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41421 Publications

Superconductivity in Layered Organic Metals

Wosnitza, J.

In this short review, I will give an overview on the current understanding of the superconductivity in quasi-two-dimensional organic metals. Thereby, I will focus on charge-transfer salts based on bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF or ET for short). In these materials, strong electronic correlations are clearly evident, resulting in unique phase diagrams. The layered crystallographic structure leads to highly anisotropic electronic as well as superconducting properties. The corresponding very high orbital critical field for in-plane magnetic-field alignment allows for the occurrence of the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state as evidenced by thermodynamic measurements. The experimental picture on the nature of the superconducting state is still controversial with evidence both for unconventional as well as for BCS-like superconductivity.

Keywords: organic superconductors; electronic structure; superconducting state; Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov state

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17043
Publ.-Id: 17043


Generation of pulsed magnetic fields – stretching the limits—

Zherlitsyn, S.

High magnetic fields are one of the most powerful tools available to scientists for the study, modification, and control of the state of matter. The application of magnetic fields, therefore, has become a commonly used instrument in condensed-matter physics. Consequently, the demand for ever higher magnetic-field strengths is increasing. At the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (Hochfeld-Magnetlabor Dresden, HLD), pulsed magnetic fields up to about 90 T are readily available for users. For the generation of such high pulsed magnetic fields a specially designed world-unique capacitor bank has been installed. Operating at a maximum voltage of 24 kV, peak currents of up to 500 kA with a pulsed power of about 5 GW can be supplied. Besides this high-energy (50 MJ) capacitor bank, a number of smaller capacitive pulsed-power generators are designed at the HLD, some of which supply currents beyond 1.5 MA on a microsecond time scale.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 12.-16.03.2012, Stuttgart, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17042
Publ.-Id: 17042


A method for model-free partial volume correction in oncological PET

Hofheinz, F.; Langner, J.; Petr, J.; Beuthien-Baumann, B.; Oehme, L.; Steinbach, J.; Kotzerke, J.; van den Hoff, J.

Background
As is well known, limited spatial resolution leads to partial volume effects (PVE) and consequently to limited signal recovery. Determination of the mean activity concentration of a target structure is thus compromised even at target sizes much larger than the reconstructed spatial resolution. This leads to serious size-dependent underestimates of true signal intensity in hot spot imaging. For quantitative PET in general and in the context of therapy assessment in particular it is, therefore, mandatory to perform an adequate partial volume correction (PVC). The goal of our work was to develop and to validate a model-free PVC algorithm for hot spot imaging.
Methods
The algorithm proceeds in two automated steps. Step 1: estimation of the actual object boundary with a threshold based method and determination of the total activity A measured within the enclosed volume V. Step 2: determination of the activity fraction B, which is measured outside the object due to the partial volume effect (spill-out). The PVE corrected mean value is then given by Cmean = (A+B)/V. For validation simulated tumours were used which were derived from real patient data (liver metastases of a colorectal carcinoma and head and neck cancer, respectively). The simulated tumours have characteristics (regarding tumour shape, contrast, noise, etc.) which are very similar to those of the underlying patient data, but the boundaries and tracer accumulation are exactly known. The PVE corrected mean values of 37 simulated tumours were determined and compared with the true mean values.
Results
For the investigated simulated data the proposed approach yields PVE corrected mean values which agree very well with the true values (mean deviation (± s.d.): .(-0.8 ± 2.5)%).
Conclusions
The described method enables accurate quantitative partial volume correction in oncological hot spot imaging.

Keywords: Partial volume effect; Partial volume correction; Recovery correction; PET; Quantification

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17041
Publ.-Id: 17041


Curium(III) citrate speciation in biological systems: An europium(III) assisted spectroscopic and quantum chemical study

Heller, A.; Barkleit, A.; Foerstendorf, H.; Tsushima, S.; Bernhard, G.

Citrate complexes are the dominant binding form of trivalent actinides and lanthanides in human urine at pH < 6. Hence, an accurate prediction of the speciation of these elements in the presence of citric acid is crucial for the understanding of the impact on the metabolism of the human organism and the corresponding health risks. We studied the complexation of Cm(III) and Eu(III), as representatives of trivalent actinides and lanthanides, respectively, in aqueous citrate solution over a wide pH range using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Four distinct citrate complexes were identified and their stability constants were determined for both Cm(III) and Eu(III), which are MHCit0, M(HCitH)HCit2-, M(HCit)23-, and M(Cit)25- (M = Cm, Eu). Additionally, there were also indications for the formation of MCit- complexes. Structural details on the EuHCit and EuCit- complexes were obtained with FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations. IR spectroscopic evidence for the deprotonation of the hydroxyl group of the citrate ion in the EuCit- complex is presented, which also revealed that the complexation of the Eu3+ ion takes place not only through the carboxylate groups, like in EuCit0, but additionally via the hydroxylate group. In both EuCit0 and EuCit- the carboxylate binding mode is mono-dentate. Under very low metal : citrate ratio that is typical for human body fluids, the Cm(III) and Eu(III) speciation was found to be strongly pH-dependent. The Cm(III) and Eu(III) citrate complexes dominant in human urine at pH < 6 were identified to be Cm(HCitH)HCit2- and a mixture of Eu(HCitH)HCit2- and EuHCit0. The results specify our previous in vitro study using natural human urine samples.

Keywords: actinoids; lanthanoids; TRLFS; ATR-FT-IR; DFT; heavy metal speciation; biofluids; citric acid

  • Dalton Transactions 41(2012)45, 13969-13983

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17040
Publ.-Id: 17040


Study on severe accidents and countermeasures for VVER-1000 reactors using the integral code ASTEC

Tusheva, P.; Schäfer, F.; Reinke, N.; Altstadt, E.; Kliem, S.

The research field focussing on the investigations and the analyses of severe accidents is an important part of the nuclear safety. To maintain the safety barriers as long as possible and to retain the radioactivity within the airtight premises or the containment, to avoid or mitigate the consequences of such events and to assess the risk, thorough studies are needed. On the one side, it is the aim of the severe accident research to understand the complex phenomena during the in- and ex-vessel phase, involving reactor-physics, thermal-hydraulics, physico-chemical and mechanical processes. On the other side the investigations strive for effective severe accident management measures.

This paper is focused on the possibilities for accident management measures in case of severe accidents. The reactor pressure vessel is the last barrier to keep the molten materials inside the reactor, and thus to prevent higher loads to the containment. To assess the behaviour of a nuclear power plant during transient or accident conditions, computer codes are widely used, which have to be validated against experiments or benchmarked against other codes. The analyses performed with the integral code ASTEC cover two accident sequences which could lead to a severe accident: a small break loss of coolant accident and a station blackout. The results have shown that in case of unavailability of major active safety systems the reactor pressure vessel would ultimately fail. The discussed issues concern the main phenomena during the early and late in-vessel phase of the accident, the time to core heat-up, the hydrogen production, the mass of corium in the reactor pressure vessel lower plenum and the failure of the reactor pressure vessel. Additionally, possible operator’s actions and countermeasures in the preventive or mitigative domain are addressed. The presented investigations contribute to the validation of the European integral severe accidents code ASTEC for VVER-1000 type of reactors.

Keywords: Severe accidents; severe accident management; SBLOCA; SBO; primary side depressurization; vessel failure; ASTEC

  • Contribution to proceedings
    AER Symposium 2011, 19.-23.09.2011, Dresden, Germany
  • Lecture (Conference)
    AER Symposium 2011, 19.-23.09.2011, Dresden, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17039
Publ.-Id: 17039


Long-term spatiotemporal monitoring of diffusion processes in Opalinus drill cores with GeoPET and parameterization with Comsol Multiphysics

Kulenkampff, J.; Gründig, M.; Schikora, J.; Zakhnini, A.; Lippmann-Pipke, J.

Typically, the assessment of effective diffusion parameters of natural geologic media is conducted by repeated concentration measurements in diffusion cells. They contain small-sized samples which are regarded as 1D-homogeneous “black boxes”. Alternatively, 1D-tracer profiles can be obtained by means of abrasive pealing [1]. These methods have in common that 2D or higher spatial inhomogeneity of structure (and composition) and anisotropy cannot be considered in one and the same sample. In the course of the past decade we established the GeoPET-method allowing the direct, non-destructive, quantitative spatiotemporal visualization of (e.g.) diffusion processes in natural geological media on drill-core scale [2-4]. Here we couple it with the parameterization of heterogeneous and anisotropic effective diffusion parameters by means of inverse modeling with a finite element based numerical model (COMSOL Multiphysics, V4.2a) [5].
Out GeoPET-method is characterized by unrivalled sensitivity and selectivity to positron-emitting radio nuclides (here: PET tracers, Positron Emission Tomography, a nuclear medicine imaging method) in geological systems, without physical and chemical impact on the observed (reactive) transport process, and with adequate spatial and temporal resolution. Requirements for reaching the physical limit of image resolution of nearly 1 mm are a high-resolution PET-camera, like our ClearPET scanner (Raytest), and appropriate correction methods for scatter and attenuation of 511 keV-photons in the dense geological material. The latter are by far more significant than in human
and small animal body tissue (water). For long-term experiments, like diffusion monitoring, unconventional PET-nuclides, like 124I (T1/2 = 4.18 d), 58Co (T1/2 = 71.3 d) and 22Na (T1/2 = 4.602 a), are applied. The sensitivity is in the order of 0.1 kBq per voxel (1.5 mm3), which is limited by the background radiation.
Diffusion experiments were conducted on Opalinus clay drill cores with diameter of 10 cm and a length of 8 cm. These were cast into epoxy resin and a small axial drill hole was filled with 1 ml synthetic Opalinus pore water (OPW), labeled with a PET-nuclide. In first tests we applied 124Iodide.
Over 3 weeks we observed fast tracer propagation in distinct zones of the sample. This we interpret as due to suction into partially unsaturated zones. One sample was re-saturated over 3 months with OPW and then with OPW labeled with 22Na. The diffusion of the PET-tracer was observed for the following cause of 7 months. Then the specific activity fell below the detection threshold.
The quality of the obtained > 20 GeoPET-images is still improvable. Extensive Monte-Carlo simulations of our measurements, considering material dependent scattering cross sections of all occurring nuclear physical effects, have provided us with profound knowledge on the impact of scattering and attenuation on image quality [6]. Typical artifacts and blurring are identified as result of Compton scattering, which affects more than 70% of all recorded coincidences. Skillful selection of energy window and gantry diameter is capable of reducing this value to about 47%. This percentage will further drop significantly once the currently developed, appropriate scatter correction algorithms
are applied. Further, these Monte-Carlo simulations are a potential method for inversion-based image reconstruction [6].
We modeled this experiment with COMSOL Multiphysics ® 4.2a (3D convection-diffusion equation, PDE mode, PARDISO solver) for reproducing the observed spatiotemporal concentration distribution data with the differential equation for anisotropic diffusion and adsorption. By importing GeoPET images from various time steps and applying the Optimization Module (least square fit applying the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm) to these images we efficiently determined best fit values e.g. of the diffusion tensor. Combined with the parameter sweep operation the sensitivity analysis is performed in parallel and covers the range of literature values for porosity and Kd values for 22Na+ sorption on Opalinus clay [5].
The experimental data could be reproduced quite well, but the obtained parameter values for diffusion parallel and normal to the bedding are slightly larger than reported in [7]. This is in accordance with our observations of an emerging gas bubble in the tracer reservoir. In spite of the long re-saturation period, suction tensions caused by unsaturated clay zones must have significantly influenced the transport regime by an additional advective component.
References
1. Van Loon, L.R. and J. Eikenberg, A high-resolution abrasive method for determining diffusion profiles of sorbing radionuclides in dense argillaceous rocks. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 2005. 63: p. 11-21.
2. Richter, M., et al., Positron Emission Tomography for modelling of geochmical transport processes in clay. Radiochimica Acta, 2005. 93: p. 643-651.
3. Kulenkampff, J., et al., Evaluation of positron emission tomography for visualisation of migration processes in geomaterials. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 2008. 33: p. 937-942.
4. Gründig, M., et al., Tomographic radiotracer studies of the spatial distribution of heterogeneous geochemical transport processes. Applied Geochemistry, 2007. 22: p. 2334-2343.
5. Schikora, J., Simulation of diffusion-adsorption processes in natural geological media by means of COMSOL Multiphysics, in Faculty of mechanical Science and Engineering. 2012, Dresden Technical University: Dresden, Germany. p. 95.
6. Zakhnini, A., et al., Monte Carlo simulations of GeoPET experiments: 3D images of tracer distributions (18F, 124I and 58Co) in Opalinus Clay, anhydrite and quartz. 2012. 2012 (submitted).
7. Gimmi, T. and G. Kosakowski, How mobile are sorbed cations in clay and clay rocks? Environmental Science and Technology, 2011. 45: p. 1443-1449.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    5th International Meeting on "Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Radioactive Waste Confinement", 22.-25.10.2012, Montpellier, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17038
Publ.-Id: 17038


Determination of the Σ(1385)0/Λ(1405) ratio in p+p collisions at 3.5 GeV

Epple, E.; Fabbietti, L.; Agakishiev, G.; Belver, D.; Belyaev, A.; Blanco, A.; Böhmer, M.; Cabanelas, P.; Chernenko, S.; Dybczak, A.; Fateev, O.; Finocchiaro, P.; Fonte, P.; Friese, J.; Fröhlich, I.; Galatyuk, T.; Garzón, J. A.; Golubeva, M.; González-Díaz, D.; Guber, F.; Gumberidze, M.; Hennino, T.; Holzmann, R.; Huck, P.; Ierusalimov, A.; Ivashkin, A.; Jurkovic, M.; Kämpfer, B.; Karavicheva, T.; Koenig, I.; Koenig, W.; Kolb, B. W.; Korcyl, G.; Kornakov, G.; Kotte, R.; Kozuch, A.; Krása, A.; Krizek, F.; Krücken, R.; Kuc, H.; Kühn, W.; Kugler, A.; Kurepin, A.; Kurilkin, A.; Kurilkin, P.; Ladygin, V.; Lang, S.; Lapidus, K.; Liu, T.; Lopes, L.; Lorenz, M.; Maier, L.; Mangiarotti, A.; Markert, J.; Metag, V.; Michalska, B.; Michel, J.; Müntz, C.; Naumann, L.; Pachmayer, Y. C.; Palka, M.; Parpottas, Y.; Pechenov, V.; Pechenova, O.; Pietraszko, J.; Przygoda, W.; Ramstein, B.; Reshetin, A.; Rustamov, A.; Sadovsky, A.; Salabura, P.; Schmah, A.; Siebenson, J.; Sobolev, Y. G.; Spataro, S.; Ströbele, H.; Stroth, J.; Sturm, C.; Tarantola, A.; Teilab, K.; Tlusty, P.; Traxler, M.; Trebacz, R.; Tsertos, H.; Vasiliev, T.; Wagner, V.; Weber, M.; Wüstenfeld, J.; Yurevich, S.; Zanevsky, Y.

The aim of the present analysis is to determine the relative production cross sections of the Λ(1405) and Σ(1385)0 resonances in p+p collisions at Ekin = 3.5 GeV measured with HADES. Upper and lower limits have been determined for the ratio (Σ(1385)0+p+K+)(Λ(1405)+p+K+)=0.76+0.54−0.26. The knowledge of this ratio is an essential input for the analysis of the decay Λ(1405)→Σ±π , where an unambiguous separation of the Λ(1405) and Σ(1385)0 signals is not possible.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17037
Publ.-Id: 17037


Strange baryon resonances in pp collisions measured with HADES

Siebenson, J.; Agakishiev, G.; Belver, D.; Belyaev, A.; Blanco, A.; Böhmer, M.; Cabanelas, P.; Chernenko, S.; Dybczak, A.; Epple, E.; Fabbietti, L.; Fateev, O.; Finocchiaro, P.; Fonte, P.; Friese, J.; Fröhlich, I.; Galatyuk, T.; Garzón, J. A.; Golubeva, M.; González-Díaz, D.; Guber, F.; Gumberidze, M.; Hennino, T.; Holzmann, R.; Huck, P.; Ierusalimov, A.; Ivashkin, A.; Jurkovic, M.; Kämpfer, B.; Karavicheva, T.; Koenig, I.; Koenig, W.; Kolb, B. W.; Korcyl, G.; Kornakov, G.; Kotte, R.; Kozuch, A.; Krása, A.; Krizek, F.; Krücken, R.; Kuc, H.; Kühn, W.; Kugler, A.; Kurepin, A.; Kurilkin, A.; Kurilkin, P.; Ladygin, V.; Lang, S.; Lapidus, K.; Liu, T.; Lopes, L.; Lorenz, M.; Maier, L.; Mangiarotti, A.; Markert, J.; Metag, V.; Michalska, B.; Michel, J.; Müntz, C.; Naumann, L.; Pachmayer, Y. C.; Palka, M.; Parpottas, Y.; Pechenov, V.; Pechenova, O.; Pietraszko, J.; Przygoda, W.; Ramstein, B.; Reshetin, A.; Rustamov, A.; Sadovsky, A.; Salabura, P.; Schmah, A.; Sobolev, Y. G.; Spataro, S.; Ströbele, H.; Stroth, J.; Sturm, C.; Tarantola, A.; Teilab, K.; Tlusty, P.; Traxler, M.; Trebacz, R.; Tsertos, H.; Vasiliev, T.; Wagner, V.; Weber, M.; Wüstenfeld, J.; Yurevich, S.; Zanevsky, Y.

