The First Spectrum of Manganese,Mn I

In 1894, two short series of threefold spectral terms were discovered in the arc spectrum of manganese, and in 1922 other regularities involving fivefold and sixfold terms were discovered by Catalán who coined the word “multiplet” for the group of related lines resulting from combinations of such complex terms. Multiplet analyses of complex spectra promptly led to the present formal quantum interpretation of all such phenomena, but comparable progress in the analysis of the Mn I spectrum was handicapped by the paucity of experimental data.New observations of about 2500 wavelengths and intensities plus 440 Zeeman patterns made available in 1948–49 have now been completely exploited to derive additional atomic energy levels and thereby explain more of the observed Mn I lines. The result is that a total of 42 even terms with 125 levels and 60 g-values have now been designated and allocated to electron configurations, and 94 odd terms with 266 levels, 164 g-values, plus 13 miscellaneous levels. These terms are distributed among four multiplicities (doublets, quartets, sextets, octets), and transitions between even and odd terms account for more than 2030 lines ranging in wavelength from 1785 Å to 17608 Å.     

Analysis of the Spectrum of Neutral Atomic Bromine (Br I)

The spectrum of the neutral bromine atom, Br I, has been newly investigated by using electrodeless discharge tubes as light sources. The observations have led to a list of wavelengths and estimated intensities for 1253 spectral lines in the range 1067 to 24100 Å. The number of known energy levels has been increased to 123 even and 128 odd levels, as compared with the 27 even and 33 odd levels previously known. All predicted energy levels of the 4s²4p⁴ns, up, nd, nf electron configurations from 0 to ~93250 K have been discovered. The observations in the vacuum ultraviolet establish that the positions of all the levels lying above those of the ground configuration as given in the compilation Atomic Energy Levels, Vol. II (1952) should be increased by 6.7 K. All but 26 faint lines of Br I have been classified. A total of 67 levels has been ascribed to the 4s² 4p* nf configurations. It is demonstrated that the nf configurations exhibit almost pure pair coupling. The very regular (³P₂)nf[5]°_11/2 series yields for the principal ionization energy of Br I the value 95284.8 K.     

Nonlinearity Measurements of High-Power Laser Detectors at NIST

We briefly explain the fundamentals of detector nonlinearity applicable to both electrical and optical nonlinearity measurements. We specifically discuss the attenuation method for optical nonlinearity measurement that the NIST system is based upon, and we review the possible sources of nonlinearity inherent to thermal detectors used with high-power lasers. We also describe, in detail, the NIST nonlinearity measurement system, in which detector responsivity can be measured at wavelengths of 1.06 µm and 10.6 µm, over a power range from 1 W to 1000 W. We present the data processing method used and show measurement results depicting both positive and negative nonlinear behavior. The expanded uncertainty of a typical NIST high-power laser detector calibration including nonlinearity characterization is about 1.3 %.     

The Spectrum of Doubly Ionized Tungsten (W III)

The spectrum of doubly ionized tungsten (W III) was produced in a sliding-spark discharge and recorded photographically on the NIST 10.7-m normal-incidence vacuum spectrograph in the 600–2680 Å spectral region. The analysis has led to the establishment of 71 levels of the interacting 5d⁴, 5d³ 6s and 5d² 6s² even configurations and 164 levels of the interacting 5d³ 6p and 5d² 6s 6p odd ones. A total of 2636 lines have been classified as transitions between the 235 experimentally determined levels. Comparison between the observed levels and those calculated from matrix diagonalizations with least-squares fitted parameters shows an rms deviation of ±87 cm⁻¹ for the even configurations and ±450 cm⁻¹ for the odd ones.     

