Magnetic Properties of the low dimensional spin system (VO)2_2P2_2O7_{7}: ESR and susceptibility

Experimental results on magnetic resonance (ESR) and magnetic susceptibility are given for single crystalline (VO)$_2$P$_2$O$_{7}$. The crystal growth procedure is briefly discussed. The susceptibility is interpreted numerically using a model with alternating spin chains. We determine $J$=51 K and $\delta$=0.2. Furthermore we find a spin gap of $\approx 6$meV from our ESR measurements. Using elastic constants no indication of a phase transition forcing the dimerization is seen below 300 K.Comment: 7 pages, REVTEX, 7 figure

Energy transfer processes in Er-doped SiO2 sensitized with Si nanocrystals

We present a high-resolution photoluminescence study of Er-doped SiO2 sensitized with Si nanocrystals (Si NCs). Emission bands originating from recombination of excitons confined in Si NCs and of internal transitions within the 4f-electron core of Er3+ ions, and a band centered at lambda = 1200nm have been identified. Their kinetics have been investigated in detail. Based on these measurements, we present a comprehensive model for energy transfer mechanisms responsible for light generation in this system. A unique picture of energy flow between subsystems of Er3+ and Si NCs is developed, yielding truly microscopic information on the sensitization effect and its limitations. In particular, we show that most of the Er3+ ions available in the system are participating in the energy exchange. The long standing problem of apparent loss of optical activity of majority of Er dopants upon sensitization with Si NCs is clarified and assigned to appearance of a very efficient energy exchange mechanism between Si NCs and Er3+ ions. Application potential of SiO2:Er sensitized by Si NCs is discussed in view of the newly acquired microscopic insight.Comment: 30 pages 13 figure

Dispersion and damping of zone-boundary magnons in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor CePt3Si

Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) is employed to study damped spin-wave excitations in the noncentrosymmetric heavy-fermion superconductor CePt3Si along the antiferromagnetic Brillouin-zone boundary in the low-temperature magnetically ordered state. Measurements along the (1/2 1/2 L) and (H H 1/2-H) reciprocal-space directions reveal deviations in the spin-wave dispersion from the previously reported model. Broad asymmetric shape of the peaks in energy signifies strong spin-wave damping by interactions with the particle-hole continuum. Their energy width exhibits no evident anomalies as a function of momentum along the (1/2 1/2 L) direction, which could be attributed to Fermi-surface nesting effects, implying the absence of pronounced commensurate nesting vectors at the magnetic zone boundary. In agreement with a previous study, we find no signatures of the superconducting transition in the magnetic excitation spectrum, such as a magnetic resonant mode or a superconducting spin gap, either at the magnetic ordering wavevector (0 0 1/2) or at the zone boundary. However, the low superconducting transition temperature in this material still leaves the possibility of such features being weak and therefore hidden below the incoherent background at energies ~0.1 meV, precluding their detection by INS

Position Dependence of Charge Collection in Prototype Sensors for the CMS Pixel Detector

This paper reports on the sensor R&D activity for the CMS pixel detector. Devices featuring several design and technology options have been irradiated up to a proton fluencec of 1E15 n_eq/cm**2 at the CERN PS. Afterward they were bump bonded to unirradiated readout chips and tested using high energy pions in the H2 beam line of the CERN SPS. The readout chip allows a non zero suppressed full analogue readout and therefore a good characterization of the sensors in terms of noise and charge collection properties. The position dependence of signal is presented and the differences between the two sensor options are discussed.Comment: Contribution to the IEEE-NSS Oct. 2003, Portland, OR, USA, submitted to IEEE-TNS 7 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Revised, title change

Extraction of electric field in heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors

A new method for the extraction of the electric field in the bulk of heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors is presented. It is based on the measurement of the Lorentz deflection and mobility of electrons as a function of depth. The measurements were made at the CERN H2 beam line, with the beam at a shallow angle with respect to the pixel sensor surface. The extracted electric field is used to simulate the charge collection and the Lorentz deflection in the pixel sensor. The simulated charge collection and the Lorentz deflection is in good agreement with the measurements both for non-irradiated and irradiated up to 1E15 neq/cm2 sensors.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures, presented at the 13th International Workshop on Vertex Detectors for High Energy Physics, September 13-18, 2004, Menaggio-Como, Italy. Submitted to Nucl. Instr. Meth.

