Physics Commons^™

Nuclear Criticality Analyses Of Separations Processes For The Transmutation Fuel Cycle: Quaterly Report, William Culbreth, Pang Tao

Separations Campaign (TRP)

During the first quarter of the work, the tasks included training students in the use of Monte Carlo codes used in radiation transport studies and the assessment of neutron multiplication factors for specific problems outlined by ANL-East through Drs. Laidler and Vandegrift.

The proposal also included objectives for the first year of work on this project, as listed below. The work conducted in the first quarter of the project was in partial completion of these objectives.

• Train UNLV students in the use of SCALE and/or MCNP for the assessment of nuclear criticality.

• Assess neutron multiplication factor, k_{eff …}

Large Nondipole Effects In The Angular Distributions Of K-Shell Photoelectrons From Molecular Nitrogen, Oliver Hemmers, H. Wang, P. Focke, I. A. Sellin, Dennis W. Lindle, J. C. Arce, J. A. Sheehy, P. W. Langhoff

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Measurements of angular distributions of K-shell electrons photoejected from molecular nitrogen are reported which reveal large deviations at relatively low photon energies ( ħω≤500eV) from emission patterns anticipated from the dipole approximation to interactions between radiation and matter. A concomitant theoretical analysis incorporating the effects of electromagnetic retardation attributes the observed large nondipole behaviors in N₂ to bond-length-dependent terms in the E1⊗(E2,M1) photoelectron emission amplitudes which are indicative of a potentially universal nondipole behavior in molecular photoionization.

Analysis Of Corrosion Of Steel By Lead Bismuth Eutectic, John Farley, Dale L. Perry

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

We examined stainless samples that were exposed to LBE in experiments conducted by the Russians, under contract to Los Alamos. We examined both corroded and uncorroded samples using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDAX) Spectroscopy, and the X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS). We found that the surface of the corroded sample is covered by oxygen-containing compounds, presumably mostly iron oxide. In samples exposed for shorter times or lower temperatures, we found that some areas were covered by an oxide layer, and some areas was uncovered. We found that the level of Cr in the uncovered area is …

Micromagnetics Simulation Of Deep-Submicron Supermalloy Disks, Scott L. Whittenburg, Ngocnga Dao, R. P. Cowburn

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The results of recent micromagnetic simulations of deep submicron supermalloy disks are presented. A recent experimental measurement of the hysteresis and magnetic domain structure in supermalloy disks with diameters ranging from 55 to 500 nm and thickness ranging from 6 to 15 nm has been reported. Our micromagnetic simulations show remarkable agreement with the experimental hysteresis loops. The simulation results show that for thin or small diameter disks a single magnetic domain exists with all spins aligned. The hysteresis loop represents free rotation of these spins. For larger diameter disks or as the thickness increases the hysteresis loops change shape …

Magnetic Properties Of The Mnbi Intermetallic Compound, Jinbo Yang, Kishore Kamaraju, William B. Yelon, William Joseph James, Qingsheng Cai, A. Bollero

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A MnBi alloy containing over 90 wt% low-temperature phase (LTP) has been obtained by high-temperature sintering and magnetic purification. The coercivity of the bonded MnBi magnet increases with increasing temperatures. A coercivity of 2.0 T has been achieved at 400 K. The maximum energy product (BH)_max; of the magnet is 7.7 MGOe (61 kJ/m³) and 4.6 MGOe (37 kJ/m³) at room temperature and 400 K, respectively. Neutron diffraction and magnetic data reveal a spin reorientation, which gives rise to low anisotropy fields and coercivity at lower temperatures for the LTP MnBi alloy.

Dynamical Relativistic Effects In Photoionization: Spin-Orbit-Resolved Angular Distributions Of Xenon 4d Photoelectrons Near The Cooper Minimum, H. Wang, G. Snell, Oliver Hemmers, M. M. Sant'anna, I. A. Sellin, N. Berrah, Dennis W. Lindle, P. C. Deshmukh, N. Haque, S. T. Manson

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Two decades ago, it was predicted [Y. S. Kim et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 1326 (1981)] that relativistic effects should alter the dynamics of the photoionization process in the vicinity of Cooper minima. The present experimental and theoretical study of the angular distributions of Xe 4d_3/2 and 4d_5/2 photoelectrons demonstrates this effect for the first time. The results clearly imply that relativistic effects are likely to be important for intermediate- Z atoms at most energies.

