Search

The first Polish synchrotron radiation facility Solaris is being built at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The project was approved for construction in February 2010 using European Union structural funds. The Solaris synchrotron is based on the 1.5 GeV facility being built for the MAX IV project at Lund University in Sweden. A general description of the facility is given together with a status of its implementation. The specific Solaris solutions taken for the linear accelerator, beamlines and civil engineering infrastructure are outlined.

Intermodal transport is a popular mode of freight transportation over long distances. Apart of reliability the economic efficiency becomes crucial issue of the intermodal operation. Economic efficiency and improve the efficiency of the transshipment operations is the challenge that face intermodal yard planners. The purpose of this article is an analysis of the cost of reshuffling and the proposal for its limitations. The paper includes analysis of moves productivity and cost estimation. There is propose of heuristic method in the paper, which helps to reduce cost of unproductive moves.

Transparency of truly bulk GaN substrates obtained by ammonothermal method was measured in the mid infrared spectral range by Fourier spectroscopy. The same measurements were performed for GaN templates grown by meatlorganic vapour phase epitaxy on sapphire and SiC substrates. It has been clearly observed that truly bulk GaN substrates are transparent up to ∼7 µm whereas GaN templates grown on sapphire and SiC are transparent only up to ∼6.5 and ∼5.5 µm, respectively, due to non-transparency of sapphire and SiC in this spectral range. It has been shown that the transparency “cut off” at ∼7 µm for GaN crystals results from the absorption of light by the second harmonic of optical phonons, which is very significant due to the strong electron-phonon coupling in this material. Also it has been clearly presented that the absorption “cut-off” in the infrared spectral region can be easily tuned by increasing of free carrier concentration in GaN. It was observed that the infrared transparency can be shifted from ∼7 to ∼2 µm or even shorter wavelengths when the electron concentration is increased up to ∼1019 cm-3. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

GaN epilayers were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on c -, m -, a -, and (20.1)-plane GaN substrates obtained by the ammonothermal method. The influence of (i) the surface preparation of substrates, (ii) MOCVD growth parameters, and (iii) the crystallographic orientation of substrates on the structural and optical properties of GaN epilayers was investigated and carefully analyzed. It was observed that the polishing of substrates and their misorientation have strong impact on the quality of GaN epilayers grown on these substrates. The MOCVD growth process was optimized for epilayers grown on m -plane GaN substrates. The best structural and optical properties were achieved for epilayers deposited at 1075 °C and the total reactor pressure of 50 mbar. These conditions were applied to grow GaN epilayers on substrates with other ( c -, a -, and (20.1)-plane) crystallographic orientations in the same MOCVD process. Particularly good optical properties were obtained for GaN epilayers deposited on polar and non-polar ( m - and a -plane) substrates, whereas slightly worse optical properties were observed for epilayers deposited on the semi-polar substrate. It therefore means that MOCVD growth conditions optimized for a given crystallographic direction ( m -plane direction in this case) work rather well also for other crystallographic directions.

We are presenting some physical and chemical basis of ammonothermal method of bulk gallium nitride (GaN) synthesis in ammonobasic route. The substrates of polar, non-polar, and semi-polar orientation can be obtained by this method. Excellent structural and wide spectrum of electrical parameters of truly bulk GaN crystals obtained this way are revealed. Large progress in manufacturing of large size (1-in.) non-polar ammonothermal crystals is reported. A preliminary results on performance of the devices grown on ammonothermal GaN substrates will be shown.

The electronic and magnetic properties of epitaxial Fe 3 O 4 (001) films on MgO(100) substrates were studied throughout the 2.5- to 30-nm thickness range using conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy. Despite the superparamagnetism that was observed for film thickness below 5 nm, the Verwey transition persisted even for the thinnest film. Temperature-dependent Mossbauer measurements between 80 K and 400 K revealed that the activation energy for the magnetic moment fluctuations in the 3-nm magnetite film is higher than the magnetic anisotropy energy by an order of magnitude.

