Spectroscopy of light nuclei with skyrme-type interactions

Deformed Hartree-Fock calculations are performed for some light nuclei in a large configuration space consisting of first four major shells. The interaction employed is the modified Skyrme interaction in which the deformed density is replaced by the band averaged scalar density that makes the Hamiltonian rotationally invariant rendering the spectroscopic calculations feasible. It is shown that the introduction of density dependence spreads out the energy spectra and that the Skyrme variant SIV which has a weak density dependence gives best overall agreement for energy spectra and the available data for the electromagnetic properties of the nuclei studied. It is found that the maximum contribution to the energy of any state in the low lying spectrum comes from thes-state attractive ands-state repulsive parts of the Skyrme interaction. It is also shown that when two-body density dependent version of Skyrme interaction is used, the Koopmans theorem no longer holds.     

Dissipation, decoherence and preparation effects in the spin-boson system

The dynamics of the reduced density matrix of the driven dissipative two-state system is studied for a general diagonal/off-diagonal initial state. We derive exact formal series expressions for the populations and coherences and show that they can be cast into the form of coupled nonconvolutive exact master equations and integral relations. We show that neither the asymptotic distributions, nor the transition temperature between coherent and incoherent motion, nor the dephasing rate and relaxation rate towards the equilibrium state depend on the particular initial state chosen. However, in the underdamped regime, effects of the particular initial preparation, e.g. in an off-diagonal state of the density matrix, strongly affect the transient dynamics. We find that an appropriately tuned external ac-field can slow down decoherence and thus allow preparation effects to persist for longer times than in the absence of driving. Received 23 October 1998 and Received in final form 26 February 1999     

Synthesis of ZnO compound nanostructures via a chemical route for photovoltaic applications

A facile, low-temperature, and low-cost chemical route has been developed to prepare ZnO nanowire and nanosphere compound structures. The morphology, structure, and composition of the yielded products have been examined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction measurements. We have systematically investigated the optical properties of the ZnO nanostructures by micro-Raman, photoluminescence, and transmission spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the yielded ZnO nanostructures possess good optical quality with high light absorption. We have further successfully employed the obtained ZnO compound nanostructures in dye-sensitized solar cells. The light-to-electricity conversion results show that the compound nanostructure exhibits a significant enhancement of short-circuit current density due to the increased surface area and light scattering in the compound nanostructures. The present chemical route provides a simple way to synthesize various compound nanostructures with high surface area for nanodevice applications.     

Excitation power controlled luminescence switching in Yb-Tm co-doped hexagonal NaYF4 nanorods

Intense infrared-to-visible up-conversion (UC) emissions were obtained in hexagonal Yb³⁺-Tm³⁺ co-doped NaYF₄ nanorods under excitation at 980 nm. Especially, luminescent switching between different UC emission wavelengths at 800, 480 and 450 nm were observed by adjusting excitation powers. Based on power-dependent spectral analyses, it was found that the cooperative energy transfer between Yb³⁺-Yb³⁺ pairs and Tm³⁺ ions play a key role on the luminescent switching besides the saturation effect of Yb³⁺²F_5/2 and Tm³⁺¹G₄ excited states. Our results indicate that hexagonal NaYF₄ nanostructures have potential applications in miniaturized solid-state laser, optical processing sensors and fluorescent biolabels.     

Geometries, stabilities, and electronic properties of Be-doped gold clusters: a density functional theory study

We have systematically investigated the geometrical structures, relative stabilities and electronic properties of small bimetallic AunBe (n = 1, 2, . . . , 8) clusters using a density functional method at BP86 level. The optimized geometries reveal that the impurity beryllium atom dramatically affects the structures of the Aun clusters. The averaged binding energies, fragmentation energies, second-order difference of energies, the highest occupied-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy gaps and chemical hardness are investigated. All of them exhibit a pronounced odd-even alternation, manifesting that the clusters with even number of gold atoms possess relatively higher stabilities. Especially, the linear Au2Be cluster is magic cluster with the most stable chemical stability. According to the natural population analysis, it is found that charge-transferring direction between Au atom and Be atom changes at the size of n = 4.     

Neutron beam optimization based on a ^7Li（p,n）^7Be reaction for treatment of deep-seated brain tumors by BNCT

Neutron beam optimization for accelerator-based Boron Neutron Capture Therapy（BNCT） is investigated using a ^7Li（p,n）^7Be reaction. Design and optimization have been carried out for the target, cooling system,moderator, filter, reflector, and collimator to achieve a high flux of epithermal neutron and satisfy the IAEA criteria.Also, the performance of the designed beam in tissue is assessed by using a simulated Snyder head phantom. The results show that the optimization of the collimator and reflector is critical to finding the best neutron beam based on the ^7Li（p,n）^7Be reaction. Our designed beam has 2.49×109n/cm^2 s epithermal neutron flux and is suitable for BNCT of deep-seated brain tumors.     

