Observed difference between the probabilities of recoilless resonance absorptionf′ and reemissionf″ of gamma-quanta in single crystals of Na2[Fe(CN)5NO]·2 H2O

The recoilless absorption probability factor,f, and recoilless reemission,f, both measured on Na₂[Fe(CN)₅NO]·2 H₂O single crystals using the black filter technique, were found to be different. Unexpectedly, the results found weref>f. In the calculation off, selfabsorption in the scatterer, non-ideality of the black filter and the influence of non-resonant scattering processes have all been taken into account. By varying the scattering geometry for the incoming and outgoing -beam relative to the crystallographic axes only a change in the reemitted valuesf _a, f_b, f_c could be detected because of the long lifetime of the excited nucleus (10^–7 s) relative to the lattice vibration frequencies (10¹² Hz).     

Lattice dynamics in RbCN

The dispersion of acoustic and optical phonons of rubidium cyanide has been measured at 300 K. The acoustic branches are affected by rotation-translation coupling in a way similar to the findings in KCN. The data are explained by a model which combines a shell model and rotation-translation coupling.     

Elastic properties of monoclinic telluric acid ammonium phosphate,Te(OH)6·2NH4H2PO4·(NH4)2HPO4, near the paraelectric-ferroelectric transition

The elastic constants of Te(OH)₆·2NH₄H₂PO₄·(NH₄)₂HPO₄, TAAP, point symmetrym, have been measured by ultrasonic resonance methods passing through the paraelectric-ferroelectric transition at ca. 320 K. In the range between 273 and 340 K the elasticity tensor exhibits only a slight anisotropy. No discontinuity of the elastic constants is observed. However, some temperature derivatives of the elastic constants show slight anomalies within the range 310 to 325 K. The strongest effect occurs with the longitudinal elastic resistancec ₂₂. The thermal expansion which varies only slightly between 263 and 340 K, is highly anisotropic in contrast to the thermoelastic behaviour. A strong negative thermal expansion is observed in a direction within the mirror plane, ca. 45° apart from the direction of spontaneous polarization.This effect is not accompanied by a corresponding thermoelastic anomaly. The interactions connected with the transition are of the totally symmetric type. Like many other properties the elastic and thermoelastic behaviour of TAAP resembles that of triglycine sulphate (TGS). Larger differences between TAAP and TGS are found in the pressure dependence of various properties. For example the pressure dependence of the transition temperatureT is negative for TAAP (–3.8 K/kbar) and positive for TGS (3.9 K/kbar).Dedicated to Prof. Dr. H.E. Müser on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

A long-pulse millimeter-wave free electron maser

An experimental free electron maser (FEM) facility is described which operates in the millimeter-wave regime. The experiment demonstrates that high gain and beam extraction efficiency can be obtained with low-current but high-quality electron beams. In the oscillator configuration, microwave powers of 110 kW were achieved with a 300-kV, 4-A beam, corresponding to a beam extraction efficiency of 9.2%. At low beam currents, with the system operating in the linear regime, the FEM gain curve was measured. The experiment uses a Pierce-type gun with a calculated beam emittance of 10.7-mm mrad at 300 kV and 4 A. The wiggler is of the iron permanent magnet hybrid design. The experiment is intended as a first step towards the development of continuous-wave (CW) devices that use beam energy recovery to make use of low-current, high-voltage power supplies     

Influence of deuteration on lithium acetate dihydrate studied by inelastic X-ray scattering, density functional theory, thermal expansion, elastic and thermodynamic measurements

The influence of deuteration on the properties of lithium acetate dihydrate has been investigated by thermal expansion measurements, ultrasound spectroscopy and calorimetry. Inelastic X-ray scattering has been employed to investigate if the low temperature structural phase transition can be detected by a change in the vibrational spectrum. Density functional theory, DFT, calculations have been employed to complement the experimental investigations. The thermal expansion coefficients and the specific heat of the deuterated compound differ significantly from the protonated form. The differences in the elastic stiffness coefficients are just above the detection limit of the technique employed here. Temperature dependent inelastic X-ray spectroscopic measurements show no significant change of the vibrational spectrum when crossing the transition temperature. The DFT calculations show that the methyl group dynamics are best described in the framework of coupled rotators of opposing methyl groups. One of the coupled rotational modes corresponds to a hindered rotator with a barrier of 15 meV, while the other is a free rotator.     

Tunable detection of high-frequency phonons in LaF3

Tunable detection of high-frequency phonons in LaF₃ is reported. Phonons generated by a heat-pulse technique are detected by phonon-induced fluorescence from magnetically split energy levels of Er³⁺ impurity ions. Evidence for a strongly frequency-dependent lifetime of acoustic phonons at frequencies above 600 GHz is found. The lifetime is attributed to spontaneous anharmonic phonon decay.