The authors have applied contactless electroreflectance (CER) spectroscopy to study the epi readiness of m-plane GaN substrates obtained by the ammonothermal method. It has been clearly observed that the CER resonance, which is related to the energy gap transition, appears for samples with a well-polished surface. The sharpness of this resonance is directly related to the surface quality. The broadening of energy gap transition can be used as a parameter to quantify the surface quality. For samples polished with optimal conditions, this broadening (γpol) is close to the broadening observed for the cleaved GaN surface (γclev) with m-plane orientation (150–190 vs 135 meV). The quality of the polishing process can be evaluated by analyzing the γclev/γpol ratio, where γclev/γpol=1 corresponds to an excellent polishing process. In the authors’ case, this ratio has been determined to be close to 1 for well-polished samples.

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors on semi-insulating bulk ammonothermal GaN have been investigated. By application of regrown ohmic contacts, the problem with obtaining low resistance ohmic contacts to low-dislocation high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structures was solved. The maximum output current was about 1 A/mm and contact resistances was in the range of 0.3&ndash, 0.6 &Omega, &middot, mm. Good microwave performance was obtained due to the absence of parasitic elements such as high access resistance.

Series of Fe3O4/MgO(001) and Fe3O4/Fe/MgO(001) films (single- and bi-layer films, respectively) with a total layer thickness in the range of 20¥150 nm were investigated by the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (2 MeV He+ ion beam), by the Rutherford backscattering spectrometry channeling experiments (1.5 MeV He+ ion beam). Depending on the layer thickness of each layer and the film geometry, a single Fe peak and/or a double-anomaly feature was revealed in the Rutherford backscattering spectra. For all films no magnesium presence in the surface layer was observed. For both single- and bi-layer films with a total layer thickness less than 60 nm only one minimum was observed in the channeling curves, while a double minimum was revealed for the bi-layer films with a larger thickness. X-ray reflectometry measurements have revealed that the film density is the same as that of the bulk one.

In this paper we present progress made recently in the development of the growth of truly bulk GaN crystals by the ammonothermal method in basic environment. High quality 2-in c-plane GaN seeds are shown. Non-polar wafers can also be cut out from thick GaN crystals grown by ammonothermal method. Perfect crystallinity manifests in very narrow peaks in X-ray rocking curves (the full width at half maximum equals about 15 arcsec). GaN epilayers deposited on these substrates exhibit intrinsic narrow exciton lines, which are very sensitive to the optical selection rules typical for hexagonal symmetry, proving the truly non-polar character of such AMMONO-GaN substrates. Other challenges like homogenous insulating properties or high p-type conductivity have been also accomplished by means of ammonothermal method. Semi-insulating crystals of resistivity up to 1011 Ω cm and p-type conductivity within hole concentration up to 1018 cm−3 are already available in diameters up to 1.5-in.

We have applied positron annihilation spectroscopy to study in-grown vacancy defects in bulk GaN crystals grown by the ammonothermal method. We observe a high concentration of Ga vacancy related defects in n-type samples in spite of the low growth temperature, suggesting that oxygen impurities promote the formation of vacancies also through other mechanisms than a mere reduction of thermodynamical formation enthalpy. On the other hand, no positron trapping at vacancy defects is observed in Mg-doped p-type samples, as expected when the Fermi level is close to the valence band and intrinsic defects are dominantly positively charged. Annealing of the samples at temperatures well above the growth temperature is found to change significantly the defect structure of the material.

