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Showing papers on "Relaxation (NMR) published in 2000"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A computational procedure to calculate the rotational diffusion tensor and other properties of proteins from their detailed, atomic-level structure, using bead models for prediction of hydrodynamic properties of arbitrarily shaped particles.

521 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the relaxation time of BiFeO3 was estimated using the relaxation times of the intermediate compositions of the BaTiO3 mixture, and the authors showed that the capacitance observed is from the bulk of the sample.
Abstract: BiFeO3, when forming a solid solution with BaTiO3, shows structural transformations over the entire compositional range. Above 70 mole % of BiFeO3 the structure is rhombohedral and below 4 mole %, it is tetragonal. In between the structure is cubic. The ferroelectric TC decreases with increasing composition of BaTiO3 and a relatively small relaxation is observed. Impedance measurements showed a structural dependence and analysis of which has clearly shown that the capacitance observed is from the bulk of the sample. Relaxation time (τ) of BiFeO3 was estimated using the relaxation times of the intermediate compositions. Magnetization measurements showed field induced ferromagnetism. As the structure becomes cubic with increasing concentration of BaTiO3, paramagnetism sets in, as evidenced by the electron spin resonance spectra.

463 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The glass transitionTemperature T(g) and the temperature T(alpha) corresponding to the peak in the dielectric loss due to the alpha process have been simultaneously determined as functions of film thickness d through dielectrics measurements for polystyrene thin films supported on glass substrate.
Abstract: The glass transition temperature T(g) and the temperature T(alpha) corresponding to the peak in the dielectric loss due to the alpha process have been simultaneously determined as functions of film thickness d through dielectric measurements for polystyrene thin films supported on glass substrate. The dielectric loss peaks have also been investigated as functions of frequency for a given temperature. A decrease in T(g) was observed with decreasing film thickness, while T(alpha) was found to remain almost constant for d>d(c) and to decrease drastically with decreasing d for d

396 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of dephasing and relaxation on electron transfer in bridged molecular systems is investigated using a simple molecular model and the interaction between the molecular system and the thermal environment is described on the level of the Redfield theory, modified when needed for the description of steady-state situations.
Abstract: The effect of dephasing and relaxation on electron transfer in bridged molecular systems is investigated using a simple molecular model. The interaction between the molecular system and the thermal environment is described on the level of the Redfield theory, modified when needed for the description of steady-state situations. Noting that transient as well as steady-state measurements are possible in such system, we discuss the relationship between the rates obtained from these different types of experiments and, in particular, the conditions under which these rates are the same. Also, a formal relation between the steady-state rate for electron transfer across a molecular bridge and the conductance of this bridge when placed between two metal contacts is established. The effect of dephasing and relaxation on the electron transfer is investigated, and new observations are made with regard to the transition from the superexchange to the thermal (hopping through bridge) regime of the transfer process. In pa...

316 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The segmental dynamics of 1.5-2.0 nm polymer films confined between parallel solid surfaces is investigated with dielectric spectroscopy in polymer/silicate intercalated nanocomposites and the confinement effect is evident by the observation of a mode much faster than the bulk-polymer alpha relaxation and exhibiting much weaker temperature dependence.
Abstract: The segmental dynamics of 15-20 nm polymer films confined between parallel solid surfaces is investigated with dielectric spectroscopy in polymer/silicate intercalated nanocomposites The confinement effect is evident by the observation of a mode, much faster than the bulk-polymer alpha relaxation and exhibiting much weaker temperature dependence This is discussed in relation to either the interlayer spacing restricting the cooperative volume of the alpha relaxation or to the dominance of the more mobile interphase regions as predicted by simulations; the data qualitatively support the former

273 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the femtosecond dynamics of colloidal gold nanorods encapsulated in micelles after excitation with 400 nm pulses of 100 fs duration were studied.