Analysis Of Corrosion Of Steel By Lead Bismuth Eutectic, John Farley, Dale L. Perry

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The goal is to achieve a basic understanding of the corrosion of stainless steel by Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE), which has been proposed for use in the transmuter as both a coolant and as a sputtering target.

Nuclear Criticality Analyses Of Separations Processes For The Transmutation Fuel Cycle, William Culbreth, Pang Tao

Separations Campaign (TRP)

To mitigate the waste created by conventional fission reactors, spent nuclear fuel must be mechanically separated from its cladding. For the development of fuel processing technology to support the Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA) Program, aqueous and pyrochemical processes will be used to further separate technetium and iodine, uranium and the higher actinides (see Figure 1 for an example of the process layout)1. The higher actinides, including plutonium, americium, curium, and neptunium will be separated from the waste to facilitate their fabrication into new fuel for placement in a transmuter. High-energy neutrons generated by spallation in the transmuter break down these …

43rd Rocky Mountain Conference On Analytical Chemistry

Rocky Mountain Conference on Magnetic Resonance

Final program, abstracts, and information about the 43rd annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Conference on Analytical Chemistry, co-sponsored by the Colorado Section of the American Chemical Society and the Rocky Mountain Section of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. Held in Denver, Colorado, July 29 - August 2, 2001.

Relativistic Effects On Interchannel Coupling In Atomic Photoionization: The Photoelectron Angular Distribution Of Xe, Oliver Hemmers, S. T. Manson, M. M. Sant'anna, P. Focke, H. Wang, I. A. Sellin, Dennis W. Lindle

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Measurements of the photoelectron angular-distribution asymmetry parameter β for Xe 5s photoionization have been performed in the 80–200 eV photon-energy region. The results show a substantial deviation from the nonrelativistic value of β=2 and provide a clear signature of significant relativistic effects in interchannel coupling.

Shape Imprinting Due To Variable Disulfide Bonds In Polyacrylamide Gels, Andrew B. Greytak, Alexander Y. Grosberg, Toyoichi Tanaka

Faculty Publications

Through the use of variable disulfide crosslinkers, we have created polyacrylamide gels whose shape can be altered after polymerization. N,N'-bisacryloylcystamine is incorporated as a crosslinker, along with a smaller amount of a permanent crosslinker. After polymerization, the disulfide bonds are cleaved into thiols through reduction. By reoxidizing the thiols with the gel held in a new macroscopic shape, a new set of disulfide bonds is formed, and the gel is forced to adopt the new shape. Retension of the new shape improves with greater distortion from the original shape, as well as with increased concentration of variable …

Anionic Photofragmentation Of Co: A Selective Probe Of Core-Level Resonances, Wayne C. Stolte, D. L. Hansen, Maria Novella Piancastelli, I. Dominguez-Lopez, A. Rizvi, Oliver Hemmers, H. Wang, Alfred S. Schlachter, M. S. Lubell, Dennis W. Lindle

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Anion-yield spectroscopy using x rays is shown to be a selective probe of molecular core-level processes, providing unique experimental verification of shape resonances. For CO, partial anion and cation yields are presented for photon energies near the C K edge. The O^- yield exhibits features above threshold related only to doubly excited states, in contrast to cation yields which also exhibit pronounced structure due to the well-known σ^* shape resonance. Because the shape resonance is completely suppressed for O^-, anion spectroscopy thus constitutes a highly selective probe, yielding information unobtainable with absorption or electron spectroscopy.

Interchannel Coupling In The Photoionization Of The M-Shell Of Kr Well Above Threshold: Experiment And Theory, H. S. Chakraborty, D. L. Hansen, Oliver Hemmers, P. C. Deshmukh, P. Focke, I. A. Sellin, Clemens Heske, Dennis W. Lindle, S. T. Manson

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Photoionization cross sections and asymmetry (β) parameters for Kr 3s, 3p, and 3d subshells have been measured and calculated in the 300–1300-eV photon energy range. Good agreement between experiment and theory is found for both cross-section branching ratios and β parameters. Interchannel coupling among the channels arising from 3s, 3p, and 3d subshells is found to be necessary for quantitative accuracy of the theory. This shows that the interchannel coupling phenomenology far above threshold, found previously for outer shells of Ne and Ar, is also operative for inner atomic shells.

