on concentration of the polyurethane added before laser ablation. 0.3 wt% polyurethane is the optimal polymer concentration to produce nanocomposites with improved particle dispersion and adequate productivity. Lower polyurethane concentration results in agglomeration whereas higher concentration reduces the production rate significantly. The following evaporation step did not change the distribution of the nanocomposite inside the polyurethane matrix. Hence, the in situ coating of nanoparticles with polyurethane during laser ablation enables simple integration into the structural analogue polymer matrix without additives. Furthermore, it was possible to injection mold these in situ-stabilized nanocomposites without affecting particle dispersion. This clarifies that sufficient in situ stabilization during laser ablation in polymer solution is able to prevent agglomeration even in a hot polymer melt.