Abstract: We studied the femtosecond dynamics of colloidal gold nanorods encapsulated in micelles after excitation with 400 nm pulses of 100 fs duration. It is found that the laser heating of the electron gas of gold nanorods with an average aspect ratio of 3.8 leads to the bleaching of both the transverse and longitudinal mode of the surface plasmon oscillation at 520 and 750 nm. The bleach recovers with the same time constant for both the transverse and longitudinal oscillation, for gold nanodots prepared by photothermal reshaping of the rods as well as for nanodots synthesized chemically by citrate reduction (and known to have twin boundaries and surface defects). Since the bleach recovery on the 3 ps time scale is assigned to electron-phonon relaxation processes, these results suggest that phonon dependent relaxation processes in gold nanoparticles are independent of the shape, size, type of the surfaces, or the mode of the surface plasmon, oscillation excited. The fact that the mean free path of the electron in metallic gold is in the nanometer length scale (\ensuremath{\sim}50 nm) raised the question of the importance of surface scattering to the electron-phonon relaxation process in gold nanoparticles. Our previous studies showed little dependence of the relaxation rate of the size of gold nanodots (from 9 to 48 nm). In the present study, the electron-phonon relaxation is measured in gold nanorods, which have different facets from those of gold nanodots.

211 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Time resolved magnetization measurements have been performed on a spin 1/2 molecular complex, so-called V15, and spin-phonon coupling leads to long relaxation times and to a particular "butterfly" hysteresis loop.
Abstract: Time resolved magnetization measurements have been performed on a spin 1/2 molecular complex, so-called V15. Despite the absence of a barrier, magnetic hysteresis is observed over a time scale of several seconds. A detailed analysis in terms of a dissipative two-level model is given, in which fluctuations and splittings are of the same energy. Spin-phonon coupling leads to long relaxation times and to a particular "butterfly" hysteresis loop.

207 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, at eight temperatures T between 0 and 60 °C and at five mole fractions xe of ethanol (0 < xe ≤ 1) the complex (electric) permittivity of ethanol/water mixtures has been measured as a function of frequency ν between 1 MHz and 24 GHz.
Abstract: At eight temperatures T between 0 and 60 °C and at five mole fractions xe of ethanol (0 < xe ≤ 1) the complex (electric) permittivity of ethanol/water mixtures has been measured as a function of frequency ν between 1 MHz and 24 GHz. At 25 °C the ethanol permittivities are completed by literature data for the frequency range 200 MHz to 90 GHz. The spectra for ethanol and for the ethanol/water mixtures are compared to permittivity spectra for water which, at some temperatures, are available up to 900 GHz. All spectra of the ethanol/water system can be well represented by the assumption of two relaxation regions. The relaxation time τ1 of the dominating relaxation process varies between 4 ps (xe = 0, 60 °C) and 310 ps (xe = 1, 0 °C). The relaxation time τ2 of the second relaxation process is smaller. Evaluation of the extrapolated low frequency (“static”) permittivity yields a minium in the effective dipole orientation correlation of the ethanol/water system at 0.2 ≤ xe ≤ 0.4. In this composition range, othe...

205 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors verified the ultrafast intersubband relaxation in GaN quantum wells and obtained an ultrashort relaxation time of less than 150 fs at a wavelength of 4.5 μm.
Abstract: The ultrafast intersubband relaxation in GaN quantum wells has been verified. Al0.65Ga0.35N/GaN multiple quantum wells, with as many as 200 wells, were grown by optimizing the barrier thickness and introducing GaN intermediate layers. The intersubband absorption is sufficiently strong for the relaxation time to be measured. A pump–probe measurement is performed to investigate the relaxation. An ultrashort relaxation time of less than 150 fs is obtained at a wavelength of 4.5 μm. The transient time is shorter than that of InGaAs quantum wells by approximately an order of magnitude. This result is promising for realizing ultrafast optical switches.

205 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
21 Apr 2000-Science
TL;DR: Single-walled carbon nanotubes were studied by (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the fast-relaxing component, assigned to metallic tubes, followed the relaxation behavior expected in metals, and the density-of-states at the Fermi level increased with decreasing tube diameter.
