Nanocrystalline particulates of Er doped cobalt-ferrites CoFe(2−x)ErxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.04), were synthesized, using sol-gel assisted autocombustion method. Co-, Fe-, and Er- nitrates were the oxidizers, and malic acid served as a fuel and chelating agent. Calcination (400–600 °C for 4 h) of the precursor powders was followed by sintering (1000 °C for 4 h) and structural and magnetic characterization. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of single phase of spinel for the compositions x = 0, 0.01, and 0.02; and for higher compositions an additional orthoferrite phase formed along with the spinel phase. Lattice parameter of the doped cobalt-ferrites was higher than that of pure cobalt-ferrite. The observed red shift in the doped cobalt-ferrites indicates the presence of induced strain in the cobalt-ferrite matrix due to large size of the Er+3 compared to Fe+3. Greater than two-fold increase in coercivity (∼66 kA/m for x = 0.02) was observed in doped cobalt-ferrites compared to CoFe2O4 (∼29 kA/m).

This study presents the effects of substitution of Zn 2+ for Co2+ at low concentrations and the effects of temperature variations on the structural, magnetic, and magnetostrictive properties ofcobalt ferrite. Although the Zn-substituted cobalt ferrite samples, Co1−x Zn xFe2O4 (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.17) did not show observable changes in crystal structure, the magnetic and magnetostrictive properties were strongly affected. The variation in magnetic susceptibilitywith composition can be related to the variations in magnetization, coercive field and magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The changes in coercive field were found to be primarily due to the variations in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The effect of magnetocrystalline anisotropyon magnetization was stronger at lower cation concentration than at higher concentrations. The decrease in magnetization around 150 K is attributed to the high magnetocrystalline anisotropyat low temperatures which prevented the maximum applied field of 4 MA/m from causing the saturation of magnetization in the samples. Because the magnetocrystalline anisotropy was determined with the magnetization data using the Law of Approach to saturation magnetization, the reliability of the result was found to decrease with decrease in temperature. Peak-to-peakmagnetostriction amplitude and the strain sensitivity decreased with increase in Znsubstitution. KeywordsAmes Laboratory, Zinc, Magnetic anisotropy, Ferrites, Cobalt, Magnetic fields Disciplines Electromagnetics and Photonics CommentsThe following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 113 (2013) This study presents the effects of substitution of Zn 2þ for Co 2þ at low concentrations and the effects of temperature variations on the structural, magnetic, and magnetostrictive properties of cobalt ferrite. Although the Zn-substituted cobalt ferrite samples, Co 1Àx Zn x Fe 2 O 4 (x ¼ 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.09, and 0.17) did not show observable changes in crystal structure, the magnetic and magnetostrictive properties were strongly affected. The variation in magnetic susceptibility with composition can be related to the variations in magnetization, coercive field and magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The changes in coercive field were found to be primarily due to the variations in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The effect of magnetocrystalline anisotropy on magnetization was stronger at lower cation concentration than at higher concentrations. The decrease in magnetization around 150 K is attributed to the high magnetocrystalline anisotropy at low temperatures which prevented the maximum applied field of 4 MA/m from causing the saturation of magnetization in the samples. Because the magnetocrystalline anisotropy was determined with the magnetization data using the Law of Approach to saturation magnetization, the reliability of the result was found to decrease with decrease in temperature. Peak-to-peak magnetostriction amplitude and the strain sensitivity decreased with increase in Zn substitution. V C 2013 AIP Publ...

A detailed exploration of the potential energy surface of quinoline cation (C9H7N ·+) is carried out to extend the present understanding of its fragmentation mechanisms. DFT calculations have been performed to explore new fragmentation mechanisms giving special attention to previously unexplored pathways such as isomerisation and elimination of HNC. The isomerization mechanisms producing 5-7 membered ring intermediates have been described and are found to be a dominant channel both energetically and kinetically. Energetically competing pathways have been established for the astrochemically important HNC-loss channel, which has hitherto never been considered in the context of the loss of a 27 amu fragment from the parent ions. Elimination of acetylene was also studied in great detail. Overall computational results are found to complement the experimental observations from the concurrently conducted PEPICO investigation. These could potentially open the doors for rich and interesting VUV radiation driven chemistry on the planetary atomospheres, meteorites and comets.

Dissociative photoionisation of quinoline induced by VUV radiation is investigated using photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy. Branching ratios of all the detectable fragment ions are measured as a function of internal energy ranging from 2 to 30 eV. A specific generation hierarchy is observed in the breakdown curves of a set of dissociation channels. Moreover, a careful comparison of the breakdown curves of fragments among the successive generations allowed to establish a decay sequence in the fragmentation of quinoline cation. This enabled us to revisit and refine the understanding of the first generation decay and reassign the origin of few of the higher generation decay products of quinoline cation. With the help of the accompanying computational work (reported concurrently) we have demonstrated the dominance of two different HCN elimination pathways over previously interpreted mechanisms. For the first time a specific pathway for acetylene elimination is identified in quinoline+ and the role of isomerization in both acetylene as well as hydrogen cyanide loss is also clearly demonstrated. The experiment also established that the acetylene elimination exclusively occurs from the non-nitrogen containing ring of quinoline cation. The formation of a few astronomically important species is also discussed.

Testing and performance validation of a new multipurpose time-of-flight mass spectrometer followed by an energy analyzer is presented. The instrument with high mass and energy resolution is primarily designed to study cations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their dehydrogenation process. The energy correlated time-of-flight measurement is supplemented by Monte Carlo simulation to probe the dehydrogenation process in a relatively small PAH cation. The experiment is carried out on fluorene+ on a timescale of several microseconds. Fluorene cations with high internal energies were produced using UV multiphoton ionization. Specific n-photon processes leading to ionization as well as H-loss reaction were identified. The average value of dehydrogenation rate is estimated by fitting the measured data to the outcome of simulations. The quantification of H loss decay rate is in agreement with previously reported decay rate measurement. This corresponds to the internal energy available by inner valence electron emission caused by three photon process. The effectiveness of the instrument to access a range of decay rates (103–107 s−1) in a single measurement is demonstrated.