We present an analysis of the hyperons Λ(1405) and Σ(1385)+ for p+p reactions at 3.5 GeV kinetic beam energy. The data were taken with the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES). A Λ(1405) signal could be reconstructed in both charged decay channels Λ(1405) → Σ±π. The obtained statistics of the Σ(1385)+ signal allows also differential studies.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17036
Publ.-Id: 17036


Flow structures arising from melt stirring by means of modulated rotating magnetic fields

Räbiger, D.; Eckert, S.; Gerbeth, G.; Franke, S.; Czarske, J.

Electromagnetic stirring during solidification has been proved to be a striking method for achieving a purposeful alteration of the microstructure of casting ingots, such as grain refinement or the promotion of a transition from a columnar to an equiaxed dendritic groth (CET). However, the imposition of a rotating (RMF) or a travelling magnetic field (TMF) also causes problems like the occurrence of typical segregation pattern or a deflection of the upper free surface. A permanent radial inward (RMF and downward TMF) or outward (upward TMF) flow along the solidification front is responsible for the transport of solute to the axis or the wall of the ingot resulting in typical freckle segregation pattern filled with alloy of eutectic composition. Recent studies have shown, that modulated AC magnetic fields are appropriate to overcome these problems.
We present an experimental study concerning measurements of the flow inside a liquid metal column exposed to a pulsed rotating magnetic field. A novel ultrasound Doppler system was used two measure two-dimensional velocity fields of the secondary flow in the radial-meridional plane. It employs an array of 25 transducer elements allowing a fast electronic traversing with concurrently high spatial and temporal resolution. The measurements revealed transient flow regimes showing distinct inertial oscillations and coherent vortex structures. The results demonstrate that the arising flow structure depends sensitively on the frequency of the RMF pulses.

Keywords: Electromagnetic stirring; ultrasound Doppler velocimetry; modulated magnetic field; liquid metal flow

  • Contribution to proceedings
    8th PAMIR International Conference on Fundamental and Applied MHD, 05.-09.09.2011, Borgo - Corsica, France
  • Lecture (Conference)
    8th PAMIR International Conference on Fundamental and Applied MHD, 05.-09.09.2011, Borgo - Corsica, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17035
Publ.-Id: 17035


41Ca in Zähnen - ein biologisches Dosimeter für Neutronen

Rugel, G.

Das Wissen über die Parameter eines Strahlungsfeldes ist die Vorraussetzung um Studien zu strahleninduzierten Effekten durchzuführen. Besonders eine Exposition in einem gemischten Neutronen- und Gammastrahlungsfeld stellt eine besondere Herausforderung dar.
Messungen des Radioisotopes Calcium-41 (Halbwertszeit: etwa 100 000 Jahre), das durch eine Neutroneneinfangsreaktion an Calcium-40 in Zahnschmelz produziert wurde, erlauben es, die Fluenz thermischer Neutronen retrospektiv zu bestimmen.
Die verwendete Methode ist die höchstempfindliche Beschleunigermassenspektrometrie (accelerator mass spectrometry, AMS).

Die Messungen an Zahnschmelz wurden an Proben durchgeführt, die von Atombomben-Überlebenden von Hiroshima zur Verfügung gestellt wurden. Die Neutronendosis der gemessenen Zähne beträgt zwischen 10 und 80 mGy und wurde mittels Rechnungen des Dosimetriesystems DS02 zugeordnet. Die Gammadosis in Zahnschmelz wurde bereits aus Messungen der Elektronen-Spin-Resonanz rekonstruiert. Durch die Kombination beider Methoden bietet sich erstmals die Möglichkeit, die Exposition durch ein gemischtes Neutronen- und Gammastrahlungsfeld in ein und demselben biologischen Material retrospektiv zu quantifizieren.

Literatur: A. Wallner et al., Radiation Research 174, 137-145, 2010 und W. Rühm et al., Radiation Research 174, 146-154, 2010.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Kolloquium der Abteilung 6 der Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), 26.04.2012, Braunschweig, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17033
Publ.-Id: 17033


Comparison of Different Parallel Implementaions of the 2+1-Dimensional KPZ Model and the 3-Dimensional KMC Model

Kelling, J.; Ódor, G.; Nagy, M. F.; Schulz, H.; Heinig, K.-H.

We show that efficient simulations of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang interface growth in 2 + 1 dimensions and of the 3-dimensional Kinetic Monte Carlo of thermally activated diffusion can be realized both on GPUs and modern CPUs. In this article we present results of different implementations on GPUs using CUDA and OpenCL and also on CPUs using OpenCL and MPI. We investigate the runtime and scaling behavior on different architectures to find optimal solutions for solving current simulation problems in the field of statistical physics and materials science.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17032
Publ.-Id: 17032


Simplest Homoleptic Metal-Centered Tetrahedrons, [M(OH2)4]2+, in 1- Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate Ionic Liquid (M = Co, Ni, Cu)

Takao, K.; Tone, Y.; Hennig, C.; Inoue, S.; Tsubomura, T.

Dissolution of a tetrafluoroborate or perchlorate salt of [M(OH2)6]2+ (M = Co, Ni, Cu) in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetraluforoborate ionic liquid ([emim]BF4) results in significant solvatochromism and increasing intensity of color. These observations arise from partial dehydration from the octahedral [M(OH2)6]2+ and formation of the tetrahedral [M(OH2)4]2+. This reaction was monitored by the intense absorption band due to the d−d transition in the UV−vis absorption spectrum. The EXAFS investigation clarified the coordination structures around M2+ {[Co(OH2)4]2+, R(Co−O) = 2.17 Å, N = 4.2; [Cu(OH2)4]2+, R(Cu−O) = 2.09 Å, N = 3.8}.
1H and 19F NMR study suggested that both [emim]+ and BF4 − are randomly arranged in the second-coordination sphere of [M(OH2)4]2+.

Keywords: tetrahedral [M(OH2)4]2+ complexes; UV-Vis; EXAFS

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17031
Publ.-Id: 17031


Critical assessment of Cr-rich precipitates in neutron-irradiated Fe-12at%Cr

Bergner, F.; Ulbricht, A.; Wagner, A.; Kuksenko, S.; Pareige, C.; Pareige, P.; Malerba, L.

The composition of solute-enriched clusters and precipitates formed in Fe-Cr alloys as the result of neutron irradiation is an unsolved issue. It is an important issue for several reasons, namely:

  • to reach a complete and consistent description of the nanoscale features derived from the application of necessarily several complementary techniques,
  • to correctly design and calibrate models addressing the long-term evolution of the nanoscale features,
  • to correctly draw conclusions and configure models on the hardening effect of those nanoscale features.
Three sets of data separately reported in the published literature [1-3] have been selected for a critical consideration of the cluster composition in commercial-purity Fe-12at%Cr irradiated at 300°C up to a neutron exposure of 0.6 dpa. The first set of data was derived from the nuclear component of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) [1]. The second set is based on an atom probe tomography (APT) study [2]. The APT needles were prepared from the bulk of the SANS sample. The third piece of information is adopted from an investigation of the same material by means of positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) [3]. The SANS results [1] were found to be consistent with the assumption that the dominant scatterers are α’-phase particles near thermodynamic equilibrium. A composition far from equilibrium was deduced from the APT data [2]. Similar apparent discrepancies were reported in the literature for other systems. In the presentation an effort to overcome the apparent discrepancy will be reported in detail.
The basic weakness of SANS is the integrating and one-parametric nature of the composition-related information hidden in the nuclear scattering contrast. Weaknesses of APT are a possible overestimation of Fe in clusters due to trajectory overlap and the insensitivity to vacancies. In the latter respect, PAS data add a value to the comparison. Other factors will be considered as well. The approach is based on the idea that the measured value of the Porod invariant of nuclear SANS can be directly compared with the corresponding quantity calculated solely from the APT data, namely volume fraction and cluster composition. Careful treatment of all potential factors of uncertainty allows the Fe fraction in the clusters to be estimated.
[1] F. Bergner, A. Ulbricht, C. Heintze, Estimation of the solubility limit of Cr in Fe at 300 °C from small-angle neutron scattering in neutron-irradiated Fe–Cr alloys, Scripta Materialia 61 (2009) 1060–1063.
[2] V. Kuksenko, C. Pareige, C. Genevois, F. Cuvilly, M. Roussel, P. Pareige, Effect of neutron-irradiation on the microstructure of a Fe–12at.%Cr alloy, Journal of Nuclear Materials 415 (2011) 61–66.
[3] M. Lambrecht, L. Malerba, Positron annihilation spectroscopy on binary Fe–Cr alloys and ferritic/martensitic steels after neutron irradiation, Acta Materialia 59 (2011) 6547–6555.

Keywords: Fe-Cr alloys; Atom probe tomography; small-angle neutron scattering

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Joint IAEA - EC Topical meeting on Development of new structural materials for advanced fission and fusion reactor systems, 16.-20.04.2012, JRC Ispra, Italien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17030
Publ.-Id: 17030


Intra-excitonic extreme nonlinear optics

Teich, M.; Wagner, M.; Stehr, D.; Schneider, H.; Helm, M.; Chatterjee, S.; Gibbs, H.; Khitrova, G.

A fundamental problem in light-matter interaction is the coupling of an intense, monochromatic electromagnetic wave with a quantum mechanical two-level system. One effect related to this is the Autler-Townes or AC Stark effect. Originally observed and described in molecular spectroscopy the effect refers to a splitting of an energy level that is resonantly coupled via intense radiation to an adjacent level, i.e. the states get ”dressed” by the light-matter interaction. We investigate this effect using a free-electron laser (FEL) driven intra-excitonic transition between the 1s and 2p states in a semiconductor multiple quantum well .We have observed distinct intensity- and wavelengthdependent Rabi sidebands of the heavy-hole hh(1s) exciton line when the FEL was tuned around the 1s-2p transition. We also present measurements at higher electric fields exploring the regime beyond the rotating-wave approximation.

Keywords: Quantum well; Exciton; THz; FEL

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    DPG-Frühjahrstagung, Abteilung Kondensierte Materie, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17029
Publ.-Id: 17029


Intraexcitonic coherent optics

Teich, M.; Wagner, M.; Stehr, D.; Schneider, H.; Helm, M.; Chatterjee, S.; Gibbs, H.; Khitrova, G.

A fundamental problem in light-matter interaction is the coupling of an intense, monochromatic electromagnetic wave with a quantum mechanical two-level system. One effect related to this is the Autler-Townes or AC Stark effect. Originally observed and described in molecular spectroscopy the effect refers to a splitting of an energy level that is resonantly coupled via intense radiation to an adjacent level, i.e. the states get ”dressed” by the light-matter interaction. We investigate this effect using a free-electron laser (FEL) driven intra-excitonic transition between the heavy-hole 1s and 2p states in a semiconductor multiple quantum well. We have observed distinct intensity- and wavelength dependent Rabi sidebands of the 1s exciton line when the FEL was tuned around the 1s-2p transition. We also present measurements at higher electric fields exploring the regime beyond the rotating-wave approximation (RWA). Theoretical calculations support the understanding of the underlying processes which is especially interesting for the regime beyond the RWA. Also temperature-dependent measurements have been done and a clear Rabi-sideband behavior is observable up to 200 K where the thermal energy already exceeds the exciton binding energy by a factor of 1.7.

Keywords: Quantum wells; Excitons; THz; FEL

Related publications

  • Poster
    Free-Electron Lasers: From Fundamentals to Applications, 10.-13.04.2012, Bad Honnef, Germany

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17028
Publ.-Id: 17028


Experimental evidence for a transient Tayler instability in a cylindrical liquid-metal column

Seilmayer, M.; Stefani, F.; Gundrum, T.; Weier, T.; Gerbeth, G.

In the current-driven, kink-type Tayler instability (TI) a sufficiently strong azimuthal magnetic field becomes unstable against non-axisymmetric perturbations. The TI has been discussed as a possible ingredient of the solar dynamo mechanism and a source of the helical structures in cosmic jets. It is also considered as a size limiting factor for liquid metal batteries. We report on a liquid metal TI experiment using a cylindrical column of the eutectic alloy GaInSn to which electrical currents of up to 8 kA are applied. We present results of external magnetic field measurements that indicate the transient occurrence of the TI in good agreement with numerical predictions. The interference of TI with the competing large scale convection, resulting from Joule heating, is also discussed.

Keywords: Tayler Instability; Liquid Metall

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17027
Publ.-Id: 17027


Comparative investigation of the neptunium(V) sorption onto gibbsite by means of ATR FT-IR spectroscopy

Gückel, K.; Foerstendorf, H.; Brendler, V.

The molecular reactions of actinides at the solid-water interface play an important role in the retardation of radionuclides in the environment. Hence, the investigation of the interactions of actinides with metal oxides such as Al(OH)3, Fe(OOH)x, TiO2, or SiO2, serving as model phases for more complex, naturally occurring minerals in aqueous solution, becomes essential for the safety assessment in the near and far field of nuclear repositories. In recent years, the sorption behavior of neptunium (Np) onto synthetic and naturally occurring minerals was insufficiently studied. The majority of these studies provide macroscopic results presenting sorption capacities of the substrates and the effect of selective parameters on the sorption behavior. However, for a better understanding of the sorption mechanisms, structural information on a molecular level of the type of surface complex is still needed.
Comprehensive studies using ATR FT-IR spectroscopy have been carried out to investigate the in situ formation of neptunyl(V) surface complexes on aluminum hydroxide, namely gibbsite. This substrate serves as a model phase for more complex mineral systems, e.g. clay minerals. The surface complexation of Np(V) on amorphous and crystalline gibbsite was studied in detail by a multiplicity of experiments in the presence and absence of atmospherically derived carbonate . In the absence of carbonate, one inner-sphere complex is formed on amorphous gibbsite, whereas no sorption occurs on the crystalline gibbsite. In the presence of carbonate and dependent on the crystal structure, different surface species (inner-, outer-sphere and ternary) were derived from the spectra

Keywords: Neptunium(V); sorption; gibbsite

  • Lecture (Conference)
    4th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress, 26.-30.08.2012, Prag, Tschechische Republik

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17025
Publ.-Id: 17025


Kinetic Monte Carlo Simulations on Self-organization of Nanostructures Accelerated by Massive Parallelization

Kelling, J.

Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) currently provide the most peek processing performance regarding both cost and energy consumption. This is achieved by mounting large numbers of simple cores rather than a few complex ones. The characteristics that come with this design demand a large degree of data-parallelism from applications. Thus, new approaches are needed for parallelizing tasks that are not by nature data-parallel.
The 3D kinetic lattice Monte Carlo (KLMC) method is a means of performing atomistic simulations of self-organization processes in solids at by far larger scales than those accessible via molecular dynamics (MD). This method has been implemented for GPUs, achieving up to 70 times higher performance than the sequential reference implementation on a single core of a modern CPU. This enables atomistic simulations at even larger scales, even putting space and time scales comparable to the experiment within range.
The new program has been shown to be useful to study the phase separation in large binary systems. This was done with an application for third generation photovoltaics cells in mind which is a subject of a current BMBF project. It was also applied to out-of-equilibrium problems, backing up a theory of inverse Ostwald ripening (IOR) from an angle that was not previously looked at.

  • Diploma thesis
    TU Dresden, 2012
    62 Seiten

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17024
Publ.-Id: 17024


Magnetism in Ge by ion implantation with Fe and Mn

Reuther, H.; Talut, G.; Mücklich, A.; Stromberg, F.

Previously, ferromagnetic layers of Ge were produced by co-doping with Mn and Fe. While these layers were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy in the present study ion implantation is used for preparation. Implantation conditions were chosen that a maximum doping concentration of 6 atomic % per dopant was achieved. One sample set was implanted at 260 °C, another one at room temperature. Samples were characterized by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, transmission electron microscopy, and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy. Several samples were recovered by flash lamp annealing. Ferromagnetism in Ge may be induced, however, in all cases the origin of the magnetism was not intrinsic but from secondary phases. Such phases were already formed due to implantation at elevated temperature. Implantation at room temperature prevents the formation but let the samples remain non-ferromagnetic. Subsequent short time annealing above a special limit will produce secondary phases or metal rich regions and ferromagnetism, annealing below does not change the magnetic behaviour but let diffusion processes start. Although nearly identical concentration conditions like in the study first mentioned were adjusted the nature of the magnetism is another one. It is hint that the order/disorder state of the magnetic atoms containing layer plays the more important role.