m -plane oriented GaN substrates of size 6 x 8 mm have been obtained by ammonothermal method and used to growing GaN epilayers by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The structural and optical properties have been determined for both m -plane GaN substrates and GaN epilayers deposited on these substrates. Excellent structural quality of m -plane GaN substrates has been confirmed by very narrow XRD peaks (the full-width-half-maximum for the symmetrical (10.0) and asymmetrical (20.1) peaks are 16 and 19 arcsec, respectively) and the low concentration of threading dislocation density (∼ 104 cm-2). In addition, these substrates exhibit quite good optical quality: the energy gap-related transition is clearly observed at room temperature in photoluminescence and contactless electroreflectance spectra. The optical quality becomes excellent for GaN epilayers deposited on these substrates. In low temperature reflectance spectra very narrow intrinsic exciton lines which are very sensitive to the optical selection rules typical for the hexagonal symmetry were observed. In low temperature photoluminescence spectra a strong bound exciton line, relatively strong FXA and FXB lines and no emission band around 3.42 eV, which could be associated with the stacking faults, were observed. (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We used nuclear hyperfine spectroscopies and a 57 Fe probe layer approach to study the depth-dependent magnetic properties of ultrathin Fe films on NiO(0 0 1), a system exhibiting exchange bias. Conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy and nuclear resonance scattering of synchrotron radiation were employed. The samples were two Fe films with a thickness (8–10 ML) slightly above the critical thickness for the onset of ferromagnetism at room temperature, in which a 2 ML-thick probe layer, enriched in the 57 Fe Mossbauer isotope, was embedded at different depths from the Fe/NiO interface. Both techniques indicate that inside the film Fe has a metallic character, while at the interface with NiO different Fe phases are present. The main conclusion is that already a few monolayers from the interface with NiO the magnetic properties of Fe are bulk-like.

Epitaxial Fe3O4(0 0 1) thin films (with a thickness in the range of 10–20 nm) grown on MgO substrates were characterized using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), channeling (RBS-C) experiments and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). The Mg out-diffusion from the MgO substrate into the film was observed for the directly-deposited Fe3O4/MgO(0 0 1) films. For the Fe3O4/Fe/MgO(0 0 1) films, the Mg diffusion was prevented by the Fe layer and the surface layer is always a pure Fe3O4 layer. Annealing and ion beam mixing induced a very large interface zone having a spinel and/or wustite formula in the Fe3O4-on-Fe film system.

The interface reactions in an epitaxial 10 nm-thick Fe3O4/MgO(0 0 1) film were investigated by using Rutherford Backscattering spectrometry (RBS), channeling (RBS-C) and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). The as-grown film had a good crystallinity indicated by the minimum yield and the half-angle value for Fe, respectively, χmin(Fe) = 22% and ψ1/2(Fe) = 0.62°. Annealing the films under partial argon pressure up to 600 °C led to a large enhancement of Mg out-diffusion into the film forming a wustite-type phase, but the total layer thickness did not change much. Ion irradiation of the film by 1 MeV Ar ion beam caused a strong Fe ion mixing resulting in a large interfacial zone with a thickness of 23 nm.

Epitaxially-grown Fe3O4(0 0 1) thin films by reactive deposition on MgO(1 0 0) substrates were studied using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), channeling (RBS-C) experiments and X-ray reflectometry (XRR). No visible influence from the ion irradiation of the samples on the CEMS spectra was found, while surface oxidation of the samples was observed after exposure to the atmospheric pressure. RBS analysis indicated the presence of magnesium with an average amount of 3% in the films. RBS-C experiments yielded a value of 22% for the minimum yield of Fe and a value of 0.62° for the half-angle for Fe in the film indicating a good crystal quality of the films. The value for film-thickness obtained from XRR is in a good agreement with that from RBS and the nominal value.