Use Of Quantum Mechanical Calculations To Investigate Small Silicon Carbide Clusters, Jean W. Henry

Theses and Dissertations

Density Functional Theory (DFT) method was employed to model silicon carbide small clusters. Comparing the DFT calculation results with experimental results that observed by using photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), DFT predicts the same structures that experiment observed. For electron affinity, DFT results are in good agreement with experimental results, the root mean square negative offset 0.1 eV found using medium size of basis set (cc-pVDZ+) calculation. DFT results for vibrational frequencies are in good agreement with experiment results; the root mean square error is 72.5 cm^-1 wave number. 16 ground state structures of Si_mC_n (m ≤ 4, …

Simple Relationships For The Estimation Of Melting Temperatures Of Homologous Series, James S. Chickos, Gary Nichols

James Chickos

No abstract provided.

Propagating Conformational Changes Over Long (And Short) Distances In Proteins, Edward Yu, Daniel E. Koshland Jr.

Edward Yu

The problem of the propagation of conformational changes over long distances or through a closely packed protein is shown to fit a model of a ligand-induced conformational change between two protein states selected by evolution. Moreover, the kinetics of the pathway between these states is also selected so that the energy of ligand binding and the speed of the transition between conformational states are physiologically appropriate. The crystallographic data of a wild-type aspartate receptor that has negative cooperativity and a mutant that has no cooperativity but has native transmembrane signaling are shown to support this model.

Photoelectron Spectroscopy And The Dipole Approximation, Oliver Hemmers, Dennis W. Lindle

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Over the past three decades, the dipole approximation has facilitated a basic understanding of the photoionization process in atoms and molecules. Advances in gas-phase photoemission experiments using synchrotron radiation have recently highlighted nondipole effects at relatively low photon energies while probing the limits of the dipole approximation. Breakdowns in this approximation are manifested primarily as deviations from dipolar angular distributions of photoelectrons. Detailed new results demonstrate nondipolar angular-distribution effects are easily observable in atomic gases at energies well below 1 keV, and, in molecules, a previously unexpected phenomenon greatly enhances the breakdown of the dipole approximation just above the core-level …

Xenon Excimer Emission From Pulsed Microhollow Cathode Discharges, M. Moselhy, R. H. Stark, K. H. Schoenbach, U. Kogelschatz

Bioelectrics Publications

By applying electrical pulses of 20 ns duration to xenon microplasmas, generated by direct current microhollow cathode discharges, we were able to increase the xenon excimer emission by more than an order of magnitude over direct current discharge excimer emission. For pulsed voltages in excess of 500 V, the optical power at 172 nm was found to increase exponentially with voltage. Largest values obtained were 2.75 W of vacuum-ultraviolet optical power emitted from a single microhollow cathode discharge in 400 Torr xenon with a 750 V pulse applied to a discharge. Highest radiative emittance was 15.2 W/cm². The …

Report Of The State Nuclear Safety Advisor Submitted To The Governor And 120th Legislature As Of January 15, 2001, Paula M. Craighead

Maine Collection

Report of the State Nuclear Safety Advisor submitted to the Governor and 120th Legislature As of January 15, 2001

Paula M. Craighead, State Nuclear Safety Advisor, Executive Department, Maine State Planning Office, Augusta, Maine, 2001.

Contents: Introduction and Executive Summary / I. Maine Yankee Decommissioning / II. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) / III. Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW) / IV. High Level Radioactive Waste / V. Transport Routes and Safety Response / VI. Shipments / VII. Status of Federal and State Legal and Administrative Proceedings / References and Resources / Glossary

Characterizing And Monitoring Changes In State Of Polymers During Cure And Use -Aging, Andrew Orschel Meyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Multi Angle Laser Light Scattering (MALLS) and Frequency Dependent Electromagnetic Sensing (FDEMS) provide unique characterizations of polymer systems during cure and use-aging. This research illustrates how MALLS is an extremely accurate technique for absolute characterization of macromolecules, giving molecular weight and size information that other widely used and accepted techniques are incapable of measuring. Application of MALLS to monitoring the changing state of a polyamide-11 system in a water aging environment led to the discovery of an equilibrium molecular weight which is the result of two competing reactions, hydrolysis-degradation and a newly discovered recombination-polymerization reaction. The discovery of this recombination …

Structural, Electronic, And Magnetic Properties Of Lani₅₋ₓtₓ (T = Fe, Mn) Compounds, Jinbo Yang, Chiu-Ying Tai, G. K. Marasinghe, George Daniel Waddill, Oran Allan Pringle, William Joseph James, Y. Kong

