44 research outputs found
Phantom Validation of Tc-99m Absolute Quantification in a SPECT/CT Commercial Device.
Aim. Similar to PET, absolute quantitative imaging is becoming available in commercial SPECT/CT devices. This study's goal was to assess quantitative accuracy of activity recovery as a function of image reconstruction parameters and count statistics in a variety of phantoms. Materials and Methods. We performed quantitative (99m)Tc-SPECT/CT acquisitions (Siemens Symbia Intevo, Erlangen, Germany) of a uniform cylindrical, NEMA/IEC, and an anthropomorphic abdominal phantom. Background activity concentrations tested ranged: 2-80 kBq/mL. SPECT acquisitions used 120 projections (20 s/projection). Reconstructions were performed with the proprietary iterative conjugate gradient algorithm. NEMA phantom reconstructions were obtained as a function of the iteration number (range: 4-48). Recovery coefficients, hot contrast, relative lung error (NEMA phantom), and image noise were assessed. Results. In all cases, absolute activity and activity concentration were measured within 10% of the expected value. Recovery coefficients and hot contrast in hot inserts did not vary appreciably with count statistics. RC converged at 16 iterations for insert size > 22 mm. Relative lung errors were comparable to PET levels indicating the efficient integration of attenuation and scatter corrections with adequate detector modeling. Conclusions. The tested device provided accurate activity recovery within 10% of correct values; these performances are comparable to current generation PET/CT systems
Ce-L3-XAS study of the temperature dependence of the 4f occupancy in the Kondo system Ce2Rh3Al9
We have used temperature dependent x-ray absorption at the Ce-L3 edge to
investigate the recently discovered Kondo compound Ce2Rh3Al9. The systematic
changes of the spectral lineshape with decreasing temperature are analyzed and
found to be related to a change in the occupation number, n_f, as the
system undergoes a transition into a Kondo state. The temperature dependence of
indicates a characteristic temperature of 150K, which is clearly related
with the high temperature anomaly observed in the magnetic susceptibility of
the same system. The further anomaly observed in the resistivity of this system
at low temperature (ca. 20K) has no effect on n_f and is thus not of Kondo
origin.Comment: 7 pages, three figures, submitted to PR
High-resolution Ce 3d-edge resonant photoemission study of CeNi_2
Resonant photoemission (RPES) at the Ce 3d -> 4f threshold has been performed
for alpha-like compound CeNi_2 with extremely high energy resolution (full
width at half maximum < 0.2 eV) to obtain bulk-sensitive 4f spectral weight.
The on-resonance spectrum shows a sharp resolution-limited peak near the Fermi
energy which can be assigned to the tail of the Kondo resonance. However, the
spin-orbit side band around 0.3 eV binding energy corresponding to the f_{7/2}
peak is washed out, in contrast to the RPES spectrum at the Ce 3d -> 4f RPES
threshold. This is interpreted as due to the different surface sensitivity, and
the bulk-sensitive Ce 3d -> 4f RPES spectra are found to be consistent with
other electron spectroscopy and low energy properties for alpha-like
Ce-transition metal compounds, thus resolves controversy on the interpretation
of Ce compound photoemission. The 4f spectral weight over the whole valence
band can also be fitted fairly well with the Gunnarsson-Schoenhammer
calculation of the single impurity Anderson model, although the detailed
features show some dependence on the hybridization band shape and (possibly) Ce
5d emissions.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figur
Kondo engineering : from single Kondo impurity to the Kondo lattice
In the first step, experiments on a single cerium or ytterbium Kondo impurity
reveal the importance of the Kondo temperature by comparison to other type of
couplings like the hyperfine interaction, the crystal field and the intersite
coupling. The extension to a lattice is discussed. Emphasis is given on the
fact that the occupation number of the trivalent configuration may be the
implicit key variable even for the Kondo lattice. Three phase
diagrams are discussed: CeRuSi, CeRhIn and SmS
Tuning the 4f-state occupancy of cerium in highly correlated CeSi/ Fe multilayers: a study by x-ray absorption spectroscopy
Spectra of x-ray absorption and magnetic circular dichroism were measured at
M4,5(3d) and L2,3(2p) edges of Ce in multilayers [Ce(1-x)Six/Fe]xn, with x
between 0.1 and 0.65. The study uncovers the highly correlated nature of this
layered system. An alpha-phase like electronic configuration of Ce is observed,
with ordered magnetic moments on the 4f and 5d electrons induced by the
interaction with Fe. Increasing the Si content reduces the strength of the
hy-bridization between the 4f and conduction-band states which is reflected in
a growing occupation and magnetic polarization of the 4f states. Variations of
the shape and intensity of the L2,3-edge dichroism spectra, discussed in a
simple phenomenological model, show the importance of the exchange interaction
between the Ce-4f and 5d electrons, spin polarized by the interaction with Fe
at the interfaces, for the electronic structure of Ce at high Si concentration
and low temperature. A model of the band structure of rare-earth
transition-metal compounds permits to argue that magnetic order on the Ce 4f
electrons in the multilayers is due to different mechanisms: to hybridization
of the Ce-4f with the Fe-3d states at low Si concentration and to intra-atomic
4f-5d exchange at high Si concentration. This is at variance with magnetic
order in the intermetallics CeSi2-delta and CeSi which results from interaction
between the localized 4f magnetic moments mediated by the Si-derived (s,p)
conduction electrons, in competition with the Kondo effect.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Electronic structure investigation of CeB6 by means of soft X-ray scattering
The electronic structure of the heavy fermion compound CeB6 is probed by
resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering using photon energies across the Ce 3d
and 4d absorption edges. The hybridization between the localized 4f orbitals
and the delocalized valence-band states is studied by identifying the different
spectral contributions from inelastic Raman scattering and normal fluorescence.
