Application of third generation synchrotron source to studies of noncrystalline materials : In-Se amorphous films

The local structure of vacuum evaporated In-Se amorphous films, containing 50, 60, and 66 at .% Se, was studied using differential anomalous X -ray scattering and extended X -ray absorption fine structure. Both intensity and absorption spectra were measured in the vicinity of the absorption K -edge of Se. The differential anomalous X -ray scattering data were converted to real space by the inverse Fourier transform yielding the differential radial distribution functions. The obtained results provide evidence for the presence of Se-In spatial correlations for In5 0 Se50 and Se-In and Se-Se correlations for In40 Se60 and In34 Se66 within the first coordination sphere

Oxide phase characterization in simulated high burn-up UO2 fuels in the early stages of a nuclear severe accident

International audienc

The ThomX project status

Work supported by the French Agence Nationale de la recherche as part of the program EQUIPEX under reference ANR-10-EQPX-51, the Ile de France region, CNRS-IN2P3 and Université Paris Sud XI - http://accelconf.web.cern.ch/AccelConf/IPAC2014/papers/wepro052.pdfA collaboration of seven research institutes and an industry has been set up for the ThomX project, a compact Compton Backscattering Source (CBS) based in Orsay - France. After a period of study and definition of the machine performance, a full description of all the systems has been provided. The infrastructure work has been started and the main systems are in the call for tender phase. In this paper we will illustrate the definitive machine parameters and components characteristics. We will also update the results of the different technical and experimental activities on optical resonators, RF power supplies and on the electron gun

B→A allomorphic transition in native starch and amylose spherocrystals monitored by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction

International audienceSingle crystals of amylose V2-propanol, i.e., amylose cocrystallized with water and 2-propanol, were prepared from synthetic linear amylose. When observed under frozen hydrated conditions, these crystals yielded base-plane electron diffraction diagrams containing more than 100 independent diffraction spots, whose intensities were used to solve the crystal structure of this complex. The molecular and crystal structure of amylose V2-propanol clearly indicated that the amylose molecules were organized in 7-fold left-handed helices, with 2-propanol and water molecules located as guests both within and between the helices. The V2-propanol unit cell contains four helices, distributed in two antiparallel pairs of parallel helices organized along the P212121 symmetry. The helices are organized along alternating motifs of four helices in a close-packed hexagonal arrangement together with four others in a nearly square organization surrounding a central column of water and 2-propanol. Whereas the location of the amylose helices is well established in the unit cell, the coordinates of the guest molecules could not be defined with certainty, most likely due to a positional disorder. A tentative model of the guest molecule distribution is presented, which consists of two 2-propanol and two water molecules within the helical cavity together with four water molecules and two 2-propanol molecules between the helices. The mobility of the guest and its description as a continuum, rather than at fixed crystallographic positions, explain why so many structures isomorphous to V2-propanol can be obtained with different guest molecules, while yielding similar electron diffraction diagrams

Uranyl sorption species at low coverage on Al-hydroxide: TRLFS and XAFS studies

International audienceDetailed understanding of the respective roles of solution and surface parameters on the reactions at uranyl solution/Al-(hydr)oxide interfaces is crucial to model accurately the behaviour of U in nature. We report studies on the effects of the initial aqueous uranyl speciation in moderately acidic solutions, e.g. of mononuclear, polynuclear uranyl species and/or (potential) U(VI) colloids, on the sorption of U by large surface areas of amorphous Al-hydroxide. Investigations by Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and Time-Resolved Laser-induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy (TRLFS) reveal similar U coordination environments on Al-hydroxide for low to moderate U loadings of sorption samples obtained at pH 4–5, independently of the presence of mononuclear or polynuclear aqueous species, or of the potential instability of initial solutions favoring true U-colloids formation. EXAFS data can be interpreted in terms of a dimeric, bidentate, inner-sphere uranyl surface complex as an average of the U surface structures. TRLFS data, however, provide valuable insights into the complex U surface speciation. They indicate multiple uranyl surface species under moderately acidic conditions, as predominant mononuclear and/or dinuclear, inner-sphere surface complexes and as additional minor species having U atoms in a uranyl (hydr)oxide-like coordination environment. The additional species probably occur as surface polymers and/or as adsorbed true U colloids, depending on the aqueous U concentration level (1–100 μM). These results are of importance because they suggest that Al-hydroxide surface characteristics strongly control uranyl surface species in moderately acidic systems

XAFS Measurements on Co-K and Pt-LIII Edges in (111) CoPt3 Films

XAFS measurements at the Co-K edge and Pt-LIII edge were performed in an (111) epitaxial CoPt3 film with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The analysis of XAFS data obtained using in-plane and out-of-plane polarization show the existence of an anisotropic local order characterized by preferential heteroatomic pairs out of the film plane balanced with preferential homoatomic pairs in the (111) plane. The isotropic local order found in a magnetically isotropic CoPt3 film from Pt-LIII edge data should be confirmed by XAFS measurements on Co-edge

Properties of ultra-thin vanadium layers in V/Ru superlattices

The properties of ultra-thin vanadium layers in V/Ru(0001) superlattices grown by molecular beam epitaxy were studied. The atomic structure of V was investigated by various methods including reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and polarized x-ray-absorption fine structure (PXAFS). It appears that, for up to three atomic layers, V adopts a slightly distorted hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) structure induced by pseudomorphic growth on Ru(0001). By increasing the V thickness to four atomic layers, this structure almost completely relaxes towards the body-centered-cubic (bcc) bulk structure. This sharp structural transition is also manifested in the electronic properties. A reduced superconducting transition temperature between 0.6 and 1.05 K was found in the bcc V/hcp Ru superlattice, while superconductivity is quenched in the superlattice with hexagonal V. This behavior might be linked to the existence of a ferromagnetic ground state of the metastable V induced by the hybridization of the d-bands at the hcp V/Ru interface, as predicted from first-principles density-functional theory