4 research outputs found
A fast pneumatic sample-shuttle with attenuated shocks
We describe a home-built pneumatic shuttle suitable for the fast displacement of samples in the vicinity
of a highly sensitive atomic magnetometer. The samples are magnetized at 1 T using a Halbach
assembly of magnets. The device enables the remote detection of free-induction-decay in ultra-lowfield
and zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, in relaxometric measurements
and in other applications involving the displacement of magnetized samples within time intervals
as short as a few tens of milliseconds. Other possible applications of fast sample shuttling exist in
radiological studies, where samples have to be irradiated and then analyzed in a 'cold' environment
Light-induced diffusion and desorption of alkali metals in a siloxane film: theory and experiment
The light-induced desorption and diffusion of alkali-metal atoms in organic films are interesting fields of
investigation. An impressive demonstration is given by the recently observed light-induced atomic desorption
~LIAD! effect, where a huge alkali-metal atom desorption from siloxane films, previously exposed to atomic
vapors, is induced by weak and nonresonant light. In this paper, experimental data and a one-dimensional
theoretical model of the effect are presented. The model gives a good description of the vapor density dynamics
by taking into account both the atomic diffusion inside the coating and the surface desorption. General
equations are reported and discussed within the limits of experimental interest. The potential barrier at the
vapor-surface interface and the activation energy for Rb in (poly)dimethylsiloxane have been determined