Abstract: Single-walled carbon nanotubes were studied by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Two types of 13C nuclear spins were identified with different spin-lattice relaxation rates. The fast-relaxing component, assigned to metallic tubes, followed the relaxation behavior expected in metals, and the density-of-states at the Fermi level increased with decreasing tube diameter. The slow-relaxing component has a significantly lower density-of-states at the Fermi level. Exposure to oxygen has a substantial effect on relaxation rates of both components.

193 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the magnetic dynamics of two differently treated samples of hematite nanoparticles from the same batch with a particle size of about 20 nm have been studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy.
Abstract: The magnetic dynamics of two differently treated samples of hematite nanoparticles from the same batch with a particle size of about 20 nm have been studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy. The dynamics of the first sample, in which the particles are coated and dispersed in water, is in accordance with the Neel expression for the superparamagnetic relaxation time of noninteracting particles. From a simultaneous analysis of a series of Mossbauer spectra, measured as a function of temperature, we obtain the median energy barrier KBuVm /k 55706100 K and the preexponential factor t 051.3 20.8 11.9 310 210 s for a rotation of the sublattice magnetization directions in the rhombohedral ~111! plane. The corresponding median superparamagnetic blocking tempera- ture is about 150 K. The dynamics of the second, dry sample, in which the particles are uncoated and thus allowed to aggregate, is slowed down by interparticle interactions and a magnetically split spectrum is retained at room temperature. The temperature variation of the magnetic hyperfine field, corresponding to different quantiles in the hyperfine field distribution, can be consistently described by a mean field model for ''super- ferromagnetism'' in which the magnetic anisotropy is included. The coupling between the particles is due to exchange interactions and the interaction strength can be accounted for by just a few exchange bridges between surface atoms in neighboring crystallites.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The ultrafast ultrafast relaxation of p -nitroaniline (PNA) in water and acetonitrile is studied experimentally and theoretically in this article, where transient absorption spectra are measured by the pump-supercontinuum probe technique (PSCP) after 50 fs excitation at 400 nm.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of fcc clusters show that the usual theories of equilibration, via atomic surface diffusion driven by curvature, are verified only at high temperatures, with an exponential dependence of the relaxation time.
Abstract: What are the mechanisms leading to the shape relaxation of three-dimensional crystallites? Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of fcc clusters show that the usual theories of equilibration, via atomic surface diffusion driven by curvature, are verified only at high temperatures. Below the roughening temperature, the relaxation is much slower, kinetics being governed by the nucleation of a critical germ on a facet. We show that the energy barrier for this step linearly increases with the size of the crystallite, leading to an exponential dependence of the relaxation time.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The phenomenon of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) involves placing magnetically active nuclear spins embedded in a gas, liquid or solid phase in a constant, large and uniform magnetic field, causing a splitting of magnetic energy levels.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the dielectric dispersion of the transparent relaxor ferroelectric ceramics PLZT 8/65/35 and 9.5/35 was determined in a wide frequency range including the microwave and infrared range.
Abstract: The dielectric dispersion of the transparent relaxor ferroelectric ceramics PLZT 8/65/35 and 9.5/65/35 was determined in a wide frequency range including the microwave and infrared range. The number of observed polar phonons in infrared spectra gives evidence about the locally broken cubic symmetry and the presence of polar nanoclusters in the whole investigated temperature range up to 530 K. A single broad and symmetric dispersion that occurs below the polar phonon frequencies was fitted with the Cole-Cole formula and a uniform distribution of Debye relaxations. On decreasing temperature, the distribution of relaxation times becomes extremely broad which indicates increasing correlation among the clusters. The mean relaxation time diverges according to the Vogel-Fulcher law with the same freezing temperature 230±5 K for both ceramics, but different activation energies 1370 K and 1040 K for the 8/65/35 and 9.5/65/35 sample, respectively. The shortest relaxation time is about 10-12 s and remains almost temperature independent. Below room temperature, the loss spectra become essentially frequency independent and the permittivity increases linearly with decreasing logarithm of frequency. The slope of this dependence is proportional to T 4 in the investigated temperature range (above 210 K) which indicates appreciable anharmonicity of the potential for polarization fluctuations.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, single particle dynamics of water confined in a nanopore is studied through computer-molecular dynamics, where the pore is modeled to represent the average properties of a pore of Vycor glass.