The initial growth and influence of annealing on structural and magnetic properties of 5 monolayers epitaxial Fe films on cleaved and polished MgO(0 0 1) substrates was studied using conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS). Broadening of LEED spots indi- cated a granular structure of the films grown at room temperature. The CEMS analysis showed that the film on the cleaved substrate is flat and consists of a 2 ML interfacial layer with the electronic structure affected by the oxidic substrate, while the remaining 3 ML are metallic with the Curie temperature below RT. Annealing changes the film structure, as seen by CEMS, but only for temperatures above 550 K. In the annealing process the continuous film breaks into 3-dimensional islands and oxidation takes place at the Fe/cleaved-MgO interface. On the polished substrate, the as-prepared film consists of small superparamagnetic metallic iron particles. Contrary to the cleaved substrate, no oxidation is observed at the interface upon annealing. � 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We investigated changes in the magnetic properties of a single Fe monolayer on Au(0 0 1) induced by the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) to FeAu monoatomic superlattices. The grazing incidence nuclear resonant scattering of X-rays (GI-NRS) combined with the 57 Fe probe layer concept allowed us to selectively monitor the local structure and magnetism of the Fe(0 0 1) monolayer in a coupled state. The dependence of the monolayer hyperfine parameters on temperature and spacer thickness was determined from the fitted GI-NRS time spectra, collected for the selected thickness of the stepped Au spacer. The influence of the coupling on the hyperfine magnetic field B HF was negligible at temperatures much lower than T C of the uncoupled Fe monolayer ( T C = 210 K as checked by MOKE). The analysis of the time-spectra accumulated at 200 K showed a non-monotonous dependence of the average B HF as a function of the spacer thickness, related to IEC oscillations. The maximum influence of IEC on B HF (13 T) was found for the 4 ML Au spacer.

The structural and magnetic properties of ultrathin FeO(111) films on Pt(111) with thicknesses from 1 to 16 monolayers (ML) were studied using the nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) of synchrotron radiation. Distinct evolution of vibrational characteristics with thickness that is revealed in the phonon density of states (PDOS) witnesses a textbook transition from 2D to 3D lattice dynamics. For the thinnest films of 1 and 2 ML, the low energy part of the PDOS followed a linear dependence in energy that is characteristic for 2-dimensional systems. This dependence gradually transforms with thickness to the bulk ~E-square relation. Density functional theory phonon calculations perfectly reproduced the measured 1 ML PDOS within a simple model of a pseudomorphic FeO/Pt(111) interface. The calculations show that the 2D PDOS character is due to a weak coupling of the FeO film to the Pt(111) substrate. The evolution of the vibrational properties with an increasing thickness is closely related to a transient long range magnetic order and stabilization of an unusual structural phase.

Background. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common adult leukemia in western civilization. The accumulation of CD5 + CD19 + B lymphocytes in peripheral blood is due to a defect in the apoptotic pathway rather than excessive proliferation in the bone marrow and lymph nodes. Despite a number of treatments, CLL remains an incurable disease. Valproic acid (VPA) activity, as a histone deacetylase inhibitor, could restore the epigenetic changes underlying the pathogenesis of CLL and thus induce cell death. Objectives. In the present study we hypothesized that VPA could induce CLL primary cells death through activation of apoptosis. Material and Methods. Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 53 CLL patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated through density gradient centrifugation and were the subject of a 24-hour cell culture with 10 mM of VPA. The cytotoxic effect of VPA was evaluated with an XTT test and thereafter confirmed using Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometry techniques. Results. In this study, a median VPA cytotoxicity of 13.88% with a range of 0-54.65% was observed. Annexin V/PI staining confirmed that the demonstrated cytotoxicity was caused by increased apoptosis in the VPA treated cells as compared to control cells. Statistical analysis showed that VPA’s effect on CLL cells depends on lactate dehydrogenase serum levels, but is independent of all other prognostic markers. Conclusions. The results of the present experiments found that VPA at a clinically applicable concentration significantly induces apoptosis independently of the disease stage and might be a valuable therapeutic agent for all CLL patients (Adv Clin Exp Med 2015, 24, 1, 55-62).

The valence band photoemission spectra of epitaxially grown 300 Ǻ single crystalline magnetite films were measured by the angle-resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (ARUPS) at 300 K. The samples were grown either on MgO(0 0 1) (B termination) or on (0 0 1) Fe (iron-rich A termination), thus intentionally presenting different surface stoichiometry, i.e. also different surface electronic states. Four main features of the electron photoemission at about −1.0, −3.0, −5.5 and −10.0 eV below a chemical potential show systematic differences for two terminations; this difference depends on the electron outgoing angle. Our studies confirm sensitivity of angle resolved PES technique on subtleties of surface states.