Observation, modeling, and temperature dependence of doubly peaked electric fields in irradiated silicon pixel sensors

We show that doubly peaked electric fields are necessary to describe grazing-angle charge collection measurements of irradiated silicon pixel sensors. A model of irradiated silicon based upon two defect levels with opposite charge states and the trapping of charge carriers can be tuned to produce a good description of the measured charge collection profiles in the fluence range from 0.5x10^{14} Neq/cm^2 to 5.9x10^{14} Neq/cm^2. The model correctly predicts the variation in the profiles as the temperature is changed from -10C to -25C. The measured charge collection profiles are inconsistent with the linearly-varying electric fields predicted by the usual description based upon a uniform effective doping density. This observation calls into question the practice of using effective doping densities to characterize irradiated silicon.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX document, 10 figures. Presented at Pixel 2005 Workshop, Bonn, Sept 2005. Small cosmetic revisions in response to referee comments and to fix broken reference link

Simulation of Heavily Irradiated Silicon Pixel Detectors

We show that doubly peaked electric fields are necessary to describe grazing-angle charge collection measurements of irradiated silicon pixel sensors. A model of irradiated silicon based upon two defect levels with opposite charge states and the trapping of charge carriers can be tuned to produce a good description of the measured charge collection profiles in the fluence range from 0.5x10^{14} Neq/cm^2 to 5.9x10^{14} Neq/cm^2. The model correctly predicts the variation in the profiles as the temperature is changed from -10C to -25C. The measured charge collection profiles are inconsistent with the linearly-varying electric fields predicted by the usual description based upon a uniform effective doping density. This observation calls into question the practice of using effective doping densities to characterize irradiated silicon. The model is now being used to calibrate pixel hit reconstruction algorithms for CMS.Comment: Invited talk at International Symposium on the Development of Detectors for Particle, AstroParticle and Synchrtron Radiation Experiments, Stanford Ca (SNIC06) 8 pages, LaTeX, 11 eps figure

A double junction model of irradiated silicon pixel sensors for LHC

In this paper we discuss the measurement of charge collection in irradiated silicon pixel sensors and the comparison with a detailed simulation. The simulation implements a model of radiation damage by including two defect levels with opposite charge states and trapping of charge carriers. The modeling proves that a doubly peaked electric field generated by the two defect levels is necessary to describe the data and excludes a description based on acceptor defects uniformly distributed across the sensor bulk. In addition, the dependence of trap concentrations upon fluence is established by comparing the measured and simulated profiles at several fluences and bias voltages.Comment: Talk presented at the 10th European Symposium on Semiconductor Detectors, June 12-16 2005, Wildbad Kreuth, Germany. 9 pages, 4 figure

Ion counting efficiencies at the IGISOL facility

At the IGISOL-JYFLTRAP facility, fission mass yields can be studied at high precision. Fission fragments from a U target are passing through a Ni foil and entering a gas filled chamber. The collected fragments are guided through a mass separator to a Penning trap where their masses are identified. This simulation work focuses on how different fission fragment properties (mass, charge and energy) affect the stopping efficiency in the gas cell. In addition, different experimental parameters are varied (e. g. U and Ni thickness and He gas pressure) to study their impact on the stopping efficiency. The simulations were performed using the Geant4 package and the SRIM code. The main results suggest a small variation in the stopping efficiency as a function of mass, charge and kinetic energy. It is predicted that heavy fragments are stopped about 9% less efficiently than the light fragments. However it was found that the properties of the U, Ni and the He gas influences this behavior. Hence it could be possible to optimize the efficiency.Comment: 52 pages, 44 figure