Solid and liquid charge-transfer complex formation between 1-methylnaphthalene and 1-alkyl-cyanopyridinium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl}imide ionic liquids

Liquid charge-transfer (CT) complexes were observed to form on contacting electron-rich aromatics with electron withdrawing group appended 1-alkyl-4-cyanopyridinium ionic liquids (ILs). Cooling below the melting point of the ionic liquid resulted in crystallisation of ionic liquid from the complex for 2-cyano and 3-cyano pyridinium isomers and in the formation of a 1 : 1 IL : aromatic crystalline CT-complex with the 4-cyanopyridinium isomer. The liquid structure of a 1 : 1 mixture of 1-methyl-4-cyanopyridinium bis{(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl} imide with 1-methylnaphthalene has been probed by neutron diffraction experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. A high degree of correlation between the experimental data and the simulations was found with a significant displacement of the anions from around the cation by the aromatic species and the resulting structure having pi-pi stacks between the cations and the aromatic.

Numerical simulation of the charge balance and temperature evolution in an electron beam ion trap

A computer code has been developed to simulate and study the evolution of ion charge states inside the trap region of an electron beam ion trap. In addition to atomic physics phenomena previously included in similar codes such as electron impact ionization, radiative recombination, and charge exchange, several aspects of the relevant physics such as dielectronic recombination, ionization heating, and ion cloud expansion have been included for the first time in the model. The code was developed using object oriented concepts with database support, making it readable, accurate, and well organized. The simulation results show a good agreement with various experiments, and give useful information for selection of operating conditions and experiment design.

Reflection amplifier phase conjugation properties

The potential of employing a millimetre-wave MMIC reflection amplifier as a building block for a retrodirective reflectarray is investigated. With this in mind the phase conjugating behaviour of the device is experimentally quantified at 21 GHz.

USE OF RETRODIRECTIVE ARRAY PHASE CONJUGATION CIRCUITRY FOR NEAR- AND FAR-FIELD POSITION ANGLE OF ARRIVAL DETECTION

In this article, we present position indication functionality as obtained by using a retrodirective array, thereby allowing location information extraction of the position of the remote transmitter with which the retrodirective array is cooperating. This is carried out using straightforward circuitry with no requirement for complex angle of arrival algorithms, thereby giving a result in real time enabling tracking of fast moving transmitters. We show using a 10 x element retrodirective array, operating at 2.4 GHz that accuracies of far-field angle of arrival of within +/- 1 degrees over the arrays +/- 30 degrees azimuth field of view are possible. While in the near-field for angles of arrival of +/- 10 degrees it is possible to extract the position of a dipole source down to a resolution of 032 lambda. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 52: 1031-1034, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.25097

Fast, copper-free click chemistry: a convenient solid-phase approach to oligonucleotide conjugation

Solid-phase oligonucleotide conjugation by nitrile oxide-alkyne click cycloaddition chemistry has been successfully demonstrated; the reaction, compatible with all nucleobases, requires no metal catalyst and proceeds under physiological conditions.

MEASUREMENT AND CALCULATION OF ABSOLUTE SINGLE AND MULTIPLE CHARGE EXCHANGE CROSS SECTIONS FOR Feq+ IONS IMPACTING H2O

Charge exchange (CE) plays a fundamental role in the collisions of solar- and stellar-wind ions with lunar and planetary exospheres, comets, and circumstellar clouds. Reported herein are absolute cross sections for single, double, triple, and quadruple CE of Feq+ (q = 5-13) ions with H2O at a collision energy of 7q keV. One measured value of the pentuple CE is also given for Fe9+ ions. An electron cyclotron resonance ion source is used to provide currents of the highly charged Fe ions. Absolute data are derived from knowledge of the target gas pressure, target path length, and incident and charge-exchanged ion currents. Experimental cross sections are compared with new results of the n-electron classical trajectory Monte Carlo approximation. The radiative and non-radiative cascades following electron transfers are approximated using scaled hydrogenic transition probabilities and scaled Auger rates. Also given are estimates of cross sections for single capture, and multiple capture followed by autoionization, as derived from the extended overbarrier model. These estimates are based on new theoretical calculations of the vertical ionization potentials of H2O up to H2O10+.

Determination of absolute ion yields from a MALDI source through calibration of an image-charge detector

MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization) is one of the most important techniques used to produce large biomolecular ions in the gas phase. Surprisingly, the exact ionization mechanism is still not well understood and absolute values for the ion yields are scarce. This is in part due to the unknown efficiencies of typical detectors, especially for heavy biomolecular ions. As an alternative, charged particles can be non-destructively detected using an image-charge detector where the output voltage signal is proportional to the total charge within the device. In this paper, we report an absolute calibration which provides the voltage output per detected electronic charge in our experimental arrangement. A minimum of 3 x 10(3) ions were required to distinguish the signal above background noise in a single pass through the device, which could be further reduced using filtering techniques. The calibration results have been applied to raw MALDI spectra to measure absolute ion yields of both matrix and analyte ions.

Spontaneous spin polarization and charge localization in metal nanowires: the role of a geometric constriction

An idealized jellium model of conducting nanowires with a geometric constriction is investigated by density functional theory (DFT) in the local spin density (LSD) approximation. The results reveal a fascinating variety of spin and charge patterns arising in wires of sufficiently low (r(s) >= 15) average electron density, pinned at the indentation by an apparent attractive interaction with the constriction. The spin-resolved frequency-dependent conductivity shows a marked asymmetry in the two spin channels, reflecting the spontaneous spin polarization around the wire neck. The relevance of the computational results is discussed in relation to the so-called 0.7 anomaly found by experiments in the low-frequency conductivity of nanowires at near-breaking conditions (see 2008 J. Phys.: Condens Matter 20, special issue on the 0.7 anomaly). Although our mean-field approach cannot account for the intrinsic many-body effects underlying the 0.7 anomaly, it still provides a diagnostic tool to predict impending transitions in the electronic structure.

Dust lattice wave dispersion relations in two-dimensional hexagonal crystals including the effect of dust charge polarization

A dusty plasma crystalline configuration with equal charge dust grains and mass is considered. Both charge and mass of each dust species are taken to be constant. Two differential equations for a two-dimensional hexagonal crystal on the basis of a Yukawa-type potential energy and a

Low frequency localized wavepackets in dusty plasmas with opposite charge polarity dust components

The reductive perturbation technique is employed to investigate the modulational instability of dust-acoustic (DA) waves propagating in a four-component dusty plasma. The dusty plasma consists of both positive- and negative-charge dust grains, characterized by a different mass, temperature and density, in addition to a background of Maxwellian electrons and ions. Relying on a multi-fluid plasma model and employing a multiple scales technique, a nonlinear Schrodinger type equation (NLSE) is obtained for the electric potential amplitude perturbation. The occurrence of localized electrostatic wavepackets is shown, in the form of oscillating structures whose modulated envelope is modelled as a soliton (or multi-soliton) solution of the NLSE. The DA wave characteristics, as well as the associated stability thresholds, are studied analytically and numerically. The relevance of these theoretical results with dusty plasmas observed in cosmic and laboratory environments is analysed in detail, by considering realistic multi-component plasma configurations observed in the polar mesosphere, as well as in laboratory experiments.