掺铋钇铁石榴石磁光陶瓷的热压烧结及其性能研究

钇铁石榴石(Y₃Fe₅O₁₂, YIG)材料因其优异的磁性能和磁光性能在微波通信、激光技术和光纤通讯等领域具有重要应用。离子掺杂是提高YIG材料磁光性能的有效途径之一, 本研究选择离子半径适配的Bi³⁺掺杂改性YIG陶瓷以提高材料的磁光性能。本工作采用固相法热压烧结制备Bi_xY_3-xFe₅O₁₂ (x=0、0.3、0.6、0.9)陶瓷, 并研究Bi³⁺掺杂对YIG陶瓷材料相结构、微观形貌、红外透过性、磁性能以及磁光性能的影响。结果表明: 陶瓷样品均呈石榴石立方相结构; 显微结构致密, Bi³⁺掺杂后晶粒尺寸不同程度增大; 样品红外透过率良好, 随Bi³⁺掺杂量增大而降低; 陶瓷样品的法拉第旋转角随Bi³⁺掺杂量增加呈线性变化, Bi³⁺掺杂量每增加1% (原子分数), 在波长1064 nm和1550 nm处变化量分别约为-49.0 (°)/cm和-30.2 (°)/cm。Bi_0.6Y_2.4Fe₅O₁₂陶瓷样品在1064 nm和1550 nm波长下法拉第旋转角分别达到-703.3 (°)/cm和-461.5 (°)/cm, 绝对值远高于未掺杂YIG陶瓷的277.6 (°)/cm和172.0 (°)/cm。由此可见, 掺杂适量Bi³⁺可以显著增强YIG陶瓷材料的磁光性能。     

Uncertainty in relative energy resolution measurements

We suggest a new method for the determination of the detector relative energy resolution and its uncertainty based on spline approximation of experimental spectra and a statistical bootstrapping procedure. The proposed method is applied to the spectra obtained with NaI(Tl) scintillating detectors and ¹³⁷Cs sources.

The spectrum histogram with background subtracted channel-by-channel is modeled by cubic spline approximation. The relative energy resolution (which is also known as pulse height resolution and energy resolution), defined as the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) divided by the value of peak centroid, is calculated using the intercepts of the spline curve with the line of the half peak height. The value of the peak height is determined as the point where the value of the derivative goes to zero. The residuals, which are normalized over the square root of counts in a given bin (y-coordinate), obey the standard Gaussian distribution. The values of these residuals are randomly re-assigned to a different set of y-coordinates where a new “pseudo-experimental” data set is obtained after “de-normalization” of the old values. For this new data set a new spline approximation is found and the whole procedure is repeated several hundred times, until the standard deviation of relative energy resolution becomes stabilized. The standard deviation of relative energy resolutions calculated for each “pseudo-experimental” data set (bootstrap uncertainty) is considered to be an estimate for relative energy resolution uncertainty.

It is also shown that the relative bootstrap uncertainty is proportional to, and generally only two to three times bigger than, , which is the relative statistical count uncertainty (N_tot is the total number of counts under the peak).

The newly suggested method is also applicable to other radiation and particle detectors, not only for relative energy resolution, but also for any of the other parameters in a measured spectrum, like peak position, shape parameters, etc.     

Emission probability measurement of γ-ray of Rh

¹⁰⁵Rh becomes a stable ¹⁰⁵Pd after β⁻-decay with a half-life of 35.36 h. The energies of especially strong γ-rays emitted from ¹⁰⁵Rh are 306.1 and 318.9 keV, and the emission probabilities are evaluated to be 5.1±0.3% and 19.1±0.6% by de Frenne et al. To improve the certainty, the γ-ray emission probabilities were determined from the disintegration rate and absolute γ-ray intensities measured using a 4πβ(ppc)-γ(HPGe) coincidence apparatus with two-dimensional data-acquisition system. The results for the 306.1 and 318.9 keV γ-rays were 4.76±0.05% and 16.99±0.17%, respectively.     

不同晶相MnS制备及光解H2S制氢性能研究

采用溶剂热法成功制备了具有立方结构的α-MnS和六方结构的γ-MnS。通过X射线衍射(XRD), 扫描电子显微镜(SEM), 透射电子显微镜(TEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)、选区电子衍射(SAED)和紫外-可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis), 对样品的物相组成、显微形貌、光学性质进行了研究, 并对不同晶相MnS在可见光(λ > 420 nm)和全光谱下光解H₂S制氢性能进行了研究。结果表明: α, γ-MnS在可见光下都具有光解H₂S制氢活性, 且相比于热力学稳定相的α-MnS (4.24 μmol/(g·h)), 亚稳态的γ-MnS (23.38 μmol/(g·h))具有更好的催化性能。相对于可见光, α, γ-MnS在全光谱下的产氢速率明显提高, 其中γ-MnS在全光谱下具有最大的光解H₂S制氢活性, 其产氢速率可达 2272.69 μmol/(g·h)。值得注意的是, 在6 h的光催化测试过程中, α, γ-MnS都展示较好的抗光腐蚀能力和光催化稳定性。此外, 对α, γ-MnS光催化分解H₂S制氢机理进行了分析, 通过对α, γ-MnS光电化学性质的研究, 对其光催化活性存在差异的原因进行了探讨。     

