Applications of Free Electron Lasers in Biology and Medicine

The advent of free electron lasers opens up new opportunities to probe the dynamics of ultrafast processes and the structure of matter with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. New methods inaccessible with other known types of radiation sources can be developed, resulting in a breakthrough in deep understanding the fundamentals of life as well as in numerous medical and biological applications. In the present work the properties of free electron laser radiation that make the sources excellent for probing biological matter at an arbitrary wavelength, in a wide range of intensities and pulse durations are briefly discussed. A number of biophysical and biomedical applications of the new sources, currently considered among the most promising in the field, are presented

Creation of Kink and Antikink Pairs Forced By Radiation

The interaction between kink and radiation in nonlinear one-dimensional real scalar field is investigated. The process of discrete vibrational mode excitation in $\phi^4$ model is considered. The role of this oscillations in creation of kink and antikink is discussed. Numerical results are presented as well as some attempts of analytical explanations. An intriguing fractal structure in parameter space dividing regions with creation and without is also presented

Study of ultrathin Pt/Co/Pt trilayers modified by nanosecond XUV pulses from laser-driven plasma source

We have studied the structural mechanisms responsible for the magnetic reorientation between in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization in the (25 nm Pt)/(3 and 10 nm Co)/(3 nm Pt) trilayer systems irradiated with nanosecond XUV pulses generated with laser-driven gas-puff target plasma source of a narrow continuous spectrum peaked at wavelength of 11 nm. The thickness of individual layers, their density, chemical composition and irradiation-induced lateral strain were deduced from symmetric and asymmetric X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, grazing-incidence X-ray reflectometry (GIXR), grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence (GIXRF), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. In the as grown samples we found, that the Pt buffer layers are relaxed and that the layer interfaces are sharp. As a result of a quasi-uniform irradiation of the samples, the XRD, EXAFS, GIXR and GIXRF data reveal the formation of two distinct layers composed of Pt1-xCox alloys with different Co concentrations, dependent on the thickness of the as grown magnetic Co film but with similar ∼1% lateral tensile residual strain. For smaller exposure dose (lower number of accumulated pulses) only partial interdiffusion at the interfaces takes place with the formation of a tri-layer composed of Co-Pt alloy sandwiched between thinned Pt layers, as revealed by TEM. The structural modifications are accompanied by magnetization changes, evidenced by means of magneto-optical microscopy. The difference in magnetic properties of the irradiated samples can be related to their modification in Pt1-xCox alloy composition, as the other parameters (lateral strain and alloy thickness) remain almost unchanged. The out-of-plane magnetization observed for the sample with initially 3 nm Co layer can be due to a significant reduction of demagnetization factor resulting from a lower Co concentration

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Time Series Functions Approach for Time Series Forecasting

Fuzzy inference systems have been commonly used for time series forecasting in the literature. Adaptive network fuzzy inference system, fuzzy time series approaches and fuzzy regression functions approaches are popular among fuzzy inference systems. In recent years, intuitionistic fuzzy sets have been preferred in the fuzzy modeling and new fuzzy inference systems have been proposed based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. In this paper, a new intuitionistic fuzzy regression functions approach is proposed based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets for forecasting purpose. This new inference system is called an intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions approach. The contribution of the paper is proposing a new intuitionistic fuzzy inference system. To evaluate the performance of intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions, twenty-three real-world time series data sets are analyzed. The results obtained from the intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions approach are compared with some other methods according to a root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error criteria. The proposed method has superior forecasting performance among all methods

Study of Instrumental Factors Affecting X-Ray Isochromat Spectra

In the present paper a model of an apparatus function for the bremsstrahlung isochromat spectroscopy method is proposed. The study presented in this work is based on experimental results obtained with a particular spectrometer working at the quantum energy of Cr K$\text{}_{α1}$ (5414 eV). However, most of implications are general for the bremsstrahlung isochromat spectroscopy independently of particular construction of a spectrometer. From the theoretical considerations it was found that the total apparatus function, F$\text{}_{t}$, is composed of two main subfunctions in such a manner that F$\text{}_{t}$ is not necessarily constant along the isochromat spectrum. The properties of the function as well as the question how it influences the measured spectra are discussed. Considerations presented in this paper are limited to the most essential instrumental factors broadening the bremsstrahlung isochromat spectra which can be described in terms of the apparatus function. In order to estimate the width of the apparatus function some experimental results of bremsstrahlung isochromat spectroscopy measurements of chosen substances with various apparatus settings are shown

