500 research outputs found
Elastic Mid-Infrared Light Scattering: a Basis for Microscopy of Large-Scale Electrically Active Defects in Semiconducting Materials
A method of the mid-IR-laser microscopy has been proposed for the
investigation of the large-scale electrically and recombination active defects
in semiconductors and non-destructive inspection of semiconductor materials and
structures in the industries of microelectronics and photovoltaics. The basis
for this development was laid with a wide cycle of the investigations on the
low-angle mid-IR-light scattering in semiconductors. The essence of the
technical idea was to apply the dark-field method for spatial filtering of the
scattered light in the scanning mid-IR-laser microscope. This approach enabled
the visualization of large-scale electrically active defects which are the
regions enriched with ionized electrically active centers. The photoexcitation
of excess carriers within a small volume located in the probe mid-IR-laser beam
enabled the visualization of the large-scale recombination-active defects like
those revealed in the optical or electron beam induced current methods. Both
these methods of the scanning mid-IR-laser microscopy are now introduced in
detail in the present paper as well as a summary of techniques used in the
standard method of the lowangle mid-IR-light scattering itself. Besides the
techniques for direct observations, methods for analyses of the defect
composition associated with the mid-IR-laser microscopy are also discussed in
the paper.Comment: 44 pages, 13 figures. A good oldi
Methanol masers and star formation
Methanol masers which are traditionally divided into two classes provide possibility to study important parts of the star forming regions: Class II masers trace vicinities of the massive YSOs while class I masers are likely to trace more distant parts of the outflows where newer stars can form. There are many methanol transitions which produce observed masers. This allows to use pumping analysis for estimation of the physical parameters in the maser formation regions and its environment, for the study of their evolution. Extensive surveys in different masing transitions allow to conclude on the values of the temperatures, densities, dust properties, etc. in the bulk of masing regions. Variability of the brightest masers is monitored during several years. In some cases it is probably caused by the changes of the dust temperature which follow variations in the brightness of the central YSO reflecting the character of the accretion process. A unified catalogue of the class II methanol masers consisting of more than 500 objects is compiled. Analysis of the data shows that: physical conditions within the usual maser source vary considerably; maser brightness is determined by parameters of some distinguished part of the object - maser formation region; class II methanol masers are formed not within the outflows but in the regions affected by their propagation. It is shown that the "near" solutions for the kinematic distances to the sources can be used for statistical analysis. The luminosity function of the 6.7 GHz methanol masers is constructed. It is shown that improvement of the sensitivity of surveys can increase number of detected maser sources considerably. The distribution of class II methanol masers in the Galaxy is constructed on the basis of estimated kinematic distances. It is shown that most of the sources are located in the Molecular Ring and that the dependence of the number of sources on the distance from the Galactic Center has significant peaks at the positions corresponding to the spiral arms. A survey of CS(2-1) line emission tracing dense gas is performed at Mopra toward the positions of the brightest class II methanol masers. Velocity correlations between the maser and CS lines are analyzed. It is shown that the sources with 1 from 320 to 350 deg in which the masers are relatively blue-shifted, form a group which is located in the region of the Scutum-Centaurus spiral arm. This can reflect existence of a grand design, i.e., grouping of the sources with similar peculiarity of morphology or evolutionary stage of the massive star forming regions. © 2005 International Astronomical Union
How do methanol masers manage to appear in the youngest star vicinities and isolated molecular clumps?
General characteristics of methanol (CH3OH) maser emission are summarized. It
is shown that methanol maser sources are concentrated in the spiral arms. Most
of the methanol maser sources from the Perseus arm are associated with embedded
stellar clusters and a considerable portion is situated close to compact HII
regions. Almost 1/3 of the Perseus Arm sources lie at the edges of optically
identified HII regions which means that massive star formation in the Perseus
Arm is to a great extent triggered by local phenomena. A multiline analysis of
the methanol masers allows us to determine the physical parameters in the
regions of maser formation. Maser modelling shows that class II methanol masers
can be pumped by the radiation of the warm dust as well as by free-free
emission of a hypercompact region hcHII with a turnover frequency exceeding 100
GHz. Methanol masers of both classes can reside in the vicinity of hcHIIs.
