The influence of metallic brazing materials on the strain formation of internally water-cooled X-ray optics.

A study of metallic brazing material for internally cooled optics is presented. The study shows the influence of the different material properties on the final quality of the bond in terms of diffracted wavefront distortion, i.e. enlargement of the rocking curve. By choosing the proper brazing material and applying the proper brazing conditions, the influence of the brazing material can be fully eliminated. Furthermore the degradation of some brazing material due to the extreme working conditions of the optics is presented. Measurement results from ESRF and KEK confirm the importance of the proper brazing material choice.

GeSn/Ge multiquantum well photodetectors on Si substrates.

Vertical incidence GeSn/Ge multiquantum well (MQW) pin photodetectors on Si substrates were fabricated with a Sn concentration of 7%. The epitaxial structure was grown with a special low temperature molecular beam epitaxy process. The Ge barrier in the GeSn/Ge MQW was kept constant at 10 nm. The well width was varied between 6 and 12 nm. The GeSn/Ge MQW structures were grown pseudomorphically with the in-plane lattice constant of the Ge virtual substrate. The absorption edge shifts to longer wavelengths with thicker QWs in agreement with expectations from smaller quantization energies for the thicker QWs.

Diffractive-refractive optics: low-aberration Bragg-case focusing by precise parabolic surfaces.

Based on analytical formulae calculations and ray-tracing simulations a low-aberration focal spot with a high demagnification ratio was predicted for a diffractive-refractive crystal optics device with parabolic surfaces. Two Si(111) crystals with two precise parabolic-shaped grooves have been prepared and arranged in a dispersive position (+,-,-,+) with high asymmetry. Experimental testing of the device at beamline BM05 at the ESRF provided a focal spot size of 38.25 microm at a focal distance of 1.4 m for 7.31 keV. This is the first experiment with a parabolic-shaped groove; all previous experiments were performed with circular grooves which introduced extreme aberration broadening of the focal spot. The calculated and simulated focal size was 10.8 microm at a distance of 1.1 m at 7.31 keV. It is assumed that the difference between the measured and calculated/simulated focal spot size and focal distance is due to insufficient surface quality and to alignment imperfection.

EBIC and luminescence studies of defects in solar cells.

Electron beam-induced current (EBIC) can be used to detect electronic irregularities in solar cells, such as shunts and precipitates, and to perform physical characterization of defects by, e.g. measuring the temperature dependence of their recombination activity. Recently also luminescence methods such as electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) have been shown to provide useful information on crystal defects in solar cells. In this contribution it will be shown that the combined application of EBIC, EL and PL may deliver useful information on the presence and on the physical properties of crystal defects in silicon solar cells. Also pre-breakdown sites in multicrystalline cells can be investigated by reverse-bias EL and by microplasma-type EBIC, in comparison with lock-in thermography investigations.

Regular dislocation networks in silicon as a tool for nanostructure devices used in optics, biology, and electronics.

Well-controlled fabrication of dislocation networks in Si using direct wafer bonding opens broad possibilities for nanotechnology applications. Concepts of dislocation-network-based light emitters, manipulators of biomolecules, gettering and insulating layers, and three-dimensional buried conductive channels are presented and discussed. A prototype of a Si-based light emitter working at a wavelength of about 1.5 microm with an efficiency potential estimated at 1% is demonstrated.

ADP-ribosylation of nuclear proteins in normal lymphocytes and in low-grade malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells.

Normal lymphocytes and lymphocytes from patients with low-grade malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma were isolated from blood by a Percoll gradient procedure. Absence of cell proliferation in both cell types was indicated by very low [3H]thymidine incorporation rates. Determination of endogenous protein-bound single ADP-ribose residues by a radioimmunoassay revealed that the leukemic cells had 2.5-times lower levels of the NH2OH-sensitive and a 4-fold lower amount of NH2OH-resistant ADP-ribose . protein conjugate subfractions, respectively, than normal lymphocytes. By contrast, "total" ADP-ribose transferase activity, as measured in homogenates or permeabilized cells in the presence of DNase, was two-times higher in leukemic cells, whereas activity determined in permeabilized cells in the absence of added DNase was practically identical in both cell types. The apparent discrepancy between ADP-ribose transferase activity and endogenous levels of protein-bound single ADP-ribose residues may be explained in part by an enzyme inhibitor present in normal human lymphocytes. NAD + NADH levels were decreased 2.5-fold in the leukemic cells. This decrease, however, does not explain the reduced levels of mono(ADP-ribose) . protein conjugates since the ratio of protein-bound single ADP-ribose residues to NAD is distinctly different in leukemic lymphocytes compared to normal lymphocytes.

Intrinsic ADP-ribose transferase activity versus levels of mono(adp-ribose)protein conjugates in proliferating Ehrlich ascites tumor cells.

Transition of proliferating Ehrlich ascites tumor cells (3 days after transplantation) to the non-proliferating status (8--14 days after transplantation) was associated with an increase in total mono (ADP-ribose) protein conjugates. This increase was largely confined to the NH2OH-resistant subfraction. When the amounts of mono-(ADP-ribose) conjugates from 20% trichloroacetic acid precipitates were compared with those from 5% perchloric acid precipitates, no significant differences were seen. This fact excludes histone H1 as a major mono (ADP-ribose) acceptor in vivo in these cells. Transition to the resting state was also associated with a small decrease in NAD levels, and with no significant changes of total ADP-ribose transferase activity. However intrinsic ADP-ribose transferase activity as expressed in permeabilized cells was increased, being correlated with the changes in the level of the NH2OH-resistant mono (ADP-ribose) protein conjugates. This shows that alterations in intrinsic transferase activity may, in general, indicate similar alterations in major subfractions of ADP-ribose conjugates. Intrinsic ADP-ribose transferase activity exhibited an inverse relationship to ornithine decarboxylase activity.

Quantitative determination of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) in different hepatic tissues by an isotope dilution procedure.

A procedure has been developed for the quantitation of poly(ADP-ribose) in intact tissues. It is based on the dilution of added [3H]poly(ADP-ribose) by the endogenous polymer. 5 - 6 nanomoles protein-bound ADP-ribose per mg DNA were found in adult and neonatal rat liver, while Zajdela hepatoma cells had significantly lower values. A comparison with mono(ADP-ribose) residues in adult rat liver revealed similar levels of monomeric and polymeric ADP-ribose residues. This means that far more proteins (or acceptor sites on proteins) must be occupied by single ADP-ribose residues than by oligo or poly(ADP-ribose) chains. While the poly(ADP-ribose) levels of the different tissues do not correlate with the corresponding proliferation rates, the amount of mono(ADP-ribose) does show a certain Correlation, being low in rapidly growing tissues.