Metrological Applications of X-ray Waveguide Thin Film Structures in X-ray Reflectometry and Diffraction

The effect of resonance, observed in X-ray waveguide layered structures in a characteristic way influences the scattering properties of the films. It is well known that in the resonant region the reflectivity shows a series of minima, usually very deep and extremely narrow. The positions and depths of the minima depend only on X-ray waveguide structural properties, on the X-ray wavelength and on the incident beam divergence. In the present work we propose and discuss the application of the X-ray waveguide and quasi X-ray waveguide film structures as tools to experimental evaluation of some quantities related to X-ray reflectometric or diffractometric measurements, like the beam divergence, wavelength, or angular distance. Examples of application of the X-ray waveguide as an excellent tool to estimate the effective beam divergence are shown. Properties of the X-ray waveguide elements as a handy wavelength or angular calibration standard are also mentioned

ACTA PHYSIC POLONICA A STUDY OF PHOTOELECTRON EMISSION YIELD FROM LAYERED STRUCTURES IN PRESENCE OF RESONANCE-ENHANCED X-RAY PROPAGATION EFFECT

In this work we present the new experimental results of total photoelectric yield as well as energy distribution of photoelectrons excited in a thin carbon film deposited on Ni mirror in the presence of resonance-enhanced X-ray propagation effect. The measurements were performed using conventional X-ray tube as a radiation source for the energy Cu Ka (8047 keV). The spectra were recorded using a flow proportional electron counter with energy resolution of about 15%, and multichannel pulse height analyzer. A comparison with the reflectivity spectra recorded at the same time show an excellent correlation of both kinds of spectra, consistently with the theoretical prediction. A map of electron energy distribution is reported. Although the applied electron counter was of low energetic resolution the recorded spectra show characteristic regularities and indicate that the photoelectron yield excited in the presence of resonance-enhanced X-ray propagation effect can provide depth dependent information about impurity distribution and processes in thin layers

Grazing Incidence X-Ray Reflectivity Study of MBE-Grown Co/Cu Multilayers

In this work we report preliminary grazing-incidence X-ray reflectometry studies of multilayer structures composed of 3d metals Co and Cu deposited in the ultra-high vacuum molecular beam epitaxy system. The multilayers of different modulation period were deposited on glass substrate directly, or on 3d -metallic buffers of various thicknesses. The experimental specular reflectivity spectra were analyzed by a comparison with a theoretical model calculated from a recursive algorithm based on the Fresnel formula [1, 2]. It enabled us to estimate the structural parameters concerning layer thickness and roughness. The results obtained are correlated with magnetization measurements of the layered structures, as a function of modulation period, buffer type and thickness. A special attention to influence of interfacial roughness on magnetization results is paid

Study of Si(111) Implanted with As Ions by X-Ray Diffraction and Grazing Incidence Methods

The Si(111) wafer cut from a bulk single crystal obtained by the Czochralski method was implanted with 5×10$\text{}^{16}$ I cm$\text{}^{-2}$ of As ions of energy 80 keV. The dose applied was chosen above the amorphization limit of the silicon substrate. Two samples, implanted and a reference, were studied by grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry and X-ray diffraction methods using a high resolution Philips MRD system equipped with a Cu source and a channel-cut monochromator. The obtained spectra were compared with distributions of ion range and defect production calculated with TRIM program [1], as well as with theoretical models of reflectivity [2, 3]. The results of grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry reflectivity of the implanted sample show well-pronounced oscillations, which can be associated with a layer about 50 nm thick, approximately comparable to the thickness of the defected layer estimated from the TRIM method. Theoretical calculations of reflectivity clearly indicate an occurrence of a Si layer of electron density lower about 10-15% comparing to the unimplanted Si sample. This can be due to the vacancy production during ion implantation. A comparison of the spectra with a density distribution profile concluded from the TRIM calculations shows large discrepancies. The results indicate the applicability of grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry method in a study of amorphization processes in implanted layers