Two deformation paths in fission of light actinides

The correlation among the fission threshold energy, the scission configuration and the mass yield distribution has been studied in proton-induced fission of light actinides. It was found that there exist at least two fission paths from the threshold region to the scission. The elongated scission configuration is related with the fission process that goes over a higher threshold energy and results in a symmetric mass division mode, while the compact scission configuration with the process that experiences a lower threshold and ends up with an asymmetric mass division mode.     

Rapid determination of indium,nickel and copper in NBS standard reference material by substoichiometric radioactivation analysis

A method of rapid determination for indium, nickel and copper in Spinach (NBS; SRM-1570) by substoichiometric radioactivation analysis is described. The method is based on the principle that an equal amount of non-irradiated test sample is added to the irradiated standard sample and subsequent substoichiometric extraction for the irradiated test and standard samples is carried out. Indium is extracted as diethyldithiocarbamate into carbon tetrachloride, nickel as dimethylglyoximate into chloroform and copper as dithizonate into carbon tetrachloride. The radioactivities of these extracts are measured by NaI(Tl) or Ge(Li) detector coupled with pulse-height analyser. The analytical results obtained by the method were in good agreement with our published values and certified values by NBS.     

A Unique Pathway for the 3-Aminobutyrate Starter Unit from l-Glutamate through β-Glutamate during Biosynthesis of the 24-Membered Macrolactam Antibiotic, Incednine

Incednine is a 24-membered macrolactam antibiotic produced by Streptomyces sp. ML694-90F3. A previous study demonstrated that its unique nitrogen-containing starter unit was derived from l-glutamate. To elucidate the missing link between l-glutamate and the starter unit, deuterium labeled amino acid feeding experiments were conducted. These experiments revealed that 3-[3-(2)H]aminobutyrate and β-[2,2,4,4-(2)H(4)]glutamate were incorporated into the starter moiety. The results indicate that a novel decarboxylation of β-glutamate to give 3-aminobutyrate is involved in incednine biosynthesis.     

Nuclear Spin Alignment of 12,13B Produced in Heavy Ion Collisions

The nuclear spin alignments of the β-emitting fragments ¹²B(I ^π=1⁺, T _1/2=20.2 ms) and ¹³B(I ^π=3/2⁻, T _1/2=17.4 ms) produced in the 100A-MeV ¹³C, ¹⁵N + ⁹Be collisions respectively have been observed for the first time detecting asymmetric β-ray emission from these nuclei. By means of the spin manipulation technique based on the hyperfine interaction of B isotopes in TiO₂, both the polarization P and the alignment A were determined reliably. The obtained P and A were significantly smaller than the expectation from the kinematical model. From the fact that the quenching factors for P and A are almost the same, there may be some depolarization mechanism in the collision process itself. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Minimization of erase-band in shingled PMR with asymmetric writer

To make the write-field much stronger with sharper cross-track field gradient in Shingled perpendicular Magnetic Recording (SMR), we have successfully developed asymmetric SMR heads with one-side shield design. Using these heads, higher track density capability on the shielded-side was demonstrated, which came from narrower erase-band width at shielded side.     

Determination of radioactive nuclides of uranium and thorium series and estimation of α-flux in LSI constituent materials

Gamma-rays of nuclides of uranium and thorium series in silicone resin and ceramics were measured with a Ge(Li) detector. The state of radioactive equilibrium was determined by comparing the concentrations of uranium and thorium with the radioactive concentrations of²¹⁴Pb and²¹²Pb. The radioactive equilibrium was attained in silicone resin but not in ceramics. The -flux was calculated from the concentrations of uranium and thorium and their daughter nuclides. The calculated values of -flux agreed with that of -flux measured.     

Substoichiometric precipitation of silicon as barium fluorosilicate

Distillation and substoichimetric precipitation for silicon have been developed for the determination of trace amounts of silicon. It is based on substoichiometric precipitation as barium fluorosilicate and the distillation of silicon tetrafluoride. The separation has been applied for the determination of silicon in gallium arsenide and NBS steel as standard reference material.