区熔法制备金属硫化物Ag2S及其热电性能研究

金属硫化物Ag2S具有优异的物理化学性能,在催化、传感及光电子等领域具有广阔的应用空间.本工作利用一种区熔技术制备了尺寸为?18 mm×50 mm的Ag2S并对其潜在热电性能进行了研究.Ag2S在450 K以下具有标准的 α-Ag2S单斜P21/c结构,450 K以上发生相变成为立方 β-Ag2S相.Ag2S在300～...     

Re-Analysis of the Uncertainty of the 0.895 μm Diameter (NIST SRM? 1690) and the 0.269 μm Diameter (NIST SRM? 1691) Sphere Standards

The uncertainties of the mean diameters of the nominal 1.0 µm SRM^® 1690 polystyrene spheres and of the nominal 0.3 µm SRM^® 1691 polystyrene spheres are recomputed using the current NIST Guidelines for computing uncertainty. The revised expanded uncertainty (approximately 95 % confidence level) for SRM^® 1690 polystyrene spheres is equal to 0.005 µm compared to previous value of 0.008 µm. The revised expanded uncertainty for SRM^® 1691 is equal to 0.004 µm compared to the previous value of 0.007 µm. The major cause of the reduction in the uncertainty for the 1.0 µm spheres is from a decrease in the recomputed uncertainty of the refractive index of the polystyrene spheres. The 1.0 µm spheres were used in calibrating the electron microscope used to size the 0.3 µm spheres, and the reduction in the uncertainty of 1.0 µm SRM^® uncertainty was the biggest factor in the decrease in the uncertainty of the 0.3 µm spheres.     

Energy Levels,Classified Lines,and Zeeman Effect of Neutral Thorium

A list of about 9500 classified lines of Th I in the range 2345–29 662 Å is given. Lines in the range 2345–9239 A were observed and measured at NBS. Zeeman effect data for 2281 lines are listed. Lists of 254 even and 322 odd levels including their g values are presented. Among them there are 72 new levels, which were not contained in earlier publications.     

平行裂隙群岩体强度与破裂特征的试验研究

为考察含平行裂隙群岩体的强度特征及裂纹扩展规律,结合数字照相量测系统,对不同裂隙倾角下类岩石试样进行了单轴压缩试验。试验结果表明,受裂隙群的影响,试样的力学参数发生一定的劣化,峰值应力和弹性模量的劣化程度分别在10.84%~35.62%和9.79%~54.17%;随着裂隙倾角的逐渐增大,试样峰值应力呈现出先减小后增大的“U”型变化特征,θ为45°时达到最小值。试样破裂形式与裂隙倾角θ 密切相关,θ为15°和30°时,次生裂纹以倾斜裂纹和中部裂纹扩展为主,试样失稳破坏模式主要由倾斜裂纹主导;而θ为45°、60°和75°时,次生裂纹主要为翼裂纹和共面裂纹,且试样失稳破裂模式主要取决于共面裂纹。     

小芯径硫系玻璃光纤的制备及其非线性光学应用

通过动态蒸馏提纯技术制备了高纯Ge-As-Se和Ge-As-S硫系玻璃。采用两步棒管法拉制了以Ge-As-Se玻璃为纤芯、Ge-As-S玻璃为包层的小芯径阶跃折射率光纤, 并使用飞秒激光抽运光纤测试了超连续谱的产生。以Al 和GaCl₃分别作为除氧剂和C/H纯化剂可以有效消除玻璃中的C、H和O杂质。制备的GeAsSe/GeAsS光纤在2~9 μm波段表现出优异的传输性能, 光纤数值孔径约为1.3; 采用重复频率为10.5 MHz、脉冲宽度为320 fs、中心波长为4.0 μm、峰值功率为4.6 kW激光抽运长度为22 cm、芯径为6 μm的光纤, 获得了覆盖1.9~8.2 μm、光谱平坦度为±10 dB、平均功率为4.5 mW的超连续谱。     

