Defect clustering in double doped fluorite crystals with Lu and Gd

Abstract

Solid solutions Ca¹ x-^yLu^xGd^y F_2+x+y for 10^?4 ≤ x ≤ 2 × 10^?2 and y=0.0001 have been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and ionic thermal currents (ITC). It has been found that the ITC spectrum from 77 to 420 K is very weak and the main peak is attributed to the relaxation of both Lu³⁺-F^? _x and Gd³⁺F^? _i nn dipoles. No polarizable clusters are present in the temperature range explored here. The EPR spectra show the presence of Gd³⁺ tetragonal and cubic centers due to the local and non local compensation, respectively. The continuous decrease in the molar fraction of Gd³⁺ tetragonal centers together with the low concentration of Lu nn dipoles is an evidence of the existence at these low and intermediate concentrations of large clusters such as the cubo-octahedral hexamer which has been proposed for CaF₂ crystals very highly doped with small trivalent cations.     

Energy analysis of protons emitted from Nd:YAg laser-generated plasmas

Hydrogenated targets have been irradiated in vacuum with the pulsed Nd:YAg laser at intensities of the order of 10¹⁰ W/cm². The laser-generated plasma, produced by the interaction with the solid, emits protons and other ions along the normal to the target surface. Ion collectors and ion energy analyzer were used to measure the current, the angular emission and the energy distributions of the emitted protons. Time-of-flight measurements, Coulomb–Boltzmann-distributions and the fits of experimental data were also used in order to evaluate the equivalent ion plasma temperature and the ion acceleration developed in the non-equilibrium-pulsed plasma.     

Effects of density profile and multi-species target on laser-heated thermal-pressure-driven shock wave acceleration

The shock wave acceleration of ions driven by laser-heated thermal pressure is studied through one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation and analysis. The generation of high-energy mono-energetic protons in recent experiments （D. Haberberger et al., 2012 Nat. Phys. 8 95） is attributed to the use of exponentially decaying density profile of the plasma target. It does not only keep the shock velocity stable but also suppresses the normal target normal sheath acceleration. The effects of target composition are also examined, where a similar collective velocity of all ion species is demonstrated. The results also give some reference to future experiments of producing energetic heavy ions.     

Large-eddy simulations of temporally accelerating turbulent channel flow

The unsteady turbulent channel flow subject to the temporal acceleration is considered in this study. Large-eddy simulations were performed to study the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. The simulations were started with the fully developed turbulent channel flow at an initial Reynolds number of Re₀ = 3500 (based on the channel half-height and the bulk-mean velocity), and then a constant temporal acceleration was applied. During the acceleration, the Reynolds number of the channel flow increased linearly from the initial Reynolds number to the final Reynolds number of Re₁ = 22,600. The effect of grid resolution, domain size, time step size on the simulation results was assessed in a preliminary study using simulations of the accelerating turbulent flow as well as simulations of the steady turbulent channel flow at various Reynolds numbers. Simulation parameters were carefully chosen from the preliminary study to ascertain the accuracy of the simulation. From the accelerating turbulent flow simulations, the delays in the response of various flow properties to the temporal acceleration were measured. The distinctive features of the delays responsible for turbulence production, energy redistribution, and radial propagation were identified. Detailed turbulence statistics including the wall shear stress response during the acceleration were examined. The results reveal the changes in the near-wall structures during the acceleration. A self-sustaining mechanism of turbulence is proposed to explain the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. Although the overall flow characteristics are similar between the channel and pipe flows, some differences were observed between the two flows.     

Thermal noise limit in measuring the gravitational constant G using the angular acceleration method and the dynamic deflection method

A general comparison is made between two methods of measuring the gravitational constant G. The angular acceleration method can avoid the anelasticity effect since the torsion fiber is not twisted. The dynamic deflection method is similar in principle but it does not use feedback, therefore a major noise introduced by the feedback control system in the angular acceleration method can be avoided. Both methods have their advantages and can be performed with the same device. Based on different expressions of G, we have expressed the signal-to-noise ratio and calculated the thermal noise limit for both methods. In order to get a lower thermal noise limit, the dynamic deflection method should avoid resonance.     

