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We demonstrate strongly collimated beaming, at audible frequencies, in a three-dimensional acoustic phononic crystal where the wavelength is commensurate with the crystal elements; the crystal is a seemingly simple rectangular cuboid constructed from closely-spaced spheres, and yet demonstrates rich wave phenomena acting as a canonical three-dimensional metamaterial. We employ theory, numerical simulation and experiments to design and interpret this collimated beaming phenomenon and use a crystal consisting of a finite rectangular cuboid array of $4\times 10\times 10$ polymer spheres $1.38$~cm in diameter in air, arranged in a primitive cubic cell with the centre-to-centre spacing of the spheres, i.e. the pitch, as $1.5$~cm. Collimation effects are observed in the time domain for chirps with central frequencies at $14.2$~kHz and $18$~kHz, and we deployed a laser feedback interferometer or Self-Mixing Interferometer (SMI) -- a recently proposed technique to observe complex acoustic fields -- that enables experimental visualisation of the pressure field both within the crystal and outside of the crystal. Numerical exploration using a higher-order multi-scale finite element method designed for the rapid and detailed simulation of 3D wave physics further confirms these collimation effects and cross-validates with the experiments. Interpretation follows using High Frequency Homogenization and Bloch analysis whereby the different origin of the collimation at these two frequencies is revealed by markedly different isofrequency surfaces of the sonic crystal., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

The SPIRAL1 charge breeder is now under operation. Radioactive beam has already been delivered [1] to Physicist for performing experiment. Although charge breeding efficiencies demonstrated high performances for stable ion beams, those efficiencies regarding radioactive ion beams were found, in the first experiments, lower than expected. The beam optics, prior to the injection of the 1+ ions into the SPIRAL1 charge breeder, is of prime importance [2] for getting such high efficiencies. Moreover, the intensities of the radioactive ion beams are so low, that it is really difficult to tune the charge breeder. The tuning of the charge breeder for radioactive ion beams requires a particular procedure often referred as blind tuning. A stable beam hav-ing a close Brho (few percent) is required to find out the set of optic parameters preceding the tuning of the radioactive beam. Hence, it has been decided to focus our effort on that procedure as to get control of the 1+ beam optics leading to high charge breeding efficiencies whatever the 1+ mass, energy and Target Ion Source System (TISS) used. Being aware that each TISS provide ion beams with a specific energy spread DeltaE, and given that the acceptance energy win-dow of the charge breeder is rather narrow; that parameter must play also an important role in the whole charge breed-ing efficiency., Comment: 7 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

Since 2001, the SPIRAL 1 facility has been one of the pioneering facilities in ISOL techniques for reaccelerating radioactive ion beams: the fragmentation of the heavy ion beams of GANIL on graphite targets and subsequent ionization in the Nanogan ECR ion source has permitted to deliver beams of gaseous elements (He, N, O, F, Ne, Ar, Kr) to numerous experiments. Thanks to the CIME cyclotron, energies up to 20 AMeV could be obtained. In 2014, the facility was stopped to undertake a major upgrade, with the aim to extend the production capabilities of SPIRAL 1 to a number of new elements. This upgrade, which is presently under commissioning, consists in the integration of an ECR booster in the SPIRAL 1 beam line to charge breed the beam of different 1+ sources. A FEBIAD source (the so-called VADIS from ISOLDE) was chosen to be the future workhorse for producing many metallic ion beams. The charge breeder is an upgraded version of the Phoenix booster which was previously tested in ISOLDE. The performances of the aforementioned ingredients of the upgrade (targets, 1+ source and charge breeder) have been and are still being optimized in the frame of different European projects (EMILIE, ENSAR and ENSAR2). The upgraded SPIRAL 1 facility will provide soon its first new beams for physics and further beam development are undertaken to prepare for the next AGATA campaign. The results obtained during the on-line commissioning period permit to evaluate intensities for new beams from the upgraded facility., Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, conference proceedings of EMIS 2018, CERN, Geneva, to appear in Nuclear Instruments and Methods B

Acoustic flat lensing is achieved here by tuning a phononic array to have indefinite medium behaviour in a narrow frequency spectral region along the acoustic branch. This is confirmed by the occurrence of a flat band along an unusual path in the Brillouin zone and by interpreting the intersection point of isofrequency contours on the corresponding isofrequency surface; coherent directive beams are formed whose reflection from the array surfaces create lensing. Theoretical predictions are corroborated by time-domain experiments, airborne acoustic waves generated by a source with a frequency centered about $10.6$ kHz, placed at three different distances from one side of a finite phononic crystal slab, constructed from polymeric spheres, yield distinctive focal spots on the other side. These experiments evaluate the pressure field using optical feedback interferometry and demonstrate precise control of the three-dimensional wave trajectory through a sonic crystal., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