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17023
Publ.-Id: 17023


Do elevated temperatures and organic matter influence the U(VI) diffusion through argillaceous rock?

Joseph, C.; van Loon, L. R.; Jakob, A.; Steudtner, R.; Schmeide, K.; Sachs, S.; Bernhard, G.

The suitability of argillaceous rock as host rock and backfill material in a nuclear waste repository is discussed worldwide. In a nuclear waste repository several factors have to be considered for safety assessment. Beside high radiotoxic nuclides, such as neptunium and plutonium, the finally stored high-level radioactive waste will contain also a high amount of uranium, which originates mainly from spent nuclear fuel. 1) Due to radioactive decay of the embedded radionuclides higher temperatures are expected close to the waste containers (argillaceous rock ≤ 100 °C (Brasser et al. 2008)). 2) Argillaceous rock contains also a certain amount of organic matter such as humic acids (Claret et al. 2003), which can be leached by groundwater. Humic acids (HA) have a variety of functional groups, thus, they are able to complex metal ions such as actinides and to form stable colloids. Hence, they can influence the actinide sorption and diffusion. For performance of safety assessment, it is necessary to know, how the migration of the different actinides are influenced by elevated temperatures and the presence of organic matter.
In this study the U(VI) diffusion in the argillaceous rock Opalinus Clay (OPA) from Mont Terri, Switzerland was investigated at 25 and 60 °C both in the absence and presence of HA. As background electrolyte synthetic OPA pore water (Pearson 1998) was applied (pH 7.6, I = 0.36 M). The experimental set-up used for the diffusion experiments at 25 °C and 60 °C is described in Van Loon and Soler (2004) and Joseph et al. (2012), respectively. OPA bore core samples (diameter: 2.55 cm, thickness: 1.1 cm, dry bulk density: ~ 2400 kg/m^3) were placed in four diffusion cells. Each was connected with a tracered source reservoir and a non-tracered receiving reservoir, all reservoirs were filled with OPA pore water. Two cells were tempered at 25 °C (cell 1, cell 2) and 60 °C (cell 3, cell 4), respectively. All experiments were performed under anaerobic conditions (N2, 0 % CO2). The pressure adjusted on the OPA samples amounted to 5 MPa. At first, in all four cells through- and out-diffusion of non-sorbing HTO was studied for determining the transport porosity of the clay samples. The results were in agreement with literature data (Van Loon and Soler 2004). Subsequently, the U(VI) diffusion in OPA was investigated at 25 °C (cell 1) and 60 °C (cell 3). The simultaneous diffusion of U(VI) and HA in OPA was studied at 25 °C (cell 2) and 60 °C (cell 4). Thereby, 233U(VI) (c0 = 1E-6 mol/L) and 14C-labeled HA (c0 = 10 mg/L) were applied as tracers. After three months the experiments were terminated. In all receiving reservoirs no 233U(VI) could be detected. However, diffused HA molecules were found. The diffusion profiles of U(VI) and HA in the OPA samples were determined with the help of the abrasive peeling technique described by Van Loon and Eikenberg (2005). The obtained diffusion profiles were evaluated using the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5a (COMSOL 2008).
In Figure 1a the U(VI) diffusion profiles in OPA at 25 and 60 °C in the absence of HA are shown. At 25 °C, the Kd value determined for the interaction of U(VI) with OPA by diffusion experiments clearly confirms the Kd value determined by means of sorption experiments (Joseph et al. 2011). A reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) was excluded. The value for the apparent diffusion coefficient Da of U(VI) was comparable to that of Np(V) determined by Wu et al. (2009). Thus, a similar migration behavior of both actinides through OPA was assumed. At 60 °C, the experimental data could be fitted only by assuming two diffusing U(VI) species resulting in two diffusion profiles. These two species were identified by means of laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray detector. The aqueous Ca2UO2(CO3)3 complex and so far, a not closer assignable colloidal U(VI) carbonate species were detected. In OPA the colloids diffused only about 500 µm, the aqueous U(VI) species was found up to a depth of about 2.5 mm. At 60 °C, the Kd values for both species were higher than that of U(VI) at 25 °C. Furthermore, the value for the effective diffusion coefficient De for the aqueous U(VI) species was increased. Both values compensate each other to almost equal Da values for U(VI) at 25 and 60 °C (only aqueous U(VI)). This shows, that the migration of U(VI) through OPA was not significantly influenced by the investigated higher temperature.

In Figure 1b the U(VI) diffusion profiles in OPA in the absence and presence of HA at 25 °C are presented. The profiles show, that in the presence of HA U(VI) penetrates the clay less than in the absence of HA. However, considering all the uncertainties a comparison of the respective Kd and De values verifies, that HA has no significant influence on U(VI) diffusion. This confirms the observations made by former batch sorption experiments for the system U(VI) / HA / OPA (Joseph et al. 2011). At 60 °C, also no influence of HA on the U(VI) diffusion was observed.
The study shows, that both investigated factors, an elevated temperature of 60 °C and the presence of HA, have no major influence on U(VI) migration through OPA.

References:

Brasser, T., Droste, J., Müller-Lyda, I., Neles, J.M., Sailer, M., Schmidt, G., Steinhoff, M. 2008. GRS - 247. Öko-Institut and Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS), Braunschweig.
Claret, F., Schäfer, T., Bauer, A., Buckau, G. 2003. Sci. Total Environ. 317, 189-200.
COMSOL 2008. Multiphysics 3.5a. Finite-element software package. http://www.comsol.com.
Joseph, C., Schmeide, K., Sachs, S., Brendler, V., Geipel, G., Bernhard, G. 2011. Chem. Geol. 284, 240-250.
Joseph, C., Van Loon, L.R., Jakob, A., Schmeide, K., Sachs, S., Bernhard, G. 2012. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, submitted.
Pearson, F.J. 1998. PSI Internal report TM-44-98-07. Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.
Van Loon, L.R., Eikenberg, J. 2005. Appl. Radiat. Isot. 63, 11-21.
Van Loon, L.R., Soler, J.M. 2004. PSI-Bericht Nr. 04-03. Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland.
Wu, T., Amayri, S., Drebert, J., Van Loon, L.R., Reich, T. 2009. Environ. Sci. Technol. 43, 6567-6571.

Keywords: uranium(VI); humic acid; Opalinus Clay; temperature; diffusion

  • Contribution to proceedings
    Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Radioactive Waste Confinement, 22.-25.10.2012, Montpellier, France
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Clays in Natural and Engineered Barriers for Radioactive Waste Confinement, 22.-25.10.2012, Montpellier, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17022
Publ.-Id: 17022


Continuous wave ridge waveguide lasers in femtosecond laser micromachined ion irradiated Nd:YAG single crystals

Jia, Y.; Dong, N.; Chen, F.; de Aldana, J. R. V.; Akhmadaliev, S.; Zhou, S.

Ridge waveguides have been fabricated in Nd:YAG single crystal by using femtosecond laser micromachining in an oxygen ion irradiated planar waveguide. The microphotoluminescence features have been found well preserved in the waveguide structures. Continuous wave lasers have been realized at 1.06 µm at room temperature in the ridge waveguide system with a lasing threshold of ~39 mW and a slope efficiency of 35%, which show superior performance to the planar waveguide.

Keywords: Integrated optics devices; Laser materials processing; Waveguides

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17021
Publ.-Id: 17021


High-magnetic-field investigation of CoCr2O4

Pronin, A. V.; Uhlarz, M.; Beyer, R.; Fischer, T.; Wosnitza, J.; Gorshunov, B. P.; Komandin, G. A.; Prokhorov, A. S.; Dressel, M.; Bush, A. A.; Torgashev, V. I.

We report on magnetic, optical, and thermodynamic properties of multiferroic CoCr2O4 in magnetic fields up to 14 T. We have found indications of a new phase transition at T* = 5 − 6 K. The phase between T* and the lock-in transition at 15 K is characterized by magnetic irreversibility. At higher fields the irreversibility increases. Heatcapacity measurements confirm the transition at T*, and also show the irreversible behaviour. We construct a field-temperature phase diagram of CoCr2O4. Below the ferrimagnetic transition (94 K), the low-frequency (terahertz) optical response is dominated by a magnetic exchange mode, which shows an anomalous temperature dependence and a softening at the structural transition (26 K).

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17020
Publ.-Id: 17020


Optical investigation of nominally undoped Pr2CuO4 films

Chanda, G.; Pronin, A. V.; Lobo, R. P. S. M.; Wosnitza, J.; Yamamoto, H.; Naito, M.

Superconducting Pr2CuO4 films with T′ structure and Tc beetween 25 and 27 K have been investigated by different optical methods in a wide frequency range (5 – 55000 cm−1) and for temperatures from 2 to 300 K. From the infrared reflectivity spectra, a superconducting gap of 2Δ0 = 17 meV = 7.4 κBTc is estimated. Absolute values of the London penetration depth (ΔL) have been calculated from phase-sensitive teraherz measurements. The zero-temperature limit of (ΔL) is 1.6 µm. The overall temperature dependence of (ΔL)shows a behavior typical for the cuprates. However, a closer look on the penetration depth at low temperatures reveals a flattening of the temperature dependence. We find (ΔL)(T) ∝ Tn with n = 2.8 ± 0.2.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17019
Publ.-Id: 17019


Magnetic excitations in the diamond spin system Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2 probed by ESR

Kamenskyi, D.; Ozerov, M.; Wolff-Fabris, F.; Wosnitza, J.; Francoual, S.; Zapf, V.; Zvyagin, S.

We report systematic tunable-frequency electron spin resonance (ESR) studies of the natural mineral azurite Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2. This material has a diamond spin-chain structure and exhibits unusual magnetic properties (including a magnetization plateau). ESR experiments have been done at frequencies from 50 to 1000 GHz in magnetic fields up to 51 T. The observed frequency-field dependence of the magnetic excitations clearly indicates the important role of magnetic frustrations in this material, which can be suppressed by high magnetic fields. Our findings are discussed in connection with results of inelastic neutron-scattering experiments.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17018
Publ.-Id: 17018


Angular-dependent specific heat of the fully organic superconductor β′′-(ET)2SF5CH2CF2SO3 - evidence for an FFLO phase

Beyer, R.; Schlueter, J. A.; Wosnitza, J.

Since 1964 predicted, there is no clear-cut experimental proof of the existence of a field-induced superconducting state with finite center of mass momentum (q \neq 0) [1]. In 2007, Lortz et al. reported thermodynamic evidence for a FFLO state in κ-(ET)2Cu(NCS)2 [2], where ET stands for bisethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene. They found an emerging sharp double-peak structure in the specific heat, indicating first-order phase transitions at high magnetic fields applied parallel to the superconducting ET layers. Expecting similar novel results for β′′-(ET)2SF5CH2CF2SO3, we performed high-resolution specific-heat measurements for different orientations with very fine steps around perfect parallel alignment. In conclusion, we found an upturn in the field-temperature phase diagram of the superconducting phase beyond the Pauli-Clogston limit and we could observe a double-peak structure above 9.4 Tesla but only by tilting the field 0.2 degree out of the ET sheets.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17017
Publ.-Id: 17017


ESR studies of the quasi-2D antiferromagnet Cu(Pz)2(ClO4)2

Ozerov, M.; Wosnitza, J.; Čižmár, E.; Xiao, F.; Turnbull, M. M.; Landee, C. P.; Zvyagin, S. A.

We report systematic high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) studies of the quasi-two-dimensional spin- ½ Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cu(pz)2(ClO4)2 (pz denotes pyrazine or C4H4N2). The linewidth and resonance-field temperature dependences of the ESR absorptions in this compound were investigated in the frequency range from 85 to 416 GHz in magnetic fields up to 16 T. A pronounced ESR linewidth anomaly was revealed in the vicinity of TN. This anomaly reflects enhanced critical fluctuations in this compound at the 3D ordering. The experiment revealed a significant change in the linewidth behavior for magnetic fields above 7 T, whose origin will be discussed.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17016
Publ.-Id: 17016


Tantalum incorporation in TiO2 based transparent conductive thin films

Neubert, M.; Vinnichenko, M.; Cornelius, S.; Kolitsch, A.

The growing number of applications of transparent electrodes in optoelectronic devices drives the need for novel cost-efficient transparent conductive materials. The epitaxial films of TiO2 doped with Nb or Ta show electrical resistivity values comparable to those of the best In2O3:Sn and ZnO:Al films. However, it is still challenging to achieve low electrical resistivity in polycrystalline TiO2-based films. In order to address this problem, we studied the films formed on glass substrates without heating by DC magnetron sputtering of reduced TiO2:Ta ceramic targets followed by vacuum annealing. It was crucial to use a plasma feedback system in order to enable a fine tuning of the oxygen supply into Ar and O2 gas mixture during the growth. This approach yielded the films with optical transittance above 85%, electrical resistivity in the range of 10-3  cm and free electron mobility of 8 cm²/Vs. The electrical activation of Ta dopant was above 60% that is substantially higher than that of Al in ZnO.

Keywords: TCO TiO2 titania Ta tantalum transparent conductive oxide

  • Lecture (Conference)
    DPG-Frühjahrstagung, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17015
Publ.-Id: 17015


Investigations on optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident in a VVER-1000 pressurized water reactor

Tusheva, P.; Schaefer, F.; Kliem, S.

The reactor safety issues are of primary importance for preserving the health of the population and ensuring no release of radioactivity and fission products into the environment. A part of the nuclear research focuses on improvement of the safety of existing nuclear power plants. Studies, research and efforts are a continuing process at improving the safety and reliability of existing and newly developed nuclear power plants at prevention of a core melt accident.

Station blackout (loss of AC power supply) is one of the dominant accidents taken into consideration at performing accident analysis. In case of multiple failures of safety systems it leads to a severe accident. To prevent an accident to turn into a severe one or to mitigate the consequences, accident management measures must be performed. The present paper outlines possibilities for application and optimization of accident management measures following a station blackout accident. Assessed is the behaviour of the nuclear power plant during a station blackout accident without accident management measures and with application of primary/secondary side oriented accident management measures. Discussed are the possibilities for operators’ intervention and the influence of the performed accident management measures on the course of the accident. Special attention has been paid to the effectiveness of the passive feeding and physical phenomena having an influence on the system behaviour.

The performed simulations show that the effectiveness of the secondary side feeding procedure can be limited due to an early evaporation or flashing effects in the feed water system. The analyzed cases show that the effectiveness of the accident management measures strongly depends on the initiation criteria applied for depressurization of the reactor coolant system.

Keywords: SBO; nuclear power plant behaviour; accident management; accident management measures; passive feeding; flashing effects

  • Contribution to proceedings
    International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP'12), 24.-28.06.2012, Chicago, USA
  • Lecture (Conference)
    International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP'12), 24.-28.06.2012, Chicago, USA

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17014
Publ.-Id: 17014


Radial solidification of Al-Si alloys in the presence of a rotating magnetic field

Travnikov, V.; Nikrityuk, P. A.; Eckert, K.; Räbiger, D.; Odenbach, S.; Eckert, S.

We study the flow during the radial solidification of an Al-7wt pct Si melt inside a cylindrical cavity with cooled side walls which is placed in a rotating magnetic field (RMF). The solidification process is simulated by means of a continuum model which is implemented in a code which solves the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations. qwe first analyz the start-up of the buoyancy-driven convection driven by the radial heat flux in absence of the RMF. We show that the initial large vortex breaks up into three smaller ones. The resulting radial temperature profiles are compared with experimental data. Second, we study how the vortex structure is modified by the application of small RMF's.

Keywords: solidification; Al-Si alloys; convection; rotating magnetic field

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Modeling of Casting, Welding and Advanced Solidification Processes 2012 (MCWASP XIII), 17.-22.06.2012, Schladming, Österreich
  • Open Access Logo IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 33(2012), 012048
    DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/33/1/012048
    Cited 3 times in Scopus

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17013
Publ.-Id: 17013


Ultraschall-Array-Geschwindigkeitsmesssystem zur Untersuchung komplexer Flüssigmetallströmungen

Czarske, J.; Büttner, L.; Nauber, R.; Burger, M.; Pätzold, O.; Eckert, S.

