Structural characterisation of Sb-based heterostructures by X-ray scattering methods

Antimonide-based superlattices dedicated to the elaboration of opto-electronic devices have been studied by X-ray scattering techniques. In particular, specular and non-specular X-ray reflectometry experiments have been performed on two MBE-samples elaborated with different shutter sequences at the interfaces. The results have shown a limitation of the incorporation of Sb species in the subsequent InAs layer for one of the samples, as expected.Then, a study on a InGaAs-cap layer/(InGaAs/AlAsSb)_N superlattice grown on a InGaAs/InP buffer layer by both specular X-ray reflectometry and High resolution X-ray diffraction is reported. In particular, the results have revealed the presence of a highly disturbed thin-layer on top of the MOVPE-made GaInAs, whose presence has been explained by In-concentration modification during the desoxidation procedure at the surface of the MOVPE-made GaInAs.Beside the results on the Sb-based heterostructures, the use of X-ray scattering metrology as a routinely working non-destructive testing method has been emphasized.     

Photon interaction studies using 241Am γ-rays

We have carried out some photon interaction measurements using 59.54 keV γ-rays from a ²⁴¹Am source. These include γ attenuation studies as well as photoelectric absorption studies in various samples. The attenuation studies have been made using leaf and wood samples, samples like sand, sugar etc., which contain particles of varying sizes as well as pellets and aqueous solutions of rare earth compounds. In the case of the leaf and wood samples, we have used the γ-ray attenuation technique for the determination of the water content in fresh and dried samples. The variation of the attenuation coefficient with particle size has been investigated for sand and sugar samples. The attenuation studies as well as the photoelectric studies in the case of rare earth elements have been carried out on samples containing such elements whose K-absorption edge energies lie below and close to the γ-energy used. Suitable compounds of the rare earth elements have been chosen as mixture absorbers in these investigations. A narrow beam good geometry set-up was used for the attenuation measurements. A well-shielded scattering geometry was used for the photoelectric measurements. The mixture rule was invoked to extract the values of the mass attenuation coefficients for the elements from those of the corresponding compounds. The results are consistent with theoretical values derived from the XCOM package.     

Dispersion relations and the spin polarizabilities of the nucleon

A forward dispersion calculation is implemented for the spin polarizabilities γ₁,,γ₄ of the proton and the neutron. These polarizabilities are related to the spin structure of the nucleon at low energies and are structure-constants of the Compton scattering amplitude at . In the absence of a direct experimental measurement of these quantities, a dispersion calculation serves the purpose of constraining the model building, and of comparing with recent calculations in heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory.     

An investigation of finite-size scaling for systems with long-range interaction: The spherical model

A method is suggested for the derivation of finite-size corrections in the thermodynamic functions of systems with pair interaction potential decaying at large distancesr asr ^{–d –} , whered is the space dimensionality and>0. It allows for a unified treatment of short-range (=2) and long-range (<2) interaction. The asymptotic analysis is illustrated by the mean spherical model of general geometryL ^d–d× ^d subject to periodic boundary conditions. The Fisher-Privman equation of state is generalized to arbitrary real values ofd, 0d. It is shown that the-expansion may be used to study the breakdown of standard finite-size scaling at the borderline dimensionalities.     

A Monte Carlo method for an objective Bayesian procedure

This paper describes a method for an objective selection of the optimal prior distribution, or for adjusting its hyper-parameter, among the competing priors for a variety of Bayesian models. In order to implement this method, the integration of very high dimensional functions is required to get the normalizing constants of the posterior and even of the prior distribution. The logarithm of the high dimensional integral is reduced to the one-dimensional integration of a cerain function with respect to the scalar parameter over the range of the unit interval. Having decided the prior, the Bayes estimate or the posterior mean is used mainly here in addition to the posterior mode. All of these are based on the simulation of Gibbs distributions such as Metropolis' Monte Carlo algorithm. The improvement of the integration's accuracy is substantial in comparison with the conventional crude Monte Carlo integration. In the present method, we have essentially no practical restrictions in modeling the prior and the likelihood. Illustrative artificial data of the lattice system are given to show the practicability of the present procedure.     

Likelihood estimation of soft-core interaction potentials for Gibbsian point patterns

The likelihood method is developed for the analysis of socalled regular point patterns. Approximating the normalizing factor of Gibbs canonical distribution, we simultaneously estimate two parameters, one for the scale and the other which measures the softness (or hardness), of repulsive interactions between points. The approximations are useful up to a considerably high density. Some real data are analyzed to illustrate the utility of the parameters for characterizing the regular point pattern.     

On Super-KMS functionals and entire cyclic cohomology

We formulate the super-KMS condition suggested by Connes and Kastler, in the context of entire cyclic cohomology of quantum algebras. We show that the Chern character of Jaffe, Lesniewski, and Osterwalder — associated by Kastler to a super-KMS functional — satisfies the entire growth condition. Hence, a super-KMS functional defines a cocycle for the entire cyclic cohomology of quantum algebras.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation.     

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Zinc(II) and Nickel(II) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol

A new procedure for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Zn(II) and Ni(II) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol as chromogenic reagent has been developed. It is based on resolution of the mixed spectrum over the wavelength range 530–590 nm by applying a least-squares fitting program to standard spectra from each component. The spectra are recorded at an apparent pH of 5.0, provided by an acetate buffer in a mixed 6040 v/v 2-ethoxyethanol/water medium. The relative standard deviations for determination of 13.7 g of Ni and 31.0 g of Zn were 1.9 and 1.0%, respectively (8 replications). The method has been applied to the analysis of iron surfaces coated with a Zn-Ni alloy. The results are compared with those obtained by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry.     

The elimination of fast variables in complex chemical reactions. III. Mesoscopic level (irreducible case)

The master equation for a complex chemical reaction cannot always be reduced to a simpler master equation, even if there are fast and slow individual reaction steps. Nevertheless the elimination of intermediates can be carried out with the help of the-expansion. This is illustrated with a well-known complex reaction: the dissociation of N₂O₅. It is shown that the intrinsic fluctuations in the N₂O₅ decay are larger than those implied by the master equation suggested by the macroscopic rate law.