Magnetic and elastic properties of Ni metal have been studied up to 260 GPa by nuclear forward scattering of synchrotron radiation with the 67.4 keV M\"ossbauer transition of $^{61}\mathrm{Ni}$. The observed magnetic hyperfine splitting confirms the ferromagnetic state of Ni up to 260 GPa, the highest pressure where magnetism in any material has been observed so far. Ab initio calculations reveal that the pressure evolution of the hyperfine field, which features a maximum in the range of 100 to 225 GPa, is a relativistic effect. The Debye energy obtained from the Lamb-M\"ossbauer factor increases from 33 meV at ambient pressure to 60 meV at 100 GPa. The change of this energy over volume compression is well described by a Gr\"uneisen parameter of 2.09.

Background Dextromethorphan (DXM) is the analogue of codeine, available in Poland and many European countries without prescription (OTC drug). In the last decade we have observed a considerable increase in non-medical usage of dextromethorphan among young age groups, especially school children between 13 and 16 yrs. Methods We analysed the “trip reports” after use of DXM, available on a website: hyperreal.info in the years 1999-2013. The Internet users could …

The adsorption of oxygen on a pseudomorphic iron monolayer deposited on a W(110) surface was studied experimentally and theoretically. Standard surface characterization methods, such as Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction, and specific nuclear methods, such as conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) and nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation, combined with theoretical calculations based on the density functional theory allowed us to determine the structure of the oxygen adsorbate and the electronic properties of iron atoms with different oxygen coordinations. The oxygen-(3 × 2) structure on the iron monolayer was recognized and was interpreted to be a state with oxygen chemisorbed on the non-reconstructed surface with modest electron transfer from iron to oxygen. A transition from chemisorbed oxygen to the onset of Fe-oxidation is revealed by distinct changes in the CEMS spectra., Highlights • The early O2 adsorption on pseudomorphic Fe monolayer on W(110) was studied. • Using LEED we have identified several distinct structures. • Electronic properties were probed using conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy. • The O-(3 × 2) structure was resolved based on DFT calculations. • A transition from chemisorption to Fe-oxidation was demonstrated.

We used nuclear resonant scattering (NRS) of synchrotron radiation to investigate the details of the thickness-induced spin reorientation transition (SRT) in ultrathin epitaxial iron films on W(110), where the thicknesses of the films ranged from 1\char21{}5 monolayers. During growth, the magnetization of the Fe film, which was probed by the hyperfine magnetic field, changes from a noncollinear configuration with an out-of-plane magnetic component to the homogeneously magnetized state with the in-plane [1-10] easy direction. The fast acquisition of the experimental NRS spectra combined with the high sensitivity of this technique to the orientation of the hyperfine magnetic fields allowed us to study the magnetic evolution during SRT in detail. Our results reveal the complex character of this transition, which has been intensively studied in the past. The noncollinear magnetic structure appears in the system of the mono-, double-, and trilayer areas that coexist due to deviation from the layer-by-layer growth of iron on W(110). We also report the observation of out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy in the double-layer areas at temperatures as high as 300 K. By comparing the experimental results with density functional theory calculations, we conclude that surface magnetic moments are enhanced by 25$%$.

We investigated the spin reorientation transition during the growth of Fe(110) films on W(110) at 250 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C using the in situ nuclear resonant scattering of x rays. The measurements as a function of the grazing incidence angle demonstrated that the spin reorientation proceeds via an intermediate, noncollinear magnetic state, and with increasing thickness, the magnetization reorientation from the [1$\overline{1}$0] to the [001] direction is activated at the film surface and completed at the Fe/W interface. Furthermore, as the temperature was decreased from 250 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C to 160 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, the temperature-driven spin reorientation transition (SRT) between the [001] and [1$\overline{1}$0] directions was observed with a similar noncollinear transient magnetic state. The thickness-temperature SRT phase diagram was schematically drawn.