Abstract: Single particle dynamics of water confined in a nanopore is studied through computermolecular dynamics. The pore is modeled to represent the average properties of a pore of Vycor glass. Dynamics is analyzed at different hydration levels and upon supercooling. At all hydration levels and all temperatures investigated a layering effect is observed due to the strong hydrophilicity of the substrate. The time density correlators show, already at ambient temperature, strong deviations from the Debye and the stretched exponential behavior. Both on decreasing hydration level and upon supercooling we find features that can be related to the cage effect typical of a supercooled liquid undergoing a kinetic glass transition. Nonetheless the behavior predicted by mode coupling theory can be observed only by carrying out a proper shell analysis of the density correlators. Water molecules within the first two layers from the substrate are in a glassy state already at ambient temperature (bound water). The remaining subset of molecules (free water) undergoes a kinetic glass transition; the relaxation of the density correlators agree with the main predictions of the theory. From our data we can predict the temperature of structural arrest of free water.

Journal ArticleDOI
Konstantin Pervushin1
TL;DR: The application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for structure determination of proteins and nucleic acids with molecular mass exceeding 30 kDa is largely constrained by two factors, fast transverse relaxation of spins of interest and complexity of NMR spectra, both of which increase with increasing molecular size.
Abstract: 1. Transverse relaxation and the molecular size limit in liquid state NMR 1612. TROSY: how does it work? 1632.1 Transverse relaxation in coupled spin systems 1632.2 The TROSY effect, relaxation due to remote protons and 2H isotope labeling 1653. Direct heteronuclear chemical shift correlations 1683.1 Single-Quantum [15N,1H]-TROSY 1683.2 Zero-Quantum [15N,1H]-TROSY 1713.3 Single-Quantum TROSY with aromatic 13C–1H moieties 1764. Resonance assignment and NOE spectroscopy of large biomolecules 1804.1 TROSY-based triple resonance experiments for 13C, 15N and 1HN backbone resonance assignment in uniformly 2H, 13C, 15N labeled proteins 1804.2 TROSY-type NOE spectroscopy 1865. Scalar coupling across hydrogen bonds observed by TROSY 1876. The use of TROSY for measurements of residual dipolar coupling constants 1907. Conclusions 1918. Acknowledgements 1919. References 191The application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for structure determination of proteins and nucleic acids (Wuthrich, 1986) with molecular mass exceeding 30 kDa is largely constrained by two factors, fast transverse relaxation of spins of interest and complexity of NMR spectra, both of which increase with increasing molecular size (Wagner, 1993b; Clore & Gronenborn, 1997, 1998b; Kay & Gardner, 1997). The good news is that neither of these factors represent a fundamental limit for the application of NMR techniques to protein structure determination in solution (Clore & Gronenborn, 1998a; Wuthrich, 1998; Wider & Wuthrich, 1999). In fact, in the past few years the size limitations imposed by these factors have been pushed up to 50–70 kDa by the use of 13C, 15N and 2H isotope labeling combined with selective reprotonation of individual chemical groups in conjunction with the use of triple-resonance experiments (Bax, 1994; Gardner et al. 1997; Gardner & Kay, 1998) and heteronuclear-resolved NMR (Fesik & Zuiderweg, 1988; Marion et al. 1989a; Otting & Wuthrich, 1990). Among the largest biomolecules whose 3D structure was solved by NMR are the 44 kDa trimeric ectodomain of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) gp41 (Caffrey et al. 1998) and 40–60 kDa particles of the elongation initiation factor 4E solubilized in CHAPS micelles (Matsuo et al. 1997; McGuire et al. 1998).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reported the measured values of dielectric permittivity and loss of poly(ethylene glycols) in the pure liquid state in the frequency range 200 MHz to 20 GHz at four different temperatures of 25, 35, 45 and 55°C.