Schmelzen von Metallen und Halbleitern besitzen eine hohe industrielle Bedeutung. Als wichtigste Beispiele sind die Stahlherstellung und die Kristallzüchtung zu nennen. Bei allen Prozessen haben die in den Schmelzen auftretenden Strömungsverhältnisse eine großen Einfluss auf die Qualität des Endproduktes. Aufgrund ihrer hohen elektrischen Leitfähigkeit bietet sich die interessante Möglichkeit, diese Strömungen aktiv durch magnetische Felder zu beeinflussen. Da numerische Simulationen komplexe Strömungszustände oftmals nicht zuverlässig nachbilden können, besteht ein großer Bedarf an hochauflösenden Messverfahren. Aufgrund der opaken Fluide sind Ultraschallmesstechniken sehr gut geeignet. Allerdings weisen die aus der Medizintechnik verfügbaren tomographischen Verfahren keine ausreichenden Messeigenschaften, insbesondere für instationäre Strömungen, auf. Vorgestellt wird ein neuartiges Ultraschall-Messsystem, das mit dem Einsatz segmentierter Wandler und deren weitgehendem Parallelbetrieb erstsmals sowohl eine hohe Zeit- als auch eine hohe Ortsauflösung ermöglicht.

Keywords: Messtechnik; Strömungsmessung; Flüssigmetall; Ultraschall-Doppler Methode

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Workshop "Messtechnische Anwendungen von Ultraschall", 18.-20.06.2012, Drübeck, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17012
Publ.-Id: 17012


LMFR instrumentation development

Eckert, S.; Buchenau, D.; Gerbeth, G.; Stefani, F.; Wondrak, T.

The safe and reliable operation of liquid metal systems requires corresponding measuring systems and control units, both for the liquid metal single-phase flow as well as for bubble-laden liquid metal two-phase flows. However, velocity measurements in opaque liquid metal flows still represent a challenging task as commercial measuring systems are not available for such fluids.
The paper reports on established methods and new developments in the field of measuring techniques for liquid metal flows. The presentation is focussed on measurements of the flow rate and the local velocity field as well as on the characterization of liquid metal two-phase flows. During the last two decades considerable effort was spent by miscellaneous researcher groups to provide new solutions for measurements of flow fields in liquid metals. This paper intends to summarize different approaches and tempts to account on perspectives, particularly in view of some recent developments (ultrasonic techniques, magnetic tomography).

Keywords: liquid metal cooled fast reactor; instrumentation; flow rate measurements; velocity measurements; inductive tomography; ultrasound Doppler method

  • Lecture (Conference)
    International Workshop on Innovative Nuclear Reactors, 17.-20.04.2012, Pisa, Italy

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17011
Publ.-Id: 17011


Two concepts of introducing thin-film superconductivity in Ge and Si by use of Ga-ion implantation

Skrotzki, R.; Herrmannsdörfer, T.; Fiedler, J.; Heera, V.; Voelskow, M.; Mücklich, A.; Schmidt, B.; Skorupa, W.; Helm, M.; Wosnitza, J.

We report on two unconventional routes of embedding superconducting nanolayers in a semiconducting environment. Ion implantation and subsequent annealing have been used for preparation of superconducting thin-films of Ga-doped germanium (Ge:Ga) [1] as well as 10 nm thin amorphous Ga-rich layers in silicon (Si:Ga) [2]. Structural investigations by means of XTEM, EDX, RBS/C, and SIMS have been performed in addition to low-temperature electrical transport and magnetization measurements. Regarding Ge:Ga, we unravel the evolution of Tc with charge-charrier concentration while for Si:Ga recently implemented microstructuring renders critical-current densities or more than 50 kA/cm2. Combined with a superconducting onset at around 10 K, this calls for onchip application in novel heterostructured devices.

Related publications

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17010
Publ.-Id: 17010


Ultrasound investigations of intrinsic and extrinsic nonstationary field-driven processes in spin ice

Erfanifam, S.; Zherlitsyn, S.; Wosnitza, J.; Moessner, R.; Petrenko, O. A.; Balakrishnan, G.; Zvyagin, A. A.

The elastic properties of spin-ice material Dy2Ti2O7 has been studied for different longitudinal and transverse acoustic-modes in a temperature range from 20 mK to 300 K and magnetic fields applied along various crystallographic directions. The sound velocity and the sound attenuation exhibit a number of anomalies versus magnetic field at temperatures below the ”freezing” temperature of approximately 500 mK. Most notable are peaks in the sound velocity, which exhibit two distinct regimes: an intrinsic (extrinsic) one in which the data collapse for different field-sweep rates when plotted as function of field strength (time). The intrinsic regime involves the release of Zeeman energy from spins, the extrinsic one, transfer of energy out of the sample. Additionally a sharp drop in the sound velocity can be seen at B = 1.25 T. This can indicate a 1st-order phase transition from the low-density to the high-density monopole state. We discuss our observations in context of the emergent quasiparticles which govern the low-temperature dynamics of the spin-ice.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17009
Publ.-Id: 17009


High field magnetism and magnetoacoustics in UCu0.95Ge

Zvyagin, A. A.; Yasin, S.; Skourski, Y.; Andreev, A. V.; Zherlitsyn, S.; Wosnitza, J.

Studies of magnetic and magneto-acoustic characteristics of the intermetallic compound UCu0.95Ge with antiferromagnetic ground state have been performed on single crystals in pulsed magnetic fields up to 64 T applied along the main axes. Along the a axis, a first-order phase transition has been observed at 61 T. For the field applied along the c axis, the first-order phase transition occurs at a much lower magnetic field (38 T). In both directions, the magnetization trends to saturate at 1.35 µB per formula unit. These field-induced transitions as well as the spontaneous transition at the magnetic ordering at TN = 48 K are accompanied by pronounced anomalies in the sound velocity and sound attenuation. The field-temperature phase diagrams are constructed for both directions of the magnetic field. The results of our theoretical analysis within the framework of the mean-field approximation qualitatively agree with the observed behavior of magnetic and magneto-acoustic characteristics of UCu0.95Ge.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17008
Publ.-Id: 17008


Numerical modeling of bubble-driven liquid metal flows with external static magnetic field

Miao, X.; Lucas, D.; Ren, Z.; Eckert, S.; Gerbeth, G.

Three-dimensional numerical simulations are presented considering the impact of a steady magnetic field on a bubble-driven liquid metal flow inside a cylinder. The injection of moderate gas flow rates through a single orifice at the bottom of the fluid vessel results in the formation of a bubble plume. The magnetic field is applied in either vertical or horizontal direction. The calculations were performed by means of the commercial software package CFX using the Euler-Euler multiphase model and the RANS-SST turbulence model. The non-isotropic nature of MHD turbulence was taken into account by specific modifications of the turbulence model. The numerical models are validated with recent experimental results (Zhang et al., 2007b). The comparison between the numerical simulations and the experimental findings shows a good agreement. The calculations are able to reproduce a striking feature of a horizontal magnetic field found in the range of moderate Hartmann numbers revealing that such a steady transverse magnetic field may destabilize the flow and cause distinct oscillations of the liquid velocity.

Keywords: Liquid metal; Bubble-driven flow; DC magnetic field; Multiphase model

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17007
Publ.-Id: 17007


An optimized protocol for the radiosynthesis of (–)-[F-18]flubatine permits its application as a new PET radioligand for neuroimaging of alpha4beta2-nAChRs

Fischer, S.; Hiller, A.; Hoepping, A.; Smits, R.; Funke, U.; Sabri, O.; Steinbach, J.; Brust, P.

Objectives:

The alpha4beta2 subtype of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) is involved in various neurodegenerative diseases. (–)-[F-18]flubatine is a new and promising PET tracer for neuroimaging of alpha4beta2-nAChRs and is currently investigated in a first study in humans. The original radiosynthesis of (–)-[F-18]flubatine was based on the bromo precursor and afforded the product in low yields (~2-3%). Here we present a new high yield radiosynthesis strategy based on an optimised leaving group/ protecting group assembly.

Methods:

A small library of precursors was synthesized containing –Cl, –NO2 and trimethylammonium (TMA) triflate and iodide as leaving groups and ethylcarbamate, Fmoc, Trityl, as well as Boc as protecting groups. [F-18]flubatine, was prepared via a two-step radiosynthesis. In the first step the nucleophilic radiofluorination was investigated. The radiolabelled product was then deprotected to yield the final radiotracer.

Results:

The best radiochemical results were obtained with a TMA iodide precursor containing a Bocprotecting group. Radiolabelling afforded the protected product in yields of 90±5%, with a RCY 70±5% (n=25) and a specific activity >350 GBq/Hmol. The complete deprotection of the Boc-PG succeeded with 1M HCl at 90°C within 5 min. TMA iodide precursors with other PGs led to lower labelling yields and several by-products after deprotection. Analytical and semipreparative HPLC separation protocols were developed using RP18-AQ phases and (–)-[F-18]flubatine was isolated in very high purity. The final product is stable in diluted HCl, NaOH and K2CO3 solutions as well as under physiological conditions.

Conclusions:

An optimized radiosynthesis of (–)-[F-18]flubatine was developed which will allow for an easy and automated radiotracer production applicable for human studies.

Research Support:

The project was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01EZ0820).

  • Lecture (Conference)
    SNM 2012 Annual Meeting, 09.-13.06.2012, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Abstract in refereed journal
    Journal of Nuclear Medicine 53(2012)1, 130

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17006
Publ.-Id: 17006


THz-range free-electron laser ESR sprectroscopy: techniques and applications in high magnetic fields

Ozerov, M.

  • Poster
    503. WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Free-Electron Lasers: from Fundamentals to Applications, 11.-13.04.2012, Bad Honnef, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17005
Publ.-Id: 17005


Wann ist denn das passiert? – Ko(s)mische Strahlung und einstürzende Berge

Merchel, S.

eingeladener Vortrag ohne Abstract

Keywords: accelerator mass spectrometry; geomorphology

Related publications

  • Lecture (others)
    TU Dresden, Ringvorlesung im Studium generale / öffentliche Vorträge, Sommersemester 2012, 19.04.2012, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17004
Publ.-Id: 17004


Spatially-resolved analysis of natural minerals as carriers of high-tech metals and Rare Earth Elements: comparison of EPMA, PIXE and Sy-µXRF

Michalak, P. P.; Munnik, F.; Radtke, M.; Buzanich, G.; Reinholz, U.; Riesemeier, H.; Merchel, S.; Renno, A. D.

The assessment of supply risk of high technology elements requires quality assurance of their natural carriers such as ores. One path to achieve this goal is through the use of reference materials (RMs). Providing reliable data on elemental concentrations at the µg/g level and on their spatial distribution is achieved by employing spatially-resolved micro-analytical methods.
In order to produce synthetic RMs with optimized chemical composition, three natural mineral analogues (sanidine, pyrite, columbite) have been tested for chemical homogeneity with three methods based on X-ray detection: EPMA (Electron Probe Micro Analyzer), Sy-µXRF (Synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray Fluorescence) and PIXE. EPMA analyses were carried out at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg using an accelerating voltage of 20 keV and a beam size of 2 µm. Sy-µXRF measurements were performed at the hard X-ray beamline “BAMline” at the synchrotron facility BESSY in Berlin. Samples were exposed in atmosphere to monochromatic X-rays of 20 keV focused with a compound refractive lens to 3x3 µm2 or 5x7.4 µm2. PIXE data were obtained using a 3 MeV proton beam of about 5x5 µm2 from a 3 MV tandem accelerator at the HZDR, Dresden.
Quantitative (EPMA, PIXE) and qualitative (Sy-µXRF) elemental distribution maps have been obtained for major, minor and trace elements for each scan. At least five trace elements were detected in each of the matrices, showing irregular distribution patterns. Compared to PIXE, Sy-µXRF spectra were characterized by lower peak to background ratios, thus, better detection limits could be achieved and more trace elements identified, such as Ge and Pb in sanidine, Mn and Ti in columbite, and Zn and Se in pyrite.
Compared to EPMA and PIXE, only Sy-µXRF seems to be thorough and robust enough for swift homogeneity testing for trace elements distribution in light, medium-heavy matrices, thus, proving to be an invaluable method in quality assurance of synthetic candidate RMs.

Keywords: ion beam analysis; reference materials; PIXE; XRF; synchrotron

Related publications

  • Poster
    13th International Conference on Nuclear Microprobe Technology & Applications (ICNMTA), 22.-27.07.2012, Lisbon, Portugal

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17003
Publ.-Id: 17003


Switching voltages and back-hopping in magnetic tunnel junctions with different geometries

Bernert, K.; Sluka, V.; Fowley, C.; Fassbender, J.; Deac, A. M.

A spin-polarized current flowing through a ferromagnet can exert a torque on the local magnetization [1,2]. This phenomenon is currently intensively investigated due to its potential application in magnetic random access memory (MRAM) or in telecommunication devices. Presently, the structure of choice for spin-torque devices includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with an MgO barrier, due to their large magnetoresistance signals. However, a key step towards the practical implementation as MRAM elements is the reduction of the critical voltages, in order to keep the size of the selection transistor down and compete with existing technologies [3]. In addition, magnetic tunnel junctions also exhibit a somewhat obscure behaviour referred to as ‘back-hopping’, whereby reliable switching to the desired state is achieved for applied voltages of the order of the critical voltage, but a larger applied bias induces a telegraph-noise behaviour [4, 5]. Back-hopping is characteristic for MTJs, as it has not been observed in metallic multilayers, and poses concerns for designing industrially-competitive MRAM devices.

We evaluate the switching voltages and their temperature dependence by analytically and numerically solving the modified Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation which includes both Slonczewski-like (in-plane) and field-like (out-of-plane) torque terms for different geometries. Its quadratic dependence on the applied voltage [6] translates into a more complex correlation between the critical bias and the external field, altering the shape of the phase diagram. It also explains back-hopping at a large bias for specific geometries, in agreement with experimental results.

References:

[1] J. C. Slonczewski, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 159, L1 (1996)
[2] L. Berger, Phys. Rev. B 54, 9359 (1996)
[3] Z. Diao et al., J. Phys. D: Cond. Mat. 19, 165209 (2007)
[4] J. Z. Sun, J. Appl. Phys. 105, 07D109 (2009)
[5] T. Min et al., J. Appl. Phys. 105, 07D126 (2009)
[6] C. Heiliger and M. Stiles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 186805 (2008)

Keywords: spin-transfer torque; magnetic tunnel junction; magnetic random access memory

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Third Nordic Workshop on Spintronics and Nanomagnetism (NordicSpin 2012), 22.-25.04.2012, Varberg, Sweden
  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Spin Caloritronics 4, 02.-06.06.2012, Sendai, Japan
  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Magnetism and Magnetic Nanomaterials, MMN’2012, 04.-06.09.2012, Bourmedes, Algeria

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17002
Publ.-Id: 17002


Injection and detection of spin in a semiconductor by tunneling via interface states

Jansen, R.; Deac, A. M.; Saito, H.; Yuasa, S.

Injection and detection of spin accumulation in a semiconductor having localized states at the interface is evaluated. Spin transport from a ferromagnetic contact by sequential, two-step tunneling via interface states is treated not in itself, but in parallelwith direct tunneling. The spin accumulation dμch induced in the semiconductor channel is not suppressed, as previously argued, but genuinely enhanced by the additional spin current via interface states. Spin detection with a ferromagnetic contact yields a weighted average of dμch and the spin accumulation dμls in the localized states. In the regime where dμls/dμch is largest, the detected spin signal is insensitive to dμls and the ferromagnet probes the spin accumulation in the semiconductor channel.

Keywords: semiconductor; spin injection; spin detection; interface states

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17001
Publ.-Id: 17001


Probing Electron-Induced Bond Cleavage at the Single-Molecule Level Using DNA Origami Templates

Keller, A.; Bald, I.; Rotaru, A.; Cauët, E.; Gothelf, K. V.; Besenbacher, F.

Low-energy electrons (LEEs) play an important role in nanolithography, atmospheric chemistry, and DNA radiation damage. Previously, the cleavage of specific chemical bonds triggered by LEEs has been demonstrated in a variety of small organic molecules such as halogenated benzenes and DNA nucleobases. Here we present a strategy that allows for the first time to visualize the electron-induced dissociation of single chemical bonds within complex, but well-defined self-assembled DNA nanostructures. We employ atomic force microscopy to image and quantify LEE-induced bond dissociations within specifically designed oligonucleotide targets that are attached to DNA origami templates. In this way, we use a highly selective approach to compare the efficiency of the electron-induced dissociation of a single disulfide bond with the more complex cleavage of the DNA backbone within a TT dinucleotide sequence. This novel technique enables the fast and parallel determination of DNA strand break yields with unprecedented control over the DNA’s primary and secondary structure. Thus the detailed investigation of DNA radiation damage in its most natural environment, e.g., DNA nucleosomes constituting the chromatin, now becomes feasible.

