Energetic Particles (energetic + particle)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


,Bubble chamber model' of fast atom bombardment induced processes

RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 15 2003
Marina V. Kosevich
A hypothesis concerning FAB mechanisms, referred to as a ,bubble chamber FAB model', is proposed. This model can provide an answer to the long-standing question as to how fragile biomolecules and weakly bound clusters can survive under high-energy particle impact on liquids. The basis of this model is a simple estimation of saturated vapour pressure over the surface of liquids, which shows that all liquids ever tested by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were in the superheated state under the experimental conditions applied. The result of the interaction of the energetic particles with superheated liquids is known to be qualitatively different from that with equilibrium liquids. It consists of initiation of local boiling, i.e., in formation of vapour bubbles along the track of the energetic particle. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in the framework of nuclear physics and provides the basis for construction of the well-known bubble chamber detectors. The possibility of occurrence of similar processes under FAB of superheated liquids substantiates a conceptual model of emission of secondary ions suggested by Vestal in 1983, which assumes formation of bubbles beneath the liquid surface, followed by their bursting accompanied by release of microdroplets and clusters as a necessary intermediate step for the creation of molecular ions. The main distinctive feature of the bubble chamber FAB model, proposed here, is that the bubbles are formed not in the space and time-restricted impact-excited zone, but in the nearby liquid as a ,normal' boiling event, which implies that the temperature both within the bubble and in the droplets emerging on its burst is practically the same as that of the bulk liquid sample. This concept can resolve the paradox of survival of intact biomolecules under FAB, since the part of the sample participating in the liquid,gas transition via the bubble mechanism has an ambient temperature which is not destructive for biomolecules. Another important feature of the model is that the timescale of bubble growth is no longer limited by the relaxation time of the excited zone (,10,12,s), but rather resembles the timescale characteristic of common boiling, sufficient for multiple interactions of gas molecules and formation of clusters. Further, when the bubbles burst, microdroplets are released, which implies that FAB processes are similar to those in spraying techniques. Thus, two processes contribute to the ion production, namely, release of volatile solvent clusters from bubbles and of non-volatile solute from sputtered droplets. This view reconciles contradictory views on the dominance of either gas-phase or liquid-phase effects in FAB. Some other effects, such as suppression of all other ions by surface-active compounds, are consistent with the suggested model. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Noble gas compositions of Antarctic micrometeorites collected at the Dome Fuji Station in 1996 and 1997

METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2002
Takahito Osawa
Eleven of the AMMs were collected in 1996 (F96 series) and 16 were collected in 1997 (F97 series). One of the F97 AMMs is a totally melted spherule, whereas all other particles are irregular in shape. Noble gases were extracted using a Nd-YAG continuous wave laser with an output power of 2.5-3.5 W for ,5 min. Most particles released measurable amounts of noble gases. 3He/4He ratios are determined for 26 AMMs ((0.85-9.65) × 10,4). Solar energetic particles (SEP) are the dominant source of helium in most AMMs rather than solar wind (SW) and cosmogenic He. Three samples had higher 3He/4He ratios compared to that of SW, showing the presence of spallogenic 3He. The Ne isotopic composition of most AMMs resembled that of SEP as in the case of helium. Spallogenic 21Ne was detected in three samples, two of which had extremely long cosmic-ray exposure ages (> 100 Ma), calculated by assuming solar cosmic-ray (SCR) + galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) production. These two particles may have come to Earth directly from the Kuiper Belt. Most AMMs had negligible amounts of cosmogenic 21 Ne and exposure ages of <1 Ma. 40Ar/36Ar ratios for all particles (3.9,289) were lower than that of the terrestrial atmosphere (296), indicating an extraterrestrial origin of part of the Ar with a very low 40Ar/36Ar ratio plus some atmospheric contamination. Indeed, 40Ar/36Ar ratios for the AMMs are higher than SW, SEP, and Q-Ar values, which is explained by the presence of atmospheric 40Ar. The average 38Ar/36Ar ratio of 24 AMMs (0.194) is slightly higher than the value of atmospheric or Q-Ar, suggesting the presence of SEP-Ar which has a relatively high 38Ar/36Ar ratio. According to the elemental compositions of the heavy noble gases, Dome Fuji AMMs can be classified into three groups: chondritic (eight particles), air-affected (nine particles), and solar-affected (eight particles). The eight AMMs classified as chondritic preserve the heavy noble gas composition of primordial trapped component due to lack of atmospheric adsorption and solar implantation. The average of 129Xe/132Xe ratio for the 16 AMMs not affected by atmospheric contamination (1.05) corresponds to the values in matrices of carbonaceous chondrites (,1.04). One AMM, F96DK038, has high 129Xe/132Xe in excess of this ratio. Our results imply that most Dome Fuji AMMs originally had chondritic heavy noble gas compositions, and carbonaceous chondrite-like objects are appropriate candidate sources for most AMMs. [source]