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Structures and magnetic properties of the LaNi_5-xFe_x and LaNi_5-xMn_x compounds have been investigated using neutron diffraction and first-principles tight-binding-linear-muffin-tin-orbital methods. Both neutron diffraction refinement data and total energy calculations show that the Fe and Mn atoms preferentially occupy the 3g sites in the hexagonal CaCu₅-type structure. The calculated magnetic moments of Fe and Ni atoms are of 2.4-2.5μ_B and 0.2-0.5μ_B in LaNi_5-xFe_x, respectively. The magnetic structure exhibits more localized moments at Fe atoms in LaNi_5-xFe_x when x ≤ 1.0. Electronic structure calculations indicate …

Order-Disorder Phase Transitions In Kno2 , Csno2, And Tlno2 Crystals: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Chun-Gang Duan, Wai-Ning Mei, Robert W. Smith, Jianjun Liu, M. M. Ossowski, John R. Hardy

Physics Faculty Publications

The order-disorder phase transitions of KNO2 , CsNO2, and TlNO2 have been studied using parameter-free molecular dynamics simulation. It is found that the phase transitions in nitrites investigated are driven by the rotations of the NO2 2 ions about different axes together with displacements of cations and anions. We successfully reproduce the high-temperature phases of these nitrites, i.e., the NaCl-like structure for KNO2 and CsCl-like structure for Cs(Tl)NO2. Based on the investigation of the radial distribution function of the cations and anions, we explain why KNO2 and Cs(Tl)NO2 form quite different low-temperature phases.

Solid State Nmr Characterization Of Structural And Motional Parameter Distributions In Polyamidoammonium Dendrimers, Dariya Ivanovna Malyarenko

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The characterization of narrow distributions of structural and motional parameters, and their evolution during the broad glass transition, is performed for deuterated PAMAM dendrimer salts using solid state NMR. The broadening of deuteron quadrupole echo (QE) lineshapes is consistent with the presence of narrow hydrogen bond length distribution (sigmar < 0.25 A) at the spacer amide and branching tertiary amine sites. The temperature dependent averaging of the experimental lineshapes is explained on the basis of fast planar librations in the dendrimer interior, and fast rotation and intermediate regime libration (in an asymmetric cone) of the dendrimer termini. The amplitudes of libration are temperature dependent and higher for low generation dendrimers, while librational rates show Arrhenius behavior only within the glass transition region. In this region, the width of log-normal distribution of rates increases with temperature at sites associated with chlorine counterions. The largest distributions are still less than one order of magnitude wide, unlike the dendrimer in solution or the linear polymers. Interpenetrated low generations (G < 3), uniform intermediate generations (G = 3--5) with surface network, and backfolded high generations (G > 5), are distinguished by interior and termini dynamics.;In the regime of fast motion QE lineshapes are highly sensitive to the presence of narrow structural and motional parameter distributions, and provide constraints on motional geometry independent of rates. The precise characterization of narrow log-normal rate distributions in the intermediate regime can be …

Synthesis Of A Ruthenium-Tetra(Tht)Dichloride Compound And The Molecular Structure Of The Partially Oxidized Compound Rucl2(Tht)2.2(Tht-O)1.8, L. A. Thornton, Mark Draganjac, Andres Meza, A. W. Cordes

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Non-Commercial Software For The Analysis And Interpretation Of High Resolution Molecular Spectra, A. R. Ford, Scott W. Reeve

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of A Ruthenium-Thioxane Complex, Amanda Wroble, Scotty Sproles, Mark Draganjac, Paul M. Nave

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Electronic Structures And Magnetism Of Lani₅₋ₓfeₓ Compounds, Jinbo Yang, Chiu-Ying Tai, G. K. Marasinghe, George Daniel Waddill, Oran Allan Pringle, William Joseph James

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A systematic study of the magnetic moments and hyperfine interactions of the LaNi_5-xFe_x compounds was performed using the spin-polarized tight-binding-linear-muffin-tin-orbital methods (TBLMTO). The calculated results were compared with neutron diffraction and Mössbauer experimental data and found to be in good agreement. Fe atoms exhibit more localized magnetic moments in LaNi_5-xFe_x when the Fe content x is lower than 1.0. The calculated magnetic moments of the Fe atoms approach values as large as 2.5μ_B due to the dilution effect. The strong s-d hybridization between the Ni and La atoms and the neighboring Fe in …