Post-irradiation sensitization of CR-39 track detector in carbon dioxide atmosphere

The effect of post-irradiation treatment of CR-39 track detector in carbon dioxide atmosphere on the alpha particle registration sensitivity was investigated. Significant increase in etch rate ratio for 6.1 MeV ²⁵²Cf alpha particle was observed. The sensitization increasedboth as a function of trating time and as a function of carbon dioxide pressure in the treating vessel. Energy dependence of the sensitization was found to be small in the 2–9 MeV alpha particle energy interval. Fading of latent tracks after the sensitization process was slow in a one day period. Pre-irradiation treatment in carbon dioxide showed also some sensitization, though to a lesser extent than post-irradiation treatment. However, exposing CR-39 alpha particles in pure carbon dioxide atmosphere resulted in dramatic decrease in sensitivity. The role of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in the primary latent track formation and in post-irradiation latent track transformation is discussed. Potential influence of the application of sensitization of CR-39 in radon, neutron and cosmic ray charged particle dosimetry is also discussed.     

Effect of Pb adatom flux rate on adlayer coverage for Stranski-Krastanov growth mode on Si(1 1 1)7 × 7 surface

Lead (Pb) has been a prototypical system to study diffusion and reconstruction of silicon surfaces. However, there is a discrepancy in literature regarding the critical coverage at which island formation takes place in the Stranski-Krastanov (S-K) mode. We address this issue by studying the initial stages of evolution of the Pb/Si(1 1 1)7 × 7 system by careful experiments in ultra-high vacuum with in situ characterization by auger electron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. We have adsorbed Pb onto clean Si(1 1 1 )7 × 7 surface with sub-monolayer control at different flux rates of 0.05 ML/min, 0.14 ML/min and 0.22 ML/min, at room temperature. The results clearly show that the coverage of the Pb adlayer before the onset of 3D Pb islands in the S-K mode depends on the flux rates. LEED results show the persistence of the (7 × 7) substrate reconstruction until the onset of the island formation, while EELS results do not show any intermixing at the interface. This suggests that the flux rates influence the kinetics of growth and the passivation of dangling bonds to result in the observed rate-dependent adlayer coverages.     

Diffusion of proton in alumina-rich nonstoichiometric magnesium aluminate spinel

The phenomenon of the diffusion of proton and deuteron in a single crystal of magnesium aluminate spinel was studied by infrared absorption. The chemical diffusion coefficient of proton was determined by the relaxation time of the absorption intensity upon the substitution of deuteron with proton. The temperature dependence of the chemical diffusion coefficient of proton for was expressed as . The chemical diffusion coefficient of proton was found to be independent of the composition of spinel and of the atmosphere. Paper presented at the 11th Euro Conference on the Science and Technology of Ionics, Batz-sur-Mer, Sept. 9–15 2007.     

Evaporation of an emulsion trapped in a yield stress fluid

The present work deals with emulsions of volatile alkanes in an aqueous clay suspension, Laponite, which forms a yield stress fluid. For a large enough yield stress (i.e. Laponite concentration), the oil droplets are prevented from creaming and the emulsions are thus mechanically stabilized. We have studied the evaporation kinetics of the oil phase of those emulsions in contact with the atmosphere. We show that the evaporation process is characterized by the formation of a sharp front separating the emulsion from a droplet-free Laponite phase, and that the displacement of the front vs. time follows a diffusion law. Experimental data are confronted to a diffusion-controlled model, in the case where the limiting step is the diffusion of the dissolved oil through the aqueous phase. The nature of the alkane, as well as its volume fraction in the emulsion, has been varied. Quantitative agreement with the model is achieved without any adjustable parameter and we describe the mechanism leading to the formation of a front.     

Ultrasound assisted enhancement in natural dye extraction from beetroot for industrial applications and natural dyeing of leather

There is a growing demand for eco-friendly/non-toxic colorants, specifically for health sensitive applications such as coloration of food and dyeing of child textile/leather garments. Recently, dyes derived from natural sources for these applications have emerged as an important alternative to potentially harmful synthetic dyes and pose need for suitable effective extraction methodologies. The present paper focus on the influence of process parameters for ultrasound assisted leaching of coloring matter from plant materials. In the present work, extraction of natural dye from beetroot using ultrasound has been studied and compared with static/magnetic stirring as a control process at 45 °C. The influence of process parameters on the extraction efficiency such as ultrasonic output power, time, pulse mode, effect of solvent system and amount of beetroot has been studied. The use of ultrasound is found to have significant improvement in the extraction efficiency of colorant obtained from beetroot. Based on the experiments it has been found that a mixture of 1:1 ethanol–water with 80 W ultrasonic power for 3 h contact time provided better yield and extraction efficiency. Pulse mode operation may be useful in reducing electrical energy consumption in the extraction process. The effect of the amount of beetroot used in relation to extraction efficiency has also been studied. Two-stage extraction has been studied and found to be beneficial for improving the yield for higher amounts of beetroot. Significant 8% enhancement in % yield of colorant has been achieved with ultrasound, 80 W as compared to MS process both using 1:1 ethanol–water. The coloring ability of extracted beet dye has been tested on substrates such as leather and paper and found to be suitable for dyeing. Ultrasound is also found to be beneficial in natural dyeing of leather with improved rate of exhaustion. Both the dyed substrates have better color values for ultrasonic beet extract as inferred from reflectance measurement. Therefore, the present study clearly offers efficient extraction methodology from natural dye resources such as beetroot with ultrasound even dispensing with external heating. Thereby, also making eco-friendly non-toxic dyeing of fibrous substances a potential viable option.     