Keywords: DNA origami; Low-energy electrons; Atomic force microscopy; DNA radiation damage; ab initio calculations

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-17000
Publ.-Id: 17000


Applocation of new closure models for bubble coalescence and breakup to steam-water vertical pipe flow

Liao, Y.; Lucas, D.; Krepper, E.

The new closure models for bubble coalescence and breakup proposed in our previous work (Liao and Lucas, 2011) are tested in the case of condensing steam-water pipe flows. Steady-state CFD calculations are performed with the commercial CFD solver CFX12.1. The predicted evolution of cross-section averaged bubble size distribution and gas volume fraction along the pipe is compared with the measured one provided by the TOPFLOW facility (Lucas et al., 2010). It is shown that for cases with small initial bubble size and low gas volume fraction, bubble coalescence and breakup is nearly negligible and the change of bubble size is mainly due to condensation. Nevertheless, with the increase of initial bubble size or gas volume fraction bubble coalescence and breakup become important phenomena. The performance of the new closure models and the standard ones available in CFX is investigated for two examples of such a case. It is shown that both sets of the models give an overestimation of breakup rate, especially the standard ones. Furthermore, the results are found to be dependent sensitively on the inlet liquid temperatures, which might exceed the accuracy of the measurements. In addition, inter-phase heat transfer models have a significant impact on the results.

Keywords: condensation; steam-water; sub-cooling; coalescence and breakup; interphase heat transfer

  • Open Access Logo Contribution to proceedings
    CFD4NRS-4 - The Experimental Validation and Application of CFD and CMFD Codes in Nuclear Reactor Technology - OECD/NEA and IAEA Workshop, 10.-12.09.2012, Daejeon, Korea
    Proceedings of CFD4NRS - 4
  • Lecture (Conference)
    CFD4NRS-4 - The Experimental Validation and Application of CFD and CMFD Codes in Nuclear Reactor Technology - OECD/NEA and IAEA Workshop, 10.-12.09.2012, Daejeon, Korea
  • Nuclear Engineering and Design 279(2014), 126-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2014.02.015
    Cited 17 times in Scopus

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16999
Publ.-Id: 16999


Electromagnetic dipole strength of 136Ba below the neutron separation energy

Massarczyk, R.; Schwengner, R.; Dönau, F.; Litvinova, E.; Rusev, G.; Beyer, R.; Hannaske, R.; Junghans, A. R.; Kempe, M.; Kelley, J. H.; Kögler, T.; Kosev, K.; Kwan, E.; Marta, M.; Matic, A.; Nair, C.; Raut, R.; Schilling, K. D.; Schramm, G.; Stach, D.; Tonchev, A. P.; Tornow, W.; Trompler, E.; Yakorev, D.; Wagner, A.

The electromagnetic dipole strength of the nucleus 136Ba has been investigated at two facilities. At the bremsstrahlung facility at the ELBE accelerator of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, two measurements were performed with electron energies of 7.0 and 11.4 MeV. Photon scattering on the same nucleus has been investigated at the HI$gS facility of the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory.
The GEANT4 code has been used to determine detector response and non-nuclear scattered events. Thus it is possible to account for the dipole strength in the quasi-continuum of unresolvable transitions. A statistical code was used to simulate inelastic transitions and to determine the branching ratios of transitions to the ground-state. The resulting photo-absorption cross section is compared to QRPA and RQTBA calculations.

Keywords: Photon scattering; nuclear spectroscopy; nuclear structure; gamma strength function

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16998
Publ.-Id: 16998


Superconducting Gallium implanted Germanium

Fiedler, J.; Heera, V.

Superconductivity in doped semiconductors is of increasing interest in both, fundamental research and applied physics. We report on superconducting Ge layers fabricated by Ga ion implantation and subse-quent flash lamp annealing. A brief introduction to alternative preparation methods and the physics of superconducting semiconductors is given, too. The microstructure of and the electrical transport in the Ga doped Ge layers are investigated in detail. Finally, it is demonstrated that increasing the Ga concentration and the thermal budget of annealing leads to Ga segregation. In this case superconducting properties similar to that of amorphous Ga films are obtained.

Keywords: carrier density; clusters; cover layer; diffusion; dopant; flash lamp annealing; gallium; germanium; Hall; implantation; metal-insulator-transition; nanocrystalline; oxygen; rapid thermal annealing; resistance; sem-iconductor; superconducting; surface

Related publications

  • Book chapter
    Heidemarie Schmidt, Wolfgang Skorupa: Subsecond Annealing of Advanced Materials: Annealing by Lasers, Flash Lamps and Swift Heavy Ions (Springer Series in Materials Science), Switzerland: Springer, 2014, 978-3-319-03130-9, 57-78
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-03131-6_4

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16997
Publ.-Id: 16997


Ridge waveguide lasers in Nd:GGG crystals produced by swift carbon ion irradiation and femtosecond laser ablation

Jia, Y.; Dong, N.; Chen, F.; de Aldana, J. R. V.; Akhmadaliev, S.; Zhou, S.

We report on the fabrication of ridge waveguide in Nd:GGG crystal by using swift C5+ ion irradiation and femtosecond laser ablation. At room temperature continuous wave laser oscillation at wavelength of ~1063 nm has been realized through the optical pump at 808 nm with a slope efficiency of 41.8% and the pump threshold is 71.6 mW.

Keywords: Integrated optics devices; Laser materials processing; Waveguides

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16996
Publ.-Id: 16996


AMS within Eurogenesis: Nanodiamonds and SN-signatures

Wallner, A.; Feige, J.; Fifield, K.; Korschinek, G.; Melber, K.; Merchel, S.; Ott, U.; Paul, M.; Rugel, G.; Steier, P.; Tims, S.; Vockenhuber, C.

CoDustMas is a Collaborative Research Project (CRP) of Eurogenesis, one of the EUROCORES programmes of the European Science Foundation. This international network aims at understanding the crucial role that supernovae (SNe) play in the formation of cosmic dust. Specifically, this CRP will study the synthesis of dust grains in core-collapse supernovae; isotopic signatures in dust grains; and mixing, evolution and transport of dust in supernova remnants.
Applying accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) two aspects are tackled. First, the measurement of trace element isotope ratios in presolar nanodiamonds isolated from primitive meteorites, e.g. the ratios of Pt isotopes to extract r-process nucleosynthesis signatures. Recent results demonstrate the applicability of AMS for determining stable Pt isotope signatures in diamonds extracted from Allende. These AMS data may indicate a small 198Pt anomaly; its significance and new approaches will be discussed.
The second aspect relates to the search for live SN-produced radionuclides in terrestrial deep-sea archives. In particular, the focus is on isotopes with half-lives of the order of million years. We continue this search by investigating, with high time resolution, two deep-sea sediment cores from the Indian Ocean for a possible signal of the SN-candidates 26Al, 53Mn, 60Fe, and potentially 244Pu.

Keywords: accelerator mass sepctrometry; AMS; Pt; supernova; radionuclide

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    XII International Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos, 05.-10.08.2012, Cairns, Australia

Downloads

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16995
Publ.-Id: 16995


Dipole Strength in 86Kr up to Neutron Separation

Massarczyk, R.; Schwengner, R.; Junghans, A. R.; Wagner, A.

For the rst time a high-pressure gas target has been investigated at the bremsstrahlung facility at the ELBE accelerator of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The experiment was carried out at electron beam energies of 7 and 12MeV in order to study dipole excitations up to an energy region up to the neutron separation. The talk will present data analysis and simulations methods of the experiments in Rossendorf. GEANT4 simulations were performed to subtract the atomic background from the measured spectrum and deduce the intensity of the resonantly scattered gamma-rays. Also the response functions for the high-purity germanium detectors were simulated by GEANT4, which allows us to deduce the intensity of unresolvable peaks due to decreasing level-spacing. Considering also the transitions from states in the quasicontinuum, simulations of gamma-ray cascades were carried out with a new code to estimate branching ratios. As a result the photoabsorption cross section obtained from transitions to the ground state is calculated. The data will be presented in the context of further photon-scattering experiments performed in Rossendorf on the stable isotopes at the closed neutron shell N = 50.

Keywords: Photon scattering; nuclear spectroscopy; nuclear structure; gamma strength function

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    3rd Workshop on Level Density and Gamma Strength, 23.-27.05.2011, Oslo, Norway

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16994
Publ.-Id: 16994


Cross-Section Measurements of the 86Kr(gamma,n) Reaction to Probe the s-Process Branching at 85Kr

Raut, R.; Banu, A.; Iliadis, C.; Kelley, J. H.; Rusev, G.; Schwengner, R.; Tonchev, A. P.; Tornow, W.

For the first time, cross-section measurements were carried out for the 86 Kr(gamma,n) reaction in order to probe the s-process branching point nucleus 85Kr. The branching point nuclei in the s-process path are of importance in testing and constraining the nucleosynthesis models. Cross-section measurement for the photoneutron reaction on the neighbouring stable isotope is carried out to deduce the aforesaid neutron capture cross-section, as has been adopted in the present case of 85Kr branching point. The cross-section results from the 86 Kr(gamma,n) reaction were compared with the statistical model calculations using TALYS code.

Keywords: Monoenergetic gamma rays; photodisintegration; neutron detection; cross section; s-process; waiting point; statistical models

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16991
Publ.-Id: 16991


Study of hadron properties in cold nuclear matter with HADES

Tlusty, P.; Agakishiev, G.; Belver, D.; Belyaev, A.; Berger-Chen, J. C.; Blanco, A.; Böhmer, M.; Cabanelas, P.; Dybczak, A.; Epple, E.; Fabbietti, L.; Fonte, P.; Friese, J.; Fröhlich, I.; Galatyuk, T.; Garzón, J. A.; Golubeva, M.; González-Díaz, D.; Guber, F.; Gumberidze, M.; Hennino, T.; Holzmann, R.; Huck, P.; Ierusalimov, A.; Ivashkin, A.; Jurkovic, M.; Kämpfer, B.; Karavicheva, T.; Koenig, I.; Koenig, W.; Kolb, B. W.; Korcyl, G.; Kornakov, G.; Kotte, R.; Krása, A.; Krizek, F.; Kuc, H.; Kugler, A.; Kurepin, A.; Kurilkin, A.; Kurilkin, P.; Ladygin, V.; Lalik, R.; Lang, S.; Lapidus, K.; Liu, T.; Lopes, L.; Lorenz, M.; Maier, L.; Mangiarotti, A.; Markert, J.; Metag, V.; Michel, J.; Müntz, C.; Münzer, R.; Naumann, L.; Palka, M.; Parpottas, Y.; Pechenov, V.; Pechenova, O.; Pietraszko, J.; Przygoda, W.; Ramstein, B.; Reshetin, A.; Rustamov, A.; Sadovsky, A.; Salabura, P.; Siebenson, J.; Sobolev, Y. G.; Spataro, S.; Ströbele, H.; Stroth, J.; Sturm, C.; Tarantola, A.; Teilab, K.; Traxler, M.; Tsertos, H.; Vasiliev, T.; Wagner, V.; Weber, M.; Wüstenfeld, J.; Yurevich, S.; Zanevsky, Y.

Results of a study of dielectron and pion production in p + Nb collisions at incident proton beam energy 3.5 GeV are presented. The data are taken by the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at GSI Darmstadt.
The dielectron invariant mass distributions are compared to data from elementary p+p reactions at the same beam energy. At this energy above the light vector meson production threshold, the omega peak is clearly identified. The collected statistics and high acceptance for pair momenta within the interval 50-2000 MeV/c allow for a study of momentum dependence of the omega yield and spectral shape. The strongest medium modification in the line shape is expected for low momenta mesons decaying inside the nuclear matter. Comparing the measured p+Nb data with the p+p reference experiment results, the signifficant change in yield of low momenta dielectron pairs in the vector meson mass region is observed.
Data on charged pi meson emission, which are related to neutral pions representing a dominant contribution to the dielectron yield, are shown as well. They contribute to the results from systematic studies of the pion production in the proton-nucleus collisions, which point to a transition of the pion source from simple NN collisions to emission of thermalized pions from a fireball, when increasing the atomic number of the target nucleus. The data also serve as a reliable tool for normalization of the dielectron data.

  • Open Access Logo Proceedings of Science (2012), Pos(Bormio2012)019

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16990
Publ.-Id: 16990


Detection of Laser-accelerated ions at the DRACO laser

Kraft, S.

In the last years, the detection schemes for laser-accelerated ion beams had to be developed much further. In the beginning, experiments where mainly performed on laser facilities with a few shots a day and online diagnostics such as film stacks where sufficient in order to characterize the ion beam. Nowadays many experiments are carried out at high power lasers with repetition rates on the order of 10 Hz and thus the need of on line detectors has grown significantly.
In this talk, the ion accelerator at the 100 TW laser DRACO in Dresden are described. Already implemented detectors such as MCPs and scintillators as well as desirable devices for future measurements are described.

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Industry meets Academia: Beam Monitoring Instrumentation and Quality Assurance, 10.-11.11.2011, Darmstadt, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16989
Publ.-Id: 16989


20 kW Upgrade of the ELBE 1.3 GHz CW RF-System with BRUKER 10kW Solid State Amplifiers

Büttig, H.; Arnold, A.; Büchner, A.; Justus, M.; Kuntzsch, M.; Lehnert, U.; Michel, P.; Schurig, R.; Staats, G.; Teichert, J.

Summary:

With the expansion of the radiation source ELBE, a centre for high power radiation sources is being built between 2009 and 2014 at the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf. One part of this program is to increase the beam current of the ELBE LINAC. In January 2012 each of the 10kW CW klystrons used to operate the superconducting cavities of ELBE since 2001 had been replaced by a pair of 10kW solid state amplifiers.The talk gives an overview on the new RF-system of ELBE and its performance.

Keywords: Superconducting LINAC; 1.3GHz RF-System; Solid State RF-Power Amplifiers; 10kW RF Power; 10 kW RF SSPA; Turnkey SSPA; ELBE-RF System; ELBE-UPGRADE; HSQ

Related publications

  • Lecture (others)
    Eingeladener Vortrag KEK Tsukuba/Japan, 17.04.2012, KEK, Tsukuba, Japan

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16988
Publ.-Id: 16988


Present and future laser driven proton therapy program in Dresden

Kraft, S.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Coulomb ’11: Optical Acceleration of Ions and Perspective for Biomedicine, 04.-05.11.2011, Bologna, Italien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16987
Publ.-Id: 16987


Nanocavity formation and hardness increase by dual ion beam irradiation of oxide dispersion strengthened FeCrAl alloy

Kögler, R.; Anwand, W.; Richter, A.; Butterling, M.; Ou, X.; Wagner, A.; Chen, C.-L.

Open volume defects generated by ion implantation into oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy and the related hardness were investigated by positron annihilation spectroscopy and nanoindentation measurements, respectively. Synchronized dual beam implantation of Fe and He ions was performed at room temperature and at moderately enhanced temperature of 300°C. For room temperature implantation a significant hardness increase after irradiation is observed which is more distinctive in heat treated than in as-received ODS alloy. There is also a difference between the simultaneous and sequential implantation mode as the hardening effect for the simultaneously implanted ODS alloy is stronger than for sequential implantation.
The comparison of hardness profiles and of the corresponding open volume profiles shows a qualitative agreement between the open volume defects generated on the nanoscopic scale and the macroscopic hardness characteristics.
Open volume defects are drastically reduced for performing the simultaneous dual beam irradiation at 300°C which is a more realistic temperature under application aspects. Few remaining defects are clusters of 3-4 vacancies in connection with Y oxide nanoparticles. These defects completely disappear in a shallow layer at the surface. The results are in agreement with hardness measurements showing little hardness increase after irradiation at 300°C.
Suitable characteristics of ODS alloy for nuclear applications and the close correlation between He-related open volume defects and the hardness characteristics are verified.

Keywords: Radiation hardness; ion implantation; ODS alloy; positron annihilation spectrometry; nanointendation

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16986
Publ.-Id: 16986


Ansätze zur Bestimmung heterogener Diffusionsparameter auf Bohrkernskala mit Hilfe von Na-22-PET-Diffusionsmessungen und Modellsimulationen

Kulenkampff, J.; Schikora, J.; Zakhnini, A.; Gründig, M.; Lippmann-Pipke, J.

  • Lecture (others)
    2. Actinidenverbundtreffen "Rückhaltung endlagerrelevanter Radionuklide im natürlichen Tongestein und in salinaren Systemen", 03.-04.04.2012, Köln, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16985
Publ.-Id: 16985


Für den Laboreinsatz optimierte Kalibrationsmethode für pH-Elektroden bei hohen Ionenstärken

Fritsch, K.

Eine vereinfachte Auswertemethode für die Elektrodenkalibration bei hohen Ionenstärken unter Beachtung der K w-Korrektur wird vorgestellt.