Abstract: This paper reports the measured values of dielectric permittivity e′ and dielectric loss e″ of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol and poly(ethylene glycol)s of average molecular weight 200, 300, 400 and 600 g mol−1 in the pure liquid state. The measurements have been carried out in the frequency range 200 MHz to 20 GHz at four different temperatures of 25, 35, 45 and 55 °C. The complex plane plots (e″ versus e′) of these molecules are Cole–Cole arcs. The static dielectric constant e0, high-frequency limiting dielectric constant e∞, average relaxation time τ0 and distribution parameter α have been determined from these plots. The value of the Kirkwood correlation factor g and the dielectric rate free energy of activation ΔF have also been evaluated. The dependence of relaxation time on molecular size and viscosity has been discussed. A comparison has also been made with the dielectric behaviour of these molecules in dilute solutions of non-polar solvents, which were carried out earlier in this laboratory. The influences of intermolecular hydrogen bonding and molecular chain coiling on the dielectric relaxation of these molecules have been recognized. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used time domain reflectometry in the frequency range from 500 MHz to 25 GHz at 20, 25, and 30 degrees C. The excess partial molar activation free energy, enthalpy, and entropy for methanol, ΔGMAE, ΔHMAE and ΔSMAE were calculated from accurately measured concentration and temperature dependence of the dielectric relaxation time of the mixtures.
Abstract: Dielectric relaxation measurements on the methanol–water mixtures for the entire concentration range were carried out using time domain reflectometry in the frequency range from 500 MHz to 25 GHz at 20, 25, and 30 °C. The excess partial molar activation free energy, enthalpy, and entropy for methanol, ΔGMAE, ΔHMAE, and ΔSMAE, and those for water, ΔGWE, ΔHWE, and ΔSWE, were calculated from accurately measured concentration and temperature dependence of the dielectric relaxation time of the mixtures. The behavior of the excess partial molar quantities in the regions below and above X (molar fraction of methanol) ∼0.3 are quite different from each other. In a water-rich region, ΔHMAE and ΔSMAE exhibit two maxima at X∼0.045 and X∼0.12, which is clearly attributed to structural enhancement of the hydrogen bond network of water, the so-called hydrophobic hydration. Appearance of two maxima in ΔHMAE and ΔSMAE implies that water molecules surround methanol molecules in qualitatively different manners around the t...

Journal ArticleDOI
15 Oct 2000-EPL
TL;DR: In this article, the superparamagnetic relaxation was analyzed on the basis of the Neel-Brown expression for the relaxation time, τ = τ 0 exp[KV/kT], and the value of τ0 increases with increasing particle volume, whereas the magnetic anisotropy energy constant, K, decreases.
Abstract: Samples of nanoparticles of hematite (α-Fe2O3) with average size between 6 and 27 nm have been studied by use of Mossbauer spectroscopy. The superparamagnetic relaxation was analysed on the basis of the Neel-Brown expression for the relaxation time, τ = τ0 exp[KV/kT]. It was found that the value of τ0 increases with increasing particle volume, V, whereas the magnetic anisotropy energy constant, K, decreases. The electric quadrupole interaction, the isomer shift and the magnetic hyperfine field extrapolated to 0 K were found to be essentially independent of particle size.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated spatiotemporal kinetics of electron spin polarization in a semiconductor narrow two-dimensional (2D) strip and explored the ability to manipulate spin relaxation.
Abstract: We have investigated spatiotemporal kinetics of electron spin polarization in a semiconductor narrow two-dimensional (2D) strip and explored the ability to manipulate spin relaxation. Information about the conduction electron spin and mechanisms of spin rotation is incorporated into a Monte Carlo transport simulation program. A model problem, involving linear-in-$k$ splitting of the conduction band responsible for the D'yakonov-Perel' mechanism of spin relaxation in the zinc-blende semiconductors and heterostructures, is solved numerically to yield the decay of spin polarization of an electron ensemble in the 2D channel of finite width. For very wide channels, a conventional 2D value of spin relaxation is obtained. With decreasing channel width, the relaxation time increases rapidly by orders of magnitude. Surprisingly, the crossover point between 2D and quasi-1D behavior is found to be at tens of electron mean-free paths. Thus, classically wide channels can effectively suppress electron spin relaxation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a detailed comparison with THz time domain spectroscopy demonstrates that the reorientational dynamics responsible for the long time tail of the Kerr response are due to single molecule as opposed to collective effects.