Permittivity, the dielectric loss tangent and conductivity of semi-insulating Gallium Nitride crystals have been measured as functions of frequency from 10 GHz to 50 GHz and temperature from 295 to 560 K employing quasi TE0np mode dielectric resonator technique. Crystals were grown using ammonothermal method. Two kinds of doping were used to obtain high resistivity crystals; one with deep acceptors in form of transition metal ions, and the other with shallow Mg acceptors. The sample compensated with transition metal ions exhibited semi-insulating behavior in the whole temperature range. The sample doped with Mg acceptors remained semi-insulating up to 390 K. At temperatures exceeding 390 K the conductivity term in the total dielectric loss tangent of Mg compensated sample becomes dominant and it increases exponentially with activation energy of 1.14 eV. It has been proved that ammonothermal method with appropriate doping allows growth of high quality, temperature stable semi-insulating GaN crystals.

Nuclear inelastic-scattering studies were performed to infer temperature evolution of iron atom dynamics in magnetite samples exhibiting Verwey transition of first- and second-order (type-I and type-II materials). The possible difference in this evolution could rationalize the distinct properties of these classes of materials observed in heat capacity and diffuse scattering below the Verwey transition temperature ${T}_{V}$ and could explain the change in transition order triggered by a minute (below 0.3$%$) altering of the iron sublattice. Although we have found the apparent stiffening of the phonon iron spectrum in the low-temperature phase, at the same time, we have shown that these spectra are rather similar for type-I and type-II materials, rendering the lattice vibration-based explanation of the distinct behavior of heat capacities very improbable. The calculation of phonon spectra, aimed at tracing the origin of various features in the phonon density of states (DOS), has shown that the local Coulomb interaction $U$ may have a large effect on phonon DOS. However, the change in the $U$ parameter cannot explain the difference in heat-capacity results for both classes of materials. Thus, an additional factor that differentiates these materials and possibly is responsible for the discontinuous character of the Verwey transition in stoichiometric magnetite still must be found.

We investigate the dynamical properties of the non-heme iron (NHFe) in His-tagged photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers (RCs) isolated from Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides. Mössbauer spectroscopy and nuclear inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation (NIS) were applied to monitor the arrangement and flexibility of the NHFe binding site. In His-tagged RCs, NHFe was stabilized only in a high spin ferrous state. Its hyperfine parameters (IS=1.06±0.01mm/s and QS=2.12±0.01mm/s), and Debye temperature (θD0~167K) are comparable to those detected for the high spin state of NHFe in non-His-tagged RCs. For the first time, pure vibrational modes characteristic of NHFe in a high spin ferrous state are revealed. The vibrational density of states (DOS) shows some maxima between 22 and 33meV, 33 and 42meV, and 53 and 60meV and a very sharp one at 44.5meV. In addition, we observe a large contribution of vibrational modes at low energies. This iron atom is directly connected to the protein matrix via all its ligands, and it is therefore extremely sensitive to the collective motions of the RC protein core. A comparison of the DOS spectra of His-tagged and non-His-tagged RCs from Rb. sphaeroides shows that in the latter case the spectrum was overlapped by the vibrations of the heme iron of residual cytochrome c2, and a low spin state of NHFe in addition to its high spin one. This enabled us to pin-point vibrations characteristic for the low spin state of NHFe.

Room temperature contactless electroreflectance (CER) has been applied to study optical transitions and the distribution of the built-in electric field in AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on c-, a-, m-, and (20.1)-plane GaN substrates obtained by the ammonothermal method. It has been clearly shown that polarization effects in the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on the c-plane lead to a strong built-in electric field in the AlGaN layer. The aforementioned field was determined to be ∼0.43 MV/cm from the period of Franz–Keldysh oscillations (FKOs). In addition, polarization effects lead to the formation of a two dimensional electron gas at the AlGaN/GaN interface, which screens the band bending modulation in the GaN buffer layer, and, therefore, GaN-related excitonic transitions are not observed for this heterostructure. Such features/effects are also not observed in the AlGaN/GaN heterostructures grown on nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates because any strong polarization effects are not expected in this case. For these heterostructures, very strong and sharp GaN excitonic resonances are clearly visible in CER spectra. The resonances are very similar to the excitonic transitions observed for the GaN epilayers deposited on nonpolar and semipolar substrates. Moreover, there is a very weak AlGaN-resonance without FKO for nonpolar and semipolar heterostructures instead of the strong AlGaN-related FKO, which is typical of polar AlGaN/GaN heterostructures.