Keywords: pH measurements; electrode calibration; high ionic strength

  • Lecture (others)
    2. Workshop des Verbundprojekts „Rückhaltung endlagerrelevanter Radionuklide im natürlichen Tongestein und in salinaren Systemen“, 04.04.12, Köln, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16984
Publ.-Id: 16984


Monte Carlo simulations of GeoPET experiments: 3D images of tracer distributions (18F, 124I and 58Co) in Opalinus Clay, anhydrite and quartz

Zakhnini, A.; Kulenkampff, J.; Sauerzapf, S.; Pietrzyk, U.; Lippmann-Pipke, J.

Understanding conservative flow and reactive tracer transport processes in soils and rock formations requires quantitative visualization methods in 3D+t. After a decade of research and development we established the GeoPET as a non-destructive method with unrivalled sensitivity and selectivity, without physical and chemical impact, and with due spatial and temporal resolution by applying Positron Emission Tomography (PET), a nuclear medicine imaging method, to dense rock material. Requirements for reaching the physical limit of image resolution of nearly 1 mm are a high-resolution PET- camera, like our ClearPET scanner (Raytest), and appropriate correction methods for scatter and attenuation of 511 keV - photons in the dense geological material, which are by far more significant than in human and small animal body tissue (water).
Here we present data from Monte Carlo simulations, considering all involved nuclear physical processes of the measurement with the ClearPET-system, that allows us to quantify the sensitivity of the method and the scatter fractions in geological media as function of material (quartz, Opalinus clay and anhydrite compared to water), PET isotope (18F, 58Co and 124I), and system parameters. Comparison of simulated data with measured images indicates the limits of the method and provides procedures for image quality improvement, including a scatter correction method by subtracting projections of simulated scattered coincidences from experimental data sets prior to image reconstruction with an iterative reconstruction process.

Keywords: Monte Carlo Simulation; PET; radiotracer; radiation; process monitoring

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16983
Publ.-Id: 16983


Magnetic Frustration in a Quantum Spin Chain: The Case of Linarite PbCuSO4(OH)2

Willenberg, B.; Schäpers, M.; Rule, K. C.; Süllow, S.; Reehuis, M.; Ryll, H.; Klemke, B.; Kiefer, K.; Schottenhamel, W.; Büchner, B.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Uhlarz, M.; Beyer, R.; Wosnitza, J.; Wolter, A. U. B.

We present a combined neutron diffraction and bulk thermodynamic study of the natural mineral linarite PbCuSO4(OH)2, this way establishing the nature of the ground-state magnetic order. An incommensurate magnetic ordering with a propagation vector k = (0, 0.186, 1/2) was found below TN = 2.8 K in a zero magnetic field. The analysis of the neutron diffraction data yields an elliptical helical structure, where one component (0.638 µB) is in the monoclinic ac plane forming an angle with the a axis of 27(2)°, while the other component (0.833 µB) points along the b axis. From a detailed thermodynamic study of bulk linarite in magnetic fields up to 12 T, applied along the chain direction, a very rich magnetic phase diagram is established, with multiple field-induced phases, and possibly short-range-order effects occurring in high fields. Our data establish linarite as a model compound of the frustrated one-dimensional spin chain, with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor and antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interactions. Long-range magnetic order is brought about by interchain coupling 1 order of magnitude smaller than the intrachain coupling.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16981
Publ.-Id: 16981


Vorstellung und Bewertung des Beitrags zur Erreichung des Meilensteins im Projekt Nanopharm

Vogel, M.

Vorstellung der wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten und erzielten Ergebnisse im Projekt NanoPharm - Teilprojekt: Herstellung und Charakterisierung von photokatalytischen S-Layer Nanokompositen, welche zur Erreichung des Meilensteins beitragen.

  • Lecture (others)
    Meilenstein-Treffen zum Projekt Nanopharm, 19.04.2012, Köthen, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16979
Publ.-Id: 16979


Untersuchung der 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti-Reaktion bei E_alpha ~ 3.5 MeV

Schmidt, K.; Akhmadaliev, C.; Anders, M.; Bemmerer, D.; Boretzky, K.; Caciolli, A.; Dietz, M.; Elekes, Z.; Fülöp, Z.; Gyürky, G.; Hannaske, R.; Junghans, A.; Marta, M.; Menzel, M.-L.; Schwengner, R.; Szücs, T.; Wagner, A.; Yakorev, D.; Zuber, K.

Das radioaktive Nuklid Titan-44 wird Modellrechnungen zufolge in Kernkollaps-Supernovae erzeugt. Die Gammastrahlung aus seinem Zerfall kann als Werkzeug zum Test von Supernova-Modellen genutzt werden, weil sie zumindest für einen Supernova-Überrest durch satellitengestützte Gamma-Teleskope nachweisbar ist. Zur Interpretation dieser Messungen ist eine genaue Kenntnis der Kernreaktionsraten für die Erzeugung und Zerstörung von Titan-44 erforderlich. Die 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti-Reaktion dominiert die Erzeugung von Titan-44. Ihre Rate wird je nach Temperatur von mehreren Resonanzen dominiert. Die Stärken der Resonanzen bei 3.5 - 3.7 MeV alpha-Energie werden am Dresdner 3MV Tandetron sowohl mittels in-beam Gamma-Spektrometrie als auch durch eine Aktivierungsmessung im Felsenkeller-Niederniveaumesslabor bestimmt. Gefördert von der EU (FP7-SPIRIT 227012) und der DFG (BE 4100/2-1).

Keywords: Titan-44; 44Ti; 40Ca(alpha; gamma)44Ti; 40Ca(a; g)44Ti; Kernkollaps-Supernovae; Supernova; Kernreaktionsraten; Resonanzstärken; Gamma-Spektrometrie; Felsenkeller-Niederniveaumesslabor

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    DPG Frühjahrstagung 2012, 19.-23.03.2012, Mainz, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16978
Publ.-Id: 16978


Towards a study of the 22Ne(p,g)23Na reaction at LUNA

Menzel, M.-L.; Bemmerer, D.

The 22Ne(p,g)23Na reaction takes part in the so called neon-sodium-cycle of hydrogen burning. This cycle is important at higher temperature than those experienced in the sun and plays a role in explosive hydrogen burning in an astrophysical nova. In addition, this reaction possibly depletes the supply of 22Ne in the accreting white dwarf preceeding a supernova of type Ia. The rate of this reaction depends on the strengths of several resonances in the energy range of the LUNA 0.4 MV accelerator which have never been observed in direct experiments. A related study is under preparation at LUNA. The poster will show the experimental set-up and planned measurement strategy.

Keywords: 22 Neon; 23 Natrium; LUNA

  • Poster
    Heraeus-Seminar on Astrophysics with modern small-scale accelerators, 06.-10.02.2012, Bad Honnef, Deutschland
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Heraeus-Seminar on Astrophysics with modern small-scale accelerators, 06.-10.02.2012, Bad Honnef, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16977
Publ.-Id: 16977


Late Pleistocene glaciation in the Gissar Range, Tajikistan, based on 10Be surface exposure dating

Zech, R.; Röhringer, I.; Sosin, P.; Kabgov, H.; Akhmadaliev, S.; Merchel, S.; Zech, W.

Mountain glaciers are sensitive indicators for climate change, mainly summer temperature and precipitation. Glacial chronologies from Central Asia have therefore been suggested to provide valuable information about past changes in temperature, as well as precipitation and related changes in atmospheric circulation. However, available age control is still sparse. Here we present a glacial chronology for the Gissar Range, Tajikistan, based on thirteen 10Be surface exposure ages. Prominent moraine lobes document glacial advances in phase with the global last glacial maximum (LGM) during marine isotope stage (MIS) 2. Rapid and significant deglaciation occurred already at ~20 ka as inferred from recessional stages. An older and slightly more extensive glaciation could be dated to MIS 4, whereas the timing of the most extensive glaciation remains speculative. In contrast to the glacial chronologies from the nearby, more arid Pamir and Tien Shan, where MIS 3 and MIS 5 moraines likely document past periods with increased precipitation, glaciers in the more humid Gissar Range predominantly recorded past changes in temperature and summer insolation.

Keywords: cosmogenic nuclides; Quaternary; paleoclimate; Central Asia; accelerator mass spectrometry

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16976
Publ.-Id: 16976


Electronic andmagneticstudiesof k-(BEDT-TTF)2Hg(SCN)2Cl

Yasin, S.; Rose, E.; Drichko, N.; Dressel, M.; Schlueter, J. A.; Zhilyaeva, E. I.; Torunova, S.; Lyubovskaya, R. N.

DC resistivity and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements have been performed on the two-dimensionalorganicconductor k-(BEDT-TTF)2Hg(SCN)2Cl. Due to electronic correlations, the compound undergoes a transition from a metallic to an insulating state at TMI= 34 K.The ESR parameters exhibit a drastic change below Tafm=27K that evidences a magnetic phase transition. Int his low-temperature state, we observe the characteristics of antiferromagnetic resonances in the angular dependence of the g-value.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16975
Publ.-Id: 16975


In-plane interdot carrier transfer in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Bhattacharyya, J.; Zybell, S.; Winnerl, S.; Helm, M.; Hopkinson, M.; Wilson, L. R.; Schneider, H.

Using time resolved photoluminescence (PL) quenching measurements, we investigated inplane carrier transfer in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). THz pulses from a free-electron laser tuned to the intersublevel transition energy were used to excite carriers to higher levels causing quenching in the PL. These carriers could either fall back to the lower energy states and recombine or get transferred to adjacent QDs. The relaxation of the carriers was directly reflected in the recovery of the PL signal. Comparing measurements from two samples, we found that the redistribution of carriers into the neighbouring QDs is the dominant mechanism of carrier relaxation. The data were fitted using a rate equation model to estimate the PL recovery time which we attribute to the interdot carrier transfer time.

Keywords: Quantum dots; Photoluminescence; Free electron laser

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16974
Publ.-Id: 16974


On the safety evaluation methodology applied in Germany after the Fukushima event

Merk, B.; Kliem, S.

The presentation gives an overview on the safety evaluation methodology applied in Germany after the Fukushima event. The general idea of the used evaluation methodology is described. The different evaluation topics based on natural and civilization caused threats will be discussed. Additionally, the new postulated incidents for the safety evaluation are presented. Conclusions are drawn on the applicability of the methodology, originally derived for light water reactors, to fast reactors.

Keywords: Reactor Safety; Fukushima

  • Open Access Logo Contribution to proceedings
    Technical Meeting on Impact of the Fukushima Event on Current and Future Fast Reactor (FR) Designs, 19.-23.03.2012, Dresden, Deutschland: Reproduced by the IAEA
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Technical Meeting on Impact of the Fukushima Event on Current and Future Fast Reactor (FR) Designs, 19.-23.03.2012, Dresden, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16973
Publ.-Id: 16973


Subcriticality determination in accelerator driven systems (ADS)

Merk, B.

Different current and planned experiments (MUSE, YALINA, Guinevere) are designed to study the zero power neutron physical behavior of accelerator driven systems (ADS). The detailed analysis of the kinetic space-time behavior of the neutron flux is important for the evaluation of these ADS experiments. Current analysis for all these experiments is based on the standard methods - Sjöstrand method and Slope method – both based on the point kinetics equations. The point kinetics equations are developed from different approximations to the transport equation. Nevertheless, all these partial differential equations of the transport equation are solved by the separation of space and time to derive the point kinetics equations. The separation of space and time does not provide useful results for cases with strongly space-time dependent external source like it appears during the shutdown of the external neutron source. In recent years, two big projects have been launched to solve the problem of sub-criticality determination in ADS experiments and for the future during ADS operation. In the 6th European Framework program in the integrated project EUROTRANS, the domain 2, ECATS has been dedicated to ADS experiments and the analysis methods for the experiments. In the same time frame, the IAEA has launched the coordinated research project: ”Analytical and Experimental Benchmark Analyses of Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS)”. Different correction methods based on Monte Carlo Results for the YALINA-Booster system have been derived for the Sjöstrand method as well as for the Slope method in EUROTRANS/ ECATS. Good results have been achieved with this correction method for the analysis of the detectors in the thermal zone. Nevertheless, there is still a problem existing in the fast zone which is the really important zone, since the follow up experiment GUINEVERE and the foreseen facility MHYRRA will be a pure fast system. The results for the analysis of the fast zone of YALINA-Booser are still not convincing, even with the use of correction factors. Good results, but once more only for the thermal and the reflector positions, have been shown in the IAEA CRP by the US American group, especially. These results rely on the use of correction factors form deterministic calculations. The conclusion of the IAEA meeting suggests for further activities, maybe a further CRP among others, the following two topics: “Online Reactivity Monitoring and Control of Sub-critical System”; and “Determination of Sub-criticality Level and Uncertainties Analyses”.

Keywords: ADS; Subcriticality determinaiton; EUROTRANS; YALINA

  • Open Access Logo Contribution to proceedings
    Technical Meeting to Identify innovative fast neutron systems development gaps, 29.02.-02.03.2012, Wien, Österreich: Reproduced by the IAEA
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Technical Meeting to Identify innovative fast neutron systems development gaps, 29.02.-02.03.2012, Wien, Österreich

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16972
Publ.-Id: 16972


Core/system modeling and simulation: state-of-the-art, R&D needs and new ideas

Merk, B.

Especially in Europe, the status of the core and system simulation is an essential point for the licensing of future nuclear reactor plants. In the light water reactor (LWR) technology, the development of modern coupled thermal hydraulics/neutronics simulation tools has undergone a rapid development in the late 90ies and during the first years of the new century. The simulation standard in LWR is described with a detailed view into the available codes and methods including the calculation chain for the coupled thermal hydraulics/neutronics steady state core analysis. Further on, the simulation capabilities for the load following and for the transient analysis in LWR cores are discussed. The overview will be closed with a description of the coupled simulations for the core integrated into the whole reactor system using the core simulators together with the system simulation codes for the description of transients which are induced or influenced by the primary or even the secondary system.
The current capabilities for the simulation of the core and system behavior of fast reactors in steady state as well as during transients are discussed in comparison with the described state-of-the-art in LWR to demonstrate the currently available possibilities and to define the development demand.
Advantage in the development of simulation codes for fast reactors can be taken from the state-of-the-art available in LWR technology. Conclusions are drawn about the required extensions needed to make the LWR code systems usable for fast reactor simulation. Two code systems under development and validation are presented to give an insight into the newest advances in the topic. The major point in the future for these works is the validation of the extended codes. For his topic, an outlook is given to the IAEA CRP on the EBR-II benchmark proposed by the Argonne National Lab., which is a good opportunity for the code validation.

Keywords: DYN3D; Fast Reactor; Simulation

  • Open Access Logo Contribution to proceedings
    Technical Meeting to Identify innovative fast neutron systems development gaps, 29.02.-02.03.2012, Wien, Österreich: Reproduced by the IAEA
  • Lecture (Conference)
    Technical Meeting to Identify innovative fast neutron systems development gaps, 29.02.-02.03.2012, Wien, Österreich

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16971
Publ.-Id: 16971


Direct measurement of the d(alpha,gamma)6Li cross-section at astrophysical energies

Anders, M.; The LUNA collaboration

Standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis predicts a very low abundance of the minor lithium isotope 6Li, which is instead believed to be produced by cosmic rays over time. However, recently 6Li has been detected in very old metal-poor stars, leading to the question whether its Big Bang production might be stronger than believed. The key reaction for 6Li production in the Big Bang is d(alpha,gamma)6Li. Using the deep underground LUNA 400 kV accelerator at the Gran Sasso Laboratory in Italy, a direct measurement of the cross section is underway. The contribution will report on this experiment, collected data, methods to analyze them, and preliminary results.

Keywords: Big Bang; nucleosynthesis; LUNA; Gran Sasso; underground

  • Lecture (Conference)
    496. WE-Heraeus-Seminar "Astrophysics with modern small-scale accelerators", 06.-10.02.2012, Bad Honnef, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16970
Publ.-Id: 16970


Initial tests of Silicon Photomultipliers for NeuLAND

Reinhardt, T.; Wagner, A.; Bemmerer, D.

Initial tests of KETEK 3*3mm^2 SiPM's are presented, for the readout of BC408 scintillator material.

Keywords: Photosensors; SiPM; neutron detectors; FAIR; nuclear astrophysics; photon readout; photomultiplier; tube geiger mode; photodiode; avalanche

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    NUPNET NEDENSAA (NEutron DEtector developments for Nuclear Structure, Astrophysics and Applications) kick-off meeting, 15.-17.02.2012, Madrid, Spanien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16969
Publ.-Id: 16969


Presentation of NEDENSAA working package 4: Photosensors

Bemmerer, D.