Abstract: The ultrafast optical Kerr-response of water and heavy water has been measured at 1 bar in the temperature range between 273 and 373 K. The nuclear Kerr response of the liquid exhibits a pronounced double exponential decay on longer time scales after dephasing of impulsively perturbed acoustic modes is completed. The time constant, τ2, characterizing the slowly decaying exponential component of the Kerr-response function is in quantitative agreement with rotational diffusion time constants of the water molecules obtained form nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation rates. A detailed comparison with THz time domain spectroscopy demonstrates that the reorientational dynamics responsible for the long time tail of the Kerr response are due to single molecule as opposed to collective effects. Furthermore, a good agreement between the single molecule rotational diffusion and the Stokes–Einstein–Debye equation is found in the temperature range of thermodynamic stability of the liquid. The time constant, τ1, characterizing the fast exponential component of the Kerr-response of water is found to be in qualitative agreement with central Lorentzian linewidths obtained from frequency-domain, depolarized Raman scattering experiments. The temperature dependence of τ2 does not follow an Arrhenius-type behavior, which was previously taken as evidence for thermally activated crossing of a librational barrier with concomitant hydrogen-bond breakage. Instead, the temperature dependence of the fast relaxation time constant can be represented adequately by the Speedy–Angell relation which has been shown to accurately describe a number of transport parameters and thermodynamic properties of water.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, structural properties of Pt/Co/Pt systems submitted to ion irradiation were investigated to understand why the magnetic anisotropy can be decreased in a controlled way.
Abstract: We study the structural properties of Pt/Co/Pt systems submitted to ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ ion irradiation, in order to understand why the magnetic anisotropy can be decreased in a controlled way. It is shown by grazing x-ray reflectometry that the irradiation-induced Pt and Co atom displacements can be largely accounted for by a simple ballistic recoil mechanism model. Our results indicate that even in these nm-thick films, irradiation may affect the upper and lower interfaces differently. Specifically, the upper Co interface undergoes short-range mixing, resulting in roughness, whereas the lower Co interface mostly evolves by longer-range mixing, leading to alloy formation. Irradiation also releases strain in these Co-Pt systems, but has no chemical ordering effect. Together with slow asymmetric interface roughening, the cobalt tensile strain relaxation at low fluences accounts for the magnetic anisotropy decrease. The type of analysis we propose could be useful to understand why other magnetic properties, such as interlayer exchange coupling, can be controlled by light ion irradiation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An appreciation of the distribution of relaxation times and the resulting effects upon the KWW constants should be considered to be essential when working with amorphous pharmaceutical materials, especially when attempting to use relaxation time constants for predicting their physical or chemical stability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A preparation of monocrystalline iron oxide nanoparticles with an oxidized starch coating, currently in clinical trials, was characterized by magnetization measurements, relaxometry, and photon correlation spectroscopy to obtain the size and magnetic attributes of the iron cores.
Abstract: A preparation of monocrystalline iron oxide nanoparticles with an oxidized starch coating, currently in clinical trials (NC100150 Injection; CLARISCAN), was characterized by magnetization measurements, relaxometry, and photon correlation spectroscopy. By combining the results with a measure of iron content, one can obtain the size and magnetic attributes of the iron cores, including the relevant correlation times for outer sphere relaxation (tau(SO) and tau(D)), and information about the interaction of the organic coating with both core and solvent. The results are 6.43 nm for the iron oxide core diameter, a magnetic moment of 4.38x10(-17) erg/G, and a water-penetrable coating region of oxidized oligomeric starch fragments and entrained water molecules. The latter extends the hydrodynamic diameter to 11.9 nm and lowers the average diffusivity of solvent about 64% (which increases tau(D) accordingly). The nanoparticles show little size-polydispersity, evidenced by the lowest value of r(2)/r(1) at 20 MHz reported to date, an asset for magnetic resonance angiography.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the absence of paramagnetic impurities, surface relaxivities of quartz sand and silica gel samples of known porosity and surface area at any pH were lower than any previously reported values.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 2000-EPL
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used molecular dynamics computer simulations to investigate the relaxation dynamics of a binary Lennard-Jones liquid confined in a narrow pore, and they found that this dynamics is strongly influenced by the confinement in that time correlation functions are much more stretched than in the bulk.