Modelling shows that periodic changes of maser fluxes can be reproduced by
variations of the dust temperature by a few percent which may be caused by
variations in the brightness of the central young stellar object reflecting the
character of the accretion process. Sensitive observations have shown that the
masers with low flux densities can still have considerable amplification
factors. The analysis of class I maser surveys allows us to identify four
distinct regimes that differ by the series of their brightest lines.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, invited presentation at IAU242 "Astrophysical
Masers and their environments
Second-layer nucleation in coherent Stranski-Krastanov growth of quantum dots
We have studied the monolayer-bilayer transformation in the case of the
coherent Stranski-Krastanov growth. We have found that the energy of formation
of a second layer nucleus is largest at the center of the first-layer island
and smallest on its corners. Thus nucleation is expected to take place at the
corners (or the edges) rather than at the center of the islands as in the case
of homoepitaxy. The critical nuclei have one atom in addition to a compact
shape, which is either a square of i*i or a rectangle of i*(i-1) atoms, with
i>1 an integer. When the edge of the initial monolayer island is much larger
than the critical nucleus size, the latter is always a rectangle plus an
additional atom, adsorbed at the longer edge, which gives rise to a new atomic
row in order to transform the rectangle into the equilibrium square shape.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted version, minor change
Electric field of a pointlike charge in a strong magnetic field and ground state of a hydrogenlike atom
In an external constant magnetic field, so strong that the electron Larmour
length is much shorter than its Compton length, we consider the modification of
the Coulomb potential of a point charge owing to the vacuum polarization. We
establish a short-range component of the static interaction in the Larmour
scale, expressed as a Yukawa-like law, and reveal the corresponding "photon
mass" parameter. The electrostatic force regains its long-range character in
the Compton scale: the tail of the potential follows an anisotropic Coulomb
law, decreasing away from the charge slower along the magnetic field and faster
across. In the infinite-magnetic-field limit the potential is confined to an
infinitely thin string passing though the charge parallel to the external
field. This is the first evidence for dimensional reduction in the photon
sector of quantum electrodynamics. The one-dimensional form of the potential on
the string is derived that includes a delta-function centered in the charge.
The nonrelativistic ground-state energy of a hydrogenlike atom is found with
its use and shown not to be infinite in the infinite-field limit, contrary to
what was commonly accepted before, when the vacuum polarization had been
ignored. These results may be useful for studying properties of matter at the
surface of extremely magnetized neutron stars.Comment: 45 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev.
Space-VLBI observations of OH maser OH34.26+0.15: low interstellar scattering
We report on the first space-VLBI observations of the OH34.26+0.15 maser in
two main line OH transitions at 1665 and 1667 MHz. The observations involved
the space radiotelescope on board the Japanese satellite HALCA and an array of
ground radio telescopes. The map of the maser region and images of individual
maser spots were produced with an angular resolution of 1 milliarcsec which is
several times higher than the angular resolution available on the ground. The
maser spots were only partly resolved and a lower limit to the brightness
temperature 6x10^{12} K was obtained. The maser seems to be located in the
direction of low interstellar scattering, an order of magnitude lower than the
scattering of a nearby extragalactic source and pulsar.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Black-hole concept of a point-like nucleus with supercritical charge
The Dirac equation for an electron in the central Coulomb field of a
point-like nucleus with the charge greater than 137 is considered. This
singular problem, to which the fall-down onto the centre is inherent, is
addressed using a new approach, based on a black-hole concept of the singular
centre and capable of producing cut-off-free results. To this end the Dirac
equation is presented as a generalized eigenvalue boundary problem of a
self-adjoint operator. The eigenfunctions make complete sets, orthogonal with a
singular measure, and describe particles, asymptotically free and
delta-function-normalizable both at infinity and near the singular centre
. The barrier transmission coefficient for these particles responsible for
the effects of electron absorption and spontaneous electron-positron pair
production is found analytically as a function of electron energy and charge of
the nucleus. The singular threshold behaviour of the corresponding amplitudes
substitutes for the resonance behaviour, typical of the conventional theory,
which appeals to a finite-size nucleus.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, LATEX requires IOPAR
Роль вегетативной нервной системы в стресс-индуцированном повреждении сердца
