Thulium and ytterbium-doped titanium oxide thin films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Thin films of thulium and ytterbium-doped titanium oxide were grown by metal-organic spray pyrolysis deposition from titanium(IV)oxide bis(acetylacetonate), thulium(III) tris(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) and ytterbium(III) tris(acetylacetonate). Deposition temperatures have been investigated from 300{\deg}C to 600{\deg}C. Films have been studied regarding their crystallity and doping quality. Structural and composition characterisations of TiO2:Tm,Yb were performed by electron microprobe, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The deposition rate can reach 0.8 \mum/h. The anatase phase of TiO2 was obtained after synthesis at 400{\deg}C or higher. Organic contamination at low deposition temperature is eliminated by annealing treatments.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

SPIRE imaging of M 82: Cool dust in the wind and tidal streams

M 82 is a unique representative of a whole class of galaxies, starbursts with superwinds, in the Very Nearby Galaxy Survey with Herschel. In addition, its interaction with the M 81 group has stripped a significant portion of its interstellar medium from its disk. SPIRE maps now afford better characterization of the far-infrared emission from cool dust outside the disk, and sketch a far more complete picture of its mass distribution and energetics than previously possible. They show emission coincident in projection with the starburst wind and in a large halo, much more extended than the PAH band emission seen with Spitzer. Some complex substructures coincide with the brightest PAH filaments, and others with tidal streams seen in atomic hydrogen. We subtract the far-infrared emission of the starburst and underlying disk from the maps, and derive spatially-resolved far-infrared colors for the wind and halo. We interpret the results in terms of dust mass, dust temperature, and global physical conditions. In particular, we examine variations in the dust physical properties as a function of distance from the center and the wind polar axis, and conclude that more than two thirds of the extraplanar dust has been removed by tidal interaction, and not entrained by the starburst wind

A Cryogenic Test Station for Subcooling Helium Heat Exchangers for LHC

The superconducting magnets of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be cooled at 1.9 K by distributed cooling loops where counter-flow heat exchangers will be integrated. To qualify potential suppliers for the 250-units series production, prototypes of various technologies have been selected by CERN and a test station was set up at CEA-Grenoble. This test station, is constituted of a cryostat allowing an easy access to the heat exchanger to be tested as well as very low pressure pumping facilities

The relationship between star formation rates and mid-infrared emission in galactic disks

International audienceThe Hα and mid-infrared mean disk surface brightnesses are compared in a sample of nearby spirals observed by ISOCAM. This shows that, in spiral disks, dust emission at 7 and 15 µm provides a reasonable star formation tracer. The fact that the 15 to 7 µm flux ratio is nearly constant in various global exciting conditions indicates a common origin, namely the aromatic infrared band carriers, and implies that at these wavelengths, dust emission from the disks of normal galaxies is dominated by photodissociation regions and not by HII regions themselves. We use this newly-found correlation between the mid-infrared and the Hα line to investigate the nature of the link between the far-infrared (60 and 100 µm) and Hα. Although the separation of the central regions from the disk is impossible to achieve in the far-infrared, we show that a circumnuclear contribution to the dust emission, having no equivalent counterpart in Hα, is most likely responsible for the well-known non-linearity between far-infrared and Hα fluxes in spiral galaxies. We derive a calibration of 7 and 15 µm fluxes in terms of star formation rates from a primary calibration of Hα in the literature, and also outline the applicability limits of the proposed conversion, which should not be blindly extrapolated to objects whose nature is unknown

Thermal emittance measurements of a cesium potassium antimonide photocathode

Thermal emittance measurements of a CsK2Sb photocathode at several laser wavelengths are presented. The emittance is obtained with a solenoid scan technique using a high voltage dc photoemission gun. The thermal emittance is 0.56+/-0.03 mm-mrad/mm(rms) at 532 nm wavelength. The results are compared with a simple photoemission model and found to be in a good agreement.Comment: APL 201

A Possible 1.8 K Refrigeration Cycle for the Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) under construction at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, CERN, will make use of superconducting magnets operating below 2.0 K. This requires, for each of the eight future cryogenic installations, an isothermal cooling capacity of up to 2.4 kW obtained by vaporisation of helium II at 1.6 kPa and 1.8 K. The process design for this cooling duty has to satisfy several demands. It has to be adapted to four already existing as well as to four new refrigerators. It must cover a dynamic range of one to three, and it must to allow continuous pump-down from 4.5 K to 1.8 K. A possible solution, as presented in this paper, includes a combination of cold centrifugal and warm volumetric compressors. It is characterised by a low thermal load on the refrigerator, and a large range of adaptability to different operation modes. The expected power factor for 1.8 K cooling is given, and the proposed control strategy is explained