The plans for working package 4 (photosensors) within the NUPNET NEDENSAA project are reviewed, with a focus on planned efforts at TU Dresden, Uppsala, and INFN.

Keywords: Photosensors; SiPM; neutron detectors; FAIR; nuclear astrophysics; photon readout; photomultiplier; geiger mode; photodiode avalanche; photodiode

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    NUPNET NEDENSAA (NEutron DEtector developments for Nuclear Structure, Astrophysics and Applications) kick-off meeting, 15.-17.02.2012, Madrid, Spanien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16968
Publ.-Id: 16968


NeuLAND time of flight detector for 0.2-1.0 GeV neutrons

Bemmerer, D.

The goals and design of the future NeuLAND detector at FAIR are presented.

Keywords: NeuLAND time of flight neutron detector FAIR nuclear astrophysics r-process radioactive ion beam

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    NUPNET NEDENSAA (NEutron DEtector developments for Nuclear Structure, Astrophysics and Applications) kick-off meeting, 15.-17.02.2012, Madrid, Spanien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16967
Publ.-Id: 16967


Study of the 2H(alpha,gamma)6Li nuclear reaction producing 6Li in standard big bang nucleosynthesis

Bemmerer, D.; Gustavino, C.; Anders, M.

The 2H(alpha,gamma)6Li reaction dominates the production of lithium-6 in standard big bang nucleosynthesis. Due to its exceedingly low cross section, this reaction has never been studied experimentally at the relevant energies, and consequently the adopted reaction rate depends on uncertain extrapolations. A direct study of the 2H(alpha,gamma)6Li cross section is currently underway at the LUNA 400 kV accelerator, located deep underground in the Gran Sasso laboratory, Italy. The expected data lie directly at big-bang energies. It is hoped that they help constrain non-standard lithium-6 production scenarios, by putting the standard Big Bang production on a solid experimental footing.

Keywords: LUNA underground nuclear astrophysics; Felsenkeller; Big Bang nucleosynthesis; hydrogen burning; nucleosynthesis

  • Poster
    Lithium in the Cosmos, 27.-29.02.2012, Paris, Frankreich
  • Open Access Logo Memorie della Societa Astronomica Italiana 22(2012)Suppl., 181

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16966
Publ.-Id: 16966


Experimental study of the 2H(α,γ)6Li reaction and other recent progress at LUNA

Bemmerer, D.

In addition to the well-known 7Li problem of Big Bang nucleosynthesis, observations of 6Li in very metal poor stars hint at a possible Big Bang Li problem. Network calculations show that the 2H(𝛼,𝛾)6Li reaction dominates 6Li production in the Big Bang, but there are no direct experimental data on this reaction at relevant energies. An experiment on this reaction is underway at the 400kV underground accelerator LUNA in Gran Sasso/Italy, and preliminary data will be shown. In addition, recent LUNA work on the 15 N(p,𝛾)16O, 17O(p,𝛾)18 F, and 25Mg(p,𝛾)26Al reactions and a planned 22Ne(p,𝛾)23Na study will be briefly discussed, and an outlook will be given.

Keywords: LUNA underground nuclear astrophysics; Felsenkeller; Big Bang nucleosynthesis; hydrogen burning; nucleosynthesis

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Frühjahrstagung der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft, 19.-23.03.2012, Mainz, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16965
Publ.-Id: 16965


The Dresden Felsenkeller: A shallow underground option for accelerator-based nuclear astrophysics

Bemmerer, D.

The status and perspectives for a possible accelerator in the shallow underground facility Felsenkeller in Dresden is reviewed.

Keywords: Underground laboratory; small accelerator; LUNA; Felsenkeller; astrophysics; nucleosynthesis; solar abundance problem; big bang nucleosynthesis

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Workshop on Nuclear Astrophysics at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory, 22.-23.03.2012, Canfranc, Spanien

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16964
Publ.-Id: 16964


Underground laboratories

Bemmerer, D.

The status and future of underground laboratories for nuclear astrophysics are reviewed

Keywords: Underground laboratory; small accelerator; LUNA; Felsenkeller; astrophysics; nucleosynthesis; solar abundance problem; big bang nucleosynthesis

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    496. Wilhelm und Else Heraeus - Seminar „Astrophysics with modern small-scale accelerators“, 06.-10.02.2012, Bad Honnef, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16963
Publ.-Id: 16963


Insider 5 / 2012

Weigl, A.

Mitarbeiterzeitung des HZDR

Keywords: HZDR in-house paper

  • Communication & Media Relations
    Mitarbeiterzeitung 05.04.2012
    12 Seiten

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16962
Publ.-Id: 16962


Hexanuclear actinide(IV) carboxylates formed by competition between ligation and hydrolysis

Hennig, C.; Takao, S.; Takao, K.; Weiss, S.; Kraus, W.; Emmerling, F.; Meyer, M.; Scheinost, A. C.

Tetravalent actinides show a strong tendency toward hydrolysis already at low pH. Below the onset of hydrolysis they commonly form monomeric complexes with carboxylate ligands. As the pH reaches the hydrolysis limit, olation and oxolation occur as competing reactions. We observed under these circumstances the formation of several well-defined hexanuclear carboxylate complexes. Recent thermodynamic studies suffer from the lack of structural information on such solution species. EXAFS spectroscopy is well suited to gain this information and has been applied to study U(IV), Th(IV), Np(IV) and Pu(IV) carboxylates and amino-carboxylates in aqueous solution and solid state. A comparison with the corresponding single crystal data supports the structure analysis of the solution species. We found that the carboxylic group acts as terminating ligand and stabilizes nanosized hexanuclear clusters in solution as well as in solid state. It is important to note that this reaction prevents the formation of hydrolysis products as well as the formation of An(IV) hydrous oxide colloids.

Keywords: EXAFS; tetravalent actinides; carboxylate; aminocarboxylate

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    15th International Conference on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS15), 22.-28.7.2012, Beijing, China

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16961
Publ.-Id: 16961


Investigation of the dynamics of magnetic Vortices in trilayer systems

Banholzer, A.; Wintz, S.; Bunce, C.; Strahe, T.; Körner, M.; Erbe, A.; Puzic, A.; Raabe, J.; Quitmann, C.; Lenz, K.; Fassbender, J.

Magnetic Vortices are of great interest for storage media for quite a while. Different control methods are used to manipulate them. We now use scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) to image the magnetic configurations within the different layer of a trilayer system of Cobalt/Copper/Permalloy. The dominant coupling mechanisms here are the magneto-dipolar interaction and interlayer exchange coupling. The corresponding behaviors of the magnetization configurations in a static magnetic field, as well as in an oscillating magnetic field, are investigated. The emerging movement of the core can be tuned with the amplitude and frequency of the field. The interactions of the two cores and their individually resonance frequencies are studied. This implies the corresponding resistance changes within different configurations at different magnetic fields and currents as well as the shifting of the core.

Keywords: vortex; trilayer; STXM

  • Poster
    DPG-Frühjahrstagung, 27.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16960
Publ.-Id: 16960


Biodistribution of radioactively labelled nanoparticles in the mouse

Holzhausen, C.; Mundhenk, L.; Gröger, D.; Licha, K.; Rainer, H.; Abram, U.; Gemeinhardt, I.; Schnorr, J.; Donat, C.; Gruber, A.

Introduction
Fluorochromatic labeling of organic nanoparticles is often used to investigate their biodistribution in animal models. However, this technique is descriptive in nature and does not allow for signal quantification. Furthermore, fluorochromatic labeling changes chemical and physical properties and is therefore thought to change the distribution characteristics of nanoscaled particles. We therefore hypothesized that radioactive labeling facilitates a quantifiable determination of the biodistribution of nanoparticles.

Material and Methods
47 NMRI-mice received 35S- labeled, 7 ± 1,5 nm sized dendritic Polyglycerol Sulfate (dPGS) or unlabelled dPGS intravenously or subcutaneously. Radioactivity from tissues at different times up to 21 days was analyzed by surface-counts, autoradiography, liquid-scintillation, imager-survey and histological photoemulsion.

Results
Radioactivity measurements allowed for a tissue- and time-dependent quantification of the labelled dPGS. Radioactively-labelled dPGS were still quantifiable in liver and spleen after 21 days following intravenous injection. Subcutaneous application resulted in a similar but delayed distribution kinetic.

Discussion
The biodistribution of dPGS was quantitatively determined by all methods used for radioactivity testing. This approach should provide an innovative, sensitive and adaptable method to detect nanoparticles without changing their biorelevant properties.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    ESVP-ECVP-ESTP-Meeting 2011, 07.-10.09.2011, Uppsala, Schweden
  • Abstract in refereed journal
    Journal of Comparative Pathology 146(2012)1, 52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2011.11.028
    ISSN: 0021-9975

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16958
Publ.-Id: 16958


Extrinsically controlled spin relaxation in NiFe thin films induced by a periodic scattering potential

Körner, M.; Lenz, K.; Banholzer, A.; Grebing, J.; Barsukov, I.; Römer, F. M.; Lindner, J.; Farle, M.; Fassbender, J.

The spin relaxation process of thin Ni80Fe20 (Py) films is influenced by introducing a periodic scattering potential using ion beam techniques. These potentials can be created in two ways: (i) by Cr+ implantation into the surface of the Py film, using a lithographically defined mask. (ii) by using nanometer scale periodically modulated substrates (ripple) that change the morphology of the Py film grown on top [2].
The magnetic damping contributions are determined by frequencydependent ferromagnetic resonance measurements using a vector network analyzer. For both sample systems we find several strongly enhanced linewidth peaks over a wide frequency range. By varying the scattering potential, the frequency positions of the damping peaks are preselectable.
This work is supported by DFG grant FA 314/6-1 and SFB 491.
[1] I. Barsukov et al., Phys. Rev. B 84, 140410(R) (2011).
[2] J. Fassbender et al., New Journal of Physics 11, 125002 (2009).

Related publications

  • Lecture (Conference)
    DPG Frühjahrstagung der Sektion Kondensierte Materie (SKM), 25.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16957
Publ.-Id: 16957


Insights on the U(VI) Speciation with Bacterial Isolates from Äspö and Mont Terri

Lütke, L.; Moll, H.; Bachvarova, V.; Selenska-Pobell, S.; Bernhard, G.

In this study we examined the impact of two microbial representatives from actually discussed potential geological formations for nuclear waste storage on the U(VI) speciation. Pseudomonas fluorescens CCUG 32456A isolated from the granitic aquifers at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden, and a novel strain of the genus Paenibacillus from clay samples of the Mont Terri Rock Laboratory, Switzerland, which we have recently isolated and been able to cultivate, were investigated. To assess the U(VI) interaction with surface functional groups of theses strains, potentiometric titration in combination with time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) were applied. Based on the stability constants of U(VI) complexes with the bacterial surface functional groups U(VI) species distributions in presence of both strains in dependence on the pH were calculated. The differences in the U(VI) speciation with both strains and the influencing factors will be discussed in detail.

Keywords: uranium; P. fluorescens; Paenibacillus sp. nov; potentiometric titration; TRLFS

  • Contribution to proceedings
    International Symposium on Metal Complexes (ISMEC2012), 18.-22.06.2012, Lisbon, Portugal
    Acta of the International Symposia on Metal Complexes
  • Lecture (Conference)
    International Symposium on Metal Complexes (ISMEC) 2012, 18.-22.06.2012, Lisbon, Portugal

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16956
Publ.-Id: 16956


Insider 4/2011

Weigl, A.

Mitarbeiterzeitung des HZDR

Keywords: in-house journal of HZDR

  • Communication & Media Relations
    Mitarbeiterzeitung 16.12.2011
    4 Seiten

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16955
Publ.-Id: 16955


Insider 3/2011

Weigl, A.; Schmiedel, S.

Mitarbeiterzeitung des HZDR

Keywords: in-house journal of HZDR

  • Communication & Media Relations
    Mitarbeiterzeitung 28.10.2011
    10 Seiten

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16954
Publ.-Id: 16954


Transition between turbulent magnetically driven flow states in a Rayleigh-Bénard cell

Grants, I.; Gerbeth, G.

Transition between turbulent flow regimes is studied experimentally in a cylinder of liquid mercury heated from below under the influence of a rotating magnetic field. The latter creates a rotating flow which almost completely suppresses the temperature fluctuation near horizontal boundaries at a much lower angular velocity than a simple mechanical rotation. Our experiment confirms that this effect persists in the deep turbulent range to Grashof numbers as high as about 10^9. An intermediate range is observed for Gr > 2 × 10^8 with the temperature fluctuation suppressed in the core but near the sidewall. This is explained by turbulent friction replacing the Coriolis force as the leading retarding force. The linear instability of a simplified model is studied numerically. The model considers a base flow consisting of a uniform rotation and a formally independent uniform meridional flow in a cylinder with an adverse vertical temperature gradient. The model shows that the bulk meridional flow being itself much slower than the rotation is able to delay the Rayleigh-Bénard instability.

Keywords: Rayleigh-Bénard; Transition to turbulent flow; magnetically driven flow

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16953
Publ.-Id: 16953


3D Profile-Based Approach to Proteome-Wide Discovery of Novel Human Chemokines

Tomczak, A.; Sontheimer, J.; Drechsel, D.; Hausdorf, R.; Gentzel, M.; Shevchenko, A.; Eichler, S.; Fahmy, K.; Buchholz, F.; Pisabarro, M. T.

Chemokines are small secreted proteins with important roles in immune responses. They consist of a conserved three-dimensional (3D) structure, so-called IL8-like chemokine fold, which is supported by disulfide bridges characteristic of this protein family. Sequence- and profile-based computational methods have been proficient in discovering novel chemokines by making use of their sequence-conserved cysteine patterns. However, it has been recently shown that some chemokines escaped annotation by these methods due to low sequence similarity to known chemokines and to different arrangement of cysteines in sequence and in 3D. Innovative methods overcoming the limitations of current techniques may allow the discovery of new remote homologs in the still functionally uncharacterized fraction of the human genome.
We report a novel computational approach for proteome-wide identification of remote homologs of the chemokine family that uses fold recognition techniques in combination with a scaffold-based automatic mapping of disulfide bonds to define a 3D profile of the chemokine protein family. By applying our methodology to all currently uncharacterized human protein sequences, we have discovered two novel proteins that, without having significant sequence similarity to known chemokines or characteristic cysteine patterns, show strong structural resemblance to known anti-HIV chemokines. Detailed computational analysis and experimental structural investigations based on mass spectrometry and circular dichroism support our structural predictions and highlight several other chemokine-like features. The results obtained support their functional annotation as putative novel chemokines and encourage further experimental characterization.
The identification of remote homologs of human chemokines may provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms causing pathologies such as cancer or AIDS, and may contribute to the development of novel treatments. Besides, the genome-wide applicability of our methodology based on 3D protein family profiles may open up new possibilities for improving and accelerating protein function annotation processes.

Keywords: G protei-coupled receptor; circular dichroism

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16952
Publ.-Id: 16952


S-layer proteins as possible immobilization matrix for photocatalysts – OH radical scavenging capacity and protein stability

Schmoock, C.; Börnick, H.; Vogel, M.; Lehmann, F.; Kutschke, S.; Raff, J.; Dittmar, T.; Worch, E.

Supported nanostructured photocatalysts were improved by using novel biohybrid materials based on bacterial S-layer proteins. Within the development of advanced photocatalytic materials supported with bacterial S-layer proteins, the OH radical scavenging capacity of suspended S-layer proteins in a photocatalytic system was determined with 2.39 × 105 (mg protein)−1 s−1 using tertiary butanol OH radical assay. Furthermore, applying the photocatalyst in suspension, S-layer proteins inhibit the photocatalytic process by covering the ZnO nanoparticles. This effect is related to the protein concentration and can be described by a saturation function. S-layer proteins were not conspicuously damaged, such as fragmentation, by photocatalytic treatment. Only a slight cross-linking was visible by gel electrophoresis. For future use, immobilized S-layer proteins will be utilized in significantly lower amounts. Therefore the inhibition by covering particles and the relatively low scavenging capacity will not strongly affect the OH radical yield of the final composite. These findings were also confirmed by degradation experiments with diclofenac. Based on these findings it can be concluded that the implementation of nanoscaled biocomposite materials using S-layer proteins for the preparation of multi-functional coatings for photocatalytic applications is promising.

Keywords: OH radicals; S-layer protein; Scavenger capacity; Photocatalysis; Advanced materials

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16951
Publ.-Id: 16951


Mechanical and ellipsometry measurements of thin TiN layer prepared by PIII

Abd El-Rahman, A. M.; Raaif, M.; Mohamed, S.; Kolitsch, A.