ErYb:氟氧化物玻璃陶瓷的上转换发光特征饱和现象的综合分析

研究了Er3+和Yb3+双掺的氟氧化物玻璃陶瓷在966 nm激光激发下的上转换发光的饱和现象。详细的分析发现了它存在一种能量扩展导致的“特征饱和现象”,也就是说上转换发光强度I随激光功率P而改变的双对数曲线的斜率随着激光光斑的增大而明显增大至正常的多光子关系。还发现布居耗空所导致的“典型饱和现象”也有较大的影响,它导致了logI-logP曲线会随着激光功率的增加而逐渐弯曲,而激光功率的减小会导致“典型饱和现象”也减小甚至完全消失。     

氟化物中Yb3+对Ho3+, Tm3+的直接敏化上转换作用

采用双掺杂(Yb^3 ／Ho^3 )和多掺杂(Ho^3 ／Yb^3 ／Tm^3 )方式,研究了氟化物中Yb^3 对Ho^3 ,Tm^3 的直接敏化上转换作用,并对它们在980nm激光激发下的上转换光谱特性进行了比较,对它们的上转换机理作了详细的讨论分析。观测到两处很强的上转换发光,分别是Yb^3 ／Ho^3 共掺杂体系中^5F4^5S2(Ho^3 )→^5Is(Ho^3 )的荧光跃迁和Ho^3 ／Yb^3 ／Tm^3 共掺杂体系中^3H4(Tm^3 )→H6(Tm^3 )的荧光跃迁。还发现由于添加了Tm^3 ,减弱了Yb^3 ／Ho^3 共掺杂体系中Ho^3 在可见光范围的上转换发光强度。     

Tb3+∶YAG单晶荧光层中掺杂Ga3+的荧光敏化作用

采用液相外延工艺成功制备了Tb3 + ∶YAGG单晶荧光层 ,研究了Tb3 + 激活YAG主晶格外延层中Ga3 + 掺杂的荧光敏化效应 ,可以看到在Tb3 + 荧光得到显著增强的同时 ,外延荧光层发光的饱和特性也有所改善。实验中观察到了Ga3 + 掺杂后基质晶体吸收边缘向长波方向展宽 ,并与Tb3 + 的7F6 9E、7E典型吸收峰发生交叠的现象 ,用基质与Tb3 + 之间的声子耦合解释了上述Tb3 + ∶YAGG外延层中所存在的能量传递、荧光敏化现象。基质与掺杂激活中心间能量传递机制的建立将会为基于YAG主晶格的高效荧光材料研究提供一个新的思路。     

Principal eigenvector field segmentation for reproducible diffusion tensor tractography of white matter structures

The study was aimed to test the feasibility of utilizing an algorithmically determinable stable fiber mass (SFM) map obtained by an unsupervised principal eigenvector field segmentation (PEVFS) for automatic delineation of 18 white matter (WM) tracts: (1) corpus callosum (CC), (2) tapetum (TP), (3) inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), (4) uncinate fasciculus (UNC), (5) inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO), (6) optic pathways (OP), (7) superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), (8) arcuate fasciculus (AF), (9) fornix (FX), (10) cingulum (CG), (11) anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), (12) superior thalamic radiation (STR), (13) posterior thalamic radiation (PTR), (14) corticospinal/corticopontine tract (CST/CPT), (15) medial lemniscus (ML), (16) superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP), (17) middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) and (18) inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) and the principal eigenvector field have been used to create the SFM consisting of a collection of linear voxel structures which are grouped together by color-coding them into seven natural classes to provide PEVFS signature segments which greatly facilitate the selection of regions of interest (ROIs) for fiber tractography using just a single mouse click, as compared with a manual drawing of ROIs in the classical approach. All the 18 fiber bundles have been successfully reconstructed, in all the subjects, using the single ROIs provided by the SFM approach, with their reproducibility characterized by the fact that the ROI selection is user independent. The essentially automatic PEVFS method is robust, efficient and compares favorably with the classical ROI methods for diffusion tensor tractography (DTT).     

Thermal loading induced near-infrared broadband upconversion emission of Sm-doped β-NaYbF4 nano-phosphors

A non-closed hydrothermal synthetic processing is improved to synthesize Sm³⁺ doped β-NaYbF₄ nano-phosphors at 98 °C without any high-temperature and high-pressure treatments as a final step. Novel green, red, and near-infrared broadband (799-873 nm) upconversion emissions of Sm³⁺-doped β-NaYbF₄ nano-phosphors under 980 nm excitation are observed. These UC emissions can be assigned to the Sm³⁺ transitions of ⁴G_J, ⁴F_3/2 and ⁶F_11/2→⁶H_J. The half-width of 873 nm emission band is broadened nearly two-fold through the annealing treatment for nano-phosphors. The upconversion process in Yb³⁺-Sm³⁺ system is discussed based on energy transfer mechanisms.