Haemocompatibility and ion exchange capability of nanocellulose polypyrrole membranes intended for blood purification

Composites of nanocellulose and the conductive polymer polypyrrole (PPy) are presented as candidates for a new generation of haemodialysis membranes. The composites may combine active ion exchange with passive ultrafiltration, and the large surface area (about 80 m² g⁻¹) could potentially provide compact dialysers. Herein, the haemocompatibility of the novel membranes and the feasibility of effectively removing small uraemic toxins by potential-controlled ion exchange were studied. The thrombogenic properties of the composites were improved by applying a stable heparin coating. In terms of platelet adhesion and thrombin generation, the composites were comparable with haemocompatible polymer polysulphone, and regarding complement activation, the composites were more biocompatible than commercially available membranes. It was possible to extract phosphate and oxalate ions from solutions with physiological pH and the same tonicity as that of the blood. The exchange capacity of the materials was found to be 600 ± 26 and 706 ± 31 μmol g⁻¹ in a 0.1 M solution (pH 7.4) and in an isotonic solution of phosphate, respectively. The corresponding values with oxalate were 523 ± 5 in a 0.1 M solution (pH 7.4) and 610 ± 1 μmol g⁻¹ in an isotonic solution. The heparinized PPy–cellulose composite is consequently a promising haemodialysis material, with respect to both potential-controlled extraction of small uraemic toxins and haemocompatibility.     

Standard Reference Material (SRM 1990) For Single Crystal Diffractometer Alignment

An international project was successfully completed which involved two major undertakings: (1) a round-robin to demonstrate the viability of the selected standard and (2) the certification of the lattice parameters of the SRM 1990, a Standard Reference Material^® for single crystal diffractometer alignment. This SRM is a set of ≈3500 units of Cr-doped Al₂O₃, or ruby spheres [(0.420.011 mole fraction % Cr (expanded uncertainty)]. The round-robin consisted of determination of lattice parameters of a pair of crystals: the ruby sphere as a standard, and a zeolite reference to serve as an unknown. Fifty pairs of crystals were dispatched from Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute to volunteers in x-ray laboratories world-wide. A total of 45 sets of data was received from 32 laboratories. The mean unit cell parameters of the ruby spheres was found to be a=4.7608 ű0.0062 Å, and c=12.9979 ű0.020 Å (95 % intervals of the laboratory means). The source of errors of outlier data was identified. The SRM project involved the certification of lattice parameters using four well-aligned single crystal diffractometers at (Bell Laboratories) Lucent Technologies and at NRC of Canada (39 ruby spheres), the quantification of the Cr content using a combined microprobe and SEM/EDS technique, and the evaluation of the mosaicity of the ruby spheres using a double-crystal spectrometry method. A confirmation of the lattice parameters was also conducted using a Guinier-Hägg camera. Systematic corrections of thermal expansion and refraction corrections were applied. These rubies_– are rhombohedral, with space group R3¯c. The certified mean unit cell parameters are a=4.76080±0.00029 Å, and c=12.99568 ű0.00087 Å (expanded uncertainty). These certified lattice parameters fall well within the results of those obtained from the international round-robin study. The Guinier-Hägg transmission measurements on five samples of powdered rubies (a=4.7610 ű0.0013 Å, and c = 12.9954 ű0.0034 Å) agreed well with the values obtained from the single crystal spheres.     

Characterization of a polychromatic neutron beam diffracted by pyrolytic graphite crystals

The beam spectrum for polychromatic neutrons diffracted by pyrolytic graphite crystals was characterized. The theoretical beam spectrum was obtained using the diffraction model for a mosaic crystal. The lattice vibration effects were included in the calculation using the reported vibration amplitude of the crystal and the measured time-of-flight spectra in the thermal region. The calculated beam spectrum was compared with the results obtained in the absence of thermal motion. The lattice vibration effects became more important for the higher diffraction orders and a large decrease in the neutron flux induced by the vibrations was identified in the epithermal region. The validity of the beam spectrum was estimated by comparing with the effective quantities determined from prompt γ-ray measurements and Cd-ratios measured both for 1/ν and non-1/ν nuclides.     