Abstract: We use molecular dynamics computer simulations to investigate the relaxation dynamics of a binary Lennard-Jones liquid confined in a narrow pore. We find that this dynamics is strongly influenced by the confinement in that time correlation functions are much more stretched than in the bulk. By investigating the motion of the particles as a function of their distance from the wall, we can show that this stretching is due to a spatial heterogeneity in the dynamics in that the relaxation time depends strongly on this distance.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An intrinsic broadening is measured which is driven by the hyperfine fields by using a recently developed "hole digging" method, suggesting that spin-phonon coupling dominates the relaxation rate.
Abstract: The strong influence of nuclear spins on resonant quantum tunneling in the molecular cluster Fe8 is demonstrated for the first time by comparing the relaxation rate of the standard Fe8 sample with two isotopic modified samples: (i) 56Fe is replaced by 57Fe, and (ii) a fraction of 1H is replaced by 2H. By using a recently developed "hole digging" method, we measured an intrinsic broadening which is driven by the hyperfine fields. Our measurements are in good agreement with numerical hyperfine calculations. For T>1.5 K, the influence of nuclear spins on the relaxation rate is less important, suggesting that spin-phonon coupling dominates the relaxation rate.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the linear viscoelastic behavior of guar gum solutions as a function of frequency, temperature, polymer concentration, and molecular weight, and concluded that at least two different relaxation mechanisms must play a role, classical reptation not being one of these.
Abstract: We have investigated the linear viscoelastic behavior of guar gum solutions as a function of frequency, temperature, polymer concentration, and molecular weight. This was done to sort out the importance of different relaxation mechanisms like reptation or the breakup of physical bonds. In the kilohertz regime, Rouse behavior is observed. At lower frequencies, two storage modulus plateau zones were found, indicating two additional relaxations. One is operative between 1 and 100 Hz and gives rise to a very broad relaxation spectrum, even for monodisperse guar. Describing the dependencies of the relaxation time and low-shear viscosity on concentration and molecular weight with power laws resulted in unusually high coefficients. The second relaxation becomes manifest below 0.01 Hz and has not been earlier reported. Here the temperature dependence is very strong whereas all other dependencies are weak. Analyzing the experiments with existing models for transient polymer networks revealed that at best a partial decription of the experimental dependencies can be obtained. It was concluded that at least two different relaxation mechanisms must play a role, classical reptation not being one of these. Best overall predictions were obtained with a model assuming two types of associations. However, also the picture of star polymer-like structures held together via bonds with a long lifetime could give comparable predictions. For a further distinction between these mechanisms, more information about the mesoscopic structure is needed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors considered the detuning frequency dependence of χ(3), derived from the conversion efficiency, and showed that, within the range of detuning in the experiment, spectral-hole burning and carrier heating are responsible, and that their time constants, i.e., carrier relaxation time to the ground state and the phonon scattering time, are in the range 60 −140 and 200 −400 fs, respectively.
Abstract: Wavelength conversion using nondegenerate four-wave mixing in quantum-dot optical amplifiers is investigated. From the detuning frequency dependence of χ(3), derived from the conversion efficiency, we consider that, within the range of detuning in the experiment, spectral-hole burning and carrier heating are responsible, and that their time constants, i.e., carrier relaxation time to the ground state and the phonon scattering time, are in the range of 60–140 and 200–400 fs, respectively. This indicates that the carrier supply to the ground level via relaxation from the higher levels is very fast and that a broad conversion bandwidth comparable to that of quantum-well devices is ensured.