Highly (001)-textured WS2,x films prepared by reactive radio frequency magnetron sputtering

PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (A) APPLICATIONS AND MATERIALS SCIENCE, Issue 14 2004
K. Ellmer
Abstract Highly (001)-oriented WS2,x films were grown onto oxidized silicon substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering from a metallic tungsten target in argon-hydrogen sulfide mixtures. The best films with respect to the van-der-Waals orientation, i.e. with the (001) planes parallel to the substrate surface, were grown by excitation of the plasma with radio frequency of 27.12 MHz. These films exhibit the largest grains and the lowest film strain. It is shown that this effect is not due to the lower deposition rate at this high excitation frequency. Instead it was found that the lower DC voltage at the sputtering target is advantageous for the film growth since the bombardment of the growing film by highly energetic particles is avoided by this type of plasma excitation. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


,Bubble chamber model' of fast atom bombardment induced processes

RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 15 2003
Marina V. Kosevich
A hypothesis concerning FAB mechanisms, referred to as a ,bubble chamber FAB model', is proposed. This model can provide an answer to the long-standing question as to how fragile biomolecules and weakly bound clusters can survive under high-energy particle impact on liquids. The basis of this model is a simple estimation of saturated vapour pressure over the surface of liquids, which shows that all liquids ever tested by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) were in the superheated state under the experimental conditions applied. The result of the interaction of the energetic particles with superheated liquids is known to be qualitatively different from that with equilibrium liquids. It consists of initiation of local boiling, i.e., in formation of vapour bubbles along the track of the energetic particle. This phenomenon has been extensively studied in the framework of nuclear physics and provides the basis for construction of the well-known bubble chamber detectors. The possibility of occurrence of similar processes under FAB of superheated liquids substantiates a conceptual model of emission of secondary ions suggested by Vestal in 1983, which assumes formation of bubbles beneath the liquid surface, followed by their bursting accompanied by release of microdroplets and clusters as a necessary intermediate step for the creation of molecular ions. The main distinctive feature of the bubble chamber FAB model, proposed here, is that the bubbles are formed not in the space and time-restricted impact-excited zone, but in the nearby liquid as a ,normal' boiling event, which implies that the temperature both within the bubble and in the droplets emerging on its burst is practically the same as that of the bulk liquid sample. This concept can resolve the paradox of survival of intact biomolecules under FAB, since the part of the sample participating in the liquid,gas transition via the bubble mechanism has an ambient temperature which is not destructive for biomolecules. Another important feature of the model is that the timescale of bubble growth is no longer limited by the relaxation time of the excited zone (,10,12,s), but rather resembles the timescale characteristic of common boiling, sufficient for multiple interactions of gas molecules and formation of clusters. Further, when the bubbles burst, microdroplets are released, which implies that FAB processes are similar to those in spraying techniques. Thus, two processes contribute to the ion production, namely, release of volatile solvent clusters from bubbles and of non-volatile solute from sputtered droplets. This view reconciles contradictory views on the dominance of either gas-phase or liquid-phase effects in FAB. Some other effects, such as suppression of all other ions by surface-active compounds, are consistent with the suggested model. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]