A scenario for the electronic state in the manganese perovskites: the orbital correlated metal

We propose a novel scenario for the electronic state in the manganese perovskites. We argue that, at low temperatures and within the ferromagnetic state, the physics of these colossal magnetoresistance compounds may be characterized by a correlated metallic state near a metal insulator transition where the orbital degrees of freedom play the main role. This follows from the observation that a two-band degenerate Hubbard model under a strong magnetic field can be mapped onto a para-orbital single band model. We solve the model numerically using the quantum Monte-Carlo technique within a dynamical mean field theory which is exact in the limit of large lattice connectivity. We argue that the proposed scenario may allow for the qualitative interpretation of a variety of experiments which were also observed in other (early) transition metal oxides. Received: 3 October 1997 / Revised: 9 December 1997 / Accepted: 12 January 1998     

Effects of strontium and calcium simultaneous substitution on electrical and structural properties of Pb1?x?yCaxSryTiO3 thin films

Ferroelectric Pb_1−x−y Ca _x Sr _y TiO₃ thin films (denoted by PCST90, PCST70, and PCST30) were deposited on the Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by a chemical solution deposition method. Their properties were investigated from the viewpoint of crystal structure, microstructure, dielectric, and ferroelectric properties. X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the formation of PCST90, PCST70, and PCST30 thin films without any secondary phases. Infrared and Raman spectroscopy results show that a gradual phase transition from tetragonal to pseudocubic or cubic perovskite structure may occur in PCST thin films with the simultaneous increase of Ca²⁺ and Sr²⁺ contents. Both substitution of isovalent Ca²⁺ and Sr²⁺ at Pb²⁺-site enhanced the dielectric constant and reduced the remnant polarization. In addition, ferroelectric test analyses show that the PCST thin films undergo a ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transformation with an amount of Pb²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Sr²⁺ at 30%, 35%, and 35% mol, respectively. Hence, the absence of ferroelectric property may be attributed to a decreasing of the octahedron distortion in the perovskite structure accompanied by a weakening of long-range ferroelectric order.     

Formation of hexagonal shaped wurtzite zinc sulphide nano rods

Zinc sulfide nanorods with good photoluminescence have been successfully fabricated using a simple sol-gel process via ultrasonication, with mercaptoethanol as capping agent. The formation of ZnS nucleation, followed by subsequent growth, is significant in obtaining highly oriented ZnS nanorods. Temperature, time, and capping agent also proved to be significant factors in the growth of ZnS nanorods and greatly affect their photo luminescent properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, low and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM & HRTEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the ZnS nanorods were single crystal in nature and that they had grown up preferentially along the [0001] direction. This simple method of nucleation, followed by their successive growth, resulted in the development of an effective and low-cost fabrication process for high-quality ZnS nanorods with good photo luminescent properties that can be applied to luminescent sensors and optoelectronic devices.     

Plasticity and ab initio characterizations on Fe4N produced on the surface of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel plasma nitrided at lower temperature

18Ni-maraging steel has been entirely nanocrystallized by a series of processes including solution treatment, hot-rolling deformation, cold-drawn deformation and direct electric heating. The plasma nitriding of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel was carried out at 410 °C for 3 h and 6 h in a mixture gas of 20% N₂ + 80% H₂ with a pressure of 400 Pa. The surface phase constructions and nitrogen concentration profile in surface layer were analyzed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and the glow discharge spectrometry (GDS), respectively. The results show that an about 2 μm thick compound layer (mono-phase γ′-Fe₄N) can be produced on the top of the surface layer of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel plasma nitrided at 410 °C for 6 h. The measured hardness value of the nitrided surface is 11.6 GPa. More importantly, the γ′-Fe₄N phase has better plasticity, i.e., its plastic deformation energy calculated from the load-displacement curve obtained by nano-indentation tester is close to that of nanocrystallized 18Ni-maraging steel. Additionally, the mechanical properties of γ′-Fe₄N phase were also characterized by first-principles calculations. The calculated results indicate that the hardness value and the ratio of bulk to shear modulus (B/G) of the γ′-Fe₄N phase are 10.15 GPa and 3.12 (>1.75), respectively. This demonstrates that the γ′-Fe₄N phase has higher hardness and better ductility.