Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

The influence of a transverse magnetic field on a subnormal glow discharge in air

In subnormal glow discharge under d.c. excitation at different pressure in a varying transverse magnetic field (0 to 30 G) some measurements have been carried out for various initial average tube currents. The voltage across the discharge increases and average tube current and residual current decreases in the magnetic field. With the help of Beckman’s expression [4] for the axial field and the electron density distribution in a transverse magnetic field the observed variation of current and voltage can be satisfactorily explained. The variation of axial electric field with transverse magnetic field can be represented to a fair degree of accuracy by the derived equation. The behaviour of residual current with magnetic field has been observed in these oscillations.     

Precise mass measurement of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (309 kDa) polymerase chain reaction product by negative ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICRMS) has been used to determine the mass of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (bp) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product with an average theoretical mass of the blunt-ended (i.e. unadenylated) species of 308 859.35 Da. The PCR product was generated from the linearized bacteriophage Lambda genome which is a double-stranded template. Utilization of ethanol precipitation in tandem with a rapid microdialysis step to purify and desalt the PCR product was crucial to obtain a precise mass measurement. The PCR product (0.8 pmol/μL) was electrosprayed from a solution containing 75% acetonitrile, 25 mM piperidine, and 25 mM imidazole and was infused at a rate of 200 nL/min. The average molecular mass and the corresponding precision were determined using the charge-states ranging from 172 to 235 net negative charges. The experimental mass and corresponding precision (reported as the 95% confidence interval of the mean) was 309 406 +/- 27 Da (87 ppm). The mass accuracy was compromised due to the fact that the PCR generates multiple products when using Taq polymerase due to the non-template directed 3'-adenylation. This results in a mixture of three PCR products with nearly identical mass (i.e. blunt-ended, mono-adenylated and di-adenylated) with unknown relative abundances that were not resolved in the spectrum. Thus, the experimental mass will be a weighted average of the three species which, under our experimental conditions, reflects a nearly equal concentration of the mono- and di-adenylated species. This report demonstrates that precise mass measurements of PCR products up to 309 kDa (500 bp) can be routinely obtained by ESI-FTICR requiring low femtomole amounts. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ciliation and lamellae in crystalline polymers

Molecular cilia, the uncrystallized portions of chains already partly attached to polymer crystals, exert a profound influence on the course of polymeric crystallization with ultimate responsibility for the divergence of adjacent lamellae which leads to spherulitic growth. Their effective size and pressure have been measured, in α-polypropylene, from electron microscopic measurements of the separation and maximum curvature of lamellae in row structures. That cilia exist and extend the effective region occupied by a lamella beyond the geometrical confines of its fold surfaces is important for crystallization theory and may well have implications for the connection of lamellae into networks and for gelation.     

Magnetic and electric hyperfine interactions in the system EuSm

Magnetic and electric hyperfine interactions in the system EuSm were investigated with the isomeric 11/2^– state in¹⁴⁵Eu by applying the time-differential perturbed angular distribution (TDPAD) method. The temperature dependence of paramagnetism was studied between 90 K and 1000 K by measuring the magnetic hyperfine interaction frequency _L=g_NN¹ (T)B_ext. The paramagnetic correction factor strictly follows the Curie-Weiss relation =1+C/(T-), withC=–50(2) K and =–29(5) K. This is compatible with a hyperfine field ofB _int(0)=–25(1) T, a valence of two for Eu in Sm, and antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures.The temperature dependence of the electric quandrupole coupling constant v_Q, investigated between 100 K and 400 K, can be reproduced by a linear temperature variation v_Q(T)=v_Q(0) (1-AT), with v_Q(0)=16.2(4) MHz andA=7.2(8)·10^–4 K^–1.The paramagnetic relaxation time _rel of the nuclear alignment is proportional to the temperature of the sample, with _rel T^–1=3.7(2) ·10^–9s K^–1.This leads to the Korringa relation _J T=const=5.1(5)·10^–11s K for the relaxation time of the 4f electronic spinJ. Assuming that the relaxation ofJ is mainly caused by exchange interaction between conduction electrons and localized 4f electrons at the Eu site, an exchange integral of |J _eff|=0.10(2) eV can be deduced.     

Metal oxide monolithic columns

Metal oxide monoliths composed of ZrO2 and HfO2 have been synthesized in situ inside capillary columns. The material shows globular-like structure and through pores. Capillary electrochromatography and capillary liquid chromatography were performed in a monolithic column with the HfO2 material. Separation of a simple sample mixture showed the potential of the new metal oxide monolithic columns.     

Radiochemical neutron activation analysis of chromium in biological materials using ion chromatography with “on-line” yield determination

The use of ion chromatography with continuous UV detection for radiochemical separation of Cr with simultaneous yield determination is presented. The RNAA method consists of sample destruction in HNO₃+HClO₄, extraction of Cr(VI) with tribenzylamine in CHCl₃, backextraction in NaOH and chromatography of chromate. From radiotracer experiments, the ratio of signals for⁵¹Cr and Cr spike was found to be constant for a chromium mass range of 15 to 100 g. Application of the RNAA method to Cr determination in biological reference materials showed a reasonable agreement with the reference values. A relative standard deviation of 3% on the 100 g/kg level for homogeneous material was achieved.IAEA-fellow, on leave from the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute Philippine     

Application of learning algorithms for colour recognition on underwater images

Objects look very different in the underwater environment compared to their appearance in sunlight. High quality images with correct colouring simplify the detection of underwater objects. Hence, image processing is required to obtain images of high quality and correct colouring. Current algorithms focus on the colour reconstruction of scenery at diving depth where a significant part of sunlight is still present and different colours can still be distinguished. At greater depth the filtering is much stronger such that this is not possible. In this study it is investigated whether machine learning can be used to transform image data obtained in a controlled laboratory setup. The images are fed through learning machines with or without pre-filters. It is shown that k-nearest neighbour and support vector machines are most suitable for the given task and yield excellent results. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)