Flat lens concept based on negative refraction proposed by Veselago in 1968 has been mostly investigated in monochromatic regime. It was recently recognized that time development of the super-lensing effect discovered in 2000 by Pendry is yet to be assessed and may spring surprises: Time-dependent illumination could improve the spatial resolution of the focusing. We investigate dynamics of flexural wave focusing by a 45\degre-tilted square lattice of circular holes drilled in a Duraluminium plate. Time-resolved experiments reveal that the focused image shrinks with time below diffraction limit, with a lateral resolution increasing from 0.8 $\lambda$ to 0.35 $\lambda$, whereas focusing under harmonic excitation remains diffraction limited. Modal analysis reveals the role in pulse reconstruction of radiating lens resonances, which repeatedly self-synchronize at the focal spot to shape a super-oscillating field., Comment: 5 figures

Engineering the electronic properties of graphene has triggered great interest for potential applications in electronics and opto-electronics. Here we demonstrate the possibility to tune the electronic transport properties of graphene monolayers and multilayers by functionalisation with fluorine. We show that by adjusting the fluorine content different electronic transport regimes can be accessed. For monolayer samples, with increasing the fluorine content, we observe a transition from electronic transport through Mott variable range hopping in two dimensions to Efros - Shklovskii variable range hopping. Multilayer fluorinated graphene with high concentration of fluorine show two-dimensional Mott variable range hopping transport, whereas CF0.28 multilayer flakes have a band gap of 0.25eV and exhibit thermally activated transport. Our experimental findings demonstrate that the ability to control the degree of functionalisation of graphene is instrumental to engineer different electronic properties in graphene materials., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures

BACKGROUND: Navigational simulator use for specialized training purposes is rather uncommon in orthopaedic and trauma surgery. However, it reveals providing a valuable tool to train orthopaedic surgeons and help them to plan complex surgical procedures. PURPOSE: This work's objective was to assess educational efficiency of a path simulator under fluoroscopic guidance applied to sacroiliac joint percutaneous screw fixation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 23 surgeons' accuracy inserting a guide-wire in a human cadaver experiment, following a pre-established procedure. These medical trainees were defined in three prospective respects: novice or skilled; with or without theoretical knowledge; with or without surgical procedure familiarity. Analysed criteria for each tested surgeon included the number of intraoperative X-rays taken in order to achieve the surgical procedure as well as an iatrogenic index reflecting the surgeon's ability to detect any hazardous trajectory at the time of performing said procedure. RESULTS: An average number of 13 X-rays was required for wire implantation by the G1 group. G2 group, assisted by the simulator use, required an average of 10 X-rays. A substantial difference was especially observed within the novice sub-group (N), with an average of 12.75 X-rays for the G1 category and an average of 8.5 X-rays for the G2 category. As far as the iatrogenic index is concerned, we were unable to observe any significant difference between the groups.

The root-mean-square (rms) nuclear charge radius of ^8He, the most neutron-rich of all particle-stable nuclei, has been determined for the first time to be 1.93(3) fm. In addition, the rms charge radius of ^6He was measured to be 2.068(11) fm, in excellent agreement with a previous result. The significant reduction in charge radius from ^6He to ^8He is an indication of the change in the correlations of the excess neutrons and is consistent with the ^8He neutron halo structure. The experiment was based on laser spectroscopy of individual helium atoms cooled and confined in a magneto-optical trap. Charge radii were extracted from the measured isotope shifts with the help of precision atomic theory calculations.

We report on a novel scheme to perform efficient simulations of Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) of molecules weakly bonded to surfaces. Calculations are based on a tight binding (TB) technique including self-consistency for the molecule to predict STM imaging and spectroscopy. To palliate the lack of self-consistency in the tunneling current calculation, we performed first principles density-functional calculations to extract the geometrical and electronic properties of the system. In this way, we can include, in the TB scheme, the effects of structural relaxation upon adsorption on the electronic structure of the molecule. This approach is applied to the study of regioregular poly(3-dodecylthiophene) (P3DDT) polymer chains adsorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Results of spectroscopic calculations are discussed and compared with recently obtained experimental dat, Comment: 15 pages plus 5 figures in a tar file