Probabilistic physics-of-failure models for component reliabilities using Monte Carlo simulation and Weibull analysis: a parametric study

In reliability engineering, component failures are generally classified in one of three ways: (1) early life failures; (2) failures having random onset times; and (3) late life or ‘wear out’ failures. When the time-distribution of failures of a population of components is analysed in terms of a Weibull distribution, these failure types may be associated with shape parameters β having values <1, 1, and >1 respectively. Early life failures are frequently attributed to poor design (e.g. poor materials selection) or problems associated with manufacturing or assembly processes.

We describe a methodology for the implementation of physics-of-failure models of component lifetimes in the presence of parameter and model uncertainties. This treats uncertain parameters as random variables described by some appropriate statistical distribution, which may be sampled using Monte Carlo methods. The number of simulations required depends upon the desired accuracy of the predicted lifetime. Provided that the number of sampled variables is relatively small, an accuracy of 1–2% can be obtained using typically 1000 simulations.

The resulting collection of times-to-failure are then sorted into ascending order and fitted to a Weibull distribution to obtain a shape factor β and a characteristic life-time η.

Examples are given of the results obtained using three different models: (1) the Eyring–Peck (EP) model for corrosion of printed circuit boards; (2) a power-law corrosion growth (PCG) model which represents the progressive deterioration of oil and gas pipelines; and (3) a random shock-loading model of mechanical failure. It is shown that for any specific model the values of the Weibull shape parameters obtained may be strongly dependent on the degree of uncertainty of the underlying input parameters. Both the EP and PCG models can yield a wide range of values of β, from β>1, characteristic of wear-out behaviour, to β<1, characteristic of early-life failure, depending on the degree of dispersion of the uncertain parameters. If there is no uncertainty, a single, sharp value of the component lifetime is predicted, corresponding to the limit β=∞. In contrast, the shock-loading model is inherently random, and its predictions correspond closely to those of a constant hazard rate model, characterized by a value of β close to 1 for all finite degrees of parameter uncertainty.

The results are discussed in the context of traditional methods for reliability analysis and conventional views on the nature of early-life failures.     

Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime by Counting Trapped Protons

We measured the neutron decay lifetime by counting in-beam neutron decay recoil protons trapped in a quasi-Penning trap. The absolute neutron beam fluence was measured by capture in a thin ⁶LiF foil detector with known efficiency. The combination of these measurements gives the neutron lifetime: τ_n = (886.8 ± 1.2 ± 3.2) s, where the first (second) uncertainty is statistical (systematic) in nature. This is the most precise neutron lifetime determination to date using an in-beam method.     

An accurate redetermination of the Sn binding energy

The energy of well-known strong γ line from ¹⁹⁸Au, the “gold standard”, has been modified in the light of new adjustments in the fundamental constants and the value of 411.80176(12) keV was determined, which is 0.29 eV lower than the latest 1999 value. An energy calibration procedure for determining the neutron binding energy, B_n, from complicated (n, γ) spectra has been developed. A mathematically simple minimization function consisting only of terms having as parameters the coefficients of the energy calibration curve (polynomial) is used. A priori information about the relationships among the energies of different peaks on the spectrum is taken into account by a Monte-Carlo simulation. The procedure was used in obtaining B_n for ¹¹⁸Sn. The γ-ray spectrum from thermal neutron radiative capture by ¹¹⁷Sn has been measured on the IBR-2 pulsed reactor. γ-rays were detected by a 72 cm³ HPGe detector. For a better determination of B_n it was important to determine B_n for ⁶⁴Cu. This value was obtained from two γ-spectra. One spectrum was measured on the IBR-2 by the same detector. The other spectrum was measured with a pair spectrometer at the Brookhaven High Flux Beam Reactor. From these two spectra, B_n for ⁶⁴Cu was determined to be equal to 7915.52(8) keV. This result essentially differs from the previous value of 7915.96(11) keV. The mean value of the two most precise results of the B_n for ¹¹⁸Sn, was determined to be 9326.35(9) keV. The B_n for ⁵⁷Fe was determined to be 7646.08(9) keV.