Titanium nitrides have good mechanical, biomedical and optical properties, therefore they are used to harden and protect cutting and sliding surfaces and as a non-toxic exterior for bio-medical applications. Nitrogen plasma immersion implantation (Pill), in which the diffusion of nitrogen from low pressure r.f. plasma is combined with the implantation of nitrogen ions at energies up to 30 kV, is an effective tool for nitriding titanium and titanium alloys. In this work, samples of pure titanium were nitrided by Pill at different negative high voltage pulses. The properties and the characteristics of the processed samples were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), ball-on-disk type tribometer, surface profilemeter, and ellipsometry measurements. The results show that, the wear resistance of the untreated sample in comparison to the PIII treated samples is extremely poor and the friction coefficient for the PIII treated samples is decrease!
d to the half value in comparison to the untreated titanium, this attributed to the formation of the solid solution titanium alpha-Ti(N) and the cubic TiN phases. Ellipsometric measurements were carried out on the PIII treated samples at different negative high voltage pulses. A three layers model was used to fit the calculated data to the experimental ellipsometric spectra. The thickness, surface roughness and refractive index increase with increasing the negative high voltage pulses. The refractive index at 550 nm increases from 1.83 to 2.09 as the negative high voltage pulses increases from 10 to 30 kV.

Keywords: PIII; TiN; ellipsometry

Related publications

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16950
Publ.-Id: 16950


Copper and silver ion implantation of aluminium oxide-blasted titanium surfaces: proliferative response of osteoblasts and antibacterial effects

Fiedler, J.; Kolitsch, A.; Kleffner, B.; Henke, D.; Stenger, S.; Brenner, R.

Implant infection still represents a major clinical problem in orthopedic surgery. We therefore tested the in vitro biocompatibility and antibacterial effects of copper (Cu)- and silver (Ag)-ion implantation. Discs of a commonly used titanium alloy (Ti6AlV4) with an aluminium oxide-blasted surface were treated by Cu- or Ag-ion implantation with different dosage regimen (ranging from 1e15-17 ions cm(-2) at energies of 2-20 keV). The samples were seeded with primary human osteoblasts and cell attachment and proliferation was analyzed by an MTT-assay. In comparison to the reference titanium alloy there was no difference in the number of attached viable cells after two days. After seven days the number of viable cells was increased for Cu with 1e17 ions cm(-2) at 2 and 5 keV, and for Ag with 1e16 ions cm(-2) at 5 keV while it was reduced for the highest amount of Ag deposition (1e17 ions cm(-2) at 20 key). Antibacterial effects on S.aureus and E.coli were marginal for the studied dosages of Cu but clearly present for Ag with 1e16 ions cm(-2) at 2 and 5 keV and 1e17 ions cm(-2) at 20 keV. These results indicate that Ag-ion implantation may be a promising methodological approach for antibacterial functionalization of titanium implants.

Keywords: ion implantation; orthopedic surgery; antibacterial effects

Related publications

Downloads

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16949
Publ.-Id: 16949


The Specific Value of Early Stage Mining Projects: Are Common Valuation Methods Appropriate?

Marakulina, P.; Klossek, A.

Taking into account the recent worldwide strive for raw materials, the emergence of start-ups in the mining sector for rare metals, and tendencies of financial and strategic investors to invest in such companies, the paper critically evaluates the suitability of common methods widely used to valuate mining projects and start-ups. Building on the deficiencies of single methods to capture the specificities of rare earth junior mining companies, which are assumed to be single-project companies, the paper suggests using a combined approach including discounted cash flow, real options, and multipliers methods. Compared to the value obtained by using singular methods, the resulting specific value is argued to better reflect the value of a specific company and project, respectively, within the rare earth junior mining industry.

Keywords: Early Stage Mining Project; Valuation Method; Rare Earths

  • Lecture (Conference)
    12th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management - EURAM 2012, 06.-08.06.2012, Rotterdam, Niederlande

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16948
Publ.-Id: 16948


Nuclear waste management: Current research at ROBL/ESRF

Scheinost, A. C.

X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is well suited to investigate trace amounts of target elements in a variety of matrices, which makes it the method of choice for the investigation of radionuclides in the framework of nuclear waste management. With the Rossendorf Beamline at ESRF (ROBL), a dedicated XAS station for radionuclide research is available, licensed to investigate actinides from throrium to californium with activities up to 185 MBq. In this talk, I will give an overview on nuclear waste related research performed at ROBL, encompassing waste disposal as well as waste reduction.

Keywords: XAFS; EXAFS; XANES; nuclear waste; synchrotron

Related publications

  • Invited lecture (Conferences)
    Expert Panel: Industry’s needs for advanced characterisation, by neutron and synchrotron X-ray techniques, of materials for civil nuclear power, 03.-04.04.2012, Grenoble, France

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16947
Publ.-Id: 16947


High-field magnetism and magneto-acoustics in UCo2Si2

Yasin, S.; Andreev, A. V.; Skourski, Y.; Zherlitsyn, S.; Wosnitza, J.

We report results of magnetization and magneto-acoustic studies on a UCo2Si2 single crystal in high magnetic fields. This compound orders antiferromagnetically at the Néel temperature TN = 83 K and shows at low temperatures a first-order metamagnetic transition (MT) at 45 T with very small hysteresis (µ0ΔHcr = 0.16 T) to a ferrimagnetic state seen as a sharp jump in the magnetization when the magnetic field is applied along the c direction. The magnetization curve measured along the a axis shows no transition and is linear up to 60 T. The acoustic properties exhibit drastic anomalies in the vicinity of both magnetic phase transitions; the spontaneous and the field-induced one. At TN, a pronounced change in the sound velocity Δv/v accompanied with a peak in the attenuation Δα has been observed. Whereas Δα only shows a very sharp peak at the MT, Δv/v displays a more complicated behavior; it has a non-monotonous temperature evolution with maximum effects at 30 K, which can be due to the transition changing from first to second order. Our results enabled us to map the phase diagram of UCo2Si2 in fields applied along the c axis. We discuss our observations in relation to the magnetism on the U site and the magnetoelastic interaction in this material. *Part of this work was supported by EuroMagNET under the EU contract No. 228043.

  • Lecture (Conference)
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 26.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16946
Publ.-Id: 16946


Direct observation of the superconducting energy-gap opening in the optical conductivity spectra of LuNi2B2C

Fischer, T.; Pronin, A. V.; Stehr, D.; Wosnitza, J.; Niemeier, T.; Holzapfel, B.

At frequencies between 100 GHz and 2.5 THz, we have accurately measured the complex transmission coefficient of LuNi2B2C films on MgO substrates using two different setups: a time-domain terahertz spectrometer and a setup based on backward-wave oscillators. For the first time, the development of the superconducting energy gap is directly observed in the optical spectra. From the measured data, we have calculated the optical conductivity and the penetration depth. We have compared the results with the BCS theory, and found an additional absorption at low frequencies. The origin of this absorption may be related to the complex gap structure of the compound with possible nodes. Theoretical calculations are currently under way. Part of this work has been supported by EuroMagNET, EU contract 228043.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 26.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16945
Publ.-Id: 16945


Characterization of superparamagnetic nanoparticles for bone-tissue engineering

Uhlarz, M.; Herrmannsdörfer, T.; de Santis, R.; Sandri, M.; Tampieri, A.; Figallo, E.; D’Alessandro, T.; Keshari-Samal, S.; Rischitor, G.; Collaboration Magister

Currently, large bone or cartilage defects are stabilized by massivelyinvasive surgery. The permanent implants used for this purpose are either metallic prostheses, or body tissue taken elsewhere from the patient. In a novel tissue-engineering approach, autologous tissue regeneration is guided by implanted magnetic scaffolds under external magnetic field. These scaffolds attract superparamagnetic Fe3O4 (magnetite) nanoparticles tagged with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) molecules. Release of the growth-factor molecules at the scaffold (optionally triggered by ac-field induced hyperthermia) attracts autologous chondrocytes and osteoblasts, which build up fresh bone and cartilage tissue. We report on the magnetic characterization of several biocompatible and biodegradable materials that might serve as scaffold materials.
This project is supported by the European Union’s FP7-Cooperation Programme through the MAGISTER project (Magnetic Scaffolds for in-vivo Tissue Engineering), Large Collaborative Project FP7 - 21468.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 26.-30.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16944
Publ.-Id: 16944


Fermi-surface change in Yb-doped CeCoIn5

Polyakov, A.; Ignatchik, O.; Bergk, B.; Bianchi, A. D.; Blackburn, S.; Prevost, B.; Cote, M.; Seyfarth, G.; Hurt, D.; Fisk, Z.; Goodrich, R. G.; Richter, M.; Sheikin, I.; Wosnitza, J.

The evolution of the band-structure parameters of Ce1−xYbxCoIn5 was studied as a function of Yb doping by systematic de Haas–van Alphen (dHvA) measurements. We found only a small change of the dHvA frequencies and effective masses of CeCoIn5 for a low Yb concentrations (x =0.1). A drastic change of the Fermi surface appears for high dilution, i.e., for x ≥0.55. The experimentally observed Fermisurface topology of YbCoIn5 is in perfect agreement with the calculated band structure. For small x, the effective masses remain strongly renormalized, whereas for ≥0.55 the masses are reduced dramatically.

  • Poster
    Frühjahrstagung der DPG, 26.-29.03.2012, Berlin, Deutschland

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16943
Publ.-Id: 16943


Experimental data on vertical air-water pipe flow obtained by ultrafast electron beam X-ray tomography measurements

Lucas, D.; Banowski, M.; Hoppe, D.; Beyer, M.; Szalinski, L.; Barthel, F.; Hampel, U.

The qualification of CFD codes for two-phase flows requires reliable experimental data with high resolution in space and time. Especially data on the transient structure of the interface is required. Bubble sizes play an important role for the evolution of the flow along the flow path. Vertical pipe flow is suitable for model development and validation because of the well-defined boundary conditions and the possibility to observe the evolution of the flow along the pipe. In nuclear reactor safety research often flows with high void fraction have to be considered. Since optical measuring methods fail for such dense flows intrusive techniques as needle tip probes or wire-mesh sensors are frequently used. Due to the intrusive effect these techniques can be applied only for a limited range of flow conditions. This paper presents first quantitative results of measurements done in upwards vertical pipe flows with air-water and steam-water systems using the new non-intrusive ultrafast electron beam tomography.

Keywords: two-phase; CFD; bubble; X-ray; tomography; experiment; database; pipe flow

  • Contribution to proceedings
    CFD4NRS-4, The Experimental Validation and Application of CFD and CMFD Codes in Nuclear Reactor Technology, 10.-12.09.2012, Daejeon, Korea
  • Lecture (Conference)
    CFD4NRS-4, The Experimental Validation and Application of CFD and CMFD Codes in Nuclear Reactor Technology, 10.-12.09.2012, Daejeon, Korea

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16942
Publ.-Id: 16942


Variations of structure and magnetic properties in UTGe hydrides (T = late transition metal)

Adamska, A. M.; Havela, L.; Skourski, Y.; Andreev, A. V.

Hydrogenation of UTGe compounds results in formation of stable alpha- and beta-hydrides, and modification of the crystal structure and magnetic properties. TC = 3 K of UCoGe increases up to 50 K in beta-hydrides and TC = 9.5 K of URhGe up to 17 K in alpha-hydrides. The type of magnetic order is changed in UNiGe-H and UIrGe-H. The observed effects are attributed to the increased U-U spacing in the hydrides.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16941
Publ.-Id: 16941


Pronounced first-order metamagnetic transition in the paramagnetic heavy-fermion system CeTiGe

Deppe, M.; Lausberg, S.; Weickert, F.; Brando, M.; Skourski, Y.; Caroca-Canales, N.; Geibel, C.; Steglich, F.

We report on the observation of large, steplike anomalies in the magnetization (ΔM = 0.74 μB/Ce), in the magnetostriction (Δl/l0 = 2.0 × 10−3), and in the magnetoresistance in polycrystals of the paramagnetic heavyfermion system CeTiGe at a critical magnetic field μ0Hc ≈ 12 T at low temperatures. The size of these anomalies is much larger than those reported for the prototypical heavy-fermion metamagnet CeRu2Si2. Furthermore, hysteresis between increasing and decreasing field data indicate a real thermodynamic, first-order type of phase transition, in contrast to the crossover reported for CeRu2Si2. Analysis of the resistivity data shows a pronounced decrease of the electronic quasiparticle mass across Hc. These results establish CeTiGe as a rare metamagnetic Kondo-lattice system, with an exceptionally large, metamagnetic transition of first-order type at a moderate field.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16940
Publ.-Id: 16940


Field-induced phases in UPt2Si2

Schulze Grachtrup, D.; Bleckmann, M.; Willenberg, B.; Süllow, S.; Bartkowiak, M.; Skourski, Y.; Rakoto, H.; Sheikin, I.; Mydosh, J. A.

The tetragonal compound UPt2Si2 has been characterized as a moderately mass-enhanced system with an antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state below TN = 32 K. Here, we present an extensive study of the behavior in high magnetic fields.We have performed pulsed field magnetization and static field resistivity measurements on single crystalline samples UPt2Si2. Along the crystallographic a axis, at low temperatures, we find a metamagnetic-like transition in fields of the order 40 T, possibly indicating a first-order transition. Along the crystallographic c axis, in magnetic fields of B ≥ 24 T, we find distinct anomalies in both properties. From our analysis of the data we can distinguish new high-field phases above the AFM ground state. We discuss the emergence of these new phases in the context of Fermi surface effects and the possible occurrence of a Lifshitz or electronic topological transition, this in contrast to previous modelings of UPt2Si2 based on crystal electric field effects.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16939
Publ.-Id: 16939


Decorated Shastry-Sutherland lattice in the spin-1/2 magnet CdCu2(BO3)2

Janson, O.; Rousochatzakis, I.; Tsirlin, A. A.; Richter, J.; Skourski, Y.; Rosner, H.

We report the microscopic magnetic model for the spin-1/2 Heisenberg system CdCu2(BO3)2, one of the few quantum magnets showing the 1/2-magnetization plateau. Recent neutron diffraction experiments on this compound [M. Hase et al., Phys. Rev. B 80, 104405 (2009)] evidenced long-range magnetic order, inconsistent with the previously suggested phenomenological magnetic model of isolated dimers and spin chains. Based on extensive density functional theory band structure calculations, exact diagonalizations, quantum Monte Carlo simulations, third-order perturbation theory as well as high-field magnetization measurements, we find that the magnetic properties of CdCu2(BO3)2 are accounted for by a frustrated quasi-2D magnetic model featuring four inequivalent exchange couplings: the leading antiferromagnetic coupling Jd within the structural Cu2O6 dimers, two interdimer couplings Jt1 and Jt2, forming magnetic tetramers, and a ferromagnetic coupling Jit between the tetramers. Based on comparison to the experimental data, we evaluate the ratios of the leading couplings Jd : Jt1 : Jt2 : Jit = 1 : 0.20 : 0.45 : −0.30, with Jd of about 178 K. The inequivalence of Jt1 and Jt2 largely lifts the frustration and triggers long-range antiferromagnetic ordering. The proposed model accounts correctly for the different magnetic moments localized on structurally inequivalent Cu atoms in the ground-state magnetic configuration. We extensively analyze the magnetic properties of this model, including a detailed description of the magnetically ordered ground state and its evolution in magnetic field with particular emphasis on the 1/2-magnetization plateau. Our results establish remarkable analogies to the Shastry-Sutherland model of SrCu2(BO3)2, and characterize the closely related CdCu2(BO3)2 as a material realization for the spin-1/2 decorated anisotropic Shastry-Sutherland lattice.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16938
Publ.-Id: 16938


Dissipation in Non-Kramers Doublet of PrMg3

Araki, K.; Goto, T.; Mitsumoto, K.; Nemoto, Y.; Akatsu, M.; Suzuki, H. S.; Tanida, H.; Takagi, S.; Yasin, S.; Zherlitsyn, S.; Wosnitza, J.

The low-temperature ultrasonic dispersion in the transverse (C11 - C12)/2 mode of PrMg3 with the non-Kramers-doublet ground state has been investigated in temperatures down to 20 mK. The dispersion is caused by a thermally activated motions characterized by an Arrhenius-type relaxation time of τ = τ0 exp(E/kBT) with low activation energy, E = 500 mK, and slow attempt time, τ0 = 8.5 x 10-10) s. The coupling of the electric quadrupoles of the non-Kramers-doublet ground state to transverse lattice vibrations leads to a vibronic ground state with dissipation. The vibronic state in PrMg3 releases the entropy of kB ln 2 with lowering temperature across the activation energy. A Kondo-like singlet state due to the binding of the non-Kramers doublet to the lattice vibrations appears at low temperatures far below the activation energy.

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-16937
Publ.-Id: 16937


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