Pronounced energy-loss structures are observed below the elastic peak at both
the 3d and 4d thresholds. The origin and character of the inelastic scattering
structures are discussed in terms of charge-transfer excitations in connection
to the dipole allowed transitions with 4f character. Calculations within the
single impurity Anderson model with full multiplet effects are found to yield
consistent spectral functions to the experimental data.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table,
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.63.07510
Band Calculations for Ce Compounds with AuCu-type Crystal Structure on the basis of Dynamical Mean Field Theory I. CePd and CeRh
Band calculations for Ce compounds with the AuCu-type crystal structure
were carried out on the basis of dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). The
auxiliary impurity problem was solved by a method named NCAvc
(noncrossing approximation including the state as a vertex correction).
The calculations take into account the crystal-field splitting, the spin-orbit
interaction, and the correct exchange process of the virtual excitation. These are necessary features in the
quantitative band theory for Ce compounds and in the calculation of their
excitation spectra. The results of applying the calculation to CePd and
CeRh are presented as the first in a series of papers. The experimental
results of the photoemission spectrum (PES), the inverse PES, the
angle-resolved PES, and the magnetic excitation spectra were reasonably
reproduced by the first-principles DMFT band calculation. At low temperatures,
the Fermi surface (FS) structure of CePd is similar to that of the band
obtained by the local density approximation. It gradually changes into a form
that is similar to the FS of LaPd as the temperature increases, since the
band shifts to the high-energy side and the lifetime broadening becomes
large.}Comment: 12 pasges, 13 figure
Auger Effect in the High-Resolution Ce 3d-edge Resonant Photoemission
The bulk-sensitive Ce 4 spectral weights of various Ce compounds including
CeFe, CeNi, and CeSi were obtained with the resonant photoemission
technique at the Ce 3d-edge. We found the lineshapes change significantly with
the small change of the incident photon energy. Detailed analysis showed that
this phenomenon results primarily from the Auger transition between different
multiplet states of the Ce (bar denotes a hole)
electronic configuration in the intermediate state of the resonant process.
This tells us that extra care should be taken for the choice of the resonant
photon energy when extracting Ce 4 spectral weights from the Ce 3-edge
resonant photoemission spectra. The absorption energy corresponding to the
lowest multiplet structure of the Ce configuration
seems to be the logical choice.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The Kondo Resonance in Electron Spectroscopy
The Kondo resonance is the spectral manifestation of the Kondo properties of
the impurity Anderson model, and also plays a central role in the dynamical
mean-field theory (DMFT) for correlated electron lattice systems. This article
presents an overview of electron spectroscopy studies of the resonance for the
4f electrons of cerium compounds, and for the 3d electrons of V_2O_3, including
beginning efforts at using angle resolved photoemission to determine the
k-dependence of the resonance. The overview includes the comparison and
analysis of spectroscopy data with theoretical spectra as calculated for the
impurity model and as obtained by DMFT, and the Kondo volume collapse
calculation of the cerium alpha-gamma phase transition boundary, with its
spectroscopic underpinnings.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, 151 references; paper for special issue of J.
Phys. Soc. Jpn. on "Kondo Effect--40 Years after the Discovery
Theory of the first-order isostructural valence phase transitions in mixed valence compounds YbIn_{x}Ag_{1-x}Cu_{4}
For describing the first-order isostructural valence phase transition in
mixed valence compounds we develop a new approach based on the lattice Anderson
model. We take into account the Coulomb interaction between localized f and
conduction band electrons and two mechanisms of electron-lattice coupling. One
is related to the volume dependence of the hybridization. The other is related
to local deformations produced by f- shell size fluctuations accompanying
valence fluctuations. The large f -state degeneracy allows us to use the 1/N
expansion method. Within the model we develop a mean-field theory for the
first-order valence phase transition in YbInCu_{4}. It is shown that the
Coulomb interaction enhances the exchange interaction between f and conduction
band electron spins and is the driving force of the phase transition. A
comparison between the theoretical calculations and experimental measurements
of the valence change, susceptibility, specific heat, entropy, elastic
constants and volume change in YbInCu_{4} and YbAgCu_{4} are presented, and a
good quantitative agreement is found. On the basis of the model we describe the
evolution from the first-order valence phase transition to the continuous
transition into the heavy-fermion ground state in the series of compounds
YbIn_{1-x}Ag_{x}Cu_{4}. The effect of pressure on physical properties of
YbInCu_{4} is studied and the H-T phase diagram is found.Comment: 17 pages RevTeX, 9 Postscript figures, to be submitted to Phys.Rev.