Electron paramagnetic resonance and optical absorption spectra of Cr ions in cadmium phosphate glass

EPR and optical absorption investigations of chromium doped cadmium phosphate glass are carried out. Crystal field, spin-Hamiltonian and bonding parameters are evaluated. From the results and analyses of the EPR and optical studies, the site symmetry of Cr³⁺ ion in the glass is ascribed to a distorted octahedron. The bonding parameters suggest the ionic nature of Cr³⁺ ion with the ligands.     

Relationship between T c and electronegativity differences in compound superconductors

The electronegativity differences, N, between the anions and the cations in suggested resonating elements of some representative high-temperature superconductors with T _c - 10 K are evaluated adopting Pauling's scale. The relationship between N and T _c was found to separate all the examined high-T _csuperconductors onto two curves: One for the cuprate superconductors having two-dimensional layered structures was a straight line, T _c=29.8+4.1N; the other correlation curve representing the remaining compound superconductors including the doped 113 perovskite and the perovskite-related 214 structures was at lower T _c values but also suggested that increasing electronegativity differences was related to increasing T _c.This work was supported by the Director, Office of Energy Research, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences Division of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098     

Influence of cholesterol on the bilayer properties of monounsaturated phosphatidylcholine unilamellar vesicles

The influence of cholesterol on the structure of unilamellar-vesicle (ULV) phospholipid bilayers is studied using small-angle neutron scattering. ULVs made up of short-, mid- and long-chain monounsaturated phospholipids (diCn :1PC, n = 14 , 18, 22, respectively) are examined over a range (0-45mol %) of cholesterol concentrations. Cholesterol's effect on bilayer structure is characterized through changes to the lipid's transmembrane thickness, lateral area and headgroup hydration. For all three lipids, analysis of the experimental data shows that the addition of cholesterol results in a monotonic increase of these parameters. In the case of the short- and mid-chain lipids, this is an expected result, however, such a finding was unexpected for the long-chain lipid. This implies that cholesterol has a pronounced effect on the lipid's hydrocarbon chain organization.     

On the organization of self-assembled actin networks in giant vesicles

We studied the formation of actin scaffolds in giant vesicles of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC). Polymerization of actin was induced at low ionic strength through ionophore-mediated influx of Mg²⁺ (2 mM). The spatial organization of the filamentous actin was visualized by confocal and epifluorescence microscopy as a function of the filaments length and membrane composition, by including various amounts of cholesterol or lipids with neutral and positively charged polyethyleneglycol headgroups (PEG lipopolymers). In vesicles of pure DMPC, the newly polymerized actin adsorbs to the membrane and forms a thin shell. In the presence of 2.5 mol% lipopolymers or of cholesterol at a molar fraction x = 0.37, formation of a thin adsorbed film is impeded. A fuzzy cortex is predominantly formed in vesicles of diameter d smaller than the filament persistence length ( d ⩽ 15μm) while for larger vesicles a homogeneous network formation is favoured in the bulk of the vesicle. The fuzzy-cortex formation is interpreted as a consequence of the reduction of the bending energy if the actin filaments accumulate close to the vesicle wall. Received: 17 January 2002 / Accepted: 21 March 2003 / Published online: 24 April 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: Laurent_Limozin@ph.tum.de     

Electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma heating with broadband microwave radiation: Anomalous effects

Affects of microwave bandwidth on the high-charge-states of ion beams extracted from a conventional minimum-B-geometry ECR ion source are first demonstrated. The high-charge-state intensities, produced with broadband microwave radiation are observed to be factors ?2 than those produced with narrow bandwidth microwave radiation at the same power level.     

Shear Viscosity to Non-Equilibrium Entropy Density Ratio of Hot Quark-Gluon Plasma at Finite Chemical Potential

In the framework of irreversible thermodynamics, we study the transport properties of hot quark-gluon plasmas. The viscous entropy production at finite chemical potential as well as the shear viscosity to non-equilibrium entropy density ratio is investigated in weakly coupled limit by using kinetic theory. The results show that the chemical potential contributes positively to their ratio compared to the pure temperature case. The ratio exhibits two boundaries in the coupling strength in which a minimum value of 0.42 is found at αs=0.6.     

A kinetic model for alternate oscillation of self-terminating and recombination lasers in strontium ions

A self-consistent model has been developed to simulate the kinetics of alternate oscillation of self-terminating and recombination lasers in univalent ions of strontium excited by the high-repetition-rate (HRR) pulsed discharge. Photoelectric pulse waveforms predicted by the model are in good agreement with the experimental measurement. The model also gives temporal behaviors of long-life particles, the population densities of upper and lower laser levels and the electron temperature (Te) in He-Sr discharge plasma. The emission process of the two laser alternate oscillations, the characteristic of the laser pulse width and the population inversion mechanics are also analyzed.     

Pressure dependence of the morphology and size of cobalt (II,III) oxide nanoparticles prepared by pulsed-laser ablation

Received: 18 September 1998/Accepted: 22 September 1998     

Local entropic effects of polymers grafted to soft interfaces

In this paper, we study the equilibrium properties of polymer chains end-tethered to a fluid membrane. The loss of conformational entropy of the polymer results in an inhomogeneous pressure field that we calculate for Gaussian chains. We estimate the effects of excluded volume through a relation between pressure and concentration. Under the polymer pressure, a soft surface will deform. We calculate the deformation profile for a fluid membrane and show that close to the grafting point, this profile assumes a cone-like shape, independently of the boundary conditions. Interactions between different polymers are also mediated by the membrane deformation. This pair-additive potential is attractive for chains grafted on the same side of the membrane and repulsive otherwise. Received 20 April 2000     

Bulk and near-surface annealing behavior of the 0.8 eV luminescence in semi-insulating gallium arsenide

An annealing study of the 0.8 eV photoluminescence band in LEC GaAs has been performed, using a combination of 10 min annealing steps over a temperature range of 800–1100° C and one hour furnace annealing steps at 500–700° C. Results show that the defect responsible for the luminescence is stable in bulk material under all annealing conditions that have been investigated. In combination with earlier results, this demonstrates a stability of the defect to temperatures in excess of 900° C and indicates a parallel with the annealing behavior of the 0.67 eV band in semi-insulating GaAs. The observed annealing behavior is very different in the near-surface region, indicating an important role of As out-diffusion.