Monochromatization of hard X-rays in the 20–40 keV energy range to ∼1 meV bandwidth using a sapphire backscattering monochromator is demonstrated., A sapphire backscattering monochromator with 1.1 (1) meV bandwidth for hard X-rays (20–40 keV) is reported. The optical quality of several sapphire crystals has been studied and the best crystal was chosen to work as the monochromator. The small energy bandwidth has been obtained by decreasing the crystal volume impinged upon by the beam and by choosing the crystal part with the best quality. The monochromator was tested at the energies of the nuclear resonances of 121Sb at 37.13 keV, 125Te at 35.49 keV, 119Sn at 23.88 keV, 149Sm at 22.50 keV and 151Eu at 21.54 keV. For each energy, specific reflections with sapphire temperatures in the 150–300 K region were chosen. Applications to nuclear inelastic scattering with these isotopes are demonstrated.

Ultrathin (111)-oriented polar iron oxide films were grown on a Pt(111) single crystal either by the reactive deposition of iron or oxidation of metallic iron monolayers. These films were characterized using low energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy and conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy. The reactive deposition of Fe led to the island growth of Fe3O4, in which the electronic and magnetic properties of the bulk material were modulated by superparamagnetic size effects for thicknesses below 2 nm, revealing specific surface and interface features. In contrast, the oxide films with FeO stoichiometry, which could be stabilized as thick as 4 nm under special preparation conditions, had electronic and magnetic properties that were very different from their bulk counterpart, w\"ustite. Unusual long range magnetic order appeared at room temperature for thicknesses between three and ten monolayers, the appearance of which requires severe structural modification from the rock-salt structure., Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 50 references

The magnetic properties of ultrathin Fe films grown on Au(001) were studied at room temperature as a function of iron thickness in the range of two to three Fe monolayers (ML). The magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) indicated that a spin reorientation from an in-plane direction to the film normal direction takes place when the iron thickness is reduced from 2.3 to 2.0 ML. Values of the effective magnetic anisotropy constants were determined from MOKE and superconducting quantum interference device measurements. The flow analysis of the effective anisotropy constants in anisotropy space revealed that the transition occurs via an intermediate state of canted magnetization.

We study the structure of a model surface, i.e., an Fe monolayer on W(110) by nuclear resonant scattering of x rays. We conclude that at room temperature the structure is nearly perfect, whereas when increasing the temperature up to 770 K an increasing fraction of the Fe atoms feels the appearance of defects manifested by a beat structure due to an electric field gradient. The field gradient is caused by an asymmetry of the neighborhood of part of the atoms and attributable to an increasing fraction of vacancies in the monolayer. With increasing temperature the beat structure gets smeared due to the onset of dynamics in the surface, i.e., the motion of the defects and consequently of the atoms. From the temperature dependence of the amplitude of the beat we deduce the vacancy concentration, thus the vacancy formation energy [0.17(5) eV] and from the broadening with less accuracy we deduce the vacancy migration energy [0.16(6) eV] resulting in 0.33(11) eV for the activation energy of diffusion.

The access to x-rays of third generation synchrotron radiation sources enables studies of dynamics in metallic systems. The nuclear resonant scattering (NRS) method provides information about elementary atomic jumps. When used in grazing incidence geometry, the sensitivity of the NRS method can be tuned to the surface region. This makes the method especially useful for thin film investigations. Contrary to other surface sensitive methods this technique is not only limited to the surface itself: it allows to retrieve the depth profile of diffusivity from the surface down to the bulk region of the measured sample. Fe-Si intermetallic films with a $D{0}_{3}$ structure and close to the stoichiometric ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3}\mathrm{Si}$ composition have been prepared on an MgO (100) substrate. The NRS measurements in grazing incidence geometry yielded maximum iron diffusivity at the surface and diminishing continuously with the depth. The depth and temperature dependence have been measured and compared with the bulk values.