Neutron- and muon-induced background in underground physics experiments

Background induced by neutrons in deep underground laboratories is a critical issue for all experiments looking for rare events, such as dark matter interactions or neutrinoless ββ decay. Neutrons can be produced either by natural radioactivity, via spontaneous fission or (α, n) reactions, or by interactions initiated by high-energy cosmic rays. In all underground experiments, Monte Carlo simulations of neutron background play a crucial role for the evaluation of the total background rate and for the optimization of rejection strategies. The Monte Carlo methods that are commonly employed to evaluate neutron-induced background and to optimize the experimental setup, are reviewed and discussed. Focus is given to the issue of reliability of Monte Carlo background estimates. We dedicate this work to the memory of our friend and colleague Nicola Ferrari, who prematurely passed away in July 2006.     

Accelerated long-range corrected exchange functional using a two-gaussian operator combined with one-parameter progressive correlation functional [LC-BOP(2Gau)]

Recently, we proposed a simple yet efficient method for the computation of a long-range corrected (LC) hybrid scheme [LC-DFT(2Gau)], which uses a modified two-Gaussian attenuating operator instead of the error function for the long-range HF exchange integral. This method dramatically reduced the computational time while maintaining the improved features of the LC density functional theory (DFT). Here, we combined an LC hybrid scheme using a two-Gaussian attenuating operator with one-parameter progressive correlation functional and Becke88 exchange functional with varying range-separation parameter values [LC-BOP(2Gau) with various μ values of 0.16, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35, 0.4, and 0.42] and demonstrated that LC-BOP(2Gau) reproduces well the thermochemical and frontier orbital energies of LC-BOP. Additionally, we revised the scaling factors of the Gaussian multipole screening scheme for LC-DFT(2Gau) to correspond to the angular momentum of orbitals, which decreased the energy deviations from the energy with the no-screening scheme. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

First-Passage and Extreme-Value Statistics of a Particle Subject to a Constant Force Plus a Random Force

We consider a particle which moves on the x axis and is subject to a constant force, such as gravity, plus a random force in the form of Gaussian white noise. We analyze the statistics of first arrival at point x ₁ of a particle which starts at x ₀ with velocity v ₀. The probability that the particle has not yet arrived at x ₁ after a time t, the mean time of first arrival, and the velocity distribution at first arrival are all considered. We also study the statistics of the first return of the particle to its starting point. Finally, we point out that the extreme-value statistics of the particle and the first-passage statistics are closely related, and we derive the distribution of the maximum displacement m=max  _t [x(t)].     

Synergistic effects on iodine release in potassium iodide solution by combination of ultrasound and visible light irradiations

Iodine release in potassium iodide solution has been investigated under the irradiations of ultrasound and visible light respectively and simultaneously. We have observed that the amount of iodine liberated under the combined irradiation of ultrasound and visible light is larger than the sum of that under the respective irradiations of ultrasound and visible light, indicating a synergistic effect of ultrasound and visible light irradiations. Based on the investigation of the reaction kinetics of iodine liberated, we have ascribed the synergistic effect to the perfect stirring of the photochemical reactor induced by the applying simultaneous ultrasound. The ideal stirring can result in the homogenization of the primary light effect in the whole reaction medium, which induces the acceleration of the photochemical reaction. On behavior of our knowledge, there are few reports on the investigations of utilizing the combination of ultrasonic energy and light energy to accelerate the reaction yield and rate as well as the kinetics of the reaction.     

外加静电场的聚焦激光脉冲真空加速电子方案

采用五阶修正的聚焦激光光场方程模拟研究了由Singh提出的在电子和激光脉冲作用尾部阶段施加外场的加速方案,将Singh方案中采用的外加磁场改成了外加电场,并且考虑了光束的纵向电场和光束衍射效应.模拟结果显示,电子可以从加速相位阶段被外场导入下一个加速相位阶段而不进入减速相位阶段,因此电子能获得比不加外场方案更高的净能增益. 关键词： 强激光 激光加速