Aim. To identify the role of the autonomic nervous system in stress cardiomyopathy in an experimental model of Takotsubo syndrome.Materials and methods. The study was carried out on 120 female Wistar rats. Stress modeling was performed by immobilizing animals on the back for 24 hours. Intact rats were used as controls. The rats were decapitated after termination of immobilization under general anesthesia with ether. Stress cardiomyopathy (SCM) was quantified by accumulation of 99mTc pyrophosphate radiopharmaceutical (99mTc PP) in the myocardium. The pharmacological agents used included the ganglionic blocker hexamethonium, administered five times at a dose of 20 mg / kg; guanethidine (50 mg / kg) administered subcutaneously once a day for three days, the last injection was performed 24 hours before immobilization; the muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine methyl nitrate (1 mg / kg); the α1-AR (adrenergic receptor) antagonist prazosin (2 mg / kg); the α2-AR antagonist yohimbine, administered at a dose of 2 mg / kg; the β1-AR antagonist nebivolol (1.2 mg / kg); the β2-AR antagonist ICI 118,551 (0.3 mg / kg); and the β3-AR antagonist L-748337 (0.1 mg / kg).Results. Three-day administration of guanethidine caused a decrease in the degree of 99mTc-PP accumulation in the heart by 35.9%. Hexamethonium did not affect the degree of SCM. The blockade of the muscarinic receptor caused an increase in accumulation of 99mTc-PP by 26.5%. Inhibition of α1-AR did not affect SCM. The blockade of α2-AR caused a 2.2-fold increase in the accumulation compared with stress control. The blockade of β1-AR reduced 99mTc-PP accumulation by 2.5 times. The blockade of β2-AR by ICI 118,551 increased the degree of 99mTcPP accumulation by 34.6%. Inhibition of β3-AR had no effect on SCM.Conclusion. The adrenergic system and β1-adrenergic receptor play an important role in the development of SCM. The parasympathetic nervous system ensures resistance of the heart to stress.Цель. Оценка роли вегетативной нервной системы в стресс-индуцированном повреждении сердца в экспериментальной модели синдрома такотсубо.Материалы и методы. Исследование выполнено на 120 самках крыс линии Вистар. Каждая группа животных состояла из 12 особей. Моделирование стресса осуществляли с помощью иммобилизации животных на спине в течение 24 ч. В качестве контроля использовали интактных особей. Крыс декапитировали после прекращения иммобилизации под общим эфирным наркозом. Количественную оценку стресс-индуцированного повреждения сердца (СИПС) осуществляли по аккумуляции радиофармпрепарата 99mTc-пирофосфата (99mTc-ПФ) в миокарде. Фармакологические агенты вводили внутрибрюшинно: ганглиоблокатор гексаметоний вводили пятикратно в дозе 20 мг/кг; гуанетидин (50 мг/кг) – подкожно 1 раз/сут в течение 3 сут, последнюю инъекцию делали за 24 ч до иммобилизации. Остальные препараты (антагонист М-холинорецепторов атропина метилнитрат (1 мг/кг); антагонист α1-адренорецепторов (АР) празозин (2 мг/кг); антагонист α2-АР йохимбин (2 мг/кг); антагонист β1-АР небиволол (1,2 мг/кг); антагонист β2-АР ICI 118,551 (0,3 мг/кг); антагонист β3-АР L-748337 (0,1 мг/кг)) вводили 2 раза/сут с интервалом 12 ч.Результаты. Трехдневное введение гуанетидина вызвало уменьшение степени аккумуляции 99mTc-ПФ в сердце на 35,9%. Гексаметоний не оказал влияние на степень СИПС. Блокада М-холинорецепторов вызвала усиление аккумуляции 99mTc-ПФ на 26,5%. Ингибирование α1-АР не оказало влияния на СИПС. Блокада α2-АР вызывала усиление аккумуляции в 2,2 раза по сравнению со стресс-контролем. Блокада β1-АР снизила степень аккумуляции 99mTc-ПФ в 2,5 раза. Блокада β2 АР ICI 118,551 увеличила степень аккумуляции 99mTc-ПФ на 34,6%. Ингибирование β3-АР не оказало эффекта на СИПС.Заключение. Симпатоадреналовая система и, в частности, β1-адренорецепторы играют важную роль в развитии СИПС. Парасимпатическая нервная система обеспечивает устойчивость сердца к стрессу
The HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS) - I. Techniques and HO maser data
The definitive version can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright Royal Astronomical SocietyWe present first results of the HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS), using the Mopra Radio Telescope with a broad-band backend and a beam size of about 2 arcmin. We have observed 100 deg of the southern Galactic plane at 12mm (19.5-27.5GHz), including spectral line emission from HO masers, multiple metastable transitions of ammonia, cyanoacetylene, methanol and radio recombination lines. In this paper, we report on the characteristics of the survey and HO maser emission. We find 540 HO masers, of which 334 are new detections. The strongest maser is 3933Jy and the weakest is 0.7Jy, with 62 masers over 100Jy. In 14 maser sites, the spread in the velocity of the HO maser emission exceeds 100kms. In one region, the HO maser velocities are separated by 351.3kms. The rms noise levels are typically between 1 and 2Jy, with 95 per cent of the survey under 2Jy. We estimate completeness limits of 98 per cent at around 8.4Jy and 50 per cent at around 5.5Jy. We estimate that there are between 800 and 1500 HO masers in the Galaxy that are detectable in a survey with similar completeness limits to HOPS. We report possible masers in NH (11,9) and (8,6) emission towards G19.61-0.23 and in the NH (3,3) line towards G23.33-0.30.Peer reviewe
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